Sony SB +SA vs. Sony C series

First off I am sorry for posting in the wrong place, and if I am breaking any rules. Second, I am looking to finalize on these 3 laptops, I need one of them for college.
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Ok lets begin, one of my good friend’s introduced me into the whole new SA/SB series. My purpose for this was going to be used in college, a lot of music editing, sound/audio editing, casual gaming (FPS,MMOs) so first I was looking at the SB after customizing it I got this in return:

Intel® Core™ i5 2520M processor (2.50GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.20GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
White
13.3" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1366 x 768)
AMD Radeon™ 6470M (512MB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
500GB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
CD/DVD Player / Burner
Standard capacity battery

No Engraving
No Fresh Start
Adobe Bundle (Free - $448 value)
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)

(2-year Express Ship Service with Accidental Damage from Handling for Laptops) --- Is a possibility

Total:$1099.99
Total +2-year Express Ship Service with Accidental Damage from Handling for Laptops: $1349.98

This did not seem bad, until I began to read more on forums on how the resolution is bad, 1366 x 768, it doesn’t please the eyes and what not. So I kept searching for more flaws, I found out the SB series has a fan noise problem? BIOS have been updated but for some have not been effective and still perceive to have issues with it.

So I went further, now I said to myself "ok, I can drop like 1500$ no more, it will BURN a whole in my wallet for sure though". I decide to read up on the new sonys, a lot of hype right now is behind the SA. 1600x1200 res, you can OC gpu, and other things are looking good at it also, so here is what I got my to:

Intel® Core™ i5 2520M processor (2.50GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.20GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Platinum Silver
13.3" LED backlit display (1600x900)
AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
No Mobile Broadband Built-In
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive
4GB (4GB Fixed Onboard + 1 Open SDRAM Slot) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Blu-ray Disc™ player
Standard capacity battery

No Engraving
No Fresh Start
Adobe Bundle (Free - $448 value)
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)

Total:$1419.99
Total +2-year Express Ship Service with Accidental Damage from Handling for Laptops: $1719.98

So here is where I got really confused. So going from the SB to SA give me a BlueRay OD, a better display(1600x1200) and possibly a little better graphics card, and again a slim portable laptop. I don’t want a BR OD btw, so I am paying 400$ more for the SA just for a few more perks?

That’s when I stumbled on the VPCCA190X (Vaio C series) and this is what I got.


Intel® Core™ i5-2540M processor (2.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.30GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Lightning White
14" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1600 x 900)
AMD Radeon™ HD 6470M (512MB VRAM) dedicated graphics
500GB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
CD/DVD Player / Burner
High capacity battery

No Engraving
No Fresh Start
Sony® Imagination Studio™ Suite
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)

Total:$999.99
Total +2-year Express Ship Service with Accidental Damage from Handling for Laptops:$1199.98

Now looking at all three of those option they all look soooo good!, but looking at the price and what you get the C series looks like it blows the other two out of the water. You have a powerful processor14” display 1600x1200 res, a equal or better card and all the other perks that were on the SA/SB.

Now I need someone to really help me out here, I hope I made some errors on how I might have perceived those laptops so you guys can help. Look at the above comparisons don’t you think the C series takes it home? Or is the SB/SA still better? If the SB/SA are better please explain!

Thank you so much!

PS: Sorry again if this was the wrong discussion forum

 

The 6630M is better than the 6470M, so you are getting a better graphics card.

IMO 1600x1200 on a 13" is overkill.

 

its not the wrong discussion, however what you need to see is that, the lower the size you go, the more you pay.

The 6630m is PRETTY DIFFERENT from the 6470m, the latter competes with the intel gpu, and the former, with the gt 540m, which is a mid range card.

I would still go for the SA, you gain, better build quality, and more portability, with the same specs of the CA

if there was still an option for the SB to have the 6630m the price would be about the same, since you would need to configure the i7 2620m and the 6630m thus raising the price to 1300, without the added screen and the blu ray (which for me is useless too, however I would sell mine to get some cash back and put a caddy in there for the SSD that I have and the HDD that the SA has)

 

ahhh, ya I never thought about the better build between the three, I was always thinking the true reason the price is greater than each other is the size, smaller it goes the more it costs. Last final say here for you MM, between SA and CA, you would go for the SA all the way?

 

Sorry to hijack the thread -- but have you found a working caddy for the SA or have any suggestions on where to look? I'll have no need for the OD and could use some extra storage.

 

I would without a doubt, there is also the slice option for more battery life.

and I wouldnt spend 50 to upgrade the processor, thus lowering the price to 1350

get any caddy, they will work. You just have to slap the faceplate of the ODD in the caddy and the fit and finish is the same.

 

sorry one last thing, why would not go up to the i5 2520M? would not notice a huge difference? I only picked it just to help out with the games

 

nah it wont help at all. there is little difference between the clocks, adn you are gpu limited first.

aside that you dont need the added instructions that cpu supports, like vt-d (direct I/O in virtualization, only programming pros use that, and only those that make programs for different platforms, and you would still cant use it do it needing the chipset QM65/67 or the PM65/67, since the vaio use the HM65) and the AES encryption instructions, that are useful if you are bound by law or paranoia to have your data completely encrypted in you HDD

and I wont excuse you for doing a research on what you buy! burn!

 

quite the burn MM... thank you so much for the discussion. I will probably go with the SA then.

thanks again!

 

Also, if you want to save some money, be sure to check out the Sony outlet - they have hundreds of cheaper laptops. From the clearance page I got a brand new SB with i7, 6630, 6GB ram, blu-ray, and sheet battery for only $950.

If you have money for the SA though, I would definitely get it! Good luck

 

^^ great price, that is at least 1400

 

I have been looking at the SA / SB as well, and I am pretty sure that you can opt for an normal optical drive as opposed to blu-ray, which should drop your price a little bit.

And I would definitely go for SA / SB because the C series is extremely plastic-y and does not have a good high end feel!

 

after watching E3...the SA better run mass effect 3 and BF3 >.< to a low to med settings

 

The only option is "blu-ray" or "blu-ray + blu-ray burner" (+$300) <- lol f that.

 

In the US all SA configurations have a blu ray read drive upgradeable to a blu ray burner. In other regions, you can get it with a DVD drive.

 

oh yeah i live in canada...sucks that options always change in different regions