Talk Me Out or In to a S15(SVS1511AGXB)

I'm ready to pull the trigger on a SVS1511AGXB for $1050.

3rd gen Intel Core i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
15.5" LED backlit Full HD display (1920 x 1080)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE (2GB) hybrid graphics with Intel Wireless Display technology
640GB (7200rpm) hard drive
8GB (4GB fixed onboard + 4GB removable) DDR3-1333MHz


As of right now I feel like I'm buying out of impulse because I need a laptop for school. I have a problem buying things because i "think" its a good deal. So I need some reassurance that if this laptop is worth the money(best bang for its buck) or if there's a better laptop in its range or should I wait for a better deal.

I'm looking to use the laptop for gaming, programming, and school work. The s15 looks, portability, performance tickled my fancy.


Or is the Z13 series a better choice? The Z13 would be 1200. No media dock though

Thanks!

 

In this class, it's between the dv6t, the Samsung Series 7 S04, or possibly the Y580. At this moment in time, before school starts, this is one of the best you'll get at this price. If you've checked all of those out and still like the Sony, you're not going to lose much.

There are new models coming out, such as the u2442v or the ASUS u500, which might contend with current models, and there will probably be some changes and price drops when Windows 8 rolls around next month, but there are no guarantees for that. There's always something new on the horizon though, and I recently saw someone question if they should wait for Haswell intel chips before purchasing(much too far away!) Plus, the u2442n hasn't even shown much of itself in the US for months and the u500 was basically just announced.

As a final note, "Orangegate" really isn't that big of an issue on my S15. It shows every once and a while, maybe on a death screen of a game, but dark reds come out fine.

 

you can save a little money and get the S15 with 4 gb of ram and put the other 4gb stick in yourself (about $20)

the S15 seems like a nice system... the HP DV6t quad and Lenovo Y580 have a better GPU but they are heavier and thicker as a tradeoff.

 

S15 all the way. This really is a machine worth all it's glory!

 

Also talking you in to a S15:

It's a wonderful laptop! Keyboard could be better, but if you type blindly you won't notice that it bends. And that's the only quality issue this machine has other than the orange gate, which is - as xplosneer said - negligble in most cases.

Very good build quality (other than the keyboard), quiet when not under load, very good screen (watch out for ppl sitting around you, the viewing angles are near perfect!), very very lightweight for 15 inch... I could go on.

Question is, what do you need it for other than school? You chose 2GB graphics card, so I think you want to game on the S15? You won't need the second GB. That would only be useful when playing games with HD texture mods, where you will be bottlenecked by the DDR3 VRAM. In normal gaming situations, the 1GB will not be fully in use so you won't notice any difference in performance. I bought the 2GB version too, but only for s and giggles because the premium over the 1GB version was bleh.

Also, if you won't do any high computational tasks, you won't need the quad core. I bought mine as a no-compromise-machine for gaming, good display, lightweight for being mobile etc and stayed with the standard i5 3210 (at least that's standard in germany). Most games are bottlenecked by the GPU, so GPU always sits at 100% load while CPU is at let's say 70-80%. So your quad core will then perhaps be at 65-75%, but you won't gain a single fps for that (just an easy example).

I would also suggest you to buy the extra 4GB RAM yourself if you know what you have to look for.

If you want to save some money, you can go with this recommendations. If you want to invest the money you can save here in something which will really enhance system performance and the feel of owning a machine which works at the speed of light, get yourself a SSD for the S15. Don't order it from sony but buy one yourself. I'd recommend Samsung 830 here. You can then save some more bucks by choosing the standard HDD (for me it was 320GB).

EDIT: Forgot to mention - I own a Z12 (S15 replaces it, i'm going to sell it) and it is the most wonderful Laptop I've ever seen oder heard of. It was THE no-compromise machine of 2010 and I don't regret a single € of the ~2000€ I payed for it. But anyway, the new Zs are very good machines, but they gave up on the no-compromise part. You can't game on Intel HDxyzwhatevernot, period. Or you can take that power media dock with you all the time for more gaming power and give up some portability. And the graphics card in the PMD still sucks, 640M LE blows it away, especially if overclocked via bios mod (Skyrim @Full HD High preset, BF3 @Full HD mid/high => totally playable)
And if you're no gamer, I would still suggest you to get the S15. It's just more bang for the bucks!

EDIT2: Yeah and stupid me totally missed the line about you saying you will use it for gaming and programming. For programming, the i5 will also do the job. If you're going to use serveral VMs at one time, get the i7 quad.

 

Don't forget Samsung - you can get the same performance for the same money. It's slightly smaller, has longer battery life, slightly better graphics (GT640M instead of GT640M LE). The downside though is it's almost a pound heavier (5.3 lbs vs 4.2 lbs

I'm is serious jeopardy of just going out and buying it this afternoon

Samsung Series 7 NP700Z5C-S01US
CompUSA.com | NP700Z5C-S01US | Samsung 15.6 Core i7 750GB HDD Laptop

 

Actually - where do you see the SVS1511AGXB for $1050? I'm seeing it coming up at $1300????

 

Thanks for all the replies.

The reason for those specs because it was already pre made. I just feel like the GTS 640M is a bit underpowered? The laptop itself is a sure beauty, only if the GPU was a GTX. The only thing I was planning to add on to it was the Samsung 830 series SSD.

How is the battery life just browsing or gaming? Is the power brick huge?

I was planning to buy it off a person factory sealed, but I told him no for the time being.

Yeah the Z is a beauty too, I would of bought it if they updated the PMD.

 

As I said, if you overclock the GPU you can expect a playable Skyrim at Full HD and High Settings. Playable means like 35fps. BF3 at Full HD and mid/high is between 35 and 50. So I wouldn't say it is underpowered. With the BIOS mod, it performs equal to the 650M at standard clock or sometimes even better.

Battery life on browsing will be like 4-4.5 hours if you're not only watching flash content, gaming will be 2 hours.

By the way, they DID update the PMD. It now has a Radeon HD7670M. But that card is underwhelming exactly the same way as the 6630M already was when the Z2 first was released...

 

Sucks to hear about the PMD.

So what about the S15 to you that makes it not a perfect replacement? As stated because of the keyboard or "orangegate"?


***Another important topic

How's the FANS? Does it overheat easily like some other lower ends VAIOs and the fans are loud?

How long does the battery life last before it starts diminishing?

 

Yeah exacty, keyboard and orange gate are the issues that hold it back from being perfect in my eyes. But as I said, orange gate isn't that bad at all and keyboard is also good, it just bends a little. Vaio Z12 just has a perfect keyboard and the screen is the best TN panel i've ever seen on a notebook, so S15 is really really good but Z's keyboard is just a tad better as is its color reproduction.

Fan is very quiet in normal use (you won't hear it if there's any ambiet sounds) and gets quite loud under load, especially when gaming and havin set the option "priority to ventilation". But it doesn't bother me at all when gaming because of the game sounds and also the sound of the fan is not an annoying one.

Battery won't diminish at all if you use the battery care functions and only let it charge up to 80% (at least not until you will replace the S15 with something new). I did it with my Z12 and battery wear is 0% after 2 years in which I never took the battery out of the notebook and it was plugged into the wall for about 98% of the time I guess.

 

The battery life is usually around 4 hours depending on all your settings of course. You can get over 5 with low brightness and medium usage. I have the extended battery anyways.

The power brick is small compared to other's I've seen, and it comes with a velcro band attached for the wire.

What do you want it to be a replacement of?

As for the fans, if you're playing a game with the card OC'd you're going to hear it. With priority to silence/stamina on it is silent.

Can't comment on battery longevity yet.

 

Do you guys know if all S15 comes with IPS display? Only the model I listed advertise its IPS display. All the other models does not.

I was checking out the cheaper route i5 3210M/GT640M LE 1GB/4GB for about 800. After selling the ps3/vita + $100 visa, it'll end up around $600! I've been reading mix comments about the ps3/vita + $100 visa doesn't not stack. Can anyone confirm?

I'm planning to play Guild Wars 2 (which has low requirements) for gaming. So I don't think I need the luxury of i7. I can swap out the ram and hdd myself.

 

Fan in stamina mode is you can't even hear it. In Speed mode, you can hear it but nothing like unbearably loud. It's quiet enough for me.
The laptop has feature that only charge up to 80% to pro long the life of it.

Keyboard wise, I have no issue at all. It flexes just so little but not big issue at all. Orangegate, I just don't think it's an issue at all unless you gonna do graphics related stuffs.

 

I haven't heard pf any display differences on the S15. I'm near 100% sure all have IPS. I don't know if you can still get the ps3/vita offer, please double check.

@Guild Wars 2: I have it and you can play smoothly on near max settings if overclocked. I overclocked on day one so I can't tell you how it runs without OC, but the mod is kind of a no brainer if you can stand the very very tiny risk of bricking your device. And you can revert it anytime.

 

Whoah... you're getting 35-50 fps on BF3 at 1080p? How? My Sager manages 1080p on low settings at 60 fps (and I have a 670M which blows the 640 out of the water)... malarky?

 

Well it's more 35 than 50, I only checked once while playing conquest and it was 40fps average. But it never drops in an area where it isn't smooth and playable.

As I wrote, my 640M LE is BIOS modded and has 950MHz core clock instead of 500. That gives a massive performance boost, 3DMark11 for example jumps from ~1200 to 2200 points. Nevertheless, 670M should perform much better. What's your 3DMark11 score? Perhaps you have a driver issue or Kepler cards have some kind of advantage over Fermi cards in BF3, dunno. Or your sager could be throttling...

 

Running on BIOS MOD 900MHz Core 1000MHz Memory at 1600x900 :
Sony Vaio S13 Premium (GT 640m LE) Gaming Test/Benchmark (BF3, Skyrim, and Diablo 3) - YouTube

If running on 950MHz or 1000MHz Core and 1100MHz Memory, it should increase the fps by a bit more.

But offcourse, it will drop more on 1080p.

 

I'm in the precisely the same boat as OP, need a proper workhorse for the filmmaking school. Since my last machine had been Vaio (FZ11E) and I have been really satisfied with the quality and performance, I am looking to buy Sony again, one of the few companies I've learnt to trust over the years.

However it is a bit pricey, with the configuration quoted costing in excess of £1200 here in the UK even with Sony's 10% educational discount.

Regarding IPS, I'm pretty much sure all S15 comes with it, that's the way they cram full HD in a 15" display.

What is the "orangegate" though? Is it some kind of graphics glitch?

Of the models listed here, I found IdeaPad to be a good alternative, as it has a full HD option for the screen and GTX660M. However it is not as flexible with configuration as Sony, and the 2 variations both comes with 5400rpm HDD and Windows 7 Home, something I'm not content with. Still, seeing as I could save ~£400 for a similar configuration to S15, it might be worth to do some upgrading myself. Does anyone knows how is Y580's screen? Does Lenovo's quality holds up to IBM's? It's been a while since I touched any ThinkPad.. A decade perhaps

 

Now I have another dilemma. I bought an Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 off Amazon for $950($850 after $100 mail in rebate).

Here are the specs:
3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
15.6” Full HD display (1920×1080), 16:9 widescreen
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M 2GB graphics
8GB DDR3 memory, 750GB HDD storage
Integrated Bluetooth® & high-speed 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
USB 2.0, USB 3.0 connectors & 6-in-1 card reader
Integrated Blu-ray drive
Integrated 1.0M (720p HD) webcam
Dolby® Home Theatre v4 audio enhancement & JBL® designed speakers
HD graphics support & HDMI output

Although this laptop seem to have a HDD overheating issue but if you swap a SSD in, you won't have the problem. I browse the Lenovo forums some say it arrives DOA or other problems and it made me a bit iffy. That is because they say Lenovo costumer rep is horrible!

Now I found a new seller on craigslist that sells this loaded S class for $950!

What laptop is better? Performance + Slighty bulky or appearance + portability.

 

Might be a wrong forum to enquire, but since that is the way this went: how is the build of Lenovo, the keyboard, the screen?

Like I said, I'm also struggling to choose between this one and Vaio S15.

 

The Lenovo already shipped from Amazon. For $850, it's not bad! I like the way the Lenovo looks like a sleeper gaming laptop. From what I watch and hear, the build of the Lenovo is pretty sturdy. Reviews say the screen is quite beautiful despite it not being IPS.

Both laptop have HDD problems and both benefits from upgrading to an SSD.

 

Not a glitch, a hardware limitation. The screen has excellent viewing angles, contrast, sharpness, etc, but it has a somewhat limited color range. Its reds come off as orange-ish. If you do photo editing or video editing, this is a deal-breaker, but for most people, it's not an issue unless they find it subjectively annoying.

The S15 is a really great machine but it's not for everyone. It delivers a combination of performance and weight comparable to a Retina MacBook Pro 15...the only PC on the market that does. And it packs an optical drive and costs half what an MBP+R does. The downside of that lightweight construction is, well, lightweight construction. There's some flex in the keyboard, and some feel the hinge feels insubstantial.

 

Like all Lenovos, the Y580 should have a superb keyboard. Lenovo really, really knows its keyboards.

I haven't seen one in person, but from what I've read, the case feels cheap but does its job, and the screen is perfectly adequate (and 1080p) but nothing remarkable. The materials on the Sony are nicer and it weighs a lot less, but the Sony costs much more.

 

Thanks for the explanation, I shouldn't have been lazy and look it up straight away, however I had done it by now and I must say the comparison photos with solid fill red look quite alarming. I bet this isn't anywhere near as noticeable in a normal colour mix. The question is, is the on-screen blood still red?

However for video editing it would be less of an issue than for graphics design as you could still edit perfectly fine as long as you do your colour tuning elsewhere (and with professional production you surely do). Producing original moving image, e.g. CGI renders would be more of a problem although again, the colours can be fine tuned on a different machine / external monitor even on the final render.

On the other hand, it seems odd to have this limitation when you're paying £1200+.

But as you say there is little alternative for some of us who need the portability, power and multimedia capabilities.

In the other thread I read Sony is rolling out a new batch (model?) of S in September, no idea how trustworthy is this information though.

 

This is the only 1080p 15" IPS screen on the market that's not catastrophically expensive. The Envy 15 has the same screen and has the same issue. Sony's only other choices would be to give up the amazing viewing angles that IPS delivers, or to make the machine cost a whole heck of a lot more than it does now (I think the Dell Precision and HP Elitebook have or had a 1080p IPS screen available, but be prepared to spend over $2000).

Considering that the S15 delivers a 1080p IPS screen for $749, I think some compromise is not unexpected.