The resurrection of the S series.........good deal??!?

I've been planning on buying a Macbook for quite some time now, but now that Sony has suddenly resurrected their S series, I'm reconsidering.

J&R sells the new S660/B for only $1249 after rebate ( http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4108759) with these specs:

1.86 GHz Intel Pentium M Processor 750
533 MHz front side bus
L2 cache: 2MB
1GB PC2-4200 DDR Memory (expandable to 2GB)
100GB 5400 RPM Serial ATA™ hard drive
Video RAM: 128MB
13.3" WXGA LCD with XBRITE™ technology
Max. Resolution: 1280 x 800
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6400 graphics processor
Windows Sound system with built-in speakers
Optical Drive Write Speeds: 24x CD-R, 16x CD-RW, 4x DVD-R, 2x DVD-RW, 4x DVD+/-R, 3x DVD-RAM, 2.4x DVD+RW
Memory Stick with MagicGate, Memory Stick® PRO PCMCIA (Type I & Type II card slot with Cardbus support)
Connections: Ethernet, Headphone jack, 4-pin i.link (IEEE 1394), Memory Stick, modem, microphone, Port Replicator, 2 USB 2.0 ports
Integrated V.92/V.90 modem (RJ-11)
Fast ethernet (RJ-45) 10Base-T/100Base-TX
Lithium-ion battery (Estimated Life: 3.0-3.5 hrs)
Software: Norton Anti-Virus and recovery tools, VAIO® tools, InterVideo WinDVD, Intuit Quicken 2005, Microsofts Works 8.5, Office 2003 Small Business (60-day trial), Roxio DigitalMedia SE, Click To DVD, DVGate, SonicStage, Image Converter (PSP Transfer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack 2
Measurements(WxHxD): 12.3" x 1.39" x 8.85"
Weight: 4.3 lbs. with battery

Clearly the Pentium M processor is outdated, but the other advantages of this computer may possibly outweigh. At $1249, the S660 may cost more and have a crappier processor than the middle-tier Macbook for $1199 at Amazon.com after rebate, but the S660 has a larger HD, more RAM, modem (i know... but it's still something), PCMCIA expansion slot, and dedicated video. Not to mention, the S660 is totally made out of magnesium, which is way better than that polycarbonate on the macbook, and is much lighter. The macbook also risks getting scratched easily and dirty because its white.

All said, the Dothan CPU and Sonoma chipset on the S660 is still very problematic seeing how the Core Duos are already going to become obsolete with Merom on the horizon. In a mere few months, the S660 is going to be 2 generations behind!!!

What do you guys think about this? Is the S660 worth it compared to all the other stuff on the market today, especially the other 13.3"s?

 

The deal is very good in my opinion concerning value for money! Of course it's outdated concerning the processor, but what does outdated actually mean? It really depends on your usage whether or not you will notice a difference between dual core and single core. But be aware you'll be paying 500+$ more for a comparable SZ-Series.

In my opinion it is superior to the Macbook. You mentioned all the relevant points. If you're going to be carrying your notebook around a lot the lighter weight is not to be disregarded. ~300g more is noticeable.

You won't find any other laptop this price with dedicated graphics and 13inch screen either.

Where did you hear the S660 is made totally out of magnesium though? My S5 Series definitely isn't..

 

It isn't made completely made out of magnesium? Which parts of the laptop aren't?

 

The case bottom and the display lid are made of magnesium. The palm rest, the parts surrounding the display and the sides (where the ports are connected) are made of plastic. Overall the build quality is pretty good though.

 

Bomfunk, looking at your signature, the specs on your sony are pretty much the same as the one I'm looking at, save for the CPU. How's the battery life on your laptop treating you? Are there anything good or bad things about the laptop that I should be aware of (heat, that damn battery wobble, etc., reliability)?

 

I have an S560 (1.86GH) with 1.5GB RAM, and I have battery life of about 3 hours with screen brightness level 4 (3 bars on screen), and adaptive setting when using notebook hardware control.
I wonder if anyone else increase the battery life over 3 hours (must be significantly more, e.g 30 minutes) with usable settings.

 

I use Notebook Hardware Control to optimize my battery life. I get around 3:15-3:30 min. with light usage and screen brightness at level 4. The setting is on maximum battery though.

Concerning heat, yes it does get warm after long usage, especially the right palm rest, but it's nothing to be concerned about and doesn't bother me while working.

Battery wobble is there, but I actually hardly notice it anymore. To the screen, it's very good for a 13inch notebook, I haven't seen better (expect on SZ Premium LED Screen maybe) but it does get a bit darker around the left and right sides.

The keyboard is very good in my opinion, I prefer it over the SZ. It's got enough depth and is comfortable to type on. Touchpad is good too, it has vertical and horizontal scrolling functions which work very well

The notebook also has excellent connectivity to projectors. It's a common scenario at meetings when some notebook will just not work with the projector provided. Not on this laptop, here everything happens automatically. The laptop notices when a projecor is connected and switches the output so you will instantly see a picture (Toggling with the function keys works too of course)

Other than that, if you get the notebook I would recommend you to always put a protective layer between screen and keyboard as slight rubbing marks will appear on the edge of the palm rest.