Vaio S Advice needed

Hello all,

First post so sorry for being a noob. I have a few questions about buying a Vaio S series in the US. I would like help with the following:

1 - Are the processors (I5 & I7) the newer Sandy Bridge versions that have better heat management?

2 - Is the 1600x900 screen much nicer than the 1366x768? Aside from being a higher resolution, are there any other quality differences?

3 - What is the estimated weight of a loaded Vaio S with BluRay w/o the extended battery?

 

Hi,

>1 - Are the processors (I5 & I7) the newer Sandy Bridge versions that have >better heat management?

Yes, they are. But do not expect a lot of difference. Since the form factor of the laptop is small, with gaming and other intensive tasks, you will notice that the laptop does get a little hot and the fan noise does get loud.

>2 - Is the 1600x900 screen much nicer than the 1366x768? Aside from >being a higher resolution, are there any other quality differences?

In terms of resolution, this is a personal choice, with the higher resolution, the text does get a bit smaller and it can get uncomfortable for some people.
If you intend to go with SA (US models), I think this is the default option.
Quality wise, both are nearly the same and there is no significant difference.

>3 - What is the estimated weight of a loaded Vaio S with BluRay w/o the >extended battery?

I think it is 3.6lbs without the extended sheet battery.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your purchase.

 

The SA actually weights approx 1.61 kg while the SB weighs 1.72 kg. But even then, 110 grams is less than the weight of your phone so you won't notice much between the two.

 

Would I be better off going with an I5 and 8GB of RAM or an I7 and 4GB of RAM?

 

You'll have to evaluate what you'll be using your computer for. If it's just simple browsing, MS word, then the i5 will suffice. Otherwise, if you're after more intensive stuff like video editing and photoshop, then the i7 might be the better pick.

One rule of thumb is that you shouldn't upgrade your RAM via Sony's store. If you feel like needing more RAM, buy a RAM stick yourself, unscrew the bottom panel and jam it into your computer. You'll save a bunch.

 

With a blu-ray disk inside (which it seems you are implying), the SA weights 3.65 lbs + the weight of a blu-ray disk, which maybe weights 1-2 oz (weird question).

Stradevarius

 

I'm very sorry to the OP for briefly hijacking the thread, as well as sorry to you Stradevarius for quoting you for something other than the content of your post. I will gladly delete this post once I know you’ve seen it. I tried sending you a PM or e-mail, but was not able to. I have spent many hours researching the SA, memory and SSDs etc. the past few weeks and have got myself very confused. I was searching google and it returned your signature as one of the first results indicating that you have upgraded to a crucial m4 SSD. I was just wondering whether you could please spend a short amount of time helping me out with a few issues. I have posted my main problem on the Overclockers Forums: SSD Setup - Please Help - Overclockers Forums In addition, I have posted a few problems on this site: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/591759-vaio-sa-manual-memory-ssd-upgrade-carrying-pouch.html I appreciate there are a lot of questions there, but anything you could answer would be a massive help. Please don't think I am asking you to answer everything, I was just hoping that you could help me even a little bit. My main issues are with the SSD at the moment, which I have explained in the Overclockers link. I realise this is incredibly cheeky of me! Please don't feel obliged to help. I just thought it was worth asking. It might be most convenient if you do respond to do so in the thread on this site which I have linked. Thank you very much.

 

No problem, I'll check out your questions in these other threads and answer your questions through PM if I can.

Stradevarius

 

No offense taken!