Vaio S Series question

hey everyone
im finally thinking of ugrading my old Vaio SZ laptop.. and im thinking of going for one of the new S Series laptops i see on the Sony website. the 13" model. im getting a bit confused with all the S series stuff going around (S, SE, SA, SB) im not sure which is which, haha.

anyway, i think the SA is the 'premium' S series model? i was thinking of going for something like the VPC-SA25GG which i saw in a local computer store.. i think thats the same S series premium model, right? confusing, for me

and well.. any of u guys owning this laptop, any comments? ive not seen a full review on any site like engadget etc, so im not able to form an opinion yet. is there any negative comments that anyone would like to say? i mean, the spec looks great on paper.. it looks good, its light. but the performance, that kinda thing?

for example, my vaio SZ's build quality is one thing that im pretty disappointed in. sure, its almost 4 years, but the thing is almost coming a part now. and the fan noise. it was pretty quiet when new, but got a bit noisy after a while.. and for a long time now, ithink the fan is slightly damaged or something, the noise is almost unbearable at times. just wondering how the S series is on stuff like this.. etc etc. please let me know

i cant seem to find any other laptop that is of this high spec, and of this size/weight.. apart from a macbook pro, and im really not in the mood to switch systems right now! thanks for reading!

 

I've been using the premium S for a month aproximately and I can tell you, although it isnt a bad machine:

-It doesn't have as nearly as the 7 hour battery they say (nor 15 with the sheet)

-It has a design flaw in which the fan blows towards the rear (this is not the flaw), but when you open the lid, the bottom of the lid covers the fan vents, so the fan ends up blowing against a covering lid instead of into free air. This is probably what causes the fan to be always ON and at full power, which is a major user concern and perhaps the cause for the battery not enduring as much.

-The screen is a great matte screen. Z-model users say it's horrible; to me it's a good enough screen, that doesn't reflect

-Although it's an i5, doesn't feel as fast as the spec suggests

-as for the look, looks great and sturdy; it's also very lightweight

 

^

i agree with the absurdity of the hinge design. the industrial designer who thought of it and the engineer who actually accepted that idea and made it into a reality should be fired. having said that, i am using a notebook cooler under my SA and even when playing Battlefield 3, the temperatures do not go above 85C, which is well within the safe region.

the screen is NOT a great matte screen. it's an average screen with great brightness but poor contrast and poor viewing angles. however, i'm fine with it as well.

the i5 is fast enough for everything i have thrown at it, even Battlefield 3. a 100MHz clock difference between that and an i7 is not worth the extra money or the extra heat generated by the i7.

to the OP: get an i5 with a regular HDD and 4GB of RAM, and if you need to upgrade, then buy your own SSD and another 4GB (or 8GB) of RAM and add them yourself.

 

thanks for the replies! hmm, to be honest now im not that psyched about getting an S any more.. thanks for the input.. i shall keep searching