Sony VAIO S Series: All Day Consumer Computing
by Dustin Sklavos on September 9, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- AMD
- Intel
- Sony
- Sandy Bridge
- 6000M
- VAIO S
- Switchable Graphics
Good Computer, Too Much Bloat
Generally when I've handled these notebook reviews, I haven't gone into the software/bloatware that ships on them too much, if at all. Truth be told, bloatware (at least in my experience) isn't the cancer on the industry that it used to be. These days the worst you have to do is uninstall Norton and disable Bing bar and I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks that isn't a net win. But before we get to the part where Sony drops the ball with the VAIO S, we'll take a look at the good stuff.
As far as build quality and style go, the VAIO S is primo for a consumer laptop, no doubt about that. Sony uses a combination of aluminum, plastic, and magnesium alloy for the chassis that's extremely attractive, classy, and best of all, functional. There's just no gloss anywhere. And a weight of under four pounds for a powerful 13.3" notebook is really quite good; as far as heft and portability go, it's comparable to a netbook.
The lid appears to be made out of magnesium alloy, as it displays remarkably little flex when you try to twist the screen. From there, the inside surface is brushed aluminum with a recessed, backlit plastic keyboard. My only real complaint as far as the keyboard is concerned is the lack of dedicated document navigation keys, but given the overall thickness (or lack thereof) I'm inclined to let that slide.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for the touchpad. The tracking surface is something that I think is going to divide a lot of end users; some people will really like it, while some people (like me) are just going to find it doesn't feel particularly comfortable to use. Likewise, the mouse buttons feel stiff and require a bit more pressure than I'm used to. The touchpad and buttons probably shouldn't be a dealbreaker for anyone and most users will be able to get used to them, but this is one area where Sony can improve the design of the VAIO S.
Everything else (physically at least) is pretty stellar, though. Above the keyboard is the eject button for the optical drive, next to the "Stamina / Speed" switch. The "Stamina" mode switches off the AMD Radeon HD 6470M and relies on Intel's IGP, while automatically changing the power profile over to "power saver." On the other hand, the "Speed" mode enables the 6470M and switches the power profile over to "high performance." As I mentioned before, Sony appears to be using muxes to handle graphics switching instead of AMD's dynamic switching software solution, and the screen blinks a couple of times (takes about ten seconds) when switching between modes. Thankfully it doesn't require a reboot.
The VAIO S' battery is housed internally, but a single plate on the bottom of the notebook can be removed to swap it out along with changing the hard drive or adding memory to the single DIMM slot. Clearly the battery isn't designed to be hot-swappable, but it doesn't need to be either; there are grooves on the bottom of the notebook the extended sheet style battery latches into.
And then there's this (and then there's Maude?) I actually had my work cut out for me getting the VAIO S into stomping shape for testing, because the factory restored image has a punishing 100 processes running at the outset, which eventually shrinks down to a more reasonable...97? It's really bad. The bloat on the VAIO isn't just the usual bloatware, a tremendous amount of it is Sony's own pack-in crap. Between all of the junk software and the agonizingly slow 5400RPM hard drive, what should be a fairly agile little computer can actually be rendered nigh unusable. I actually had to do the factory restore after I'd started copying over my test suite; Windows Update running in the background was exactly enough to bring the whole system to a crawl, to the point where the mouse pointer lags hopelessly.
Just to put things in perspective: while I'm writing this review on my desktop, I have Photoshop CS5, Windows Live Mail (quiet you), WinAMP, Steam, Trillian, and Firefox open, along with antiviral software, Dropbox, and my UPS system software in the system tray. That brings me up to about 3.6GB of used memory...and 62 processes.
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I am as mad as hell - Saturday, September 10, 2011 - link
Built-in Logitech/Microsoft Mouse RF receiverMobiusStrip - Saturday, September 17, 2011 - link
Apple has opened up an opportunity to be beaten, by taking cues from second- and third-tier vendors at Best Buy and pushing pathetic glossy screens on everything.Their laptops also suffer from poor, incomplete keyboards. No Delete key? WTF?
But does anyone step up with a state-of-the art, physically elegant competitor? No. They trowel out the same gaudy, chintzy garbage that's saddled with disgraceful crapware.
It's too bad, because as applications become less and less important, the physical incarnation of the computer becomes more important.
gochichi - Saturday, September 10, 2011 - link
It looks like an interesting enough product, and the review highlights that. But what of actually digging in and answering the questions that a potential buyer would want answered?Like, Sony offers a $50 upgrade to Windows 7 Pro, and then you can select "Fresh Start" for no further additional charge. Does this resolve the issue with bloatware? And sony should be getting flamed out of existance for having this as a hidden option (and you guys have some pull in actually changing this for us little guys, not sayinig you have tons of pull but surely more pull than a single concerned consumer).
Also, the screen thing, I didn't even see 1600x900 as a listed option on Sony's website, would it really be that much to ask to get two review units in there and actually give us the information we're all looking for? I want to buy stuff, I want to read stuff that helps me really determine what I will be happy with.
Really enjoyed the review, so much to like about it. I have a Sony right now that has 1600x900 res on a 14", I just put an SSD and vanilla WIndows 7 on it and so I know exactly what you're talking about with that. It's not that it's a bad review, it's that it could be a DEFINITIVE review and its not.
waldojim42 - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
With Win 7 pro, and clean start, I had basic drivers, and a very few select Sony utilities. Basically, enough to get the full user manual, and access the advanced features. It was a nice surprise to have no bloat.As for being hidden, I didn't even have to ask. I bought the i7/6630 version in store, it was a standard option on it.
The 1600x900 screen is only an option on the SB not the SA (or the other way around, I don't remember). Sadly, the machine that can take advantage of it, doesn't have the option. You do not get to have the i7+6630 with the 1600x900.
As mentioned elsewhere on here though, buy third party. Don't buy direct. And get an extended warranty. The repair times are atrocious right now, and they aren't willing to just replace the machine... even new ones.
megaphat - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
The reviewer has repeatedly raised the point of the switching graphics necessitating Sony's drivers (which may not be updated frequently), but I might just point out that the drivers can be unofficially updated. A user has created a driver package (http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/592418-discov... Apparently switching will continue to work, but WiDi requires a few changes.This makes it much more tolerable for gamers. With this in mind, I've ordered myself a SA (with the high res display and 6630).
lfac.pt - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
Just want to drop my opinion on the bloatware subject: I completely agree with the reviewer, the sheer burden of all the useless programs sony includes it's ridiculous. Things like remote play for PS3 or media importers that fire up every time I connect my Android to the PC, jesus... Sony it's shooting itself in the foot with something so obviously wrong (this is user experience 101) that the only reasonable explanation I see of this is pressure from upper management inside Sony to "synergize" with other products/companies.And I am somewhat of a power user, I can't even imagine what the poor souls that don't know who to uninstall a program have suffered in the ram-full-of-crap-stuff-always-popping-up hell :s
omaudio - Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - link
where is the noise info in "battery, noise, and heat'? I have been looking for a replacement for my Gateway LT2102 (LOVE this machine and their support!) and this looks interesting. My ultimate wish list is: 3lbs, backlit keys, cuda ready switchable gpu, quiet, 1366x768 minimum res, 5+hrs battery, 1.3mp web cam or higher, wireless hdmi (Intel?), bluetooth, gigabit LAN, decent trackpad buttons (ASUS=fail) etc.:)
nutral - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
The 6630 has the exact same graphics chip as the 6650, 6670, 6730, 6750 and 6770. the 6750 and 6770 have gddr5 memory instead of gddr3 of the others.I actually overklocked my hd6630 graphics chip from 485 to 748mhz. wich is over the speed of the 6730. The heat hasn't changed much but the performance is 25% higher, with a memory overklock from 800 to 900 i'm getting benchmark scores between the 6750 and the 6770. Mind you, the upgraded macbook pro 15inch has a 6750, so for a 13inch laptop it's quite some performance.
I think it would be able to overklock every 6630 to around 600mhz, wich is the speed of a 6650M.
frodbonzi - Saturday, December 3, 2011 - link
So it's been almost 3 months since this review... and Sony is selling the SA at approximately the same price as the SB was...I recently ordered the VPCSA390S :
Intel® Core™ i5-2430M processor (2.40GHz / 3.00GHz with Turbo Boost)
4GB (4GB fixed onboard + 1 open SDRAM slot) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
13.3" LED backlit display (1600x900)
128GB (128GB x1) solid state drive
Extended Sheet Battery (Standard Capacity Battery + Large Capacity Sheet Battery)
Price before tax was $1379 CAD - I had a ton of Sony points I had to redeem before Dec 31, so it ended up being free - hence the purchase despite possibly many other better laptops in this price range...
I'm wondering - does anyone have this laptop (or reasonably close) and can say whether the upgrades over this article's laptop make it substantially better? Curious about the screen quality and the SSD difference especially.
fagus195623 - Thursday, April 19, 2012 - link
is it sata 2 or 3in the first bios R1031h4 it was actived,
later, last bios it was deactived R2085h4
Nice when you did buy a 1000 euro laptop