Review of Sony's new Vaio S laptop

TrustedReviews checks out Sony's latest ultralight laptop, the Vaio VGN-S1VP, which weighs under four pounds and comes with a 13.3-inch widescreen LCD screen (a rare size for a laptop), built-in 802.11g, a DVD/CD-RW combination drive, a 1.7GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive.

[Via Designtechnica]

[Dithermaster @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Also, the S150 doesn't have all the options that the S1VP has, but the S170 let's you customize all the way up to a 2G proc and 1G RAM. Ordered my S150 last week, but don't have it yet... Argh, local retailer has 14 in stock.
///d@

[josh ott @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

supposedly noisy fan may kill it for me- but I have to admit this is a sweet little machine... I think it's the perfect size- (I just held one in my hands at J&R in NYC)

[Foday @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I agree with all the positive comments in the TR review. I've had an S170 (I believe that's the US equivalent of the model reviewed above) for two weeks now, and I am completely happy with it. I read the TR review while awaiting delivery, and the fan noise critique concerned me. But you can adjust the power setting to slow down/shut off the fan without any noticeable effect on computing power/speed. My old Toshiba satellite had an obnoxious noisy fan, so I'm sympathetic to the problem. But it seems to me like a non-issue with this Sony. Certainly it didn't merit the emphasis the TR reviewer gave it. If my experience is the norm, you'll love this laptop.

[Straw @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I have just received my S170 that I ordered. I am satisfied with the LCD, Keyboard, and pretty much everything about this laptop except for the fan noise. This noise is just amazing. I did not think VAIO still makes this kind of noise in 2004. It was noisy though in 1998. I thought improvement would have been made by now. But it was not the case. My opinion is based on the comparison vs. IBM ThinkPad X series. I have X31 right now. And I used to use X22 also. They never make this kind of noise. If you use ThinkPad for a while, you will see how noisy this VAIO sounds to my ears.

[Richard @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I'm now on my second S150. I had bought one, experienced the terrible fan noise, and thought it must be a defect. So, I returned it, and found that the new one was exactly the same! ARGH!!! Could it be this bad? Anyone have some suggestions on fixes or do you all think this is just how it's going to be?

[sajid modan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I bought the VGN-S150 two weeks ago and noticed that when looking at a pure white background (such as a Word document), there seems to be a shade of grey at the left and right hand side periperheries of the screen. It is very fade but distinct. Anyone have this isue?

[josh ott @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

ok- so since I wrote the above comment I caved and bought a tricked out vgn-s170 from sonystyle.com. The fan noise IS awful. TR is right on with their review... It is a variable speed fan that spins faster depending on how hot the CPU gets. So adjusting the fan = adjusting the CPU speed. If you need the computer to run fast, the fan is very loud. I have been searching for some kind of solution to this- (I need the computer to run FAST) but have been unable to find anything. I'm hoping someone will sell a replacement that has fluid bearings or something and will run silently. This is really my only gripe with this computer- other than that I love it, it's the perfect size. Unfortunately I bought it to use in a home audio studio, which is turning out to be impossible unless I am using it as a coaster (lid closed and computer off).

[peter jones @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Noisy Fan:
I have changed the settings to quiet. That's in CPU Fan Control in the control panel but it is still as noisy. The variable noise is the worst thing.

[NA @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I've got an S170 (2Ghz, 1G RAM, 80G HDD, DVD-R) and I love the little monster. Sure the fan IS VERY NOISY, IF and only IF you leave the power settings at the default. Who leaves a PERSONAL computer (work or home) with the defaults? Anyway, tweak the settings, the fan noise becomes tolerable. If you're not doing anything intensive, set the CPU to variable, and the fans will only get noisy when the CPU throttles up.

My BIGGEST complaint, is the hard drive. When I'm using the system (typing, surfing, etc.) the drive is quiet. When the system is sitting there idle, the drive 'clicks' every second or two. I've defragged, etc. Called tech support, and then googled the snot out of the issue. The drive just 'does that' and every diagnostic comes clean.

Oh, and as for the grey appearance at the edge of the screen, that's normal for Xbrite systems (and the like). It's not really there. Slide your head to the left or right and watch the apparent color change. It's part of the combo anti-glare/privacy thing.

The weight is nice even with the large battery, the keyboard feels amazing for a laptop.

My 60 cents.

[Greg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I'd gladly change the power settings to reduce the fan noise even if it means running much slower. But I don't see how. Perhaps I'm missing a config program. What's the procedure?

[Shang @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

I got fan noise as well. I have checked the fan. It is a TOSHIBA fan. I do not know why SONY uses TOSHIBA fan, it is really loud. If you want to replace the fan, it have to replace the cooling kits as well. it is a really nice laptop, but the fan noise make it bad.

[Tom @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Fan noise - I agree with Greg's message - What's the procedure to reduce the fan noise from factory default to quiet? And, any other suggestions please.

[Todd @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

The fan is so loud it is embarrassing to go to the library with it. Please, what can I do to quiet this thing??

[Mark B @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

S3 has a noise like a denttal surgery with the window open - The machine is great - a real winner, but for the fan! I would pay for hardware fix if I could find one - one other gripe - the underside vents are easily obscured - triggering the fan - or if you use it on your lap - it makes fricasee of thigh! Hot in every sense it seems. Like all great things they come with a great downside!

I run Hmonitor and after only some surfing and this comment the CPU runs at 60 degrees and the HD runs at 49... outside is 16 - that is a lot of heatwith a low cpu power requirement and adjusted settings! - Still it is better than the other options available on the market today - Sony won't fix it until the competition makes them do it.

[Bryan timmons @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Any news on how to stop the pod racer noise coming from my S4XP's fan. I'm already running on No 1 quite/variable. Surely someones figured out how to swap out the fans.
Great laptop spoiled by a stupid hardware problem.
Cheers.