Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGN-S460/B 13.3" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 740, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HArd Drive, DVD+R Dbl Layer/DVD+/-RW Drive)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I've had this for about four or five monts. Let's start with the pros...

1) The screen is BEAUTIFUL. Everything is crisp and clear and realllly bright. Pop in a dvd and you'll see what i'm talking about.
2) I heart the graphics card. It can handle all the games I've installed so far. And how often do you find a card this nice in such a lightweight computer?
3) Uber-Light. People say that there's no difference between this and a 5-lb computer, but trust me, there is. It feels like an actual notebook when you carry it around.

The in-betweens...

1) Battery life - Actually I can't complain. I usually get about 2.5 hrs on this, but that is when I'm using full brightness, running Photoshop, listening to music, and doing a virus scan. So, i guess this isnt bad at all for a 4lb. computer.
2)Card Reader - I like it, and it works since I have a Sony camera, but I'd like to see a 6-in-1. But then again, I'm not surprised that SOny has a reader that only supports Sony cards.
3) Hard Drive - 80GB. I want more, but I'm being picky. This is more than enough for most people.

And the cons...

My only complaint is the heat. It's pretty hot, and I'm not exaggerating. After 1/2 hour on my lap, i have to find a desk, because my legs are burning. I mean, this thing is literally hot to the touch. I didn't think it would be such a problem when I first bought it, but now its just annoying me that I have to put a book under it so my legs don't burn.

Overall: Definitely earns the Vaio logo in terms of power and functionality, but the heat it produces would definitely make me consider other laptops...

I got my Vaio S460 10 days ago, I've been playing around with it a lot and am very satisfied with it. About the heat issue, I kind of expected it to be hot after reading some reviews in this site, but to my surprise I found out that it is not that hot. Ok, it gets warm, but not being able to place it on your lap is an exaggeration. I have spent many hours with this laptop on my lap without any discomfort. I've read that most heat is produced by the video card GPU, and there is an option available for reducing heat production and fan noise by decreasing the GPU speed, but I bought this laptop because of the dedicated video card so I don't see myself using that option.

About the fan issue, it is not even an issue; it is not at all noisy. It gets on and off repeatedly but is not by any means annoying. The DVD drive does get noisy when reading some data DVDs but then again, it is not annoying.

The keyboard is just perfect sized, you wont have any trouble using it, the computer is really fast and the screen is awesome, very bright, I usually use it in brightness 6 when on AC power and in 3 when on battery to extend battery life. The laptop size is very convenient; I just get it in my backpack and I'm gone. It weights less than the books I used to carry around and it looks really sleek and fancy. I'm getting around 3 hours 30 min of battery life, maybe not the best around, but it is ok for my needs. The only thing that bothered me was to create my own recovery kit, sony should include recovery discs with the laptop.

So, it is a very fast, sleek and eye catching little machine, and I would definitely buy it again if I had to buy another laptop.

Unlike this particular model, I got the customizable VGN-S480 with 1GB stick of RAM, the Pentium M 770 processor (2.13 GHz) as well as the nVIDIA GeoForce graphics card and an 80GB hard drive.

It's true that it does get pretty warm, probably more so than those with the 740, 750 or 760 processors. So much so that it started to bother me after placing my right hand on it after a half an hour or so. Very disconcerting, especially when you have your right hand placed next to the machine because it's too hot to keep it on the rest panel, only to have the heat-sink (on the right hand side of the machine) blow hot air over your hand as it rests on the table. It reminds me of an engine exhaust.

Another thing I didn't like about it is there is no Home, Page Up, Page Down or End keys on the right side of the keyboard. I use those keys a lot!! You have to use the cumbersome right, left, up and down arrow keys to navigate if you're in a place where you can't use an external mouse.

The last straw was when I put the desktop in classic Windows mode (instead of the default XP mode with silver tray and Sony desktop background) only to find dark shadow streaks appear over the Start button on the bottom left, and over the Clock over the bottom right. It's almost as if the LCD was pinched in the lower corners during the manufacturing process. When I spoke to a tech over the phone, he said all the S-Series do this and to avoid looking at it, I should go and switch back into XP mode using the silver colored service tray (instead of XP blue or the Win2000-looking, classic grey) and it would mask this defect.

Needless to say, it went back to Sony after I heard this.

I'm not giving up on Sony, yet. I've had a PCG-F580 for the last six years and it's a great little workhorse that I can no longer upgrade.

I think I'll try their A-Series next. Yeah I know it's twice the size of the S480, but I don't care...

I just got the S460 a few days ago, and was really suprised at how HOT it gets on the bottom of the notebook only on the right side. Whenever I type I can feel the underside of my hand warming up. It really is quite annoying. It makes me not want to use the notebook as much! I've been using a PCG-FX340 sony vaio that I got in 2001, and am really missing how it doesn't actually burn my hand as I use it.

The fan is noticeable. I'm still debating whether or not I should return this notebook!

Follow-up (2005/7/16):

After a month of using my Sony S460, I have to say that the heat problem is still bothering me.

I saw someone mentioned that his "S260" doesn't have heat issue and he believes people who have S460 exaggerate too much. Before I bought my S460 I have checked many laptops available at local stores and none of them generates that much heat like S460 does. Even the Sony S430, which comes with ATA 60GB hard disk, has a lot less heat on the right hand side than S460. I asked the sales person about my concern and he believes that the extensive heat on the right hand side of the S460 is coming from the SATA 80GB hard disk. I really doubted his comment at that time until I determined to find out why the right hand side of my S460 is getting that hot. At first I thought it was the Intel wireless card since it's sitting at the right hand side. It is easy to be removed so I took it out and turned on the notebook but the heat was still there. I finally took apart my S460 and indeed the SATA 80GB Fujitsu MHT2080BH hard disk is also sitting at right hand side above the main board and Intel wireless card which is getting really hot after it is spinning for a while!

If you have different Sony S notebook or with different hard disk you heat issue may be less severe than my S460. But if you have Fujitsu 80GB SATA drive you definitely will feel the heat!

I also noticed that Sony has put a PDF file at their website with PARTIALLY correct info (256MBX2) on the S460 memory even though they still say 512MBX1 at everywhere else. Still we're getting 333 MHz instead of 400 MHz DDR2 RAM as the spec sheet specified.

I hope people who have S460 and feel the heat on the right hand side is too excessive can keep calling Sony Support on this heat issue and pressure them to have recall on this HOT Fujitsu hard disk. After all, even Sony admitted on their service bulletin: "Do not use the notebook computer on your lap for an extended period of time." And "Extended contact with the computer or adapter may cause discomfort."

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I agree with "Amazon Fan" almost 100%. I didn't believe what he said until I bought an S460 and tested by myself. This unit is the "hottest" (temperature wise of course) notebook I've ever used. As Amazon Fan mentioned, "this laptop gets heated up so much that you cannot hold it, the meaning of "LAP"TOP loses its meaning"! (I guess that's why Sony call it notebook instead of laptop.) And I don't know how many people can withstand that kind of temperature on their right hand without wearing a glove. Even Sony "admitted" this heat problem (got it from Sony Tech Support):

(...)
"Do not use the notebook computer on your lap for an extended period of time." and
"Extended contact with the computer or adapter may cause discomfort."

Another big issue to me is Sony's false advertising on their web site and putting inferior parts in this notebook. The specs at their web site for all S Series (VGN-S430/S460/S470) on memory:

Memory - 512MB PC-3200 400MHz DDR2 (512MBx1)

But what I found that there are two SamSung's 256MB (333MHz according to BlueDemon) memory modules in my S460. As a matter of fact I've checked many S460's at local retail stores and they all come with the same 256MBx2. This will prevent users to add more memory without throwing away some existing memory since both memory slots have been occupied. And if you notice that Sony do charge ADDITIONAL $100 for a single 400 MHz 512MB memory module than two 400 MHz 256MB memory modules when you're customizing S480 and S380 notebooks. This is a rip off by Sony and their tech support simply replied: "It's a misprint!"

Now I also believe Amazon Fan that "don't bet on Sony customer service, they will not accept that it is their fault".

I've been working with my new Vaio for three weeks now. I was attracted to its sleek design, bright screen and portability. I read the reviews about how noisy it is and how hot the processor gets. I chose to ignore them because I wanted a sleek, cool looking machine. And now I must suffer for my design sensibilities. The fan is frustratingly noisy and it goes off every thirty seconds because of the heat the processor generates. Incidentally, the review about it being able to burn a bare leg is spot on. I haven't done it, but it's that hot!

It's a good looking machine but there must be others just as sleek but better designed. Keep looking! I'd return this but I can't deal with the hassle of back-up and restoring.

This is a sleek and well designed laptop, Its amazing!Before buying this I read the specs (and reviews by experts) of many laptops. Also looked at it in 3D to get visual feel for it and others.

At 4.3 lbs LCD 13.3 inches 740 pentium centrino (1.73GHz)with a high tech NVIDIA card (128MB dedicated memory) and DVD+double layer writer .....you can't go wrong.

The size is perfect not too small and not too big. Cant fit neatly in your bag/ backpac.

It does get a lttle warm but its tolerable. It doesn't burn. Can still keep it on my thighs with no problem. Have no problem with the fan. Its amazingly quiet, but occasionally it cuts in or should i say speeds up to cool the laptop then gets silent again. Trust me , you don't notice the fan. Mine is in silent mode. As one review says , you can change the speed!

My only two regrets (but minor) are the battery life....I'm only getting 2 1/2 hours!!! and the battery fits slightly loose. Again its not a real issue, I'm just being a perfectionist here.

Secondly, I would have loved built in bluetooth. Settled this problem by getting the Zoom Bluetooth PC card Adapter. It fits perfect!

Performance of this machine is better than my Sony Vaio pentium 4 1.3 GHz desktop. This machine is FAST! Can't wait to see how it performs when I expand my memory to 2Gb tomorrow...will you you inform!!

No other brand of laptop comes close to producing the sharpness and life-like colour compare to this sony vaio s460!

Oh Sony is lucky though that I didn't remove a star! The S460 is 5 star but I give Sony a 3Star for not providing a recovery disc...have to make your own. NOT KOOL SONY!!Also limited accessories...they only provide a power adapter. For $1899.00 come guys , give a least the recovery disc.

All in all, you can't go wrong with this laptop. Its beautifully crafted (makes others envious), its truly mobile and functional with great performance.

After extensive research, online and in person, it was clear that the VGN-S460 was the best overall match to my needs. After reading all the reviews with compliants about heat and fan noise, I made a second pilgrimage to see one in person again. This display model was running videos all day, and just wasn't hot enough to be a problem, so I bought one from Amazon.

I've just returned from a 3 week trip to NY, Mass., Maine and New Hampshire. The VAIO was used for downloading and storing 6-7 gigs of images from digital cameras, for online access using ethernet and Wi-Fi, for reviewing and editing pictures, as a map resource, etc. It performed flawlessly.

It does get pretty warm and the fan does run at varying speeds, but it never got hot enough to be a danger to itself or my flesh, although I put something under it when on my bare legs on a couple of very hot muggy days in Brooklyn. On the other hand, it is pretty cozy on a cool, foggy day on the Maine coast. The fan noise just isn't an issue for me, and I usually used it in very quiet environments.

The only problem I had was with burning my image files to DVD for backup. Sony includes some DVD writing software to do fancy stuff, but none I could find for simple data files. Picasa2, free from Google.com, turned out to be great, as it automatically indexes the images and will write backups to CD or DVD.

However, I was having trouble with errors in the copied files. After much time wasted, I bought some different writable DVDs. I don't know yet whether the VAIO DVD writer doesn't work with Memorex 8x DVD+R discs or if I got some bad discs, but Memorex CD-R and Maxell DVD+RW discs worked fine. Lesson - test everything before hitting the road!

As others have said, the screen is one of the best around, bright and sharp, significantly better than others I looked at. The keyboard is very good, with full size spacing and decent feel. All in all, a great machine. I did add 1gb of memory for image editing and other memory hog apps.

My previous notebook was a VAIO PCG-505, which I used for many years and still works as a secondary wireless web access, but the 300mhz processor and 64mb of memory were finally too small and slow. It would get very hot if left running on something soft and insulating, at least as hot as this new one, and could be uncomfortable on bare legs. And it's still running after 6 years.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the VAIO VGN-S460

I don't really know what they are complaining abvout. When the fan comes on in mine it is a very quiet hum, in no way distracting or annoying. It does run a little hot, but so did my previous Gateway. It perfroms great, and is extremely light and easy to transport. To me, a great computer that is getting a bad rap because of a fan problem I don't even think exists.

There have been complaints about the fan noise. On my unit when the fan is going full blast, it sounds about the same as a CD Drive on a Desktop computer. Not terrible but I can see how it may be annoying to some people.

The other bad thing about this unit is that it will only accept Sony brand batteries, so if you want a high power battery expect to pay $250-350 instead of about $100.00 for an OEM.

What sold me was the high quality LCD display, the best and sharpest one I have seen, even though it does not compare with my desktop CRT.

Other than the battery issue, I would give this unit 5 stars.

Jim Christensen
www.uwphoto.net