Sony VAIO VGN-S360 13.3" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 735, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

Other products by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 8.8 x 1.4 inches ; 4.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00079F7J8
• Item model number: VGN-S360
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,148 in Computers & PC Hardware (See Bestsellers in Computers & PC Hardware)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 16, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazingly slim and light, superbly stylish, and packed full of powerful productivity features, the Sony Vaio VGN-S360 is a great traveling companion, weighing just over 4 pounds. It features integrated 54g wireless connectivity and a battery-sipping Intel Centrino processor for long life while on the road. It also offers such Sony technologies as the sharp XBRITE LCD and Smart Display Sensor, which instantly adjusts resolution when you connect to a display or a projector. It also features an 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, an ATI Mobility Radeon video card with 64 MB of video RAM, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, and Windows XP Home Edition (Service Pack 2).

The Basics Hard Drive: The 80 GB Ultra ATA hard drive (4,200 RPM) is one of the larger sizes you'll find in a notebook, and it's a big benefit for such an entertainment-centric PC. It offers more than enough capacity for storing documents and productivity software for road warriors. You'll also be able to store a good-size digital audio library. Processor: The Intel Pentium M processor is designed specifically for mobile computing, offering a balanced level of mobile-optimized processor technology, good mobile performance, and exceptional value. It features a Deep Sleep state, which helps enable longer battery life by minimizing the power consumption of the processor during brief periods of inactivity. The 1.7 GHz speed is near the top of the speed spectrum for this processor (as of winter 2004), and is on par with a 2.5 GHz Pentium 4-M. It also offers a 400 MHz front-side bus (FSB) speed and a large 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data, and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.)
	Sony Vaio VGN-S360 1.7 GHz Pentium M 512 MB RAM 80 GB HD Windows XP Home	Sony Vaio VGN-S360P 1.7 GHz Pentium M 512 MB RAM 80 GB HD Windows XP Professional

• Memory: The 512 MB of built-in memory (1 x 512 MB, DDR SDRAM) is a good start for power users, and it offers a faster-than-average RAM speed (333 MHz). It has two memory slots, with a maximum memory expansion of only 1 GB (2 x 512 MB), which is a smaller maximum than other entertainment-centric laptops.

• CD/DVD Drive: The combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive can read, write, and rewrite CDs at 24x speed. It can read DVDs at 8x speed.

• Keyboard and Mouse: This notebook has a standard 82-key keyboard and an electro-static two-button touchpad.

Screen, Graphics, and Sound This ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 is a strong video/graphics card for a notebook PC, and it features 64 MB of DDR video RAM and longer battery life, thanks to ATI's Low-K Technology. It's suitable for the high frame rates of DVD movies and immersive 3D PC games and will drive an external monitor that works in tandem with the notebook's LCD. The 13.3-inch WXGA LCD has a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels. It also offers an integrated audio card with built-in speakers. Preloaded System and Software This system comes with the Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 operating system with Advanced Security Technologies, which helps to reduce unwanted downloads and pop-ups while surfing the Web. It also comes loaded with a bevy of Sony multimedia software: Vaio Zone with WinDVD (for watching DVD movies), PictureGear Studio (digital photo), SonicStage (digital music), Vaio Media (network file sharing), and DVgate Plus (digital video). Other preloaded software includes Quicken 2005 New User Edition, Microsoft Works 8.0 (with word processing, spreadsheet, and calendar), Norton Internet Security (with 90-day subscription), and SpySubtract.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots The VGN-S360 has an integrated 54g wireless LAN that's compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks. You get a good offering of connectivity options, including both USB 2.0 and i.Link (Firewire): 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals 1 VGA monitor port 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II, 32-bit) 1 headphone jack 1 microphone jack Memory Stick media slot, compatible with Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Gb Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems). Dimensions and Weight One of the lightest notebooks around, the VGN-S360 weighs just 4.2 pounds. It measures a tiny 12.3 inches wide, 8.85 inches deep, and 1.39 inches high.

The S360 features a full suite of software applications, including SonicStage, which enables you to listen to, manage, and transfer your music library.

Power
It's powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery (PCGA-BPS2), which can run between 2 and 6 hours.

What's in the Box
This package contains the VGN-S360 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a 1-year limited hardware warranty.

Product Description
Includes: lithium-ion, AC adapter, and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 Sony VGN-S360 VAIO(R) Notebook PC - This notebook PC is a great traveling companion, featuring the power and technology you need to run everything from word processing applications to the latest video games while you're on the road. ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 Built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi Wireless Adapter DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive 10/100 Ethernet

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Notebook, March 18, 2005

By	W. Chua - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recently bought this notebook 1 month prior and absolutely love it. There are no dead pixels and the screen is great for movies. So far I haven't been bothered by any glare from the screen. The notebook is very light and portable. The screen can seem a little small especially compared with a nonwide screen 14 or 15 inch laptop but it is very sharp and you get used to it. There are no other notebooks in its weight and size class with the ATI 9700 video card which will let you play most of the recent games. Even if you don't play games, subcompact notebooks that use the old Intel integrated graphics won't be able to use the future version of windows as it will require direct x support. The new Intel 900 graphics card does but is not as fast as the ATI 9700. Battery life is great depending on the settings. Routing surfing will give you around 4-5 hours depending on the screen, volume, wifi, and processor settings. The other 15inch screen thin and light notebooks feel heavy afterwhile especially with all the accessories. Some people have had fan noise issues but I don't notice it, it may be per system.

Cons- All the software is preinstalled which is useless. There is no windows OS cd, you can make a set of windows recovery cds from a hidden partition on the harddrive which will reinstall the system to its factory state. There is no S-video out. Only 2 USB ports. The harddrive is not an easy upgrade but some people may notice a difference going from a 4200rpm to a 7200 rpm drive but I didn't notice much. Also to use Page up and down you need to use the FN key which is a little annoying for fast scrolling. It's possible to upgrade the CPU and harddrive but I'm not sure how the heat will affect the system in this small form factor. Also this baby uses the sony memory slot which very few people use. An SD slot would be more useful. You can see dust accumulate on the screen easily. sony support is also poorly rated though I haven't used it. It also uses micro dimms which are expensive. 512 mbs will run you around 120 dollars.

If you get this system-These are some things you must do and have.

1-Make a recovery set of CDs and buy windows xp to do a clean install which you cant with the recovery cds. Windows home is fine unless you are going to use this for a university or corporate network. All the drivers can be installed with the recovery cd without installing all the other crappy applications that was included.

2-Downloading tune xp to optimize windows. Also check out black viper's web site(you can google it) to disable certain windows xp services that slow down memory. Delete unused fonts to make windows load faster.

3-Get an optical mouse. The two best are the microsoft notebook optical mouse and the Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse USB

4-The belkin LCD cleaning kit which contains a 2 sided brush, 1 for dust and the other for applying the isopropyl alcohol solution to clean the screen.

5-At least 1 gig of memory.

6-Open office which is a freeware office utility sweet which is smaller then ms office and has most of the essential features. Version 2 is still in beta but is about to be released which has improved functions. Only con is powerpoint is not as beefier as microsofts.

7-DVD shrink, which lets you store dvds on the harddrive to save battery

8-antivirus

9-adaware, spybot, spywareblaster, post it notes lite

With the 250 rebate, this baby is worth it. Fujitsu is another alternative with a great screen as well but their small notebooks don't have the good video card. You probably don't need this much power if you are just going to do internet, word processing, or powerpoint but dont skimp on screen quality as you will regret it.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars don't buy this nootbook, May 18, 2005

By	Idifie - See all my reviews

I read the comment about the fan noise this computer has, but I didn't care and bought this computer anyway. I just got this laptop today and the first thing I noticed is how ridiculously loud the fan is. I have a Dell laptop, but I can't hear the fan on my Dell's even when I press my ear against it. I called Sony's Service Center, they told me that alot of customers have called them complaining about the fan problem and a investigation is underway, but I am so pissed off right now because this product has a blatantly defective fan and Sony has failed to pull it out of the market.
Honestly, the fan makes so MUCH noise that this computer is not even worth buying.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Buy..Sony doesn't support customer, July 3, 2005

By	V. Coker (San Antonio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just bought this laptop in june. In just five days after loading software and briefly using it the screen went bad. So I called sony and explained the problem and the man at sony said it is a hardware problem and he would send a box to return it in for repair.I returned it in his box and waited. After not hearing anything I called sony to find out the status. He said the LCD inside the computer was broken and then he said it would cost me $783.00 to have it fixed. I explained to him about how careful I had handled it and it was either a manufacture flaw or either Best Buy and poor handling by them.I explained to him that after paying $2,400 with extended warranty I was extra careful.He kept on pointing the finger at me.
So the bottom line is I have to pay $783.00 for poor workmanship by sony. I will never buy anything with a higher price tag from sony or Best Buy again as they do not value customers and take care of them.