Sony VAIO VGN-S470P Laptop Review by PC Magazine

Sony VAIO VGN-S470P Laptop Review by PC Magazine Sony VAIO VGN-S470P
REVIEW DATE: 08.04.05
BOTTOM LINE:
The Sony VAIO VGN-S470P packs a walloping performance in a remarkably sleek and slim design.

PROS:
Travel friendly. Good performance. Very good graphics. Stylish.

CONS:
Below-average battery life. Expensive additional battery. Base gets warm.

COMPANY:
Sony Corporation

SPEC DATA
Price: $1,899.00 Direct
Type: Business, Gaming, General Purpose, Media, Ultraportable
Operating System: MS Windows XP Professional
Processor Name: Intel Pentium M 740
Processor Speed: 1.73 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Drive Capacity: 80 GB
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 6200 Go
Primary Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW
Wireless: 802.11g
Screen Size: 13.3 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
System Weight: 4.3 lbs
EDITOR RATING:

By Joel Santo Domingo

Sony has always delivered impressively designed systems that inspired envy, and lately the company has been adding quite a bit of power to its systems as well. Its latest laptop, the VAIO VGN-S470P ($1,899.99 direct as tested), offers an impressive combination of power, sleekness, and portability. If you're looking for a very lightweight notebook that can efficiently handle tough workloads, this is the system for you.

The 4.3-pound laptop has a thin cover that houses a 13.3-inch XBrite widescreen, giving it a slim footprint (1.0 by 12.5 by 8.7 inches, HWD). The 1,280-by-800 resolution is good for graphics, movies, basic office apps like spreadsheets, and composing e-mails.

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The ports are what you'd expect on a laptop of this size: There are two USB (we wish they had squeezed in three) and one FireWire. We were impressed with the inclusion of the dual-layer DVD+/-RW drive (DVD+RW for dual-layer media) which will let you record up to 8.5GB of data, music, and video. Although that media is currently hard to find and a bit pricey, this drive is a nice addition. The 80GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive is also extremely attractive for such a small system, worthy of handling all your music and movie files, as well as adding a performance boost. The card reader will read only Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro formats—typical of Sony.

The VGN-S470P includes powerful components, such as a Pentium M 740 (1.73 GHz), 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, and discrete graphics powered by nVidia to complement the strong feature set. The system outperformed our current Editors' Choice, the significantly heavier HP Pavilion dv4000 ($1,429), on our SYSmark 2004 tests, even with a lower processor clock rate. It also outperformed the Dell Inspiron 700m ($1,199), which is similar in size, weight, and screen, but has older Centrino components. Such powerful performance is a boon, but it makes the base of the system get quite warm after about an hour.

The nVidia GeForce Go 6200 is perhaps the VGN-S470P's most attractive component. It's capable of running graphics-intensive applications, and delivered good numbers on our 3D and gaming tests. Battery life (2:42) did suffer a bit because of the discrete graphics. PCI Express graphics tend to draw a lot more from the battery than do the integrated Intel offerings found in the Dell 700m (5:30) and the HP dv4000 (3:17). Normally, we would recommend an additional battery, but in Sony's case, the additional battery will cost $300—a bit expensive for the average consumer, but if you frequently travel cross-country, it might be worth the investment.

The Sony VAIO VGN-S470P is a wonderful blend of style, power, and lightweight portability that will please commuters and frequent business travelers alike, as well as anyone who seeks power in small package.

Check out the reviews mentioned here in a side-by-side comparison table.
Sony VAIO VGN-S470P's Test Results

Multimedia Tests
PC Magazine uses the same tests and the same scale when rating the multimedia—Music, Photos, Video, Gaming—on desktops and notebooks. We do this so it is easy to compare consumer notebooks against consumer desktops in addition to comparisons within each category. As a guide: the best desktops will score above a 90 on a given subject, and the best notebooks will score above a 70. The reason for this is even the most advanced notebook will have to give up some capabilities, when compared to a desktop, for portability: notably size and weight compromises that affect hard drive space and screen size, as well as power compromises that affect CPU and graphics performance.

Subratings (out of 100):
Music: 58
Photo: 63
Video: 35
Gaming: 47

Benchmark Test Results
Check out the Sony VAIO VGN-S470P's test scores.