I'm gonna rate this as an 8/10 on this old VAIO. Detailed (ish) review thingy...
I found more bugs --
Icon-setter doesn't seem to work, the bottom tray blinks and that's all that happens. (Not that it matters with the icon-setter nonfunctional, but I hope somewhere I can get more icon themes...
)
The harp sound gets old fast. (Easily changed tho!) Perhaps 2barks.au would've been more... traditional?
Speaking of sound, this thing is LOUD! (but that might be the VAIO) Also an easy fix to that issue
I've never had much luck with Frisbee as my network manager (I tend to go with SNS) -- perhaps it would be good to put the old Connect Wizard back in? Also, since I'm *used to* looking for the Connect Wizard, it was really unintuitive no to have Frisbee at least in the Menu. Doubly so because the idea of clicking the icon to set up networking will be foreign to Windblows users as well...
HardInfo isn't here, so I can't report detailed info on the hardware on this old heap...
Some good things --
My cardbus four-port USB2 hub works
this is very good since the VAIO's original two ports are long since shot. (They were used to death!)
Performance is pretty decent overall. The system is remarkably responsive, although Firefox does seem to tax it, and Flash has a problem -- Firefox asks to install it, and YouTube wants to upgrade it. But it works anyways... confusing.
Overall... not bad at all for a 2006ish "ultraportable" laptop!
Specs of the test system --
Sony VAIO VGN-S360
1.7GHz Pentium M CPU
1gb RAM (2x512 "MicroDIMMs")
120gb almost-dead HDD
CD-R/RW - DVD-ROM "Combo" Drive
ATI Mobility RADEON 9700 graphics chip ('radeon' driver)
13.3" 1280x800 screen
WiFi b/g Card (don't remember what kind, Frisbee autodetected it and won't tell me the driver)
4-port Cardbus USB2 Hub
~65w AC Adapter (16v 4a)