Questions for S6520 owners

Hey everyone, I am interested in buying the S6520 from Costco.ca.

I have a few questions. It comes with 1x1 GB ram, which means I will add 2GB stick to it.

Questions

1) Is it easy to install memory on this notebook?

2) According to the website, it's 1.4inch thick! How can it be that thick and still so light?

3) The advertised battery is 7 hours, which seems unrealistic, but is it possible to reach 5-6 hours?

4) Is the screen matte or glossy?

5) Are there any notable issues with this notebook? I hope not because I really want it.

Thanks!

 

I have the S6510, so I'll answer your questions according to my experiences with that notebook.

1) It should be as easy as unscrewing a plate on the bottom, pushing the stick in, and replacing the plate.

2) It's well-designed?

3) I don't know about 7 hours, but I would believe 5-6 with wireless turned off and the screen set to low brightness.

4) Mine is glossy, unfortunately. It looks good, but I prefer matte.

5) The only thing I've found that I really dislike is the fact that the audio port is on the front. I would rather have it on the side.

 

Hey Firstwave, I had the 6520 and returned it, so let me provide a devil's advocate viewpoint in response to your question 5:

5. Great, light computer that weighed 3.8 lbs when I took the optical drive out and put the weightsaver module in (I weighed it). A minor issue was that the vertical viewing angle was poor, and no matter what angle you looked at it the top or bottom would look a bit dark or dim, depending (not the case at all with the VAIO SR I'm typing on).

A major issue, for me, was fan noise. The fan is louder than other laptops I've used, and is on all throughout charging, and half the time when on battery, and sometimes just randomly while idling for no reason. I tried undervolting and the whole nine yards (adjusting BIOS, etc)--no dice. Also, on the third and fourth day I had it, the hard drive would click every 15 seconds or so, which was annoying. Finally, the space bar was not responsive on the very right hand edge, which is where I hit it sometimes.

So I returned it, but would not have if the fan wasn't on so often, or was pretty quiet when on. Even with the other minor problems. Because it is really quite light and even looks cool with the thin bezel.

Hope this helps!

 

Oh yes, and my battery life was around 4.5 hours, which was quite good for me. And the glossy screen didn't reflect very much at all, which was nice. Colors were extremely bright and sharp. There was a bit of bleed, but not much.

 

Thank you guys!

 

My apologies for jumping in.. Wonder if the S6520 has a slot for WWAN?

 

it has an empty slot supposedly for a HSDPA module (if yours is not the 3.5G model)
but S6520 already had built-in wwan...

 

Wonder if you've any photo of it?

I'm thinking whether to buy a S6520. In my region it's Fujitsu and not Fujitsu-Siemens. AFAIK only the Fujitsu-Siemens has built-in WWAN... A bit worried on this part, as the retail stores sure wouldn't allow me to take their display set apart to check if there are WWAN antennas present.

Tried Fujitsu support, but the support line just cut me off by saying 'there is no WWAN support for our 6520'. They wouldn't say if there are antennas built-in or not.

 

i made a mistake...
not all models of s6520 have WWAN
i thought you were talking about wirelesss lan...
mine has only WLAN...and an empty WWAN slot
the 3.5G card slot is behind the battery, you can try plug in your card
all s6520s have that card slot but not the module, so you'll need a card to try it

 

Hmmm. Are there one or two free antenna ends left around the empty WWAN slot area of your S6520? What I'm worried is that they might remove the WWAN antennas altogether from the chassis if I don't have a WWAN configuration from the factory.

 

I've opened the bottom cover but i don't really know where to look for the antennas...
i can't even see the wifi antennas

 

thank's for tips

 

Thanks for checking

Guess I'll have to hunt around to see any of my friends happen to be holding on to a S6520!

 

Just got my new S6520. Unlike other users' comment of loud fan noise of this gear, I found that the fan noise of S6520 is very low. If I sit in the normal typing position, I almost cannot hear any fan noise even in a quiet environment. Maybe Fujitsu had improved the S6520 in the newer batch.

I own the T2010 as well and the fan noise of T2010 is extremely loud. I wonder how Fujitsu can keep the fan noise of the higher power S6520 to such low level...

 

Hey ACHAU, please keep your comments about your new S6520 coming. I’m shopping slowly for my next notebook, and S6520 is on top of my list. What do you think about the screen? I see different people have different opinions on the screen (just like the fan noise). Do you think it is LED LCD?

It seems that this notebook can be bought online only. Am I wrong? Does anybody know a regular store carrying this notebook in SF Bay Area? I want to check it out with my own eyes before I buy it.

 

My S6520 comes from Hong Kong and the screen use LED but you better check the spec of S6520 in US.

The LCD screen of S6520 is slightly brighter at the top and botton edge. It is very obvious when you are not directly facing the screen. However, it is not a real issue if you are directly viewing the screen and it is acceptable to me. Besides this issue, the viewing angle of the screen is very narrow. If your working condition allows you to face the screen at the right angle, it is no problem. In fact, it is a very good LCD screen when you are directly viewing it.

T2010 screen has no such issue. I cannot figure out why Fujitsu has problem in this newer design. Maybe there are limitation to fit a 14 inch screen in a small chasis.

Other this LCD problem, I can say that this machine is a very good machine. Another machine you should consider is the Z-series of Sony. It is also a very good machine.

 

you better consider other choices
i've got my S6520 for over a month now and... i would say it is the WORST BUY in its price range
Sony Z16/17 are much better

 

SAMAU, could you elaborate on your experience with this notebook? I’m looking for a 14’’-er (my eyes prefer large pixel pitch) in the smallest buddy. Wish there were other alternatives in this category.

 

With the news that Samsung is starting to sell in the US, the Samsung X460 could be an attractive alternative (but it isn't shipping yet).

John

 

no prob
my experience with S6520 was actually quite nice, if i don't have to type on it so often...
this machine is very good in every way and i like its light weight and long running time
i carry it around sometimes and for me it's light enough, my hands don't get tired carrying it at all
it can easily run 4~5 hours with mostly typing and reading documents and not very frequent web surfing (during break time)
on the cons side, the viewing angle of the LED back-lit monitor is very narrow but i think it's acceptable, you just have to adjust it
and when you get the angle right(directly facing your eyes) the quality is not so bad
the thing i hate the most about S6520 is its keyboard, its KB is so bad, the flex is so horrible that the keys are like floating!
i really hate the KB, other than this it's completely fine
so if you don't type that much and you like larger screen S6520 is a good choice

P.S. Z16/17 just beat S6520 in every way except the screen size

 

It's not a great buy because YOU didn't make one.

Fujitsu sells them on EBAY (refurb 6520s for about 12/1300) and the 6510 in refurb and Brand NEW for $600-900.

'Completed sales' of the Last few weeks:
http://search-completed.ebay.com/fu...0Q2cQ20s6520Q29QQsofocusZbsQQsorefinesearchZ1

I bought a Brand New S6510 from Fuj!tsu with t7700, 4gb, 1gb turbo, 120GB Hd, Fingerprint, 1 Year wty, etc .. Fully Loaded for $827 three months ago.
While it's still on the Fu's website for $2010.

.... INSTEAD of the S6520 from Fujitsu retail for $2000+ which I was going to buy.
Now I have virtually the same speed and bought it at the 'obsolesence price'.

Now THAT is the way to Play this one and it IS the Best buy.
With Good speed, Great bright Screen and Light-EST weight of any 14"; (3.5 lbs with drive removed!) as light as sony 13.3 SZ's. And small size lets me fit snugly in a Viao 13.3 slipcase.

Best screen size and weight for the money. Most efficiently engineered for maxing out sq inches and weight per dollar. And I am the fussiest person ever on monitors/screens.

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