2 notebook are very different.. depends on your need.

personally, i like S-series better, the reason as follow.

1. wide screan clearview display. the smooth surface looks very nice. wide screan is a good idea if you want to view 2 page at once or watch video.
2. you can choose ATI 9700 GPU with 64MB ram. full DirectX9.0 support.
3. resale value.. Sony Vaio has GREAT resale value. after one year or 2, when you want another upgrade, you will be very happy with the price you can sell.