Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Hi Guys,

i purchased a SVS1312 a week ago and trying to clean install it with Windows 7 x64. I used drivers of a SVS1311 and they are compatible, but i have a problem with the WWAN Modem (last one missing) - it seems to be different to SVS1311 series (different PID).

The SVS1311 WWAN driver doesnt work, and i also extracted the original Win8 driver from the recovery partition, but that one doesnt let me install either (i also extracted the package and tried to install the inf files directly with no luck).

Vendor ID is 12D1 PID is 1569. Should be a Qualcomm Gobi 3000?

Any help is appreciated.

 

I just received my laptop, and it does indeed still have orangegate. Also, the screen must have some anti-reflective coating cause the reflection is very minimal. Besides orangegate, this is a great laptop. One question though, I can overclock on MSI afterburner and save the settings, but when I play a game the core clock is stuck at 540mhz still. I used gpu shark and it is showing me two states (P0 which is my overclock, and P8 which is my current state). How do I change it so that I can use the overclock?

 

Cool. I'm glad if i could help.

The recovery media (5 DVDs in my case, but that amount may vary from model to model) makes a full image of the recovery partition, which is hidden on your HDD. This includes Windows, drivers, Sony tools, and bloatware such as mcafee, etc.
Actually I don't consider the Sony tools, such as VAIO Care or VAIO Control Center, as bloatware. They are quite neat in my eyes.
Anyway, after you created the recovery media and restored the system onto the SSD, you may also delete the recovery partition which is automatically created on the SSD during the restoring process (giving you another 37GB of capacity on your SSD, which is almost 1/3!)

The problem is that the new Windows 8 models (S1512...) are shipping with a new BIOS, which is locked and therefore prevents anyone from flashing a BIOS mod without an official OEM certification. We have to wait until (hopefully) someone is able to crack this certification, or you can still buy a Windows 7 model (S1511...) which doesn't have this lock (yet).

Do you have a new Windows 8 model (S1512...) or an old Windows 7 model (S1511...) ?
The new models cannot be overclocked over 540MHz yet. We have to wait until some modders figure out a way to bypass/crack the OEM certification of the BIOS.

 

I just used a 32GB USB drive (it was about 21GB)(also worth 5 DVD's)

My local IT shop told me they could make an image of my HDD and transfer it to my SSD.
I'm trying to put two drives in my laptop (instead of ODD) to keep OS and Data apart.
SO should I go for the image option or just a clean Recovery on the SSD and formatting the HDD?

 

The outcome will be the same. Depends on which method you prefer.
Norton Ghost would be a programm allowing you to duplicate data onto another drive.
Personally, I would go for a clean install on the SSD. Time is not an issue with SSDs.^^

You do know though, that if you delete your USB drive as well as the original recovery partition on the HDD and the newly created recovery partition on the SSD, there is no way going back to original shipping system.
Therefore, I always prefer DVDs as recovery media, as there is no possibility of accidentally deleting the actual recovery, apart from destroying the DVDs themselves.

 

My issue with DVDs is that once I replace my ODD with the HDD those DVDs are useless.
Except if you have a external DVD-drive but I don't have that.
And when your PC is empty without any drivers I don't think an external unit works but I have no idea about that

Just make the recovery USB and keep the USB on your safe or smth. Just don't use it.

 

An external DVD-drive works on a PC without drivers, the same way as a USB drive works.
And if you replace your ODD, you are left with the ODD anyway. The easiest way would be to buy an external 5,25" case*** for the ODD, and suddenly you can use it as an external ODD.

*** In this case with a height of 9,5mm because the SVS15 ODD is slot-in, so something like this for example should fit perfectly: Amazon.com: External USB case/enclosure for 9.5mm SATA DVD drive: Electronics

 

Dude, that's genius , never thought of it

Is there also one with USB3.0 or is that impossible?

 

That's not necessary, I don't think the ODD reading/writing speeds surpasses that of USB2.
Also, a full external DVD writer will perhaps only be a few dollars more than an empty enclosure.

 

Derp, ignore me. Posted in error and can't find the delete post button.

 

Did some research, SATA is faster than USB2.0 but half as fast as USB3.0

 

Yes the interface is faster but a CD drive cannot saturate USB speeds. Because it cannot read fast enough

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

 

If a USB3 enclosure is as cheap as a USB2, then fine. Otherwise it's just throwing your money away at least with cd/dvd drives. The top read speeds of dvd-drives hover around 16x (write speed 24x), and as 1X is a little under 1.4MB/s, 16x would be just a little over 22MB/s (Also, the top speed would only be reached at the outer edge of the disc). Your average cheap-piece-of-junk USB2 enclosure can usually do about 20MB/s (a far cry from the theoretical maximum of 480Mbit/s, or 60MB/s, but still fine for optical discs).

 

Not sure what it is for dvd, but a cd read of 1x is actually 150kb/s

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi afxxx, just fyi- I took delivery of a SVS15112C2E last week and it also shipped with win8. I downgraded and have the same issue as you:

3 Unknown devices with:
VID_12D1&PID1569

No drivers on the interweb for this PID yet.

Anybody got any links?

 

Hi everyone....2 questions please....

Has anyone successfully installed a clean Windows 7 install from DVD in UEFI mode ?
I have a full retail DVD windows 7 ultimate I want to install on my new SSD.

I don't have a USB flash drive to install windows with so I'd rather just do the DVD install.
I'd prefer to do a UEFI install rather than Legacy

**Is there really any advantages -looks or performance on bootup- using UEFI or Legacy...?

Thanks,
Sean

 

Thought I'd post a check in. I've owned this laptop for a little over 5 months now (the S13A) and I have been alternating between 900/1000 and 1000/1000 on the 640m LE with no issues at all. I also installed Windows 8 via clean install and the only issue I have is the PC going to sleep every 3 minutes of inactivity. This is application related but I cannot find the application causing it. It is NOT power setting related, I have spent days trying to look for an answer but have come short. I just installed a program that moves my mouse 1 pixel every 2 minutes and now it never goes to sleep, even while idle.

The build quality is still absolutely horrendous and the display is garbage, but I use an external IPS monitor so that isn't an issue for me. It handles every game I have thrown at it very well at 1920x1080.

Battery life realistically is 5-6 hours a SSD while browsing the web or typing in a word document with wifi on.

People always ask me: "Would you buy it again?". My answer is no. The build quality is absolutely terrible, which is something I really care about. I feel like if I drop this laptop from 50cm onto carpet that the entire thing will fall apart or the motherboard and casing will crack and be permanently damaged. This is why I bought a warranty via Squaretrade for the laptop, just in case I drop it. Also, the keyboard and trackpad are among the worst I have ever used on a laptop. I kind of wish I had gone with the Samsung Series 7, the one with the AMD GPU.

Otherwise this laptop is decent. The graphics performance with the VBIOS mod is superb, to say the least. A laptop this thin running BF3 at medium settings at 1080p is really something that I have never seen before.

If you have any questions post them (and quote this message) and I will be glad to answer them.

I have reviews of the laptop, a gaming performance test, and differences between the S13 and S15 in my signature if you are interested.

 

Did clean install via DVD (without changing anything in the BIOS) with my SVS 13A (Win7 Pro with SP1). Altho I have a Technet account and downloaded a version that only required a few updates once installed. Believe saw a post somewhere in these pages needs to be with SP1.
As for performance - can't really tell - I only powered it on the first time received in mail to insure it worked - powered down upgraded the RAM, replaced the hard drive with a SSD and did a clean install. Have no idea how it ran with the spinner cause really never tried it.

 

I have a quick question for the 13P owners - I just got mine (with 3520M i7) and I'm rather surprised at how high the temperatures are - it seems to idle at ~50-60C going up to 80 under load.. I have a comparable sandy bridge laptop which actually runs cooler (idles in same room at ~40C) - given that that new Ivy bridge is a smaller lithography process I would have expected to run cooler than this... so am wondering if this is this the same for other owners? I know it's not really a dangerous temp or anything, but it does of course cause the fan to spin up to audible volume so is kind of annoying...

ps - thanks to all the people who have posted in here, it has made setting up this machine so much easier!

 

Just bought a SV-S13A
3520M , 640M 2GB, win 8

Im upgrading from an old SB from a few years back. There was a large amount of helpful information on the top post, but I was curious if there were known defects I need to look for in the first few days.
Also, is sata3 speed enabled for the drive on this one (in the SB it was limited to sata2)? And, do the OBHD caddies from the older S line fit the newer models? Can you get sata3 speed from the optical bay?

Thanks for any information.

 

Mine idles at ~40 and under load it usually stays around 75, never going past 80. The temperature in my room is almost always 24C. This is with the 900/900 VBIOS mod flashed.

 

Someone was having a sleep issue not far back in this thread. I think it was a driver issue which someone else posted a link to and it fixed the problem. Give it a quick search... could be the same thing?

 

Yes - I have installed the 950/1000 mod.. I understood that the only change was the GPU clock though, so hard to see why it would do anything to cpu temps. Since you have it too it does sound like my cpu idle temps are indeed strangely high then.. that is a bit annoying. I suppose there's not much I can do about it though. Does the 'stamina' mode downclock the CPU?

 

It changes memory clock too. Not that that should be significant either

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

 

Higher gpu temp is going to increase all other temps marginally too

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

 

Is a recovery image I create with the Sony tools tied to that specific S15?

I have three of them, would rather only use one 32 USB key to recover them if needed. Maybe I am just being cheap.

 

I went with my S1512 (new W8 version) to my local IT shop, they told me they weren't so sure the HDD Caddy would work in this laptop is it wouldn't fit.
They were going to check this out for me and will let me know if it's possible.
This is the caddy: HDDCaddy » Winkel

I think it WILL work as many users before me already have done it.
Did I maybe mess up the caddy or smth?
They also said the connector on the caddy would need an adapter as it isn't the right connection, could you guys please check that for me too? :S

 

Hello!

Is there a way to disable the ugly DVD drive booting sound whe returning the S13 from rapid wake without to disable the drive in the bios?

 

No. You need a ODD caddy. Something liek this:

Amazon.com: NEW SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 9.5mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM ACER BENQ HP DELL ASUS: Computers & Accessories

Note the shape of the caddy matches the shape of the ODD

 

Thanks for the update. That screen must really be bad, but if the the build quality is also bad that is ashame. I too have been going between the Sony s13 and the Samsung Series 7. I worry that the Samsung will not be as good gaming though.

Which model Series 7 were you looking at? I have played with the Best Buy model but it is the 15" one which I have heard people say the screen was poor but I did not feel the same.

 

I want to convert video files on my laptop, i use xilisoft video converter,one of d best converters i can say dat,but d problem is it doesn't recognize my GPU, (not d 600 series)...........

Can someone suggest me a video converter which utilizes d GPU n speed up d converting process.................

 

Isn't that the exact same caddy?
You probably looked too fast at the caddy I proposed. It's not very clear but it does have the same shape (metallic surrounding the black part).


PS: I tried to run the Windows Experience Index thingy with my SPEED on, and also put to priority to ventilation but the graphics got the same result as with STAMINA mode.
Am I forgetting somethng ? :/

 

Yup, mine seems to run "warm" - see my original post here.

 

Finally working with Windows 8 and all seems well. Basically had to clean install Windows 7 with Win 7 drivers (nothing else, no apps, no antivirus, etc). Then just upgraded to Windows 8 over the top. Haven't even bothered with new drivers - everything seems to work perfectly and no "unknowns" in control panel. The only thing I did have to do was install the Windows 8 driver for the Sony Wireless State Device.

So far so good. After installing all my apps, boot up is now 8 seconds and the whole thing feels really nice.

 

I BELIEVE that recovery media created on one S15 should work on all of them. The recovery media ARE specific to a model...but NOT to a specific machine. I wish I could tell you had tried this but I can't say that I have owned more than one of any specific model. Now if they are customized...that might be another story...as the restore media would likely be customized for that machine too.

 

I just bought this laptop a week ago with windows 8 pre installed. I am having problems with the screen brightness whenever I change it after about 30 seconds it will drop back to 40% everytime. I can move it to say 100% but it will automatically drop down both plugged in and not plugged in.

Cancel that I just found a driver to fix this!

 

Is the build quality that bad? I've watched your review, and been following the S13 in general and i always got the impression the build quality was pretty good, as well as the keyboard and trackpad

 

In the brief time I had it, I felt the build was quite good. The screen was a total deal-breaker though.

 

Yes.. I did wonder if it was a CPU throttling as I never saw mine get kicked down from 2.9Ghz - I'll have a check and see if that makes a difference. This is in the Advanced Power management in the Vaio Control Centre or in Win7 control panel?

 

I now realize most posters here are mainly interested in gaming. Nobody comments on the poor reading experience the S15 (2012) offers in MS Word, Excel, Outlook and PDF, for example. It’s no use adjusting DPI in native resolution, or using Windows Display Calibration and ClearType. I also tried reinstalling the graphic card driver. Nothing improves text quality. I get strong headaches, as do others I’ve asked to try it for more than a few minutes. Even an optometrist I’ve visited to see if the problem was with my eyes. Definitely, in comparison to my 4 years old Vaio BZ (1440 x 900 pixels) the S15 is a huge downgrade when it comes to reading comfort. Potential buyers beware, don’t buy the S15 if you will mainly use it at work or school.

Besides posting this as a warning to potential buyers, I still hope there is a fix you guys may know of. Sony support is clueless.

 

I agree... it's hard reading anything on a S15.

 

Generally I would look in the Windows 7 control panel under power options, advanced plan settings. However I did notice that eventually the CPU did throttle down to 16x so it must have had a lot going on under the hood.

Now I leave my CPU settings at 100% in the advanced plan settings and set both Stamina and Speed to "balanced" in VAIO control center. As I only use my laptop for heavy photoshop work I can do without the extra fan noise from "priority to ventilation" (plus I don't think you lose much at all setting it to balanced). Supranium did a test of all the modes and put the results here.

Cheers.

 

I completely disagree. Since getting mine, readability of text and how much I love this screen for reading have been two of the main reasons I love it.

Conversely, my 27" iMac drives me nuts. Glossy, and too high res. Running the panel at 1080 helps a bit.

Bummer yours is not working for you, but everyone has different tastes when it comes to ergonomics.

 

It’s definitely not a matter of taste. As I said, those who tried reading on the S15 for more than a few minutes thought it to be very uncomfortable, got headaches. Including an optometrist.

 

Having owned one The S13p is very hard to read. While the s15 is very nice on my eyes.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

Have had no issues with reading text on my S15. Are you having issues with the small text size? I sometimes have to zoom in on a page more because of the high resolution. Either way, I've found the text to be nice and crisp. Maybe try adjusting the brightness?

 

My apologies

 

Well, i took the plunge and bought a S13 premium for myself, it should be in tomorrow (thank you amazon prime)

and i couldnt resist 20% off ($950 when it was all said and done)

 

By the way, if this is not a defect on my screen, then Orangegate is peanuts in comparison to this problem. Characters seem to have very light shadows and no ClearType calibration I tried could correct this. Also, it is not a matter of brightness; the problem persists at very low brightness and at any DPI in native resolution (i.e, in any text size).

 

Mind taking a photo of the screen so we can see what you're seeing?