Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Hi guys. I was looking to get a 15.5'' S series with 1GB graphics and 640gb hard drive but I had a question i was hoping someone could answer. I've seen these laptops in stores and the screen seems really flimsy like it would shake around a lot when I use the laptop. Is it really a big deal? Also is the fan really as loud and obnoxious as everyone says?

 

I've seen 43db when the fan is fully spinning but that seems a bit low. I doubt it's worse than most other <1" laptops though.

 

My S15 fan only spins up during gaming, and it only gets about as loud as my desktop. Other than that, doing anything else with the notebook, the fan is inaudible.

Also, the screen is flexible. If you try opening the notebook by holding 1 side of the screen (as opposed to the middle) you'll notice a fair bit of torsional flex. However, this does not mean the S15 is flimsy. While using the laptop, the screen stays stationary. It doesn't wiggle or wobble, even when typing furiously on an uneven surface. I'm typing this reply to you know from my S15 which is sitting on top of a wooden board which is on top of a pillow on my bed. I'm bed-ridden due to a recent surgery. I have not noticed any wiggle at all.

 

My old machine is an xps m1210 (portable notebook with an Nvidia chip in it and the Sony S13 really appeals to me on many different levels and because of how similar the two are in size and direction. I really want to love the Sony, but I can't seen to find any decent (pro) reviews on the newest version with actual benchmarks and a true battery test. Can any one share any links? On google, there's a decent review by slash gear on the older gpu, and a bunch of reviews not mentioning numbers.


So far, the official reviews show excellent battery life on the asus. The only review that I've found talking about temperature was the notebookcheck.com review on a pre-production unit.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-Zenbook-UX32VD-Ultrabook.75591.0.html

They were concerned about the temperature during their max stress test (which they continually load both the CPU and GPU simultaneously)

" In daily use, the surface temperatures should remain markedly lower since full utilization of CPU and GPU will only occur for short periods of time even during the use of complex software like video editing or gaming. After one hour of Anno 2070, surface temperatures remained narrowly below those of the stress test with a maximum of roughly 47°C (117°F) near the exhausts..."

Not sure how dangerous that temp is...

I would be genuinely curious to know which notebook would hold up more to every day travel, how the battery life compares between the two models, and how much bigger the Sony is especially with the sheet battery and how much better the sony's performance would be. Also, since in need accurate color for my work, I use an XRite hardware calibration system, I'm wondering, with proper calibration, if the display could possibly hold up to the one on the Asus.

For me, pros/cons:

Sony Pros:
Better Processor
Better Graphics Card
Better General expandability (option to replace optical drive with another hard drive)
Nice resolution for a 13.3"
Better Gaming experience close to my current (older) Desktop

Sony cons:
Size/weight greater than my current dell (especially with sheet)
No need for optical drive or mem-stick reader, why even put a USB 2/vga port?
Everyday battery life without the sheet probably won't beat an ultra book
Display (color accuracy is critical for me)
Not trying to offend anyone, but IMO it's ugly (no way to avoid the gawdy gold bling badge)
Price is a bit higher than the Asus for the config that I want
A bit flimsy feeling, especially for how expensive this thing is
upgrading HDD voids warranty(?)
Lack of Sata III

Asus pros
1080P IPS Display
Size/weight
Battery life
Very powerful for a straight ultrabook
3x usb 3.0
Sata III

Asus cons:
Battery can only be swapped through dis-assembly
Heat (potentially)?
Not as fast as the sony
No Sheet-like option
Not a unibody

Not sure which has better support/warranty service


I understand that we are talking apples (not really) and oranges as both products have different focuses. Aside from the screen, all of the pros of the Asus are pros of ultrabooks in general. Perhaps it breaks down to whether I need an ultrabook or a notebook. If the Asus had the 640m with proper cooling, it would be perfect, but I'm really on the fence. Should I cancel my asus order?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Another question regarding SSD: it appears that changing the HD voids your warranty. If I ever needed service on the laptop from Sony, can I just put the original HDD back in? Are there any seals that have to be broken or would they have no way of knowing?

 

At least in the US, changing the HDD does not void your warranty. But in case you ever need service, you can just put the old HDD in -- there are no seals broken, and they have no way of knowing.

 

The Sony rep I just asked said differently, but if there are no seals it doesn't matter. I'll just be careful

 

Question for other owners who have Civilization V installed. What sort of FPS are you getting? I originally was getting 25 fps with everything maxed at the native 1600x900, heck this was even the case after loading a save of late game play. However now it seems like i am only getting 9-12fps with the settings maxed. While this still allows it to be playable, it is not as smooth. Any advice? I have made sure that the NVidia contol panel has every possible Civilization, steam exe set to use Nvidia. Maybe I was simply expecting too much? Reading reviews out tehre it seemed like with settings maxed and 1600x900 those were the type of results to expect from the Intel hd4000 , not form the Nvidia 640m LE. Has anyone seen any performance issues?

 

is optimus running the 4000 or 640m LE... sounds like its switching to the intel gpu.

 

Don't max it, turn AA off, it still looks great on medium settings.

On my 2012 S15 I get a solid 30+ fps at 1920x1080, AA turned off and everything else set to Medium in late game saves.

I think there is some loss of performance since the Gods & Kings expansion patch too.

 

That is what I am unsure of. Even when I launch it directly by right clicking and making sure to launch with NVidia GPU (Going from memory as I am at work right now) the reuslts are awlays the same. TO me it feels like it is switching off the NVidia and using the HD4000. That ebing said the fan is running the moment you boot civilizaiton, and continues to run the entire time. I am not complaining about the fan, simply pointing out that the computer feels the need to run it.

When I overlay the optimus detection executable, it shows the Nvidia as active. Is there any other way to be sure? I never see anythign Nvidia related in the system tray.

 

I will test the setting you mention tonight when I get home and see if it pushes the numbers up. If you have the settings on High and AA turned on, do you know what the FPS is on your system, I assume you turne dthem all down to improve the gameplay, but one neve knows without asking.

Also, are you using FRAPS for the measurment?

 

Not sure how much these online sales people know, but:

So if the previous poster was correct about being able to leave no traces, should be safe enough within warranty to upgrade to an SSD, assuming you have to open it the whole way to access the RAM slots.

 

The ram slot is right above the hard drive, you don't need to completely disassemble it like I did. It's just two screws, and the you remove the back plate

 

That's such great news! I'm hoping mine gets here quickly!

Does any PC3-10600 RAM chip work in this?

 

Any DDR3 module will work. Anything over 1333Mhz will be under clocked to match the soldered RAM. The S uses 1.35V DDR3 RAM, you can use a 1.5V stick and it'll work fine but use more power albeit you probably won't be able to tell. If you don't have any RAM laying around pickup a Crucial 1.35V 4GB stick for $23 on Newegg

 

That's exactly what I bought except Newegg is out. It's actually only $20 if you buy it from Crucial and use the code MAC2012US5 to get free shipping + free return + 5% off. Thanks!

 

I'm just sayin', but unless you don't install any of the Sony software, you'll never know if each time you turn on your laptop if it's sending your laptop's specs to Sony HQ After all, it does that on the PS3 - each time you power it on it sends to Sony what you did on it.

Voiding warranty is a scare tactic that doesn't work on me

Damn, Fedex is too efficient. Stepped out this morning and my S15 arrived Wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow. I ordered on the 11th, shipped out on 17th from China. The original shipping estimate was 6/20.

 

I might be wrong but I believe the second memory module is located under the keyboard. Just basing this off other laptops I've worked on with "built in" memory

 

The search button isn't working, so I have a few questions:

Are there any video or written reviews of the Sony S series 13" model yet? I am extremely interested in the unit with the GT 640m LE for light gaming use. Also, is the stock 1366x768 display glossy or matte?

Also, has anyone reported the battery life of the units yet? I'm looking for around 6 hours if possible.

Thanks!

 

The problem comes from the IPS panel..in general. my S15's red color does appear to be a bit orange, so i increased the blue by about 5-7 units on the display panel then it looks all good.

 

You are indeed incorrect. The memory slot is positioned right above the area of the motherboard where the soldered RAM is located, which is next to the hard drive bay. It is NOT under the keyboard.

 

Does anyone get the full 3.1 GHZ turbo speeds for the i7-3612qm? I'm only getting 2.8 GHZ no matter what I do.

 

It is indeed difficult to overload the computer so much that you will see throttling. I tried running OCCT + playing tf2, and my i5 was still running at the max speed (not turbo speed)

 

Ah ha! My S15 has made it to the UK - which is good, because that's where I am! Its about an hour away so hopefully see it tomorrow.

Ordered 7th, into prod 9th, built 16th, reached Germany 19th, reached UK 20th

 

@wizzardxexe did you put 1.8" or normal 2.5 ssd" in the ODD bay? Will it fit 9.5mm drives?
I'm about to order something like NEW SATA 2nd HDD caddy adapter for 9.5mm Optical drive | eBay

Thanks!

 

2.8GHz is the maximum for 3/4 cores running
3.0GHZ is the maximum for 2 cores running
3.1GHz is the maximum for 1 core running

So for the majority of the applications, you are getting more work out of the CPU running on 2.8GHz than running on 3.1GHz.

 

Mine too - is yours sitting in Oldbury as well?

Petrov.

 

Ha! Yes

 

Sorry for being picky but can you post online for us a photo showing the new colors if you do not mind ??

 

id like to second that ^

there are not alot of user created photos available.

only shooped product photography style fotos, which makes it hard to get a real impression of what these lappys are going to look like in real life. For example; ive allready ordered an s13 and im still not sure if the bottom part is full alluminium, or if its plastic with only an alluminium keyboard area

would also be usefull for people who still want to order and are unsure of what color to get

 

Ordered my S13 yesterday, can't wait!
Gonna get an extra 8GB module, but it's almost double the price to get 1.35v. ( $47 vs $80) Is it worth it?

Also I'd like to swap out the ODD for an extra HDD/SSD would any universal ODD caddy work? Such as this one?

 

Anyone have any reports on the battery life of the S13 with the stock battery (not the sheet battery)? I can't find reviews or videos of the unit anywhere!!

Also, how are people getting 900p displays on their units? The Sony website only shows up to 768p for me.

 

i thought i read somewhere that in the US the screen upgrades were only possible with the s13 premium (the one with carbon)

 

I guess I was unlcear. I replaced the original hard drive in the s15 with a ssd (2.5"), then I took the hard drive (also 2.5") and put it in the odd slot with a caddy. So no 1.8" drives.
You can see it in this picture

 

How are people doing a fresh install of Windows 7 when they install the SSDs? Personally, I don't want to do an image of my HDD, but I didn't get a windows CD from Sony. Are you guys just getting the Windows 7 image from digital river?

 

i will do a comparison if u dont mind waiting for a few days. im actually on vacation and i didnt bring my laptop with me.

 

@wizzardxexe that's just a standard universal ODD caddy correct?
Same as this?
Amazon.com: NEW SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM: Computers & Accessories

 

I already made a post about this, so here's a link to the info you need.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8628804-post507.html

 

Yessir. That caddy should work

 

Have you tried putting your DPD tracking number into the UK rather than DE site.. DPD (UK) - Express parcel delivery - Next day UK, European and international parcel delivery services. - looks like we're getting them tomorrow

 

Sure about that? I thought all the S series used 9.5mm ODD drive bays, not 12.7mm.

 

My bad, yes it should be 9.5mm. I don't think a 12.7mm would fit.

 

Please enjoy your vacation and take all the time you need no rush

 

So now that quite a few people have gotten their laptops I was wondering if the plain black was really a fingerprint magnet like everyone says? No big deal but since mine doesn't ship until July 31st I'm getting curious/impatient.





Also what do you guy think about purchasing a warranty for this laptop?

 

Thanks, but I'm not looking for media playback software. I only want BluRay playback capability. As far as I know, there is no free software for real BluRay playback.

 

Been using my S15 nonstop for 5 days now, and there are no fingerprints anywhere on it. No scuffs on the palm rests, near the keys, on the lid, etc. As long as you don't have greasy or sweaty hands, you'll be fine. Even wiping my hands across the palm rest doesn't produce marks.

 

Doesn't VLC support BluRay playback? I was pretty sure it did.

 

I also posted a direct link in my post to the source of the Installation disc.

BUt to quickly answer, yes Digital River is the source included in the link.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8626954-post451.html

 

How long should Sony vaio recovery approximately take? I have installed the M4 256gb ssd, and I couldn't get any kind of disk cloning to work, so I ended up using my recovery DVDs to get Windows back.

The process has been running from AT LEAST 3 hours! (I kid you not). Does it generally take that long? Or did I get a defective ssd?

I thought SSDs were supposed to be blazingly fast.. and yet to install each single driver, it's taking at least 20-30mins. EACH

Edit: For reference; Windows Image restore said that my drive could not be properly initialised. Clonezilla just stuck mid-way while booting.