Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Thanks for the info!

 

I've posted some detailed, unscientific results earlier in the thread.. Around page 5-6 if I remember correctly

You can scroll down using two finger scroll, or sliding along the right edge (all configurable). And right click is clicking with 2 fingers, or clicking on the bottom right.

I could be wrong (others can correct), but Sp is complete carbon fibre.

 

Would someone else with tf2 run it with gpu-z and see if they are getting the same low (~70%) gpu utilization? I still can't seem to figure it out. Skyrim maxes out the gpu but runs really well, while source games seem to suffer a bit at high res, but dont use the gpu completely...

 

isn't it due to the Z's carbon fiber chassis that it can retain such a low weight? but its also what makes it expensive!? The S seems to have flex in the bottom right part of the laptop. I think thats a consequence of the thin magnesium material.

 

you are not voiding your warranty by removing the HDD and installing an SSD. don't believe what SONY customer service reps say about this. if for any reason you need to send the laptop back for warranty repair, just swap the old HDD back, and no one will ever know.

my SA gets around 9100 points in 3DMark06 when overclocked. it's a nice improvement that S13A has got over the previous generation, plus you can still overclock it to get past 10000 (maybe even get close to 11000?).

 

I noticed that too. Interestingly, Source games seem to use the Intel HD by default. What I did (for tf2) was to go in the Advanced Video settings, and crank everything up to the max. That way I got excellent graphics, and ultra-smooth gameplay. I guess it switched over to the nvidia card at the point.

 

I am looking to either get the s13 or s15 for college so I had a few questions:

I really love the display on the s15, but I am wondering if a 15 inch is too large for transport from class to class. Also, is 15 inch too large for most desk areas and does it take up a lot of space compared to 15 inch units?

Also, if I decide to get the s13, could I run into problems with the 768p display? Not too sure what kinds of things ill be running as a biochemistry major.

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

to be honest the answers to your questions depend heavily on your on preferences.

personally i find a 15 inch relatively portable, however i only took it with me to uni when absolutely necessary after the first couple of months because it was still a chore to lug around.

with my 14 inch laptop, i didnt have to think about it even close to as much. i just tossed it in my bag and took it with me every day, whether i needed it or not. i know its only a inch smaller, but it actually ended up making quite a difference beleive it or not. For me personally <15inch is really the perfect form factor for university.

"problems" with the standard display? probably not, but if you could upgrade for not too much its a very nice bonus. in my case it was a deal-sealer

 

thats what i was thinking too, but i really dont wanna carry a "big" laptop around, so i ended up with S13 and i think it is also pretty convenient if I lie in my bed lol

 

So do you guys thing there is any real reason for me to get the quad core i7 instead of the i5? I mean i don't intend to do any video editing only play some games and do some programming. In all honesty whatever lasts 4 years or so I could live with

 

No point in getting the i7. The GPU will be at 100% use way before your CPU, even in BF3. The 640m LE is a very low end card.

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

it comes down to this:

1) how tight are you on money

2) realistically how many games you fancy, are CPU bound? if all your favorites are GPU hogs - then maybe not so. if those extra few frames in some RTS or MMO will make the difference, then do it. My personal opinion is that it will range in game improvements from 1-10 FPS in games in general. But I think it's highly subjective and I think most people with economic thoughts would say that the best value is i5 just like on desktops.

Top of the line will always cost more than its worth. it's possible that some game you like or some program you use will really take advantage of the i7. My advice is - if you can afford it, then dont skimp. if money is tight and you can find a better use of it elsewhere for other ergonomical needs - a new pair of headphones, a nice sleeve or that jump in storage in a good SSD. Prioritize. Just release that the gains are limited.

 

you mean under the ivy bridge processor? i think i5 is enough cuz ivy bridge will have a very short life cycle= = as Haswell is coming up next year..... you can upgrade the RAM

 

Absolutely not true. Games are not being build to first take advantage of a GPU, and then a CPU.


Resources are allocated differently depending on the game. Games like MMORPGs and RTS generally are very taxing on the CPU because they render a lot of characters and large areas. These recuires computer processing and ram, where the GPU mostly deals with things like shaders, particle effects, shadows, skyboxes all the wiz stuff.
The CPU deals with 10101010000111001100, the geometry and renders the engine.
Guild Wars 2 is a current example. The game didnt use the GPU at all in prior beta events. It didnt matter if you changed our settings. The entire game ran of it. It's because the developers realize than a majority of all computers in the world dont have video cards in their computers. It's why it makes sense to develop CPU bound games. particularly if you want to console ports later, as consoles have much stronger and advanced CPUs than GPUs.

 

Thanks for the reply!!

 

Well it seems that adjusting the cooling fan mode to "priority to ventilation" in the vaio control center for the "SPEED" area suggestion did do the trick. My FPS are now in the 30-40 range on Civilization V with settings on medium.

Thank you for the help! I think I had adjusted every other setting to performance, but had overlooked this fan control. Amazing that this little fan control option did the trick.

 

Its mid range. And a solid performer if anecdotal reports in this thread are anything to go on. the limited benchmarks currenly available put it around 555m levels of performance so i would definately not call it very low end...

 

I don't doubt that it is, especially since Sony didn't make it, they just bought out the company, back when I was still working for them.

But personally I just have no use for it and that suite has a big footprint on my 256GB SSD. I need that room for games, it's what I do for a living and for fun.

 

Ok,

you don't happen to work at Ubisoft Canada, do you?

 

Here are my first 3dmark 06 results. GPU set at stock speeds.
3DMark Score8818
3DMarksSM2.0 Score3347
HDR/SM3.0 Score3613
CPU Score3821
Game ScoreN/A
GT1 -Return To Proxycon30.26 FPS
GT2 -Firefly Forest25.52 FPS
CPU1 - Red Valley1.22 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley1.91 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight31.46 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze40.8 FPS
The remaining results were N/A

 

Code wouldn't work for me.

 

Finally pulled the trigger and bought myself a vaio. (had to cancel my first order )

Specs:
Color- Black
CD/DVD player / burner
3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
4GB (4GB fixed onboard + 1 open slot) DDR3-1333Mhz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (2GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
15.5" LED backlit Full HD display (1920 x 1080)
640GB (7200rpm) hard drive


Total: $1,078.15+ tax and a free PS3 that I sold for $200.

I did go for the 3 year warranty (not accidental damage one) which set me back another $190, after tax, but all in all not bad. I may or may not return it. I hate buying warranties but ram always goes bad on me and considering one chip is soldiered to the board I'm a bit hesitant to go without a warranty.

 

I'm an Adobe Premiere Pro user myself. How does Sony Vegas compare to Premiere Pro?

 

It's good. Real good. Premiere is also good, but Vegas can do some nifty things.

For the big stuff most people use Avid and FCP. I have Avid myself through a student discount.

 

I'll have to check Sony Vegas out, since it's free and already on the hard drive. I really love how Premiere Pro integrates with Photoshop, you can export stuff directly from Photoshop to Premiere Pro which is really convenient.

Does anybody know of a good sleeve for the S15? Is the $26 sleeve that Sony sells pretty good and does it fit the laptop well?

 

Just... wow.

 

No, I'm with Relic.

 

I received my silver S15 yesterday, base model with the i5 3210M, only option added was the 1GB GT640M. First thing out was the stock 500GB HDD and popped in my extra Samsung 470 120GB, and installed a 4GB stick of Samsung 1.35V RAM. Before I installed that 4GB stick, desktop graphics WEI was a miserable 4.6, after it went up to 6.8 which is a huge jump in WEI; RAM WEI score also went from 5.9 to 7.5. It seems to be running the Intel video for the WEI test.. My Latitude with Sandy bridge scores 6.4/6.4 in both graphics WEI.

I finally got it up an running off my Samsung SSD. It is very responsive - the Windows startup animation doesn't even get to finish and the desktop is up. Mind you this is restored from the restore DVD I created from the original HDD, just minimal bloat removed (Kaspersky namely). I haven't had the time to investigate and download the drivers for a clean manual install yet. Just some random notes here:

-Very strangely fresh out of the box, it will not turn on until I plug the charger in. I was cussing at Sony in my head for not delivering it with a completely empty battery The battery showed a 69% charge upon first boot into Windows. Strange..

-First thing I tried to do was to create the recovery DVDs as I was eager to rip the HDD out and install my SSD. I will not have any system booting off an HDD for any longer than I have to Of course it wasn't going to let me do this quick. I made five coasters. After the first 4 discs (6 total using single layer DVD), the 5th disc failed. Thinking I had to start over, I ripped and tossed them all in anger. Restarted the process, this time with dual layer DVD (3 total). Burned the second disc no problem, then on the 3rd disc for no reason I picked up the laptop to feel the vent and the DVD drive skipped. Yep had to start over I then discovered it's smart enough to resume - when you insert the matching media when it failed, it gives the option to only burn the discs you need. Nice. Good thing I didn't rip the first two DL discs lol.

-I've only had one other 15" laptop in my life, a Dell Inspiron 6000 years back, and I sold it very shortly. I told myself I'll never buy another laptop that big again. I only learned about the S15 recently when I saw the Sandy Bridge version at Sams Club. I picked it up and was shocked how light it is. This is when the research began and I learned that the Ivy Bridge version was near release. I was *this* close to placing the order with J&R, until someone here mentioned the PS3 deal which really made the decision easy. I am loving this thing, having a nice size desktop on my lap is great. Because the weight is more spread out in the much larger 15" chassis than my Latitude E6220, they feel about the same weight. The S15 actually feels lighter than my 13" MBP although they weigh the same.

-The screen is gorgeous. The supposed orange/red issue is a non issue for me, but even if it was, I can't understand why one won't accept the compromise compared to a crappy TN screen.. If accurate colors is that critical, use a pro grade monitor.

-The touchpad is the best I've used on a PC laptop. I said earlier that I don't expect it to be anywhere close to Macbook. I have to eat my words. It's not there but it's close. It gives good speed control when doing scrolling, using two fingers or the chiral scroll. It lets me scroll as slow as one pixel at a time which is the first PC touchpad I've seen that does that, or flick quickly and it'll zoom by quickly. I don't mind the no button style as I always tab and double-tab anyway. Two-finger right click registers with 100% success. The clickpad is actually very easy to click, softer to click than the Macbook, and dragging with one finger while another keeps the clickpad clicked does not get it confused like it does on other PC clickpads I've tried (HP Envy). Lastly three-finger flick to go back and forth works flawlessly in the browsers, but does NOT work in explorer, I've seen this before with Synaptics driver.

-I picked silver because I know this is a finger print magnet and I'm a clean freak. Even the silver I can see a bit of smudges.. The keyboard being silver is actually a bit hard to see when it's lit because of the low contrast being the silver keys and the lighting. The spacebar just start squeaking!!!

-The speakers are quieter and sound tinnier than the 12.5" Latitude.

-Spoke too soon, the touchpad just got confused now it's stuck on right-click, maybe becuase the edge of my palms kept hitting it while typing this self-justification for this purchase

-I actually had to shutdown to bring the touchpad back, restart didn't do it. Wow it's late I'm out.

 

good to know )

 

Hey Gadget, You want them to ship a battery that is about 1/2 charge. This is how you store lithium Ion/polymer batteries. It prevents the least amount of damage to them.

Can you provide some Fraps scores for some games when using the same resolution for both the NVidia and the HD 4000?

Thanks,

 

Sony meets Sony. VAIO S15 -> Denon receiver -> Sony Bravia HDTV

The HDMI output uses Intel Display Audio. I guess this makes sense since all output goes through the Intel IGP even when the Nvidia GPU is rendering. Intel is keeping up with the times too. As you can see, this is an HDMI 1.4 output which can bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. If anyone was going to use their laptop as the world's biggest portable Blu-ray playback source to their home theater, it's up to snuff in terms of supporting the lossless audio formats. I don't have a 3DTV so I don't know if Blu-ray 3D works or not over this laptop's HDMI output.

 

Are you subscribed to the Newegg.com newsletter? Only subscribers can use that specific Newegg promo code. See the top of this page.

Bring on Company of Heroes 2

 

Seeing as we've been talking about Sony Vegas, to render the same 4 minute video

Dell XPSM1530 T8100 2.1Ghz 3.5GB (32bit) 500GB HDD - 35mins

Sony S15 3612QM 2.1GHz 8GB (64bit) 256GB SSD - 8.5mins

And the Dell ended the process like it had just come out of the oven!

And the S15 was pulling the source material over the network off the Dell.

Wow!

 

If I order the white Vaio S13, will they also ship me the white extended battery if I order it, or will they ship me a black one?

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

The battery only comes in black. But you don't actually see it as it is smaller than the footprint of the laptop.

 

Aw man, looks like I need to get the black Vaio then.

At this point it really depends on the battery life of the internal battery if I need the slice battery as well. Has anyone run any tests?

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

I have a S13 and (this is the windows estimation) I can surf during 6 hours and typing (without LAN) during 8 hours.
@ Mikelsbid : Happy to help you!

 

Couple of questions for the new S13 owners:

- How's the 1600x900 screen quality? - There's been very few comments on it, and lots of people asking questions! Is it good/bad/about average?

- Do standard 1.50v SODIMMS work in it? I've seen mentions of lower-voltage memory, but no idea where you'd buy such a thing... Was hoping to put a cheap-ish 4Gb or 8Gb stick in the empty slot.

 

The screen of the S13 is very nice, except the vertical viewing angles.

Black are black and not grey etc...

 

we need to add a post to the beggining of this thread answering a few of the basic questions. iv noticed a lot of them have been answered but they get lost in this 80 page and growing thread.

like the S15 and S13 come with low voltage ram but you can use regular voltage and maybe some of the comments on screen/keyboard/touchpad. maybe a few of the 3D mark scores that have been posted and and some of the comments on heat (or lack thereof) buildup.

some links to pics of people disasembling the notebook would be good too and reviews when they come out.

 

do you never charge your laptops to 100% battery?

 

So I did a fresh install of win 7 plus all the non-bloatware drivers on the samsung 830 256G. Now the machine is on fire!!! starts in about 10 seconds.

But one thing, I dont have the wallpaper which came with Vaio (the blue and the green smoke wallpaper). Does anyone know where I could find it online?? I really think they are cool

 

damn thats fast...is that even with the sata II to sata III port?

 

According to Sony, if you charge to 80% using the battery care function it is meant to extend the life of the battery if you are plugged in all the time.

No idea personally, after almost 4 years my battery isn't doing that great.

 

From what I've heard, the thing that hurts battery life the most is charging at uneven intervals. For example, using your battery until it's at about 65%, and then charging it back to 100%. I've heard that charging the battery when it's anywhere between 20% and 80% is bad for the capacity, and that you should only recharge the battery when it's over 80% full, or less than 20% full.

 

A quick update on my S13 Premium findings.

- I've now removed the old HDD and tried a Samsung 256GB 830 SSD. Even though the bay is for a 9.5mm height drive and the Samsung is a 7mm drive, I believe you DO NOT NEED THE SPACER. The cradle that holds the hdd/ssd in place is structured so that whether you use a 7mm or 9.5mm drive you don't need a spacer in my view - the very cradle itself obviates the need for one.

- Removing the HDD and replacing it with a SSD was very easy, took 5-10 mins max.

- I reinstalled Win 7 Pro and made a bootable USB drive from the ISO. I downloaded the S13 Premium drivers/software from the US Sony site that was posted on here. Everything installed fine except for some Media Galleries stuff which I didn't want anyway. I didn't install the Ps3 Remote Keyboard software (as I don't have a PS3).

- However, to get the laptop to recognise the USB flashdrive with win 7 on it, I had to switch to Legacy boot mode in the bios rather than UEFI mode. Now my laptop only boots in Legacy boot mode, no O/S is found using UEFI mode. Can anyone tell me if this matters for performance or anything else?

- Overall, the laptop seems a lot snappier after a clean Win 7 install compared to the traditional HDD/bloatware install that it arrived with.

- I couldn't find a driver for my Wireless WAN/3G card on the US site. If anyone can locate one, it would be much appreciated!

Some of my more general observations now I've been using this for a few more hours:

- The screen is terrific, except that vertical viewing angles aren't great (horizontal are very good). There is also some backlight bleed across the bottom of the screen - noticeable in dark scenes.

- I have not found any stuck/dead pixels as yet.

- The fan is very very quiet when in normal model, such as typing etc. It is louder when gaming of course, but definitely not a 747!

- I enjoy typing on the chiclet keyboard, very firm and I don't really notice the slight flex on the left hand side while typing. I wish there was a full size Return key and LHS Shift key.

- Path of Exile - the REAL successor to Diablo 2 - plays super smooth at native res (1600x900) with AA on (>50fps).

- I got 9300 in 3d06 using the old HDD, I'll run it again with the SSD and clean Win 7 install.

Seeing as I started this thread I should probably post some of this in the first post, no?

Petrov.

 

^ sounds like a good idea. Would be nice to have a sort of FAQ in the beginning of the thread.

also, this might be a dumb question, but why didnt you just install windows through the ODD?

 

Cool, will do. Re ODD - not a silly question at all - I didn't install win through the ODD because I didn't have it on DVD and USB 3.0 is faster than DVD.

Cheers,
Petrov.

 

For those of you with the S series that don't have an SSD yet, I strongly suggest you look into them!

Here's my scores after adding a 256GB Crucial M4

Processor: 7.5
RAM: 7.6
Graphics: 6.8
Gaming Graphics: 6.8
Primary HDD: 7.8

Before switching to an SSD, I tried both the stock 640GB 7200rpm, and a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB hybrid HDD/SSD. Both of those drives provided a score of only 5.9. Also, the SSD makes the entire right side of the notebook a bit cooler to the touch, and the sound of the hard drive spinning has obviously gone away too. Of course, battery life should be a bit better as well.

 

I have a question about the lock of SATA III.
Is it possible that someone can create a custom BIOS with SATA III unlock or it's a dream and we'll need to wait that Sony (maybe...) bring a new version of the BIOS?