Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Ordered my s15 from newegg last week on monday and and it got here in about 36 hours.. had some time playing with it and just wanted to chime in to confirm that using msi afterburner I can't get past 540mhz clock speed, though ram speed adjusts accurately. I'm able to play Civ 5 at max settings; I loaded up a turn 400+ game from steam cloud to try it and it's actually playable at max settings (although I am a little overclocked with the gpu). Diablo 3 is also playable at max for me but when i use the in game FPS display it only shows it at 0FPS (it's obviously not actually 0, since its quite smooth when I play). I seem to get some more slowdown when I put the sound at 128 channels, so I keep that on medium.

Also tried Deus Ex: Human Revolution which to my surprise runs very well at (nearly?) max settings. Got some artifacts during cutscenes but none during gameplay, oddly enough. Because of this, I'm not sure if it's the game or the gpu being slightly overclocked. It's only at 540/978.

Reds do look rather orange-ish at default settings, so I increased blue +13 and decreased the reds to around -10 to make them appear darker, more red and less orange (to me at least). Try playing with the contrast too.

My only complaint about my model which I found pre-configured on Newegg.com is the 5400RPM 640GB hard drive it comes with. I'll probably get a seagate momentus hybrid 500GB for around 85 bucks w/ free shipping to replace it. I can definitely sense the lack of snappiness when I open programs and stuff.

 

I've updated the first post to include Wizzardexe's excellent disassembly guide for the S15! Thanks mate.

Petrov.

 

thanks ganryu! i was afraid that the lettering would stand out too much. now back to my F5ing the order status page. lol

 

How long did it take once you got the tracking number for DPD? I got the factory despatch email last Wednesday and got a tracking email this morning. DPD says it was picked up in Germany last night but there is no info as when it is due to be delivered.

 

I find it interesting that the S15 still uses the Orangegate LG panel when it seems like it's been fixed on the HP Envy 15.

 

Hey everyone, since Sony has released the 3rd Generation Intel Processor, I have some questions boggling my mind. I am an SA3 owner so I am familiar with this laptop.

I was wondering, if I buy the Vaio SA5? now, is Sony going to release another newer Sony Vaio SA soon, because of Windows 8? Also, would the even newer Sony Vaio have touch screen?

So in general, should I buy the Vaio now or should I wait, as I don't know what other features Sony can add...

Also, if I buy the new Sony S now, can I still change my hard drive to an SSD and then add another HDD as now it is an slot loading disc...

PS: How is the screen compared to the SA3? I saw the Z3 and the T series laptops in the Sony Store and their screens look amazing, whereas the SA3's screen was bad.

Thanks in advance!

 

I think the S Series is updated as much as it's going to be this year. It has Ivy Bridge and Kepler. I wouldn't expect a refresh until next calender year for Haswell processors.

Sony is probably going to play it smart with Windows 8 and not jump on the launch bandwagon with any special products, rather they'll wait and see how badly Windows 8 will fail before investing much money into developing products for the platform. They'll probably be forced to offer a Window 8 pre-installed version of everything, but Windows 7 will still be (the best-selling) option.

My own personal prediction, Windows 8 Pro (x86 version) will be like Vista in terms of sales and issues, regarded as a failure, and a lot of hardware manufacturers probably feel the same way. That's why Microsoft had to push this whole Surface thing the way they did, because there's lackluster interest in Windows 8 for the most part, both by consumers and vendors.

And yes you can replace the ODD with an HDD, even though it's now a slot-loader. See the updated first post in this thread, Wizardexe did a video guide for the SVS15 that should mostly apply to the 13" as well (same ODD chassis).

 

Probably a stupid question but i'm asking a great favor:

I'm going to replace the HDD with an SSD. I'm however a total noob. I'm asking you (kindly) the following:

1. What do I have to do software wise? How do I make a windows backup and so on (please explain clearly, i'm really a beginner).

2. Secondly how do I replace the HDD. I have read a few posts about it but since my English isn't terrific it felt very vague. I remove the back panel (of the battery) then remove something else?

3. Pictures of the process would be a blessing.

If someone could help me with these points he / she would have my eternal blessings. Furthermore, could anyone tell me if 128GB would be enough or should I go with 256? I don't store any movies on the hard disk but do play alot of games.

THANKS in advance guys!

 

Picked up from Germany 19 Jun @ 19:36, delivered morning of the 21 Jun but I didn't get a delivery date until the 21st. You can kind of guess it will be with you though as during today it'll start making its way closer to you. On the morning of delivery DPD will send you an email saying it will be with you during a set time period (usually an hour)

Have fun!

 

Has anyone (I'm looking at you, wizzardexe ) who removed the ODD weighted it? I don't really need more disk space, but could always slim the weight down.. Of course, this might cause the laptop to lose some of its sturdiness.

 

Hi, I'm trying to gather some info as to some of the physical changes made recently to the S-series from last year. Based on some of the images in various places, I can make out a larger "button-less" trackpad a la Apple, or is that based on region? I also notice a slot-load optical drive in some shots on the newer design. Any other refreshes to the case?

Also, is the newer design concomitant with the new Ivy Bridge CPUs? In other words, are all Sandy Bridge CPUs mated with the case that existed before the refresh? Thanks...

 

It's unlikely that LG is still manufacturing the old revision of panels. However Sony is a lower volume customer than HP is, so I would imagine it will take them some time to work the Orangegate screens through their supply chain before they start to use the revised panels.

 

If you purchase a Windows 7 laptop right now, you get Windows 8 for 20 bucks or something once it's released. You can see the ads everywhere.

I don't think S will get updated more this years. maybe a bump in specs after xmas (higher clock rates) but a year from now is Haswell. Thats going to be cool. But Broadwell will be even cooler. so if you can wait 2-3 years. IMO you should always assume the next update is around the corner. thats when you know, when you dont care about the next upgrade that you really want it.
It was like that with my Iphone 4s. I dont care what they announce in Iphone 5. It might be twice as powerful in every way, but to me that phone is amazing and its almost too much of what I can do with it. the camera for example. if they added 10 more megapixels I wouldnt have the skills to shoot better photos. I just plan to have this phone for years. its so powerful and awesome I dont need updates. Thats a great feeling. thats why its worth buying a good product. then you know you dont need the next revision.

Im running Windows 8 on two machines now. A 10 inch netbook and a 13 inch C2D. Both from Samsung.
My thoughts are this;

1) People are very afraid, and it's true. Win8 is the biggest departure from Windows. But it is what it is. All it is is a home screen. It's a start button that fills the screen. It's a favorite page. That's what metro is. The idea is that whatever you use the most, you put on it. a URL, game.exe shortcuts, folders, whatevers. And they are presented by big tiles. third party tiles dont look nice. But they are absolutely fine. One of the tiles is getting to the desktop.
That's it.

2) Windows 8 is even faster than Windows 7 right now. Not only in boot times, they def cut a lot of the fat off. they did this because they are trying to match OSX in battery life. it's too early to tell. right now we have seen no battery life improvements but they are trying. I think the idea is to get a lot more battery life out of win 8.
much less processors going on in the background.


3) the user interface inside the desktop have been vastly improved. you should see the new task manager. awesome! the way you can edit the looks of your folders - very good. very intuitive. the start menu is gone. you just right click if you want your control panel.


4) Besides battery life, it is rumored that Microsoft has made intense efforts to bundle apple-like drivers for touchpads. which should be better on all notebooks. I noticed a different. using the touchpad on my samsungs felt more apple-smooth than in windows 7 with their samsung drivers. they where great.
Colors also popped out more. which was weird. It might just be the nicer design and the colorful metro tiles but I could swear that the display on my samsung q230 looked much better, and thats a very mediocre LCD glossy display.



5) Mountain Lion (next OSX) is also getting an earful. both it and Windows8 is heavily into social media integration. it means that your windows can get synced to social networks. you make a microsoft profile and it syncs your facebook, twitter(if you want too) and every time something happens on your profile it actually pops up like on xbox live "achivement unlocked". its crazy that our social networking has come to this.


6) I dont think Win8 will be like vista. vista was incredible slow, incredible annoying with all its protection. vista had gained a lot of weight. windows 8 is very skinny. clean. things like sharing with your network, system restore, checking your wi-fi networks, all those types of stuff. it's all cleaned up. very good.
Windows 8 aint bad at all.
Is Metro based towards touch? yeah I guess you could say so, but I think I will really like the mtro tiles once third party app makers start making them. then it should be fun to customize your metro home screen. the color scheme is pretty good looking too. Windows 8 is more like of an extension of win7. its more like a modification. its not this obligatory upgrade. If you really dont like it you can wait until windows9 no problem. Personally I admire Microsoft for sticking to their guns. Metro is amazing on the windows phone. lets face it. its innovative, it works, its a great idea. If it will be as good on desktops? Not sure. maybe. but the OS itself works fantastic. Granted its weird without the start menu but honestly.. im already pinning down all my applications already in the taskbar, and now i have a taskbar and a metro bar for shortcuts.

Win 8 will be find. dont worry.

 

I don't understand your last questions. Mated with the case?


There are a few other changes - The S13A model has a new panel, which uses Vaio Premium technology. so that one has a better display than the old model. Also there is no vents underneath the machine anymore, but its been told to us that its both quieter and more cool to the touch. so less noisy fan and less heat. ivy bridge might have helped with this as well as kepler gpu.

as a consequence of the trackpad the fingerprint reader has moved up next to the vaio type buttons (assist, speed/stamina and all that). port wise it seems similar.

 

Those are the GeForce 500M Series drivers you're running? They're compatible???

If that's the case, I'll definitely try them out. The beta drivers are doing nothing good for Diablo 3 (v. 1.0.3 at least).

 

Metro makes my eyes bleed.

I gave away my $600 Samsung Focus that I bought on WP7 launch day three days after I bought it. Didn't sell, gave it away. Granted, Metro's aesthetics weren't the only reason I ran (not walked) away from WP7, but it was a large part of it.

I strongly believe Windows 8 will fail in enterprise, and it will only get a marginal foothold in consumer simply because it's going to be pre-installed on systems sold by the big-box retailers. RT tablets might do well, especially if Office RT is a freebie and they can keep the price point near or lower than iPad and cheap ultrabook pricing.

Windows 9, when I predict they abandon Metro as a forced option and go back to the desktop first paradigm that's not so alien to people, that's when they'll start displacing Windows 7 in market share.

 

Many thanks! (+ Rep!)

Maybe you already know, but you can hold your finger in the left or right bottom of the touchpad and still continue to use the touchpad. This makes it also possible to click and drag. Left clicking is the left bottom and right clicking is the right bottom. Just in case you didn't know.

 

Thanks for reply. I meant "mated" not in the sense of a physical conjugation, but rather, did Sony refresh its exterior bits (the case/housing/etc.) with the advent of the Ivy Bridge CPUs? In other words, if a model has the ivy bridge CPU, does it follow that the model also has the exterior refresh, and that if a model has one of the previous gen CPUs, the model has the previous exterior version?

In essence, I'm looking at S Series laptops mainly on 3rd party online retailers, and often, they either do not have pics of the model, or they are simply inaccurate. I'm simply trying to determine at what point Sony introduced the exterior refreshes and if there is a sure-fire way of determining which version of hardware I would receive. Thanks...

 

The trackpad is a major visual change between 2011 and 2012 models. The 2012 Ivy Bridge version has the smooth clickpad, the Sandy Bridge model has discrete buttons.

Then there's the ODD. The 2011 had a tray loading drive, the 2012 has a slot loading drive.

A more subtle exterior change is the addition of one blue-coloured USB 3.0 port (or the removal of one USB 2.0 port, depending on how you look at it).

But seen from the top with the lid closed, you can't easily tell them apart, nor can you tell them apart seen from behind with the lid open or closed.

 

Tried unsuccessfully searching the thread for this but: have anyone tried a SV13 with a headset yet? And if so, does it use the Apple/HTC style connection or something else?

 

Can someone do an extensive gaming benchmark with the 640M LE? How does it perform?

 

Think I've finally settled on getting the premium model. However before I do, can anyone confirm that the HDMI output supports a 1920x1200 resolution?

I swear I've seen it online somewhere but I cant find it in the specs at the Sony site or anywhere else.

 

Anyone compared the SV-S13 900p panel to the Z-series 900p panel?

 

Mobiletechreview will compared them:

But in this video at 7:05 they briefly also compared it to the Z, but that is the 1920 x 1080 resolution version.

 

If you do not do the inf hack what happens? I had downloaded those beta drivers a week ago and simply ran the exe. It did not come up with any issues, and though I did not verify which version was being run via device manager the install said it installed correctly. I had read about the inf hack before, but was unsure when it was needed. Even with restarting there seemed to be no issues. DId it simply "think" it installed but really failed to?

Note that I since reverted back to the original sony driver as i was trying to figure out the fps drop that results when the computer was not set to ventilate.

 

It really seems that sony locked SATA III only o
The hdd version because SSD version, as you'll see, is in SATA III.
CAN we just install the SSD version of the BIOS on an HDD version.

Sony VAIO S Series - Tests et discussions - Page : 147 - Ultraportable - Ordinateurs portables - FORUM HardWare.fr

 

Just some clarification on the HDD upgrade for the S13p: Do you have to disconnect the ribbon cable from the motherboard (those two screws left of the RAM, Close-up.) before you can lift the bracket out? Or can those be left alone?

Cheers.

 

Thank you very much for your review and impression. I do have one question for you S15 owners- how are you finding the fan noise with a) balanced and b) high performance power setting under moderate load? For example with Chrome/Firefox open with 15 tabs with lots of flash, while streaming 720p video for at least 5 minutes, downloading files and a few big programs open? How about with c) flat-out cpu use, for example while converting >500MB video with handbrake? What is the pitch and volume (approx. db) of the fan? If you've owned another Vaio, how does it compare? Thanks!

 

Finally found it - it was hiding under the specs of the pre-configured models (not the customized ones). Here if anyone needs it.

Yes it does support 1920x1200 through the HDMI. Time to place the order....

 

No. The inf is basically just to bypass the verification process. if you got passed without inf, no biggie. At least to my knowledge.

 

Thank you. The colors seem to be less on the SV-S13 so I know that one will not be my replacement for my Z11. Z2 hasn't got a dedicated GPU in the chassis, a mediocre keyboard and the sound of my smarthphone is 20 times better. Guess I'll have to wait a bit longer.

 

Yeah, I kinda figured that I needed the inf to install those drivers. Turned out I didn't. They just install without any problems. So how's the performance difference between the Sony and beta ones?

I left those two screws in. Loosening the three visible screws that's holding the HDD (there's a fourth underneath the orange cable as well), I was able to tip up the disc, and unplug the cable. The final screw can then be removed, and the HDD taken out.

 

I've been reading this thread for a while and I almost bought the S15 until I read the "Orangegate answer": http://forum.notebookreview.com/8213929-post1060.html
Can anyone please confirm that it is actually that bad?

 

The color is greatly affected by the camera. When I load the picture it appears a much deeper red/orange than the obviously orange picture on the macbook/s15. So no, reds don't actually look that badly bright orange.

 

Hi again. Did your DPD tracking update during the day? Mine hasn't changed since the Pickup and Consolidation at 19:29 last night. When I spoke to DPD here they couldn't tell me any more and would only say it should update overnight tonight but it might not be until Thursday.

 

I had to disconnect the cable from the motherboard as you describe to reach once of the HDD bracket screws that was underneath the cable. It's super easy to do however. This is on a S13 P.

Hope this helps.

Petrov.

 

The hard drive + caddy weigh a small amount more than the ODD, so you will be slightly increasing the weight if you replace.
I suppose you could just take out the ODD if you wanted to remove a couple grams of weight but it would turn the left side of your laptop into a trampoline.

 

Ah. I was slightly confused where that fourth screw was but I can see its hidden under the cable, top left. Guess I'll see which method is easiest once I get the laptop in-hand.

Thanks again guys.

 

I'm still going back and forth wondering whether I should return the S15 I got because of the fan noise. As mentioned previously, I don't know if the noise I am hearing is because of the fan or because of the 7200 RPM Hard Drive. When I go from Priority to Silence to Ventilation I can hear a difference in fan noise, but I don't know if the Silence level of noise is from the fan or not.

Any others hear anything at all when they put their Vaio into "Silence"?

 

So I've bought a S15 and so far am liking it.

Am I right in thinking that if I want to add memory I need to get a 1.35V stick?

 

From what I remember it only seemed to update at night, until the day before delivery when it started updating more frequently. Once it is in the UK switch to using the DPD UK site with the name tracking number and you get more detailed results if my memory is correct.

 

You could, but that will be not entirely necessary. Others are using standard 1.5 V RAM and that is working fine.

 

Just received an email regarding SATA3 from a sony rep. (UK):
===========================================
(Changed name to initials)
This is TZ from Sony support. I am emailing you with relation to your inquiry about VAIO model SVS1511C5E specification. I have just received the below reply from our second level of support.

Regarding the SATA3 support. The chipset H76 supports SATA3 by default. And there is no option on BIOS to disable it.

Yours sincerely
TZ
Sony support
===========================================
My question was that I heard BIOS limits to SATA2 and I wanted to confirm whether it is true for UK models.

At least we have something to tell them to update the BIOS.
It's always better to have SATA3 instead of SATA2 even if sustained throughput doesn't *always* happen, right?
For example, it will definitely shorten the wake-up time from hibernate.
And who knows, future SSD's will have high random access transfer rate that SATA2 could be a problem, as I use my laptops for 4-5 years on average.

 

some people use Norton Ghost, some use Acronis True Image Home, some use Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition, and some even use Windows's built-in backup and restore tool. i have written a guide on how to clone a HDD to SSD with Norton Ghost (which is not free) in the SA owners' thread. but probably you would want to use another easier tool if you're not comfortable with this process.

see the YouTube video in this post. it shows you exactly what you need to open/remove to get to the hard drive.

 

Quick question: I ordered a custom S13 premium on Sunday and Sony's site is saying expected ship date of July 6th. Is that the expected date of it arriving at my house or the expected date of it shipping out ie. I'll get it another 5-7 days later? Two weeks seems like an awfully long time just to build.

 

Hi all,

I've been following this thread (and a few others) for a while now since my xps m1530 bit the dust about 2 months back
I've mainly been looking at the Samsung series 7 15.6, xps 15 (2012 new release version) and the Sony S 15.
I'ver pretty much ruled out the xp 15 because of the stupid pricing (apparently £1200 for the base model!!) and the fact that it weighs 2.6kgs (5.8lbs) which would be heavier than my xps 1530.
The Samsung series 7 was a close contender but the crap screen and low res is a turn off. It would have been a bargain at approx £950 (the same spec in the sony would cost £1250+) but it is still not available in the UK (even though it has been announced for other countries for almost a month!) and so my eyes are now set on the Sony

I like the fact that it's light and still fits a fair bit of power and the hi res screen...I just have a couple questions I would like an answer to before i part with my money
- Is the i7 quad core worth the upgrade? its a £50 upgrade (£20 for the processor and £30 to bump the graphics card to 2gb). Would the quad core harm battery life too much? I would mainly be using my laptop for software development usually running multiple instances of visual studio along with remote desktops + utility applications, some photoshop work (just basic photo editing...nothing major) and general use.

If i dont get the upgrade the money would go towards me getting an ssd
Any advice would be much appreciated

 

You bet Sony will join other manufacturers in releasing Win 8 laptops for the holiday season. Otherwise Sony will lose a lot of sales. Some laptops may have touchscreens while all of them are likely to have enhanced trackpads to better navigate the metro interface. Finally Windows systems will be on par with or even better than the Mac trackpads. Systems designed for Win 8 will also use UEFI boot instead of the age-old BIOS. Sure, you can install Win 8 on the current S15, but it will still boot using BIOS and you won't get the advantages of UEFI. So if you can wait just a few months, you'll have a more future-proof machine.

 

Why do you say the new S series won't be able to use UEFI boot? It already uses UEFI boot. My Win 7 Pro from the factory came to me using UEFI boot already setup...? Maybe I misunderstood you.

Petrov.

 

Is that £20 the price to upgrade from the i5, or are you comparing it to the dual core i7? I would certainly grab the quad core if it's just that to upgrade from the i5. And well, if it's between the two i7's then you're already paying quite a bit of extra for (what I consider) slight increase in performance, so I see no reason not to go all the way and pay some more for even more performance (and future proofing).

 

The only i7 worth getting is the quad core. And personally, i think an i7 is overkill in a laptop. Lots of extra heat and noise for not that much performance