Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Nope, actually didn't. I doubt it would make too much a diff though. I did play around farily much with equalisers in VLC quite a bit and actually got it way better than normal, but still not good enough. Can't really test now as I packed it all down in the box and taped it up.

 

This is the s15! Does the s13p has similar heatsink system? I mean, does it works as good as the s15?

 

It is a shame that sony cut corners like this, and then have the nerve to brag about those crappy speakers

Yeah, sure.

 

I can't imagine it being much different, other than dimensions, and screen size these computers are nearly identical. The larger casing of the S15 may allow slightly better air circulation, but I don't think it's measurable.

 

Agreed. If it wasn't for the speakers I would keep it, really great laptop that would let me play games now and then. But since most of my laptop time is spent surfing the web and watching TV-series in bed I cannot accept any crap for speakers. Even my fiancé's Macbook Air have speakers many magnitudes better. I didn't believe when people said they were bad, I just thought "It is Sony, they have been making audio stuff for ages, can't be that bad". Silly me...

 

See the "orange gate" thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/673678-vaio-s15-orangegate-again.html#post8659041

 

Well, I love it, it is very nice, unique yet not obvious. The brashed metal look is so refreshing from all the piano black we get these days. The hint of violet doesn't bother me.

Btw How's the screen on your s13p?

 

Are you in the UK? I've checked my card and payment has been taken but I've had no updates/emails to say so and no word on whether or not they've started building it yet! Bit disappointed by the service to be honest

 

I know what you mean, since buying my S15, it still cannot replace my elder MacBook Pro as the in bed video watching machine Keeps me warm too.

 

I think the screen is ok, i don't recognize the problems mentioned here in the forum, but i'm not a color dependent professional. I'm very happy with this beautifull piece of equipment

 

yep UK based.

what model and options did you go for? maybe my stuff was more readily available?

have you logged into your sony ccount to take a look?

 

Alright. Sony Vaio S13P ordered. Gunmetal black. Basic everything (3210, 1GB VRAM, 500GB HDD). I am now officially in the owner's club!

 

I received my Gunmetal S13 today and it's fantastic. I have no screen issues at all luckily and it even came with the upgrades (bios and vaio gate etc) already installed which was kinda surprising. Like people have said already, the viewing angles and the speakers aren't the greatest but I'm very happy with my purchase.

 

CNet.com has a review of the S15 out:

Sony Vaio S Series SVS1511AGXB Review - Watch CNET's Video & Read Our Review

 

How accurate is the shipping estimate in the order page, especially for Canada? I ordered S13A [basic configuration, i5,4GB, 500GB HD. Only two changes: English keyboard and Gunmetal color] on 18th July and it was showing 30 July as shipping estimate in the cart. However, when I login and check order status, the shipping estimate there is 14th August. This is a huge delay and I'll have changed my province by then. Also, how long does it take for the laptop to reach you once they complete the build in China?

 

I ordered on July 6th in Canada, got shipped on the 17th, just when it said it would, and I received it today, the 19th. It only took two days from China to Edmonton.

 

Cool, thanks. Interesting review -- generally positive. I think it's telling that so-called expert reviews (from places like CNET) fail to convey the same details/nuances that come up in a forum. For example, I don't remember the review mentioning the IPS screen, or the red/orange issues. What's it like to type on? How does the wristpad feel? How is 1080p playback? (I found it a bit suspicious that Reviewer Dan thought the audio was OK, when several owners here have noted otherwise.)

It's almost like they spend 15 minutes with the machine -- less than what any of us do at Best Buy -- and then write their review! I learn so much more from other real owners.

-Matt

 

Well, I think the speakers are definitely an improvement over the 2011 SE model. Audio sounds nicer and I can hear dialoques a lot better. My older SE sounded quite thin and could be a bit painful to hear when the volume's turned up.

 

Has anyone else noticed a little dip in the S13 trackpad? At the bottom left side, mine slants inward a little bit more than the other corners. The bottom right is dipped to half the extent.

 

Yup. The top left and right have a tiny dip. The bottom left has a bigger dip, and on my laptop, the bottom right has no dip. Trackpad works fine though. I noticed it today after seeing someone mentioned it earlier.

 

OH MAN thanks for totally ruining my week. I JUST returned a Samsung NP700Z5C for trackpad problems, and today I ordered a S15 instead! Now I'll be totally neurotic as I'm unpacking the Sony.

-Matt

 

My S15 trackpad looks and works just perfect.
But i found a little defect on my notebook too. The left bottom corner of screen is a bit away from screen. I cant see the defect when im looking straight at screen but if i look from right side, its clearly visible.
Im planning to clue it together soon, but im still thinking which clue or thin tape to use. I dont want to spoil my notebook screen with it.
Everything else on my S15 is flawless.

 

Hi Everyone!

new here and enjoying my svs13....no issues whatsoever...moded my bios as well at 935...enjoying every mm of my vaio...

 

Damn my shipping date judt got pushed out to 29th july or 1st august.

Was hoping id have it in time for the olympics as i might get stuck at work due to transport hell

 

I received my unit a day before sony's estimated ship date.

Order placed: 06/26/2012
Shipped Date: 07/05/2012
Delivered: 07/10/2012

 

Mine took 15 days (weekend inclusive) to arrive. It arrives via DPD in the UK, so if you're not in to collect, you can pick up from your "local" depot at some point.

 

please explain me one thing about S13 with 128GB flash as RAID, so this mean that inside are two SSD's in raid mode?

 

Black with:
i7 Quad
500gb HDD
12gb RAM
640M 2gb
Win 7 Pro

I've tried logging into my account but keeps saying they don't have an account with my email address (even though they've sent me login details and I can login fine to the "My Sony" section without problems!). I've emailed them to try and sort it out but no word yet

 

Its a single physical disk (single PCB) which contains 2x64GB drives.
256GB version has 2x 128GB drives and so on.
I posted pictures before in to sata 3 thread on Sony section. It uses custom connector which is not compatible with sata. So you can replace the drive with regular sata drive if you have Sony SSD version.

 

so I can't replace this disk with Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 in this model?

 

If you have SSD model then, you can not.
If you have HDD model then you can. HDD models come with regular sata connector.

 

I can't even imagine that there is no adapter for sony sata to regular sata ??

 

Just received my S13P. It shipped a day earlier than expected. Original ship date was 7/19. Here was the timeline for order/delivery to the US for anyone who is interested...

7/10 - order placed
7/12 - build started
7/16 - build complete/payment processed
7/18 - shipped via FedEx express
7/20 - received

first impressions....absolutely gorgeous!

 

Simple comparison video I made on NFS SHIFT 2

VAIO S 2012 BIOS MOD - YouTube

Sorry for the bad camera phone quality.

 

I would really like to have an SSD in my new 13P but I'm sorry to say 512Gb is not enough for me. I am obviously not willing to spend nearly UK£2,000 on a 1Tb SSD and it will be at least a year or two before that size comes down to a reasonable price.

So I was wondering in the meantime whether to try a hybrid drive. Haven't found any 1Tb versions but have found the Seagate ST750LX003 750Gb. It seems to offer close to the speed of SSD but without the price. Just UK£114 from Amazon UK.

No one seems to have mentioned hybrid drives in this thread. Anyone any opinions?

 

If that's not enough than install an SSd and then buy an external drive that's portable for expansion like the Seagate Backup Plus. It uses the USB 3.0 interface on your Vaio S13p. As long as you don't need eveything on the SSd its fine.

 

Thing is I need to travel with it a lot and prefer not to carry more peripherals than I have to. That's why I never seriously considered the Z as I like that the S13 has a built in optical drive as well.

Will a hybrid drive bring me most (although not all) of the benefits of SSD without any real downsides? It seems to have very good user reviews.

 

If you don't need the ODD you could always have both?

 

If you don't need the optical drive, then I would suggest swapping that for a second hard drive. But it sounds like you do need the ODD. I did look into the hybrid drives for a bit, but then decided to go with dual hard drives instead

 

Just received my gunmetal S13A as I was stepping out of the door to go to work. The FedEx guy dropped it off very early in the morning.

I have to go to work right now so I can't open it . Will do an unboxing and review when I get home from work.

 

It will still be better than a standard HDD but not nearly as fast or shock resistant. It also consumes more power. Still, the portable backup plus is ver small and lightweight if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks abcdos.
What I failed to realize is that it is not possible to boot from DVD, install new operating system and then boot your new OS in UEFI: you are at that point only able to do a "legacy" boot resulting in reduced functionality, missing items and (in my case at least) a non functioning battery as you are unable to access all features of the UEFI motherboard. Anyway having tried twice with two different windows versions that was my experience.
It seems that some other posters are grappling with similar problems.
Will do UEFI boot on USB - hope it will not take me too long to set it up
cheers

 

^ what are you babbling about? What funcitonality was lost with Legacy (aka BIOS) instead of UEFI? What's this about your battery not being functional in BIOS mode?

I have no issues here with a clean install of Win7 from the retail DVD onto an OCZ Vertex 3.

 

I`m a little bit confused. I`ve recently ordered my S13p and Samsung 830 SSD, I was hoping I could change to boot from DVD is bios then install Windows from there.Then all the drivers. Is this not correct? I keep reading boot from USB with legacy etc.....

 

EDIT: YEAH, precisely what the last two guys ^^ said! LOL

OK, forgive me for eavesdropping but...I'm confused. I assumed after watching the disassembly tutorial that other than disk "height", SATA SSD's and HDD's are interchangeable in the S15. Or at least, I was planning to move the HDD to an OD caddy and put a new SSD in its place. Did I miss a detail along the way?

I'm also REALLY thrown by the occasional "I can't wipe and install clean OS" message. Again, the detailed guide in the OP is extremely well-written (thanks Petrov) and looks clear and easy to follow. Are there new issues, or dangers I've missed?

-Matt

 

I am also confused. Once I take out the HDD and insert my SSD, what is my next step?

Once I inserted my SSD, do I turn on my laptop or should I insert my Win7 disc and start installing?

 

what I am babbling about - this was my experience with 2 different installs on crucial 256 ssd to Vaio S 15 delivered a few days ago and all drivers installed as per instructions and in order.
I wish it were not so.
Shortly after boot I get battery error messages and have to shut down. Using mains power I try to test battery as per Sony website but certain elements of Vaio Care are missing and am unable to check battery status etc.etc.
In my innocence I supposed that not booting in UEFI mode but in legacy (Bios) mode was a problem for the UEFI motherboard; after all I imagined that in order to gain access to all UEFI motherboard functions one would have to boot in UEFI mode - but what would I know?.......................

 

Battery issue comes from bad battery placement. Nothing else. It has nothing to do with running bios in legacy mode. Many of us, including me run legacy mode without any issues.
If you get that message, just open your battery section, take battery battery out for second and place it again.
Besides. Notebook is not asking shutdown. It forces itself to hilbernate. I had this issue with my old vaio once. Reseating the battery properly fixes it.

 

I'd like to second this question. It seems fairly straight forward in Petrov's guide, but there seem to be a lot of questions/concerns about Legacy mode compared to UEFI. Is there a way to do the HDD/SSD swap, and install windows from a dvd/boot drive onto the new SSD in UEFI mode?

 

thanks for your input.
actually I tried this on both prior installs but to no avail. Error message tells me I have to shut down - I try doing something else and error message stops me doing anything except to shut down.
When I switch back to my original HDD everything works perfectly - no battery issues or any other problems.
Nice to know that others have no problems with legacy mode
cheers