Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Excitedly awaiting my s13 premium! I got it for $825 before tax talking to reps can work, got me 30% off an outlet one which aren't used btw i didn't know that... They just have been configured and canceled before shipping. Only con i have is i wanted Gunmetal and it was black oh well the price of like $250 off.

can canyone comment on the black is there any comparison pics of the black vs gunmetal? Thanks!

 

Are you sure it's the new S series? What's the model number for yours?

 

Wondering why my i7's WEI score is 7.1 and the i5-3320M has an WEI score of 7.2???

 

that's only YOUR opinion, and NOT a fact. and a few indicents of people carefully disassembling their laptops and putting them back together does not represent the whole spectrum.

be my guest; open your laptop to your heart's content, but please don't recommend that to other people in this forum who are not familiar with the manufacturer's policies regarding this issue, since they might get in trouble for it.

my point is this: you can always open your laptop, but don't be mad when the manufacturer finds out and denies your warranty claim.

 

don't worry too much about the WEI score. it's really meaningless. to see how fast your CPU is, run a benchmark (Prime95, maybe) and compare your results with othes online if you're really curious.

 

CLEARANCE - Customized SVS13A190X Series Laptop

was listed as 1179.99 in short the base config of the 13 prem version...


With sonys return policy if i am unsatisfied with the color of the black do you think i could exchange it for a gunmetal one?

 

Great price! You must be in UK? I don't we have those deals in N.A. (esp in Canada) And what are your specs?

 

Just wondering if anyone's else Vaio S have an creaking sound when they close the lid slowly...

Also, when comparing the new Vaio to my older Vaio SA3, the colours and contrast is better on the newer Vaio, but I do notice the pixels (The little square) on the monitor though, agian, does anyone else notice the pixels (The little squares)?

PS: Where is the Wireless switch now? I know from the older Vaio SA3, they had an actual switch directly below the Wireless indicator light.

I also did notice an tiny scratch on my just open Vaio S...Should I try and get some discount?

 

I am in NA, lol though not all too far from Canada

Should be:

3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (2.50GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
No Fresh Start
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
13.3" LED backlit display (1600 x 900)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (1GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive
4GB (4GB fixed onboard + 1 open slot) DDR3-1333Mhz
CD/DVD player / burner
Internal lithium polymer battery (4400mAh)


WAS $1,179.99
Promotional Discount -$354.00
Shipping FREE
Sales Tax $0.00 Need to enter shipping
Remaining Balance $825.99

I ordered it through an online rep because they "couldent" apply the discount through the normal checkout??? i know it was a bit odd, i gues it would be like ordering over the phone but through a chat window... btu they said it was the last day for the sale, (ordered the 28th). I honestly think the rep made a mix up because all the other models that were 30% off were last gen or last year ones...

I let you guys know if they follow through on it, and if its actually the s13a like they said.

 

Great deal then! My Gunmetal i7 was $1199.99 before tax!

May I ask what was your discount that couldn't be applied through normal checkout? And I must assume your in the USA then, Canadian Reps would never treat us that well

Lucky for you!

 

well, you rat s, now you did it. Finally put my order in for the i5 s15, 640m premade model. Got sold by visiting the sony store in in NYC yesterday. While the screen certainly has issues producing full reds, it's still amazingly beautiful and much, much better than any 1366 screen offered in BBY. Plus, the lightness of the laptop is amazing. The only issue I had was that the touchpad felt...cheap? it felt like it clicked with any kind of pressure, but hopefully I'll be able to get used to it.

Edit:

It also blows away the 1600 screen on the samsung series 7.

 

I did a couple of quick searches in the thread but could not find the answer to this...

Once I remove the HDD and replace the an SSD, can I access the image of the HDD through a USB external drive? I have connected the HDD to two different SATA to USB conntrollers, but I cannot access the data. I can find that the drive is recognized in "computer management" all of the partitions are there, but I cannot access them. I assume it has to do with the way that the partitions are formated for the UEFI. Can anyone comment if they have been successful in accessing them externally?

Thanks,

 

Just wondering if anyone's else Vaio S have an creaking sound when they close the lid slowly...

Also, when comparing the new Vaio to my older Vaio SA3, the colours and contrast is better on the newer Vaio, but I do notice the pixels (The little square) on the monitor though, agian, does anyone else notice the pixels (The little squares)?

PS: Where is the Wireless switch now? I know from the older Vaio SA3, they had an actual switch directly below the Wireless indicator light.

I also did notice an tiny scratch on my just open Vaio S...Should I try and get some discount?

 

^ fyi, i don't think the mods of this forum like to see a lot of repeated posts in a very short time. i'm not complaining, by the way, and i'm not one of the mods, just trying to save you from their wrath!

 

Hey, how did you get that 30 % off? Did you purchase it from here? Sony Outlet & Refurbished Products

 

Does anybody knows about the docking station VGP-PRS25 works with the 2012 model (s15)???

 

my vaio s13p black creaks when opened/closed. but i'll live with it

i think there's no wireless switch for the 2012 models now. it's only via software.

 

Since Fn+F8 and Fn+F11 appear unassigned, I wonder how difficult it would be to write a little macro and assign the functions in key-mapper?

-Matt

 

When looking at the Google home page, the older Vaio SA3 has much better whites than the new Vaio S....

Also on the new Vaio S, it seems like it's an lower resolution as I can see the pixels (the tiny squares) whereas the older SA3, I can not see them at all. And both ARE indeed at 1600x900...

It's just much nicer to read on the Vaio SA3 versions compared to the new Vaio S. Although the new Vaio S has much better colors....

Does anyone else notice the pixels (the tiny squares) when looked closely?

 

Thank you for the answer.
That's exactly my fear, being stuck with a card with no drivers and not being able to switch back to the integrated device.
I'm planning to use windows too, especially for gaming, but I want to be able to switch between os without dramatic limitations.

Does anyone have some experience with the S15 and linux?

 

Don't want to get into an OT argument here, but IT IS A FACT that I've called various tech representatives of manufacturers (IBM, Lenovo, Acer, MSI [even Dell but that wasn't me, only a friend of mine]) and either asked if I could take the HDD out \ replace it (or been asked if I wanted to in order to preserve my data).

The answer has always been "sure, you can take it out \ replace as you wish".

I'm not recommending anyone to open their laptop to their hearts' content, I'm just giving my thoughts on the matter based on facts.

If someone feels unsafe doing it then sure, go call the manufacturer and ask if you can open the laptop and replace the HDD \ ODD.
But ask a tech support person (and I mean a real tech support with knowledge about the models), not some sales dude as they usually don't know jack.

TLDR: If someone with knowledge wants to open \ replace stuff, go for it as long as you don't damage anything.
If you're a newbie or unsure, ask a tech support whether you should do it.

 

Hah, just unplugged and pulled up Windows Mobility Center to see what estimated battery life is. What an unusual and unexpected answer! Now THAT'S what I call battery life!



-Matt

 

You need to assign drive letters manually in the "drive management": right-click on each partition and select menu item to change or assign drive letter. Windows 7 does not auto-mount external drives by default. Alternatively, you can open command prompt as administrator (important!) and type this command:

diskpart

At the prompt then type:

automount enable

and press enter. Once done, type:

exit

end press enter. You can close command window now and plug-in USB drive.

I actually created a script to enable automount:

Code:

@echo "automount enable" >automount.txt
@diskpart /s automount.txt
@del automount.txt
@pause

 

Hello everyone. I've browsed through some of this thread and there's been some useful information imparted so thanks for that!

I have a question.

I've recently ordered the following specification from the Sony store:

SVE1711C5E
Intel® CoreTM i5-2450M, 2.5GHz
Windows® 7 Home Premium
500 GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Blu-ray Disc(TM) player
43.8cm LCD 1920x1080 + webcam
AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7650M 2GB

to be built in the new 2012 E series 17" model....

It came to around £640.

My question is with regards to the F series of laptop and how it compares.

For example, M&S has the following on offer:

VPCF23N1E

Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM
Windows 7 Home Premium
640GB Hard Drive
4GB Ram
Blu-ray Disc(TM) player
16.4" 1600 x 900 screen
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M GPU

For a similar price (£650).

Is there anyone that can shed more light as to the differences in build quality between the newer E series, and such an F series model.

From what I gather, the main differences are in the touchpad, the materials used, and the processor - though both are the older sandy bridge.

I have the option to upgrade the 'E series' configuration to the 3612qm i7 ivy bridge chip but that'd add roughly £110 to the cost. Would that be recommended or would it be worth my while to hold out for a slight drop in SSD prices and look for a 256GB SSD for that cost in the near future (to go with the i5 chip).

Edit:

To further complicate things, i've just spotted a clearance SE series priced at £799:

VAIO SE1 Series with Intel® CoreTM i7-2640M.

Intel® CoreTM i7-2640M, 2.8GHz
500 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3-SDRAM
39.5 cm LCD, 1920x1080+webcam
AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6470M 512MB
DVD disc drive

I lose the blu-ray with this, and the graphics card is different, but I think the screen quality is meant to be MUCH better on the SE Series - is that correct?


As you can see, i'm at quite a dilemna here. Any opinions are warmly welcomed and greatly appreciated!

 

I bought a 15s a couple of days ago and im really pleased with it.
Only thing except the poor sound ive noticed on my unit is that the "page down" button is abit "tilted". Its leaning outwards to the edge.
So inte other words one side of the button looks pressed down. Is this common or did i just get a bad unit?
Also ive noticed the "speed/stamina" button dont always react untill i fidge it abit. Sometimes when i move it to stamina it stays in speed mode.
Not sure if this is a software issue and its lagging behind some times or dont react. Or if its a hardware problem.

 

yes, you can replace the HDD, and it does not void your warranty. but to replace the ODD, you need to open up the laptop, take the top part out, disconnect multiple cables for the keyboard and touchpad, etc. they're two completely different processes. the latter will void the warranty if the manufacturer finds out.

i totally agree with your TL;DR conclusion, and i'm done with this discussion.

 

I´m waiting for my S13P and in the meantime I´m searching for a small Bag for it. ATM the Tucano "Second Skin Colore 13/14 for Laptop" is my Favorite. Anyone here who has the same Bag, or is there a "better" one?

 

BIG SITUATION PLEASE HELP!


- When looking at the Google home page, the older Vaio SA3 has much better whites than the new Vaio S....

Also on the new Vaio S, it seems like it's an lower resolution as I can see the pixels (the tiny squares) whereas the older SA3, I can not see them at all. And both ARE indeed at 1600x900...

It's just much nicer to read on the Vaio SA3 versions compared to the new Vaio S. Although the new Vaio S has better colors....

Does anyone else notice the pixels (the tiny squares) when looked closely?

 

I have not seen the SA3 but with my wife's S13 Premium, you can indeed see the pixels on hers. I can see them more if I go from looking at my Z or AW's screen and then immediately look at her 1600 by 900 screen. I set up her S13 and noticed the pixels right away but after making some color adjustments and resizing everything at 125% because 1600 by 900 native was a bit small for her, it is at least in my eyes "acceptable" but for her she thinks it looks good. The panel of the S13 most certainly should be better though being that this is marketed as a premium notebook.

 

Thanks for the help. Looks like it is working.

 

I don't know why this is the case. And do you mean changing to 125%?

PS: I think I know why we see the pixels. If you go to an Pixel Resolution Pitch Calculator (I use DPI Calculator / PPI Calculator) we can actually see that it is NOT INDEED 1600x900, rather, mine is 1584x891...which is weird.

PS: I assume you don't notice the pixels on any of your other PCs? Neither do I....The new Vaio S seems like an 1366x728 resolution to me with the pixels...

 

^ Haha...yeah. I missed the "1". Already edited. Thanks. And no, I don't see the pixels on either of my VAIO's or her VAIO SR590. And that screen is a 1280 by 800 resolution and to my eyes looks better than the S13 Premium.

 

Since I am on 1600x900 resolution, whenever I go on Screenresolution.org, I never get that resolution. I get 1584x891...whereas my older Vaio SA3 actually get 1600x900 using screenresolution.org...

 

Mine got 1600x900 on that site.

 

You guys sure it's not the anti-glare that's making you "see the pixels"? Haven't seen those other models, but it seems very grainy on the S13.

 

Damnit, I was almost positive about buying this laptop. Now I'll have to look for an alternative.

 

mine too. 1600 x 900 exactly

what you guys are seeing isnt really individual pixels, its a kind of moire or screen door effect which (i think) is caused by the matte treatment. oddly enough i only get it in specific parts of my screen and also not all the time. Usually only when browsing

when gaming its completely indistinguishable

its really not that bad. It certainly wouldnt stop me from getting this laptop again if i had to choose again. One small con in a large sea of pro's

 

gah, my laptop arrived in London last night but doesnt look like it made it onto a delivery van this morning. It's like waiting for christmas

i'm out tomorrow evening too, so won't have time to play until thursday it seems.

edit: OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH!

07/31/2012
08:30 1569
London (GB)
Out for delivery


DPD i love you. Now you better find my office.

 

Well the fact is, the laptop's screen will be mainly used for browsing and typing. Gaming would be on an external monitor. Guess I'll have to go to a sony vaio store myself and check out how much it annoys me.
I was also considering the Z series and samsung series 9. Yet neither have dedicated graphics, and while I'm more of a casual gaming trying to quit it permanently, I'm a bit afraid to undergo the transition.

 

I assume I am the only one with this problem as I cannot see that anyone else has mentioned it. I cannot get the WEB key to get Quick Web Access when the computer is off. If I press it, it boots straight into Windows. I recently did a factory restore for other reasons so it should be there. I updated the BIOS and it is still not there. It is not mentioned as an application in Vaio care that I can see. I found the file EP0000207216.exe mentioned and I ran that. It seems to create the two SPLASH folders on the C drive but if I turn off the computer and press the WEB button, it boots to Windows and the two folders have disappeared.

I assume the WEB key works for everyone else when the computer is off.

Anyone any ideas?

 

I did a fresh reinstall and i boot right into chrome when i press it. is it possible you missed a driver?

its really not that bad. But yeah, its up to you to see how much it bothers you

 

I did a restore from the recovery partition so i don't see how I could have missed anything. Which driver is it?

Can someone tell me if Quick Web Access is listed in the recovery apps in Vaio Care? It's not on mine.

Do you have the two SPLASH folders, 000 and SYS?

 

Hi, I'm about to pick up a SVS13A here in India.

SVS13A15GN : S Series : VAIO™ Laptop & Computer : Sony India

It comes with a 750GB (yikes 5400 rpm ). Here Samsung 830 SSD or Crucial M4 is not available.
My options which are locally available are OCZ Agility 4 (256 GB),
OCZ Agility 3 (240 gb) Corsair Force Series GT (240 GB), Corsair Force Series 3 (240 GB). Price difference among the above 4 is negligible.
I'm mainly looking for reliability and low power consumption as the notebook will primarily be used for office applications and web browsing.
Personally leaning towards the Agility 4. Any experience with the SVS13A and above SSD's?

 

after purchasing my s13a prem for $825 i got some really sweet and odd shipping info. (NA btw)

Saturday 28th place order, estimated ship date 7/31/12
Sunday 29th, estimated ship date 7/28/31/12
Monday 30th, estimated ship date 7/31/12
Tuesday, out for delivery (WTH! )

That is with standard shipping, I am confused amazed and cannot wait to get out of work...

its gonna be a long day!

 

ive been reading all the post here and found a lot of helpful information in this thread...so ive been having my sony vaio s15 for two weeks now and this is the best laptop i ever owned by far and ive owned two hps and one sony vaio f. even with its lack of speakers and the screen problem which i dont have problem with this laptop is light, powerful, quiet, cool, and has an amazing ips screen that has no or little glare, and the touchpad is up there with mackbook pro here are the specs of my s15 below:

i7-3612QM @ 2.10ghz
6 gb ram (currently upgraded to 8 gb ram with my old ram from my old vaio and will upgrade to 12 gb just waiting for the ram to arrive from the mail)
640 gb 5400rpm (i want to upgrade to a ssd in a future once its more cheap)
nvidia geforce gt 640 le 2 gb
win 7 home premium
64 bit operating system
dvd/cd

i bought this laptop for $1,199

for those that are deciding to get this laptop do not hesitate, i went back to the store that i bought it and it was sold out! also if guys have any questions or want some pics posted let me know....im a proud owner!

 

Congratulations! It's always neat to see a happy owner. Have you tried gaming yet? What size SSD do you think you'll get? If you're thinking "large" I saw a 512GB OCZ Agility 4 today at newegg for $360 (with code EMCNCGJ35):

Newegg.com - OCZ Agility 4 AGT4-25SAT3-512G 2.5" 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I'm looking forward to seeing SSD's drop below $0.50/GB!

-Matt

 

Glad to hear DPD are handling the deliveries, they're usually very good.

Finally got confirmation that my S15 has gone into production on Sunday (12 days after I ordered it!) and it should be with me on the 11th August (but as that's a Saturday and I'm having it delivered to work I guess I won't be getting this until the following week ).

Looking forward to getting my hands on it though.

 

I'm getting the S15 (i7) from Nehru Place, New Delhi. There's a site called onlyssd.com which has all those SSDs you mentioned in stock. I would suggest you to go for Crucial M4 256gb as it costs just around 14k (INR) and offers much better reliability and speed compared to the similarly priced models.

 

yeah i have diablo 3 and running it with everything in high with no shadow and screen res 1600x900 runs about high 50s to mid 40s in fps. as for the ssd yeah im planning to get 500gb or larger.

 

yeah i have diablo 3 and running it with everything in high with no shadow and screen res 1600x900 runs about high 50s to mid 40s in fps. as for the ssd yeah im planning to get 500gb or larger.

oops sorry for double post.