Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

I think you may be looking at the S13, but if some impressions/comments on the S15 might be useful, you can check out: http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...30-impressions-sony-s15-samsung-np700z5c.html

-Matt

 

The graininess and pixels is definately a issue but to me it was more the colours (whites were very yellowish and blacks grayish compared to other cheaper laptops i`ve owned) and if you tilt the screen by an extra 5% or so it appears very washed out. very noticable. You dont really expect that on a premium product.

The keyboard and build quality is second to none in my opinion. Its just the poor screen that lets it down, like I said im no perfectionist but to me its not very nice.

 

You hit the nail of the head! The contrast and colour was terrible for a £1000 machine. But like I said could of been just mine. I`m now back on my M11X typing this and this seems cleaner/nicer which it shouldnt do compared to the s13p.

 

This actually bothers me as well. I don't have flickerings/don't notice graininess too much. Blacks are fine and changing whites would be fast with a color profile. But the vertical viewing angles really suck. (S13P)

 

Was wondering if anyone can share what color profile you guys are using....I really want to make the whites more white and decrease the level of awareness on the graininess/pixels.

 

I´m in a big Dilemma... On the one Hand, if I read all the Posts about the poor Screens I don´t want to buy an S13P...On the other Hand, I can´t find a Notebook that is nearly as perfect as the S13P .

The next Problem if I take the S13P. Which CPU should I choose?

I want to install Ubuntu (or an other Linux) on the Vaio. Mainwork will be Java (Eclipse), Office (OpenOffice and Latex) and the "normal" Stuff like Surfing, E-Mail or Usenet. NO Games. Oh and a Virtual Machine (i think Virtualbox) with a Win7 Pro what I need sometimes.

Here in Germany the i7 costs 60 Euros (about 75 USD) more than the i5.

Any Tipps are welcome ;-)

Paddie

 

With you stating your poor english, im gonna assume you don't live in the USA.
Right now Sony's offering $100 rebate card for some of their vaio models. Paired with Microsoft's Xbox 360 giveaway if you're a student with laptop purchase from them, you can flip the 360 and get the $100 rebate to make it a little cheaper

anyway, i just bought the regular S13.
the model is SVS13112FXB

From what I can tell, the base of the laptop & the Lid of the laptop is magnesium.
The keyboard section is definitely plastic (i just took my keyboard out to remove the optical drive)
I belive the inside monitor bezel is plastic too, but not 100%
Other than that, the laptop itself the shell has a very sturdy feel to it.
They keyboard section feels a little plasticey, but i think that's for both regular and premium

Hope that helps!

 

Interesting update on the $100/$150 rebate: apparently Sony is honoring the rebate from other sellers, e.g., J&R:

Sony VAIO® SVS15113FXS 15.5" Notebook PC - Silver in PC Notebook Computers | JR.com

Of course, you miss out on the PS3/Vita offer but for those outside of NY...no sales tax. I wonder who else (Amazon, B&H, etc.) will have the same offer?

EDIT: just checked Amazon, it's only 3rd party sellers (for the SVS15113FVS anyway), and J&R is also selling it there with the rebate.

-Matt

 

After having owned the machine for 2 weeks I am going to return it. The screen is just too big an issue for me. The sad thing is I love all other aspects of the machine, build quality, size, weight, battery, performance. I also would have gladly paid another $100-$150 IPS display. Such a shame its not even an option. I have a 5 year old Dell XPS laying around and that screen just runs circles around this one in terms of viewing angle, color, etc

May give the S15 a shot. Going to hit up Best Buy to check out the size of the thing in person.

 

does anyone know if VAIO SA's AC adapter (VGPAC19V42) from last year would work properly to the new VAIO s13 models?

 

Hey Matt, will this offer be valid even if I buy the lower end 800$ model from amazon ?
How did you know sony will honor the rebate if bought from other resellers?
Edit: just checked amazon and they have mentioned

So I have to buy only from J&R on amazon?



Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk HD

 

J&R mentions on their website about free sheet battery. Do they give it ?
Also the link posted by Matt says model as SVS15113FXS while the 999$ model on amazon through the same company is SVS15113FXB and the SVS15113FXS is pricier and of different config. Confusing.


Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk HD

 

I'm using the SA3's AC adapter as we speak. No issues, but I would also like an more experienced answer.

PS: Do you also have an older version of SA? Do you notice an big difference in screen quality?

 

does anyone know if there are any disadvantages of legacy boot in windows 8??

 

I don't know if this has been asked before but does anybody know if Sony retail locations carry the S13A? And if so, do they have the base configuration? I don't want to get the expensive ready to ship model. Thanks in advance!

 

Here's the link to the rebate form:

http://www.jr.com/media/Rebates/Com...books/SON6_20120908_v1_m56577569838127813.pdf

Still not entirely clear which retailers are included. But I do see several J&R models mention the free sheet battery, and those same models also listed on the rebate form. I think it's all good...maybe the J&R website is not updated yet.

EDIT: OK, starting to see the same offer (sheet battery + rebate) at B&H too: Sony VAIO S1511 SVS15113FX/S 15.5" Notebook SVS15113FX/S

-Matt

 

just checking in, got my S15 today. love the display, although i still have to calibrate it.

the speakers are really awful though. my iPod Touch sounds better, and it's got a miniscule speaker. absolutely no base out of the S15, even after tweaking the sound with the lenovo-sourced dolby software

 

ok, so i'm considering buying either this laptop (sony S13A) or a lenovo x230.

the differences i see so far:
Sony has 1600x900 tn vs Lenovo 1366x768 IPS
Sony will be 2.5" 9.5mm SSD + 2.5" 9.5mm HDD in caddy vs Lenovo will be mSata SSD + 2.5" 7mm HDD in drive bay (so lenovo upgrade will be more expensive)
Sony will be max 12gb 1366 ram vs Lenovo will be max 16gb 1600+ ram
Sony has GT640 vs Lenovo has just intel hd 4000

pricerange is the same. Lenovo is slightly thicker but slightly smaller overall. Lenovo is better build quality + keyboard. Sony has better touchpad.

obviously you guys may be biased a bit here, but which one should I buy? Why SHOULDNT I buy the sony?

 

That is my only Problem with the X230 (which I ordered a few hours ago ;-))

You can also change the "standard" main HDD. I´m going to hold the 500 GB (7200) HDD and built in an 64 GB MSATA for the OS.

IMHO thats one of the "smaller" Problems. If you don´t wanna handle a few Virtual Machines or similar. I´ve ordered the x230 with 4 GB and will order one more 8GB at amazon or so.

If you don´t wanna play 3D Games or so the HD4000 will be OK.

The Touchpad on the X230 is..uhm (how did I tell it best... ;-)) not sooooo good ;-). But on the X230 you have the Touchpoint. After little time you will only use it and switch off the Touchpad.

Only BIG Point against the Sony ---->> DISPLAY

HTH

Paddie

 

The IPS in the X230 will blow away the TN in the S13. You won't mind the lower resolution on the X230 because the screen is physically smaller.

 

some comparison shot between vaio sa from last year and vaio s13p from this year..

if compared side by side..i would say this year's screen is much better. for me anyway.

 

What?! Look at the blues alone, much more defined on the SA. I wonder if those screens are interchangeable

Here is my white background comparison, this image is very realistic and unaltered.

 

the blue doesn't really look like that in when you're in front of it..the SA one looks more washed out compared to the s13..on my laptops anyway

 

Really? I have heard the exact opposite.

 

^ the original color profile on the SA (courtesy of Intel or SONY or both) is very blue and washed out. using a ICC color profile generated by calibrating the screen greatly enhances SA's colors; although the screen itself still sucks. i'd suggest you guys calibrate both (SA and S13A) screens and then compare them side by side. the factory color profiles are totally messed up.

 

I plan to buy a new vaio S and have some questions :
1/ Does the screen quality suck like previous model ?
2/ Does the fan is too loud when you playing games or multitasking ?
3/ Does it hot like previous model when you playing games or multitasking ?
Especially , if the screen quality is improved , does it as good as vaio Z 2010 with same 1600x900 resolution ?

 

1. I think the screen is slightly better than the previous model
2. fan is loud when playing games but I set it to priority to ventilation but otherwise the fan is inaudible when browsing or doing other tasks
3. the only area that gets warm is the vent and it is warm but again depends how you set the fan, it was not uncomfortable.

I don't think the screen is anywhere near vaio Z 1600x900 quality.

 

The problem is with all 13" laptops is that its never going to be perfect. Always at least one bad point. 15" laptops are a different story. Fast with IPS screens etc.

Z series - Great screen, fast i7 no dedicated GPU unless you buy that bottom plate thing and very expensive
S13 - Almost perfect machine, fast, good GPU with overclocking possible, really bad screen
Asus UX32 - Great IPS screen, not to bad CPU but slow 620m GPU
Dell XPS - Hmm slow everything but nice screen
13" Ultrabooks - Generally nice machines with good screens but not very powerful etc
Macbooks - Very nice screens, nice keyboards, but CPU`s and GPU`s about a year behind the times.
List goes on and on.

I would of definately paid another 100/200 for an IPS screen or something similar in my S13P

 

If anyone has done a real world rundown with the sheet battery attached to the S15, would you mind sharing with us the time you were able to achieve?

I think I would consider packing the extra weight in my backpack if it really is 10 hours. But based on 3:45 minutes run time, I would assume it is about 7.5? Thanks.

 

What color profile are you using? Does anyone mind sharing some colors profiles they are using? Do you guys just try and test it or just Google "color profile"?

Also, from comparing my SA3 and the SVS13, the SA3 has better whites, and doesn't have the graininess/pixel display like the SVS13. For the SVS13, it has better contrast but also worse viewing angles.

 

You can't really just transfer a color profile between systems like that. A properly calibrated display usually has a unique color profile for each system, even if they use the same panel. Sometimes you can get close, but to get the color where it should be, you pretty much have to calibrate it yourself.

As for the SA vs SVS screens posted above, it appears they're just trying to hit different color temperature profiles by default. The SA appears to be calibrated towards 9300K whereas the SVS is calibrated towards something much warmer, such as 5500K or 6500K.

 

Can anybody give me a ballpark idea of how fragile this laptop is? I've got an SB with a magnesium chassis (lower end/older model) and I feel like the lid is flimsy (in addition to squeaky, but noise I don't mind as long as the actual screen isn't affected)...I'm kind of afraid to bring it to university every day with me, but I definitely need to. I bought a padded case for it with a handle and don't plan on putting it in my backpack. Will it survive car rides and occasional bumps on hard surfaces here and there? Or do I really need to baby it?

 

What is stronger when you drop it? A glass sheet or a policarbonate sheet?
Glass will feel stronger and more solid, but for shocks, drops and bumps PC is much stronger.

 

I wonder what color profiles everyone else is using then.

How would I produce an good color profile other than the default one? Just from experimenting? Any tips or suggestions? I would love to hear from color profiles from your guys!

 

Just odrdered my Vaio standard S SVS13112FXW. Planning to upgrade to 128gb SSD later on. Anything I should do as soon as I get it? And how do I back up the OS?

 

You could try Windows or nVidia's built in software calibration tools, but it's pretty hard to do with the naked eye. The only way to do it right is with an actual colorimiter.

 

Greygirl, The screen is designed this way on purpose. It is designed in a way so they screen can be light, flexible and not break. the floppy screen is by design and not accident. You don't need to baby it, but don't guarilla arm it either

 

I wanted to keep the machine in UEFI mode but didn't want to go through the pain of getting the clean install to work and re-installing all the Sony drivers and software. I took the easy path of doing the factory recovery and restored the system to my new SSD drive and uninstalling all the bloatware within Windows afterwards. I verified that the restore actually created all the partitions in alignment on the SSD. I find this the most convenient way of migrating to a new disk without having to clone partitions, worry about UEFI, or getting all drivers to work.

If anyone knows any negatives on this approach, please share your thoughts.

 

This is why if you drop a plastic, cheap-feeling Samsung phone on the ground, you might give it a few scratches. If you drop a glass, solid-feeling iPhone on the ground, you're going to be looking for a new phone. Phones are made out of plastic for a reason, unless you're Apple and you design things only to look good.

 

Just swapped out the 640gb hard drive from my s15 for the new seagate momentus XT 750gb. If anyone wants me to post some benchmarks let me know and i'll run a few later. I'm in the process of reinstalling right now.

P.S. if anyone is interested in my 640gb 7200rpm send me a PM. i only used the drive for about 3 weeks so its still pretty new.

 

Windows bass boost has a much better effect than any equaliser and really makes the speakers bearable

(For anyone who missed my previous posts: uninstall the audio driver and turn off full range to enable the bass boost option under enhancements. +15dB 100hz works well. Posted AHK toggle script a while back)

This is what I use - makes the screen excellent in my eyes compared to poor/average by default.

Not worth using a colorimeter on the screen if the notebookcheck profile is anything to go by - it looks shockingly awful and worse than the defaults.

 

I have problem to get the Sierra LTE(4g) modem to work, I have done a complete clean and new installation of Windows and downloaded and installed all the drivers but can't see the Sierra LTE (mc7710) in the device manager and the Sierra application says "No device found". Has anyone get the Sierra modem to work?

(I have also a Ubuntu installation and can't find the modem neither with lsusb or lshw)

 

What method did you use to install windows on the new drive?

 

Hi,
Could you tell me how you did that? Did you connect the new SSD on the SATA port of the optical driver or is there a recovery DVD or did you connect it externally by USB? I will have to do the same thing when I receive my S15 and I want to prepare everything already. Still sad that it is that hard to install by own Win7 Ultimate perfectly to this machine :-/

 

Hi,

My brother bought a Vaio S13 a week, maybe almost two weeks ago.

I see they are now doing free PS3 AND? a 150$ prepaid Visa card on new purchases.

Any way to get one or both of these deals? worth returning and reordering?

 

you should create a recovery disk prior to replacing the HDD with a SSD. you can create it using a number of dvd or DVD-DL, or a 32gb USB 2.0 USB flash drive. go with the flash drive one which would be much easier.

 

I'm still on the fence. I know that I want a 13.3-14 inch laptop and the S13A is definitely one of my choices, but the price is up there. The free sheet battery promo seems really good and handy, but it's a damn shame I can't use a discount code with that too.

Does anyone have any other suggestions other than the S13A for a good 13.3-14 inch laptop, that's comparable to what the S13A has? Or is the S13A the best in it's class (the 13.3" class)? I really just need a laptop with good battery life and a good screen. I can replace everything else if I don't like it.

 

Amazon.com: ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB51 13.3-Inch Ultrabook: Computers & Accessories

or look at samsung series 9?

 

I've had my S13A for around 3 weeks now and I still do not regret buying it. I love this laptop. Probably the one thing I have found annoying so far is is that all the USB ports, Ethernet port, and other ports are all on one side.

Does anyone have any requests for videos besides the ones I already have in my sig?

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've looked at the Zenbook Primes but there are too many faults with it. It's like a lottery getting a perfect one, and I've yet to see anyone manage that.

The S9 is too expensive for me. I can't justify $1500. Looking for something around 800-1200 max.

Thanks again.