Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

Hey, so I'm seeing a lot of contradictory opinions about heat, and I'm considering picking this laptop up tomorrow ($900 + $100 rebate) = $800 for a 1080p screen , discrete graphics, and insane battery life with that sheet battery? sounds too good to be true!). When using this on my lap with integrated graphics, will it generate an uncomfortable amount of heat? I'd like to use it on my train commutes. And when gaming with the integrated graphics card on, will my left palm get really hot and sticky? Can it game for more than an hour without suffering huge heat issues? These are things I've experienced with my M11X, and hope not to have again.
Thanks guys.

 

Thanks umzyi. I started calibrating via Intel and that seems to improve pictures. Text is still not comfortable though but that may have to be managed via ClearType wizard.

 

after 2 weeks of usage i am almost satisfied with my s15 but there is still one issue , on random occasions trackpad goes mad and either doesnt recognize gestures/single tap click (which is very annoying, it's like using an old laptop) or even worse the cursor not even moves.

this very strange behavior started when i first connected a microsoft mouse, i haven't plugged it in again and also uninstalled it's drivers/software. i also tried uninstalling and installing both the synaptics drivers from their website and the vaio driver from the sony support. Nothing worked and currently the only temporary solution is to shut down and turn on again the laptop , i also ordered a bluetooth mouse...

 

If i change the hdd with a ssd or if i remove odd to put hdd can void the warranty?

 

Yes. No. Sure?

Depends on where you live and what your Sony warranty stipulates and what consumer protection law stipulates. If you're in the USA, please search the thread, this has already been answered for that jurisdiction.

Also, please update you profile to include location.

 

Not if you know how to put it back the way it was originally. Sony will never know.

 

I have also experienced the flaky trackpad on my S15... it always happens when it wakes from sleep... try Fn+F1 to disable the trackpad and once more to enable it again....
This always works for me.

 

thanks for the reply, but i tried that solution too and it sometimes work, not always

also one more thing , when the problem appears sometimes it displays a symbol next to the pointer (a white circle with some grey lines inside it)

edit: actually the fn+f1 doesn't function properly, right now i disabled the trackpad but it's not disabled, it still moves the pointer and corresponds to key press

 

Has anyone else installed Windows 8 RTM on your Vaio S15? I managed to install all drivers, but battery life is worse even in stamina mode. I am only getting about 2.5 hours when surfing and performing office tasks. I am using the i7 3612QM Quad Core.

I see that in Stamina mode only the integrated graphics is activated. So this is working as expected. But I do not know if the CPUs power saving features are all enabled correctly:

- I never parks any core. Is core parking enabled on Windows 7? Core parking means that it disables one or more cores when they are not used.
- The minimum processor speed is 1200 MHz, but for each of the 4 cores. I used CPUZ to receive this info. In stamina mode the max CPU speed is 2800 MHZ, which is below SPEED mode and therefore okay.

 

This track pad is fantastic. The problem you are facing is that a lot if Sony stuff needs to load on cold start. Ensure VAIO control center is running. Once that starts my fn keys work

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

 

i have no doubt that it's fantastic , it's just a rare software/driver issue that happened to me, problem will likely be solved with system recovery but for now i have reinstalled the generic synaptics driver from the synaptics website and it's almost like the sony driver (just a bit worse gestures but most are ok) , it seems to work so far.

edit: nevermind, problem appeared again even with the generic synaptics drivers...

 

now guys tell me whats happening, i checked my order on sony online, and my order status is disappeard, last tie it was like we started the production of your laptop or something, i had the letter which said my laptop is started to build in our factory and i can expect to be shipped by the 25 aug... so where am i now? maybe they finished the production and if i check tomorrow it will be like, it is bin shipped to the UK?

 

I've had no issues with the trackpad, except for if it gets some dirt on it or w/e it will only respond to point/click and not gestures

Honestly it far surpasses every macbook trackpad I've used - they are pretty poor compared to what synaptics can do

 

Just wondering, why is that sometimes, when I am on a dark web browser, the brightness is automatically dimmed? How can I change that setting? Or is it even an setting...

Also, whenever I press my Power button, the battery indicator on the front of the laptop turns on for however long I press and hold the Power button....

PS: Where is it so I could make colours on "people" more stand out and vibrant. I saw it somewhere but forgot which app and where...

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Found where to make the Skin Tone adjustments, it's also in the Intel graphics settings.

 

There is a power saving setting in the intel graphics settings - disable it as it messes with the contrast/brightness.

 

I only see this option in the Sony Vaio Control Center.

Also, this option is already disabled in the Control Center...

 

It's well hidden but it's there

The option in the control center is something different

 

Oh ok, I see it. Only occurs when on battery (which is in my case). Thanks!

 

If anyone is looking for an affordable hard sleeve for his S13, take a look at the Crumpler Hard Suit 13W


Yes, it's blue. It looks fancy

A macbook would fit within the blue part, but the protection is adequate.

With extended battery sheet. The logitech mouse receiver can stay plugged in.

Without battery.

They are on sale until the end of this week in Crumpler's European shops and webstore. I paid €29,- for mine, but the regular price is €55,-
For those who prefer something more flexible, I tried most of the regular neoprene sleeves like the Gimp 13W and they fit as well. No thight spot around the corner and no need to take the receiver out.

 

Has anyone had 2-day shipping when they picked standard shipping? i searched the thread and this one guy had this.

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! )

This might be just a weird instance but i hope it happens for me. Just ordered one of the pre-built laptops and it says expected shipping date
8/22. If I'm lucky like that one guy I get this by Friday. If I'm not then I have to wait through the whole weekend.

 

don't use any chemicals. just heat the stickers up a bit with a blow-dryer, and start peeling them off slowly from a corner. use the same sticker to remove any glue residue.

 

Actually, just using some oil (like massage or baby oil) will work too. It will make it impossible for the glue to stick to the surface of the laptop.
Yesterday I removed my stickers too and especially the Nvidia and Intel sticker will leave behind a lot of residue. Must be because they need to be 'genuine'.

I took the nearest oil I had, teatree oil. It even seemed to dissolve most of the glue.

 

Guys I'm having troubles understanding the differences between product codes... I found on a website a SVS1311B4ES. I live in Italy, and when I try to configure an identical laptop on the official sony site, the code is different and it is SVS1311C5E. What are the differences? I'm mainly interested in this laptop after I saw the great forum about the modded BIOS to improve GPU performance: I don't want to buy a laptop which does not have the right bios to mod. Thanks in advance.

 

The NVidia GPUs are all the same, as far as we know. If it comes with a dedicated GPU then the mod should work.

 

I just picked up my SVS15 from FedEx. Here are the specs:

Product: CA-SVS151190S-LBOM
Component: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (1GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
Component: 500GB (5400rpm) hard drive
Component: 4GB (4GB fixed onboard + 1 open slot) DDR3-1333Mhz
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium
Component: CD/DVD player / burner
Component: Internal lithium polymer battery (4400mAh)
Component: Black
Component: Kaspersky® Internet Security (30-day trial)
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Component: 15.5" LED backlit Full HD IPS display (1920 x 1080)
Component: 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (2.50GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
Component: English only with Backlight
Quantity: 1
Description: 15.5" S Series Customizable Laptop

1-The laptop is extremely well-built. All the edges and connections seem strong. At the same time, it super sleek and sexy. My girlfriend has the SVS13 version and she was amazed that the 15' model can be this light and thin!

2-The screen is just beautiful. Let me say it again, it without a doubt the best screen I've seen yet, except for the Retina. I did not notice ANY orange problem. I saw orange stuff and red stuff. But my GF says I am color blind so take it with a grain of salt.

3-I upgraded the ram a corsair 4 GB stick for a total of 8 GB. The windows experience index for RAM went up from 5.9 to 7.1. It's super snappy.

4-I am upgrading from a vaio VGN-FZ490. I am going to keep both and upgrade my older system a bit.

5-I could not make the recovery file on my external HHD. You guys have any idea if that's doable?

Thanks ya'll, this thread is AMAZING!!!

 

Hi, may I get the brand and model number of the stock 9.5mm blu-ray drive? Thanks.

 

mata uj167

 

Hi everybody. I would like to thank everyone on this topic, I enjoyed reading it and it has been very useful. I have recently received my S13 (SVS1311C5E) and I will share my experiences for those of you interested and will provide a few tips for fellow owners. I will also make a few comparisons to my old 2011 SB (VPC-SB1C). To be honest I only replaced my old laptop because I have a new job and I was allowed to pick a new laptop.

Let’s start with some specs. I order a custom model from the Dutch education store. I started with the normal S13 and added the core i7-3520M. I also selected 12GB RAM; I’m a bioinformatician and work with large datasets. I order the 320GB HHD but I will replace it with a SSD at a later point. I have the 640M graphics card and the 1600*900 screen. I also order the at that time free sheet battery.

First impressions

• The body is practically identical to my old 2011 SB. I think this is fine since I was happy with the old body.
• I miss the physical wireless on-off button. Does anyone know a keyboard shortcut?
• To my surprise, I have a finger print scanner. I was under the impression that this was only for the S13P models. Perhaps this is because I bought the laptop from the Dutch education store.
• At start up or when waking from sleep the CD drive makes a bit of a weird squeak. This is tad annoying; I think I will disable the ODD in the BIOS.
• A nice thing is that the laptop automatically wakes from sleep on opening the lid.
• The battery life of my new laptop is shorter (4 -5 hours in stamina). This is of course to be expected since I have the i7. I don’t really mind since I have the battery sheet.

The screen

Let me start of by saying I really love the screen. I was happy with the old 1366*768 but if I now work on my old laptop everything looks large and bulky, high resolutions are addictive. I really don’t know why people are complaining about things being too small. I personally am not bother by this and love the limited space toolbars take up. The brightness is, by visual inspection, similar to my old screen. This is a good thing since I already was able to work in the sun.

The screen is not 100% perfect though. I’m under the impression that it is a tad to purple and the right top is slightly less sharp and flicks a bit. I will borrow the calibrator from my parents to validate my suspicion and hopefully fix this issue. I day to day work I’m not bother by the purple hue. However, it is not convenient for photo editing.

The top right corner is actually in my case not really an issue. The slight flickering is only visible at an unrealistic close distance and to the slight un-sharpness is only noticeable when really looking for it at this corner. I doubt if I would have observed either one if others would have complained about this on the forum.

Performance

I have ran a few benchmarks comparing my old and new VAIO. My new i7 is roughly 30% faster (in speed mode) than my old i5. This is also noticeable in windows; the laptop feels smoother. The graphics card is almost twice as fast so that is nice.

Setting priority to ventilation in VAIO control center allows for a higher CPU clock and hyper PI does run faster in this case. However a normal CPU benchmark does not run faster so the effective speed gain in normal situations is limited. The GPU benchmark is also not affected.

Heat & Noise

All in all I’m satisfied with the heat and noise production of my laptop. It is not perfect but I do realize this is a trade of for a portable and fast laptop. The noise generated under load is similar to my old SB laptop and thereby also comparable to a 13 inch mac book. The generated noise is an annoying fan it is just a nice hum.

The laptop is comfortable on my lap in stamina mode and the noise is limited in this stamina. In speed mode while benchmarking its gets louder but as I said it is not too bad. If I set priority to ventilation and I run the above mentioned hyper pi the laptop does get quite loud but this is not something you do quite often. I don’t mind the fan while gaming due to the game sounds and if I run some big calculation I also don’t mind if it gets louder since this is not something that I will constantly do.

Mousepad

I really like the mouse pad. It feels a bit loose in the case but this is because it allows for a physical click over the whole area. The keys are integrated into the pad, the majority of the pad allows for a left click and the bottom right is right click. This is in contrast to my old laptop where the keys are separate from the pad and on the edge of the body.

I like the two finger scroll. If have read somewhere this is not possible but it is on my laptop. The two finger right click is also handy.

Tips

There are a few things I think are useful for other owners.

• The first tip is about WIFI and Bluetooth. It says somewhere in the settings that using both 2.4Gh WIFI and Bluetooth can cause interference. This is definitely true just having Bluetooth on without using it drops the speed by 75%. Downloading from my NAS is 800KB/s with Bluetooth on and 4MB/s with Bluetooth of. This faster by the way, than the 3MB/s I got with my old VAIO. So I advise you to turn Bluetooth off when not using it.
• The second tip involves the rapid wake feature that is standard on in the VAIO control center. This feature copies the entire RAM to the HDD when entering sleep. Since I have for now the slow 320GB HDD and 12 GB RAM this takes quite some time. I want to close my laptop and be able to pick it without the risk of damaging the HDD. I don’t want to wait, what feels like a long time, before I can pick up my laptop. So as long as I don’t have a SSD I will disable this feature.
• VAIO control center allows you to limit the battery charge to 80%. This will greatly expand long term performance of your battery. I also used this on my old laptop and simple disabled this feature when I had a long trip. This limit also applies to the sheet battery when charging it via the laptop.

Conclusion

As you can read I’m really happy with my laptop and I think it is a good successor. As stated I replaced the old one only because I got this one for my new job. I don’t think it would have been worth the money to replace my 2011 SB but I am happy with the improvements that are present. If you have an old laptop and you are in the marked for a new one I can definitely recommend the S13. At the moment I feel that the HDD is the biggest bottleneck and recommend a faster either from Sony or a home replacement.

PS when quoting this post please limed the quote to the relevant part.

 

So I've had my S13 for a bit longer now.

Disappointed at how quickly it's already starting to pick up minor scratches and scuff marks. I've treated it fairly well, and it's only been on a few short trips with me. I've carried it in the padded laptop compartment of a bag, without an additional sleeve (something I should probably get). It's now got a few small scuff marks on the the top cover, and the Vaio logo has some scratches.

Also, the palmrest area has a small mark at either side where the screen bezel has pressed against it, just around where it raises at the front of the keyboard - in line with where the middle rubber pads are on the screen, but at the inside edge of the bezel. Obviously the screen is flexing a fair bit when the laptop is closed and in a bag... a hard case could be a good idea!

They're only fairly minor marks at the moment, might not show up clearly on a photo, but for a pricey new machine under 2 months old, it's annoying.

Other than that, I'm still happy with the machine's performance. And still somewhat disappointed with the screen. I'm typing this on a train, so in brighter than normal light, and the matte screen is actually quite effective. And in normal use it's pretty decent. But every time I look to the top right of the screen, there's that awful shimmer on the close/minimize/maximize buttons. And whenever I power it on, I see that complete lack of black and uneven backlight...

Oh well, it's overall a much better machine than my old Dell, and it's nice to use. But it's not perfect...

 

Ηοw many slots has the s15 got for ram?

 

2... no 1. 2 "slots" one is user replaceable the other is soldered on. so there is a max of 12GB... this info is all over the place

 

Sony just released a new hard case which might help. I'll probably be ordering one for myself too.

Sony VAIO Laptop Lid Protector | VAIO 13" S Series Hard Shell Case | VGPAMH1E13/L | Sony USA

There's also a 15" version on the site.

 

I have just ordered an S15 and am planning to replace the HDD with a SSD and do a clean install. Problem is that I got mine with the Blu-Ray player/writer. What do you mean by 'you will lose the BluRay playback software'? Will I not be able to play Blu-Rays????????

 

Check in task manager or resource monitor what the cpu load is when the computer is idling. I'm running Win 8 Release Preview on my desktop and it keeps one of the 8 cores at about 80% load all the time... if that's not the reason why i have no idea

 

Not compatible with VAIO 13" S Series Premium models??

What does that mean?

 

Hi everyone,

I am still very much interested in buying the new S15 series with the ips display.
I have read a lot about the orange gate issue on the 15 inch screens. The thing i have noticed is that a lot of people are taking about red appearing as orange, But at the same time they don't show any photos to back up that claim. The only photos I have been able to see are on page 372 and a video on youtube. Why everyone is soo secretive and not opening up to help others to see?

My mate has spoken to one of the sales guy from sony. he's been told: there is nothing wrong with the s15 screen and he should not trust anything from internet where people just make up things. Now he has taken a screenshot from s15 vaio and emailed him. You guys have look and tell me what do you think?
I personally think the picture he has sent is photoshoped... as you can see strange blur on text (netflix) and (member sign in)

I would be very grateful to you if someone can help me to reach the bottom of it and post some good pics or screenshots of netflix or any other site/page showing red.

I really want to solve this mystery so it could also help others to see for themselves and decide.

here is the link to the photo:

Netflix

 

The Orangegate is real! Not just a deal killer in my estimation. You will not see pure red color, you msy notice it for a couple of days then it wears off. I guess if I where a graphic designer and had to see Pantone colors in their pure state it would be a problem. I have also used Spyder densitometer and it does not help that much. The bottom linr unless you are comparing to another image you will never know the diference.

 

So, does anyone know if the SE series dock works with the SVS 15 Ivy Bridge models?

 

could you be so kind to share some photos?

 

--deleted--

 

if anyone is looking to alter their assist and vaio buttons like i was i found a method by our very own pyro.. he does a lot fo bios work... thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/538942-how-use-all-your-vpc-zs-s-buttons-your-purposes.html

it is a little complicated to install. go to the programs/sony/vaiocare and rename it. then copy the launcher into that folder and name it to the old vaio care. then copy the assist button file. then use the settings exe... works like a charm. i use assist on vaio control center as i seem to be using that a ton. and then vaio to steam but it can really be any application. (come to think of it i think i still use vaio control center for vaio button.)

as to the pic... it looks like a screen shot.. which would of course not show how off the red is haha. funny thing... i viewed that pic on my s15 and the red looks like if i pulled it up (bc im viewing it on the screen) but the area around the sign in button looks illegitimately red... like what i would like to see... huh

 

Has anyone checked the difference between 1.35V and 1.5V RAM in actual battery drain?

Also, is there actual real world performance difference between 4+8GB or 4+4? I suppose 8GB would run in dual channel mode and the last 4GB in single channel?

 

1) not that ive read but there is probably some inconlusive evidence out there if you want to look.
2) yes and no. there is another thing that is like single channel .5 it is very very close to the performance to dual channel. probably wont notice a difference but idk for sure

 

Thanks so much.

 

Finally pulled the trigger for the 15.5 Vaio S!!

GENERAL
Brand Sony
Model SVS15116GNB
Color Black
PROCESSOR
Processor Core i7 (3rd Generation)
Variant 3612QM
MEMORY
System Memory 4 GB DDR3
STORAGE
Hardware Interface SATA
RPM 5400
HDD Capacity 750 GB
OPTICAL DISK DRIVE
Optical Drive DVD SuperMulti Drive
PLATFORM
Operating System Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
DISPLAY
Screen Size 15.5 Inch
Resolution 1920 x 1080 Pixel
Screen Type TFT Colour Display (VAIO Display, LED Backlight)
GRAPHICS
Dedicated Graphics Memory Type DDR3
Dedicated Graphics Memory Capacity 2 GB
Graphic Processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M

Will add a stick of 4gigs after the masterpiece from Sony arrives!!

Now the wait starts!!

I read MOST of the thread and i have a question. Sorry if it's already asked!!

In the list of drivers in the OP by Petrov, i could not find the below driver to download from the Sony's site

Intel - Intel Wireless Driver & Tools - Wireless_15.1.1_s64.exe

I have all the other drivers, but unable to find this one. Could someone please link me to the above driver download page?

Thanks!!

Prudhvi

 

Mmh, I've seen some 1.35V modules review (for desktop) which saved like 0.5W at idle. This is only 1 module and a laptop one, not sure if it's significant, probably wouldn't mean 15m more of battery time in an optimistic scenario. It's nice to have some numbers nonetheless, maybe someone has the chance to try it.

I know 4+8GB would run in dual channel asynchronous mode, I'm just not too sure of what it exactly means in terms of actual performance difference from normal dual channel.

At any rate, 8GB probably more than suffices, I think it just needs to be CL9 (1333MHz and up) to achieve best performance.

 

How large a USB drive do I need to create the recovery disks on USB?

Will 16gb do the job?

 

Thank you for your info. In fact I found out that CPU parking is actually disabled in Windows 8 RTM. I have enabled it using powercfg for the "Balanced" profile on battery. This enlarges battery life about 30 minutes in Office mode.

 

I have just received my S15 and what should I say. I love everything apart from the "red" colors of the screen. Actually it is much worse than I thought or expected. As somebody who is a pretty active hobby photographer it looks like I just cannot use this notebook. For the moment I am very sad ... honestly ... because there is more or less no alternative machine which really meets my expectations apart from the Samsung Series 7 17" which is to big/heavy. But I do not see any other option. I will definitely contact sony and also post some pictures in the thread which is related to this issue:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/673678-vaio-s15-orangegate-again-7.html#post8798902

 

If you want the same 15.5" IPS screen but with Orangegate fixed, look into the HP Envy 15.