Official 2012 T Series Ultrabook Owner's Lounge

Well, I wasn't going to do a review of it because it seems like not to many people are interested but since I am getting questions and there seems to be almost no reviews online, I will go over it. Be gentle, this is my first review.

The model I have is the SVT15112CXS. It is the 750GB+24GB Hybrid SSD, Intel i5.
The computer I am coming from was an ASUS G50VT from 2009.

As stated before, it took me three computers and three trips to best buy to get one that didn't have any issues. Moving past that,

Look and Feel: This laptop is just beautiful. The brushed aluminum looks great. I am more than happy with the way the computer looks. I would not say it is heavy as it is classified as an ultrabook but I would say it feels "solid." Open it up and there is the keyboard. The keyboard, for me at least, is taking some time to get used to. Sometimes I miss the space or don't press it hard enough. I have never had a keyboard like that but I am starting to warm up to it. This is my first laptop with a back lit keyboard and it is really nice. The keyboard is a full keyboard with a keypad which is something that I was looking for as I am taking online accounting classes. The trackpad is pretty cool. Again, the first time I had one like this. The "click anywhere" feature is pretty cool. At first I was having issues. I was always accidentally "right" clicking because the mouse is off center. I am not used to this. The right side of the mouse is where the center would normally be. What I found out after doing some looking around in the mouse settings is you can change the size of the "right click" section. You can make the section as big or as small as you want. I set it so I have to hit the very right bottom of the pad to activate it. This is a great feature. This along with a slight arm adjustment fixed this problem. Also, I was having a problem doing the 2 finger scroll. To fix this I turned of smartsense. It seems to have worked. However, I have found some programs work better than others in regards to multi-gesture movements. The 1080p HD screen is really nice. Again, just some getting used to. Everything looks really small on it. I have zoomed in almost everything from MS Word to all the browsers. Not an issue, again just trying to get used to it. It is really nice to see more of the screen esp. when trying to go homework. I can read two side by side applications with ease (i.e. MS Word & PDF).

Performance: I can't believe how fast this computer starts up. As soon as it reaches the home screen (which is like 8 seconds from shut down) you can use it. No waiting for the OS to load which is awesome. The instant on feature is really cool too. It takes about a second for it to come out of sleep. My impression is this computer is fast. It loads all program no problems. There were some issues with windows 8 but just a little bit of research fixes most of them. Just in case someone doesn't know Windows 8 comes with a couple of glitches right out the box. I have not tried to load any heavy games on it yet as I have not had time but I don't think there will be any issues. I did load subway surfer and of course it work flawless. Actually, all applications I have ran on the computer have worked flawlessly. The touch screen is a nice feature however; it is NOT supposed to be used as a replacement for keyboard and/or mouse. It is just nice to have and it is convenient at times. However, there was an issue with the touch screen when I got it. After using the keyboard and mouse for an extended amount of time it was like the screen wouldn't recognize the first "touch." I would have to touch it twice for it to start working. I noticed this when trying to close a program using the "swipe down" method. I would have to do a little swipe, and then swipe again for it to work. Annoying? Yes, and I was just going to let it go. However, my OCD took over and did some research. A quick touch screen update from the Sony site fixed it. Have not had that happen since. No complaints about the camera.

I have not had the chance to properly test the battery because I have had it on my desk plugged in since I received. However, I will test and update this weekend.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this laptop. After the second one I almost gave up and went with something else. Glad I didn't! After some configuration, it is great.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

I just bought that same model for my wife, I unpacked it gave it a quick update and installed office on it, it seems very nice. I was wondering if anyone here knew if the micro PCI slot would be available as the drive in the model is a hybrid. I would also appreciate any links to tutorials that aren't boring, my wife will loose interest fairly quickly.

 

@Thelt2000x - Maybe try the battery test on it? Like if you can, run a video on loop and see how much time it lasts? Also, try some games on it and see how that goes?
Nothing else at the moment since you pretty much answered it all. How does the DVD drive feel? Unnecessary?

 

Ooops in my previous post I wanted to know about the mSATA slot as opposed to a mini PCI slot. I was wondering if it exists in this model and if it would be possible to put a drive in it and use it for a OS drive. I was also wondering if there is some kind of manual out there.

 

No one else here owns the laptop?

 

Hi all

Picked up the T15 myself a couple of days ago, and pretty pleased with it. Although the keyboard has very little feel and the viewing angles on the screen are absolutely abysmal, the sceen has good color and is very bright seen from the right angle, and the form factor is good. Lots of software bloat, but it's easily removed, and turning Windows 8 into something usable is pretty easy. (Install Classic Shell from SourceForge, and enable Aero Lite.)

However, one thing I just cannot figure out. Out of the box, we lack the Realtek HD Audio Manager, even though we have a Realtek chipset. Installing the latest 2.70 drivers doesn't add it. Has anybody figured out how to enable it?

Without the HD Audio Manager, we have basically zero audio features. We can change the volume, and mute. That's it. The speakers are rather lacking in bass, so I'd like to get to a graphic equalizer, dial back the treble a little, and boost the bass a bit. As far as I can tell there's no way to do that currently, without HD Audio Manager. :-/

 

Just got done profiling my display with a decent colorimeter. It's worth doing; by default it is pretty cold.

It's pretty poor in terms of uniformity -- the left side is good; mid-top, mid-bottom, and right-center are pretty ropey, and top/bottom right in particular are shocking (anywhere from 15.8 to 21.5% difference at top right.) It's also not capable of coming anywhere near 100% sRGB coverage; for green-blue in particular it falls way short. And like I said, viewing angles are terrible -- at typical viewing distances, even for one person the display starts looking visibly washed out in the corners, with black turning to grey.

It's usable, and it's definitely very bright, but it is far from accurate.

 

So basically, the screen and sound are the most disappointing features of this laptop?

 

The sound is actually very good, for a reasonably slim notebook that's not emphasising its audio qualities. It's very loud, and while it's a bit lacking in bass, it's not terribly by any means. It's a shame that so far I can't manage to enable an EQ, but I'm sure it's possible, somehow.

The screen is fairly good if looked at straight on, unless you're expecting to use it for accurately judging photos. (In which case you'll need to account for its narrower-than-sRGB color space, uneven backlight, and narrow viewing angles.) For typical consumer use it's fine. It's not *too* reflective for consumers, it has pretty rich color, deep blacks, and is very, very bright.

The touchpad is absolutely hateful. I've never used one before where the touchpad itself *is* the mouse button. (The whole pad moves when clicked on, and recognizes left or right clicks depending on which side you click on. The problem is, since the "button" areas are also active touchpad, I almost invariably move the mouse pointer off what I meant to click on when I press the button.

I absolutely despise tap-to-click, but with this touchpad it's almost a requirement to use it because the touchpad "buttons" are so shockingly bad.

The keyboard is actually nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, though. It has very little key travel, but I can actually type on it pretty darned fast, and with hardly any more errors than I make on my regular keyboard.

 

I've bought my T14 a week ago. They've installed the windows on the SATA HDD! can I reinstall the windows in SSD? there is a 24GB SSD with it. Another question is if I create recovery media will that back up my windows and driver software which are kept in OEM Partition? Here's is screenshot of my storage distribution:
View attachment 92740

 

I've currently got a VPCSB3 running Windows 7 but tempted to swap for the T13 Touch. Can someone please help with the following: -

1) Is it possible to install Windows 7 and use the touchscreen or is Windows 8 not as bad as I've heard?

2) I'm thinking of swapping as my SB3 gets really hot at times if I have it on my lap as the vents are all across the bottom. The reviews I've read seem to indicate the T13 runs very cool. Is this a fair comment?

3) I currently have a Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid drive in my SB3. If I move this to the T13 would it affect the 32GB SSD? Would the two drives start to conflict as they would both be trying to cache the same data?

Thanks


Martin

 

Hi I have acquired an i7 T-series touchscreen machine with 32+320GB SSD+HDD unfortunately the recovery partition has been wiped. Is it possible to get hold of a set of recovery discs (for Win 8)? And then the next complication is setting up Intel Rapid Response using the SSD as the hybrid drive as in the original setup?

 

So what do the current T13 owners think about buying this device today? i´m looking for a new vaio as i have to return my vaio z after leaving the office. Is it worth a try? Sure, power is enough i think and screen isn´t as perfect as the screen from the z but it´s a nice looking device.

How about the little gaming sessions between work? Did someone managed to playing SWTOR wit i3 and HD 4000 chipset?

Maybe there are new devices in near future with better displays?

 

I've received my T13 SVT1313 today.

My laptop came with 4GB RAM which I was planning on upgrading to 8GB myself. However after opening up the bottom I can see that I have a 2GB chip in the slot and 2GB soldered to the motherboard.

I've removed the 2GB and Windows 8 shows that I then have 2GB installed so looks like they have changed their motherboard design.

If I install a 4GB chip to bring me up to 6GB total would I notice any real performance decrease from 8GB?

Also I'm looking to upgrade the WiFi card to a 5Ghz one, has anyone else done this?

Thanks in advance


Martin

 

Just discovered myself today that the Wi-Fi radio is 2.4GHz only. How disappointing.

 

Yes I realised this too late as well. I've bought a Intel 6235 Wireless Card for mine which should give me 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, Bluetooth 4.0 and possibly WiDi.

Not had chance to fit it yet.


Martin

 

does anyone else have the problem where the the battery life is unkown after waking from rapid wake?

 

I am thinking of the getting this 13.3" notebook. The non touch screen version.

I have question:

1. Is the hard drive easy to exhange out? I want to put a ssd on there.
2. The memory easy to upgrade also?
3. Where can I get a good deal pre made at a good price? I dont want to pay tax.
4. Can I put W7 on it?

Thanks.

 

1. Is the hard drive easy to exhange out? I want to put a ssd on there.
Yes it's very easy, just remove the battery then the hatch on the base. Remember it's a slim (7mm) HDD though.2. The memory easy to upgrade also?
Yes. Mine has 4GB hard-wired + 4GB (or whatever) you want to add.
3. Where can I get a good deal pre made at a good price? I dont want to pay tax.
No idea! eBay?
4. Can I put W7 on it?
I don't see why not BUT the main issue is that it has 24 (or 32)GB SSD + the normal HDD. The sysytem needs recovering with either the onboard recovery partition or 9 (count em) recovery DVDs otherwise the hybrid system isn't set up. I'm guessing the way to go is to take the existing HDD out put it in a USB docking station or box, install the new SSD in the machine, run a disc clone program (partition wizard 7 always works fine for me) and clone the old drive. Once that's done you can install W7 onto the new SSD (not using the small SSD used for the hybrid) but keeping the W8 recovery partition.

I have no idea what would happen if you cloned the old HDD onto an SSD then tried to run it - I may do that one day! Alternatively cloned onto the SSD then run the W8 recovery - would the system set up the new SSD as if it was still a hybrid drive - ie a system with 32 + 256 SSD drives?

 

Have now installed the Intel 6235 Card in my T13. The WiFi is working perfectly on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz however Bluetooth seems to be greyed out in the Wireless options screen so not sure what is going on there.

I've installed the Intel software but its still greyed out.

Haven't got a WiDi adapter on my TV so cannot comment if that's working or not.


Martin

 

I have the SVT1313 with 4gb ram on board. Yesterday I want to upgrade it to 12gb by putting in a 8gb memory module. It works ok and is being recognized by the system but now it says rapid wake cannot be enabled due to the dedicated partition being in use! Read the manual and it suggested doing the recovery method. Did it but the problem persists. Has anyone had a similar problem?

 

I've just purchased 15" T with i5 and SSD. I like it.

But, while it works great in Windows 8, I am having trouble installing Windows 7 on it.

I've tried several known working boot DVDs and every one of them freezes at "Starting Windows" screen when booting from install DVD. I suspect some windows 7 driver is locking up using T hardware. Has anyone encountered and worked around this problem?

Before you ask, I need to install Windows 7 because my elderly mother knows how to use windows XP/Vista and is not in position to learn Windows 8 nuances.

Thanks.

 

Solved. Should have just kept digging instead of posting.

I had to change Boot mode to Legacy instead of UEFI in BIOS and that fixed it.

 

I just place an order for the T13. It has the i7, 4gb and 500gb hd for $850 with tax.

I have question:

1. What 8gb memory should I get? What brand came with it?

2. Did you have any problems with any of the drivers on Windows 7? I Plan to use W7 only.

3. I plan to get the Samsung 512gb ssd with it.

Would there be any problems?

 

I guess this is a old model already as there is no activity here.

It takes 3 weeks for them to make a computer? Come on now Sony!

 

The 4GB on board memory, what CL is it? 10 or 11? Is it the 1.35v or 1.5v? Trying to order ahead before my laptop comes.

 

What good is a tech support CSR if they don't have any good information ???

==========

You are chatting with Edgar - (C5DR).

Sony Electronics


1:56 PM Connecting...


1:56 PM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.


1:56 PM Support session established with Edgar - (C5DR).


1:56 PM Edgar - (C5DR) has sent a link: Hi. Welcome to Sony Online Support. My name is Edgar.



1:56 PM Customer:
hello


1:56 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Hello.


1:56 PM Customer:
I have this model: SVT131390X


1:56 PM Customer:
can you tell me what memory does it use?


1:58 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Could you please be more specific on this issue?


1:58 PM Customer:
I want to get another 8GB of memory for it


1:58 PM Customer:
I want to know what "CL" it use and what is the "Voltage"? Thanks


2:00 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
May I know what CL means?


2:01 PM Customer:
Its on the memory. Do you know the memory what comes originally on this laptop?


2:01 PM Customer:
It should be there. I am looking for "CL" and "Voltage". I want to make sure it is compatable.


2:02 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
I understand your issue.


2:02 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Please give me a few minutes to check this for you.


2:07 PM Customer:
Thanks. The model of the laptop is : SVT131390X


2:08 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Thanks for your patience.


2:09 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
I will provide you a link which will help you to know what type or model of memory card used in this model.

2:10 PM Edgar - (C5DR) has sent a link: VAIO User Guide | Inserting SD Memory Cards sd memory cards



2:11 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Let me know that you are able to access this link.


2:11 PM Customer:
Oh no. That is not what I mean. That is for the SD memory. I mean the memory for the computer


2:11 PM Customer:
I would like to know the "Specifications" for the laptop memory.


2:12 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Is that you mean to say Ram?Features.


2:12 PM Customer:
No. I am looking for the "Specifcations" of the laptop memory


2:12 PM Customer:
yah, RAM


2:13 PM Customer:
I know it is: DDR3 PC3-12800


2:14 PM Customer:
I need to know the "CL" and the "Voltage". What is the model number of the RAM memory?


2:15 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
I understand that you need to know about Ram memory specifications, As we have limited information on this so I request you to contact Sony store phone support.


2:15 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Where they will assist you more on this.


2:16 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
Here is the contact number:


2:16 PM Edgar - (C5DR):
1-877-865-7669.


2:16 PM Customer:
I see.

 

I now have 12GB of memory. I got the CL 11 and 1.35v. It is made by Patroit memory and got it for $39 with Google coupon last week. It is running at 1600 MHz speed and I have confirm. Horray.

Now I can run at least 3 virtual machine + 1 host on this lappy.

My 512gb Samsung Pro will be here today and I will put that in and see it super fly.

I am not too crazy about Windows 8. I had to google how to Log out yesterday.

 

I did the same thing as you and it work.

Now my question is I have to put it in Legacy for it to work. Why is that?

I install from a image of W8 and it work just fine in UEFI. Why is it not working in W7?

I install from the same external USB DVD drive.

I am confused.

 

Ok...this thread is dead but anyways I have had a T13 touch since it came out but it was a backup laptop until now.

I realized how slow the 500gb 5400rpm hard drive is so I swapped the 22gb msata ssd and put in a Micron M550 256gb msata SSD. I cloned the HDD to the new SSD and left the HDD out. It booted right up no problem. It takes 5 seconds to boot up but too bad sleep never worked on this laptop since day 1. If i have time i'll do an 8.1 fresh install on it. For now the laptop's great after the SSD, 12gb of ram(+8gb), and intel 7260 AC wireless card upgrade.

*edit sleep now works after one of the windows 10 updates.

Having 5ghz AC wifi made a huge difference since I have 300mb/s down from TWC.

 

I just bought a used SVT1313 with Touchscreen and Very pleased after some changes.

Upgraded the Hybrid to SSD drive, installed "Notebook Fan Control" utility and effortlessly upgraded Windows 8 Sony build to a new clean Windows 10 installation without problems.
Few missing drivers were installed automatically after carrying out Windows update & after that all is good.

Only dislike I have with the ultrabook is the poor quality keyboard.

 

Can you please provide instructions on how to fit this card.What form factor do i need ?
Any fitting or driver issues to be aware of ?

 

I believe there's only one form factor for the intel 7260ac card. Drivers are on the intel website, download it before you install it unless you have a hard line for internet.

Here's a video on youtube on how to take it apart.