Official Sony S11/S12/S13 (2010) Owners Thread

Don't honestly remember about the activation, but I know it's about 3 DVDs for creating the recovery disks.

 

Sorry for tormenting you with a lot of questions, just the last ones before buying.
Could you all write your average battery autonomy you are experiencing with your CPU type, GPU type and usage (for both i3 and i5 owners), please? I would really appreciate it.

 

I just finished calibration my screen using Spyder3 Elite, and what a difference, colors are now much better, better contrast, and a more natural feeling to the screen, much more pleasant to look at, now all I need is the matte screen protector, then the screen will be perfect for my needs.

 

Yes, already activated. When I made my copy of the restore discs, it took 2 DVD's.

 

Just started my first gen Z to remove the Intel SSD and move it to the S and what a world of difference, the screen is so much better. Vertical viewing angles are way bigger and colours at the top are at indentical at the bottom, bliss!
I do prefer the Z keyboard too, I really like the resistance and the anti-grip coating, matter of taste I guess.
The Z trackpad is completely smooth compared to the rugged from the S, feels exactly like the glass one from the MBP I tried earlier today.
Only downside with the Z is the lid which is not sufficiently reinforced to protect the display.
The Z is obviously lighter but am not bothered with the extra 500g going from the Z to the S. The S is far least creaky than the first gen Z, apparently this has been sorted on the new gen, reviews do mention this improvement already.
Looks like the S will be donated to my wife and I will be getting rid of the FW.
Let's see what the future reserves us.

 

Can you post your settings?

 

yes. You can remove it , even wash it with water. Film is not glue-adhesive (don't worry about display dirt or damage). It has an strong adherence of another type (maybe sillicone, I don't know).

Check this video (it's in german but images are enough explicative of how the filter can be cleaned and re-used several times):
http://www.protectionfilms24.com/ar...s-with-35,8-cm-screen-286-x-214-mm-18472.html

I wish to attach some images but at this time my only way is using this mobile phone camera of very poor quality. I fear the images wouldn't be enough to appreciate angles and other differences.

I think another user said he was able to submit several images as soon he received the filter. On the contrary I will take some pics as best I can do.


cheers

 

Seems you love her so much and supply her with the best you have to offer,,,lol!

 

Yeah, I will post a HD video with the matte filter as soon as possible, I already posted a video of my Vaio S, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcsFHNnJNd4

 

I've got an Intel SSD G2 on my S-Series (i5 540M, 6GB DDR3) and here are now my WEI score:
Processor: 6.8
Memory: 6.8
Graphics: 5.0
Gaming graphics: 6.0
Primary hard disk: 7.6

 

Out of curiosity - how is the sound coming out of the S' speakers?

Since my Fujitsu Siemens broke down I now know to appreciate good speakers... that was one of the less really good features of the FS - great sound quality.
What I am using now (Acer) has a very crappy metallic sound. weak also. Can't stand it - it's impossible to watch a movie on it.

 

Got my laptop, smaller than expected

Battery is a bit loose

 

I don't know about the quality, I would not expect much and I'd rather use external speakers or earphones, they surely will provide you a better experience.
BTW, I ordered my little S today from Sonystyle, I'm quite happy if I do not think of the wait.

 

I just removed a bunch of bloatware, for some reason i can't install nvidia latest driver?

 

Tried it too last night, won't work, will have to wait. Apparently Sony is guilty of something not allowing manufacturers installers to work on their hardware.

 

I think you have to use modded inf files, and whatever...

Perhaps check out http://www.laptopvideo2go.com

 

VT-X enabled?

 

Cool, how much performance gain is there after installing SSD? Which exact model did you get?

 

There are still situations when you don't have external speakers around and need to play something that should be audible for a few people - for example presentations, youtube videos, etc....

I played some default MP3s in the shop but you can't really tell much in a noisy environment...

Congrats on your order!

I still dribble around

 

Does this come with a bluray drive...???

 

No.

I wish it could come without any optical drive...

Blueray on a 1366x768 screen? What for?

 

Really? There must be huge differences in build quality, my battery is totally fixed, even hard to get out once inserted.

 

Intel X25-V 40GB SSD boots VPCS111FM/S (BestBuy) Core i5 in 20 seconds. Used to boot in 55 seconds. Marked improvement.

I cannot emphasis enough the increase in performance and reliability that an SSD can provide. If you can live within 40GB capacity, the Intel X25-V is affordable right now. Do it.

 

How much does the SSD affect battery life? - was it easy to install?
And is it really needed to uninstall all the crapware which comes with this machine?(does it get that much slower by just letting them be?)

Just bought the S and the x25-m 160 gb to go with it

 

There is a panel underneath the case, just unscrew two screws and slide the door open. No markers around to tell Sony you've opened it.
SSD should be using less power, I used to have a Caviar Black on it.

I'd rather remove the crapware, why would you need it ?

 

Point taken.

It just sounded like some of the software were hard to uninstall.

 

Is the hard drive, or the keyboard fairly easy to remove on the S series? I might buy one, but would like to change out the hard drive. I just don't feel like stripping the whole laptop down to get to the hard drive.

 

Sounds like you might have just answered my question.

 

To do HDMI out to a big screen tv is what I would use it for.

 

My X & S had minimal crapware, I was quite impressed!

 

This is a little bit different I don't know, didn't test it, but I suppose it performs like many other notebooks.

Were you able to see it live? Finally?

Thanks, but it's a long wait
Well, you instead are waiting for a perfect laptop doesn't exist

No, but a bluray burner is available as (really expensive) option on sonystyle. Anyway, buying it is insane.

 

May I ask you how can you play the movie on the TV with Vaio S while you close the screen on the laptop? What setting is required for keep the laptop playing movie through Push to TV while the screen is closed? Thanks for any information. Edward

 

The volume on the S11 is a bit lower than my other notebooks.The audio quality isn't quite as good. What do other owner's think?

 

Anyone knows how to do a clean install on this laptop without a window 7 disc?, because i don't have one, the bloatware and vaio programs is annoying!! On otherhand, the speaker is good, still haven't calibrate the screen since it doesn't have nvidia control panel, palm rest is very nice except for stickers,anyone knows how to remove the stickers without scratching the palmrest

Edit: Found nvidia cp

 

I purchased a Windows 7 Ultimate license, so I could do a clean install, runs much better now. The stickers are easy to remove, just use a nail.

 

I peeled off the stickers. I removed any remaining glue by rubbing with a paper towel.

 

Same, noticed sound level quite low but surprised by the surround effect, only used the speakers once though

 

You didn't have to do a reinstall, I simply did an upgrade from Premium to Ultimate, just enter the key and voila

 

there is still the question for me if the integrated webcam got a sufficient resolution or not. what are the opinions from the owners?


my 2nd question is the maximum resolution of the hdmi output. capable of full hd on external tv?

 

I've got mine yesterday, model S11F7E (core i3, Intel GMA, 4GB, 320GB/5400rpm black)
Overall I'm very happy with it, build quality appears very good, the keyboard is excellent and the screen flexes much less than expected (my guess is that the back of the screen is magnesium alloy, it's much colder to the touch than the internal bezel or the palmrest, which are surely plastic).
I didn't ran any benchmark, but performance is a huge step up from my old Pentium M 1.6 GHz The bottleneck is probably the 5400rpm HD, but this was expected. After all I went for a Core i3 to save money for a SSD

Since I wanted to run Linux on it I installed Kubuntu 10.04 alpha 3. Almost everything runs fine, after a bit of work:

- I had to install it using the alternate CD and the text installer, since the liveCD partition editor tend to crash in this pre-release version.
- Audio didn't work out of the box, then I installed linux-backports-module-alsa-lucid-generic to be sure to have the last audio driver. After rebooting audio worked, but default volume was set ridiculously low. Adjusting values in alsamixer fixed the issue.
Beware that users in ubuntuforums who own a S-series w/ nvidia graphics were not able to get any sound.
- Automatic screen brightness setting don't work (expected), the keyboard shortcuts (Fn+F5/F6) don't work either. Screen brightness is adjustable via software (using the slider in the battery widget), and brightness settings in power profiles are applied correctly, at least using KDE's Powerdevil.
- Keyboard illumination doesn't work ad expected too, since it's always on when you're typing. I wonder if changing settings in windows could affect its behavior in Linux too - I'm going to do some experiment.

 

It's enough for some videochat, but I wouldn't call it good

 

I have Debian Squeeze and also with both issues. There is this new thread about Sony S and Linux: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=462041

Do you have some tests of battery times?. On mine it's shorter than Windows although my installation is not finished (acpi, bright..)

Please, if you find a valid way for the Fn Keys and brightness put here!!


thx!

 

if somebody has interest in films, I have found this easier and faster way to apply laptop-skins, and sure also suitable for films:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJV1qIcWyio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyl7Fx2WAZA

best.

 

What means "sufficient" to you? No - you will not be able to give a live interview to be projected on a billboard with that cam! The resolution is 640x480 which IMO is more then enough for your chat partner to see your face or whatever you want to show. It might be insufficient for a virtual medical examination though.

No... Sony doesn't manage to produce enough to cover the german market it seems They don't have it anywhere around to be seen live yet. So much about the financial crisis in Germany.....

I still have patience It can't get worse - it can only get better if something else catches my eye instead But it is still my number one

 

Sufficient means it won't look like crap. Not HD by any means, but clear enough to enjoy using video chat. Probably need to get to a 2.0 mp camera to be at the quality I'd consider ok.

 

Picture quality has almost nothing to do with resolution!! a 2MP camera can produce worse image quality then a 0.3MP camera!
That's way I don't understand what "sufficient" resolution means...
It only depends on what you want to use it for.

And even if the S' camera is absolute crap - is that what would make you buy something else instead? Do you choose a laptop by the Cam?? A good quality cam costs like 20 euros dude.....

I really thought the question is a joke....

 

thank you for your good answer and thank you for not answering to my question with another weird question.


what about the resolution on hdmi out? capable of fullhd?

 

the german detailed review now available in english as well: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPC-S11M1E-Notebook.25875.0.html

 

Yeah, I agree with most of the review, except mine without the dedicated graphics is silent most of the time and the display can be fixed with a matte screen protector and a color calibration, now my screen is upgraded from ok to great, I will post a video as soon as possible.

 

if you can post a video with the screen with screen protector on and the "great" result I will make the order right away