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

Windows XP !???? Why would they pur Windows XP CD to a Windows 7 machine

So what if ones wants to reuse the preinstalled Windows 7??
Is there at least a key sticker?

 

From what I gather Windows XP has been installed into a millions of work servers world wide and was the main choice of OS for companies to put on worker's PCs/Laptops.

So bearing that in mind and trying to market this as a business laptop you can ask Sony for a Windows XP downgrade CD (at a little extra cost) to make sure all your old work is compatible with your new laptop.

Still waiting for them to send mine out been like 2 weeks now, went to see one in a Sony Style yesterday and it was just stunning the screen really isn't that bad and yes the vertical viewing angle isn't the best but this doesn't bother me as I will be working with it on my desk 98% of the time

Oh and there was a key sticker on the one I was looking at this morning

 

I really wished they rather sent window 7 instead of window xp, because i dont' really have window 7 installation disc, so i can't do clean install on this laptop.

 

I use this driver:
http://www.synaptics.com/support/drivers

You can then configure the multi-touch gestures in the Mouse settings.

Of course it was a german Windows, you think they install an english Windows on a german machine?

There was not a single CD or DVD, I had a Windows 7 install disc by myself and downloaded the graphics driver from the sony homepage (NVidia doesn't offer drivers for the 310m on their homepage... ).

 

what I did was use my usb drive and clean installed windows 7. didnt install any of the sony apps just the drivers and I have total control over all my settings. that light sensor is awful, and should be disabled from the bios (listen sony)

 

Well I hoped In most countries original english versions are prefered and distributed with an optional language pack. No selfrespecting user would use a german interface - it is RIDICULOUS. It is like watching a movie retaken with german audio - lame! Not to mention that corporations and serious business companies use english version software only, to be compatible and understandable all around the globe! Call your office in Spain and tell them to click "Einstellungen", "Bildschirm" and "Festplatte" instead of "Settings", "Screen" and "HDD" Sick Sick Sick
But that's offtopic anyway.

No comment! Are DVDs too expensive

So how would one reinstall the preinstalled windows or use it on another PC instead (which is everyone's right!)?
I also plan on installing my own original English version, but wonder what the idea is!?

 

Does anyone know when the CTO option in The Netherlands will be available? And when will be the second range of this S version be launched?

 

kubuntu 10.4 works fine here, but I installed the 3rd alpha (I have intel graphics). Maybe you could try a more recent daily build from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/

There is a thread here about linux on vaio S, if you want to contribute

 

I personally don't think the german translation is that bad, but whatever...

Afaik it is usual nowadays that laptops don't come with an installation disc, instead there is a recovery partition from which you can recover your system if it fails.


@pugacioff
Got 10.4 running after all, this was due to a bug in the nvidia driver, I'm gonna post some details in the thread

 

Hi I have a quick Question about the Sony Vaio S series.

I've heard a few people say, the Webcam does not work.
Is this true, for every S series?

 

I have two quick questions about my new Sony S...

#1: I appreciate the auto-adjust of the brightness via the light sensor. However, is there anyway to set the minimum level of the screen brightness, while still keeping the auto-adjust active?

As a specific example, in a completely dark room, I would like the brightness to be just a little bit brighter than the auto-adjust sets it to be. In a normal, bright room, the auto-adjust settings seems just fine.

#2: Is there any way to change the setting for the light inside the power button. Specifically, when the computer is in Sleep or Hibernation mode, I really would prefer that it not flash at all. If that can't be changed, I would really prefer if there were some way to dim it significantly. It's annoying to have a bright, flashing orange light in the room at night.

 

Not the translation but the german language itself Human-computer interaction aims sipmlicity... and german is just the opposite of that by nature... if an english word has 5 letters, the german translation has 15 and that makes the whole OS look hilarious and everything but user friendly
but whatever That's another topic

Great - and how would I transfer the OS I have paid for to another PC? Recovery partition is not transferable to another system!

P.s. As of today I am also an official S owner Finally went to the store and got mine )) My first impressions are very good! The screen isn't that bad at all even without any attempts to enhance it - it surely could have been better, but definitely not a deal breaker!
I can see why some are unsatisfied when downgrading from a big desktop pc or from a premium one like the Z, but going from an older laptop to this - S' screen is by all means better.

The keyboard is awesome! I also find the noise level very low (in comparison to what I am used to).

My battery is also a bit loose (not much), but this could be easily fixed. What is also loose though is the CD front-cover.
I also don't quite like the loose power jack on the pc - when the power cable is connected, it easily moves left and right, up and down.
But those are small things that just could have been a bit better when striving for perfection.

Nevertheless, the build quality is overall very good as far as I can tell.

Ask those who told you that. Mine does work.

 

Hi
#1: afaik In the vaio control center there is no option for a minimum brightness.
however you can turn the automatic dim off and use the ones that inlcudes windows, but than you lose the automat

#2: didnt find a way to change the light, but im interested too....

 

Hey, My webcam works fine, no problems at all, and i think i did it without any drivers...

Cheers

 

the dimmer is a pain. its easier to not install the control center and you control it yourself

 

I think you're not allowed to transfer an OEM license from a computer to another, but I may be wrong.

 

got the vaio s today! now still trying it out.... btw how does the recovery thing work? its the installation of win 7 or just helps to copy everthing out.... errrrr dunno how to explain

 

you are! otherwise you shouldn't be allowed to change any hardware components on your pc as well

The only CD I had in the package was also a Windows XP with a short instruction how to downgrade

Read your "Recovery and Troubleshooting Guide". It's all there.

 

Congratulations on finally getting you S series Gracy (we all knew you wanted one deep down!)

Just some questions here,

How are you finding it?
What specification is it?
What colour did you get in the end?
Could you post some pictures please? :

And most importantly are you happy with it?

 

Thank you, thank you )

My first impressions are very good, but it is early to say more - have it for less then 24h yet
It is the VPCS11V9E with i5 520M and Nvidia.

So for the time being I am very happy with it, but it is quite early.
I am going to install a clean english Win 7 tonight and then will start using it right... let's see

Besides what I wrote in my previous post, I am also quite happy with the light sensor - I find it does a decent job.

 

Has anyone bought a generic large-capacity battery?

If so, how well does it work with the unit and where did you purchase it? (preferably online?)

 

love it currently..... battery abit loose and the charger connector is abit loose... both are ok with me...

 

Both "problems" present here too. Not extremely though - could just be a bit better.

 

how many processes and how much ram do you guys have used up on startup?

 

maybe 10-15 processes on startup

1.3gb memory used but i have had it on for a while and am watching my movie

 

anyone have 8gb of ram in theirs yet?

not sure if i am ready to spend a extra 300 yet

 

is there really the need for 8gb ram?? i personally think 4gb should be sufficient for daily work

 

i figure a couple virtual machines and/or extensive multitasking 8gb would be great.

I use my S as a primary computer

 

if you still get the crackle or static after updating to the current driver from Sony's site.

you have 2 options. use the VPCZ drivers which are most current on sony's site (didnt try them they just are more current)

or go right to realtek (I did and no more static)

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...iteID=3&DownTypeID=3&DownID=10&PFid=24&Conn=3

and update the drivers via device manager

 

It would be soo useful if that American FreshStart option was available on the Sony Style UK site ....I am going to get a copy of Windows 7 ready to clean install on my S-series....if it ever gets shipped!

Has anyone done the clean install yet and did could you see a noticeable increase in boot up speed general speed etc.?

 

I have, though so far there is no work around to use the standard Intel HD yet. yu have to use Sony Drivers unless you want the ambient light sensor to screw up

 

ohh i see....

 

I must say I didn't succeed with the clean install - so many things were not working or missung (almost everything had to be manually installed), that I restored the original windows, removed all unneeded applications, changed Windows' language and am pretty happy with how it is like that and everything works as it is supposed to.

I also use it as primary and am a hard multitasker, but honestly - although "the more - the better" is always valid - additional 4GB cost way, way more then you can benefit from.
Not worthy at all! Invest in a SSD instead!

 

I like space and the cost of a 512 SSD is not worth it over a SATA. more memory benifits it better.

and if you do my steps Gracy you can have a clean fast system with no issues. but like I said you have to install the sony drivers to get the light sensor to work right

 

my vpcs117gg comes with a 64 bit win 7. anyway to downgrade to 32 bit??

 

Why would you want to?

 

my school needs os with 32 bits

 

Sorry, I don't really agree. buy a small SSD which will for sure increase your performance more then additional 4GB ram and use your 500GB HDD as external.
This is what I would do.

Use virtualization (download from Microsoft website) and run a Windows XP for example.

Or install Virtual Machine.

 

Owners,

two questions:

1. How do you feel about the "Thermal Control Strategy" in VAIO Control Center?

I've been trying out all 3 options in the past 2 days, but to be honest with you I feel no difference!? The fan works whenever it needs to and as much as it needs to, no matter which setting is selected...

Does it really change anything and how could you tell?

2. For those with NVIDIA:

All movies (any quality) I play have jagged edges... as if the image has been rendered bad. It is almost impossible watching a movie on the pc!!

The NVIDIA driver seems to be up to date (although there is a new driver released TODAY, but when I try to install it it tells it can't find driver for my hardware... odd).

I tried changing the VIdeo rendering settings of the player but it had no influence... read somewhere that EVR is supposed to be used).
It is the same when playing with WMP.

Any clue??

 

anyone try any of these yet? curious to know what works

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...09139890 1052939102&name=204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM

 

What software you using and what media format. Did you try VLC player?

 

Absolutely no matter what videao format / codec. The worse the movie quality - the more grainy it looks.

I read a few forums yesterday - it seems to be a common Win 7 + Nvidia problem. Some (having different model Nvidia) solved the problem with a driver update.

Unfrotunately though, I am using the most up to date driver (the update from sony's site).

I also found out why the new driver released yesterday is not working - it does not support Vaio notebooks yet - those are to be supported from a later release.

I am using WMP as well as BS Player. The best rendering quality is supposed to come from the "Enhenced Video Renderer" (here more info and a good exampe of what I mean: http://blog.komeil.com/2009/06/fix-poor-video-quality-windows-7.html), but in my case this produces the worse quality.

I found out that to have a better/acceptable video quality one has to switch to "VMR9 Renderless", which though is not a solution!

Apparantly NVIDIA drivers have issues, looking forward to that new Vaio release!

Check your video playback quality too! If you play a BR Rip it is less obvious, but if you play DVD Rip or even something worse - it is impossible to watch!!

Something else as well! - There is an option for that in the NVIDIA Control Panel! Unfortunately though for some reason this option is not available on my PC!?
Click right on the desktop and run NVIDIA Control Panel. Go to "Adjust Video Image Settings" (the last menu option).
Can you change anything there, except "Use inverse Telecine" ??

 

i have watched video on a win 7/nvidia unit and it all looks fine.

and what driver version are you running?

 

http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windo...ok_winvista_win7_64bit_international_whql.exe

 

This one DOES NOT work. I wrote about this one already. Pay attention to the "Supported Products" section of the driver website! Vaio notebooks are not supported! Should be supported from a later release according to the US NVIDIA site and according to the german - will be distributed by Sony only.

Currently using 8.16.11.8867, the last one offered from sony.

 

make sure you uninstall all drivers via device manager

try the drivers for the Z series. see if those work.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VPCZ11JGXX&upd_id=5533&os_id=47

or try these

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VPCF11MFXB&upd_id=5367&os_id=45

 

Thanks for the answer to my Q about the webcam everyone!

 

Quick info:

I performed my first battery test. I had it charged up to 80% and it lasted for exactly 3 hours with WLAN and moderate usage - some idle periods, browsing, installation of a few small programs, downloading, etc. Brightness was as automatically dimmed (I think 30%), so pretty low.

I assume the additional 20% which I could have used would have borught me an additional hour. A few more settings can be done to extend a bit more as well but I am quite happy with this result.

 

with wifi off its about 5.5 hours with just leaving it on.

probably 3.5-4 with wifi on and using it somewhat

 

hey guys,
like Gracy123, i was unable to do a clean install without a few quirks.

mainly, i cannot get the fn keys to work

unlike ASUS, Sony does not offer a hotkeys utility it seems

anyway around this?
i've already installed all the required drivers + utilities

perhaps you guys could tell me which programs/ utilities exactly are required for the hotkeys and i'll try reinstalling those

Thanks guys!