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

Hi everyone! I'm koop and I'm new to this forum. I've been lurking around the site for some time looking for status and reviews for the Sony Vaio S- I finally bought mine (Vaio S116FG) a couple months ago and it's been great until recently. Every time I try to connect to the internet, my router (linksys) will go off for about 3 seconds. I can connect but it's very bumpy (on for about 5 seconds and then off). I've always use linksys from day one and just been having this problem two weeks ago. I tried connecting from my parents' house the other and it went very smooth (they have a Belkin router). Does anyone have had this problem or have any ideas what's happening with my laptop? Please help me, I'm starting to feel frustrated.

I've tried connecting from different laptops to the linksys router and they all worked very nicely and fast, in addition my parents and I use the same internet service provider- that's why I suspect the problem is coming from the laptop.

 

who has recommendations for a sleeve.. i would prefer a small one ideally in combination with an extra slot for the ac adapter.

 

I'm using one from CaseLogic and very happy with it, but you can forget about slot for AC adapter... how do you imagine that on a sleeve? look at your adapter

 

Some kind of magic.. designed by david cooperfield

You're uinsg the case logic pls13k or sns13k. Does it fit perfectly or are there any gaps?

 

None of those. ENS13K

There is some extra space in the front/back (which I see more as advantage, as it then perfectly fits in my CaseLogic backpack ). Fits perfectly sidewise.

 

S-owners, do you often have (sound) freeze when playing music?

 

Be more specific...!?

 

weird question but ok - everything is great when I watch movies with my ipod earphones

but when I am just browsing through folders with windows explorer, the "click noise" does not play through the earphones. I just hear a "distorted plop."

not that it's a big deal, but does anyone else experience this or know the cause?

 

the noise blob is a common occurence with the S at least. they said a driver fix fixed it but it doesnt. I only get it when i run videos gives like a electronic buzz

 

Ok guys got my S-series today finally!

VPC-S111V9E

Intel i5 540M 2.53Ghz Core
4GB RAM
nVidia 310M Dedicated GPU
Premium Black w/Backlit Keyboard
Fingerprint Recognition
WWAN (never used before on a 14 day free trial from Orange now)
TPM etc.

I am incredibly happy with it, possibly one of the best gadgets I have ever bought

The screen is fine, could have a bit more illumination but when some of the settings have been edited using data provided early on this forum, the colours really aren't too bad. (I was expecting an absolute disaster after reading some of the comments about it's quality on the last 115 pages or so)

The speed of this machine is very impressive with the i5 clocking up a score of 6.9 on the WEI

I have never used 3G, WWAN, HSPDA before but after using it today I was soo impressed, the sheer speed and practicality of it is insane and after a few hours of browsing only 57MB were clocked, I think it's something I will invest in

When I first used the laptop on the internet and I came across password and username fields the fingerprint software would offer me the chance to use my fingerprint to access accounts, I set it up and it worked fine, I clarified this with the software when it asked however it has not asked me to set any more fingerprint inputs for other sites...I think I just need to play with it a bit

Also I have to say, this machine is soo damn sexy aswell as a massive thanks to the guys that provided reviews, updated reviews and summaries of drivers etc. Your effort is very much appreciated, I may be around this forum asking many questions when I am adjusting to my new laptop...so speak soon

 

I am having a sound freeze problem too and it's really bothering me.

What happens is that when I play movie or music, the sound will just freeze for a second, making an electronic buzz sort of noise. I have tried many solutions, such as updating BIOS, updating sound driver, removing data analysis problems, play with external speakers, play with headphones, play with different music players. The buzz never goes away, and it happens very frequently.

The buzz seems to happen particularly when I insert a CD or when I plug in a thumbdrive. But sometimes it just happens out of nowhere too.

I find the problem quite unacceptable, because I plan to be watching movies/playing music with it. I went to Sony service today (I live in Thailand) and they suggest that I reformat everything, saying that the problem might be due to my software installed or my music library. Now, my computer is completely clean, but when I play the demo music (by scruff ninja) the sound freezes right away.

If anyone could suggest what I should do, I would really appreciate it. It looks like I may have to send my computer into fix, but they say, based on my problem, they may have to spend weeks identifying it.

 

I have noticed the same a few times, but it happans like once during movie playback (1,5-2h)... so I didn't really pay that much attention to it.
Now that you brought it up I remembered.

Let me know if you find a solution...

 

Yep, sure do. I run a lot of music software and I'm getting what seem like latency glitches with every single program, even when CPU and RAM loads are less than 10%. I've tried everything including downgrading to XP with all system options set for high performance as well as using a USB sound device with the onboard sound card disabled but nothing has worked.


I was hoping the bios update out just last week might be my savior as it claimed to fix a "sound trill issue" but alas it didn't make much of a difference, and i now can only think that either the bios still isn't fixed or maybe there's a processor stability issue...

So now I am shopping for a new laptop ... such a shame

__________
VPCS117GG

 

i have the same problem too. happens when i multitask while playing music in the background

 

the buzzzzz is starting to irritate me!!!

 

solved it!! just download all the update from the vaio update 5 and booommz everything seemed normal. shud be either the nividia driver or the bios update that solved it

 

Just out of curiosity what software are you guys using to play DVDs?

 

I finally took the plunge and joined the S owner's club! (VPCS111FM, Best Buy model)

Initial observations after two days of work:

* Battery jiggle isn't nearly as annoying as feared
* Keyboard squeak is twice as annoying as feared--I figured it'd be roughly similar to the Macbook Pro, but it's worse. Really, it's just the spacebar, but you use that key a whole lot, donchaknow.
* The screen does flash black at certain times, like when the computer is unplugged or occasionally when it's about to install a program.
* It has also randomly turned off once, and in another instance not woken up from sleep. Troubling.
* Fan bursts haven't bothered me a bit. Apart from the key squeak, it's a darn quiet machine.

All in all it seems like a good machine, though the keyboard is a major annoyance, and the random shutdowns a major worry. Performance seems fine, though I've yet to ask anything really demanding of it. At present, not sure I'd recommend, but not at the point where I want to return it, either.

 

Hmm... I have tired updating a number of things too, but it did not work for me, the sound still has problem. Though, thank you for sharing.

I guess I may have to wait until the Sony guys come put with an update to fix this sound freeze problem. Given that a few ppl seem to be having issues too, they will probably come up with a driver to fix this (I hope)... I do not want to leave my laptop at the sony center for weeks, and I somehow doubt the guys at my local sony center will be able to fix it.

Anyhow if any of u guys have a good solution for the sound freeze, please let me know.

 

The sound clicking noise is the DPC latency issue with the Windows 7 Nvidia drivers. This issue is present in almost all the laptops with Windows 7 and Nvidia cards.
The newer drivers (197.xx) have reduced the frequency of the clicking noise. The clicking/freezing happens whenever the GPU downclocks by itself.
One way to get rid of the noise is to disable "Powermizer" when the laptop is plugged in. There are a lot of programs to do this. Link : http://www.nvgpupro.com/

 

these noises are in intel hd only laptops so its not based on gpu

 

nope im not using intel grapic card using nvidia g310

 

On sonys site, what are the bios under? I found it once before, but can't now. I'm pretty use to Dell's drivers page, but I don't think Sony's is all that bad either. Just can't find the bios LOL
TIA

Heres a quick link:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VPCS111FM

 

Interesting... Yeah the latest 197.xx Nvidia drivers did reduce audio stuttering quite a bit for me but even when I disable the Nvidia driver I still get an audio latency issue... I'd like to try disabling intel's turbo booster but I suspect that might be impossible... anyone know?

 

when i first got my S, the buzzing/ freezing was quite frequent and really annoyed me. The first week presented with no problems, but just worsened.

after a clean install + all the sony bloatware, the buzzing subsided, with perhaps 1 buzz per movie but only in powersaver mode

after 197.xx Nvidia update (using modified laptopvideo2go.com INF), it almost completely went away, bar perhaps 1 or 2 squeaks a week.

then my computer crashed one night for some weird reason and i restored it back to before the Nvidia update (188.67) and now, i have yet to experience a buzz/ squeak.

i guess it's one of those quirks of modern technology. THEY HAVE TEMPERS!

 

Important Info about NVIDIA drivers and compatibility:

I spent about 6 hours yesterday trying to solve the following problems that appeared (again) yesterday:

1. The movie playback quality got bad again - jagged edges
2. The "Adjust Video Image Settings" field in Nvidia Control Panel got grayed out again
3. Vaio Control Center stopped adjusting the brightness automatically, although the option is selected

After about 20-30 reinstalls of the NVIDIA drivers using both the 197.13 and the 197.45 modified ones I decided to try again with the original Sony drivers.

Once I did that everything got back to normal - Auto dimming function is working again and so on. Only the "Adjust Video Image Settings" field got grayed out again after restart - I suspect that Vaio Control Center somehow takes control over this option.

I believe there is some compatibility issue between any "unofficial" NVIDIA driver and Vaio Control Center!!
I decided to stay with the latest official Sony release of the NVIDIA drivers as the newer ones seem to cause more issues then solve.

 

Browse back the thread! I posted a quick and effective solution to this problem. It affects not only the space bar, but more or less all buttons that have a metal wire underneath (Backspace, Enter, etc...)
It wasn't that annoying on mine - I guess it is individual, but anyway easily fixable.

 

it is not related to video its the crappy audio of the S that causes the buzz.

 

Anyone here having issues with their Vaio S (I'm using the Best Buy Version - VPCS111FM) hanging/freezing during the power off process??? I'll shut down and it will just hang at the "Shutting Down" screen but will not shut down.

A serach online seems to indicate that this is being caused by a device driver messing up, but I can't seem to find the culprit.

Has anyone encounted this problem and figured out a way to fix it?

 

nope havent seen it. you could go to your event viewer and take a look.

installed anything?

 

Awh no , I am gutted guys, this laptop seemed sooo perfect, I hope this error can be solved.

Well basicaly my brother recently got a Toshiba A500-17X and his laptop was preinstalled with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit like mine is right now, and he keeps getting a "Blue Screen" error where the laptop just shuts down.

Only moments ago using my laptop, I encountered this blue screen myself and the computer shutdown .

It must be a windows 7 error because there's no similarities between mine and his computer at all no hardware only software (Windows 7).

Can someone respond please if they know what I mean as this is greatly worrying especially as I just spent over £1k

 

have you tried contacting sony? I have yet to get a blue screen on any windows 7 computer.

you can help us out by doing this

control panel - system - advanced system settings - startup and recovery (settings) - uncheck automatically restart

then record what the blue screen is

 

Yer, I'll do that, I can post the error messages if you want;

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 3b
BCP1: 00000000C0000005
BCP2: FFFFF800030A72C5
BCP3: FFFFF8800D091EC0
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1
Bucket ID: X64_0x3B_nt!AlpcpQueueIoCompletionPort+195
Server information: e186770a-cad9-4348-b5f9-3ba689349df3

I have also ran diagnostic checks on my RAM, CPU and HDD as these "bad hardware" was one of the reasons my brother was given when he expereinced these problems first (and one of the explanations some people think is the cause on other online forums), all these tests thankfully came back good.

I am nailed on certain it is a Windows 7 problem, it is happening everywhere and it's completley unacceptable, however I am sure that Windows will address it as it's quite a big issue and is affecting lots of laptops with Windows 7 Home Premium installed.

 

anythin that says

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or BAD_POOL_HEADER

also what anti virus are you using? avast?

 

Coming to think of it I am sure that I remember seeing the IRQL message (like on my brother's Toshiba), and I am using McAfee AntiVirus.

There must be a solution out there somewhere. I personally think it's due to an update downloaded from Microsoft, the question is finding out which one so I can uninstall.

 

does it happen when you are searching the web only? have you tried uninstalling mcafee?

alo I recommend you go here http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7repair/ upload your minidump from the blue screen and they can tell you what it is causing it also

 

It has only happened the once and yes that time I was browsing the internet, I am sure it will happen again though so I'll let you know what I'm doing on the PC when it does.

Yes I have been reading around the internet and I have seen people upload their minidump files but I'm not sure how to do it myself, I'll have another look now as this is potentially the key to diagnosing what's wrong

 

try http://www.sony-asia.com/section/support instead

16-04-2010
BIOS Update version R0282Q3
This program will update BIOS version to R028Q3 and resolve the following symptoms:

- Sound trill issue
- WiMax USB dongle hang issue

 

I would recommend uninstalling mcafee myself.

 

I have ordered this laptop; specs as follows:
Optical Drive : DVD disc drive
Hard drive : 500 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
Wireless LAN : Wireless LAN + Bluetooth®
Processor : Intel® CoreTM i5 Processor
Display : 33.8 cm LCD, 1366x768 + webcam
Graphics : Intel® HD Graphics
Finishes : Black
Memory : 6 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Memory cards reader : SD and MS card slot

Can't wait to get it! Should arrive over the next two days according to Sony!

 

Ok, guys just reporting in to tell you that I have not had another blue screen today so that's a very good thing for me

Hopefully it was just a one off and it won't happen again, I'll keep you all posted

After getting in touch with Sony yesterday they told me to do a BIOS downgrade to the version that came preinstalled with the laptop which I did and I think this has also contributed to my fortunes at the expense of an older BIOS. Also reading the web pages about the Windows 7 blue screen it seems that doing a BIOS upgrade causes Windows 7 to malfuction in some cases like perhaps mine.

My brother gets the BSOD frequently so I am going to downgrade his BIOS tommorow and see if he notices any improvement.

Regards

Stef

 

if you have the S series from Best buy there is a new bios update that it says should fix the buzz.

check your countrys webpage to see if they have one for you this is for US only best buy model VPCS111FM

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VPCS111FM&upd_id=5623&os_id=45

 

That's correct. As from yesterday, there is a bios update for the german models as well!

" What does it fix?
This update fixes a sound distortion issue.."

 

Anyone try that new bios update yet?

 

Hey, the BIOS update seems to be working for me so far in terms of getting rid of the sound buzz. I downloaded this one from the Sony Asia Pacific website.

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/391936/product/vpcs115fh

Thanks for sharing about this!

 

Installed it, PC is running... but will report about any effect later.

 

!!! The ultimate solution to the loose battery issue !!!​

As I promised, I am sharing my solution to the loose battery issue we all have by default. I've tried out a few other ideas, but this one is the best - both visually and practically!





(bigger pictures here)

This is a "Tesa" product which "prevents objects from slipping and muffles tiresome noise". The size of that thing is so perfect that not only the battery isn't loose at all anymore, but it also needs small force to be removed It also sticks perfectly.

So... good bye loose battery!!

P.s. I could take a pic of the package of the product if you are interested. It costs € 2,99 here for 28 of those things.

 

nice one gracy ^^

on another note, does anyone's vaio update work?

I think I read that most people have the connection error where the update settings can't be retrieved,, but then if you keep the app open and try again it connects. Still, it always says there are no updates available.

For now I'm using download taxi and getting updates off of the support site. Have about 9 to do including the new bios.

 

it works fine for me. i have more current audio/touchpad/wifi then what sony offers and it all works flawlessly. so far no buzzing in all my videos. sony first made it sound like it was a driver issue but it isnt

 

WOW, finally I got my replacement Vaio from Sony Style, after they took two weeks for doing nothing before shipping. But, please, have a look at the stunning Japanese quality:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2qj93de.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/k0gj07.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/67r50h.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/1zg5edy.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/aa98uu.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2in90n.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/20aaxon.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/25jjl8m.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/2n7ny9v.jpg
Moreover I have the same scratches on the plamrest that the previous one had (which was the reason I sent it back): they produce scratched laptops, but they don't care at all! Great! I ask for a replacement due to a defect and I get even more defects! I'm sending back this crap.
About Sony Style: they sent my notebook from Nagano to Tilburg on the 3rd of April. Then they felt asleep and shipped to me only 5 days ago. Complained about this but it seems that the customer care cannot communicate with the logistic centre. Impressive...
Let me say just one more thing: DON'T BUY FROM SONY STYLE.

PS: this time they shipped with that crappy DPD (german quality) while I asked and paid for UPS (shame on you again). As expected the package has been damaged. However they send you emails stating that they aim to provide high quality products with a high quality support service... WHAT? Never again...