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

I have a problem with VAIO Smart Network
When I'm connected to a network with proxy VAIO Smart Network doesn't change the proxy configuration, and I have the configuration right... I have to open VAIO Smart Network and apply the profile manually. The same issue when I'm connected to a network without proxy.
Anyone have the same problem?

 

I think they have retracted the update as it is not longer on the website.

 

In fact! It was still there the other day ))

BUT... I saved it, so HERE you are

I have the feeling it is more responsive, also an additional option for RSS is added + a few other small things.

 

Something really interesting: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/497093-how-fix-dim-screen-vpc-z.html

Although coming from the Z guys, it is valid for the S too. Well the S or at least mine was already set to 255, but you can change the 8 Auto-dimming levels individually Worth to know

 

Changing the 0 value to a different one (it was initially set to 13 on my S) causes Vaio Control Center instability when the light conditions force it to use the 0 setting. VCC shows some strange number underneath (something like 776567) and you are unable to switch auto-dimming off until there is more light and it switches to a different setting.

Btw do you guys also have screen-flickering when using low brightness settings? The lower the brightness - the more noticeable the flickering is... I read this is a normal "bug" by the LED displays and can be different on individual screens - sometimes hardly noticeable, sometimes more obvious - depending on the human eye as well.

 

Does anyone know how to change the rss's of vaio gate?

 

I have a VPCS12C5E with intel HD graphics and core i5 cpu.
I have installed a clean Windows 7 32bit Enterprise with the intel display drivers but the brightness of the LCD is in the lowest level and is very dark. the FN+F6 show the bars but the brightness doesn't change at all.
When I uninstall the intel HD driver the resolution is not ok but the brightness set to 50% but I still cannot change the brightness of the display.
Is it a problem with intel driver or sony bios?! please help/

 

I have a new VPCS13S9E for a few days. I have made a clean install of Win7 Pro 32bit and used all drivers from Sony website (but for model S12) and all works OK. But in total darkness I noticed that my screen goes always darker and lighter in a few seconds. In stronger light it is OK. Is it what you have ment?

Has anybody picture of UK keyboard layout? Or is it looking like this (I mean the blue letters)?

I am looking for spare part backlit keyboard from any EU model of Vaio S with keyboard layout that is most simillar to US layout without the additional letters. Something like this:

 

Not sure... maybe - in absolute darkness (night + lights out), which automatically means lowest darkness (auto-dimming) I notice the screen flickering inconsistently. Sometimes it is more obvious, sometimes only if you concentrate on the screen, but this is ONLY noticeable by lower brightness. It is as if there is another small source of light that flickers and if the main source is dimmed the other becomes more obvious...

Is it what you mean?

 

Please, has anybody photo of GB keyboard?

 

If you put this search term into eBay UK:

NEW SONY VPC-S1 SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD

you should end up with a few results that include pictures.


My UK model has the Euro (currency) symbol on the 4 key and the Alt Gr key to the right of the spacebar. It does not have the additional accented letters on the E, U, I, O and A keys.

I think I will also purchase one of these as a spare.

 

For those of you interested in using the GPS receiver present in the Qualcomm WWAN module have a look at the last pages of this thread: Gps On Vaio VGN Z ?

 

Thank you for your answer. I searched on internet for a long time, but I everywhere found only the same international pictures of keyboards.

I wrote to UK seller on e-bay, bu i think, that it is not original Sony, but aftermarket product. I am afraid of quality of this keyboard. But in Sony service they want 130€ for new original Sony keyboard.

A big thank you for describing your UK keyboard. Thats what I wanted to know!

Edit: The seller answered, that the keyboard is not original from Sony, but from manufacturer, which produces for Sony. I buougt one keyboard and I will see, what it looks like.

 

Good one! Thanks!

 

I wish I returned it to sonystyle.
I contacted vaio link due to my hw problems:
- the notebook keeps locking for a couple of seconds at least 2-6 times a day and sometimes hard locks occurs as well (once during POST). And sometimes it doesn't wake up properly.
- removing the stickers caused some paint to get off the plastic (yes, it's still there, under the sticker)
- the keyboard keeps farting and a couple of keys are dangerously loose moving too much (I prefer to report that before they say I broke them and that it's my fault)
- battery working badly sometimes and already present wear
They said that if Vaio Care reports no problem no hw issue is present (is it a joke?), that it's a software problem (well, I'm using a freshly restored system, with the software sold by you). The paint is a physical damage, so no warranty (they asked me why I removed the stickers!!!!!!). About the keyboard and the battery they said nothing (= we're going to do nothing). I got a little bit upset and they changed their approach... but I'm afraid they won't solve my problems.
To be continued...

 

well, finally my new S12 arrived. i reinstalled windows 7 ultimate on a new 500gb hdd. of course i installed all the vaio drivers in the right order to get all the FN keys, backlite etc. working. though, my keyboard backlite doesnt work well. when i boot up windows the keyboard illuminates and works quite fine until the logon screen of windows 7. at that moment, the ambient light sensor sets the brightness down just at it needs to be. but now, entering my password and loggin in, the keyboard illumination turns off and nothing happens anymore.
the weird thing is, if i put my vaio in power-safe mode and then turn it on again, the sensor works fine - well, mostly...
at the other hand, if i check "auto key illumination" off, on and apply the changes, the keyboard illuminates for 10 seconds and runs out again.

any ideas??

edit: by changing the settings of illumination (10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min or permanent illumination) and clicking apply, the keyboard backlite works for this time but it is not reactivating the illumination e.g. after 10 sec....

 

no chance to fix my problem, after googling for 2days and talking with sony support!
so finally I decided to install Windows 7 64bit and the brighness worked just fine with the Sony stock Intel HF Graphics driver!

 

I continue to wonder why you guys like to play so much with the OS. Why the hell 32 Bit on a PC that fully supports 64-Bit. Why clean install, when it is much easier and just as effective to remove all you don't need and the rest will continue to work as out of the box.

Forget the XP-ages when clean-installing windows was something you do every couple of months and put back all drivers and it all works fine. Nowadays all you do is System-restore!

"Don't "tune" anything that works just fine... all you can achieve is make it work worse!" - quite valid in most cases such as clean-installing Win7.

 

Hi Guys,

Just got my Sony S series customised VPCS12C5E.
i've been reading the thread from the start for over 2 months now and it helped me make up my mind and rid me of any doubts that i had.

my specs =

i5 540
windows 7 pro + xp downgrade
4gb
500gb 7800rpm
intel hd graphics
black backlit keyboard

Questions

1) im a business user, if i was to downgrade to XP would it cause complications to the backlit keyboard? light sensor? as i have read, people trying to restore their systems have had these problems...

2) when i plug in my charger the screen flicks for a 2nd then comes back on.
same with when i disconect it. is this normal?

3) my vaio seems to give out warm air but then when the fan stops its perfectly fine. is this normal? my sister has a cw and its constanly cool when in use.

thanks in advance for your input.

 

Hi and welcome

Straight to your questions:

1. Unfortunately I can't answer that. But Windows 7 features a great little thing called "XP Mode" - basically a Virtual XP machine in case you really need one. But as a business-user I see no reason why you would prefer XP over 7?

2. Some USA users have reported this behavior - in fact, I don't think it is normal. Most of us don't seem to have this... but I am not able to tell you more. Maybe it is an issue with all Intel HD Graphics sub-models!? No idea, but it is not normal neither something all S have.

3. I don't understand your question? What does seem not normal to you? That the fan stops, that the fan is exhausting warm air or what? Sounds fine to me.... I don't think it is possible to run an "i"-CPU with no cooling at all... That was something nice about the Pentium-M CPUs

P.s. I assume you mean 7200 RPM HDD... there is no such thing as 7800

 

Gracy, you said before that you would choose an S over the Z. Why is that?

 

Couple of reasons

1. Have you had a Z in your hands? It feels much more fragile!

2. Kind of part of point 1 but having a metal base is much more important to me. I need a robust machine!

3. Have you taken a look at the Sony Owner's Lounge? 4 out of 5 Threads are about various problems with Z. Not that S is completely problems-free but you really can't compare them

4. The resolution of the Z is way too high for a 13" screen IMO. Many people returned their Zs and bought S instead because of that.

and many others I was in fact initially going for the Z so money has nothing (or less) to do with my decision...

This said there is only one thing the Z has, that I miss about the S --> Switchable Graphics! That is the only thing that is worthy to me from all "features" Z is advertised with. All the rest such as SSD is just a matter of upgrade if you really need it and is worth the money to you

 

ah yes sorry i meant the 7200.

1) the XP - well it depends if the company software will run on win 7. as it was tailor built for xp. i prefer win7 anyday.

2) the charging issue - thankyou for your feedback - are there others out there experiencing this isssue? please let me know - otherwise i may have to return mine...

3)the fan issue - its not noisy and heats not a problem - i just dint expect it to give burst every 5 mins or so.. and im only using it for word/excel etc so light useage.. i was just concerned that under lght useage for 15 mins its already giving out warm air..

what do you think gracy?

ps im in uk..

 

I can't really tell how it is supposed to be on yours as:

1. You have i5-540 which isn't as efficient as i5-520 that I have (i5 520 is the most efficient among the i5 and i7 CPUs)
2. I have dedicated GPU that generates quite a lot of heat

My FAN works constantly (goes off rarely, but for a joke - just went off while I am writing those words ), which I also find better as starting/stopping is actually much more noticeable than constant silent airflow...

Not really sure how often your FAN is supposed to be active... maybe someone with Intel Graphics would say?

Don't underestimate Word and Excel! They need their juice!

 

looks like i just gotta be patient.
hopefully more users will have thier input by sunday uk time.

if not.. monday i will consider sending it back...

my main concern is the complete blackout i have when i plug in and disconect the charger. this could be lethal in the future... as i wouldn want my screen to die on me...

plus i ordered 2 of these.. the other one i have back at the office, once i set that one up i'll see how it reponds to the charging situation.

guess i'll take it from there then..

i just noticed a slightly squeky space bar!! im sure it wont be noticble back at the office but write now its quite anoyin as its dead silent. its only squeky around the mid and towards the rght side.. the left side is okay..

P.S the backlit keyboard is fantastic.. as well as the light sensor.. it does do a fantastic job!

 

I don't think such a risk exists. I think this is just something some sub-models do for whatever reason... As I said you definitely aren't the first to report that, but no one has reported yet any damage caused by that.

Very well known problem. Remove and lubricate the space bar, enter key and back-space key. This solves the problem
Just be gentle when you remove them.

 

I have the S Series with i7 and Nvidia GPU and the fan comes on quite frequently. I sort of expected that due to the nature of both processor chips being very hungry for power.

I've heard that most iX processors want good cooling systems unless you opt for the UM ones which are low voltage.

As for the charger issue you are experiencing, I've never had that glitch on mine.

 

so at the moment this is where i stand with issues with my vaio..

1) fan on / off givin out warm air. but when idle its cool. - i know you guys have said that this is normal for the new i processors but should a fan giving out warm air under light useage be worrying?

2) the charging issue - when i plug in or out the screen completely blanks out and comes back on. (any intel hd graphic card owners out there having the same issue?

3)the slightly squeaky spacebar ( thanks for the tip to resolve this - i need to get some lubi)

4) can you guys hear a slightly whining hardrive sometimes? is this normal?

input on points 2 and 4 would be greatly appreciated - thankyou.

 

1. This is normal. I would only start worrying if the laptop body got hot because of inefficient cooling system.

2. Cannot answer that as i have Nvidia on mine.

3. No squeaky keys here either.

4. I had the same problem with the Toshiba 500Gb 7200rpm drive. I couldn't stand the winning so i bought a Hitachi Travelstar and my laptop is now quiet and doesn't do my head in!

 

Good, another VPCS12C5E

2) I've seen this behavior on the VPCS11C5E I had in the past, and many other people using the Intel HD as well... for sure it's a software issue, check for software updates. At the moment no such problem with my VPCS12C5E, so it can be solved somehow.

3) Sure, when the CPU temperature rise above 49-50°C the fan starts spinning. Obviously the CPU temperature depends on the CPU load and the room temperature, but during light use it's normal to stay below that limit and stop the fan. It might stay off for 5-10 or even 15-20 minutes, it depends.

False, they are the same CPU with a different multiplier but same efficiency.

 

Not true! Electrical efficiency isn't the same. Pick thermal efficiency is supposed to be the same - the question is how often it goes to the max.

We have had this discussion already somewhere in this thread long time ago - I showed you professional benchmarks and graphs. It's not something I discovered.

No longer using the original Toshiba as internal drive, but still having it as external - never noticed anything unusual about it.

 

Efficiency has nothing to do with it.

The ones saying that performance is very close and power consumption identical?
BTW, I owned both, I can tell much better than you about the performance and consumption.

 

Yes, I'm sure you feel the 1W difference with your bare hands put in front of the FAN, while people use thousands of euros worth of equipment to trace processes

Anyway, not willing to go back to that - whoever is interested in the facts the way they scientifically are - browse back the thread or google about it. The rest is a "my friend told me" kind of thing.

Just a small quotation from a very respected computer magazine:

That's all from me on this subject.

 

my screen never flickers when i plug and unplug my acadapter

 

Don't worry, the battery doesn't say nonsense like you do. And no, no concrete difference between i5-520M and i5-540M.

...and have a look at something posted by you and see how those CPUs are the same, nearly the same performance (due to the different multiplier), same power consumption (only 133 Mhz more at full speed) , small difference in price. Funny...

"The rest is a "my friend told me" kind of thing."...

 

For me is 32bit win needed because there is no 64bit driver for my engraver.

Why clean install? You know any other method how to put 32 bit Win without reinstalling (making new clean install)?

Please, does anybody know, what I have to do when my new backlit keyboard arrives? I think, that only change the keybord will be not enough. Is it neccesary to change the model name or how to activate the backlight?

 

Yes I do - called Virtual Machine! You can install any OS you want to. Fast, easy, reliable, non-destructible.

 

In my oppinion is better to have Win7, than XP. I dont see any advantage of XP over Win7.

My S13 with i5-460 under light load sometimes stops the cooler. I think, it depends on actual setting of powering plan. On battery I have set to prefere passive cooling. But the cooler used to stop also on AC, not only on battery. I think, it is wise solution, because the cooler consumes less energy and his live will be longer. And I have Nvidia graphics.

For me too looks Z little too fragile. And a fully Equipped S costs about 1700€ (must order from GB, because by us they dont sell S with backlit keyboard) and this price is not very far from price of Z.

Cons of Z are the very high resolution on small place, small SSD disk, which is not replaceable by conventional NTB HDD. That is why I selected rather S.

My main screen never goes black, when I connect or disconnect power. But I have Nvidia graphics. My whife has S with Intel HD and her screen goes off at any connest / disconnect on power source.

To the HDD issues. I changed my 5k4 HDD for a faster 7k2 HDD. I have Hiachi and it is silent. But for me it was surprise, that my and in my whifes Vaio S came from factory with the same HDDs (I mean 500 GB / 5k4 rpm), but in one notebook was Toshiba and in the second Samsung.

Just look on internet. For example here. TDP is the maximum of exhausted heat. And thats why some notebooks with i7 and Intel HD graphics have problems by maximal load, they reach the TDP maximum and then falls their CPU speed (are inserted empty cycles for cooling down the CPU), because CPU and GPU are sharing the same heatsink.

 

What do you mean by that? Where have you set what exactly? I've never seen a "passive cooling" option, I guess you mean something else?

 

nope if you clean install and allow windows to control the power options you can set active or passive cooling for battery or ac

and gracy doesnt understand a great deal of apps can't be run on a virtual machine

 

Problem - plug in or out the charger and screen blanks on and off

Solution - it was just the power settiings on the intel hd gpx card.
the refresh rate when on battery is 40 and 60 when plugged in. therefore causing the screen to blank on and off.

if you set the refresh rate in both battery and charger mode the same = no blanking out =)

 

Please give me a challenge - name one!

I run deep level tracing and programming software for chip manufacturers under VMs on daily basis... please be so kind to tell me what is that software that does not run under VM? Some games maybe?

 

and how i can do that? must i do a clean install to set passive cooling?

 

I don't think "passive" cooling is what it sounds like. Passive usually means no FAN... but I don't think this is what this option does and is at all possible on i-CPU.

 

i did a clean install.

 

Passive cooling simply means that Windows7 will reduce the frequency of the CPU to avoid turning on the fan. Clearly, this doesn't mean that the fan will stay off the whole time, it simply gives priority to frequency reduction to avoid turning on the fan.

 

So basically the same what the 3 options from Vaio Care offer --> Silent / Balanced / Performance.

Honestly I've tried all three of them couple of times and never felt a difference.... do you guys feel any? I keep mine on performance because of that.

 

I have not tried the Windows 7 native fan/cpu control option because i have the VAIO one installed. But it did work wonders on my Intel Duo Core which was less power hungry than the i7m i have now.

When i set it at passive cooling, it rarely heard the fan going on. With the i7m the situation is vastly different. No matter how much the CPU is slowed down, it would still need air cooling.

 

I'm also talking about the VAIO power options Don't feel any difference

 

I made clean install and then installed all Vaio apps. Now I can change the win settings, as well as Vaio settings of power management.

Please, has anybody info about successfull replacement of non backlit keyboard by backlit keyboard? I have found nothing.