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

I hope theres an option for a better res screen when we see it in the US... thats the one thing holding me back. Although I doubt it'll happen. Either that to give us the option to pop a backlit keyboard in the cw and give it switchable graphics....

 

the CW doesn't have a backlit keyboard?

Also, anyone got any info about when the S series is coming in canada/usa? If bestbuy has one, they should be coming soon no?

 

unfortunately no

 

Anybody calibrate their display yet? Tones are definitely on the colder side

 

No idea, I ordered the CTO from a Sony website way before the S was officially available: https://www.sonystyle-europe.com/ and then clicked on "UK Home (VAIO)". Who knows, it might be a mistake from Sony Europe of putting this page up.

From there I was able to configure a CTO and pay for it, it took about 4 weeks for it to be shipped and it seems the end is near!

 

http://www.sony.com.au/product/vpcs117gg

if you click on more pictures... you can see that the australian version of the S series.. actually has light on the spacebar.. where as some other UK/Eur ones i seen dont have light on the spacebar key !!!!!!

wats with sony and all these variations for different markets.. its confusing mang !!!!!

 

Do you know a case that is good for S series? I have seen the sony CP15 that is for SR series or the sony CP22 that is for Z series. There is also the new sony CP24 that is for S, Z and Y series, but i don't like it. Which is the best for S series? i speak about dimensions....

 

So, I'm following the thread here and trying to make my decision about purchasing this laptop. I live in the US and would be buying it at best buy since I can get a discount there. To clarify, I'm going to post the link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...uId=9999124400050012&childSku=9701289&count=1

So I have a few questions about it as the info about all the other combinations from other countries and such have me a little confused. First, some of the posts about the intel integrated graphics have me concerned. I plan on watching burned DVDs with this on my TV as a temporary HTPC. I also will do moderate gaming on it. Mostly MMOs and older games. Am I going to be able to do those things well with this laptop? Second, I read that there was a docking station available but, the links provided were in foreign languages. Is an American docking station available for this particular version? Third, I am not a power user by any means and don't need to have the best stuff out there. I also am not the most discerning user and will not notice if the display is slightly off or if there are slight reflections and such. However, I would like to know that this computer will be usable for a good long time. I'm trying to spend a little more money now in the hopes that I won't have to purchase another laptop for 5 or so years. Is this laptop with the core i5 going to do that for me? as long as it will do the things I need it to well, I can live with some of the shortcomings but, some of the posts here have me a little worried that this laptop is not quite what I think it may be. Thanks for any info you guys can give.

 

Agreed. Unfortunately I'm traveling for a month so picking up hardware to do this is impossible.


BUG FOUND - on my WPCS117GG (HK Version) the trackpad sometimes does not respond to side scrolling after waking on sleep. I cant replicate it 100% of the time, but it has happened enough times to be noticeable. Reboot fixes it.

 

Couldn't wait any longer, so just purchased my shiny new S from Best Buy.

Mine also had the high pitched sound, just updated Sound drive, so hopefully that will fix the problem.

I've read posts on this before but what do you all think is the best Virus Protection to use (not the 1 year free TrendMicro it comes with from my recollection)

Making my startup discs, anything else I should do?
I wanted to remove VAIO programs, but now sure exactly how to do that.
Best Buy already removed all the other "trial" programs thankfully

 

Sony UK has GDDR3 for the S series dedicated video memory while Sony Au,SG has DDR3 SDRAM, can anyone confirm this?

 

There is so such thing as DDR3 SDRAM, so I suggest someone stuffed up. DDR and SDR are both names for memory technology, where the stands for Double and S stands for Single. You can't have a double single (2x1=2)

 

do you peepz S laptop have a finger swipe thing between the 2 touchpad buttons? coz the one i saw at the shops have it.. but the ones on the "official" sony website dont have that finger swipe thing in the pictures... hmmmm

 

Careful removing Sony programs, I tried that and ended up removing essential software, ones that include functionality to keyboard, sensors, f buttons, etc.

No. Unless you're talking about the ability to 'pinch zoom' with the trackpad.

 

the fingerprint sensor you see on Z series.. the S series has it too in Australia..

 

I gave it a shot.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5743229&postcount=51

 

Can anyone else confirm that battery drain is greater in shutdown than in sleep? I noticed a 6% overnight drain shutdown and unplugged. I saw a 0% overnight drain on sleep and unplugged. I have not tried to reproduce this observation.

 

Received my CTO S-Series today.
Will hopefully reinstall it tonight once I've made a backup of the drive.

 

Im buying this laptop this weekends !!

i hope its a matte screen coz it feels like light cant reflect off it...... but if its a glossy screen i can use it as a mirror too to fix up my hair or soemthing.. hahahaha win win situation...

PS: Does anyone know if the spacebar key on this laptop has backlit light or not?? since the F series spacebar key doesnt have backlit light....

 

Screen is definitely not matte. I've got it in front of me and my face reflects on it when using black background.
The spacebar key is not lit up.

Dan

 

I'm not sure if performance numbers have been published so here there are for my S-Series:
Processor = 6.8
Memory = 6.8
Graphics = 5.0
Gaming Graphics = 6.0
Primary hard disk = 5.9

Specs are i5-540M, 6GB DDR3, GeForce 310M, with a Toshiba 320GB drive which will be replaced by an Intel SSD G2 this evening.

 

Sorry for my question Daneel, why didn't you buy i7-620M? Temperature or heat problems?
Thanks

 

I thought that I wouldn't need it when I ordered the laptop.
I've got a Z with a Core 2 Duo running at 2.53ghz and this is pretty good for me, especially with the Intel SSD G2.

 

This is so far my impressions after using the S-Series for over an hour:
- Screen is definitely brilliant, I was used with the mate display of my Z.
- Screen is not very bright, I believe the Z screen is brighter, but it comes with problems of its own (diagonal lines)
- The keyboard is of good quality but I wished the keys had more grip
- The overall build is very good, compared to the Z and compared to the SR I played with a few hours before deciding to return it to go for a CTO S-Series
- I'm not too keen on the palmrest material but I'm sure I will get used to it
- The trackpad doesn't feel as precise as the Z one, maybe it will get better once I'm used to it
- Ports are conveniently located

That's it so far.

 

Hi all,

as a "wannabe" S-line owner, I just registered here and would like to ask you something that is the main reason I would wanna buy Sony S ---> How robust is the notebook?? I have 3 broken laptops behind my back and do not wish to have a 4th one! (Btw NEVER buy Fujitsu Siemens!!!) Does the metal casing really make it stable and durable? Does the LCD move easily and stay stable when opened? Does it make any cracking noises when held with one hand on the side and opened?

I beg the owners to give me some more information on that!

Thank you guys!

What I am also very interested in is how noisy it is under normal working conditions - Browsing, Office applications, etc. ? Does the fan run constantly and if not how often does it go on and of ? (My second laptop had it's fan going on every 3seconds, then working for 3 seconds and back - that was ANNOYING)

 

The chassis is very well made I think. Bear in mind I received my CTO only today.
I haven't heard any creaks, the only annoying thing is the slightly wobbly battery, but this can possibly be fixed by adding some padding.
The lid hinge seem to be pretty solid.
Overall, it look way more durable than my expensive Z.

Regarding noise levels, this is not a problem with me, I definitely couldn't hear it in a normal office environment

 

Please keep me up to date with your opinion about construction (stability) and noise... I am going to be using it mainly at home - I could bear some airflow noise, but not a noisy fan going on and off all the time or running noisy constantly...

Does it really havo no HDD LED indicator?? I couldn't see any LEDs in the pictures (except the On/Off button) ?

 

There is a HDD LED indicator, it's front mounted on the base at the right.
You can't really see it whilst working with the laptop but this is not a problem for me.
Chassis is still holding after nearly 3 hours of usage

 

Shocking )

Is the whole casing out of metal? Front and back as well as the screen and keyboard frame?

Keep us up to date guys :yes:

 

I believe a fair proportion of the case is made with magnesium alloy.
This is meant to give strength as far as I know.
The underneath of the base has some kind of rough texture, a bit like the SR but less.
The lid is apparently made with magnesium but you can't really tell, feels very similar design to my FW (thank god it's not like the Z). It's quite stiff and the hinges seem to be pretty solid, but only a long period of wear can really tell how this will work out.

 

Could you be more specific for those like me who never had a SR, Z or any other Sony around...?

How about if you grab the LID with both hands at the upper corners and push with the one and pull with the other? Does it stay flat or does it bend (curve)? I guess if it is all really metal it shouldn't change form at all...

Sorry for all the stupid questions, but I really fear a 4th in a row laptop ending in the trash can :-/

 

The lid does flex but not too much.
Nowhere near the stiffness of Lenovo lids that's for sure.
The Z had a problem with the lid where it was so thin it would bend too much and press on the raised palmrest and create scratches on the screen.
I experienced those scratches just a few weeks of ownership and had now 3 times (twice the screen been replaced under warranty) bruise marks showing up right in the middle of the Z display.
Some might be impressed by what Sony achieved with the Z, so much power until 1.5kgs, but they should be reminded that Sony should have done the most basic tests, such as transporting their laptop in a bag!

I'm with you re laptops. They cost more than desktops, but somehow manufacturers can get away with products that not only depreciate because technology always changes but as well not built to last beyond two years. It's a very expensive hobby to change a laptop that many times...

 

Wow - I am using Lenovo at work everyday (T series mainly), and although no question that they are quite durable, the LID isn't that stiff at all - it has a hard metal frame, but if you press it in the middle or do the test I asked you to (pull and press) - it isn't that of a hard anymal at all! But again it does not have a metal casing - just a metal frame and tough plastic cover - I really hope the Sony S is better !? :-?

 

Sony has released a new docking station for the S series....

http://www.sony.com.au/product/vgp-prs10

BUT..... to my surprise it doesnt include a 3.5 mm audio jack for plugging in the speakers...... which means when you put your laptop on the dockingstation you gotta plug in the audio cable into the laptop each time... kind of defeats the purpose of having a docking station...

 

Looking forward to the disassembly guide of the S!
I purchased a model with the smallest HDD as I've got a Intel SSD G2 to fit.
I unscrewed all screws from the base but wasn't sure what to do next.

 

sony should really update their websites.. bcoz their pics are false and misleading.



here we have a pic that shows the s series backlit keyboard with the spacebar also lit ... but in reality the spacebar dont have backlit light..

that is what we call false advertising !!!!!!

 

I really hope and wish you this to be your biggest problem with your laptop!! And may you be unhappy

 

Thanks, can you please post about fan noise? Is it on all the time, can you hear it clearly in a quiet room, is the harddrive louder than the fan?

 

What do you think, is there a chance that the Vaio S series with a nvidia 310M support the following technology? http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html

Some information from the official presentation and the nvida blog: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-optimus-mobile-geforce,9617.html
http://blogs.nvidia.com/ntersect/2010/02/world-meet-optimus.html#more

Some Asus notebooks support it but there is no word about other notebooks ... sony vaio support hotline in germany has no information

 

Noise level is very acceptable in a very quiet room and running in Performance profile.
I haven't heard any sound or felt vibration of the harddrive yet. The base of the S is pretty solid. Although I'd like I could hear where the harddrive is so that I can replace it with my SSD!

So far the biggest disappointment is the rather poor vertical viewing angles with the screen.

 

Thanks, do you have the version with dedicated graphics?

 

Yes, with 310M.

I remember reading somebody who noted that the trackpad sometimes doesn't comes back up after coming back from sleep and I've just experienced that. Very likely a driver issue.

 

dubbs, I can confirm your WER scores except my HDD is an Intel X25-V SSD (40GB) which raises the "disk data transfer rate" from 5.6 to 7.4. FWIW, the SSD speeds up boot times by 3x. Since me last HDD crash, I upgraded all my notebooks to SSDs. I think this will become more common by end of this year.

 

Did you put the SSD yourself or was it done by Sony ?
I have a 160GB G2 SSD that I need to put on my S-Series but not sure how to disassemble the chassis.

 

does everyone's S laptop have the loose battery. Is this better then the current 2.26 macbook pro in terms of screen/performance

 

Mine has the loose battery but I'm not bothered about it too much.
That's the only thing that moves and I think this can easily be fixed by putting something between the battery and the chassis.
In terms of performance the S is obviously better than the current macbook pro as long as you take a S with better specs
But one can be pretty confident that because the S uses latest hardware it will definitely be better than the current macbook pro.
I'm not sure about the screen, it's definitely god poor vertical viewing angles.

 

Any nice pictures of sony s with black colour?

 

My battery is a little loose. Yes it's unusual but seems to be of no consequence.

 

I did it myself. No brainer if you've replaced drives before. It was similar to the many other notebooks that I owned. All it takes is a small phillips (+) head screwdriver.

 

Cool, so I will be doing so later tonight.
Did you unscrew every single screw underneath the chassis ?
Did that include the ones inside the battery compartment ?

Do you mind giving some details on how you did and what to watch out for ?
I really could do with the SSD in, the 5400rpm is really holding back this machine