Official Sony SB/SA/SC/SD Series Owners' Thread

People, the hinge has been talked about many times. Just go look at the MacBook Pro, the hinge fully covers the vent. This in not a design problem. It's pretty obvious that if this was an issue they would not have gone that route. The hinge is designed to allow airflow and allows heat to pass through, notice how it's a different material compared to the rest of the laptop as well as right under the hinge, it was made like that for a reason.

The memory is 4GB stick soldered to the main board with an empty slot for expansion. The RAM is 1333 DDR3 also listed as 10600, 10660, or 10666 depending on the manufacturer.

 

I bought a Samsung 4GB module for $47 USD...Sony wanted $190 USD for the upgrade

 

You can always buy an SSD yourself, cheaper and you can pick the exact model you want. But indeed, it's a bit strange that it's not possible. Here in the Netherlands, we can pick the 128GB SSD, but if you want the 2x128GB option, you also have to opt for the HD 6630M (+at least an i5-2410M). Ow weird, I get the message that the 2x128GB isn't available now when I click on it (regardless of the CPU/GPU).

 

Hoping that's the case, however I've come from the 2011 MB Pro and can say that the image of SB vent and the MB Pro back vents show they are quite different - hence the possibility of the results being different.

The MB Pro has a significant space for back vent, so it doesn't appear like the vent is blocked when screen is up. The SB vents appear to be 50% blocked when the screen is up, this doesn't mean they'll be crap but some users have claimed it doesn't help under load, so some games / applications may cause additional throttling.

This is just coming as a user of MB Pro who returned it as it wasn't sufficient value to me, no fanboy or delusions and my SB is arriving tomorrow, so I've already taken the bet that the cooling is sufficient.

 

I don't know which one to get, or how to put it by myself. Getting it with the SSD included is easier. I wouldn't mind 128GB SSD, maybe it'll be available later?

 

if you get a sony-equipped SSD you might not be able to upgrade it afterwards as sony uses proprietary connections. safest route is to get a normal spinning HD and then upgrade to SSD later

 

Not sure what MBP your looking at but I have one sitting right here (13" 2011 MBP, one that I will be returning) and can tell you it's much more covered than that of the Sony, yet works just fine. Also, the vent on the Sony is much bigger than the MBP's from what I can tell. If you look at the bottom of the Sony there are also more vent's there as well, which the MBP obviously doesn't have.

The whole conversation is pretty pointless though as why would Sony design a laptop like this if it didn't perform like it is supposed to. They obviously put a lot of work into R&D, just like any top company, and if a design caused issues they wouldn't use it and would change the design to where it did. I think some people are forgetting that point, Sony doesn't just design a laptop and immediately throw it out into the wild. They test it and test it, then once it passes all their tests they put it out into the market.

 

I was afriad this might be the sad reality. Is there nothing else? Considering they have the credit card on file and are ready to charge whenever they see fit...seems kind of unfair that you are promising them >1000$ and they are promising you nothing.

 

Unfortunately since they don't charge your card until the laptop ships, your kind of SOL.

 

I went to the Sony Style store and bought an SB with i7 processor, since they cancelled my online order. It is very fast and the display is not too bad once you figure out the settings. Matte so it doesn't have much glare. Pretty nice and very light.

 

post GPU benchmarks if you get a chance, w/ temp. Thanks!

 

Why did they cancel your online order ??

 

It's been done, a few pages back, but it would be nice to get some comparison numbers. Another poster said his temps toped out at 91 playing Arkham Asylum which is really good considering this is a thin and light class laptop.

 

its this way since the romans

 

Can anyone tell me how this is when gaming on the 6630? Does it throttle or overheat? I assume the 6630 is standard clocked (not underclocked). How loud does the fan actually get under load?

Any of these answers would be great. Trying to decide if its worth the money for me.

 

Why did they cancel your online order???

 

I think they canceled his order as he ordered when the online pricing in Canada was messed up with pretty crazy low prices. Such as an i7 upgrade for $50, free slice battery, $30 bluray, etc. But I'm not 100% though, hopefully he can clear the air.

 

I also ordered mine on the 8th with the same pricing and even spoke to Sony Canada rep who said they would honor the pricing if it was changed later. (although they generally seem to be completely untrust worthly) and my order still shows processing and shipping date still shows the 14th...??
Obviously hoping it still goes through. The money is gone from my PayPal account, although Sony still shows in their system as an unpaid balance.??

Actually checked PayPal again and it shows the transaction still as "pending"......

 

Ok disregard I actually did what I should have done before and checked his old posts and he ordered March 11th so this is a different issue. Fingers crossed for my CTO put thru April 7-8th.

 

Yea, they don't actually charge you until the computer ships, they just run the check or what not to make sure you have the money. Anything could happen so good luck.

 

Haha good job! Just need to get everyone to do that now lol

 

sony.ca website is offline, and replaced by a portal page at rhinosoft.com

 

just ordered it in black

Product: US-VPCSB190X-LBOM
Component: CD/DVD Player / Burner
Component: Standard capacity battery
Component: AMD Radeon™ 6470M GPU (512MB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
Component: Fresh Start
Component: No additional AntiVirus Software
Component: Adobe Bundle (Free - $448 value)
Component: 4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Component: Intel® Core™ i5 2520M processor (2.50GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.20GHz
Component: 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Component: Black
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
Component: 13.3" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1366 x 768)
Per Unit Price: $1,069.99
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $1,069.99
Description: VPCSB190X Configure-to-Order
Ship Method: Expedited
Estimated Ship Date: 04/21/2011



Subtotal: $1,069.99
Tax:$104.98
Shipping Charges:$0.00

 

i didn't want to upgrade the HDD from sony since i was going to go scorpio black or hitachi travelstar

 

I am still waiting on my CTO in the US. I ordered March 8th. My original ship date was March 29th, then April 6th, now April 12th. As April 12th passes so does my hope of seeing it this week . I have been in building stage for few days.

i7
6630
8 GB
500 GB 7200
CD/DVD
Fresh Start
Sheet battery

 

and i guess they threw in expidited for free

 

Does the order come with a windows 7 installation disc so that I can do a fresh installation of windows 7 on a ssd I just purchased?

If it doesn't come with a disc, how do I go about installing windows 7 onto the empty ssd?

Thanks.

 

1. dl oem copy
2. install
3. use windows key
4.????
5. profit

 

I tried googling but I can't seem to find where/how I can download an oem copy. Is there a fancy way to burn windows 7 on the dvd so that I can easily use it to boot up my empty ssd with it? Thanks

 

can't remember where, but in either the Asus or HP forums, they posted a link from microsoft in one of their clean install guides.

and i guess we would need a guide for the SB, yes?

 

Any pointers on display settings? Probably will be one of the first things I try to play with.

 

$105 tax?!? OUCH!

Haha classic!

 

did they email you with an update? any explanation from sony?

 

+1

when i saw the screen at the sony store i saw it was a little washed out. this would be greatly appreciated.

 

gotta love california

 

check this out http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

 

Ordered mine from the Dutch website on 1/4 and just received an email today (13/4) that it has been shipped to their logistics center. =D It should be shipped directly to me on the 15th.

 

So I guess 1.5-2weeks is a fair estimate for building time, as the rep on the phone told me. I hope to see mine soon!

 

Make sure to shoot a few pictures of the blue one, I kind of wonder how it looks.

 

Talk to Canadians about taxes

$130 because of the HST

 

Look what showed up this morning!!! A full day early!! All I can say is WOW, this thing is AWESOME!!

I'm currently cloning the hard drive and adding in my Momentus XT hybrid 500GB HD and 4GB 1333 RAM stick.

I'll post pictures in a few, here's a teaser


/teaser

 

Saving for pics.

 

congrats and have fun!!!!!

mine on the other hand, still says "processing" and is due to be shipped out tomorrow hmmmmm.......

 

*bookmarked*

anyway. anybody here figured out how to mess with the screen brightness using regedit? (similar to that of the sony z)

 

I have never received an email from Sony (except when I contacted support for a status.) I keep logging in to check my order status. This is the only way I have found out they moved my ship dates and status.

As of this morning my estimated shipping was yesterday and it is still being built.

 

been reading through this thread for awhile, couldn't find an answer. the aussie website lists the sony sb having a wxga vaio display plus screen. is different than the US screen? the US website doesn't really specify anything more than LED display.

 

my thought would be shortage of parts or something from japan? a month is crazy to build a notebook unless they were short on something.

 

Out of curiosity, why would you want to control the brightness via the registry? Not trolling, honestly curious.

Edit: Never mind, i just read your post in another thread where you state why you're trying to get at the brightness through the registry.

 

Likewise for my SB order.

The clue to when I should expect my lappy will be very shortly after my credit card gets charged.

 

I effectively ordered on the 1st and it was in Boston on the 8th, Barcelona on the 11th and UK on the 12th, was delivered today but noone was in.hopefully TNT will do it tomorrow morning or I can pick it up from the depot. Local Sony Style store will also have stock in next week, but the staff there thought C2D with Integrated Graphics were good for gaming, either they aren't up to scratch or lying to make a sale but glad I'm not going through them.