The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
← Previous pageNext page →

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

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony Owners' Lounge Forum' started by ssssssssss, Mar 21, 2011.

  1. bob6789x

    bob6789x Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    So I could order a CTO anyway I want withOUT engraving (don't want it anyway) and return it at no cost to me. That sounds too good to be true considering everywhere locally they charge restocking fees on laptops. If this is the case I think I will order one tonight knowing my satisfaction is pretty much guaranteed by no restocking and no shipping charge if I dislike it. I am in the US btw if that changes anything.

    That all said I am pretty sure I'd love one of these lol.
     
    bob6789x, Apr 13, 2011
    #651
  2. simP

    simP Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    18
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Mm yea that might differ per country, here in the Netherlands there's this 'law of remote purchase', which means that webshops must accept any returns (without any fees) when it's shipped back within 8 days and still in good condition.
     
    simP, Apr 13, 2011
    #652
  3. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I wouldn't rely 100% on what I say, I would obviously make sure myself if I were you, but yea, that's what I was told.
     
    benny90, Apr 13, 2011
    #653
  4. bob6789x

    bob6789x Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I read the policy and it doesn't mention restocking fees unless it meets certain criteria (from sony): "(i) without a RMA from Sony, (ii) beyond the 30 day period, or (iii) without proper packaging, Sony retains the right to either refuse delivery of such a return or charge you a restocking fee."

    For those in the US that want the link to it here it is: Click the return information (#1)

    It does mention however that shipping is not refunded from the original purchase, and you must pay the return shipping. I'm sure that is negotiable as was mentioned that if there was a defective issue or something.
     
    bob6789x, Apr 13, 2011
    #654
  5. lifesabeach

    lifesabeach Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Can somebody please post the link for the BIOS download to quiet the fan?
     
    lifesabeach, Apr 13, 2011
    #655
  6. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    where would be the cheapest place to get extra power adapters?
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 13, 2011
    #656
  7. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    urbanstereo, Apr 13, 2011
    #657
  8. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Just use the VAIO Care update utility on your SB, it'll do it for you and there are also 2 other updates.
     
    benny90, Apr 13, 2011
    #658
  9. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Sony OEM or 3rd party?
     
    benny90, Apr 13, 2011
    #659
  10. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    +1 rep to you benny90! The Seagate discwizard worked just as well for me. Now I got 7200rpm without the hassle of reinstalling drivers. Took me almost 6 hours though with 400+gb of data. Btw, like the pics!

    Regarding the warranty, I'd swap the stock one back if I need to send it in too just to be safe.

    The Sony Style store has a restocking fee if the package was opened IIRC.
     
    taggart, Apr 13, 2011
    #660
  11. vanmat

    vanmat Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Well, since you are done with that, you could take a few shots of your SB, there is never too little pictures of this little beauty :D
     
    vanmat, Apr 13, 2011
    #661
  12. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks!

    6 hours?! :eek: lol

    Yea, I'm sitting here waiting for my 48.5 GB of iTunes Music and Apps to transfer over from my external hard drive. Really wish I had a USB 3.0 one but have the eSATA version for my DM4 so I have to use the USB 2.0 cable. I'll probably be picking one up though as it is taking a loooooonnnnngggg time! :eek:
     
    benny90, Apr 13, 2011
    #662
  13. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Finally finished with the transfer and got to listen to music through the speakers. Definitely nothing to write home about. A little bit tiny but plenty loud. I'm going to see if I can change the settings and see how it sounds then.
     
    benny90, Apr 13, 2011
    #663
  14. XDark_FenixX

    XDark_FenixX Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    alright my SB custom just arrived today with the following specs:
    Blu-Ray
    i7
    radeon 6330m
    4gb ram
    500gb 7200rpm hd
    extended life battery
    black (to match extra battery)

    So i'm curious how on earth people are even getting close to the 15 hour battery life. Mine says about 9-10 using power saver and stamina mode. keyboard backlight disabled, bluetooth disabled, and screen on lowest brightness and all i'm doing is light surfing.

    edit: hell, even the blu-ray drive is disabled to save as much battery as possible
     
    XDark_FenixX, Apr 13, 2011
    #664
  15. bob6789x

    bob6789x Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I'd be happy with 10 personally. That is why I am considering this laptop since I use mine all day at school a lot and tired of finding plugs etc. If your browsing a site with flash anywhere on it even ads it kills battery life most likely. I know on my MBP anyway I go from 3 hours to about 2 if there is like flash ads on pages. Can even see CPU usage go from 4-5 to 20-30. That may just because I only have a 2.4GHz C2D lol.
     
    bob6789x, Apr 13, 2011
    #665
  16. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    taggart, Apr 13, 2011
    #666
  17. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yeah took a while...should have done it when I first got it and USB 2.0 is really slow now.

    Never expected the speakers to sound good on a system this thin and small. Tinny sounding. Good luck with the tuning.
     
    taggart, Apr 14, 2011
    #667
  18. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Just because it says 9-10 hours doesn't mean anything. It has to learn how you use your laptop, then it adjusts the time accordingly. So go ahead and go through one charge and the next should show a different amount according to how you used it.

    Oh and congrats, nice config.
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #668
  19. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yeah, I should have mentioned that I wasn't expecting to be blown away. They are actually a lot louder than I expected. And as they are probably very small drivers they obviously don't offer much in terms of bass.
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #669
  20. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    how long did it take you guys to go from processing to building?
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #670
  21. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30


    We're now configuring your computer just the way you want it.

    n the next couple of days, you will receive another email with your tracking number. When you get this you know we are done and your computer is on its way. Please be patient, great work takes time!
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #671
  22. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    literally like a minute ago when i checked it, it was still processing. now i got an email saying its built
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #672
  23. milo_basi

    milo_basi Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    hey guys,
    i was contemplating on either buying vaio SB or thinkpad t420s. vaio sb looks awesome but i heard the fan is loud (but fixed through bios update). Another thing that bother me is the vent is blocked by the screen, those that have vaio sb, do you experience any heat problem? thank you.
     
    milo_basi, Apr 14, 2011
    #673
  24. XDark_FenixX

    XDark_FenixX Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    like 3 days. then maybe a week for it to ship. They were generous enough to give free express shipping and it got here in 2 days. From fedex that normally costs 230 bucks.
     
    XDark_FenixX, Apr 14, 2011
    #674
  25. XDark_FenixX

    XDark_FenixX Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    True, but normally windows is very generous with their estimates. I typically deduct like an hour or two from it to get the real usage time. As a side note, speed mode practically eats the battery (even when all you're doing is surfing and installing stuff). 1 hour brought one battery down to half.
     
    XDark_FenixX, Apr 14, 2011
    #675
  26. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Fan was loud before bios update. After the update, it just sorts of hums continuously although it's not annoying unless you stress the system and it starts ramping up the fan speed but immediately slows down once back to normal use.

    No problems with heat either. System is stable. :)
     
    taggart, Apr 14, 2011
    #676
  27. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Mine took just under a week, 6 days. Then took about a week to build and shipped out 2 days later.
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #677
  28. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    guess i'm lucky. less than 24 hours for me :D
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #678
  29. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Would it make you feel better that mine said 2 hours and 45 min till it saw how I was working and then changed to about 5 hours. It changes a lot the first few charges, really, you shouldn't worry about it. It probably already changed.

    And now it says 5 hours 15 min....
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #679
  30. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yea, I ordered the first day when CTO's returned. Estimated ship date was about 2 weeks out.
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #680
  31. milo_basi

    milo_basi Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Glad to hear that. Reason is, I live in country where the weather is around 27-35 C year round. So, my laptop needs good ventilation.

    If anyone can do in-depth video review, that would be awesome! :D
     
    milo_basi, Apr 14, 2011
    #681
  32. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    mines 21st
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #682
  33. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yes, speed mode really takes a lot of juice outta the battery. Big difference. Nice setup.

    Btw any problems playing bluray dvds on speed mode?

    More pics..

    http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/taggart_02/Sony Vaio SB/P4133667.jpg

    http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/taggart_02/Sony Vaio SB/P4133664.jpg

    http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/taggart_02/Sony Vaio SB/P4133675.jpg

    http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/taggart_02/Sony Vaio SB/P3303464.jpg

    http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/taggart_02/Sony Vaio SB/P3303465.jpg

    http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/taggart_02/Sony Vaio SB/P4133658.jpg
     
    taggart, Apr 14, 2011
    #683
  34. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Anyone go for this? I was thinking about getting it, but $100 is definitely steep...

    VAIO Carrying Case
     

    Attached Files:

    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #684
  35. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Oh ok. I guess that changes things then. :D It's cool here compared to where you are.(around 10-22 C lately) Still I'm sure Sony thought about that and tested it out before going mass production.
     
    taggart, Apr 14, 2011
    #685
  36. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    taggart, Apr 14, 2011
    #686
  37. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    i would probably do financing from sony
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #687
  38. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    looking at the prices of those cases, i'm glad i still know people in retail wehre those bags are half off.
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #688
  39. Coglischmogli

    Coglischmogli Newbie

    Reputations:
    13
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    @benny90:

    In this review it says, you can improve the sound quality by using Dolby Home Theatre v3:

    Have you tried it?
     
    Coglischmogli, Apr 14, 2011
    #689
  40. sjman409

    sjman409 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    So I talked to Sony twice and they told I wouldn't get my SB that I ordered two weeks ago until the beginning of May at the earliest. Really Sony?
     
    sjman409, Apr 14, 2011
    #690
  41. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    why? what was your config?

    i ordered mine yesterday and got an email a while go saying its being built now
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #691
  42. taggart

    taggart Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    116
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thought that free "expedited" shipping has a catch. Could be parts shortage is worse than thought.
     
    taggart, Apr 14, 2011
    #692
  43. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Wow, thanks for the heads up man, +1! It definitely sounds a lot better. I wonder why they didn't just enable it from the start. It's also burried pretty deep in the properties.

    Here's how I got to it: Open the start menu and type in sound. Click on the Sound icon under control panel. Click on the 'Speaker/HP' icon, then Properties in the lower right. Go to the Dolby tab and enable 'Audio Enhancer' and 'Surround Sound'.

    Seriously, that's like night and day, Dolby definitely pulled some magic out of their hat.

    Thanks again!
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #693
  44. benny90

    benny90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    162
    Messages:
    372
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Spread the wealth :D
     
    benny90, Apr 14, 2011
    #694
  45. urbanstereo

    urbanstereo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    ha. only if it were that simple
     
    urbanstereo, Apr 14, 2011
    #695
  46. Coglischmogli

    Coglischmogli Newbie

    Reputations:
    13
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    @benny90:

    Thats really great news. Thanks for trying it out! :)
     
    Coglischmogli, Apr 14, 2011
    #696
  47. Jed Meyers

    Jed Meyers Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    24
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Just ordered CTO from the US sonystyle: added only i7 and 6630M. Supposed to be shipped on 26th of April.
     
    Jed Meyers, Apr 14, 2011
    #697
  48. rezendevous

    rezendevous Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    112
    Messages:
    526
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    has anyone gotten an indication from Sonystyle Canada as to when the SB CTOs will be in stock again?

    This just getting annoying!
     
    rezendevous, Apr 14, 2011
    #698
  49. lifesabeach

    lifesabeach Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Are they not giving you the option to order? Or is your order still being processed?
     
    lifesabeach, Apr 14, 2011
    #699
  50. rezendevous

    rezendevous Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    112
    Messages:
    526
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    When I get to the final page of the order it says that some selection in my order is out of stock, but the earlier pages don't indicate anything out of stock. Essentially, it won't let me order.
     
    rezendevous, Apr 14, 2011
    #700
← Previous pageNext page →