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

Well estimated ship dates are clearly a fluid concept, as many members have demonstrated here. In addition, the point of a preconfigured model is so that they don't have to build it and the customer can get it faster, thereby cutting about a week of time. I can understand someone wanting to save 30 bucks, but if you're in a rush (I needed mine by the 29th since i would be traveling abroad) that is a very small price to pay for the time (especially if you're getting a better hard drive that you could sell off). I was actually considering canceling my order and ordering a preconfigured if they pushed the estimated ship dates further. That being said, if somehow sjman409's does come later than ultrastereo's, there is either 1) absolutely no parts for the sb such that they have dismantled preconfigured builds to make the CTOs or 2) a major problem with Sony's resource allocation. Just my 2 cents.

 

Um alright, well I certainly got mine sooner than the preconfigured ship date as well as a few other members here. It's obvious not everyone is in that same position and some are experiencing longer waits than estimated but I didn't say anything about that not being an issue. If someone wants a preconfig then they'll order one, if they want a CTO then they'll get one... I have no idea how your turning any of that into an argument here.

 

Actually, the first people to get their SBs were those who bought preconfigured ones. So we did not get them sooner than the preconfigured ship dates, but we were lucky enough to ride the wave of the first CTO shipments. I am making that argument because clearly some members are concerned about getting the computer. I'm just laying out the facts and the reasoning to help them choose and prioritize.

 

If you take a look over at the Sony store right now and this has been this way for the week+ I have looked at this laptop, the CTO had earlier estimated ship date. The 999 pre config is MAY for its ship date and the CTO's have estimated dates of 4/25 starting out (some options add more delay though). It appears they are building CTO's ahead of the pre-config.

The 1499 and the upper model pre-config aren't as bad as the 999 base though. It seems to be an issue with the base pre-config.

 

Haha alright think what you want. The website and most peoples experience obviously disagree, more than likely the people that are waiting will still get theirs before the preconfig estimated ship date, which you realize is into May now right? I can only go by what I see. Now if someone gets the $1,500 they might get it probably at the same time. It's obvious going to be an issue and you'll be right when they actually have stock of the preconfigs and they are not on backorder.

I'm going to drop this and actually keep this on topic and discusss the product with people that are interested in it insead of arguing about something like this.

 

The voice of reason. +1

 

Where you able to figure it out as I posted?

 

Just looked again to double check and I was right.

CTO with no options (even a few options still don't delay it): 4/25

base pre config black: 5/2
base pre config white: 4/25

Middle (1499) black: 4/15

High end (2499) black: 4/18

This information is as of 4/14 11:15PM EST in the US Sony store

 

Can't you just walk into a store and buy a preconfig? Like right now?

New to this thread: just had a huge internal debate of whether to choose X220 over SB cuz of the IPS screen, but in the end needed the graphics card.
i5-2410m, hd 6630M, 500gb HDD. estimated is 4/25 in Canada.

Question about SSDs, to my understanding the SB supports SATA III? Are the OCZ Vertex III a lot better than the Vertex II or is there a better alternative altogether? Looking for something where I can get 120gb <$200

 

I assume some sony stores probably have the pre-configs in stock, but I live about 300 miles from the nearest one according to sony's find a store. And damn you non-US people getting 6630M graphics without an i7. I would have ninja'd that 6630M so fast if I didn't have to ALSO get a 250 dollar i7.

About your SSD question, I personally haven't seen a difference in most SSDs I have used (my friends have various models from Corsair, G.skill, Intel, and somehow none have a Vertex by OCZ). I ordered the Intel 320 160GB for my SB just because Intel seems to be the most reliable and the performance differences are not that noticeable in real world use. Unless your doing some strange task that needs 400+MB/s sequential performance or an insane I/O amount, most SSD's will give you similar performance. Hence why I chose the Intel drive due to one of the upper performer (not the best), but proven reliability of the X-25M 2nd gen behind it using an Intel controller. Look at the vertex 3 reviews too, there is a ton of complaints on those suddenly although I thought the vertex 2 was considered a decent drive.

 

OCZ Vertex3 is not only way better than the Vertex2 but THE best (speedwise) SSD out there for the pricerange.. SB has 2 ports with SATA3 and 4 ports with SATA2, HDD port is SATA3.
I wouldn't buy the Vertex2 since its 200€ and the Vertex3 260€ (120Gb models) and for the 1/4 difference you get way more speed and even stability..

can you link those complains on the Vertex3?

 

I would stay away from the sandforce controllers. Seriously stay away from them. I have one, and it performs great, but there are so many quirks and irkkss that its getting on my nerves. Just a list of some of the quirks:

1) not all system are equal, and here is the problem some wont wake from sleep if you are using a sandforce controller, they give you a blue screen. there is no solution to this (I have it)

2) When there are some intense or not so intense read and writes (download something and play a video, and there you are), the drive stops, it hangs there, the only solution is to reboot.(I have it)

3) after a while in some systems the drive is not recognized anymore, so when the boot comes, you have a no drive issue. The only solution is to go to the boot order and select the drive.(I have it)

there are some more, but those are from the top of my head.

Get the intel 510 or the crucial c300 or c400, those are all sata III ssds, that have good read and write, but sincerely you are not going to notice the speed improvements, get an intel, A data, some kingston models those have intel controllers, most reliable of the bunch, no hangings, no quirks, no issues. The samsung ones are good too.

 

I fubar'd that. Meant Vertex 2 had complaints. Vertex 3 is really too new to find compaints, same with the 3rd gen Intel drives.

 

just get the ones that are good. simply intel. marvel controllers after their first batch are nothing but wonderful.

All drives that I said work with the same controllers:

intel 510, crucial c300 and c400 - use the same marvell controller.

intel 320, intel x-25m, A data, and some kingston - use intel controllers

sansumg, and some kingston - use toshiba controllers

all of those have reviews on the web, and their reliability is wonderful.

 

now that i do believe xD

MR MM i don't happen to be talking about mac do you? do you have those troubles in windows?

 

I agree with those 3 choices, plus the Intel 320. The Intel 320 is using the Intel controller, while the 510 is using a Marvell like the crucal drives. I use a Crucial C300 in my desktop for 1 year now as of this month and had no issues at all with its marvell controller. I never did update past 0002 firmware as many users reported various issues when upgrading to the 0006, so sometimes following the don't try to fix what isn't broke works well.

 

You beat me too it on the Intel 320 lol.

 

nope got a windows machine, those troubles are all across the board, they are not dependent on the OS, but on the system itself.

 

mine still says apr 14th ship date. did sony send you an email? or did your order status page just change without warning?

 

btw the SB only has 3 sata ports, and that is dependent if you got the SSD raid option otherwise its 2 sata ports. the chipset HM65 can have up to 6 sata ports.

The sata III ports (0 and 1) are the ones in the drive bay

The sata II port (4) is the ODD one

 

Anyone else experiencing glitch with the horizontal frame when objects are moving on the screen? Because if I am the only one, then going to return my VAIO for another... If not, then what did you do to fix that? I updated everything using the VAIO Update.

 

hey guys,
I purchased a USA CTO on the 03/31 it originally said est shipping date would be the 04/12. I am curious to learn who have received their CTO SB that placed their order around the same time I did?
My config was i7-2620 + AMD 6630. Are people who ordered the same time as I did receiving there order if it was an i5? Im thinking there may be a hold up with the i7 or the 6630's?

thanks in advance.

 

Mines working fine. Might be a possible issue from a messed up update. Maybe try reinstalling the new BIOS and possibly the graphics driver.

I ordered on the 27 with an estimated ship of the 12th like yours. I got mine on the 13th, but I have the i5 and 6470. From what others are saying, there might well be a hold up with the i7 and 6630, I don't think many (I think only a few have) that ordered that config have received theirs yet.

 

I ordered mine on Apr. 8 (w. i7-2620 & 6630 and other options as below) with an original shipdate of Apr. 14. On April 15, I received 2 emails from Sony - the first apologizing for the delay with a new shipdate of Apr. 25, and the second email 90 minutes later indicating an estimated shipdate of Apr. 21.

 

Hey! I really looking forward to this computer, but I have a question I don't seem to find any good answer on. Will the SB be able to play 3D blu rays on an external screen (3DTV)? From what I understand the HDMI on the SB is v1.4 and I read somewhere that AMD HD6*** would be able to show 3D.
Thanks in advance!

 

Hi guys, been wondering whether upgrading it to 500 GB 5200 RPM or to the i5 2520M would be better? BTW I have a 2 TB external hard drive. Would the i5 upgrade be worth the price?

 

what are your uses?

I do think so, all the hardware needed is there, if its actually capable of doing it I dont know.

 

I did a clean install with my licence of win7 pro I owned before. Anyone else did a clean install? what drivers are needed?
fn, stamina<-> speed are not working here.

greats

 

Does anyone know if you're only getting 4GB ram, is it one stick soldered in and one free slot?

I'm assuming this laptop doesn't support dual channel RAM then? Do most laptops not?

 

Noob here. I read that vaio SB has 3 SATA ports, (1 is ODD). So, can I use one for SDD and another for HDD at the same time or there's not enough space to put both SDD and HDD?

 

@Croatia: I have one soldered (supposed, as it is not seeable from bottom) and one free slot. afaik. dual channel works if you have same ram.

@milo_basi: if you want to use ssd and hdd you need to put the optical drive out and use a caddy with a hdd.

 

Well my Canadian CTO status just changed to Your Vaio is being built...Ship date still April 25th.


Customization Details
■ 13.3" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1366 x 768)
■ Large Capacity Sheet Battery
■ 500 GB Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
■ Fresh Start
■ No Anti-Virus
■ Without Engraving
■ Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (32-bit)
■ AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
■ Intel® Core™ i7-2620M processor (2.70GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz
■ Blu-ray Disc™ Player
■ Adobe Bundle(Free - $448 value)
■ Bolt Black
■ Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional
■ 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333

 

I have different specs than you, but I received the same two emails. It sucks, but at least it's arriving

 

I've got similar specs and I never got any e-mail, my order was placed on the 6th. I called and they said some parts are directly from Japan and that's why there was a delay, he expected the laptop to ship early next week.

My expected ship date is also April 6th so I think its bugged

 

So if I buy another 4GB stick I should have dual channel capability?

 

I see NewmodeUS has 4 caddies available for Sony laptops, which to choose? or are the only differences with them the front plates?

 

You should wait for one specifically for your model because it likely won't fit or match otherwise.

 

There are only 2 SATA caddies, 9.5mm or 12.7mm. The CA and CB use the 12.7mm caddy, not sure about the SB, so just remove your DVD-ROM and measure its thickness. If it's more than 12mm, you'll need the 12.7mm caddy. All 12.7mm SATA caddies are compatible with each other, the one I bought for my CA was advertised for IBM Thinkpad, I got it because it was the cheapest one on ebay I could find ($14). The only differences between caddies besides the thickness are the faceplates and chassis rails. These don't matter since you can (and should) easily remove them from your existing DVD drive and put them on the caddy.

 

The initial 4g is soldered to the board. Dual channel, triple channel quad channel memory is basically for professionals that need it, and those said professionals value much more the amount of ram, than the said speed of it.

So you are not going to notice the dual channel, but my guess is that you dont get it.

Btw those said professionals are people operating servers with a great amount of processing power needed.

If you can fit both (HDD and SSD) in the same connector drop me a note, since I do believe that they are not going to have enough space in the cramped 2.5'' slot. Just because Sony does a proprietary solution using raid 0 SSDs (which take a lot less space) we are not going to be able to do it ourselves

Send a pm to nutral, he did, he found a way to fix it. For now, from what I remember, he is right clicking the desktop and choosing the gpu right there. As I said to him, I will say to you, this is a firmware thing search for it. Or better yet, install the Sony update center (or whatever the name of that thing is) and go and ask for it update your computer see if it works.

 

As of this date 4/15/2011 I sadly discovered that my Sony SB series does not appear to have a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) so Bitlocker will not be as secure or as convenient as I hoped. Since I keep my life on my laptop, all account numbers, passwords, etc. I guess I'll have to use a USB key for now.


I've also heard that Sony has dropped TPMs from even the Z Series although in some cases they may still be advertising it has having a TPM.

Does anyone know if it is possible to have Bitlocker use a smartcard from a smartcard reader while still achieving the OS validation that a TPM does? A usb key won't accomplish OS validation.

Also does anyone know if there is a socket on the motherboard where a TPM can be plugged in?

I specifically paid extra for the i5-2520M processor for its AES New Instruction feature not available on the i5-2410M.
The i7 doesn't offer a whole lot more speed unless you really need the extra cache.
See Intel's web site for a feature comparison matrix
http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=52231,52224,52229,

The i5-2520M also offers directed I/O and Trusted Execution which are good for running Virtual Machines and offloading Data Execution Prevention from the operating system to the CPU respectively.



Ordered with these specs:
US-VPCSB190X-LBOM
Intel® Core™ i5 2520M processor (2.50GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.20GHz
13.3" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1366 x 768) (I wish this could have been 1600x900)
AMD Radeon™ 6470M GPU (512MB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
Large Capacity Sheet Battery
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I then purchased and upgraded:
4GB memory module and now have 8GB ($100 savings)
500GB 7200rpm SSD Hybrid Seagate Momentus XT (4GB of SSD cache makes startup almost as fast as SSD)
Upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate (I already owned a copy)

 

Anyone know if we can get the "Silver with Black keyboard" color combination in the U.S.?

 

Nope, just either black or white.

 

Sounds pretty familiar for some reason...

I haven't gone into the inside yet beyond the first part, but there might be a chance to put one in. I know they offer a WWAN chip, atleast in Europe. So if there is still a slot in the US model, you might be able to put one in if they offer that kind of solution.

 

I am also looking to buy the new S series laptop and I've found all the inputs in this thread to be very useful. I am still concerned about the screen quality, but apart from that I think it's a great deal. All of you who are still thinking about buying this laptop do check out the deal from Best Buy (link in the end). The deal seems great, I can't wait until it goes on sale (WiDi adapter free and hybrid drive for just $950!). The other Blue Label laptop deal also looks great

Link to Blue Label: Blue Label

Sony S series direct link : http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...?id=pcmprd154000050000&skuId=9999154000050000

Any feedback? It does look very similar if not better than the SB laptop on the sony vaio website right?

 

I ordered mine on 3/27 with an estimated ship date of 4/12 as well, but I have yet to receive it. The status still says that my laptop is being built, and the ship date has not yet changed from 4/12. I ordered the i5 and 6470, too. Sigh.

 

In my eyes the screen is good - not superb for sure but good. Non glare, good luminosity and good colors. Beside my timeline-x it is better and for sure also to a thinkpad t420. If it feels to dark when you get it, turn off the luminosity sensor.

Other then that if you dont rely on professional rgb colors or such and dont need a higher resolution it is def. ok.

greets

 

Found a way too now, thanks for the reply!

For others, you need:
- Sony shared library
- SFEP Driver
- Setting Utility Series
- Vaio Event Service

I just have big dl-problems from the sony ftp. Really slow and it stops sometimes. The Vaio Updater doesn´t show me any updates or such..

 

Is this OK if I have Paid $0.00, Open Balance $1,371.59 shown in my order when it's due to ship on 26th of April? Or is there something wrong with my CC I paid with?

 

I could be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge Sony only charges you when they send out the laptop.

 

I currently have a 2009 Sony-FW series, real bulky and bad battery life (<20min) but I do really like the screen (16.4" 1600X900) and the system is great: very zippy and haven't had any problems what so ever till now. I really wanted a lighter, more portable laptop with better battery life, so I am now seriously considering the S series. I just don't want the new S series to seem like a downgrade (in terms of quality/screen/performance/battery life)

Does the battery life really live up to what is advertised? My VAIO-FW laptop battery deteriorated in less than a yr (now I get <20min). Is the S-series battery any good and any idea if it will last?