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

Back on topic though,

I ordered my Vaio S on 3/27. I went with the White for a little something different. Here's my config:

Product: US-VPCSB190X-LBOM
Component: CD/DVD Player / Burner
Component: Standard capacity battery
Component: 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)
Component: Adobe Bundle (Free - $448 value)
Component: 13.3" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1366 x 768)
Component: Intel® Core™ i5 2520M processor (2.50GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.20GHz
Component: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Component: White
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Component: AMD Radeon™ 6470M GPU (512MB VRAM)
Quantity: 1
Estimated Shipped Date: 2011/04/12

I went for the 320GB hard drive and the 4GB of RAM as I have a brand new Seagate Momentus XT 500GB Hybrid hard drive as well as a spare 4GB stick of 1333 RAM. I will be installing those first thing when I get it. Going to just clone the 320GB in it since I don't want to loose the ability to change the graphics with the switch, etc. I didn't get the sheet battery as I usually don't think I will need all that extra battery life, plus even though it is fairly thin for what it is, it still makes the laptop end up being quite thick. Hopefully that Adobe Bundle has a decent version of photoshop, I'm not familiar with the Essential versions.

Also upgraded to the i5 2520M and kept the Radeon 6470M. I ended up getting a 10% discount from being a student and got the 2 year extended warranty basically free. I'm looking forward to checking everything out and will definitely be posting an in depth review of it once I do. Hopefully it ships out sooner that the 12th since its supposedly already being built.

 

On my SB, HDD is port 0 and ODD is port 1. Why is it port 4 on some setups? Btw good to know port location is important.

 

Nice setup. I was split on the white and black. Almost bought the white but somehow ended up with the black.

 

the netbook I was coming from was white, decided to give black a try for my first VAIO

 

Black is alright. Nice to look at and businesslike as well. Can't go wrong with black.

The white version on the other hand looks like it's ready to play. Reminds me of the Gundam design and shows off the angles and ports pretty well.

The matte look of both colors on the outside makes them both winners to my eyes.

Btw for those looking for a case, I tried the Incase neoprene sleeve plus and it's too tight a fit. The regular Incase neoprene sleeve fits fine albeit a bit loose. Ended up with the Incase nylon sleeve. Fits like a glove.

 

Which program did you check with?

 

Why do we never ever get student discounts from Sony in Europe. Not fair...

 

Does this mean you've been given the basic Vaio display rather than Vaio Display Plus? I've heard conflicting, yet worrying comments on quality of display and would be very disappointed if it was just a semi-matte low-level display rather than something between basic and premium.

 

You do, at least here in the Netherlands. I got a 7% discount while ordering my CTO (i3-2310M, 4GB, 6470M, deep purple colour (they call it blue, I hope it's not too light ), fingerprint scanner, cheapest HDD option (going to replace it with an SSD anyway) for ~€900). By sending sony a copy of your student card you can even convert your account to a 'student's account', so you can see the discount immediately when adding products to your shopping basket on their webshop.

And really, there's nothing wrong with the screen compared to all those glossy consumer laptops. The horizontal viewing angle was actually very good when I checked this laptop out in the local store. But indeed, the vertical viewing angle isn't better than I would've expected for a laptop with this price (€900).

 

Just checked under device manager under location.

 

could you try the intel storage manager ?

 

What about the revision of the chipset? How did you discover it was the flawed B2 instead of the fixed B3?
On the other thread (about new Z) I asked beaups and he said sony doesn't use the flawed chipsets...

 

cpu-z and other chipset tools show its a B2. even b2 test chipsets say that.

 

Guys I have a question. I have a "VPCSB1AGX/B". It has a toshiba mk5061gsy. I have noticed that every 5 mins or so it makes a clicking sound, is it normal?
I have not heard any other laotop make such clicking noise and that too so frequently.

 

I don't think that clicking is normal. You should contact Sony to get it fixed or replaced.

 

Unfortunately there is no Vaio Display Plus on any of the SB's, at least in NA. These guys seem pretty picky when it comes to their screens it seems like, I guess I won't know how good/bad it is until I get mine..

 

When I ordered my CTO from the Dutch website, it specifically said that it has a Vaio Display Plus (matte and broader viewing angles):

 

I figured as much. I wonder if it is the same, and they just decided to leave out the "Plus" here in NA? It's not even listed for the top of the line one. But all of them do include the HD Exmor camera though and I see yours doesn't, strange.

 

It'll report the same thing as device manager. I can attest to that from checking my Vaio CA, B2 Sandy Bridge chipset with ports 0 and 1 used.

 

mine has the same ports in use

 

Nope, we don't have an option to choose the HD webcam here.

 

I dont think they include Exmor HD cam, mine does not have it, I have VPCSB1AGX/B.

 

Quote:




Originally Posted by taggart

On my SB, HDD is port 0 and ODD is port 1. Why is it port 4 on some setups? Btw good to know port location is important.

Can someone explain why this issue with the port locations being used here is a problem??
Thanks

 

It should:

Hardware:
Backlit Keyboard : Yes
Camera : Built-in HD camera powered by Exmor™ and microphone
Keyboard : QWERTY, 82 keys with 2.0mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch

That is straight from the VPCSB1AGX/B product page. Are you in the US?

 

On the B2 revision Sandy bridge chipsets, only ports 0 and 1, which are Sata6 ports, are good. The other ports (2,3,4,5) which are Sata3, are faulty and will eventually go bad.

 

Where do I get that?

 

Say, is this B2 supposedly the defective Sandybridge chipset?

 

yes in US, Sony confirmed with me that it does not have Exmor webcam.

 

I need to ask a dealbreaker question here: can you use vanilla AMD drivers on the SB? I'm really picky about having the ability to use the notebook independently of the manufacturers software.

 

That is pretty bad that they list it on the website. They definitely need to get their website updated, as if that's the case as well as them not having the hybrid hard drive, there is a buch of mistakes.

 

apparently you can nutral could get it to work but others didnt, however they didnt download notebook drivers, but desktop ones

The B1 and B2 stepping all got affected, its not that you are inevitably be with a bad laptop on your hands, but its more of a known issue, a recall is in effect, and there is a low percentage of failure. However the OEMs are somewhat forbidden of selling the older B1 and B2 boards, and this shouldnt have happened. If this becomes public intel is going to want some heads.

Moreover OEMs are permitted to sell B1 and B2 stepping boards if they only use the sata ports 0 and 1, since those are not affected by the power gating issue, and consequently voltage leak.

It is inevitably strange and concerning that the vaio S got sold with the B1 and B2 stepping since a raid SSD option is available, so this populates the ports 0 and 1 already, with the added ODD, you have to use one of the possible affected ports.

So exchanging your unit is nothing but a conscious measure due to this malpractice, to say the least.

 

Sucks since I thought Intel recalled the defective chipsets and all notebooks with Sandy Bridge have the updated set. Worse is this potential problem if ever I decide to go SSD. I just read that Asus will replace notebooks affected by this problem when a permanent replacement is available for free. I wonder if Sony will do the same.

Thanks for the info. Maybe it would be better if this one fails within the warranty period and gets replaced with the updated board unless Sony is willing to do a free replacement regardless of whether it fails within or outside the warranty period.

 

A lot of misinformation on Sony SB's specifications page. If this wasn't such a performer, I would have returned it in a heartbeat. Let's hope Sony does the right thing and specs our SBs the way it should be.

One thing about the hybrid hdd, thought Sony had their own 4 gig flash somewhere on the board separate from the hd helping boost loading speed. Maybe this is what they meant by hybrid?

 

I don't think the camera is HD at all, unless they are shipping different cams in different markets, which is a stupid idea if you ask me

VPCSB1X9E/S (VPCSB1X9E/S) : Technical Specifications : VAIO and Computing : Sony

Specification - Web Camera
Image Sensor (Mega Pixels) - 0.3
Effective Pixel - 640x480

canadian sonystyle site says Camera : Built-in HD camera powered by Exmor™ and microphone

but I would have to see it to believe it.

 

I see, I read over this thread again and couldn't find any posts relating to any drivers, just nutral's post on the firmware issue.

Can anybody confirm anything? I don't want get the SB, dirty it up so it works the way I want it to and then figure out that it doesn't work for me.

PS: for those who installed the desktop drivers, were they the WHQL certified ones or just the normal driver package?

 

Hello all.

I have just bought an VPCSD1S4C. (China = SD as mentioned above)
Its with i7 2620M processor and HD6630 graphics. But as it came with a 500gb (Toshiba MK5061GSY) which I believe is 5400 rpm? and it scores 5.9 as lowest in windows expirience index.
So I want to change the hdd, but what are you guys suggesting here? initially I was planning to get the OCZ Vertex3 with 500+ Mb/s read and write speed, but now I am in doubt if the laptop can handle it? If not I will go for a Corsair F120 as I can get one of these today

When I run the CPU-Z program this is what I get:
Chipset: Intel Sandy Bridge Rev: 09
Southbridge: Intel HM67 Rev: B2

I was hoping that the the new ssd series was plug and play, but now I am in big doubts... Any suggestions are highly appreciated.

 

Hello,
can anybody kindly provide his DSDT?
Thank you

 

I called sony and they said that the B2 chipsets where sent back and the sata 2 controller is replaced and used by sony, so there is no problem.

I don't really believe what he is saying but i have no reason to not believe it, so ill just keep using it seeing as they will probably not replace the system anyway.

 

thats a 7200rpm drive

 

nutral, could you please post (or PM me) an screenshot of the CPU-Z and the other test that display B2 revision number of the chipset?
I am talking to the vaio product manager for my country and he is telling me it is not possible for SB to have B2 revision since this exact issue delayed the SB for more than a month. The problem is that I saw that also on CPU-Z ... but I didn't think to take photos.
Once I clarify this issue and the other issues i'll try to let all of you know.

Some pictures of a real retail unit for the misaligned fingerprint reader and ODD would really help also

 

Ive added the pictures to the photo album
https://picasaweb.google.com/117558...?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6zjIWcr4ndUQ&feat=directlink

 

Hi, everyone!
I want to order SB from US. Can someone tell how long does it take to get the laptop after it is ready for a shipment?
I want to order SB with 2 ssd on raid but can someone explain how they manage to put 2 drives in place of one? Or in that case Sony uses 1.8 inch SSDs? How could we know what company ssds Sony uses? I recenly noticed that 2 ssd option got 300 $ more expensive. Can we hope it will be new gen ssd?
Can I order notebook for my girlfriend in US using my credit card in Europe? Or it is better to transfer money to her account? Upon delivery are you asked to show ypur identification document or only sign?

Sorry for so many questions, I have only 2 moths left before she is coming back to Europe.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Regards,
Alex

 

This is a Screenshot with Aida64.



Stepping B2?

 

@Nutral after seeing your pics, I found out what you mean by Intel Storage Manager and it shows the same config on mine. Port 4 on internal atapi device. So what Sony is saying is that they're using their own proprietary controller to bypass this issue? Launch was delayed so they may be applying the fix at the time. Yeah I wouldn't send mine back yet either.

Btw your fingerprint reader looks fine. Nice pics!

 

All right guys. Official info from Sony.
I just talked to the Vaio product manager for my country who was very nice and helpful in this matter.
There is no problem with the chipset, sony DOES NOT use the flawed chipset.
... and his explanations were detailed enough (and technically backed) that I believe this more than 100%. That's about all I am allowed to say The chipset is not B2, it's just a glitch in its identification, blame CPU-Z, AIDA, whatever... but Sony is not to blame here.
Maybe you will find this of help:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/560916-dell-send-me-chipset-rev-b2.html

About the fingerprint reader alignment they'll look into it and if there's something to fix I'm sure that they will.

For me the VPCSB is again considered for purchase.

nutral, thanks for your help with the pictures. Also if you were planning to return the notebook just for the B2 stepping don't do it, trust me.

taggart, could you please post a picture of your fingerprint reader?

 

I didn't really want to return it, but it would be stupid of me to not return a faulty sandy bridge motherboard.

Well ill keep it then, my odd caddy is coming in this week or next week !

 

I would like to ask the actual SB users: What is about the heating and the fan noise? I have read the screen hinge block the air vent. How much problem is this? Is it annoyingly noisy? Or too hot to use it on your lap?

 

so what was the actual explanation they gave you?

 

I can't tell you that exactly. All I can say is that it was more than enough to prove that they are not using the B2 chipset. I am more that 100% sure and you know that yesterday I was totally against sony... so it must have been something good

 

New to posting so sorry in advance if I mess up.

Does anyone know if the new SB docking station VGP-PRS20 (this is from the USA website... can't find this on the Canadian site where I would shop) that accomodates the SB with the sheet battery attached can drive two external 1920x1200 monitors in extended desktop mode via the HDMI and VGA ports of the docking station and have the laptop lid closed?

I had to cobble a solution for my Vaio Z by using a Diamond USB video dongle for one of the monitors. Really clunky but it works!