Official Sony VAIO P-series Owners thread

I posted the official service manual for the second gen VAIO P here in the pocketables forum:

http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=9296

Also included is the fix for the wandering mouse issue if you have that problem.

 

The file no longer exists...

I finally got an orange P. The white one seems too Apple-ish, and with orange... it was love at first sight.

 

Hi guys and girls !
I just got an Orange P second generation.

Did a clean install of Seven without problem, installed all the drivers too ...
But no way to get the orientation by rotation work, neither the resolution button ...

What did I missed ?

Suggestions are welcome !
Thanks !

 

Does anyone know of a way i can connect my vaio p to hdmi? I have the vga adapter but my tv is not vga.. only hdmi.

I have a VGN-P698E

 

You may need a USB to HDMI adapter type thing. Don't know how well it'd work though.

 

Don't get a USB DisplayLink adapter, they don't run very well on the P especially at that resolution. Get a VGA>HDMI converter box.

This would do the trick and it is capable of 1080P in and out
For only $27.34 each when QTY 50+ purchased - VGA to HDMI Converter | VGA to HDMI Converters

 

Cool, never knew a VGA -> HDMI box existed.

 

a usb powered one would be better, atlona makes them, but they are about $90.

 

I just picked up a used, mint condition, orange VPC-P111KX for $400 with Windows 7 Ultimate installed and I love it. The build quality and the color are amazing. I couldn't pass up the price.

As an aside, I can't ever see myself paying full price for new Sony stuff though. Just like with Apple, they are pretty seriously overpriced for what you get.

Cheers!

 

How did you get it at that price?! From where!!!

 

Considering they can be had for around $600 new... I don't see why it is so surprising that he got it for $400 used.

 

Well I've been watching Craigslist Seattle every day since the end of last year and once in a while looking on eBay and there has only been 1 listing for a used one that I found. It was on my local CL and I bought it for $390- the new VPC P in my sig. I've been happy with it and like it more than my VGN P. Honestly, 0 difference if it's made in Japan or China in terms of build quality/ integrity. I haven't gotten an dust behind the screen on the VPC yet which was one of the most irritating things on my VGN version.

 

I'd probably pick up a VPC-P for the right price with the right features. There weren't too many WWAN VPC-P models. Although it is pretty easy to get the parts soldered in, just a miniPCIe socket and SIM slot.

 

Good luck finding the VPC P with WWAN built in. From what I recall, only the signature model with 2.0ghz Atom and 256SSD has that model built in. Needless to say, hardly anyone bought it at that price so there's hardly any second hand units for sale.

 

like it is an easy mod to do. All the traces and solder points are on the board for the VPC-P, WWAN could be had for $15 worth of parts from Digikey plus a Sony Gobi 2000 from eBay. The antennas would be cheap also, some generic foil type ones with short leads would do the job.

 

Cowboy - here are 2 more attmepts, they're essentially the same, just changed the bit depth in #3 to 24 and in #4 to 18.

#3 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32136358/mmmsheen 16x7_attempt3.zip
#4 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32136358/mmmsheen 16x7_attempt4.zip
With the X my problem was ZERO information about the monitor. With the P there is FAR TOO MUCH conflicting information out there. It doesn't help that I don't own a P. Hopefully one of these builds works, if not, remember it took me 7 or so tries to come up with something that got the display right, 10 tries to get something worth using. We'll get there.

 

#3) is much like the first one except the first one had the correct resolution, this one is all stretched



#4) has the right resolution but looks like #3 and #1, in fact #4 came out no different that #1

 

Hahahah, Cowboy - I just PM'd you and it got me thinking about the P. The fix in EMGD was stupid-simple. Here's a link to a 32-bit color version of the driver:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32136358/mmmsheen 16x7_attempt5.zip

Fingers crossed

EDIT: for those of you P owners who haven't been reading the X forum (why would you?) - this is an Intel EMGD driver that fixes the P's lack of hardware acceleration in flash and webGL. It improves PassMark 2D scores by 20-40 points and enables HW acceleration in IE9, Chrome, etc. So...you know...youtube works better. There are minor issues: brightness FN buttons don't work and the 2nd display needs to be connected at boot to register. Otherwise it works flawlessly and is very stable. Read all about it on the X forum or check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge3h2t7Wwow

For those of you interested in making your own EMGD driver - I found this today. I wish I'd found it earlier -- http://wiki.toradex.com/index.php/IEGD_LVDS_Configuration

 

#5 is more of the same, wrong resolution, messed up colors. I can set the correct resolution, but the colors are still all messed up. Tried switching to 16bit color, looks the same.
One thing that is interesting is the driver installer ran all the way through without an error this time. Not sure if that means anything... but it seems good.

 

Ok, my mistake. I used the bit depth from #3 on accident, that's why they look similar. Here's #6
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32136358/mmmsheen 16x7_attempt6.zip
If this doesn't work, try #4 (with correct resolution) and do the process I describe in the PM.

 

Hi,

Two days ago I bought Vaio P11S1E (it is European version of second generation with 64 GB SSD disk).
My button to switch screen resolution not working. Yesterday I made clean install of Windows 7, install all drivers and software from Sony website and resolution switch button stil doesn't working (I mean button between "Assist" and "Web" button).

Any suggestion why it is not working???
Thank you in advance.

 

Welcome in same club
Do you read this: Accelerometer & resolution key not working - Pocketables Forum
It seems OK, but if I remember correctly before I made clean install my resolution button not working too. How it was with your Vaio P?

 

I got rid of my entry-level P about a year ago and picked up an M11x, but couldn't say no when I found a refurb P699E (with the z540 and 256gb ssd) for $475 shipped after cashback.

I remembered from my previous vgn-P that the provided streets&trips2009 code was only good for the exact OS that came pre-installed. Anyone know if there's a method for installing the full S&T09 while going from Vista-->Win7? Doing a clean wipe--not an upgrade...

 

I bought a 2nd generation Vaio-P and would like to surf on internet and watch some of my divxs by connecting it to my LCD.
I thought the jack on the right side of Vaio-P was an HDMI output but appearently I seem mistaken. So here is my question; which is the best way for me to connect my Vaio-P to my LCD? And a step further; Can I use DLNA technology to watch my divxs and to surf by Vaio-P?

 

There's no HDMI port on the P. The only way to get HDMI from the P is through USB.

The way you hook the P (either 1st or 2nd gen) to an external moiniter is to buy the VGP-DA10 "dock" which plugs into that proprietary port on the right side of the P. This "dock" has VGA and ethernet connectors.

Amazon.com: Sony VAIO LAN Adapter for P Series Lifestyle PC (Black): Electronics

VGP-DA10 | VAIO® P Series Display/LAN Adapter | Sony | Sony Store USA

 

Thank you for your relevance. I found this one USBGEAR USB to HDMI Converter PC to TV Converters : Audio Video USB to HDMI adapter instead of VGP-DA10. What do you think about it?

(Felt like discovering a new world I suppose I'll order EzAir Plus Wireless HDMI adapter. This matches all my expectations, like using Vaio-P as keyboard+mouse and has a reasonable price(99 euro) Is there anything that I didn't calculate in this scenario?

 

I'm sorry but I have zero knowledge of the USB to HDMI adapter other than the fact that I know they exist.

 

DO NOT USE DISPLAYLINK WITH THE P!!!!!
It will be dead slow. If you must have HDMI use the VGP-DA10 in conjunction with one of these For only $27.34 each when QTY 50+ purchased - VGA to HDMI Converter | VGA to HDMI Converters

FWIW I have used USB Monitors which are also DisplayLink on the P and they are so slow, we are just talking 1024x600, 1080P over DisplayLink would bring the P to a crawl.

If you are leery of the VGA>HDMI converter then just wait till the end of the week, I have that very model on the way to me in the mail right now. I can tell you how well it works when I get it.

Also, my girlfriend uses her P as her main machine, she uses the VGP-DA10 with a VGA cable and her 1080P monitor. The 1080P over VGA with the P is quite sharp, I have a good feeling about that Monoprice VGA>HDMI converter, I buy a lot of stuff from Monprice and it is all great quality.

 

I commend your girlfriend for using the P as the main machine! I only use it for notes in school, I can't imagine using it 24/7. I don't even bring it on vacations because I want to edit photos on the go and I know the P would be super slow at that.

 

Well she has the 1.6Ghz Atom, and all she does is email, web, word processing. She really likes the portability of it. Sure it is a little slow, but not bad for those tasks, that is the same thing I use my P for, portable web surfing and email.

 

So I got the Monoprice VGA>HDMI converter today. It works with the P @ 1024x768. I can get it working with the UX @ 720P and 1080P... but it took some custom DTD tweaking to get the image to line up. The left side of the screen was clipped, with a custom DTD I was able to shift the image and make it line up perfectly.

I am pretty sure I can get the the P to run VGA into the HDMI converter @ 720P and 1080P... probably just an INF hack. It doesn't seem to recognize, or like, the DTD it is getting from the converter.

The quality from the UX through the converter is very good, with this and the Broadcom CrystalHD, the UX has become a tiny Blu-ray player with HDMI support.

 

been thinking of buying a p for a while
is the 1st gen 1.6 that much different from the 2gen 1.6
first get 1.8 vs 2nd gen 1.8
im just talking performance is it worth chasing done a harder to find 2nd gen

 

Performance wise I don't see much of a difference between the first and second gen P. I have the VGN P and VPC P both with 1.6ghz Atom and 64GB and 128GB SSD respectively. The reasons I upgraded from the first to second was that I find the second gen to have a higher quality build. My first gen got dust stuck behind the screen due to a crappy design around the way the lid is constructed. The second gen also has the built in touchpad on the screen area which is really convenient. None of those are super deal breakers against the VGN so I'd say if you can find the first gen for a good price go for it, because the second gen is hard to find.

 

actually my gen1 P 1.33ghz has a faster SSD than my girlfriends gen2 1.6ghz P
the processor doesn't matter as much as the SSD speed, all of the ATOM chips are slow

 

for example : this vs this
I also Have a 13 Z that i use at home mostly to websurf (I know its horrible just only using it for that) but i'm looking for something to carry around in pocket throughout the day and is more lazy friendly ie laying down on bed or couch

 

I wouldn't even recommend Vista out of the box with the P. I've heard terrible things about how it bogs down the system, and with something on an Atom processor, you really want to have as much help as you can- so I'd go for the Win7 version. At $550, though, you may want to wait for one to pop up on Craigslist (I waited 6 months for that to happen in Seattle!) if you feel that's a high price (I certainly do). Also, not a huge fan of the Signature edition croc skin design (tacky IMO).

Heh funny you'd use the P to couch surf. I use the Z to couchsurf, have the C permanently on a desk next to my bed, and P is relegated to notes and as an on the go computer only.

 

I've broken the display on my ancient P688E (1.3 Ghz, 64 GB SSD). I'm not sure what to do about it. I live in the UK, and the best price I can find for a new display is £100, or $164. (I'm happy to fit it myself.) I have a full size laptop (Alienware M11X) for everyday use, but the P is still the only useful machine that goes in your pocket, so should I repair it? Or replace it with the version 2, with a 2.13 Ghz processor and 128 GB SSD? But they go for £1000 on ebay! Or should I wait for somebody to bring out a similar product? I'm not sure they ever will. The P was a terrible seller for Vaio, it got rotten reviews and the world seems to have gone tablet crazy. What would you do?

 

I just ordered the Crocodile version from J&R, it will be here tomorrow. I think $550 is a steal and Crocodile looks awesome.

I agree that unless you are going to put on Windows 7 yourself you should get a second generation P with Windows 7 pre-installed.

I think the screen is a pretty good deal. I have my sisters P with a broken screen sitting here and I am going to buy the $165 screen from eBay to fix it. She purchased her generation two P from SonyStyle less than one year ago for $800. $165 seems like a reasonable price for the part.

I also think that if you can find a deal on a 2Ghz or 2.13Ghz P that you should snatch it up, there aren't too many of those around.

 

Heh as soon as i posted the ebay jr one here it became unavailable a couple mins later XD cool let me know what you think when you get it CC

 

I didn't snipe your link... I promise

I'll be posting about it for sure. I want to mod it like I stole it of course.

 

i believe ya i don think their ebay store offers next day anyways hahaha I'll order one tomorrow

 

The listing on the J&R site changed from "ships today" to "ships 8/8/11" after I ordered mine. I called them and they assured me that mine would be here tomorrow, I have since verified with UPS. What I am confused about is, if they still have more, why can't they ship them until Monday? Seems a bit fishy to me.

 

What are you doing with your gold one? I think the Gold>Crocodile. My friend has a Crocodile CS and it's just hard molded plastic. But whatever floats your boat.

 

I don't know, I am just impulsive
You are right, the plastic crocodile is not as nice as it looks in the pictures.
I will probably keep both, I like my toys.
The new one is faster for sure, although I really don't understand why the SSD is slower on the Gen2 P, doesn't make sense. I played around with the Crocodile P this AM a bit and it feels much faster with the 1.87Ghz ATOM. I will put a Broadcom Crystal HD in one of them and make it a portable Blu-ray machine. The new one has no WWAN, so I'll have to try and mod that in.

 

Hi there. Is anyone in here following the work of mmmsheen on the GMA500? Seems like most of the discussion is in the Vaio X thread.

 

yea, I have tried it, the latest P driver has ok results, but no brightness control

 

Same here. A bit of a performance improvement, but colours are a bit off and as you say brightness doesn't work.

 

The Signature Crocodile P with the 1.86Ghz ATOM feels much more responsive than the VGN-P with 1.33Ghz ATOM. I like it very much.

 

awesome
i ended up buying one and also a hp tm2 on ebay for some reason>.>
the p should be here monday can't wait

 

Congrats on the P, I hope you like it.