Official Sony VAIO P-series Owners thread

So anyone heard anything more about the upcoming P with PineTrail? Any improvements in the video card or still the poor GMA 500?

 

Pinetrail is being announced on December 21st with showings of products leading up to the official release at CES 2010 in January. Pinetrails graphics is based off the old GMA X3150, which is a generation behind the current 4000 series C2D graphics and two generations behind upcoming 5000 series Arrandale graphics.

 

But the graphics GMA X3150 are better from the GMA 500 right?

 

I hope that the graphic card of the PineTrail platform will be the GMA X3150, which is little better than the X310 (Santa Rosa). But is not sure that it will be this graphic card also for netbooks.

 

Yes it is since it is based off the Santa Rosa platform graphics.

 

Hi, This is a great thread. I can find althe updates and drivers you mentions except the SFEP update. Can anyone please tell me where to get that update. I've tried the Sony Support website and browsing the internet but it must be called something which I dont recognise :-(

Many Thanks,

 

Resolved the problem with the GPS feature....
Removed and reloaded the SmartWi Connection Utility software and the GPS feature on Microsofts Streets and Trips now works fine.....

Recently went to the local SONY Style store and located a new standard battery for $24.99....
At those prices... I purchased a backup battery.

 

Sony Live Care continued to remind me that I didnt have an anti virus installed and decided to try Kapersky 2010.
After installing the software; I noticed that process speeds slowwwwwedddddd down quite dramatically...
Kapersky remained installed for about 3 weeks to evaluate.
Decided to replace it with ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0; which returned the process speeds back to normal.
Plugged in a 4Gb SD Card and accessed the Microsoft Ready Boost feature to increase the process speeds by using the SD Card as system RAM....

 

So, any of you guys heard anything for a refresh of the P? Every 4-6 months Sony refreshes the series, I wonder if we will see any surpise in the new P, except the obvious PineTrail. The X3150 is also a big plus, if you compare to the GMA500. I would like touchscreen, and little bigger the screen...
@Nixon

Help us!

 

can anyone give me any advice on getting a VGN-P39VL/Q, in uk sony centre it is £1,205 should i just wait for new chip in 2010, or does anyone know if i would be better off geting this, i mean, i dont really need 64 bit chip, as i dont need more than 2gb ram, is there any advantages in getting new chip, thanks. i would buy tommorow if i knew it was a good one to buy, to still unsure, thanks

btw it was the 2ghz edition with 128ssd drive i seen for 1205

 

Well,

From the first reports, the PineTrail gives better battery life, because it consumes 20% less. In the other hand, there is no performance boost over here, you shouldn't even notice the difference. If it was me, I would wait a couple of weeks to see what the CES will bring.

 

thanks for that, not in much of a hurry to get one really, just for home use really, itll go with my other gadgets haha, yeah ill wait for ces, problem is ill prob wait months for a uk release if it takes the same time as the current one to appear, thanks muchly

 

Wanted one of these for a looooong time (ever since rumours of new picturebook...) anyway finally got one on clearance. I think everyone is just used to really fast computers because Vista worked fine on it however I wanted to give XP a try so I have it loaded.





edit: hahaha and I proceeded to kill the disk when I resized it, whoops

 

I took more pictures and put them on my gallery...not sure if you guys would want them or not since this is the "owners" thread haha.

Anyway here

 

you want your vaio p to go fast, use tinyxp

 

Hi I have a Sony vaio PCG 9L1L that was gave to me. I thought the hard drive was bad, so I got a new one. It always come up "no operating system found". But I have tried to set up Windows XP and when it gets to the part where you install like the partition place it says it can't install. Anyone have any suggestions? I would really appreciate it. I'm not that good with laptops this is my first. Hope someone can help me out.

 

I must confess, I'm surprised the P-series is so popular. The reviews for it have fallen pretty short of "spectacular" and not too far above "good".

 

The people who have all reviewed it are not the target audience, of course they would not like it...they were designed for a very specific segment of the market not a "one size fits all" like every other laptop. Same thing goes with my U3.

 

The P is unique in it's form factor, and a lot of people sacrifice the performance for extreme mobility. I am waiting to pull the trigger, but Sony didn't release a refresh of the P in the CES..Is Moorestown the succesor of Menlow for the P, maybe that's why didn't put Pinetrail inside the P? When is Moorestown expected to be released?

 

So, nothing new for the P series?

Sony has to release a reresh of the P from October, and normally does it every 3-4 months. I wonder what is happening!

 

Does anyone know if the 2 P designs will make it to the US? I'm loving how you can change the colors of the designs. It seems that it's a stencil under a color of choice. Have a look.

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Design_sim/P/index.html

 

The main thing is the form factor. For the price/portability, it has the fewest compromises. The Kojinsha and Fujitsu offerings are a little too small, while any bigger and you can't easily carry it with you. The only thing that came close was the Lenovo Pocket Yoga concept model, but it has not come to fruition.

For me, the performance of the P is fine for word processing, e-mail, web surfing and traveling light.

 

I agree 100% with you. Before I came across the P, I tested out the Viliv and Fujitsu. The first thing I liked was the clamshell design so that the screen is protected when not in use. The extra 1G of RAM is nice. The display you have to get used to ............but I like all the extra features. I installed Windows 7 yesterday and it is really rocking!

 

Anyone knows asomething more about any refresh the Sony P series?

Is not available anymore in a lot of European countries (Italy, Greece, Spain, Ireland) in the sonystyle..Does it mean that soon we will something new or maybe it will be discontinued?

 

Khan and Lemon: I also agree 100%: The form factor is crucial, and great. (I would only like a another keyboard layout regarding the right shift key and arrow up key.)

Sparrow: Really hope this means that there is a refresh coming soon, and that Sony not will discontinue the P series!

 

newegg are currently doing the SONY VAIO P Series VGN-P610 for $599 and i was just wondering if the ram is user replaceable

thanks

 

The RAM is not replaceable.

 

I agree with you. I did a fresh install of Windows 7 and am happy with it except for the GPS. I can't get it to work with Microsoft Streets and Trips. I tried the GPS module with another software and it picked up satellites in a few seconds.......so I know I have a good module. I just don't what I'm missing with Windows 7 & MSST.

 

I purchased the VGN-P45GK in Tokyo today. Converted price was approx $1,200 USD. Glossy Black with 1.86Ghz Intel Atom, Windows 7 Home Premium, and 64Gb SSD. No EVDO, but not living in the USA, the Verison feature would not work for me anyway. Would have liked to have gotten a 128GB SSD, but it wasn't offered. Anyway, I've got a big smile on my face.

Cheers!

 

I got a new P-688E/G on ebay for $600 last week! The seller thought it was the model with the 80 GB HDD, but it has a 64GB SSD. It came with Vista, but I got it just in time to qualify for the free Win 7 upgrade. The discs arrived today - but I had already done a clean install of Win 7 Ultimate which I loaded from a USB memory stick.

The performance is acceptable with the 1.33 Mhz chip, even with fancy graphics enabled, and Office 2007 and Google Earth, Chrome and Picasa running - except of course for web video playback. Anyone got any tips about speeding it up?

With Autozoom and Cleartype and the font at 133 I find the screen is plenty useable - which it has to be as I'm a nomad and this is my only PC. The SSD will soon be full of software but I have a 250 GB credit card size external HDD from Freecom.

Very, very impressed with the machine, and with Win 7. Finally MS have got something right.

 

Hello! I'm currently looking at the Vaio P as an alternative to my larger notebook when going to classes.

I have a few questions.

How quiet is the Vaio P? In a quiet room, is the fan very loud?

Is the key as loud as this typing test video shows?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QObs0uKNJ8&NR=1

Will the Vaio be able to last through a 6 hours lecture? There is a short break at the third hours, but most likely, I won't have access to an AC outlet.

I'm currently using the Lenovo X200s with the high resolution 12" display (1440x900), but it is a little bit bigger than I wanted and the keys are rather loud when I type fast. It is very quiet when on though. The extended battery lasts a good 7-8 hours with wifi on. I was wondering if it is worth it to get the P?

And last, from what I read on playing youtube videos and how slow it can get when you have a few applications open; should I even consider the 1.33Mhz version with 1GB Ram? Currently I see an XP version with an 80GB HD for $600 on newegg.com; and that's the lowest price I've seen for a new Vaio.

Cheers,
-Gnimble

 

It is extremely quiet. If you get the extended battery, you will get 5 to 6 hours out of it with no problem.

I have the 2GB version and thought about getting the XP version..........but just couldn't justify the lesser RAM. Mine came with Vista, but I upgraded to Windows 7. I've spent some money on accessories and now its just perfect.

 

Hi everyone,

I have another question. How hard is it to find an extended battery that is the same color as the unit? I plan to get a white refurbished one for $850 with 64GB SSD and Windows 7; but all the extended batteries I see are black in color.

And one thing that worries me though... is the power drain creep while the unit is off. Is it that bad? Does everyone have problems with it?

Thanks,
-Gnimble

 

You have a choice of silver or black as far as batteries go.

 

Thank you... I decided not to order the refurbished unit... $60 shipping is a little bit too high.

Cheers,
-Gnimble

 

hi, I just bought an used vaio p19 with vista home premium

I'm going to use it for backing up my memory cards when I'm out for reportages (so I can manage my website too)

vista home premium is sloooooow and the battery runs out quickly, so: windows 7 or linux?

 

Install TinyXP. It will become superfast. Get the extended battery and you're set.

 

I like having access to GPS for streets&trips, so Vista it is!

 

You can have Streets & Trips 2009 on Win 7 as well.

 

And is there a working driver for the GPS with Win7? All of the negative responses concerning this have indicated that this is not the case. S&T is useless to me without GPS. The same goes for all variations of XP unless I am mistaken--I would never trade functionality for speed.

 

I can only speak for the US version model. I have GPS, WWAN, WLAN & BT working perfectly. I also have extracted Microsoft Streets & Trips and used the license key provided by Sony. All of this working perfectly on Windows 7.

 

hi
so, this evening I'm going to install win 7 on my new vaio p, I'm downloading every driver and software from sony support. Is there a specific procedure to follow?

thanks everybody

 

I'm thinking of considering getting a VAIO P series as my next notebook/netbook. For the U.S. market, I understand that the earlier models (VGN-P5??E/? & VGN-P6??E/?)) are being assembled in Japan while the very latest models (VGN-P7??K/?) are instead being assembled in China.

I'll appreciate it if any of you VAIO P owners (especially those who own U.S. models) can post your full VAIO P model numbers & the country of assembly.

Thanks in advance.

 

P530H here, japan

 

hi everybody

everything seems ok here with my vaio p19vn with windows 7, the only problem (at the moment) is wwan, I can't activate it using vaio smart network, and the program globetrotter seems to not recognize the hardware (it says there is no 3g modem)

 

Hey Guys,

Just bought a SONY VAIO VGN-P698E /Q. I had a few questions. What cases are you guys using? Can the P w/extended battery fit in the non-leather Sony $40 case? The options for a decent one seem limited.

Has anyone activated the mobile broadband with Verizon? I would maybe need it once in a blue and wanted to know how extensive activation was. I just read the last post so I guess its activated via smartWi or the like. Thanks

 

Is it just me or did this thread really died down a lot?

Just saying hi as I just ordered 1.33Ghz/80HDD P in Toronto, they're selling them for $550 at SonyStyle.ca which makes it a really great buy. The only problem is the Canadian Bilingual keyboard which I'm looking to swap.

 

This thread is very much alive. That's a great buy if you ask me. Could you please give a link to the $550 model you are referring to.

Thanks.

 

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...categoryId=100535&navigationPath=32009n100299

$50 off coupon code:
http://coupons.redflagdeals.com/i.php/all/SonyStyle.ca_158/

 

Thanks. All of those are the 1.33 Ghz models. I can't find the 1.6Ghz model though.