Official Sony Vaio Fit multi-flip PC Owners' Thread

Today my 15A turned out to be completely dead. Pushing the power button and no reaction at all.

I called the SONY support line and after doing a mix of holding the power button for 10s, reset the computer with a paperclip (tiny hole in the back of the computer), pushing the assist button on the keyboard it came back alive!

they emailed me this info as well

The computer will not turn on or has no power.
https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/35540

How to perform a System Recovery from outside of Windows.
https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/36806

 

Yepp, in Control Panel>Mouse settings. They're the ones making the touchpad (driver?)

 

i recently checked for create recovery media and reinstall driver in vaio care and those were gone away!!


any idea how to get them back?!



here is my partitions:

 

Something changed in the drivers download page...
Not sure exactly what, but the BIOS update in 14A for example is gone:
Sony eSupport - SVF14N190X - Support

 

I have SVF14N190S, which is a canadian model, and the BIOS update(s) for it are gone from the support site as well. I opened a chat session with a rep, and the reply I got is this : "There was an issue with the BIOS versions released for the model so the BIOS updates were revoked."

I had to leave the house before he replied to me. It took him a long time to get this information and I had something important to do, so I wasn't able to get any more info as the chat session was closed when I got back.
This has a bad smell to it..

 

I was able to reach the same guy again. Here's the transcript :

4:19 PM Connecting...
4:19 PM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.
4:19 PM Support session established with Derek - (C5BS).
4:19 PM Derek - (C5BS):
Hi. Welcome to Sony Online Support. I'm Derek.
4:20 PM Customer:
Hi again ! I'm the guy who was asking ear;ier about the BIOS updates...
4:20 PM Customer:
Sorry I had to leave to get my son at school
4:20 PM Derek - (C5BS):
Hello. I do remember your concern.
4:20 PM Customer:
So they pulled the updates ???
4:20 PM Derek - (C5BS):
Thats okay.
4:21 PM Derek - (C5BS):
Yes the updates were revoked for investigation. The updates will be released if there is requirement.
4:22 PM Customer:
Do you know which BIOS version is taggted as acceptable by Sony ? Is it 230 ? Or the original 220 ?
4:22 PM Customer:
*tagged*
4:23 PM Derek - (C5BS):
230 is the BIOS update is a certified and recommended update for your laptop from Sony.
4:24 PM Customer:
Is there an official release about this somewhere ?
4:25 PM Customer:
I mean an official memo on the Sony site ?
4:25 PM Derek - (C5BS):
Sorry there is no official release about this issue.
4:26 PM Customer:
Do you think there will be one ? I know a lot of Flip owners who will have tons of questions about this...
4:27 PM Derek - (C5BS):
If the BIOS update is released you will be notified about it under VAIO updates.
4:28 PM Customer:
Ah, Ok. One last question : for those who have updated to 240 or 250, how will they know about this ? How will they find a download for 230 if they need to revert to that one ?
4:30 PM Derek - (C5BS):
The laptops that have already updated to 240 or 250 version of BIOS, the update cannot be revoked, if there are issues with the laptop we provide a service where the BIOS version will be revoked.
4:32 PM Customer:
I am a little confused, sorry. If an owner has 240 or 250 right now, they must encounter an issue with the Flip, and then contact you, and only then will they be offered version 230 directly ?
4:33 PM Derek - (C5BS):
They need to send the laptop for service where the BIOS will be revoked.
4:35 PM Customer:
Oh !! Really ? Can't someone just install 230 over 240 or 250 ? One last thing : what are possible issues owners can face with 240 or 250 BIOS ?
4:36 PM Derek - (C5BS):
That is not possible, BIOS updates cannot be revoked. To revoke the BIOS update the BIOS memory must be flashed which will be done by our technicians.
4:38 PM Customer:
Thank you for explaining that. I wasn't aware it could be that difficult. I think I you've answered all my questions now, thanks again. Lastly, can you just hint at what some problems with 240 or 250 are ?
4:40 PM Derek - (C5BS):
You may have observed, The 240 update was released for Windows 8.1 where as the higher version 250 was released for Windows 8 so after upgrading the operating system the BIOS update was not installing, due to the issue the updates were revoked.
4:43 PM Customer:
I didn't know that. So if someone updated to 8.1 and installed 240, they should be OK ?
4:44 PM Derek - (C5BS):
250 update was a critical update before upgrading to Windows 8.1 so the upgrade would not run if 250 version of BIOS update was not installed, Now that issue has been fixed.
4:47 PM Customer:
Why was it critical, do you know ?
4:48 PM Derek - (C5BS):
The BIOS update was required to prepare the BIOS to work in Windows 8.1 environment.
4:48 PM Customer:
Got it, thanks. Now, what is the issue with 240 ?
4:49 PM Derek - (C5BS):
You are welcome. The issue with 240 is that it was not getting installed as 250 was already installed in the laptop.
4:50 PM Customer:
And for those who upgraded from 230 to 240, should they be worried ?
4:52 PM Derek - (C5BS):
As said before the BIOS updates do not create any conflict in the laptop, so you need not worry if the BIOS is updated to 240 or 250. If a BIOS version is released in the future it will be created to update over all the 3 versions.
4:54 PM Derek - (C5BS):
Is there anything else that i can assist you with?
4:55 PM Customer:
Ok, thank you. I guess we will learn more as Sony (or the new buyer) gets a BIOS update released for all versions. I think we can close this now, and thanks again

 

I don't understand all of it. Quite confusing.

I purchased the Flip back in November and it came with 220. I upgraded to 230 because of the fan. 230 helped a lot with the fan so I decided to not apply the 240 or 250 updates. Call me lucky I guess. I figured : *if it ain't broke, don't fix it...*
Now that my head has stopped spinning : I think those who upgraded to 250 and need to Recover from Recovery partition later on with a machine that shipped with W8 (not 8.1) may have problems ? I don't know...
I hope they soon issue a universal BIOS that will fix this mess.

 

Confused as well. Just to add more confusion, I remember reverting to Win8 using the Recovery Image to get Win8 driver images from the Windows/Drivers folder, after I've already applied the 250 BIOS, and have had no issues.

Granted, I wasn't in Win8 for long and I went back to my Win8.1 clean install image.

Anyways, my days of going back and forth between Win8 and Win8.1 are over. 8.1 has grown on me - desktop, not metro. My favorite games, Homeworld2 and SupCom:FA are running without issues. I've weaned myself away from SkyDrive/OneDrive to keep my setup on local account only.

For those of you who miss the rest of the stuff taken away from the NorthAm site, they're available in the UK site. YMMV. Actually, I got my 250 BIOS from the UK site - it showed up there before showing up in the NorthAm site.

 

Link to UK site Flip 15 drivers: Sony : SVF15N15STS updates | Download updates for SVF15N15STS

 

Hello
I'm Levente from Hungary, I'm about to buy a 15A in April. Sadly there, it's for a bonkers price, and only one configuration available (no custom configuration and such... even the official retailer doesn't even sell the pen, pretty bad situation of sony's here), with i5, 1080p, GT735M 2GB, 8GB RAM and 1TB SSHD.
My question is: How much is the maximum and avarage battery time you achieved with light use (browsing, listening to music) on the 15A ?

 

Hi, I was thinking about buying the multi flip 15, until I read this forum. I really like the idea of the multiflip. I use a samsung note 10.1 a lot with the pen. And I was hoping to do the same in a windows environment. But I also would like a proper notebook! But there seem to be so many problems with the multiflip. What I would like to know, is it worth it? Vaio has been sold by Sony, will that be a problem? [I live in the Netherlands]

 

Just wanted to bump this one.
I've read some places that the warranty will be voided if you open it up. Is there any stickers or anything explicitly stating that you can not open it? Seems a bit strange when Sony themselves gives instruction videos on how to open the thing.

 

There are no stickers sealing it nor any tamper tape.

 

I've read that Sony is keeping employees on to honor warranties:

Sony To Exit PC Business By Selling VAIO | TechCrunch

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007L6NYAO

Anyone try something like this to do dual monitors from the flip 15 ? I have two 27" monitors sitting here from my old laptop "at home setup" because it had both display port and hdmi ports.

Thinking about using that adapter and the Standart hdmi out port to run two monitors.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

Thanks Lisa. I think that removes the last of my worries.

 

This is the reply I have received from Sony Support:

Dear Mr XXXXXX

Thank you for contacting Sony.

We are very happy to learn that you are interested in buying one of our VAIO models.

Sadly, we do not recommend changing the hard drive on the VAIO. If you install a third party hard drive, we cannot guarantee that it will work with the VAIO but you may still wish to attempt the upgrade on your own, but please bear in mind that even if you succeed with the upgrade it may result in operating malfunctions.

It is also very important that you are aware that opening or dismantling the main unit or any of its accessories, for whatever reason, could lead to damages that are not covered by your warranty and as an alternative; I would recommend that you consider using an external hard drive.

For more clarification, please check the link below: Support for Sony product | Technical Support


It doesn't quite mention it will void the warranty if you perform the upgrade, but it does mention that it will void the warranty if you damage other parts while opening it, which to me mean as long as I am careful with the SSD upgrade, I should be ok [risk taker] .

Just received email for my 13A delivery for this Friday, just about to order the Crucial M.2. 480gb for £182 (got a 10% discount voucher ), will perform the upgrade once I have had a play and make sure there is no fault with the actual laptop.

 

ENBroerse,

All I can tell you is I have a 14A and have had no issues once I installed all the Sony and Windows updates. Am currently running. 8.1. Remember, only people who have problems or questions to ask come to these forums,

 

I have a 15 and have had no issues at all. By far my favorite electronics purchase yet... I have toyed with tablets and laptops for years but at the end of the day I always want a tablet but it sits after a month because of its limitations.


Devin

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

I guess they know that it takes some effort to remove the base unit and if you're not carefull enough, you may damage some ports or even worse the mainboard.

 

Thanks for the info! Seems fair enough on Sony's part. With a little bit of care I'm sure it will be fine.
Good luck with your M.2!

 

Here are my first thoughts about the second version of the 13A which I just received this afternoon.

My config : SVF13N2C5E Black - i7 - 8Gb - 512 SSD PCIe

For info, I already got the first version (SVF13N1C5E) which I returned after a few days because of the numerous problems of my unit (look at my previous messages).

First impressions : not as bad as the previous model, but the built quality is still below my expectations for a laptop of this price tag. This time, the Windows button below the screen is simply not working. My second concern is about the LCD backlight which is still "bleeding" a lot at the bottom of the screen ( picture max BL), even if it's not as bad as on my first model ( picture max BL).

I don't know if I am particularly unlucky with my LCD panels, or if all 13A suffer of this bleeding effect. The 14A (first version) of my GF does not have that problem.

Regarding the fan noise, I didn't spent enough time on the computer to have a clear opinion, but at first sight it seems to perform alright. For example, I did a CPU bench with the laptop in "Performance" mode during which I could of course hear the fan blowing, but it was still acceptable if you are not in a silent environment. Just after the benchmark, I switched to the "Silence" mode and the laptop became very quiet in about a minute.

I am not sure if I am going to bring this one into repair, or if I will simply return it to Sony (and order a third one later ?).

I really love the layout of this laptop, it's a shame that Sony cannot match the build quality of a Samsung Serie 9 or Macbook Pro/Air.

 

I just bought a Flip 14 to try out with the intention of returning it. It's been a model that I've been weighing against the Yoga2Pro and I liked the design of the Flip alot more(screen flip method).
Model number is SVF14N15CDS. It came from Futureshop.
Trying to run through all the updates right now. I have done all the updates in Vaio Update except for the Remote Keyboard stuff, then I went to Windows Update and ran that multiple times until all the updates were installed. Then I went to the Vaio Flip 14 esupport website and downloaded all the updates that were available. The one thing that I can't find for the life of me is the BIOS update. From what I can find the latest BIOS version is 220 but I also read some stuff about versions 230,240 and 250 floating around.

My machine currently has the 220 BIOS installed and I can still hear the fan(compared to other notebooks I've owned, the fan seems to be under load all the time even when the processor isn't under any load). I just want to make sure I've got all the bases covered before I update to Windows 8.1.

TL;DR
What I've done so far:
1) Ran Vaio Update
2) Updated Vaio Update
3) Rerun Vaio Update/Run Windows Update
4) Install updates on Sony esupport site
5) Downloading Windows 8.1

Edit: Also have noticed that I don't have the cooling section where I can select "Silent" in Vaio Control Center. Vaio Control Center is also updated.

 

Hey guys, I hope my Flip 14 will arrive in the not too distant future. I couldn't order with clean start as it was not available at the time. I want to create the recovery thing on a USB stick. How big does the USB stick have to be, 16 or 32 GB? And which vendors will work?

 

hii all, Its me again,

I am not sure have i mentioned my status before but i had a big problem.
My flip 13A was flickering display on boot screen where VAIO logo seems only after shutdown from Windows and power on with start button on right side.
after the flickering display issue came out, first my flip began to not working properly. two days ago screen was dark and was visible when i touch on screen for a second then turn off.
yesterday. i tried to start computer there was no display. and after 2 minutes computer shutdown and now it no more boot. only charge led lights when plug in ac adapter.

I reached and talked to Vaıo Suppoert Service and they told me to bring computer to repair center. They also explained me that if I bring computer with invoice and when they see there i hardware issue, they would not fix and give me new device or full refund.


BTW: Before those problems i had contacted to vaio team and they advised to wait for Windows 8.1 ServicePack 1 (SP1) update releases.
It was promised that sp1 will work properly then 8.1 now we have.

 

How often does the fan spin up in your daily usage?
I read that the first version spin up so easily on the lightest of CPU load.

 

Hey guys, I have encountered an issue I have not heard about so far.

Somehow the multi touch abilities of my vaio 15A stopped working!? So normal touch (one finger) works perfectly fine, but I cannot zoom or rotate with two fingers for no apparrent reason... it is driving me nuts! Restarting doesn't seem to help.
I cannot think of anything I would have changed or installed before this happened, and all drivers are up to date.

Anyone who encountered the same problem? Anyone with a solution?

 

New BIOS on the USA support page -- it seems.

 

260 BIOS, I get a error when I try to download it though.

 

has anyone else had a problem of the screen auto-rotate feature toggling on and off for no apparent reason? It never stays locked in one mode or the other.

 

Well, apparently sony rocks.
The new BIOS update solved the ctrl+shift+something that was driving me crazy.
and it's even after sony sold us to the china...

 

Wow, received my 13A today, 2 days earlier than originally estimated. Also received my Crucial M500 480gb SSD, the upgrade may have to wait a bit just to make sure the laptop is OK before doing the upgrade.

Just fully charged, so will switch on in a mo and give my first impression compare to the Acer S7 391 I'm currently using.

 

So the new BIOS update did pretty good for me, removed most of the fan noise. When it does come on its pretty quiet and at low speed, much better than the din that it was producing before.

 

I moved mine to a USB stick that was 32 gigs, no problems.

 

Just sayin' : the flip line won't get the new wifi adapter, it stays the same. Only the Pro 11-12 and the Tap 11-21 will get the A&C capable intel adapter. I saw some to speculate in this thread before, about that Sony will cure the problem of the wifi in the flip line, but after looking closely in the official press release of sony, and the preorderable machines.... sad but true

 

They simply will not install 7260AC due to the fact that it does not work really well
Bluetooth part is unstable and Intel is not really in a harry to fix the drivers. After 3 weeks arguments with Intel support I somewhat nowhere. Now it works as long as I do not shut it off. Sleep is OK. I have a Flip 14A with Intel 7260 AC in it.

 

The Flip PC 13, model# SVF13N27PXB (not the same as Flip 13A), has AC 7260 listed in their spec. I've ordered one and should come soon, will find out.

 

Tried the 15A and it was still N

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

 

A quick question: was going to order the 15A today, but the pen is sold out here in Norway/Sweden. They said it would be fine if I ordered it separately from another source. That should be fine right? I don't end up with a screen without the digitizer if I order it without the pen, do I?
The silver version I can get with the pen, but not the black one I'd prefer - so that would be another option, just suck it up and live with silver : )

 

If you look at the 13A and the newer 13 the only hardware difference appears to be the wi-fi adapter, with the old one having the N-7260 and the new one having the AC-7260. I know they are supposed to be "refreshed", but does that mean anything more than software updates? Does anyone have experience with both? I was just wondering if it was worth the extra $250.00 to buy the newer model.

 

Just love my 15a and with digitizer I primarily use the app Note Anytime Premium, extensively. I gave up on Vaio paper with it's bugs and crashes. As an independent engineer/designer, this exactly what I needed. Really awesome and finally this machine is performing less buggy as of late. I am trying the new Bios and hopefully it fixes the touchscreen not working intermittently between flip modes or when it wants to act up, etc. Often time unplugging and re-pluggin in the power adapter takes care of this. But it gets annoying. Also, pretty much resolved myself to using the laptop only on a cooling pad when not on a flat surface; it doesn't like to get anything above warm at all. And that's OK with me. I have two pens in the laptop bag as I'm typically leaving at the couch or office.

I've been searching the market for a couple laptops for twin 14 year old girls going into high school next year. Haven't had anything jump out at me yet and trying to justify a couple 15a's for them. Expensive but I have a couple months to crunch the numbers. It's a big jump in price but want something for them that is going to be able to do most everything and then last them the 4 years. "tough call."

 

Sorry about the late response, busy week and I wanted to make sure that I did everything I could to optimize this thing. First off I would like to say that the screen is the best laptop screen I have ever used. And I have used the Zenbook Infinity, Ativ Book 9 Plus, Macbook Pro Retina, among many others. Black levels and contrast are excellent, better than the aforementioned units, and very minimal backlight bleed in the top right corner only visible on boot up. That being said, battery life is still sitting at 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours depending on usage. I am getting hardly any better than anyone else with the WQHD screen and I have done a completely clean install. Clean install is definitely the way to go though. ~20GB more space usable, faster boot, quieter fan. I currently am dual booting windows 8.1 pro and Ubuntu 13.1 and it runs flawlessly in both. It's a great machine but do not buy this machine for battery life. I would also like to say that somehow, my machine is a lot more sturdy than the machines at best buy. It has noticeably less flex(none) when carrying one handed and the keyboard is more firm as well. It has only the slightest flex when pushing the bottoms two rows of keys very hard. I am astonished by the difference and it has reassured me of my purchase.

 

Got my Flip 13 back from Sony on Wednesday after I asked them to look at the problems with the fan and also a random issue with the sound going to mute. Despite phoning me up on the Monday saying that no problems had been found, and me then having to tell them again what the issues were, it seems some changes were made - specifically to the Thermal Module according to the repair sheet. It also says that "Fan fitted for noise, os installed for sound issue, unit passes all sony tests". Well since having it back and doing all the software updates & reinstalling everything, the machine still won't go stay silent in silence mode. On top of this the machine has suddenly switched off twice without any warning. I'm guessing this is connected to a heat issue (although the PC never feels any hotter than any other laptop I've ever had). I've emailed Sony about the on-going problem & waiting for their response. I just have no confidence in using the machine at the moment as I just never know whether it's going to cut out on me or make a lot of noise (to be honest, on Silence mode, it's pretty quiet and not an issue at all... it's just it's not 'silent' and I know for several weeks before the problems started, it used to be, so it should be achievable still). At least it hasn't made the loud grinding noise when starting it up - which I only suffered from a couple of time in the first few weeks, but which came more common in recent weeks (but ironically stopped the day after I emailed Sony to say that I wanted to get the machine looked at). But I'm still nervous this problem could crop up again, which makes me hesitant in opening up the machine in quiet meetings, for example.

As I may have mentioned before, there's still part of me that thinks that Microsoft may the root cause to some/all of this. The loud grinding noise became more common after some Microsoft updates were installed. They stopped after others were installed a week later. My previous PC (an HP) had problems with the fan running all the time & getting very hot after a Microsoft update after I'd had the machine for well over a year, and again calmed down some time later after a Microsoft update. I don't really understand how all this works, but one tech friend suggested that it was an issue of the interaction between Windows and the BIOS - which I guess is why BIOS updates get a big mention here. In fact it may have been a BIOS update rather than a Microsoft update that fixed the problem on my previous laptop.

There's so much I like about this machine, but at the moment it's just not performing as it should at all - let alone given the price paid for it.

 

There's no new BIOS on the UK site yet - just the R022OVA update from 28 November 2013.
Does the update in the US mean the machine runs silent in Silence mode as used to happen, or is there some fan noise/action even then?

 

New BIOS is on the Canadian site, version 260. Released February 2014.
Strangely enough, I can't get Sony Control center to show the cooling options at all so I can't comment on the silent mode. Everything has been updated and it won't show for some strange reason. The fan: for the most part it's on, albeit very very slowly/quietly. There are moments for me where it seems to turn off, but at the same time there are moments where the fan will spool up and run at the speeds where idle used to be prior to installing any fixes. I've only had one occurrence where the fan would run at max, and that was for about a 30 second interval when I was watching YouTube with updates installing in the background.

To summarize, fan is definitely improved, still not ideal by any means.

 

Yes I do, see my post above. It appears that the refreshed version is more than a software update, the bios version is not compatible with the first model so there may be some hardware differences.

After 2 days of use I have the feeling that the fan noise is just standard for a laptop. It is not always silent, but not very noisy when it kicks in during "normal operations". As I wrote in my first post, the fan became noisier when I did a CPU benchmark in "Performance" mode, so you may expect more noise when playing games I guess.

 

I just put in an 240GB Crucial SSD in my 14a and did a recovery install. Booting up is superfast, I went from 45 seconds to about 10. Do I need to enable TRIM or do any optimizations on the drive once it's running? I didn't get any software with the drive.

 

Got to use my new 13A, mind you the refreshed model. After deleting bloatware I'm now creating a recovery image on USB. Takes soooo long :s..
The fan noise is okay. I've been stressing it all the time cause of the deleting etc, seems like the same level of noise as my previous, which wasn't that bad neither. Don't expect a whole new machine. The most noticeable things are Adobe elements and sketchbook express. Upon ordering it didn't say there was a stylus included, but there is one. Also in Vaio control centre you can set some quick gestures for the pen. (like swiping to the right with the pen to delete etc.)
There’s still some light bleed at the bottom of the screen.

 

Good to hear, and well done

I don't have the Flip with me (with a Crucial SSD as well), but I think Windows 8 sets TRIM for you automatically. You can check whether it's enabled or not via command line (look it up) or by using a simple tool like CrystalDiskInfo : Download Center - Crystal Dew World
(the portable version is good enough)

HTH