Official VAIO E Series Owners Thread

yesterday I failed to install the graphics media accelerator driver I downloaded from Intel's site. A message appeared stating that I had to install a customized driver provided by Sony, an original driver couldn't be installed on my pc. Any idea?

 

As far as I am aware yes you can add a second HDD by removing the optical drive and no the E series does not have switchable graphics.

 

Thank you for the reply, does it use a caddy to add the second HDD? which caddy is used? i've to search it online, because in my country (indonesia) i'am doubtfull i can find such thing

 

I need help here!

I dont know what wrong with my quick access web but it just takes forever to load. I think the driver just went bad because yesterday I ran an update for the quick web access, but when it finished downloading, it just stalled so I had to go to the task manager to stop the update manager.

I re-ran the vaio update again today but the problem occurred again. I just googled to find the driver of the quick web access but still no results found. Anyone can help me?

 

Sry, it's my fault. I found it in the recovery center. I looked only in the drivers tab when quick web access is listed in the programs tab.

 

Then it's like with Ati cards then. Unless there is a workaround you'll be stuck with an older driver. But it's not like the latest drivers matters as much as it does with a dedicated gpu card. Check if this link works:

VAIO : Sony Europe

 

I was watching a video on youtube about media gallery and it turn out that there is a feature called gesture control where u can control the app through ur webcam. Now I searched everywhere and I cannot seem to find a setting to enable this feature. Can anyone help?

 

Helloo
my VAIO EA hase crashed
the windows does not starts, and even when I put recovery CDs I get this message "recovery files are being lunched" but nothing will happens and it stays at that state for ever
I tried to install windows from an original windows CD but it did not work and windows could not be installed

I think hard disk does not work any more
How can I fix the problem, any Idea?

 

Hi this my first post.

i have been looking to get an eb for some time now and today took the plunge as one came up on sonystyle uk clearance and it looked as though i was saving about £200 over a configurable one.
here is what i am expecting in the post:
i5 450m, 500gb, 4gb ram, 1920x1080 full hd screen, 5650 1gb gpu, blue ray writer. i think its a pretty neat machine but something in the back of my mind is puzzling me. the model number on the one i have purchased from clearance has an eb2 in it and if i go to configure one on the same site it has an eb3 in it. could anyone shed some light on this matter or else its going to keep bugging me.

Thanks for any help in advance
ps just checked my pc has been dispatched!!!

 

Quick question eb I want has a screen of 39.5 cm LCD, 1366x768 but if I hook it up can I bump the resolution up to 1600 x 900?.

 

looks like some thing is wrong with the hard disk, but you never know, could be the RAM. To find out exactly what the problem is, enter the BIOS setup(should say on screen but probably f10, del, f1 or f2), then you can find the hard disk section and run a full test on it. do the same for your ram in the ram section. the one that fails the test is the one you need to replace.

 

Also whats the dfference between the f and e series?.

 

Sony's locked down BIOS doesn't let you do this.

 

If you hook it up to an external monitor that has that resolution then yes.

First of all they look different.

F-series has i7 instead of i3/i5
F-series has back-lit keyboard (E doesn't)
F-series comes in one screen size and that is 16.4" (E series is 14",15.5" and 17")
F-series has Nvidia Geforce GT 330m/425m/4xx graphics (E has either Intel GMA HD or ATi Radeon HD 5470/5650)
F-series has firewire (E doesn't)

And I'm sure a lot of other things differ.

 

Thanks the EB2 has 16.4? - this is the European edition but is the build quality the same?. don't care about firewire and the F12 doesn't have abacklit keyboard too and I5 is perfect for me. just worried if the E series is cheap looking, by comparsion i have a VAIO FW41e

 

eb2 vs eb3 any one know what the difference is please?

thanks

 

The name of the model depends on the configure you put on it. For example, EA means an e series vaio with 14" screen; EB means an e series vaio with 15" screen ....

So I think the difference between eb2 and eb3 is the processor because as I noticed when I buy my vaio, the 3 different e series model laptops which have the same processor but different screens have the same third letter in their names. The fourth, fifth, sixth letters can be related to ram, HD .....

PS: It's just my opinion, I'm not so sure about that.

 

I just checked sonystyle.fr, there're core i7 options for the e-series as well.

 

Build quality compared to a others like my FW41E or F12?. E is the cheapest range I understand.

 

could it be the variant ie eb1 was when it first come out and then eb2 when they updated some of the internal h/w like mother board and then eb3 so they could have updated cpu etc, anyone!

 

I kind of assumed the 3 designated a customised Vaio while the 2 designated a pre-built one. Could be wrong though.

 

Hmm yes. Not quad core i7s though, but rather the higher clocked 2-core-4-threads ones that are similar to the mobility i5s, only clocked higher.

 

I've been comparing the EB and F13 in the local Sony shop. From toying around with them in the shop, I'd say the build quality and feel is about equally good.

 

Hey guys, as you can see from my signature, I am planning to buy a Vaio EA36 soon. Went to a shop to order one yesterday. I was surprised when the shopkeeper told me that the EA36 was discontinued and a new model was coming with an i5-630.

What the??? i5-630?? I've never heard of such a model in the i5 series. I strongly suspect that she was referring to the i7-640M instead.
Even more surprising is that there is no news of such a model on the Sony India website. Can anybody help me out here and clear my confusion? And finally, does this model come with the ATI5650?

 

That sounds about right. I bought an EB1 off Amazon.de in April 2010 and they were replaced by the EB2 soon afterwards. Decent machines; the only faults I could find with mine is that the battery life is terrible (still terrible according to Sony's website) and that the + key on my keypad was getting stuck until I reassembled it several times. And the Caps Lock key had a more sluggish travel than the other keys (that might be a design intention, though).

If you're sticking with Windows on it, and using it as a desktop replacement, it's a decent laptop.

 

its not arrived yet but am sure will be with me early next week, i want to replace the hdd with an ssd drive can anyone tell me what kind of drive i would need to find?

 

Hi Guys - Finally got my vaio on Friday (specs below) and have to say it's a very nice machine. 2 week build and deliver time - very efficient and well communicated service by Sony.

No real complaints so far. Im really impressed with the build quality and look of this laptop!

Big thanks to all you guys who helped me out with my questions and assisted me in mydecision.

The only things I would comment on is :

Speakers - They are clear and sound reasonable but lack any bass and Max volume is not very loud in any sense. Also when at 100% it's slightly distorted so I keep it at around 95%.

Viewing angle - the screen is beautiful and produces good colours however when sitting infront you really need to be dead straight to get the true picture - anyone standing up infront or to the side will struggle to see it clearly and the screen will show quite alot of White backlight / high contrast - I suppose this is the case with most laptops but it's not with my mums 17.3 dell insprion which was £600 cheaper and is only 1600 x 900! Maybe I just need to get used it - everyone please feel free to share any comments!

Battery life - I ran it all the way through from 100% to 1% and I got 1 hour 40 mins - however that included 600 mb of windows updates,5 restarts,75% brightness and some web browsing so I am hoping to get atleast 2 hours next time which I will be happy with.

Apart from these I am really happy with the Purchase and would be happy to answer any queries you all might have - please bare in mind that mine is the EC 17.3 model as it seems the majority of you have EB's.

Oh and lastly my startup boot time is 60 seconds which i feel is ok for the specs - unless someone is getting better?

I'm open to any comments,feedback or tips on the above.

Many thanks

 

hi guys. i've had my vpc-ea2s1e for a month and i have a minor problem with a key. my C key is broken and keeps getting out.
i've searched on laptopkey.com for a replacement but it seemes they do not have any keys for this model yet. do you know any other compatible model, for which i could order ? it's really annoying.

i don't really want to send my laptop to warranty. first i don't know yet if they would agree to replace my broken key and then i can't stay a whole week at least without my laptop. (the service is not in my country and i have to send it by courier).

ps. i work as a developer, i do not play so, no comment for the keys quality if they broke in 1 month of use.

 

Kalyk9 have you tried ebay??
VAIO PCG items - Get great deals on Fujitsu, Presario items on eBay UK!

 

Hi Guys

I recently got my vpc ec - just had a quick question: all 500gb is on the c: drive - should this have been partioned into two? how does everyone elses come? Can I partition it within windows?

Thanks

 

You can make only one partition more with windows disk utility. Windows disk utility only allows you to create 4 partitions, when you already have the recovery center, the System reserved and C:\. And worse, it only create a new partition by dividing the C:\ by half, which means that you will have another partition with maximum capacity of 228Gib.

To make more partitions, I recommend MiniTool Partition Wizard ( totally free). I now have 8 partitions in my 500Gib hard disk lol.

 

SteveGS500: i've looked but i don't see any keys/keyboards for VPC-EA series.

 

Has anyone done a recovery without post software install using the F10 when the laptop is restarted?

Does this delete all the vaio software such as PMB and Media Gallery?

 

Thanks for the info. So it seems all the Vaio Laptops just come with a single C: Drive Partion.

May have to use the Mini Tool Partition wizard!

Thanks

 

I have the sony vaio VPCEC and I was wondering if anyone new if it was compatible with multiple HDDs?

I was hoping to put a SSD in there as a boot drive.

 

Hi as far as I know the vpc ec has space for two HDD's as this was an option when I ordered mine.

It should be able to take an SSD without any problems.

 

I'd definitely like to throw in a SSD once the warranty is up.

I don't know how much room is in this thing but SSD's are so tiny (1.8inches) and use so little energy I thought it would be a good idea.

 

I was creating my recovery media discs for the first time today - the first two
Copied fine but the third didn't complete correctly but ejected the disc. I checked it after and there was 2.98GB written so I'm not sure if it did actually finish and displayed it incorrectly.?

Is there anyway of just creating disc 3 or will I need to start the process again with a new set of DVD-R's?

Thanks

 

If you order a Vaio EC without a second hard drive they actually remove the second SATA connector, so it's not that easy mounting your own second hard drive.

 

So if there's no SATA connector what do I do? Buy one? Or is that something that simply isn't possible?

 

where can i donwload the latest catalyst driver for this sony vaio? i've read that normal driver from ati site is not working....

 

Hello Again
Would like some advice/info.
Went to update graphics driver via Vaio Update, clicked the link for Graphics Driver (Intel) 64bit - 8.15.10.2040 and away it started - when finished it did nothing which i thought was odd. Checked driver date\version etc in device manager and nothing has been updated. So looked in the C:\Update folder and found this, so thought i'd ask here for info. Dont know why its a.exeVU! FIle and is not an application file??

Name EP0000219982.exeVU!
Type EXEVU! File
Open With Windows Shell Common Dll
Location C:\Update\

 

Dear fellow forum members,

It seems that some of the regulars have been awfully quiet these days??

I’ve had my VPC EC for about a week now and have a number questions / comments. Can someone help me out on the following:


Viewing angle - when sitting in front you really need to be dead straight to get the true picture - anyone standing up in front or to the side will struggle to see it clearly and the screen will show quite a lot of White backlight / high contrast. Is this the case with you all?

Battery Life – I’m getting a maximum of 1:45 on 75% brightness – Is that about right.

Background Processes – There 97 Background processes running in task manager. Not sure which one’s are important and what to do to get rid of them?

Boot Time – From the moment I press the on button it takes 1 min and 7 seconds to boot. Any way of improving this?

Restart and press F10 – Recovery – I tried this to see what menus appear and it seems that there is no option to recover without post software install. Will the recovery delete all the vaio software such as PMB, media Gallery and Vaio Gate?

Your answers, comments and feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanking you in advance for your time.

 

It's not too bad on the sides, but yes, the vertical viewing angle isn't great.

Pretty much, you'll get a bit more on power saver.

Uninstalling some of the bloat helps, but only a little. Really the only way to get that number down is to do a clean install.

See above - also check msconfig and disable some useless startup items.

There's no option to restore without all the pre-installed stuff, all it does is restore the laptop to factory state - which means no, it won't delete all the VAIO software, unless you do this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/146033-how-optimize-any-sony-vaio-semi-clean-install.html

 

I just went through and did a ton of msconfig stuff and removed some of the vaio/ windows stuff I didn't want. Definitely freed up the processes (down from 97 to 78) and RAM usage is down, which means more cache =p yay.

Anyone have recomendations for cleaning the screen? My house is dusty as hell and I try to keep the computer in a really nice area but I want to clean it up before it gets worse. I just don't want to damage the screen/ make it worse.

 

Mythdat, - Many thanks for your quick and informative response. You've helped me out and given me the assurance I required.

In regards to the semi clean-install If I go ahead with it will the three vaio buttons, Assist, Quick Web and Vaio still work?

Also software such as Roxio Creator 10,Corel WinDVD, Vaio Gate, PMB that are all installed at present - Will I be able to get them back?

Have you tried this method and noticed differences in speed / performance?

Thanks

 

In addition to my previous post –

Mythdat and Hungry Man,

Can you take a screen shot of the current msconfig start-up tab you in order for me to see what is actually required in comparison to mine?

Thanks

 

The buttons will work, you just need to manually install a few bits of the VAIO software.

The software you can also install, as long as you follow instructions 1 and 2 (substitute launch.exe for VAIORecv.exe on newer models).

I've done it myself, the improvements are pretty good - only around 50 processes and 20% memory usage on startup IIRC. In terms of speed it's a bit better although not hugely so, the laptop is fast enough that the bloat doesn't hold it back all that much.

 

well it's a nonexpandable window so I can't screeny it unless I take like 50

I can say that I disabled these services:

Vaio Entertainment TV Device...
VUAgent
Vaio Entertainment Database...
Bluetooth Service
FLEXnet licensing service
Vaio media plus content importer
Vaio media plus database
Anything else saying "vaio media plus" =p
CamMonitor

I have also disabled all startup EXCEPT for these:
MAlps Pointing-device Driver
AIStorIcon
Application Launcher


I didn't include the personal programs I have since they won't apply to you. I have my antivirus and other programs but most thigns are turned off. I turned off maybe one microsoft service and I'd be interested in which other ones would be safe. I'm satisfied at the moment though.

I also uninstalled most things having to do with sony lol Revo uninstaller

 

Since this got lost on the last post, does this completely rule out me getting a second hard drive or do I just buy a SATA connector?