Official VAIO SR Series Owners Thread

Man, I wish I had enough money to match your specs. Mines was:
*2.4Ghz, 1 Gb ram (will upgrade to 4 with OCZ), 250Gb 5400rpm HDD, and no ATI graphics card...Hope sony will work faster so we all can receive our vaios faster.

Nice to know someone is in the same boat as me...tho, it's a real crappy boat:laugh:

 

+1, I ordered the 16th n will get it Thursday the 25th. Estimated shipping date was the 24th so I don't mind one day since I'm in classes all day Wednesday.

 

Also, it would be great if the SR dock would stop being backordered...

 

Speaking of docks, does anyone have one and do they work well?

 

Besides the whole battery drain issue, is any else's left and right click on this thing annoying the hek out of them? I mean the left click I can just use the pad to use, but I can't right click with it. It's just so loud to my ears.

 

Out of curiosity, in your experiences, how long has it been between when the status went from processing to "your vaio is being built" and the time of shipment.

I know there are people that have been waiting longer than me, but I'm getting antsy!

 

The shipment thing is luck, some people(like myself) get them very quick. I ordered mine on the 20th of August, and recieved it August 27th(with the slowest shipping option) and I live across the country from where they are produced(San Diego, CA).

Others, like you poor souls, haha, have to wait 2 weeks+. I think it depends on shipments, Sony USA simply cant build anything if they are waiting for shipments from Asia for the components. All the Sony CTO's for the US are built in america, but the components are still from Asia

 

Oh good, they build them in CA. That means there is still a glimmer of hope that they ship it today (I'm on the east coast). I just would really like to have the weekend to do a clean install and have everything ready for next week.

 

I just received my SR today and am on it now. WOW! This is a NICE NICE NICE laptop! Haha, I'm like a kid on Christmas with this thing and can't stop playing with it. I love the keyboard as the spacing has severely helped any typos I would normally get. The speed compared to my old one is just unreal and I never thought it would be this severe. 4GB/T9400 is SMOKING my old 2GB/T2080 lappy!

 

Have you ever noticed that the extended battery BPL-13 for SR-series is actually for FW-series?
I just Called Sony CS and they said there is no extended battery for SR-series and they wanted to replaced my extended battery with a standard battery BPS13A/B.

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Night Black Sony VAIO SR190-CTO|P9600 @ 2.8|4 GB DDR2 800MHz|200 GB HDD 7200 RPM|ATI HD3470 128MB GDDR3|Vista Premium|Extended Battery

 

Yes I have noticed, but It works on both I guess, because I ordered mine with extended battery.

 

Huzzah, just got the email notifying me of shipment. Should be here by 3pm tomorrow!

 

I got my SR and I really like it, except for the bloated software and a **** dead pixel right in the middle of my screen. I'm calling Sony tomorrow!

 

So now that I've had a few days to enjoy my SR I gotta say: I absolutely love it!

I know in this thread people are citing 10% battery degradation via shut down or sleep, but the most I've encountered was 5% if left in sleep overnight. Never have I got a whopping 10% missing. I dunno...

Also, since I've whiped out the bloatware, how do I get those buttons on the top working....or are they non programmable? Any practical use for them? (im referring to MODE, SETTING, and the 5 blank ones)

 

I dunno, I don't seem to have the overnight drain.

Whenever I leave it off overnight and take it with me to school still off, well, I don't see a drain. I'll plug it in after it has been off for a fair while, and it won't show the battery charging. It'll also be at 100% charge. For me, the "drain" seems to occur while it is actually on.... Going to like, 86% in a few minutes after unplugging it.

 

i just unplugged it

after about a minute it remained at 81%, 2:11 left

minute or so later...
2:16 left...

so mine is charging itself i guess, lol

 

Yeah, the battery seems to be very strange on these. Mine just has a slower discharge rate after a fast discharge to 86%. Why? I have no clue. It's only when it is on. It'll slowly decrease in percentage after 86% and usually lasts about 3 or so hours (I like the screen brighter than 3/8).

Of course, I have the VGN-SR129E/B, so it's a bit different from the 190CTO.

Maybe it's the production time of the batteries?

 

Did you get the one day shipment? I got email notification on the 24th, it's not arriving until the 30th...(one day is toooooo expensive for me)

 

Sony has had some models that use the same battery which of course is a good thing.

 

same here, mines a VGN-SR140E/B though

 

I'm charging for the first time my SR's battery, need some info...

when the battery is charging the respective LED lights up orange...
when the battery is fully charged the LED is supposed to be another color or off?

were does this kind of stuff is explained in the documents? looked every sheet and document, and haven't found anything about this subject...

cheers

 

It just turns off once it is fully charged. I don't think that light shines any other color but the amber/orange color it is.

I don't know about the documents, but mine out of the box didn't really say much about the laptop itself. Which was weird, but eh. (Mostly touting the stuff that costs more money. xD)

 

Are people still having the battery life problems where the would unplug it and the battery meter would go down?

 

A question for the students here. Do you use a laptop backpack or a padded sleave and just throw it in your normal backpack? And any reccomendations on particular models of cases/backpacks to buy? My SR is scheduled to arrive this thursday!!!!! verrrry excited

 

Hi there! I recently bought the ZeroShock III sleeve for my SR. It hasn't arrived yet, but it's gotten very good reviews. Check it out here. I spent $35 on it including shipping to buy it from eBay. There's a user there called yap2528 who sells them in Orange or White for 13.3" - although supposedly he also sells black ones, but you might have to ask for availability.

Right now, I have it in a sleeve in my backpack, but I'm also looking for a specific laptop bag for the extra protection. My current candidates are some Swiss Gear backpacks, but they seem a bit on the heavy side, so I'm also looking for recommendations on laptop backpacks if anyone has any!

 

i use a sleeve in a normal backpack, i prefer the flexibility

 

The ZeroShock III seems legit. If you are looking for something more "official", the sony smart protection case is very slick looking, provides shock protection, is a hard shell casing, and also provides foam protection around the edges of the notebook(as does the zeroshock..). Its also a very slick looking case with a PERFECT snug fit. It's a bit pricey at around 70 bucks, but it has some interesting tech inside (hard shell+honeycomb+foam), etc.
So if your going for looks the vaio case or another sony case will do, if your looking for identical(or better...who knows) protection for cheaper, the zeroshock seems like it would be worth a spin! I myself have a smart protection case.

 

I could be mistaken, but i recall stumbling upon some PDF's that were comprehensive SR manuals on the system somewhere. If they arent huge and there is a demand for those who have done clean installs, i can post it on here...let me know!

 

I think I know what you are talking about. I don't remember where that place was. Sony doesn't have any manuals for my specific SR model. I don't think it has any of them. I think all they have are the drivers and that is it.

Sony doesn't print any actual instruction manuals anymore to be shipped with laptops. Probably a cost thing, and perhaps environmental, but probably more cost. Meh.

 

I use a JanSport Firewire backpack, it's very roomy for books and stuff, and it's very well padded at the laptop section.

I had a sleeve from sony but it was way too small and scratched my SR.

 

Japan has just added the Blue-ray RW option in the SR refresh, coming in Oct. 4...probably good news for those who want it on SR.
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/SR2/spec_vom1.html

 

wow so the new SR has
a HD3470 with 256MB of ram
a HDMI port
Blu-Ray Burner
7200rpm 320gb hdd


UGH i hate sony i wish i could return mine...

 

Uhm... That's for Japan isn't it? Japan sometimes gets more than the US does...


And sometimes the US gets more than Japan. Though.... I would think Sony favors Japan.... lul.

But come on, it was inevitable that the SR was going to have HDMI. I mean.... it has a placeholder on the 1xx series. xD

Still, I wouldn't trade mine for anything... I got it for too good of a price. =x

 

I got a burton backpack that has a little section for the notebook, fits the sr 13.3 perfectly. It aint insanely padded though. Although I'm pretty careful when I set it down.

 

That's really annoying. Any idea if the screen is still ECO?

 

I know it really is, i don't know why they even delayed the SR200 series models... I REALLY REALLY want the Blu-Ray drive

but yeah I think it is still ECO.. since on the spec sheet on the sony japan web site, it's blank under "Color reproducibility"(色再現性

 

Any idea on the release date and price? My SR190 is arriving today and I'm wondering if i should be initiating the return proceess. I got a sweet deal but the 256MB 3470 is really nice

 

Honestly, if the 256MB 3470 is the only reason you want to return your SR, it's probably not worth it. While more dedicated video memory is good for cards that can fully utilize it, the 3470 only has a 64-bit bus. That means the bus is the bottleneck and adding more memory beyond 128MB is basically into the point of diminishing returns. I'm sure you'll see a difference in scores in 3DMark06, but IMO, it won't translate to too much of a difference or improve your gaming experience much. I'd only bother if the prices were exactly the same.

I can see why people who wanted Blu-Ray/HDMI would be annoyed, though. =\

 

Thanks a bunch Lattice XD. That was my main reason for being annoyed. I don't think I'd use HDMI since i won't be buying a 1080p TV anytime soon . Does anyone know of VGA to component cables in case I wanted to go 720p? Thanks.

 

Hi everyone,

My new SR190 has just one problem which drives me crazy.

The space bar key only works if you hit it near the center of the key. I make so many spelling mistakes because by the time I realize that a space hasn't been inserted I'm already typing the next word. Is the solution just to type slower?

Anyadvicewouldbegreatlyappreciated.
Thanks.

 

Havent noticed this at all, perhaps you are just not used to the chiclet style keyboards...? I actually type much faster on the SR keyboard than most other notebooks....

 

You're right that this is my first chiclet keyboard. I've never had this problem with a keyboard before. So I was just curious if anyone else is having this problem as well.

I saw a post on Youtube, about a similar problem like this on the SZ model.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=H8s0qTjNFKQ

However, the solution in the video is to pop off the space bar and insert some thing below the key. I'm not brave enough to do that on my brand new $2k vaio.

Maybe I'll just try and change the way I hit the space key.

Take care.

 

I dont think its an issue of getting used to... The keys have to be pressed firmly or else I miss many letters while typing.

 

This keyboard is nothing compared to the iMac G5's keyboards that they had in the first generation.

Now THAT is firm pressing. It was literally like trying to push weights with your fingers to get a key to register. It was also noticeable on my Dad's keyboard too.

It is as firm press, but I don't think it's *too* firm of a press. Like, it's not fighting a strong resistance. I find it pretty easy to use, but I guess that is because I have been used to that iMac keyboard of extreme resistance.

 

Has anyone gotten an extended battery for their SR?
What is the ACTUAL gain in terms of time over the standard battery?
I am a student and I have to carry my notebook to class, plugging in is a *****.
I am considering getting the extended battery if I will actually get a decent amount of extra time with it.
Right now my standard battery can get through about 3 hours of classes before needing to plug back in.
(i have the SR with discrete graphics)

 

CodeRed, you're not alone brother.

I believe you.

 

haha, its not that i don't believe you. But, ive had thinkpads(the "best" keyboards in the business for laptops), and my switch to the SR was totally smooth and error-free. I just havent noticed any kind of flex or hard press. I mean i use my thumb for pressing the space bar when i type...and i dont press particularly hard. It's also possible that since i use a desktop keyboard at work, im used to "pressing harder" as normal desktop(not imac) keyboards have greater travel... perhaps thats the issue...that the chiclet keys on the SR have greater travel distance then you are used to...

The SZ(which you mentioned someone had an issue with) is a completely different keyboard layout/type then the SR. The SZ is a regular(close-together) keyboard...

 

thebigpants27, I think you're right. I'm using the chiclet keyboard from being an exclusive desktop owner, and I think it's the best laptop keyboard I've ever tried. Fewer typos, no learning curve, etc. But I could see why someone who was used to a standard laptop keyboard would have a hard time switching.

 

I have wifi on, screen brightness up to the 3rd bar, VAIO MAX life plan, and listening to music on web and some word processing and I get 300 minutes or 5 hours of life under usage.

However..with WIFI off.. I usually get between 6-7 hours.

I do use the extended battery. but I have integrated graphics so that saves some power too.

 

anyone else kinda regret not shelling out an extra 200 for the Z series? haha

i like my SR...but i bought it without handling it in person first and it feels kinda cheap for the price...especially that plastic cover for the ethernet port that doesn't really even fit properly/close all the way...i dunno the laptop overall just feels kinda flimsy and delicate