Official VAIO SR Series Owners Thread

with WiFi on, surfing the internet, itunes opened, brightness on 6/8, i usually get about 3:30

 

hm i think i can live with that... since u have a faster hdd and a more powerful cpu

ordered the last sr21 on amazon.

is still have my macbook, so i'll take some pics side by side. if anyone is intrested i'll post them here.

 

Congrats on your new notebook!

Yeah, that would be nice! please keep us updated

 

ok expect some pics on sunday..if amazon delivers on time.

ooh one more...u have vista 64 running on your sr?

 

Yes.. i'm thinking about reverting back to 32bit though
it's a pain in the ***
a lot of programs that i use won't work in vista 64bit

 

oh no, too bad so we can't use all of our 4gb ram

that's definitely a + for the macbook..but i just can't live with the crappy display

 

You can install the 64bit if you want..
all the drivers are avaliable online..
My windows mobile phone doesn't work with a 64bit system.. that's what's bothering me
but most of the apps will work fine in 64bit.. you can even install 32bit software on it... it just doesn't have native support for them..

 

ok i can get vista 64 for free as a it student so this would be worth a try. can't wait till friday

 

check out this thread for instructions on installing the 64bit drivers

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=315086

 

sweet... thx for your help!

 

you're welcome
that's what we are here for

 

Oh Nevermind!
Stupid me!
you bought a refreshed SR model..
so you can just go to Sony's web site and use the 64 bit driver from there.. instead of using that method in that thread i showed you...

 

Did anyone who did a fresh install or a semi clean install get the ATI Catalyst control center to show up?

Thanks

 

I did a clean install of XP and Catalyst Control Center works just fine. Try downloading the exe directly from Sony's support page?

 

tried that but it doesn't show up. I even installed the Catalyst from ATI and nothing haha. It says its there but i can't find it either.

 

Because the one from ATI won't work on the SR unless you use Mobility Modder
The one from ATI is for desktop only

 

Uninstall everything from ATI (I found a program to do that under C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\UninstallAll) and then try re-installing?

PS -to those wondering about battery life - I have the VGN-SR129E/B: P8400 2.26 GHz, 3GB RAM, 250GB 5400rpm HDD, ATI Mobility Radeon 3470. With screen turned to level 3 brightness, dynamic CPU, quiet performance profile, i.Link and model off, Wifi on, antivirus/firewall on (65 processes in total), Windows XP Pro SP3. I was surfing the net, downloading pdfs and reading them, and then streaming about an hour's worth of Daily Show/Colbert Report throughout the entire time. The computer was never left idle. I got a total of 2 hours, 30 minutes with 10% left (estimated 20 minutes remaining). I'm pretty happy with that.

Will test the battery life while running Ubuntu tomorrow.

 

only about 2:50 with XP?
I always get at least 3:30 with Vista, brightness on 6/8/ and wifi turned on..

 

I thought so too but it went through the install and that's now why i see its on my computer.

 

It will go through the installation but it won't work

 

That depends on what you're doing with the laptop, doesn't it? I was using it pretty extensively and didn't really bother optimizing anything - left antivirus, firewall, norton ghost, and all the processes in the background. At least one hour of that was spent streaming TV, and the rest on surfing/playing music/downloading and going through pdfs.

I'm too lazy to exit all the processes I usually run on XP to save battery, so I'll just test out battery life on Ubuntu instead and see what I get there.

 

So... I'm really interested in buying this monitor when it comes out in the US..
http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/06/samsung-introduces-23-inch-2342bwx-lcd-with-qwxga-resolution/


"The LCD monitor boasts a thin black bezel, 5-millisecond response time and a mesmerizing QWXGA (2,048 x 1,152) resolution. Just to put things in perspective, that's enough pixels to view two A4-sized sheets side by side with room to spare for Vista's sidebar. Sammy's expected to loose this in South Korea soon for ₩399,000 ($315), but trust us, the challenge won't be procuring one, it'll be making sure your GPU can handle it."

Does anybody know if the HD3470 in the SR will support QWXGA resolution?? (2,048 x 1,152)

 

Oh wow, that's a hell of a resolution. Weird size, though. Why 23" and not 24"? Price looks decent enough. I think the HD3470 can handle it, but I wouldn't expect to be able to game on it unless it was Solitaire. XD

 

Yeah
I just plan to use it for surfing the net, word/pdf documents..etc
It has higher resolution and cheaper than all of the screens i have been looking at
I really can't wait

I guess it's 23" cause it's a 16:9 screen?? idk..

 

I've gotten about 7hrs with WiFi on, DVD drive off, and brightness 4/8... it was at like 13% battery after this

I was using it solidly for notes and other things from roughly 2:30-9:30 before turning it off to head home

 

Well you have the extended battery...

 

I know, but the capacity is only 50% greater (9-cell vs. 6-cell) so 5hrs wouldn't be impossible but you'd run the battery to 0% and have it shut off on u

 

ok so i did the mod and updated the video drivers and i think it screwed up my computer more then it helped lol... so many problems now ughh... guess not so good for the ATI 256 card... hehe

 

Lol.. it should work just fine on the 256MB HD3470
you probably just did something wrong

 

not much you can do wrong when installing something. ever since i installed it the mode switch and the internet take forever to come on. My laptop used to take 45 seconds to boot up now it takes over 2 minutes. And now i'm having a super hard time reverting it back argg....

 

incase i have pre-installed vista 64bit, and i'de like to clean install my Vista 32 bit i own.
should be a problem ?
cuz i keep see here guys who have many problems with fresh installs and Sony utils and such...

Does anyone know what HDD brand the SR holds ?

Thanks

 

new SR owner here. i'm loving it so far, thought the gpu was low end, but it works nicely. came from a geforce4 mx desktop. lol.

tonytiger, how is that expresscard sound blaster card?

 

You'll hear tighter bass and more overall clarity, and you'll most likely notice details in familiar songs that you've never caught before.
It's a huge improvement over the integrated card, I definitely recommend it

 

Just wondering, hows the sound quality through the ear phones ? Does it have good bass ?

 

It's good.
It has good bass, it has a customizable equalizer

 

hows the garphics card on the SR? is it good enough for playing games (fallout 3, cod4) ?

 

how did you get the 54 card to fit into the SR's 34???

oh nvm must be this one http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=17988

 

Thanks, my current com has totally no bass...
btw, wat is the FN + F7 key for ?

 

I think it's for displaying your screen on an external monitor/display. It's the key you can press if you're giving a powerpoint presentation or something like that.

 

Can any1 answer my question regarding the Clean installation please ?

 

well here are some pics...macbook alu vs sony sr:

 

wow, that is a major difference there.

 

Has anyone had a problem after installing the updated drivers with MM that it takes forever for Mode switch settings and the internet to connect?

Before I had done all of that my computer would full boot in about 45 seconds and now it takes at least 1:30 to 2 minutes. I've tried uninstalling the new drivers and reverting back to the ones from sony but it still does the same thing. Any Ideas?

Thanks

 

Guys..I am ordering this SR290 CTO tomorrow from the sonystyle website.
I am confused whether to get the ATI 3470 with HDMI..

I mean I don't play games..but occassionally download movie files and watch DVDs on the laptop..
and I am certainly concerned about
1. Battery life effects of getting ati card instead of intel gma4500mhd..like if im just browsing the internet continously and not doing anything else at all, like no video stuff..will the battery life be the same between intel and ati from 100% charge to full drain ?..
2. I am also concerend about heat/warm issues with the dedicated graphics..

your advice and help appreciated..
thanks,
sr

 

having a graphics card won't help a bit with downloading movie files and watching dvds

Go with the x4500

I have the ATI card the battery lasts about 3 and a half hour
People with the igp has reported to have about 5-6 hours of battery life

the cooling system on the SR is fantastic, you need not to worry about heat

 

do you feel that the x4500 will be good working in photshop cs4, web graphics, no gaming, thx

 

Ok, I got Sony 290 CTO with Intel GMA and P8400 with 320GB 5400rpm..
Well, I want to upgrade to 4Gigs (have a 64-bit system)..I would like to order the RAM online, so it comes by the time the laptop is delivered..
One question..on newegg, they have 2 types of 2 GB DDR2-800 laptop sticks..one is with CAS 5 and other is with CAS 6..
Now, I don't know whether Sony SR290 is compatible only with one of those, or with both types?..because I've read that many motherboards are compatible with only one CAS type..
Please advise..
-sr

 

photoshop cs4 uses the gpu..
so you will get better performance if you get the ati card

 

is there anyway to put a good gcard in the SR? or is the x4500 the best thing possible?

 

The best thing possible is the ATI 3470.