Official VAIO SR Series Owners Thread

I'm in the market for a SR... Can you share where you got that amazing price?

 

Just an FYI, if you're going by the Windows estimated remaining battery time, it's almost meaningless. My laptop starts at 100% battery with 2hr40min, and I get over 4, close to 5 hours every time. Do a 100% and see how it goes.

 

yes
you don't even need the discs, there is a recovery partition on the hdd
just keep pressing f8 when the laptop starts up

yeah.. try to look again, it's there

 

Ordered my first notebook last week. I decided on the SR290!!

My est. ship date is 12/16.

# DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
# 160 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
# Standard Battery
# Video Standard
# MOTION EYE® Camera
# Trusted Platform Module / Biometric Fingerprint Sensor
# ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470 with HDMI™ Output
# Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz)
# Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
# 13.3" WXGA (XBRITE-ECO™ technology)
# Titanium Gray
# Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
# 2 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 1GBx2)

Price: $915.51

Hope everything goes well. Going to upgrade the HD and add some ram probably. Then a clean install of Vista.

 

It's really not there. I attached the picture of my screen. Maybe it's because I do not have a bluray drive?

 

Wow that's weird..
I only have the DVD drive..
try downloading the power management driver from sony's web site, and install it
and see if it shows up

 

I have the Sr290, maybe that is the difference...

On Sony's website, the only relevant software I see is Original - Sony® Notebook Utilities. Is there a place to get a specific power management driver?

 

There is a specific power management software for the SR190 on sony's web site :/

I'm not sure.. maybe another SR290 user can help you out.. Sony shouldn't have took this "feature" off..

 

hey, for some reason, there i no sound coming from my sr...its not on mute either, and its on the higest volume, and i check device manager, no question marks. It was working fine before like 10 mins ago, then i turn it off to go home and now i turn it back on, and its not working, any ideas?

EDIT- its fine now nvm, my default speakers was changed after using bluetooth to send files.

 

Found it inside the utilities. But it makes you install everything; since it's not a big problem right now, I'll leave it alone. Don't want to break anything.

Is there a way to underclock the ATI chip? I don't need it right now; it seems to be a power sucker. For desktop ATI GPU I heard you have lower the clockspeed and memory speed. Not sure what to use here, if anyone has done it?

 

Hello, I'm new. I've just got my Vaio VGN-SR29VN-S last Saturday. I have a question: does anyone know how to turn on Motion-eye? I mean turning on the auto-zoom-face-detection-thingy? I can't seem to find it anywhere, not even i the manual, ArcSoft Webcamcompanion isn't helping at all. I saw the auto-zoom feature on a Vaio AW which had Vaio Camera utility, but unfortunately i didn't find that for my laptop. Any help appreciated

 

I got my SR190 as an open-box item from a Sony store, that's why it was so cheap.

Can someone point me to info on downgrading my 190 to XP? The Sony Store wanted $120 for this, and I'd like to know if there is another option.

I'm assuming I can't just buy a licensed copy of XP and install it, since I'd lose the laptop's special keys and Sony functionality.

Also, is there any way to dim that circular green/amber LED on the side? In a dark room that thing is WAY too bright!

 

can anyone use gpu-z and take a screenshot of cpu clock and memory clock of ati 3470,
i just want to know if sony underclocked this card

 

here ya go. I just got my SR a few days ago...

 

Try ATI tool

look for the program called "ArcSoft Magic-i Visual Effects" in the start menu

If you did a search, or just looked around.. you would've found this
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=314233

and no you can't turn it down or turn it off

 

Tonythetiger, thanks for that black viper link. used that to stop quite a few of the services that I missed earlier.

 

Thanks for the reply but it seems I don't have ArcSoft Magicblabla in my start menu. How can i find it?

EDIT: Tried to find it in the Vaio restore center> restore programs and drivers. It isn't there. Somehow my laptop shipped only with WebcamCompanion and not with magic-i?

 

Thanks S.Prime
Sony didn't underclock this card. but Lenovo on T400 has.

 

Really?? that's weird...

 

Hey Tony, may i know wat program are u using to monitor the cpu/temp/batt ? Saw it in your taskbar.
Thanks

 

It's a program called RMClock
(link: http://cpu.rightmark.org/download/rmclock_235_bin.exe)
it's a pretty useful tool
you can also use it to undervolt the CPU and get more battery life out of the laptop
Check out the Undervolting Guide for more info (link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824)

 

Hi guys. I'm fully aware that this is a stupid question. I'm trying to register my SR and I can't find the serial number. Everything I find says 'on the bottom of the computer.' But there are about 5 different numbers on the bottom of my computer, none of which is labeled 'Serial Number.' I have two bar code stickers in the center of the bottom, one of which is just a number and the other of which is the Service TAG number. I presume it's one of these, but if someone could clarify I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

 

Hi Reader23 - it should be a 6-digit number... on my SR - it literally says "Serial No." Hope this helps.

 

Just thought I'd voice this little issue I have with my SR - basically, the keys DO touch the screen when the lid is closed and pressure is exerted on the cover. Think of the pressure as having your SR in a backpack, which is also filled with textbooks/notes.

I've resorted to placing the thin foam layer (that came with the notebook) between my keys and screen before closing up. It's kind of unfortunate but I guess that's the compromise for a thin screen?

 

Weird. I absolutely do not have a sticker that says that on the bottom of my computer.. that couldn't be because I bought it from a third party (Portable One) instead of Sony could it?

I have a black-colored sticker that discloses what's in the laptop; two white bar code stickers with very long numbers on them (one labeled Service TAG); and one Windows Vista Home Premium OEMAct sticker. Am I just not looking hard enough on one of these?

 

I have the exact same model as you, and the serial number is the one directly above the SERVICE TAG. I sent mine in for repairs once and that was the number they accepted, so it should be correct!

 

Boot the computer tapping F2 as it boots to enter the bios. on the main bios screen it shows the serial number.

mine serial is listed with the product code as the first part of the serial number: serial number: xxxxxxx-zzzzzzz

x = product code.
z = serial number.

 

Blah, I put the notebook on standby for 2 hrs and went to nap, and it drop 3% ._.

 

Wow that's a lot!
was the battery fully charged when you put the laptop to sleep?

 

dropped 3% or to 3%?

 

Haha, whoops. It dropped by 3%. I didn't leave it unplugged to time the remaining battery life, though. I left it hibernating the whole night unplugged, and it dropped 1%, so I guess that is okay.

 

a 3% drop while the laptop is in "sleep" mode is completely fine

computers are SUPPOSED to drain power when sleeping

 

But only 2hrs. Oh, well. Hopefully it'll stop draining if I put it on standby for 6hrs.

 

actually in my opinion
3% in 2 hours is very little..
you have no idea how many people had the battery drain problem with their SR190s
their SRs would drain like over 10% of battery 15 minutes after they put it in hibernation (not sleep, hibernation is not suppose to drain any power at all)

 

Thanks; I'll keep this in mind. I recall reading that they don't know if they can keep it on standby for a day and still have battery left to use at the end of the day.

Another question - how do you go about removing the extra stickers from the laptop. I have some warranty sticker on the front, and some advertisement stickers on the palmrest that I don't want. Just use my finger and scratch it off to peel it off?

 

Yeah, you can just peel them off, those stickers make the laptop looks really ugly..

If there's any sticky stuff leftover, just use an adhesive remover or alcohol to get them off

 

quick question , i have been using my sr's battery, just drained it all after teh first day, bt left t unused since, should i be putting it in before i use? because it read the sony booklet, and it said to always put in battery before use. I dont because i dont wanna over charge and cause my battery to die out faster. And on my first charge how long should i charge it?i read 12 hours is this true for the vaio?

 

Sony's laptops have Battery Care Function. It prevents the battery from over charging, you can set the battery to stop charging at 50%,80%, or 100%

I'm not sure about how long does it take to charge, probably whenever the orange charging indicator light turns off.. i guess

 

cause i googled the question and it said you should charge for for 12 hours on the first charge to get the iions moving or something.

How about the leaving the battery in the laptop, should i? or i should be fine not having ti plugged it when using

 

I'm pretty sure you don't have to charge for 12 hours.. that sounds like a method for older batteries..

You don't have to worry about it, the laptop will know when the battery is full, and it will stop charging
If you're gonna leave it plugged in most of the time, just turn on the battery care function. If you don't turn it on, the laptop will stop charging at 100%.

 

hmm i m looking for the battery care and its not here, i went to power management and its not there

 

go to VAIO Control Center and you will see it

 

yea i did, and it not there =[, the only thing i see is, power option, setting for behavior when closing lcd lid, and power management view, and all these are under the tab "power management" on the side, no battery care =[

 

You don't have it??

that's weird.. it sounds like Sony took off some features off from the SR290 series or something..
last night another member was reporting his SR290 is missing some power management features that the SR190s have..
and now you don't even have battery care?

 

yea i dont have that tab

 

I have no idea then sorry
maybe another SR290 user can help you out.

 

Its fine now, i went to sony support and downloaded the utilities and installed it again. Now its there, thank you sony.

Its cool, you helped me through all my sr crisis thank you tony

 

I'm glad it works now!
No problem, glad I could help

 

Unusual, my SR290 came with Battery Care...anywho.

I have noticed drain, albeit it minimal. 80% dropped to 72% over a span of 16 hours with the laptop fully shut down.

Has anyone done the Mobility Modder yet? I've done it, Catalyst Control Center says I have the ATi HD 3450 rather than 3470. Running newest cats, 8.11

 

8% is still a lot.. this means if you let your fully charged laptop sit there for about 10 days, it won't even turn on if you try to

Yes, I did and actually quite a few of us did
check out this thread for more info on the HD3470 in the SR
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=295866

it reports the card as HD3450 because you're using a desktop card driver, and there isn't a HD3470 for desktops