Official VAIO SR Series Owners Thread

Edit: already reported

 

Hey everyone, I am trying to boot from the windows 7 dvd but I have no luck so far. I have gone to the bios setup and made the optical drive the 1st priority when the computer starts up. After numerous reboots, the computer keeps booting up to my vista OS. The windows 7 dvd is shown as being in the DVD RW Drive (G and I have also noticed I have a HD-DVD ROM Drive (F but that does not contain anything. COuld the computer be trying to boot from drive f instead of drive g? I only have one physical optical drive on my laptop.

 

Are you sure Vista DVD is bootable?

 

It probably isn't a bootable dvd, so I went for the custom install option on the disk.

I have Windows 7 installed but I have a windows.old directory with all my old files there. Is it safe to delete that entire folder? The folder contains, perflogs, users, program files, program files(x86), and windows.

 

Anybody know how long it takes for the windows 7 upgrade disc to arrive?

 

Got mine yesterday 10/29 so I guess that makes it about a week?

 

This is strange, I received my Windows 7 upgrade disk package this past Wednesday from Mentor Media. Today I receive another windows 7 upgrade disk from Mentor Media again. They sent me the same thing twice, but with different windows 7 product keys of course. I guess they must have some mix up at their shipping facility.

Anyone else experience this?

 

dang so there are unique cd keys for each copy?

 

Ya, different keys for each copy.

 

Hi, I just bought the SR59VG- it's great. But I want to put an SSD drive in it. The laptop didn't come with a Windows 7 disk though, so how would I go about installing windows onto the new hard drive when I get it? Sorry if this question is ridiculously elementary!

 

For a new user, your questions are very important.

Since Sony doesn't ship "Recovery discs" in box, you'll have to make them. After your first start, "Recovery Disc" notification will pop-up. (If not then open "Vaio Recovery Center" and make recovery discs.) It'll guide you through whole process. You'll need 3-4 DVD discs. (Not sure about Win7)
*Make sure that you use high quality DVD's cause these discs will be very important.

After making Recovery Discs, remove your HDD as it was said on the Sony Manual. (Search for it)

After inserting your new SSD, insert the recovery disc number 1, and select the Option which partions your drive. (I suggest you to choose this option.)

Reason is after Restoring your new SSD will same as the old one. (Win7+Recovery Partion)

Is here any wrong thing? Guys?

 

Thanks for your reply. Shame Sony doesnt just give you the disks in the first place. I think ill give it a go though

Can I use an external hard-drive rather than DVDs for the recovery?

 

Yup. Also please don't format or destroy your HDD came with Vaio, just in case.

 

Good advice! Thanks

 

Really good call on not formatting the original HDD ilovevaio. Something to keep in mind for all of us when/if we ever change our HDD's.

 

yeah sony does not provide recovery discs anymore. They are trying to cut costs by not including paper manual or discs. Also their build quality has significantly decreased over the years. My $800 vgn-B series from years ago is way better build quality than than me $1300 vaio sr

 

Has somebody seen SR recovery disc in Sony parts center?

 

What is the difference between the SR41 and SR51?

Only the small CPU-update?

 

That is correct, and the fact that the 5xx series comes with windows 7 pre-installed. (nothing major unless u want that new cpu.)

 

Sony's changed up the whole of the rest of the Vaio line-up except the Z and SR. Anyone know if new models are on the horizon?

 

Not really. Sony has only updated the different models with Windows 7 OS, nothing else in terms of design or hardware has been changed (apart from the new X of course).

This applies to the Z and SR.

 

I've been shopping for a laptop and really liked the size and look of the SR, but I'm a little discouraged because I couldn't find reviews on cnet or pcmag.

I'm also confused because I found it at Best Buy for $899.99:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...8124203998&skuId=9556269&st=vaio sr&cp=1&lp=1

And when I enter these specs in the Sony website the price comes out much higher. This is weird because I always had the impression that Best Buy was overpriced.

I just wanted to get general opinions from other users because I've been told that Vaios are overpriced and unreliable. What have your experiences been?

I am also curious about the difference between/meaning of model numbers, the Best Buy model is VGN-SR520G/B and I'm wondering if there's something faulty with that model and that's the reason why it's cheaper.

 

Configure to order is usually more expensive, I'm guessing, because they have to individualize each order according to the parts and stuff the customer wants, wheres preconfigured models in the store are premade in large quantities and shipped out.

Model numbers, I can tell you VGN is the standard designation for notebooks. SR is the style. The number is for the different revisions (eg I have a 290, and they have 390/490/590 and 520s). Not sure what the letters are there for, probably to designate particular features of that model.

 

I had install Windows 7 RTM few months ago.

Now that the real Windows 7 is out and Sony had their official drivers, I want to start over again with Windows 7.

Is it worth to do over again?

Where are the steps on what to install first? I remember there was a link somewhere.

 

You installed RTM or the RC? If you installed RTM, that is the real Windows 7. Just install any updated drivers from Sony.

 

I've been having two major issues with my laptop, just curious if anyone else has:

1) whenever I resume from hibernate, the internet craps out. doesn't matter if its wired or wireless. I can temporarily restore the internet by disabling/reenabling the network adapter, but I always have to reboot if I want to work permanently

2) all my USB devices stop responding after some random period, whether it be a few hours or a few days. doesn't matter if the USB is connected to the laptop or docking station. issue also happened before I even got the dockign station.

I'm using an SR430 with Win7 Enterprise 64-bit. I just did a reformat this weekend to try to clear up the issues with no luck. Installed all the drivers from Sonys site to be safe. Did not install any of the extra programs (e.g. control center)

 

What are the differences between SR51 and the SR59 besides the stronger cpu.
The price gap between these two versions are about 300€ !

Now that the CW disappointed me with its screen, the SR51 really interests me a lot because it still cost under 1000€ and has a decent screen and decent hardware enough to play some older games.

 

is it worth it to upgrade to the highest version of W7 so you can select the fresh start option? (I dont have the time nor patience to do a fresh install)

 

I want to remove the optical drive from my SR to reduce weight and increase battery life. Has anyone done this? The problem is: I'd need a spacer to cover the opening. I guess I'd need to make one. Seems extreme. I wish Sony offered a swappable 2nd battery for the optical drive, like the ThinkPad does. That would rock.

 

How is the build-quality of the SR5X-series?

I read that the older models didn't have a good one, especially it wasn't really buckling resistant cause "cheap" plastic was used.

 

I think its same, if you're looking for better build go for a other Vaio model.

 

Why am I only getting 2:15 battery life on my SR? I've tried two batteries, and I've tried XP and Vista. This is with WiFi off, brightness down, 4570 under volted (via powerplay), and CPU at 780mHz.

 

Just decided to return my hp DM3 today and pick up a sr with the t6600 and 4570 in it like it a lot so far

 

I'm debating on battery life for my computers, just wondering, what kind of battery life are your SR owners getting? Also, under what conditions?

 

If you want good battery life, go for Apple who has its hardware optimized for the OS, or a netbook that runs 7+ hours. SR normal battery is around 3hrs +/- 30min with my typical use in lecture halls.

 

you could get the 9cell battery, but it will set you back your quite a bit

 

I get about 2:30 on mine. That's with wifi on, brightness at 50%, no undervolting or anything. This is with power saver mode chosen.

I wish I could get more, like the claimed 6hrs on the Sony website

 

Don't know about you guys but I stated this before;

Wifi on, BT on, brightness at 50%, active web surfing with microsoft word open too (taking notes), undervolted, power saver mode, ATI powerplay on, ODD off, SD/MS reader off, Expresscard off, iLink off. I got a maximum of approximately 4 hours and 16 miniutes before it hibernated.

 

Just wondering how long it took those of you with custom VAIO SRs to receive it.
I've been waiting around 15 business days and Sony hasn't responded to my e-mail yet. (and I had express shipping)

 

How did you undervolt your computer? And what is ODD?

 

You can undervolt using RMClock (search it). It will let you limit the maximum clockspeed, also. But there is huge voltage reduction like we used to be able to for the old Pentium M CPUs because Intel sorta prevented us from doing this now. ODD probably stands for optical disc drive.

 

how do you turn off the disc drive, express card and all that

 

I have the same P8700 processor and laptop specs as you except I have the 7200 RPM hard drive.

I am assuming your highest multiplier shown in RMclock was 9.0x. What was the lowest voltage you set it to and still maintain full stability?

Did you go on and adjust the index of 3, 2, and 1?

 

Under 9x (tweaked 10x really to get 9.5 to obtain full clock speed in registry editor) - 1.000V
8x - 8.750V
7x - 8.750V
6x - 8.750V
SuperLFM - 8.750V
IDA - Turned off.

 

Thx for the specs, how did you tweak it to get 10x? Also, i'm assuming those voltages are .8750V. I am using RM clock v2.35 but it won't let me change VID below 0.9875V.

So far I got this with 9x at 1.1625.

 

Hehehe, yea 0.875 volts. It's odd why you can't go below 0.9875... As far as I know, VID is locked according to the CPU and since we both have the cpu..... eh no clue...

But anyway; to get 10X (really 9.5) on your highest multipler, do...

Start > Run > Regedit > HKEY Current User > Rightmark > RMclock > PStatesData > On the 3rd row (should start as 0010 09....) change the 09 to 0A.

Make sure you do this with RMclock closed!! Once you do this, reopen Rmclock and boom; 10X.

 

Oh yeah, just to share some results.

Under idle conditions,
CPU idles at 31/26C (Core 1/Core 2)
Motherboard idles at 35C
HDD idles 34C

Under stress conditions,
CPU max at 54C
Motherboard ~ 40C
HDD ~ 35C

 

I followed your steps, but once i restarted RM clock, i got the BSOD. How do I get into RM clock and change VID without getting the BSOD?

 

you wont get more than 4 hours ish, dont bother crippling your system anymore

 

I agree, but in my situation, I currently get about 2.5 hrs on a full charge. I would like to get approx. 4 hrs.