Official Vaio Pro 13 Owners Lounge (SVP13 2013)

this is ridiculous from sony USA , you can install it within 8.1 like I did today without any problems (sony japan nor sony asia write this statement )

 

Thanks for the reply. I know the model I ordered and it says the same everywhere (box, computer settings, VAIO care info, etc.) but the model written on the bottom has to be a model number of something. I don't have a sheet battery (the extra battery pack, if that's what you mean) and I thought it has an internal battery. Has anyone opened and accessed that? How?

I googled SVP132A1CM and could find this quoted to be the model number on two review sites, one was in Norwegian language and assumed that Sony had different model numbers for different countries. I am worried that if I ever need to send it Sony when under warranty they might accuse me of tampering with it because of this different model number on the back.

 

I received mine only a few days ago, came with Windows 8 not 8.1

 

Man ,mine has the same model number at the bottom this general model number that mean the available configuration , the actual model can be found under the sheet battery connecter even if you don't have the sheet battery just remover the cover of the sheet battery connector to find your actual model number (it's a small black plastic rectangular at bottom of your laptop ) trust me there is no problem with your model number . If this helped you please click "like"

 

Careful! This is NOT for ALL MODELS. Check the support site for your specific model to get the newest bios. For example my model (SVP1321J1EBI) does not have a new bios yet.

 

This is an Intel HD Graphics feature that saves battery. you can disable it in graphics options.

 

All vaio pro have the same bios but your model is uk version and the vaio uk always has some delay to show new update but the US one can work without any problems .

 

Um, no. Yoga and ATIV 9+ have the pentile display with the yellow issue. Sony does not use this type of display so no issue.

 

Hi,
long time reader, first time poster
Recently I've bought SVP13 with i5/8gb/256gb PCI with non-touch screen which means matte carbon finish and after 2 weeks of using it I really love it. I ordered customised version from sony so before I got my dream machine I read the whole discussion, all 250 pages, so I was prepared for first configuration and now comes my first impression short review.

1) Package
I have to say, when I was unboxing svp13 with my father it truly gave impression of luxury device. Nice packaging, soft material in which the device was laying was gave very nice impression, rest of the packaging was typical carton box. Nothing to complain about

2) First look
I love the matte finish! Like with matte car paint, it just looks so much better. It may give false impression of inferior quality but when you touch it you know its something different, apart from that it is extremely light. I really appreciate how light it is, it makes it so universal. Right now I'm sitting on my bench with sony on my legs listening to some music and without my arms on the keyboard it would be as if nothing was lying on my knees

3) WiFi (finally, I know you've all been waiting for this )
After installing all updates I haven't encountered any kind of dropouts, up to -60db the signal is fast and stable when the signal gets lower it starts to behave strangely but I can still easily browse internet even though speedtest.net shows strange results. Hopefully it's not hardware related and it's not because of those interferences between USB3.0 and WiFi card I've read about and it still has something to do with software tweaks. Can't say anything about extreme range cause I still haven't got my sleeve so I tested it only in my 80sqm flat. When the signal sits around -50db I finally get my maximum internet connection with pings as low as 8-9ms.

4) Fan noise
Right now as I said I'm sitting on my bench running on battery with 3 cards open in IE11 desktop, playing some music through WMP and running IM in background and I can barely hear the fan running on normal mode. Haven't yet tried silent mode, but when I open AC: Brotherhood the fan starts to spin like crazy

5) Battery life
I activated extended battery mode and don't charge the battery higher than 80% and now after 2.5h of moderate usage (internet, music, IM, some light spreadsheet work) I used 40% and it shows me that I still got 2.5 hours of battery life, that means that with 100% I'd easily get more than 6 hours of battery usage, more like 7 hours.

6) Keyboard
I'll say only this: very accurate and very nice to use. Nothing more needs to be said. Up till now I was mostly using comfort keyboards and wasn't a fan of laptop keyboards but this one is very nice and no it doesn't bend that much. After reading all those posts about bending keyboard I was really afraid but even now I don't really notice any bending, maybe because I'm light but fast typer.

7) Touchpad
It work's quite well when properly configured. One thing I noticed, when the sensitivity is set to very high I get phantom touches every 1s, so I had to set it to medium sensitivity but still works very good. With palm detection deactivated it works very well on the whole surface and even multi touch gestures work without bigger problems.

and for the final

8) Screen
What can I say, it truly blew me away! When I launched 1080p version of The Dark Knight Rises I was truly impressed - very nice colours, black blacks and very good clarity, due to winter outside can't say anything about it's behaviour in the sun

Verdict:
I love it and will probably stick with it until some better version of vaio pro comes in few years

If you have any questions just ask and I'll try to answer them.

About that BIOS update, do we know what it fixes or improves? Most of those things that are written on the US site were already available with previous updates.

 

This program will update BIOS to version R1043V7 and will resolve the following symptoms:

- System is unable to resume from Standby when connected to an HDTV.
- BSOD error due to Samsung 8 Gigabytes memory.

Source:
BIOS Update version R1043V7 : Download : Sony Asia Pacific

 

so I just updated my BIOS, but it still marked red in my Vaio Update. When I download it again, it said my version is up-to-date. Help pls

 

Same here. Looks like some weird bug with the R1043V7 update, but everything else seems fine after upgrading to Win8.1.

 

Don't worry, it's updated. Launch your Vaio Care, click Help on top right window then version Information. It will display the latest firmware version installed on your machine.

 

Does anyone has a solution to the problem above?

 

Just update to latest baio from here BIOS Update version R1043V7 : Download : Sony Asia Pacific

 

Hey everyone, I was interested in buying the Pro 13 i7/8gb/256gb, but I saw everyone was having issues earlier on regarding fan noise and wi-fi. I was wondering if this issue has been solved yet or still remains to be a problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also, if you could choose again, would you keep the Sony Pro 13 or go with a Asus Zenbook UX301?

 

As stated in the problem statement that I have already updated to the latest R1043V7 BIOS version and the problem still persists. Actually, it worked once but then after that it does not work any more. Does anyone know what is the source of the problem?

 

I got mine 1 months ago with same stats and it works fine for me. I had a wi-fi issue, but after updating to windows 8.1 it no longer exists. I would keep Sony for sure.

 

I have mine for almost 3 months now , I never faced any problem with this machine and I bought the sheet battery yesterday , it's really a great machine , and for zenbook I will buy the vaio pro again for sure .

 

Thanks for the quick response! I'll be pulling the trigger after hearing this. Thanks for easing my mind. I would hate to purchase something to not like it in the long run.

Gotta say, I love this website. I've been lurking around for a while & I have to say this one of the best sites to get information from regarding laptops. Everyone seems informative and friendly. Thanks again!

 

Hi Guys

quick question, does anybody know if it's possible to return a customized vaio pro. I would like to buy one but I want to have the chance to return it for full refund in case I don't like it.

Thanks

 

you're barking at the wrong tree

call sony dude

 

if it s customized you can t return it.

 

Where did you get that info?

I was informed it does not matter what you are ordering - you got 30 days to return it.

 

I tried to return mine, and i remembered when you place the order it says somewhere that if it s customized you can t return it. I don t know where you live, maybe you have other policy.

 

Canadian Store Return Policy:
"EXCEPTIONS TO OUR REGULAR RETURN PROCESS-
For all Customized Computers (CTO) sales are considered final. We offer exchanges or repair on defective CTO models within 30 days only. After 30 days please contact 1-877-899-7669 for repair assistance."

I believe this exception applies to Canadian Store only, don't find it in US or UK store.

 

I had this same problem - Unknown USB device.

Found this on the Intel site. Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver — Where is Intel® USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller driver for Windows 8*?

Bottom line - I opened Device Manager, saw some Intel drivers under USB, uninstalled them, scanned for changes, and seems to have fixed my newly appearing Unknown USB Device problems, which appeared (I think) after upgrading a Pro 13 to Windows 8.1.

 

nope - my fault - inadequate testing.

uninstalling does nothing, those Intel drivers keep popping back. But, I bet the root of the problem is tied up with that behavior...

 

Anybody with the sheet battery has a problem that the battery percentage stuck some times , like it stays on 40 % for an hour and then drop to 5 % directly ?? is this normal ?? any suggestions ?

 

I have a pro 13 running on 8.1. Recently the vaio dies completely when I disconnect the battery charger and will not start up until the charger is reconnected.
When running- the battery icon shows plugged in charging but is stuck on 64% The battery condition is good. How do you fix this?

 

Reset your battery.

Press and hold down the(Power) button for more than four seconds and make sure the power indicator light is off. Disconnect all cables connected to your VAIO computer, such as the AC adapter, and push and hold the battery off button for three to five seconds with a thin, straight object (such as a paper clip).

Wait about five minutes and then put all cables back in place and turn on the computer again.


Here is the location of your battery reset button:

 

there is a smal black rest button under the extended(sheet)battery connector cover , just press it and tell us if this helped you !

don't forget to click "like" if I helped you !

 

Hey everyone, thanks to your responses, I chose the Pro 13 and should receive it today. Do you guys have any advice/tips/pointers I should know about it? I'd look through the thread, but 259 pages is a bit much lol. I'll be wanting to use Windows 8.1 if that's an important detail.

 

Anyone experience high sleep drain on 8.1?? I lose about 10% or so overnight.. seems high vs previous ultrabooks i've owned.

 

Had the same problem but when it was shut down. It was the USB charging that caused it. Turn it off in vaio control center.

 

Thanks wiclee and hamud. Battery reset has worked and everything is back to normal.

 

anybody with sheet (extended battery ) has a battery stuck at random % while discharging ?? like it's will stay on 80 % for an hour and then go to 45% ?? the problem just with the sheet battery and no problem with the internal battery ??

 

Thanks for the suggestion, just tried it again, and lost 7% over 7 hours of sleep. 1% per hour still seem high?? Or am I just expecting too much. My vaio duo would only lose 2-4% overnight and Haswell's suppose to be even more power efficient.

 

I think 1% per hour is normal in standby mode. If you want less maybe try hibernate? I usually don't use it since it boots in 5 seconds anyways.

 

Merry Christmas guys! Sony is the best!

 

Hamud - Can you try and Power cycle your Vaio?

1. Shutdown Laptop
2. Unplug Power cord
3. Hit battery reset button (only once to turn off the built-in battery)
4. Press and hold Power button for 30secs.
5. shutdown Laptop
6. Hit Battery Reset button to turn built-in battery back on; then connect the sheet battery.
7. Plug in Power cord
8. Press Power button to power on Laptop

Now test to see if this helps.

 

I'm having a problem where the wifi on my VAIO Pro 13 just dies after a few minutes. I have to toggle the airplane mode on then off for the wifi to start working again. I thought Sony already ironed out all the issues with the wifi on this model. I guessed wrong...

 

I have the SVP1321C5E without touchscreen. Had many problems before Sony, Microsoft and Intel released their patches aswell as Win 8.1 (got mine before 8.1 was out but upgraded to 8.1 when I was able to).

Now I only have a few "problems" left. .

• 
  Screen bezel is loose on the bottom part (gapping a bit), giving a low quality impression when inspected closely.

• 
  Doesn't recognize my kingston USB3 16GB flash drive (neither in win8 or win 8.1), I get the classical "drive not recognized" error, and it works fine on my other computers.

• 
  Sound can be scratchy when audio is playing at the speakers, especially while increasing the volume at some audio source.

Lastly a problem which may not be relevant to many users but Blu Ray ISO files doesn't play well (yes updated all drivers + programs). In VLC (videolan) player the video stutters a lot. Sometimes not to begin with, it may take 3-5 minuttes before it starts. Once stutter starts it wont end. In Windows Media Player or Video (W8 Tiles App) the same BD .iso plays back smooth with zero stutter. But then the audio source is mute. And subtitles aren't accessible. I think the problem is related to quicksync and VLC player. I did a ton of researching on this without finding any solution. I know VLC player has quick sync video codec , but its not working for me.

 

Update the firmware on your flash drive.

 

Hi everyone, new to this thread. I have read many of the 260 posts here and some other reviews. It seems that there are two significant problems with the Pro 13. First, I have seen many complaints about poor WiFi performance. Second, I have seen many complaints about very loud fan noise. Either of these issues would be a deal breaker for me on what otherwise seems to be a great ultrabook.

Can someone summarize what the consensus is on the Pro 13? Is it worth the cost given the effort it seems to require to use it in comfort?

Thanks for any advice, Jim

 

The only effort is upgrading to win 8.1 (from 8) and installing all updates and drivers. Which is essentially the same you have to do on any notebook.
Most information about wifi and fan noise here is outdated except the last few pages.

To summarize:
-Fan noise is non existent except during high load but still not louder than any other ultrabook.
-Wifi is stable but on weak signal it's a little slower than others, on very low signal you can't connect.
-Best ultrabook ever.

 

the only issue i've seen from Wifi is when it's on battery, and there's power saving turned on. It works as well as all my other laptops if it's always on maximum performance.

 

Do I understand what you do? You replace the 7260N adapter with a 7260AC adapter, but continue to use b,g or n wireless from your router?

Thanks, Jim

 

I've had my Pro13 since July, and after making some suggested tweaks from others on this forum, it's been running fine.

 

Hi I would like to buy the sony vaio pro 13 256 GB, please help wheather is it ok to purchase, as many are saying that it has a wifi issues.