Official Vaio Pro 13 Owners Lounge (SVP13 2013)

I came across the post bellow on Sony community yesterday. Basically some people complaining that the only suitable resolution available for the laptop's screen size (16:9) is 1920x1080 and that one cannot reduce it to e.g. 1366x768.
Is there any likelihood that Sony might change that? I am the only one who experiences discomfort at the native resolution? It is the first equipment that I buy with this screen size, working with a 24" screen at work and my previous laptop was 15.4" (with a resolution of 1280x800).

CountrySelector - Sony

 

Hi

Has anyone any good experiences with the webcam on the Pro? My daughter's is very noisy and cartoony. It has been that way from day one and didn't improve when installing Win 8.1. Today I noticed that the driver was a general Microsoft driver from 2006!!? And I'm quite unable to find any Sony drivers. This can't be right! The Exmor cam is supposed to be low noise but this is much worse than her old Eee PC with a much older camera.

What drivers do you have?

 

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You can set it to 1366x768. What I have done is set the scaling to 150%. On the resolution page click "make text larger", then click "let me choose one scaling level". Select 150%. Then on your browser select zoom of 100%. This gives readable text on everything I have looked at.

Good luck, Jim

 

Just wanted to stick a quick update
While the wifi issues were not all that evident to me...it started to more recently. Not throughput but disconnections.
I ended up doing a full clean format and reinstall (again). It's been 8.1 since it came out for MSDN so a while...

Anyway, the problem remained and I think it was only evident because before I didn't do much downloading and streaming but recently I have and so it shows.

Solution? Well in my case, I followed another guy on here who upgraded the card to the 7260-AC. Did it on Friday, ran it all day Saturday without any issues. Decided to do another full format/install due to some other issues with restarting/shutting down and it freezing. Still running very well and much better.

The only thing I lost was that in fixing the freezing during restart/shutdown was that in the second format, I installed something that got the power led light to turn orange on standby. Funny thing is when it was stable (the first format), I didn't have it then either so whatever brings the orange led on is what caused the issue with the freezing.

 

Just an update on my Pro 13. After upgrading to Win 8.1 my wifi has gotten worse. At 25 feet from my AP, with the wireless icon showing a full five bars, it usually won't connect to the Internet, or if does connect to a web page, it won't connect to another page. But, if I install a Netgear USB wireless adapter, everything works perfectly. Anyway, I called Sony Tech Support. After explaining the issue, Tech Support said to send it in for repairs. They gave me a work order number and said take the Pro 13 to a UPS store in the Sony box and UPS would pack it in a shipping box and put the correct shipping label on, and ship it to Sony free of charge to me. I wonder if this indicates that Sony has a hardware fix for the poor wifi performance? Tech Support made no mention of providing a USB adapter as a temporary fix.

Regards, Jim

 

Seems to work fine for me: my sheet battery still reads 80% as it did before I put my Pro13 to sleep an hour before.

 

"Finally, the refreshed VAIO Pro and VAIO Duo models, which we previously reviewed, will be available in early April."


CES 2014: Sony refreshes laptop line, shrinks VAIO | The Journal News | lohud.com | lohud.com

 

Can't find anywhere what has changed, can anyone?

 

"The company also announced plans to refresh its lineup of laptops and hybrids by shipping them with Windows 8.1 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 12."

This is all that was mentioned in the article. Maybe a fix for the terrible wifi?

Regards, Jim

 

"The VAIO Pro 11 and 13, VAIO Tap 11 and VAIO Tap 21 models will include 802.11ac next generation wireless connectivity technology for Spring."

 

Hmm... Currently thinking about getting the Vaio Pro 13 of the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro as both are roughly the same price on sale right now ($999 for i5, 128GB SSD, 8GB RAM Vaio and $1069 for same spec Yoga). I don't mind getting a USB WiFi dongle for the few times I'll need it (it may give better reception in poor areas anyways). Guess I should pick one up to try it out as I already bought and returned a Yoga due to bluetooth issues (though I found another fix last night that I didn't try so was going to buy it again to see if it helps).

Definitely prefer the weight of the Vaio though not crazy about the flex. Definitely prefer laptops that are more rigid but no laptop meets all my needs without spending much more than I'm willing to spend.

 

So I've already got a refresh model, coz I upgraded to 7260 AC by myself

 

Does that fix all your wifi issues? I was wondering if it relates to antenna design, drivers or the wifi chip?

 

is the non-touch FHD option on the Pro 13 100% matte with no reflections and IPS? if so, how's the quality of the panel.. sharpness, brightness, color accuracy and saturation?

 

I just ordered mine on 2014/01/03. I wish I had held out until today now with the new option of adding the ac card! Hopefully they'll be more willing to fix the wifi now if I run into issues...

 

according to Sony's press release at CES, the AC card option won't come until the Pro series gets refreshed in April.

 

Any chances Sony will implement PCI-e SSDs for refreshed European models?..

 

If anyone's interested I found User Guide for updated vaio pro 11 and 13, model numer starts with svp1322 so taking into account that premature leak of svp1322 with i7 4650u we can safely assume that spring refresh will give us new CPU's and new Wifi card. IMO good move cause the design itself is top notch, hopefully they tweaked the cooling system for higher efficiency and lower throttling.

 

"premature leak of svp1322 with i7-4650u"?

Regards, Jim

 

can I use a keyboard cover? I read it somewhere that the gap between the keys and the laptop is to help increase air flow. is that true?

 

What a plonker I have been.

I decided to clean my screen and at the same time under my sheet battery which has never been removed since day one.

There to my surprise on the underside of the sheet battery was a little slot for keeping the removed battery connector lid safe

It took me 20 mins to find where I had stored it safely LOL

 

Does anyone know if the Vaio Assist when it's switched off (Vaio Rescue Mode) is tied to a partition or can I ditch all the partitions and still ensure it works?
I was keeping a couple of the stock partitions like the recovery and what not but feel that now that I know I will never be going back to W8 from 8.1, it's actually no use keeping them and I do have a backup of the recovery somewhere.

What I don't want to do is lose the vaio recovery mode part. Just can't figure out whether it is part of a partition or whether it's part of the BIOS

thanks

 

the assist button still works if you delete it. at least it did when i decided to delete the partition. but i think the partition has stuff other than the recovery part. since when i deleted, i lost like the sony specific video enhancements/rapid wake and random stuff like that. then when i put it back, all that stuff comes back.

 

I meant this leak discovered by bobthebee.
It clearly shows core i7 with 4650u CPU and model number that starts with svp1322.

 

OK, thanks. I missed that.

Regards, Jim

 

Hello
I ordered a vaio pro 13 with 8gb, fresh start , English keyboard, 500 gb ssd drive with sheet battery during the Canadian sale on the sony site. Very excited to receive it except for the wifi issues that dampen my spirit. Preparing myself for needing USB wifi adapter or computer guru to replace wifi card.

My post is to request if there is a summary of the steps I should take to get my factory fresh vaio pro 13 to most optimized and up to date state that will help maximize the wifi and all other performance? Make my life easier when I get it. I can't read all 268 pages of forum now. And when it arrives I'm going to want to set it up fast and get playing!

Firmware.? Drivers? Upgrade windows 8.1?

I'm holding hope they have done some change that has fixed the wifi with newly built machines but it doesn't sound like it. But I have heard some say they are happy with wifi and whole computer in general, so I hope I might get lucky. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for this forum
Julian

 

Hi I just used the recovery media to do a clean install ish mainly to get rid of some of the bloatware Mcfree, mainly then I used the Vaio update

Sony posted this Sony eSupport - Windows 8.1 Update Instructions and read this https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/43726/c/65,66/

Personally and around many hotels, airports etc I never have had wifi issues and my sons who have Macpro/air's get no better connection than I

Regards

 

Many thanks for your reply. I'll explore these resources and follow your suggestion for getting my new vaio up to speed once it arrives.

And thanks for giving me some hope for a positive wifi experience.

Regards
Julian

 

This WiFi issue is a bit like an open wound don't poke it and it won't bleed

It seems there is some concerns on distance signal strength compared to some other laptops (not all) so move your router, move closer, use a dongle or return the SVP and move on IMO

As I said personally in all the areas I have tried I have not had any worse connection than any other laptop. The very first July/August laptops did have a problem with disconnecting this is long fixed

There are a few out there that have genuine faulty units but these are few and far between the rest of the complaints see subjective to local conditions and expectations

 

Just wanted to add my experiences to this discussion. I'm an IT professional so have seen and used nearly everything that's out there.

I've had a pro 13 for about 5-6 months now and have found it to be an excellent machine.

It's thin, light and powerful enough for most things you would want on this type of laptop.

Immediately after getting it I deleted all the partitions on the drive and clean installed windows 8.1. After a bit of faffing with drivers I got it all to work as it did out of the box

I have had no problems with fan noise and have seen no issues with my wireless. I took it all round asia recently and it connected fine to everything I could find. I had some phantom right clicks at one point but that turned out to be driver issues.

I would recommend this laptop to anyone.

I guess some are unlucky and have wireless issues but I would advise a clean reinstall of everything.


Also, a small newsflash - Nearly every IT/tech product on the market has flaws/things wrong with it. This isn't going to change any time soon so it's best to just get used to it.

 

Ditto and well said if everyone who has no problems posted we would have a few more pages than 269 to read

It's strange, out of interest I read the last 20 or pages on the Sony forum and the number of users who complained they got a free dongle just because they were dissatisfied then simply complained more where an Apple user would be shouting the praises (re get a free case for a faulty iPhone antenna)

This is exactly why reading these forums gives a distorted perspective on problems, simply buy your lappy on 30 days return and make a truly informed choice and use these forums for self help as they were intended

 

yeah i have wireless issues with my second pro 13. the first one i had, no problems whatsoever. but i had that whining noise above the keyboard that progressively got worst. MS store gave me a brand new unit as a replacement. this is new one i have is solid, completely silent. but the wifi sucks. i get like 50% the speed right off the bat, sitting only 8ft from the router. it connects and everything fine, but the speed is horrible. and this is with me connecting to the 5ghz network. if i connected to the 2.4ghz, it would be more like a 70% decrease in speed.

i don't want to try to warranty it again, so i'm just going to use it like it is for now, at least until april. when the refresh comes around. and if i find any issues. i'll just upgrade to the new ones. if nothing else fails, i'll just upgrade the wireless card to the AC one and hopefully that solves it.

 

My sympathies but it sounds more like a driver problem than a hardware one, FYI I only use drivers and updates from Sony no other external ones

Is it the same on all routers ?

 

With computers there are so many variables that can lead to something now working right (lol, esp if you talk wifi which then you add infinitely more variables). So it's amazing anything works.

The many consistent complaints that are posted to the net are helpful and constructive to some degree in that it may suggest there are common problems people are running into. We cannot dismiss that and having such forums helps us all try to find solutions. Sometimes there is no real problem but just hysteria from the suggestion there is a problem (I'm not saying that's the case here, just saying theoretically this happens). E.g. If I'm told there might be a problem I'll over analyze and be overly sensitive and something I might never have noted will then seem like a problem.

But hearing the other side of things that there are perfectly satisfied people with a product is also helpful because there is potential the product CAN be great and so not worth dismissing the product completely. It can also help us normalize our expectations to find satisfaction with our product.

So both views are helpful in this forum as long as people respect that some might be perfectly happy (yeah for them!) but it doesn't mean others don't have serious problems, so we have to keep trying to learn from each other's experiences because sharing them may lead someone to find a solution (often we discover solutions working from both what is broken and what seems to be working as it should, having both sides to test).

I post this simply to say thank you to all for your posts and encourage the ongoing positive attitude. All experiences if constructively and thoughtfully presented help the community, and hopefully we can respectfully and constructively continue working together to make our shared experience with our vaio pros the best possible .

Sorry I didn't really have anything more solution based here...I just was struck by the great posts recently that were so opposite in experience, but all valuable.

 

it's not a driver problem. it's a fresh win 8.1 install using all of Sony's drivers. out of the box, it already had this symptom including not being able to maintain the connection. but i was hoping a fresh install with new driver's would remedy the problem. what it did do was make it so that i can maintain the connection. but speed is dismal.

yes it's happening on all routers.

like i said, my first unit, no wifi problems whatsoever whether it was speed or range. and i'm using it in all the same situations. clearly there is some defect with some of the intel wifi cards. bad batch probably.

 

The flexiness of the keyboard and sheet battery: I wonder if some of you who use the sheet battery can tell whether the keyboard flex is diminished, by the insertion of the battery under the base of the machine? I have tried to get an impression of how the looks from looking at some published pictures, but have not got a definite or clear impression. And I think that those of you who often use the sheet battery will have some direct experience with this, so I ask you. Does the sheet battery make the keyboard less prone to be flexed during regular writing or other using of the keyboard? Does it so to speak "stiffen up" the keyboard in some degree?

 

Hey guys, my BIOS is still R1040V7 and I am on Windows 8.1. On VAIO Update, there's a BIOS update available to get to R1043V7, is it safe to update from Windows 8.1 even though it says it must be installed before the Windows 8.1 update?

 

You should download R1043V7 BIOS from sony support. I updated it after win 8.1 update and works fine.

 

I received last week my new SVP1321C5E ordered from Sony.de, as local Sony here imports only i5 4Gb and 128 SSD. Updated it to Win 8.1, installed the drivers and software from Sony support and works fine. I'm very happy with the choice.
The only issue is that it came with German keyboard and I asked the local Sony service about replacement with US keyboard and their score is EUR 230+VAT. )

Any advice on this?

Kind regards

 

I think it helps reduce flex a little bit. Mind you, I haven't removed the sheet battery off my Pro13 ever since I got the battery months ago. Note: To be honest, even before I got the battery, the flex didn't bother me, so I never really paid attention to it.

 

Thanks a lot for this very optimistic answer! I don't think the flex will bother me either. Can you please also tell me about how your Vaio Pro is regarding fan noise?

 

there's no keyboard flex really. unless you're like hammering away at the keyboard super hard or something. fan noise is normal for a laptop/ultrabook. it only gets loud if you're doing something intensive. but for light/medium duty, it's pretty quiet.

 

You can change the settings of the fan and make it quieter: go to Vaio Control Center/Power and Battery/CPU and Fan. You can choose Performance or Standard or Silence.

 

Fan noise is pretty quiet; not loud for me. Mind you, I don't play games or do too much other intense CPU work, so it's usually quiet. As others have stated, it only gets noisy if you're doing serious number-crunching.

 

Since updating the bios to version R1043V7 (from R1031V7) the fan runs constantly on a very slow setting, even when beeing idle on the Desktop Before the fan was shut off most of the time during the same usage. Anyone else noticed it or am I imagining things?

 

I bought today my sony vaio pro 13 svp1321m2eb
My sony vaio update shows that there is nothing new to install. Is this true or there is something wrong with this program. How can i check what is going on.

 

I really hope that this is not the case with the updated BIOS. Anyone else who knows? It is a big advantage and a natural "state of affairs" that the fan is off and therefore completely silent during very little usage or when idle.

If the new BIOS is activating the fan at all times, can it be modified, so that the fan only is activated when the temperature reaches so high a degree that it is necessary that it is running?

 

the fan doesn't come on all the time for mines. it acts just like normal, only comes on when it's needed.

 

Hi, I was trying to update Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless, Version 16.6.0.8 but got an error 0xA0011000(5). I have sony vaio pro SVP132190X. Also, I updated my bios to R1043V7 but it still listed as red at my vaio update. Help pls