Official Vaio Y 13.3 Series Owners Lounge

to holzmann, I see the specs of the Y you purchased. I was thinking either upgrading from i3 to i5 OR upgrading the graphics. What was your thinking when you made the choice? Upgrading the graphics is a lot cheaper, and the i3 and i5 really seem to have no major difference except that the i5 has a turboboost function. (they both run at 1.2Ghz, until the turboboost kicks in)

Please let me know.
Thanks!

 

based on weber24601's post, does anyone want to post what brand their external optical drive is that was successful in making recovery disks?

Again thanks!
and happy Labor Day

 

hi,

does no one have any opinion on the palm rest of the vpcy1 compared to the vpcy2?

thanks

 

what? i oredered from amazon the samsung unit (the numer 1 in selling on dvd burners) i hope this unit can do the recovery disk...

 

I burned them on an old Memorex drive connected via USB.

I'm curious, what difference have you noticed?

I've had a Y11 and Y21, both US models in black. The Y21 went to a relative and I still have the Y11. The only difference I saw in finish or appearance was the trackpad buttons. The palmrests and everything else was identical as far as I could tell. Both palmrests have the same subtle checked pattern that's common across the VAIO line. Is the SU4100 model different?

 

Hi,

I had the Y11 and the Y21 as well both UK models in Silver. I returned the Y21 and kept the Y11 just like you. The UK models are different (the ones I had anyway both in the trackpad buttons and the palmrests). The Y21 doesnt have the subtle checked pattern like the Y11. I really liked the pattern so I decided to keep my previous Y11.

Also, I noticed that the U4100 processor in the Y11 was so much faster than the U5400 that came with the Y21 which I tought was wierd because the Y21 is a newer model - am female so dont know much about these things but thats no excuse seing as am 23 and have a degree in Computer Science but never seem to keep up to date with all these processors out there.

thanks for replying anyway.

 

I did exactly that.

I compared the i3>i5 upgrade price vs. specs (only turbo boost...sounds gimmicky to me)

AND

The Intel>ATI upgrade price vs. specs (big difference).

You should also keep in mind that more and more apps, like IE9 and FireFox4 will be GPU accelerated, making them more important going forward.

 

I bought the Sony DRX-S70U-W/W from newegg for $49.

I think it has since been replaced by this model. (This "newer" model costs $9 more, has the exact same specs as the one I bought, but has a slightly different exterior case.)

I used Vaio Care to make images of the recovery partition and burned them just fine using this Sony drive.

When I did my clean install, I just formatted C: and then partitioned it to C: and D: and did NOT touch the recovery partition at all. After installing Windows, I installed Vaio Care and re-installed a lot of what I needed directly from the recovery partition. I just have the DVDs in reserve should something happen to the HDD.

 

Mine seems to have its graphics fried. It started giving me a distorted screen on boot since this morning. I think I'm returning it to get a ThinkPad instead.

So... oh well. I guess this is my farewell to the Vaio Y Lounge.

 

Hi guys,
I was completely sold on the Vaio Y until I found out it doesn't have a dvd drive. I use the one on my current laptop quite often and to have to carry around an external dvd drive with my laptop seems really annoying.

Any suggestion for a laptop with a similar battery life, good quality screen of size 13 or 14, good keyboard and mouse pad, good overall built quality, good audio quality (if possible), same price or lower? Basically the exact same laptop as the Vaio Y but with a dvd drive heheh.

ASUS UL80Vt-A1 seems to be a fit but I hear the keyboard, screen and built quality isn't as good as a Sony.

I'm not sold on the toshiba protege either.

Any other options I should look into?

Oh and it would have to be available in Canada.

 

thank you holzmann for the posts. I was thinking of doing a clean install as well...but only have the windows 7 32 bit cd. do you guys know what the biggest difference between win 7 32 and win 7 64 is?

to: .Anthony.
before i bought the vaio y, I was heavily looking at the hp dm4t. it doesn't damage your wallet too much. however, i went with the sony because of the build design, and portability (didn't look thaaat much into specs because i'm not a heavy gamer).

 

Z series in "stamina" mode or S series with extended battery? I really think optical media will be a thing of the past soon. Do you really need your laptop to have a DVD drive? You do know you can rip DVDs to ISO files and run them off your HDD or pendrives etc very easily, right? I did need the DVD drive on my laptop a cuople of weeks ago, but it was probably the first time in years! I'm just not sure the extra weight and volume a DVD drive adds to a laptop is worth it these days...

 

Sorry, that sucks. Have you tried connecting an external monitor to see if the problem is the GPU or the display?

You don't need a separate copy of Windows 7. You can do a clean install from the recovery discs that you burned, or from the recovery partition.

First, if you initiate the recovery process, you may get the option of whether to install the value added software. If you get that option and decline, the recovery process will leave you with a semi-clean install consisting of OS+drivers+essential Sony utilities. However, that option may not be available depending on which model or which CTO options you chose.

If you don't get that option, then you can interrupt the recovery process after the OS + drivers have been installed but before any additional software is installed. Then you can install only the stuff you want from the recovery disks/partition. If you decide to do this, I can provide some general instructions.

 

thank you dmk2, I sent you a message asking for instructions. you can post here if you want, just didn't want to clog up the forum for other people.

thanks again

 

Exactly the first thing I tried. The problem persisted.

 

Hi all,

Recently bought the VPCY11M1E/S Vaoi Y series notebook and immediately began to notice a very uncomfortable high pitch noise coming from under the keyboard.

I found this site and tried a few of the suggestions (adjusting mic, etc) to try and fix, but had no luck. As I had gone on holidays just after purchasing, the returns time period expired and the shop (Harvey Norman) would not take it back and I had to contact the Sony repair centre.

They told me to send it in for repair and it is almost 2 weeks with them now. Initially, I was told it was not making a noise and that it would be sent back. I asked for it to be tested again and am now told the high pitch noise is present but it is within specification.

I am by no means fussy, but I have to actually switch the notebook off when I am in my office and change to using a desktop because it is giving me and others a headache. If it is sent back to me with this problem occurring, I will have to sell it on privately and buy another, which will cost me a few hundred more given resale values. I like the machine and have probably had 12+ Vaio's in the past, but now thinking this could be the last if I don't get it sorted.

From my call with Sony today, I am now expecting it to be returned untouched and was hoping other NBR members might have had more success than me getting it repaired by Sony (how?!) or fixing through some other means.

Would appreciate any help you could offer on this as I spent a day setting up this machine to our spec's and haven't used it for more than a few hours yet!! Thanks in advance.

 

is it common hearing a high pitch sound comming from the sony y series?

 

what softwares should be a must have on the vaio?? wha do you uses?

 

I tried listening for it last night after my wife went to bed and the house was silent. If the fan is not running and I listen carefully, I can hear a high pitched noise but it's very faint. It's also there on my VAIO F and my wife's work laptop (Dell), but with the fan always running on those machines I can only hear it if I put my ear up to the vent.

The noise I hear is not steady, it keeps switching in tone and level. Sounds like the "morse code" problem I read about in the F owners lounge. Disabling the microphone had no effect. The most likely culprit seems to be the processor in its lowest power saving states.

Is this the noise you're hearing, or is it more of a steady whine, like you'd hear from a bad HDD?

Fortunately, I have no experience dealing with Sony's customer service organization. But I would be persistent, press them harder, try to get it escalated, etc. Be a jerk if you have to.

 

Hi dmk2 - thanks for checking yours for the same issue. After 2 weeks in repair and 7-8 calls asking Sony not to send it back until it was repaired, it went from "there is no noise" to "the noise is present but within specifications" to "we have replaced a part number xxx & the unit is being returned repaired."

I received it back today and there is a worksheet with it, saying no fault was found. Then further down it says nothing can be done to stop or quieten the noise from this unit". I started the computer and it is exactly the same. The noise is intermittent, but when it gets going, it stays on almost continuously. It probably is the CPU/capacitor as it doesn't sound mechanical. It's actually in the next room right now & I can even hear it!

I guess it's off to the EU consumer centre to try get a refund arranged & then maybe I'll take a look at an IBM machine!!

Cheers.

 

I can't report any strange noises. The CPU fan spools up here and there if needs to but this sounds normal. If the fan is off and there is little ambient noise in the room then perhaps I can hear the HDD seeking a little but that is also barely audible.

 

Well, that sucks. If they can't quiet it, they should replace the MB.

 

Do PassMark CPU benchmarks mean much?

Here's a few bechmarks from this webiste:

- Intel Pentium M 2.00GHz: 503 (LG LW65)
- Intel Pentium U5400 @ 1.20GHz: 839 (New Sony VAIO Y)
- Intel SU7300 @ 1.30GHz: 977 (Old Sony VAIO Y)
- Intel Core i3 330UM @ 1.20GHz: 1235 (ASUS UL30JT)

I don't know if theses values mean much but if they do mean something, they keep me away from the Vaio Y.

For starters, the difference between 839 and 503 is not that appealing and I know what I'm getting with a CULV but those values make feel like I probably won't notice any difference (or maybe I will, maybe 4Gb of ram instead of my current 2 with a slightly better CPU makes a difference).

Secondly, it seems that the old Y was better than the current U5400 model, which sucks because as I've been saying, there is no other model than the U5400 where I live. I really hate the fact that there are different sub-models for different countries, it's just stupid. This is not a third world country for god's sake... Although I don't understand the values since I've seen around that the U5400 should be better than the SU7300 because it's built around the same technology as the new i processors but I don't get it.

And just recently I found out that Asus is selling the UL30JT with an i3, which seems much better than all others. I'm afraid that the U5400 or even the U7300 is not enough and that the i3 may be.

Also, the UL30 is about 60€ cheaper than the Y, slighly ligther than the Y and much better battery life. It seems an easy choice doesn't it? The thing is, I'm not every fond of Asus, my grilfriend has one, some friends both had Asus and currently still have (different ones though) and I don't like them. They tend to break easily as the construction is not that good (IMO), the keyboard is a little bit weird and touchpad doesn't seem to work very nicely (this is my experience on my girlfriend's laptop which is a U30JC, not a UL, not JT, but a very similar model). The Y is so very well designed and the construction feels solid.

It's a tough choice... Cheaper, better specs, more battery life ugly and not that solid construction against lower battery life, lower specs, more expensive but beautiful and solid construction?

I'm undecided... :/

 

i'm loving it!! great laptop!

 

Will the i7-640um cpu be offered in this laptop?

 

You'd think! Contacted the retailer on Friday who told me to bring it back that day, then on arrival wouldn't refund/replace Eventually, they agreed to take it & give me a refund. Now looking for a replacement and as I have been looking around, I still would like the sony but am worried similar models might have the same problem.

Looking at this one at the moment - anyone have any experience of noise with the Sony model & is it much bigger than the Y?

Sony VAIO S12 L9E/B / Intel Core i3 330M 2.13GHz/ 6GB / 500GB / DVD-SM / 13.3 inch / Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit / Laptop / Notebook / Black - Computing at Play.com (UK)

Thanks.

 

what is the resolution of the webcam? i think its too low.. how can i readjust it?

 

I just found the previous Y model for 680€ ($887 USD), do you think it's worth it? Is it really faster than the current model with the U5400 and has more battery life? It's a very good price and if it's better, I must consider it against the Asus...

Would really like to hear an opinion on this...

 

i'm experiencing a problem with my new laptop:

the problem is with the battery (the small one) and my laptop its VPCY2190x. It has small sound coming from the battery bay when you shake a little the hole laptop. Its like the battery doesnt correctly fit onto the bay, or like if it lost any supplement that help correctly fit the battery onto the bay and make 0 movements.
please i appreciate your answer to this topic.

thank you.

 

Are there any tricks to keeping the CPU fan from spinning up?

I really like this computer when the cooling fan is off. When the fan is on, I feel like the fan should be quieter. The CPU shouldn't need to be doing much while I'm sitting here typing this post. I've selected the power saver options and paused the Norton software, and the CPU activity is mostly below 5%. But still it spins up...

P.S. I posted earlier asking advice after the guy at the SonyStyle store said I needed a Sony brand DVD burner to make a recovery disk. I can now officially report that this was nonsense, my old HP burner worked fine.

 

I've had VAIO Y models with both the SU7300 and the i3-330UM. I never noticed any difference in performance. I did see that the i3-330UM scores about 25% higher in 3DMark, so perhaps there would be some difference in gaming, but I didn't play any. Subjectively, the performance difference between my old laptop with a Pentium M and the Y with SU7300 or i3-330UM is a lot more noticeable.

There is a review of the Y with U5400 and it scored about the same as the SU7300 version in PCMark 2005 and a little faster in 3DMark06. So I doubt the older model will be faster. I think if you want something that performs noticeably better than a U5400, you need to look for one of the Turbo-boosted ULVs (i5 or i7) or a full voltage processor.

I can confirm that the older SU7300 model does get better battery life than the newer i3-330UM model. For productivity & general web use with the screen dimmed to 50%, I saw something like 5:45 with the i3 model and 6:30 with the SU7300 model.

The VAIO S is available in Best Buy retail stores here but without the GeForce graphics. It's very close in size to the Y; same length and width, but 0.5 lbs. heavier and slightly thicker in the middle due to the optical drive. The keyboard and screen are identical to the Y as far as I can tell. Both models use the same battery, so naturally battery life is a lot shorter on the S. The fan also runs a lot more/faster on the S. Those are the trade-offs of the full voltage processor.

If you want a well-made 13", you may also want to look at the Thinkpad Edge 13 (ULV) and Toshiba R700 (full voltage). The Edge 13 is basically a carbon-copy of the VAIO Y, though I think the Y is a better executed design. The R700 is lighter than the Y and a bit smaller even though it has an optical drive and larger capacity battery. It also comes with a choice of full voltage processors, but only integrated graphics. I don't know how it's priced there, but here in the US the low end config (R705) is cheaper than the VAIO S. I almost got an R705 instead of the Y but the keyboard wasn't as good and it runs hot.

 

Yes, the battery fit is a little loose. It's a common issue for Sony laptops. I put masking tape on the battery to take up the slack and now it doesn't rattle.

The Y is the coolest, quietest laptop I've ever used. The fan turns on and off periodically during normal use. In a cool room placed on a table, it stays off most of the time. In a warm room on my lap, it runs more often. But unless you're doing something that requires 100% CPU for an extended period of time, the fan speed remains fairly slow. With every other laptop I've used, the fan always runs and usually spins up a lot faster when you're doing something CPU intensive.

I'm guessing here, but I suspect that you're noticing the fan on the Y more because it's shutting on and off. If it was just spinning away at a constant speed, you'd quickly get used to it and not notice it anymore.

 

questions removed.

 

I'm not looking for something that performs better than the U5400 per se, I'm jus trying to figure it out what's best for me given what I have available here and their prices.

So, the U5400 should get similar resulsts as the i3-330UM, around the 5:45 mark right?

If you were looking to choose a replacement to your Pentium M and you could pick between the U5400 at 800€ ($1043.44 USD) and the SU7300 at 690€ ($899.97 USD), which would you go for?

 

That would be my guess.

No doubt, given that choice, I'd get the older model. The U5400 has the newer Intel integrated graphics, which does have some advantages. But unless you're going to be using the Y as a home theater PC, I don't think they're significant. I'd rather have the Hyper-Threading features and slightly better battery life of the SU7300. And if it's 100€ less expensive, that makes the choice easy.

I didn't mean to sound like I'm arguing with you. I just didn't want to get hung up on the small differences between the SU7300/U5400/i3-330UM when the gap up to a full voltage Core i or down to a Pentium M is much bigger.

 

No, I already have a fixed HTPC at home, I might watch some HD movies when I'm not at home though, but I'm sure the integrated graphics on the older model can still handle 720p/1080p movies, even YouTube ones, right?

Sure, I understand there's a big difference between a full voltage Core i and a Pentium M and I'm not looking for a powerful machine but I don't want something that isn't faster than my current Pentium M.

I think I might go for the older one instead but I'll see if I can return it in case I'm not satisfied. I'm still not convinced if the processing power of a CULV (or at least this one, maybe an i3/i5 would get the job done) is meant for me, I really need to take such a machine for a test drive, hopefully I can do that.

 

Hello. I apologize if this has been asked before but I am extremely perplexed. I am in the market for a new notebook and I'm extremely confused by the Vaio Y pricing. It seems almost scammish.

VAIO Y Series PC | Sony | SonyStyle USA

What is it with the VPCY2190X model?? Why is it so cheap? It is cheaper to configure a machine more powerful than the prebuilt! What is the deal?

What exactly is different with the VPCY21EFX/V?

$533 after shipping/tax for the base model, which IMO, bests an Acer 1551 or Toshiba T235, in just about every area is a steal. Can that price really be true?!?!?

My main use for this machine beyond casual computing would be outputting 1080p local files, flash and hopefully Netflix HD to a TV. I believe the IGP solution would be fine for all of that. Not sure about the i3 + Silverlight Netflix video though.

 

I believe it was a pricing error. Hope you were able to put in an order and that it gets shipped to you.

 

Product: US-VPCY1290X-LBOM
Component: Adobe Bundle (Free - $448 value)
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Component: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-800
Component: Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)
Component: Standard capacity battery
Component: No Engraving
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: Intel® Core™ i3-330UM processor (1.20Hz)
Component: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD
Component: No Mobile Broadband Built-In
Component: Black
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Component: 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Per Unit Price: $489.99
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $489.99
Description: VPCY2190X Configure-to-Order
Ship Method: Expedited
Estimated Ship Date: 09/30/2010
Product: VGPAMC1
Per Unit Price: $24.99
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $24.99
Description: VAIO® Notebook + AC Adapter Case
Ship Method: Standard
Estimated Ship Date: 09/21/2010

Are you saying I made out like a bandit if this gets shipped? The order went through and is processing... though the ship date changed from 9/30 to 10/18.

 

I'm crossing my fingers too. I opted for the i5 and so far, it still has an estimated ship date of Sep 29. Sony had me call them and this was the email I received. I had no choice but to call since it indicated in the email about the risk of cancellation. The nice lady on the line, told me she only wanted to confirm whether I did put the order through. After I confirmed the order, she said I'd be receiving yet another confirmation email from Sony, which i haven't.

---------
Thank you for your recent order at SonyStyle.com.

We attempted to reach you at the telephone number provided on the order, but we were unsuccessful. Please contact our Consumer Protection Department at 1-866-301-9749 as soon as possible to discuss your purchase.

Your order may be cancelled or returned back to the Sony warehouse if you do not call us back to confirm your order.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

SonyStyle Consumer Protection
[email protected]
---------

 

Just got a cancellation order. Called and was told the product is no longer available. Good luck to those who ordered the stock i3.

----
This is to inform you that the below item(s) on your order has been cancelled due to the following reason:

We are currently unable to advise you of an estimated ship date
----

 

The Y21 CTO model now shows Out of Stock on sonystyle.com and the Ready to Ship models have disappeared. Looks like a model refresh is in process.

 

Isn't too soon for a refresh of the Y series? I could try and wait but I'm not sure it's going to take the same time for that refresh to show up in this side of the world.

 

In France (in whole Europe I guess) Sony now sales a new "Y22".
The only noticeable difference is a new red color, same price and apparently same hardware.

 

I wouldn't call that a new model then, it's just a new color...

 

It is unusually soon. However, the F and Z series are also being refreshed at the moment with minor updates.

Or, maybe there's no refresh and a supplier problem is causing a temporary backorder.

It's hard to know what's really going on. But if there is an update in process, it's likely to be very minor.

EDIT: No Y22 on the US web site, but the Y21 CTO model just appeared again. It's backordered until 18 Oct, and black & silver are the only color options available. I guess the old lid colors weren't very popular.

 

Hi guys,

I'm deciding between Acer 3820TG and Sony Y-Series. Sony is more expensive and slower, but better build quality and its Sony. Hows ur Sonys ? Should I pay more and get Sony or risk it and go for Acer ? btw, I want atleast 5:30-6hrs of battery life, can I get that with Sony, with like 50% brightness, wifi on, web surfing and MS Office ?


Cheers.

Sony: Sony VAIO 13.3" Intel Core i3 - 330UM Laptop (VPCY216FDB) - Black - Future Shop Exclusive - Future Shop

Acer: STAPLES | BUREAU EN GROS

(use postal code of: v6l2a8)

 

The lowest that unit went for was $749.99 during the customer appreciation FAN sale I believe. At $799.99, it still sounds like a good deal.

UM Processor is for longer battery life but it's not any more potent than the regular i3.

 

So should I consider this over the Acer Timeline X with cheaper price and better performance ?

 

You pay for what you get. Without a doubt if I could afford it I would go for the Vaio. And if I couldn't, I'd save up and continue with my current laptop, which at least I know works! Sorry but all the people I know who have bought Acer laptops have had terrible problems from the beginning, I decided a long time ago never to touch them! My experience so far with the Y has been very positive, it just works, and as soon as you pick it up you know where your money is going. It just feels much better than any other laptop I have used.