Official Vaio Y 13.3 Series Owners Lounge

Yeah, seems that a lot of the comments are comparing it to the air. Is the integrated Intel card that bad?

 

That is nice! Can it still do external HDMI at 1920x1200? What is the weight now?

 

It depends on what you're going to use it for. For web, email, watching videos, it works fine. For gaming you'll be very limited.

I wouldn't compare it to the Air unless the prices are similar. Hopefully more details will come out soon.

 

I have a desktop (Radeon 5870) for gaming, so that is not an issue. Can it play 720p and 1080p video files though? That would be my main concern.

 

I also have another question. Does simultaneous multithreading reduce battery life by much? If so, is there a way to disable it in the BIOS? I remember the P4s had a big issue with it causing a lot more heat and power consumption. Thanks

 

Hey guys I was wondering if its possible to replace my atheros card I have in my Sony Y laptop with an Intel 6200 or 6300. Anyone have any experience with this. I tried opening the laptop to see how many antenas it has but I am not able to get it open fully. Any help for this. Thanks

 

Intel Ultra Thin: CULV Arrandale Boosts Performance and Reduces Size - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Read the first comment on that page.



As for multithreading, I wouldn't worry about it. On the P4 it was hyperthreading, one core pretending to be two. The P4s were power hungry with or without hyperthreading turned on. In the current generation of Intel processors only the i7 series have hyperthreading. There is no power problem with hyperthreading in the current processors that I'm aware of.

 

The i3 330m has multithreading (Intel calls it hyperthreading), here is the page at Intel. I remember reading somewhere that turning virtulization and hyperthreading can give you a little bit more battery life.

 

My mistake, I was going off of an older Tom's article. Do you have a link?

 

Power Consumption in Real-Time Threaded Application - Intel® Software Network

This is the first thing I found. Yes it uses more power but it gets the work done faster. Eye balling the area under the two lines, the total amount of energy used isn't all that different.

 

A link for the i3? I has provided it. As for the whole hyperthreading=worse battery. Sorry, just from memory. Came here to clarify.

 

The Sony Y is equipped with an i3-330UM, not an i3-330M. Totally different (though on that specific matter both have multithreading).

 

Oh, my bad. Amazing what a difference one letter makes. Is there a large difference?

 

Yes.
i3-330 is for desktops.
i3-330M is the mobile version (less power consumption but also less powerful).
i3-330UM is the ultra mobile version (even less power consumption but also even less powerful).

You can see the benchmarks for yourself here: Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Apparently the 330M is about 35% more powerful than the 330UM but draws twice as much power.

 

Hi to All,

Just returned my Toshiba Portege R700 and picked up this baby! Absolutely love it. It has the best keyboard I have used for a long time (even compared with my previous laptop - Thinkpad T400).

It looks amazing and considering the price I've paid for it (£499 @ Play.com) it is one of the best purhases I've made this year.

 

Regards to battery life - it's awesome. It lasted more than 6 hours with screen brithness turned down to 50%, wifi on (bluetooth and 3G off) firefox 10-15 tabs open, word precessing, music...

 

I am a little disappointed in the performance of the i3. I know I am comparing it to a dekstop i7, but I was hoping for a little bit more performance. The computer can run everyday tasks fine, but it struggles with Minecraft. I was hoping this computer would have had enough power to run it, since the game isn't that challenging. Facebook chat also seems a little bit laggy, but it's acceptable. Any opinion?

 

Stopped reading there.

 

Well mine has SU7300 which is from an old generation of C2D, but I have no issues on any programs I throw at it ( Photoshop, Office...). On the other hand, first thing I've done with this laptop was a clean install of win7.

 

Well aware that it won't compare to the i7, but the fact it can't run a simple game was a huge disappointed. Not a dealbreaker by any means.

 

Seems to be an issue with the Intel GMA more than the i3, also it would help if it had more power. I also did a clean install of windows 7, Sony puts way too much bloatware on their machines.

 

Make sure you're running games with the power setting set to max performance (or whatever Sony calls it). Facebook chat lag, however, shouldn't be happening at all with that processor.

 

Shall I get a Y now or wait for the 11.6" Y?

 

Which size do you prefer? As far as I know, they are the same internally.

 

I know for many hrs of viewing, 13.3" is better. 11.6" is great for travelling.

Is it easy to change out the hard drive on the Y?

 

Well, the 13 incher is not large either dude. It is quite small, just up to a personal preference. The HDD is easy as hell to replace, just pop open a tab in the back and the RAM and HDD are both there. I plan on putting an SSD in mine soon. It is also quite the looker.

 

There is a difference in 13.3 vs 11.6

But I dont know about 4 lb vs 3.5 lb. I dont feel a difference there.

 

I find the cheapest black Y for $749 but it got the 320gb hd. It got the 4% cashback from FW. Thats the lowest I can find.

 

yeah, totally just down to personal preference.

I think 11.6" is too small for me. The keyboard will undoubtedly be more cramped.

But hey, if you already have a larger desktop/laptop, go for it.

 

Will the SonyStyle store have any specials for the holiday season you think?

I think I'm ready to buy one of these. Just wondering if I could save a few bucks by waiting for Xmas sales.

 

Of course they will. I remember after we bought my brother an SR in Nov 08, weeks later Sony was giving away something with purchases.

 

You guys know for sure the 11.6" will have smaller keyboard also?

I still remember Sony giving away a choice of extra battery, travel cord, etc etc few yrs back.

I now got the SR and about to get the Y. So are there any steps on how to install the drivers from a retail W7?

 

I'm thinking it probably will be at least a little smaller, but I could be wrong.

Another thing to consider... I think the resolution is the same as for the 13.3", which means everything in Windows will be smaller. I'd probably have to just up to the higher DPI settings in Windows if I got the smaller one.

 

Has it been confirmed that the 11.6 Y will have extended processor options (i3/i5/i7) and GPU options as well?

Or will they be sold pre-configured with just i3/Intel GMA?

 

hello, I'm very unhappy with sony service. I have problems with the webcam (hardware ones) and they want me to run a full factory recovery!

 

LOL Maybe they got Foxworthy service?

When is the 11.6" Y coming to USA?

 

I’m pretty livid with Sony’s “customer support” too, one of the rubber pads on the base of the computer (next to the battery) has fallen off the 6 month old Y series laptop I bought my girlfriend. Now the laptop wobbles when typing. I contacted Sony and rather than apologising and offering to send me a replacement for free (as they should, because the laptop is under guarantee), they are trying to sell me one!!! This is pretty bad, but the biggest insult is the price, 26,51 Euros (about 35 USD)!!! Yep, that’s right 26,51 for a crappy piece of rubber that costs next to nothing to make. They really know how to annoy their customers! I was planning to buy a Z series for myself but this incident has really put me off... What would I do if I got a more serious problem with my Z series 6 months down the line?

Anyway, I’m obviously not going to pay that. Does anyone know where I could buy a spare? I’ve looked on ebay but no luck so far...

Thanks in advance!

 

I took a quick look at prices of sheet rubber from which you could cut out a replacement and you're better off paying Sony (begrudgingly). For example, sorbothane is about $25 for a small sheet.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but no way! Worst case scenario I'll just buy some rubber pads from a hardware store and stick them on, or get some for a different model and use them... Or even just rip the left hand one out so that it no longer wobbles... There's no way Sony are getting any more money from me though!!!

 

Question:

Has anyone tried running a VM (virtual machine) on one of these? I'm thinking of upgrading to the i5 processor and getting 4 or 6 GB of RAM.

Just wondering if these ULV processors can handle virtual machines without annoying slow downs. I'll probably use VirtualBox or something, but I'm thinking I may be asking too much of this little laptop.

Thanks

 

Just ordered one of these with the i5.

Is it me, or did Sony just drop the price on these?

They have 2 different model number Y's on the site, one starting at like $550 and another at $700.

I ordered the Y with 4 GB of memory and the i5 and it came to under $700. I was expecting to pay more than that. Maybe I screwed up and ordered the wrong laptop, lol.

Model Number: VPCY2190X CTO

 

They absolutely did. At a glance it seems they dropped about $200 off the price from a few weeks ago.

I was about to get mad I haven't waited but the price I paid on TigerDirect a few weeks ago is on par with the prices on Sony Style today - only downside is I couldn't configure the laptop. Also I wanted to have it in time for my 11-hour flight tomorrow

 

The CTO, I didnt see any mention of any bluetooth. Can anyone confirm?

Can anyone confirm the HDMI can do 1920x1200 monitor?

 

I'll let you know in about 2 weeks. That's the same size monitor I have.

I was wondering about bluetooth too. I couldn't tell if they just dropped the regular Y price or if they came out with a cheaper version, perhaps dropping bluetooth and one or two other things.

Either way I just bought the damn thing. At less than $700 with an i5 and 4 GB of RAM I just thought what the hell.

 

they have a sale until the 18th, so you just saved about $250 =D

 

Finally see Sony come down in their prices.

There is going to be a 11.6" Y coming next year right?

 

I thinks its already released in the Euro...not sure when its coming to US..im trying to decide between the S and Y and I was 90% sure of going with the S but now that the Y is on sale it just made things more complicated =/

 

yeah, I had to make the same decision.

I already have an i7 Dell desktop which is a bad a**, so that made me more inclined to go with mobility over power in my laptop.

I think if I only had one computer I'd be inclined to go with the S.

 

I am starting a new job in January and its a small company and my boss is very careful with the money so my computer must be as cheap as possible. I have a 4 year old Vaio at home that I am very pleased with and want to continue using Vaio at work.The Y21 model can be bought cheaply in Sweden at the moment but I am a bit concerned if its good enough to make my happy. I really hope this one will work out for me because I don't want my boss to end up buying some crappy Acer for me.

It will be used for browsing the net, word, outlook, ftp transfers and spotify.

The only multitasking will be ftp transfers, outlook and spotify. Will the Y21 handle this or will it freezes and annoy the hell out of me?

 

I've been looking at the Sony Y for months because it is the only notebook I've found that fulfills all my requirements: under 4 pounds, discrete graphics option, Core i CPU, and ExpressCard slot. I actually pulled the trigger a couple of months ago when there was a price mistake. My order was cancelled and I received a discount code which I never used. Now that the price has dropped again, to the same level as before, I think I might jump in. Does the upcoming 11.6" model also have an option for dedicated GPU and ExpressCard slot? If it does I want to wait as I'm sure it will be lighter.