Official Y series 11.6 Owners' Thread

I saw this 11.6" laptop on display at Microcenter store today!

The keyboard is not cramp at all. I got big hand and can palm a basketball. However, 1/3 of my hand is sitting on the OUTSIDE edge of the keyboard. Its too short for me.

The screen is small but tolerable. If I put IE at 125%, then I am OK with it. 10.1" screen is painful to me.

The laptop is light. It feel very plastic all over the place. It is easily scratch. The sound is normal to me. No worst than other laptop but I think it will too loud in the library.

 

Whats a good SSD to get for this Y? The Kingston V use as much power as the hard drive that is not worth it on any laptop.

 

Hi chong,

I'm thinking about getting this laptop and was wondering if you could provide the site where you can get the laptop at that price. thanks.

Also, Fry's has it (VPCYB15KX/S) for $550 with AMD 1.6 GHz duo core, 4GB, 500GB HD, with win 7. Is that a good deal for this machine?

 

Go google j&r. Remember mine is a 2GB and 320gb hd.

 

When I get my Y tomorrow, I am going to install 64bit OS on it. I wonder how many things it will not pick up.

I remember when I have the Sony SR, there is a program where you can get modded Video drivers from the manuf and install it on your Vaio and it would work. Does anyone remember about this program?

 

Thanks for the swift reply! However, there is only a $50 sony gift card for opening cc. What am I missing?

 

Many many mths ago, they had it for $200 when you open a cc.

 

You guys are not going to believe this!

I install W7 Ultimate x64 and Windoz picks up everything after doing the first UPDATE !!!

It install the ATI Video driver too.

So far I have verified that sound, wireless, ethernet port and SD reader is working. I dont see any Bluetooth installed.

 

I just could not get the bluetooth to work. I install 2 times and it say successfully installed, but I dont see it and I cant find it. The webcam software did work.

If I cant get bluetooth to work, I am going back to 32 bit OS. Wish Sony or anyone can help me.

 

Do you have the SmartWi utility installed? If so, I think it defaults Bluetooth to off, and then you won't even see the devices under Device Manager.

 

Another review-

Sony Vaio VPC-YB1S1E/S Netbook im Test Sony (Sub)-Netbook mit AMD-APU auf notebookjournal.de

Google Translate

 

I could not get this thing to install. I think I have to go back to 32 bit.

Maybe we should let Sony know that we need 64 bit drivers.

 

The fan does come on alot and more than I like. How about you? (I wonder if SSD will help. Trying to get one).

The power adapter is small and light. So are the cable. Wish all the laptop comes in this light weight.

 

Chong, the Intel YA15FG version of the laptop comes with Win7 Home Premium 64-bit, with the Foxconn-T77H114-BCM2070 driver for bluetooth, which should be available online.

 

The YA is almost silent in all modes of operation - I can feel the fan blowing air out the left side but nothing major, and I cannot hear much. Currently planning on getting SSD as well, which one are you planning to get? I'm still undecided.

Totally agree with you on the power adapter! Small and light, perfect for taking to work everyday. What's your battery life like?

 

I just did an install on 32 bit and it work out ok on W7 Pro. I think I know what to do now. I am going back to 64 bit again. I think you need to install something later after doing an install of the BT.

I am getting any SSD that has lower power consumption. Be careful some SSD run power like a hd. I can only get a 60gb. Not much $ for anything else.

It does feel like a small jet is taking off. It is running all the time even w/o doing anything. I have not yet do the battery test.

 

I given up install x64 on this machine.

I am back to 32 bit. My 4th install since yesterday.

You can try and let us know how you did.

 

My fan is always running on and in middle setting. Is this normal ???

I did a voice chat test on Skype and the mic pick up the fan noise of the laptop! Did you all notice this?

I am connected wirelessly at 150 mbps. My 1+ older Vaio SR connect at 250 to 300 mbps. I dont see any settings for me to tweak. What setting did you do to get it up?

 

I never know a 4 cell laptop battery can last this long. My screen is 60% bright and I am wireless. I been in and out and I am looking at 4 hr of life.

 

Can you all download a program call Speccy by Piriform. Get the portable version.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy/builds

Go View - Option and do Imperial for deg in F.

Click Motherboard on the left and it says the temp is 133 deg F! No wonder my fan is running all the time.

Do you have the same thing?

Seems like I am the only person on this forum.

 

I would also like to know how others laptop is performing. I am soooo close to pull the trigger on this vaio!

Chong, thanks for providing us with your experiences, it really does help hearing a review from a regular user rather than review sites where they almost never seem to report shortcomings of laptops unless they are totally obvious.

Personally, I am in search of a lightweight laptop that I can do basic but essential tasks such as read books/journal articles/email/web browsing/powerpoint/pics/video/etc. However, I need something that is durable and lightweight that doesn't cost 1K. I have a sony vaio (13.3 inch) and have been happy with it so I'll go with this Sony Y.

Any other vaio Y owner's wanna share their experiences so far?

 

I'm getting this laptop tomorrow according to Fedex and I will be happy to do a mini-review by the end of the night for you guys and answer any questions and pretty much do anything you guys want me to do with it to help your purchasing decisions. I'll play back any video you guys need me to run on it if you have a sample and I'll be glad to post pictures and video since I have my iPhone 4 and a Canon G3 to document my findings.

Watch this thread tomorrow and I'll have something up and take any request you guys throw at me.

 

Yes, thank you. Can you go back 1 page back and get the portable version of Speecy and see what your motherboard temperature is? Is your fan always running in medium setting?

 

My motherboard temperature is between 52-54 degrees C. I don't see where the fan setting is on this program so please inform me.

I like this laptop. It feels solid but the keys on the right side throw me off a bit but they will just take some getting used to. HD Youtube works fine, plays 1080p videos without a hitch if you install the latest Flash. I would recommend that nobody install Firefox 3.6.X on this though because it lags more than any other browser, while IE9 and Chromium blaze on just fine.

My only caveat and its hardly justified since the laptop is so small is that the speakers have very little bass. It has a plasticky kind of sound that isn't TOO tinny and it is good enough to hear voices but definitely not music unless you want to hear what sounds like headphones amplified with paper cups. The iPad 2 actually sounds better than the speakers on this laptop, to give you an idea.

I'll be using it throughout the rest of the night since it's raining like crazy and I'll post more thoughts as I go along and yes, the offer still stands to anybody who has a question and I will do anything to answer even the most nitpicking question about this machine.

EDIT: One thing I've also just noticed is most people WILL need to buy an external mic because the onboard mic picks up ANY sound even at 50% volume. It picks up not only the fan noise but also the sound of your finger swiping the touchpad!

 

Thats 125.6 F to 129.2 F and mine is around 132 F all the time. I guess this is normal? Anyone else have the same temp number?

I am going to put in a SSD and see if it helps with the fan. Still waiting for a sale.

You can hold F2 when it boot to get to the BIOS. I dont see anywhere where you can do the fan setting. This is just too bad.

My dad has a Gateway 17.2" Gateway and the fan is always on and loud as this laptop. But my Sony Vaio SR fan is not this loud. Maybe this is my complaint as I am not use to it ???

If you try to resize the window in and out you notice a lag on the borders.

I dont expect any bass out of any laptop speaker. The sound is just normal to me as other laptop. I have it connect to a external 2.1 system. Yes, the microphone pick up the humming sound of your fan! LOL I use my bluetooth mic n headphone like for your cell and it works great! I thought the mic is to the left of the webcam. The webcam is grainy and its the same as any other laptop webam.

Other than that, I love this laptop. It is light, not a finger print magnet, no DVD drive(I think DVD drive is useless) and new for $250 after giftcard, I take it. And battery last 4+ for me. Only 2+ hr if I had it connect to a USB webcam and all voice chat.

 

The Core i3 version (YA15FG) maxes at 46C (113F), with multiple <generic video website> tabs open, music player, huge spreadsheet and several IM chats open. Then again, the YB comes with a dedicated GPU which will push up the heat output, and I know the older generation AMDs ran hotter than their equivalent Intels.

The fan is almost silent, though you can hear it whirring if you listen very hard. It is almost as silent as the Pentium-M ULV in the Vaio TR-series, and much, MUCH quieter than the SZ4 series, which is notorious for the noise they produce!

 

@chong67 From personal experience, here's what I have to say about SSDs and this type of laptop.

Here's the deal: if your lowest Windows Experience Index score is your CPU:


WEI scores for the Sony YB

Which it is-then your system is limited by the CPU. This means that adding an SSD won't speed things up all that much because the CPU is the component that's keeping the other components from performing at their maximum potential.

I tried this with my HP dv2 which has the same situation in the Windows Experience Index scores and my boot time went from 50 seconds to 40 seconds with a SLC SSD. I didn't really notice much of a performance boost other than that. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it, but from past experience with machines like this limited by their CPU I don't think you will see very much improvement.

I just don't want you to be disappointed when you discover this like I did.

There are two types of SSD, SLC and MLC. SLC(Single Layer Cell) SSDs are slower and cheaper than MLC(Multi-layer Cell) SSDs.

Also one other note I'd like to make is that the HD6310 is an integrated graphics card. Quote from notebookcheck:

 

Ajnauron, what about SSD to give more battery life to the laptop?

The HD6310 is a integrated graphic card and it use the CPU processor and memory?

I did not want to have a faster processor then it lower down the battery juice again and most of the time, my computer just sit idle.

At least this graphic card can do 1920x1200.

 

I put a SSD in my 13" Y and my experience was the opposite. When the computer was new, it booted in ~70s. After doing a semi-clean install, it booted in ~50s. After switching to a SSD, it booted in ~20s. The improvement in responsiveness was dramatic when doing disk intensive things like launching programs, file management, installing Windows updates, clearing browser cache, etc.

The relatively small improvement in boot time you saw may have been related to certain start up programs, anti-virus, or maybe there is some BIOS or driver setting that is holding back the performance of your SSD. The slow CPU will only hold back other components when doing CPU intensive things. Booting, launching programs, etc. are not very CPU intensive. They are generally disk limited with a HDD, so you should see major improvements with an SSD.

BTW, I think you have SLC and MLC reversed. SLC is generally more expensive, faster, and more reliable. It's rarely used anymore outside of expensive "enterprise" drives where the concern for reliability is greater.

 

Thanks for all your comments.

I will see for myself when I get a SSD. I am only going to get a 60gb or 64gb SSD. It will be at $100 or less.

I wonder if it will help with the fan thing.

 

@dmk2 You are correct about the SSD MLC vs SLC, but my point about CPU limited laptops and SSDs still stands. Even if you have the old Vaio Y series, your system is graphics limited not CPU limited. Look here:


Sony Vaio Y 13.3" Windows Experience Index scores

We're not talking about the 13.3" Y, we're talking about the 11" YB. Not the same laptop. So in your situation as your system is not CPU limited, I would expect you to experience a good increase in boot times, which you did. You proved my point.

 

The WEI scores are just relative rankings to compare your system with others. Performance limits are totally task dependent so you can't just look at the WEI scores and say that one thing is holding your whole system back. For example, you say my system is graphics limited, but that's only true when playing games. When not playing games, it's not limited at all by the Intel graphics. When editing large photos or transcoding videos, it's CPU limited. When booting, launching programs, or searching files, it's disk limited.

In my experience, your suggestion that you need a fast CPU to get the benefit of an SSD is generally false. I've found SSDs to be great performance equalizers. For general productivity use, they make slow ULV laptops with SSD storage more responsive than fast i7 models with HDD storage. For example, the VAIO X has an Atom CPU and SSD. Despite the limitations of the Atom, it boots and loads programs faster than my VAIO F did with an HDD.

It's likely true that you won't get the YB with SSD to boot as fast as the Y or YA does with the same SSD, but it should be close. Search the forums for posts by owners of previous generation AMD ULVs who switched to SSDs; the results have been overwhelmingly positive.

 

Since I have my YB for few days now on a 500gb 5200 rpm hard drive, I will let you all know when I get a SSD this week.

I see no difference going from a i7920 to a i7950 processor.

Will my fan come on less when I put in a SSD in the YB?

 

The heat output from the drive is related to its power consumption, so the SSD would have to consume significantly less power to make a difference. As you already know, some SSDs are less power efficient than HDDs. I've used OCZ Vertex 2 drives and an Intel X25. The OCZ drives ran cool, but the Intel ran as warm as a 5400 rpm HDD.

Also, the HDD is stuck in its own cavity and doesn't get much cooling air. I suspect most of the heat from the HDD is actually dissipated through the keyboard and not removed by the fan. It may have some small effect on the ambient temperature in the chassis, but probably not enough to change the fan behavior significantly.

I think the fan issue is just a natural result of putting the equivalent of a dedicated GPU in a small chassis. Unless there are options for throttling the GPU, I don't know what you can do about it.

 

dmk2, I am getting the OCZ Agility 2.

You notice nothing special by using a SSD on this laptop?

 

I just did this test all at the same time.

Extended to a 1920x1200 monitor and playing at 1080p movie and the Frame rate is hovering around 13 fps. That is jerky and not smooth. At least 24 fps is need for smooth movie playback.

Playing a 1080p youtube show on the YB screen AT THE SAME TIME. It is jerky and not smooth. Right click on this video says it is 10 stage fps and 2 video fps and it is jerky! CPU hover around 45% busy. Fan is running like a jet about to take off.

All in all, this YB cant do the job.

 

Sorry, I'm not sure what your question is asking. BTW, I don't have the YB. I think you are the only person so far who has got one and posted about it.

As a test, can you try running 1920x1080 resolution on just the external monitor (laptop screen off)? If that plays smooth, try 1920x1200 on just the external monitor. That could pinpoint whether simple upscaling or dual screen display is causing the slowdown. At a minimum, I think it should handle 1920x1080 (full HD) playback on an external monitor otherwise the video acceleration is not working as it should. But two screens simultaneously might be too much because it has to scale it differently for the different resolutions.

 

dmk2,

Running with only one screen will have no problem. The HDMI output is running at 1920x1200 by itself with the laptop monitor off and it is running at 24 fps constant! It is able to do the job. Likewise the same if running only the laptop screen itself only.

I am just doing an impossible test and not whats it ment for.

 

Do you people want to know more ???

I just put in a new SSD. It has this sandforce controller.

I did bench test with HD Tune.

Guess what? The results are horrible. About the same speed as a 7200 rpm drive!

I already done the SSD tweaking.

My other SSD on my desktop runs 2x faster than a 7200rpm hd, but not on this Sony Vaio Y.

Something got to be wrong !!!

 

The HD Tune result is highly dependent on block size. Are you sure you ran with the same block size in both cases? I think the default is 64k.

For comparison, here are a couple of HD Tune results I got for my VAIO Y and VAIO F last year when I put in the Vertex 2 drives.

First the VAIO F:



Next the VAIO Y:



The speed of a Sandforce drive depends on the compressibility of the data it's reading & writing. That's why the HD Tune results are only flat when reading unused portions of the logical disk.

 

Hello dmk2,

Thanks for replying.

Here is my HD Tune test on a Kingston SSD from 6 months ago and my new OCZ. You can see the model number on it.

Does it seem like the OCZ is slower?

 

How do I turn on AHCI in the Sony Vaio Y laptop? Its not in the BIOS. Need help.

 

I had the opportunity to look at both models in a store today. As has been said, the silver version is easily scratched. Keyboard looked and felt better than I expected. Touchpad a bit too small and quite noisy buttons but nothing that I couldn't live with. If I had money to burn, I'd buy one.

The black version (with the i3 processor) seemed to have a more resistant finish (no scratches at all) but the price is too high at the moment.

 

OldJim, yes the silver version can get easily scratched. Thats why I am careful with it. Those with kids around have to think 2x. Keyboard and spacing is fine with me, not cramp. The fan is a little noisy even when not doing anything.

Right now I am seeing no difference putting in a SSD. Still trying to figure out why my SSD speed is the same as a hard drive speed!

 

All the random read results are faster for the OCZ than the Kingston, but the sequential read results are slow. Note that even the 8MB random read speed is faster than the Kingston, 240MB/s vs. 221MB/s. 8MB is a very large block size so it's essentially a measure of sequential read speed.

Because all of the random read results are faster on the OCZ, including the 8MB, I suspect the difference in sequential read speeds is due to using different block size settings. Please check to see what block size you are using for the sequential read tests. It's been a few months since I used HD Tune, but I know you can set the option somewhere.

AHCI is probably already enabled. Go to Device Manager -> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and find the HD controller. Right click Properties, then switch to the Driver tab, click Driver Details, and note which driver file is in use. iaStor.sys is the Intel AHCI driver, msahci.sys is the Microsoft AHCI driver. If the drive is in AHCI mode, you should see one of those.

 

dmk2,

I went to Device Manager and the Driver Details and it says

amd_sata.sys
amd_xata.sys

Is this AHCI mode?

 

That's the AMD AHCI driver, so it's very likely to be working in AHCI mode. It's rare to use IDE mode these days except for legacy tools.

If the driver minor rev is 275 or greater, it also supports TRIM. Might want to check the version.

 

Has anyone tried to do a clean install on this little thing?

I planned to do so but I was afraid of losing the current Vaio Care Rescue

 

Clean install using a retail OS? Yes, I have done it many many times. Dont even know what Vaio Care Resue is as I never use it. Never install the Assist functionality either.

Hint for everyone. Go to Sony website and install the drive in order it is listed.

Why if you ask me:

Come here and you can see why Sony listed it in order it is like that:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?info_id=507&template_id=1

 

I have taken out my new Agility 2 from my YB.

Here is my conclusion:

1. I see 15 sec faster boot up time and 2 sec shutdown time.
2. Normal things I dont see it any faster.
3. Only advantage is that you dont ever have to defrag anymore.
4. The SSD is not prime for slow computer like this. Bascially this YB is not taking advantage of of the fast IO speed! I have ask people at OCZ.

You will not miss it if you dont.

I have put this new SSD on my i7950 desktop and it is running AHCI with no problem. Going to sell my 6 mth old Kingston SSD.

Let me know if you have any questions.