Official Y series 11.6 Owners' Thread

Is there a place where I can signal this problem to sony?

 

The Corsair Force use the same Sandforce controller as my Agility 2 and my Adata which is also a rebag of MicroCenter ssd. They all should work on the YB.

I took out the original hd. I boot it up once to see that it work. Then I shut it down and put in my new SSD. When I sell my YB, I put the original hd back saying it has been factory restore. Isnt that smart? I been doing that for a few last laptop I had bought.

I have no problem install W7 x64 with my new SSD on the YB.

 

This is the final price for my new YB that I got few months ago:

$489.99 - ( $14.70 FW) - 241.57 = $233.72

 

I notice the YB is draining juice if you unplug it even when its off. Its the same problem with the SR.

Is this the same problem with other laptop?

 

I'm considering buying a YB, but I'm a Linux user. Could someone confirm that

1) The YB supports booting from a USB Flash drive? I often try out live distributions.

2) The YB supports installing Linux as a primary operating system, with no major shortcomings (wireless, graphics, battery life)? I don't want to run it virtualized within Windows, but side-by-side, with a bootloader allowing me to run either Linux or Windows.

 

Nelia, I confirm it work perfect in Vmware Desktop with Ubuntu. I post a screenshot of it many pages back. Other than that, I know nothing.

 

Unfortunately, I bought my flash drive after I got rid of the YB. However, there are ppl on the net complaining about being unable to boot off USB. Apparently, this is true for all/most VAIOs?

I dumped this crap for a Lenovo based AMD E-350. Much happier. I suggest not buying the YB, but everyone is free to be miserable.

 

Most seem to lose 10% a day or more. It's really annoying, but you can remove the battery to prevent it. The old Y would only drain 2-3% a day. How much does the YB drain?

VAIOs are shipped with the option disabled. So you have to go into BIOS and enable booting from an external drive, then change the boot priority. Obviously, you also need to make a bootable USB drive, and that can be problematic as well.

 

Thanks, if it's only a matter of enabling it in BIOS then it's rather standard and it's no problem. I had read rumors earlier in this thread that it was totally impossible to enable USB boot and I'd rather avoid flashing my BIOS or doing other dangerous operations.

 

Here, let me try to make you feel bad about your purchase and prevent anyone else from buying this horrible machine.



U

 

Your arguments in favor of buying another machine are compelling, but the YB is the only AMD E-350 (Zacate) based notebook available in my local market... No choice here unfortunately.

 

One thing going for the YB is if you can undervolt it, you might be able to keep the fan silent most of the time. The YB runs even cooler than the Lenovo.

 

Please note that I don't own a YB (at least not yet). It worked for me on the older Y and the F, and from reading these boards it seems like the BIOS options are common across the VAIO lineup.

Lots of people have trouble booting from USB flash drives, but often it's because they didn't enable it in the BIOS, or they don't know how to make a bootable USB drive. So it's hard to guarantee success without having tested your combination.

 

I can confirm that on a VPCYB15KX/S, with External boot device enabled, and set as the top boot device in the boot order, I was able to boot windows 7 x64 install from a USB flash drive.

 

You'll probably be better off looked at the BIOS manufacturer's website rather than Sony for a new version of the BIOS. I've installed a Vertex 2 in my machine and not problems at all in terms of booting up and having the SSD recognised - just plugged it in, copied my cloned system over via Paragon on USB and voilá, all there.

dmk2, I'd hold off getting a YB if I were you - looking at Zacate's performance figures, they aren't significantly higher than the older i3 version, so I think a Sandy Bridge refresh of the range will give significant increase in performance. Of course, that may not be an option such as the YA/YB not being offered where you are (like the UK) so having to get one whenever you can abroad!

RE: fan noise, it is only noticeable if it is a very quiet environment. The work Dells and Thinkpads are much louder, and my other home machines are the Vaio SZ which have notoriously noisy fans, and gaming laptops which are built to get rid of heat so have very noisy fans.

 

thank you for your advice but I'm not disappointed with the perfomance of my YA (YA model it's avaiable in Italy) that are what I excpected because I have other machines to do the hard work.

Can you suggest me where to look for a new bios? I wonder wheter using a not sony bios would invalidate the warranty or not.

 

7 hrs is nice. I think the S is even better with 16 hrs when you add in a sheet battery! I hope they make sheet battery for the next Y laptop.

The sheet battery are those thin sheet battery. Go and check the S on Sony website to see this flat thin battery. I didnt make this up n it aint a dirty word.

 

hello there, I'm having others problems with my YA with the Corsair F120 SSD it crashes after resuming windows after an hibernation or after closing the vaio.

If you remember I can't also boot normally the pc, I have to enter the bios first in order the vaio can see the SSD otherwise it won't detect the SSD.

I'm starting thinking that this SSD is not compatible with the vaio so can anyone suggest me another SSD that can be successfully used with this vaio?


I have a desktop pc with and Intel 25X-M 80 GB ssd, maybe I can swith the ssd if the intel is compatible.

 

Did u update your BIOS? Last month they fix the sleep and hiber thing. Go check Corsair website.

 

I've checked my SSD firmware and it's the v 2.0 which's the latest version and the vaio update doesn't detect any update for my vaio.

Shall i check somewhere else for a BIOS update?

 

I don't think a new version of the BIOS has been issued.

If the drive has the latest firmware, I would request an RMA from Corsair and hope the replacement is better. This problem seems to occur mainly with Sandforce SF-1200 series controllers and many (most?) drives are fine.

The other option is to try the Corsair F120 in another computer. If it works there, keep it and buy another drive for the YA. Preferably not a Sandforce drive.

 

Sorry to hear of your problems with the SSD, I put an OCZ Vertex 2 into mine and have had no problems with it. The battery life is worse than with the original drive, though, and the speed increase isn't massively difference, though I upgraded to 6GB of RAM so the machine was already very fast.

 

I have two OCZ Vertex 2 drives, both are the same rev and were purchased at the same time. One gave me problems with resuming from hibernation and occasionally on boot. But I had no problems with the other, and the first one started behaving OK after a firmware update.

 

thank you guys for your support.. I just want to make it work.. I think the f120 choice was a very unlucky one but I believe that a new firmware from Corsair would solve all problems.

In the meanwhile I can borrow one 60gb Vertex 2 drive from my uncle and try to see if it works.

If the OCZ works I will buy a 120gb Vertex 2 drive cause 60 gb aren't enough nowadays.

I hope the problem isn't the Sandforce SF-1200 series controllers cause the only alternative are the Intel 80gb SSD that currently runs in my desktop or the crucial C300 but it seems no one has tested them on a YA vaio yet.

As soon as I get my vaio stable i will consider what to do with the corsair, wheter sell it or use it in another computer.

I chose the F120 because it's fast, cooler and with a lower power consumption than the others SSD of similar capacity but now I'm sad having all those problems.

So thank you again for your support and please excuse me for my english if it's not clear.

Maurizio

 

The Sandforce controller should be fully compatible with the YA, as I believe the Vertex 2 I installed has it too. It could be that your Corsair is faulty, so if it behaves the same in a different computer I would take it back to where you got it and ask for a refund. Like I said earlier, my experience was really simple - open, remove HDD, swap brackets, insert SSD, spray compresed air around to blast out the dust, close, restore cloned image. Took maybe 1 hour in total!

No problems with your English - it is far, FAR better than my Italian (a guess from your name!)

EDIT: Vertex 2E has the SF-1500... apologies for my confusion.

 

Your sequential write speeds will be limited on the Vertex 2.
See benchmarks in this thread.

 

Thank you I'll test my uncle's Vertex 2 in my vaio and I'll evaluate the result and I'll test the corsair in a different computer also and see.

Yes I'm Italian, you're right, my nick in the forim is name.city just to be sure to rember it

 

interesting, thank you, do you think it will be cpu limited? If so every SSD will not perform at its full potential on this vaio but what to choose in that case?

The crucial C300?

 

Yeah, I saw that elsewhere, but then again, how often will you be doing large sequential writes in day-to-day use?

 

It still feels fast with the Vertex 2. Maybe even the fastest between that and my Intel 160GB X25-M and Kingston V+100. I'm only trying to inform people that sequentials are limited. You may not need high sequential writes. Still, I'm the kind of person who likes to know those things. In that thread, I show that the Kingston isn't limited.

E-350 officially supports SATA III. However, for whatever reason, the VAIO YB and my current Lenovo X120e only allow SATA II.

As far as what to buy, any SSD is fine. Fast is fast. I'm assuming you're not doing anything heavy, of course.

 

I think the notebook boards have yet to make the leap to SATA III... I can't remember seeing any at any rate, though the YA is first gen Core i, and the YB and Lenovo are first gen AMD Fusion, whereas SATA III would be mostly Sandy Bridge or Bulldozer I'd imagine, and would come out on desktop before notebook. I guess the other big thing is that generally, in a notebook you'll be running a 5400rpm HDD so the disk itself would be the limiting factor, rather than the connector.

I haven't noticed a massive jump in speed due to the SSD to be fair - the biggest improvement was going from 2GB to 6GB of RAM. I have noticed my local instance of Oracle Express being quicker though, but that is to be expected as databases are bad for hitting the disk...

 

Hello there, it seems my misadventures are not going to end... My uncle lent me an ocz vertex 2 60gb which gets immediately recognized by the vaio but when I launch the recovery process from the VAIO Care Rescue it fails as it gets stuck immediately after ignoring the recovery data wizard...

what to do now?

It seems the only way is to clone my corsair using a software like paragon

 

I've made YB clones without a problem. I used Acronis, though. That is a terrible piece of software, let me tell you. But if you can get it to work, it works.

 

I found a freeware alternative to Paragon/Acronis:EASEUS Todo Backup Free and I've been able to clone my corsair F120 gb to an OCZ vertex 2 60gb.

Free hard drive clone & backup software for Windows Server 2008/2003/2000 and Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7.

Using it eventually I succeed cloning the disk resizing the partition and now the vaio lives again!!!!

I'm really happy, the vaio recognizes the vertex2 without any problems at all and I've updated the ocz vertex 2 firmware to the latest version currently avaiable (v 1.33) just to be sure.. then I made some tests and it can hibernate or suspend without crashing!

I think I'll keep the OCZ SSD even if it's smaller as I still have 18gb free and it seems working fine.. at least now..

On the other side I'll now test my corsair F120 on another computer and sell it away if working.

Thank you all for your help hoping all it's ok now.. fingers crossed!

 

I agree with Sugarkang - Acronis is rubbish! I use Paragon and not had any problems when swapping drives around...

Good to hear all went well with your updated machine!

 

Thank you!

I'm grateful to EASEUS Todo Backup Free cause it saved me for free

 

just got my vaio yb with the e-350 amd apu. I was wondering if anyone has been experiencing audio stuttering issues during high cpu loads? I have a plain windows 7 ultimate install with the latest audio and video drivers.

 

Hi pkmvancouver,

Whilst I do not have the Zacate version, but rather the Core i3 (Arrandale) YA, I did notice that the machine was a little unresponsive when I first got it, with mouse cursor lag right after waking up from hibernate being noticeable. Solved it by upgrading from 2GB to 6GB of RAM. One of the YB guys would know better, but in lieu of that, check to see what load is on the system and if things are getting maxed, upping the spec is always a good fix.

 

anyone know the part number for the trackpad on the YA model? mine is starting to peel off.


edit: i think i've found it. part number is A-1811-669-A if anyone is interested. i think this is for the whole trackpad (not the buttons) assembly, not 100% sure.

 

Zantac 2, if it is anything like the other machines I've dismantled, the touchpad itself will be separate from the buttons with its own control board and ribbon connector - if you are ripping it apart, take photos and write a guide for the disassembly thread! I'm surprised the trackpad has started to fail already - I've used mine solidly for 6 months and apart from shiny spots on some keys and the left mouse button, the laptop is still pristine.

 

it works perfectly. its just the top cover layer that's peeling off. it looks like it's attached to the board by adhesive, and i guess i could probably just stick it back on. but i might as well do it properly.

this part is quite hard to find. i think it's because the YA didn't have a long shelf life. it doesn't help that the YB doesn't come in black aswell.

i probably won't disassemble it myself. when plastic clips are involved, i loose patience and end up breaking them. best to get a pro to replace it for me.

here's a pic.
http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/3190/p7090033.jpg

 

So it's the covering over the sensor that has become unstuck? I'd say to take it into your nearest Sony store, as it must be under a year old, and so must be under warranty still. I've never seen that happen to a touchpad before, including on machines approaching 10 years old and where the usage has been very heavy, so it looks like a bit of a fault that they should fix up for you. I reckon I'm a bit heavy handed on machines as after 6 months of fairly heavy use, my YA has a massive discolouration on the left mouse and shiny spots on quite a few keys.

 

yeah, the covering.

i'm in a little tricky situation with this laptop. i bought this recently under the assumption that it was brand new (ebay listing said it was new). but i suspect that this laptop is a refurbished or an ex-demo product at best. the seller allowed me to send it back to them but i don't want to cause i really want to keep it. i'm not sure if i can get this repaired under warranty. the service centre sony uses here will charge me a $99 fee just for inspection (that is if it isn't covered under warranty).

i'm currently waiting on the price of the actual part from one of the stock warehouses. if it isn't too expensive, i rather just take the matter into my own hands.

 

Pop a question to the seller asking for the warranty information - not sure how it works in your country but that might be enough to get Sony to look at it! From the general age of the YA system, it cannot be more than a year old, so must be under warranty still (I think the minimum is 12 months anywhere in the world for things like laptops). Failing that, a sob story might be a way forward, but remember to act unknowledgeable or, even better, send in an unknowledgeable little sister

I'm thinking that no matter how you got the machine, the touchpad has failed to last its expected lifetime so Sony should be able to replace it for you even if you do not have a proof of purchase as it should be impossible to own a YA that is older than 12 months if the model only came out in Q4 2010! I picked mine up in Malaysia at Christmas, and the biggest electronics store I could find only had a display model, with actual saleable samples not arriving until the new year, and I only got one because the Sony store had 4 in stock, so it was clearly a very new model at the turn of the year.

 

the thing is, the seller is a pretty dodgy guy (selling a used laptop and labelling it as new is a giveaway). he does provide a 1 yr warranty, but through him only. if i send it back to him, 2 things will most likely happen. he refunds me what i paid minus shipping costs, or he gives me store credit and ends up selling the same notebook to some other poor bloke. usually i'd opt for the refund option, but this is a laptop i really want to keep.

he has provided me with an invoice which i could use to claim a warranty repair. it is a risk i'll have to take if i choose this option (as i could be $99 out of pocket at a minimum). vaio does have a 1 year international warranty but i think they will only honour it from the date of the receipt and if you meet the conditions they have set out. i've got the receipt but the conditions i'm a little wary of. now if i do take it to the official repair centre (contracted out), there's also a good chance that they would just glue it back on and call the day off. hell, they might even try and charge me for a new trackpad which they haven't ordered and used. i'm a little cynical because most places here (in australia) are dodgy as hell. jack of all trades, master of none rings true here. i've been burnt with half assed repairs for my electronic goods before, so i have to take caution. the best option for me right now is to wait for the price of the actual part and from there decide what to do. applying for a warranty repair is still in my mind, just not at the top of list as of now.

sony australia is notorious for providing poor after sales service. they will probably laugh at me if i presented this story to them. i might be able to force it on them by using the facts you have given me, but i'll have to go through a lot of red tape and time wasting for that to happen.

haha, unfortunately i don't have an innocent looking little sister. i do have an older brother who looks like a yakuza. i guess that could work on a different level .

 

Hi guys, just need your help on this..
is the i3-80um better or the AMD e-350 one ?
Usage will primarily be Surfing, Opening word doc, excel etc, Youtube ,HD video playback.
the only issue with the e-350 model here in India is that it comes with win7 starter which does not have 64-bit & therefore no 4Gb ram support. Though i can live with utilizing 3.5 of the 4gb ! RAM is cheap these days...

 

Both are good choices, depending one the price. The E350 has a slightly stronger GPU, the i3 380m has a much stronger CPU. Since you included excel as a task, I'd recommend the i3 380m model purely on the CPU requirement. There may be other considerations (please read through this owner's thread yourself to see if there are other issues with either model variant).

 

thanks Jeremy. Both are priced the same! with the i3 version abt 100$ more costlier..

Mind you , it is the i3-380UM version not the full fledged i3 ..

it will be occasional excel/PPT use, not regular..

 

Hi guys,

my mum (mom for you yanks! LOL) is looking to get the Y series vaio and I told her that because the OS is 32bit that she'll lose out on the ram if it were upgraded to 4gb depending on how much RAM the GPU has. now, my real questions are:

1. can the E-350 CPU handle the 64-bit version of windows 7
2. how much video ram does the GPU have to work with

if anyone can help that would be great though i'll do a test to make sure it works myself.

 

ouch... well... the i3 380UM is clocked at 1.2GHz with no Turbo, while the E350 is at 1.6GHz. The i3 still has higher IPC, so it will still be a bit faster, but not by much. The ULV arrandale chips (from experience) have a heavily cripled IGP, so it's gaming performance will be worse than the E-350's HD6310m.

In terms of HD video playback, and Youtube/Flash video, both will do well at the task (effectively equal).

I read through some of this thread, and there are indications the YA (i3) has *slightly* better build quality vs the YB (E-350), however, it may be merely speculation.

It's up to you whether or not to go for the Intel or AMD platform. Both should perform almost equally for what you indicated you will be doing, with the Intel platform being a bit faster, while being a bit more expensive.

1. Yes. The E-350 includes a 64bit CPU
2. Knowing ATi(AMD) Hypermemory, it will start at 256MB and end up at 2GB, depending on how much RAM you have installed.