Official Y series 11.6 Owners' Thread

I had a chance to check one out today and for what you're paying it's actually a nice little notebook with a great screen. These models do indeed come with a Radeon HD 6320. (It's listed right on the side of the box.)

I pointed out to one of the sales representatives that the Sony store lists the YB33KX model with 1066 Mhz RAM (and that I was expecting the chipset to use the slightly faster 1333 Mhz modules). The RAM speed wasn't listed on the box so after some back and forth I was able to convince him to open up the floor model.

The VPCYB33KX comes with a single 2GB module - a Samsung M471B5773DH0-CH9. (204 pin PC3-10600 CL9 DDR3-1333 MHz). Getting the bottom case off was actually quite a show. The representative (and then his buddy) had to forcibly pry it off with a loud CRACK after removing the three screws that hold it in place. It didn't look damaged but obviously the manufacturing wasn't quite up to the higher end models. Still, I think it should have been easier to remove.

Anyway.. to make a long story short I can confirm that this machine accepts a set of dual channel 8GB PC3-10600 RAM and uses it at single channel speeds. (The kit tested was a Kingston KVR1333D3SOK2/8GR)

 

Hi guys,

Just to let you know, I've reinstalled all the drivers in the good order, the brightness function buttons still doesn't work but the volume works fine, too bad, I'm tired of fight Sony with drivers (every single Sony laptop was a pain).

I now have 4gb-1333mhz installed with a 128gb crucial SSD and it's really fast! I had a Alienware M11x i7 R2 (with a 7200 rps HD) and it wasn't that fast (in Windows).

I'm currently playing Anno 2070 and it works fine. Amazing considering the price/weight of this machine.

WARNING: it is VERY easy to scratch and it looks so ugly, I'll try to find some stickers to hide them and put some kind of plastic protector on it. my VAIO Z series Black Matte (2010) was way better.

Good luck!

 

The Firmware Extension Parser is required for the brightness function buttons to work. This order worked for a YB33KX with a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit).

1. Video (A2DVID-00252643-0041.EXE, from esupport.sony.com)
2. Firmware Extension Parser (SODOTH-00224384-0041.EXE, from esupport.sony.com)
3. Sony Shared Library (SOASSL-00244666-0041.EXE, from esupport.sony.com)
4. Sony Notebook Control & Utilities (SOAOTH-58700000-0041.EXE, from esupport.sony.com)

 

I had an "Unknown Component", after using Windows auto-search for drivers, the brightness start to work!

I'm very happy with my little Vaio!

 

It is a nice little machine - it is my travel laptop for work - size is perfect for that and powerful enough to handle anything I thrown at it so far.
Extra RAM and an SSD upgrade have made this a very capable machine.

 

The base panel is a badly designed bit of plastic! The trick is to squeeze the panel away from the edges as the hooks are quite deep, especially the couple on the battery side, and they don't flex much, letting the panel itself do the flexing required to remove and install.

 

Hi!

Anyone had any sound problems, when reinstalling / doing clean install of Windows 7 on YB? Reading thru forum, I saw more like function keys, BT problems etc.

VPCYB3V1E/S
I took brand new YB3 and out of the box replaced HDD for Intel SSD 520. Then using USB drive installed Windows 7 64 bit.

All seemed ok until Windows started. Rly awful buzz/fuzz/static like sound went along with welcome melody. Same with any other sounds (click, changing volume, notices etc.) Thought, that all I need is to install Audio driver... well it did not help. Even after installing all (almost) stuff in order described here, audio still does that terrible noise.

Both for speakers and headphones.

Reinstalled 32 bit ver of Windows 7 and Audio driver but still the same -_- (gave up and went home - now trying to find any info on it)

Could SSD be causing it? (would be pitty cuz it rly works fast)
Some other drivers? (cuz some were throwing errors or denied to install on 64 bit, but Audio went ok on 32)
Or simply faulty audio?

The last thing would be to place original HDD back and let Vaio install it self from it. Would like to avoid that.

btw:
+1 on recent comments
Bottom panel is rly pain to remove it. Who designed that thing?!?!

btw2: On 64 bit Windows, you managed to run all stuff including Sony OSD notices/menus?

Thx for any feedback or tips o/

 

The YA Intel version of the laptop came with 64-bit as standard so all that software should be available for download from the Sony support site under the YA models, though to be fair, I removed most of that stuff as didn't think any of the Vaio Gate stuff added much value.

 

I would try to use a USB version of Ubuntu and see how it goes. If you're still facing issues then I would say it's a hardware problem (as there not a lot of sound options in the BIOS)...

 

To Shiddo - try this for the order of install - mine came with 32 bit, installed an Intel SSD and more RAM. Order of install is critical for Sony drivers to work.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...series-11-6-owners-thread-38.html#post8266200
The link is the order you need to get it to work right - If that does not solve then suggest like MJalbert recommends try a Linux distro - of same results you have a hardware issue.

 

Yep. Thats the one I used before. Thx for posting it.
Will try to toy with it some more today and eventually test Linux as you guys suggest. Thx all.

edit: was hardware issue

 

Curiosity: did you have to return it or you manage to fix it yourself?

Cheers,

 

Returned it.
Since this was 2nd in the row with some fault (1st came with messed hinge), I did not get another as replacement this time... was bit irritated bout all that and time lost >_> Just my bad luck. When I get NTB for some1 else there are no faults heh.

Guess I will wait and check on new models + ultrabook and decide, if I should give Y another try. I like size, design and port placement/number more than on other models. Also performance was rly nice with SSD.

 

That's a real shame. Did you ever try the original drive rather than the SSD? I generally find Vaios troublesome to install fresh operating systems on, as Sony likes to use specialised drivers in a specific install order, and it generally takes a lot of fiddling to get it working right. But in terms of weight, power and usability, for the cost, this is a very nifty ultraportable.

 

Yup. In the end I placed back the original drive (would have to do it anyway for claim/return. Even with preinstalled OS and all drivers result was same and buzz appeared right with first Windows startup. I don't discourage ppl to get this netbook, as it seems I am the only one with this issue. Was surprised my self ,as there is no notice bout it anywhere. If one gets good piece out of the box, then this could be rly handy lappy.

Done some fresh installs on Vaios before. As you say it's annoying... specially that they require certain orders. Or they have some custom driver that lacks updates and it's hard to fix some bugs.
Wish manufacturers would return to bundling drivers etc. CD/DVD with their products and stay away from bloatware.

 

Thought that would happen, sounded like a hardware fault as you were getting it pre-OS. That's just bad luck I guess - two faulty machines in a row, though this is a budget machine from a budget range, so it isn't machined to the same standard as, for example, the Z's.

I'm not convinced that Sony will bring out an "ultrabook", as traditionally they always lead innovation into small, light but high-powered machines and for most of the last decade were the only manufacturers who had anything in the range. I think they really missed a trick when they discontinued the T range after the TT, as the Macbook Air came to dominate that niche and has now inspired the new ultrabooks. I remember when the SZ came out, it was at the same time as the original MBA and was, at the time, considered a slim and light laptop, but looks positively fat and bloated compared to some of the new things on the shelves these days! Of course, those were the good old days of getting recovery disks in the box as well...

 

Random question - what WLAN card do the YB models have, and what speeds are you getting? The YA has the Atheros AR9285, which is 802.11n 1-stream and seems limited to 65Mb/s...

 

anyone know if YB model with AMD E-450 support 2x 8gb ram sticks?
how about YA with i5-470UM? I'm guessing that's too old for 8gb stick.

even though the i5 is older, it's still way faster than E-450 based on benchmark, but if the E-450 model supports 16gb ram then I'm willing to sacrifice the CPU speed.

 

Probably not. Sony claims 4GB is the maximum supported on the YB and 8GB is the maximum supported on the YA. The 4GB limit on the YB is only because it comes installed with Windows 32-bit. If you install Windows 64-bit, the maximum should be 8GB which will be the same as all the other E-350 and E-450 machines on the market. I think it would be a waste anyway. I can't imagine anything that you would run on the YB would benefit from 16GB RAM.

If you're trying to choose between the YA and YB, consider that the YB can handle some light gaming, but otherwise the YA is a better choice (faster CPU, runs cooler, better battery life).

 

Hi all,

I've got the YB E-450 HD 6320 with 4gb of ram and a Corsair SSD 128gb. Do you guys it would be enough to play Diablo 3? From the minimum requirements it seems so but I'm not sure if it's trust worthy!

Thanks a lot!

 

Reportedly yes, albeit on low-medium settings with no AA.

 

Thanks a lot for the answer, I'll give it a try!

Cheers,

 

Any news for a refresh on this? Currently looking for an ultraportable right now.

 

How about the T11?

 

Also considering that, but I'm interested whether the Y series would get updated to Trinity at least.

 

hey guys, im just reporting that windows 8 works well on this laptop, i tried the preview on it and all the drivers seem to work, except the bluetooth

 

E11 is the successor of the Y. Spec wise it is not an real update

 

Hi all :hi2:,
please help
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/703065-problems-intel-520-ssd-vpcyb3v1e.html

 

I have Sony Vaio Y Series with model number VPCYB35AN but i'm unable to install windows 8. It shows a huge list of device drivers which are not supported and i'm unable to move forward.

 

Hi all,

I am experiencing incompatibility issues (apparently) when trying to install Intel 520 SSD on a VPCYB3V1. Has anyone else had that problem??
Those of you who have successfully installed a SSD on a VCPYB - what SSD are you using?

Will be thankful for any information!

 

HI,
I am also having apparent incompatibility problems trying to install a 240GB Intel 520 SSD in a VPVYB16KG. I have cloned the old hard drive, I have tried to use the recovery disk and I have done a fresh install of WIndows 7. They all failed at different stages and in different ways. I have tested the SSD on another computer and it seems to be working fine.

I would also like to know what recent SSD models will work with the YB.

I did find a suggestion that the YB requires fixed 512 byte sectors. Does anyone know if this is true, or if there are any hard disk compatibility requirements? Is it a problem with "advanced format" and, if this is the case, would any recent SSDs work?

 

Exactly! I tried everything possible, all attempts failed at a different stage. Seems mission impossible. The drive works perfectly on my own VPCS Vaio so it is apparently an incompatibility issue.

So it is extremely important to know which drives do in fact work!?

YB owners with SSD, please comment!

 

Hi all,
regarding the Intel 520 SSD.... I even contacted AMD for support, unfortunately no success.

Below you can see the reply I got from AMD:
"In reading your e-mail, I understand that you believe there to be a compatibility issue between your particular Intel SSD and the A50m chipset in your laptop.
Unfortunately, we have no list at our disposal for compatbility between SSDs and our chipsets and I am not aware of any compatibility issues between chipsets and SSDs. I would recommend you follow the advice of the community and purchase an SSD that others have had success with using."

Please if you have SSDs let me know which ones are compatible for VPCYB3V1E.

 

Hi,
When the Intel 520 SSD wouldn't work in my YB, I sold the SSD to a friend who has a Dell Inspiron M102z which has the same processor and A50m chipset. It worked fine, so it doesn't appear to be that.

I borrowed an old Hitachi THNS064GG2BBAA 64GB SSD and that works fine with the Sony YB, but it is too small to be useful. At least I know that something works. I am thinging of trying a Samsung 840 Pro if I can get one. It will take a week or so and I'll post the results.

I asked on the Intel SSD forum, but the only suggestion was that it might be an EFI BIOS and need to use GPT, but the original disk is MBR and I saw on a forum that 32 bit WIndows 7 doesn't support EFI, so I don't believe that is it.

There is a youtube video of an SSD being installed into a YB. It was an OCZ Vertex 2, which is an old model. OCZ gets mixed reports for reliability, so I don't want to go that way,

 

Please give us a feedback whenever you try another SSD model, especially interested in the Samsung 840!
I am in the middle of it as well... obviously another drive is needed, just don't know which one will work.

 

I put in a request to Sony, but they weren't any help. They can't give advice about compatibilty and referred me to their service centre. I might call them to see if they have an answer and what it would cost.

In the meantime I have put my name down for a Samsung 840 Pro (not the cheaper 840 - I don't like the TLC) but it is out of stock.

 

Looked at Pro as well, but considering SATA 2 on VPCYB, I am not sure it is worth it... to the best of my knowledge - technically it is not.

 

The extra for the 840 Pro is for the better chips. I think most current model SSDs are SATA 3.

Anyway, a friend loaned me a new Crucial M4 256 GB drive to try. I cloned it tonight using Acronis (using a bootable disk made by the full version, not the restricted version distributed by Intel) and it works fine. Since it works, I will stick with it and cancel the 840 Pro reservation.

 

After ~ 3,5 months fighting...my laptop finally works with Crucial M4 256 GB :hi2: :thumbsup:

 

Hi!
My VPC-YA1V9EB recently developed a little problem and hopefully you can help me fix it. When powering it up the left third of the screen will flicker and show distortions as well as white and black lines. After a few minutes the problem disappears and then randomly reappears for a few seconds. When I connect the laptop to an external monitor the image is fine.
I tried updating the graphics drivers; according to the Vayo update utility there are no new drivers (current version is from 2010), the Intel HD graphics driver for IntelCore CPUs cannot be installed (installation quits with error message as no supported device found). I suspect that the screen or the cable connecting the mainboard to the screen is broken. I would appreciate any help, such as possible fixes or recommendations for shops that sell replacement parts (no warranty left on the laptop, unfortunately).