Sony SE Owners' Thread

Added this FAQ to the top because of the many repeat questions:
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1. How can I enable two finger scroll?

2. Is the display IPS? How good is it?
We think so, and while it has great viewing angles, it also does not reproduce reds very well... they look orangish (aka OrangeGate). Forum member moralar posted a great entry showing the different angles and color reproduction:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...822-sony-se-owners-thread-29.html#post7995251

Additionally, VaioCanuck also posted an image comparing reds on different screens (turns out OrangeGate is not a new thing):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...22-sony-se-owners-thread-106.html#post8213929

3. How do I stop my screen from dimming periodically?
It's a power saving feature, to disable it:

4. Are there other video drivers to enable features that Sony may have nerfed?
User redmimic has been using one that seems to be okay:

5. How can I improve the sound?
Enable the Dolby enhancements:

6. How is the battery life?
On stamina mode, I and others have can do about 5.5+ hours, on speed, maybe 3-4 hours depending on what you are doing. The slice battery probably close to doubles that (I don't have one so I'm not sure).

7. What are the differences in the new models (Feb 2012 release)?
Not much other than internal CPU spec bumps. (need some more info here)



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Start of original post:

Hadn't been to Fry's in a while and lo and behold... VAIO SE awesomeness:









First impressions:

1. It's really thin... very similar to the other S series.

2. Screen looks really good.

3. Hardly any flex on the keyboard and palmrests... the screen however is a different story.

4. Only $999... which I feel is a better deal than the Dell XPS 15z and the upcoming Samsung Series 7 15.6".

I think I've found my "desktop" notebook.

UPDATE:

I actually ordered it from Amazon for $1079 (MSRP $1249). It was the silver i5, 6GB, 650 5400rpm HD, 1GB video, BluRay model. I did an unboxing video here:

http://www.bignerdblog.com/2011/10/unboxing-sony-se-for-notebookreviewcom.html

 

Did you try out the speakers at all?

As for a "better deal" than the Series 7...different strokes for different folks. This offers 1080p and significantly less weight and, from initial impressions of each, perhaps a more solid case design. On the other hand, the Series 7 offers quad-core i7 and 6750M; this offers dual-core i5 (or dual-core i7 if you want to spend more) and a 6630M.

 

Yes "better deal" is relative... hence the "I feel" part... maybe I should have added "for me" also.

As for the speakers... sorry... I didn't get a chance to do anything other than run the Windows Experience test to see the different between Stamina and Speed mode. It got 4.7 and 5.3.

I'm not really liking the matte black... and will probably end up with the silver one. I also have a Sony Store in my area so I might go over there to check it out to see if they have it and if so, in any other colors... and I'll test the speakers too.

I do have to say that compared to my Dell 15z (which I returned), I'm liking this SE much better. While the 15z was fairly thin, it felt really heavy... the SE feels both thinner and lighter. I don't like the dedicated numpad (prefer the keyboard and trackpad to be centered to the screen) but at least it's better than the 13.3" S keyboards that don't have dedicate Home/End/Pg keys.

 

I agree as to the case color. At least based on pictures, the silver looks MUCH richer and more attractive than the black. I think black and silver are the only ones available for the US...there was a photo of a white one when the SE was first previewed, but I haven't seen that since. The white looked really nice.

Thanks for the feedback...as my sig indicates, I'm torn between an F2 and an SE, and will be buying in December.

 

There will be silver offered in the US.

 

And it's very, very handsome (pictures included):

Sony VAIO S Series review (15-inch) -- Engadget

 

@Mitlov

Your sig says you run an MBP... why are you switching over to a Win notebook?

I would like to try a white notebook (almost bought the F(?) in white until news of all these other FHD thin notebooks started popping up). I'm just worried it's going to get off-white really fast... hehe.

I saw a red/hotpink VAIO at the same Fry's... very interesting.

 

According to the sales guy, they've had the SE for at least a week... so I wonder why there haven't been any other threads about it (the Sammy Series 7 isn't even officially out at Best Buy and there were multiple people posting about seeing and buying it).

Or maybe they just got it today and he was uninformed.

 

^They would've just gotten it this week. Sony can't advertise these until Sunday.

 

My MBP, which I've owned since 2008, is long in the tooth and worn out. There are several reasons why I'm going with a Windows machine for its replacement.

(1) Cost. To get an MBP capable of running Mass Effect III, it'd cost nearly $2500 ($2200 MBP 15 plus $190 copy of Windows 7). I can get a well-made Windows machine capable of running Mass Effect III for half the price. And price is an issue; I've got a lot less disposable income than I did three years ago.

(2) I really, really like Windows 7. I prefer it to OSX Snow Leopard (and especially Lion from what I've seen of Lion). When I got the MBP, new PC machines were shipping with Vista. I had a Vista-equipped Lenovo Ideapad Y710 for two weeks before shipping it back and getting the MBP. In 2008, I much preferred the Apple operating system to Windows. That's no longer the case.

(3) The MBP is not that great if you're using Windows regularly. The graphics aren't switchable (and the super-long battery life is part of what you're paying extra for with a Mac, right?). The multitouch track pad doesn't work nearly as well. And the 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD, which is already small compared to the 640 and 750 GB options on most PC machines, is even smaller once you factor in two partitions with two operating systems. I bought the MBP thinking it would be "the best of both worlds" with Boot Camp, but was very underwhelmed by the Boot Camp experience.

 

The viewing angles looks pretty nice, can you(or anyone) comment on the color gamut on this? Can you say how the SE screen compares to the Vaio Z(any gen), or possibly even TT? I don't see in the picture here, or really see a mention of it anywhere, but does anyone know if a fingerprint reader is optional or not? I want to say yes, since the SA offers it, but I could be wrong.

I really don't want to go back to a 15in machine as I love the size of my TT, but this has me really tempted, specially if the screen is really as good as the pictures make it out to be, with a decent color gamut(70% or higher). Now I guess we need to see how the battery life pans out.

 

The pictures were taken with my cheap 5MP phone camera so that may be indicative of how good the screen is. It looked decent from all angles.

As for the fingerprint reader, I noticed that it didn't have it either but the 13" inch S (1600x900) did have them. Maybe it is an option as it would just be the trackpad that changes.

 

Was there a Vaio Z in store you could have compared the screen, or is it possible to maybe get the model number of the screen to find more about the specs(like contrast ratio and nits).

 

at fry's they must have confused this laptop s model with the e series because the 15in s series shouldnt come out for at least a couple more days. if you notice on the site their description for the laptop is for the E series when clearly its the new s series they're selling. seems like they took them out a bit too soon, lucky you!

 

What's interesting about their online link is the item name is the SE (even says "FHD") but the description is different like jp21 pointed out:

FRYS.com | Sony

And there was a VAIO Z but it was over in another display area so I couldn't put them side by side.

I haven't got to the Sony Store but I guess by tomorrow they should be released.

 

Just bought one at Frys. $999.99 US. I5 2430M Processor/2.4 GHz, AMD Radeon HD 6470M, 15.5 Inch / 1920 x 1080 / 4GB DDR3 / 640 GB 5300 RPM HDD / DVD Surper Multi Drive / Windows 7 Home

The screen is fantastic, very bright out of the box with a matte finish that cuts the glare. The keyboard is very nice to type on, but I'm used to my VAIO F. Solid, with very little flex except for the screen... but it's really not that bad especially if you open & close it in the middle. The sound isn't very good at all- but for me that's the least important. Not impressed with the touch pad, but it works o.k., I use an external mouse most the time. I have yet to put it through it's paces, but it feels REALLY nice, looks amazing, and frankly for $1000 - there is nothing that compares.

 

thanks for the pics!! Nice machine indeed, probably going to be my next machine, would be a good complement to my z2.

Any reason why you didn't go for the higher end version on tigerdirect?? I'd imagine the difference in $$ would be even less if u don't have to pay sales tax @ TD. Or you don't need the graphics power at all?

 

Also is there easy access to hdd and ram since its so thin?

 

The consensus seems to be (Engadget and your review, off the top of my head, maybe others) that the sound quality is poor and the touchpad isn't so great. Luckily, both of those are easily remedied--external speakers or headphones, and a USB mouse. Nice to hear that the screen is fantastic, as is performance. Those are things that aren't easily fixed with cheap accessories. Sounds like a great machine!

What sort of battery life are you getting? Do you game at all, and if so, how's it's gaming performance?

 

Two screws and the large cover comes right off. Looks like it's really easy to upgrade to an SSD & more ram.

BTW, this is definitely all metal - aluminum & magnesium - Unlike the Best Buy Samsung Series 7.

 

^^^ That's nice.

 

You'll see models w/6630 soon for $999. Save your receipt if that matters.

 

serious?? That'd be awesome, i might not even have to wait for a refurb

 

@wbglider:

Great pics... better than my BlurryCam.

I wonder if it's worth it to pick up one of those replacement warranties for these thin notebooks... although at my pace... I'm recycling every 2 years.

 

Is there difference in heat between the two AMD gpus? Any other differences between the Frys and Tigerdirect model besides gpu(and cpu)? Maybe battery life?

 

i think the 6630m is at least a 50% increase, and possibly more when OC'd. I'd expect the battery life to be around 5 hours w/ integrated graphics.

 

Some Japanese websites claimed that "All VAIO SE models come with IPS Panel".

15.5Œ^ƒtƒ‹HD‚ÌIPS‰t»‚ª”ü‚µ‚¢Fƒ\ƒj[‚¾‚©‚ç‘å‰æ–ʃm[ƒg‚àg”–Œ^Œy—ʁh‚ōU‚ß‚é\\uVAIO SiSEjv“O’ꌟØ (2/6) - ITmedia +D PC USER

 

It's on the USA sony site now....the description specifically mentions "100% color saturation". I suspect they mean gamut, who knows which colorspace they are referring to, but I told you all when I saw the prototype a few months ago, it was the best 15" display I've seen.

 

The only difference on the Sony site that I see compared to the Fry's version -the base model comes with a 500GB 7200rpm HDD, rather than the 640GB 5400 RPM from Fry's.

 

Sony has categorized VAIO SE screen as VAIO Display Plus.

 

On the Sony USA website... it doesn't list the biometric fingerprint scanner as optional for the 15.5 (it does for the 13.3).

And you can get it in Platinum Silver... SOLD!

I'm going to check the Sony Store today... don't think I can wait for the 10/17 estimated ship date.

 

The lack of 7200 rpm HDDs above 500 GB is surprising. Both the 640 GB and the 750 GB versions are 5400 rpm. Anyone know if there's a reason for this?

Otherwise, good package at a good price. And definitely get it in silver.

 

I really think this laptop is gonna be the winner between the Samsung 7, 15z and the SE. All the other competitors dropped the ball on the display.

 

OMG, this is an awesome laptop! 15.5" 1920x1080 at only 4.4 lbs!

 

I've heard good stuff about the 15z's display. The display quality is sometimes a point of contention, but never heard any complaints about the display...?

 

But most laptop screens are 6 bit color depth with 6 bit LUT.

 

the 15z uses a low gamut display compared to the RGB on the XPS15.

 

Similarly, the Vaio SE uses an inferior display to the bulkier F2. Bu just like the Vaio SE is a nice screen in isolation (instead of when compared to its bulkier cousin), the 15z has a nice screen in isolation. NotebookReview's own review said:

Dell XPS 15z Screen, Speakers, Keyboard and Touchpad

 

Is anybody concerned that this is a glossy screen and not matte? Has anybody run any specs on the screen yet (contrast ratio, nits, etc...)?

 

The Vaio SE's screen is matte. The above quote mentioning a glossy screen was about the Dell 15z, which was being compared to its new Vaio competitor.

I haven't seen detailed reviews with that info yet.

 

Hopefully Cnet is wrong then:

"The 15.5-inch display has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, which we sometimes call full HD (as it's the same as for Blu-ray, HDTV, etc.). Vaio laptops always have excellent screen quality, and this is no exception. Images and videos were clear and bright, and off-axis viewing was above average. Even though the screen has a glossy coating, it felt like a muted version of laptop screen gloss, and we had very few problems with glare and reflected lights.

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sony-vaio-se/4505-3121_7-35003065.html"

 

Does anyone know if there will be a dock available for this model?

 

Doesn't appear so. The slice battery would preclude such.

 

Not necessarily. The 13 inch S series has a dock that can be used with or without the slice battery.

Edit: I just checked the Sony USA website and there is indeed a dock available. I'm seriously considering picking this up now.

 

The 15z display is much inferior to the XPS 15

http://www.notebookcheck.com/uploads/pics/15zvsxps15.gif

 

Do either of them come with that hybrid SSD+HDD combo that suppose to speeds things up, like certain SA/SB/SC models come with?

Maybe the screen is a anti-glare coated glossy display like the TT, and Vaio Z(older model not sure about the newer).

 

In comparison the 15z avg 258nit and has a contrast ratio of 513:1. The Sony SE should also have an advantage being a matte screen as to a glossy on the 15z

 

I can tell you that with 4GB of RAM, it's irritating that the cursor hangs/stutters during software installs etc. My F11 with 6GB of RAM & I7 never does this.

 

Boo... no Sony SE at the Sony Store.

The salesperson said "I don't think it's out yet" and I told him he could check online and Fry's already has it.

Their own retail story doesn't carry the product on the day of its debut... nice.

 

Anti-Reflective Coatings