Sony SE Owners' Thread

I find it surprising that the SE got higher screen marks than those other brands, esp considering RedOrangeGate.

I wish moralar didn't give me the blue pill... now I notice it more.

 

That's mainly because of the high brightness level and good contrast combined with the great viewing angles.

@all: have you tried generating a color profile with a calabrating tool like Spyder3? Perhaps that would help.

 

As expected, it "works", but as the AMD GPU isn't connected to anything, I get no output.

 

Oh well, I honestly don't plan on using the AMD gpu in linux since my linux needs boil down to GCC mostly. Arch with "Awesome" window manager doesn't even use the resources in the HD3k

On a side note, I feel like I'm 8 years old again waiting for this laptop, I got the "we're building your laptop" email at around 1am last night and my immediate response was "hell yea"

 

I generated a Spyder 3 calibration and it doesn't help much with the dreaded orange, but it does improve the quality.

 

Back to the sleeve question... I couldn't find the one I had but I saw one at Best Buy that was similar (it had the handles and external zipper pocket):

Targus - Crave 2 Laptop Sleeve - Black - TSS536US

It probably is not as tight vertically... but I liked it because of the handles and storage pocket (kept a mouse in there).

I'm currently looking for a backpack... but they are all so expensive. Any recommendations?

 

I'm personally a fan of Samsonite backpacks, yes they're $80 or so, but my last one lasted about 9 years (including highschool and early college). the new one I got has a nice sleeve in it and it should fit the vaio SE nice and snug

 

I was almost sold on this until the orange thing popped up, but this is the closest, in the affordable class, to the quality of what I am use to in the TT.

What was the color gamut on this thing vs the TT and Z? Thanks.

 

So whats it take to get 2 SSDs on this?
If I get the 500gb HDD can i just remove that and add 2 1.8" SSDs? It just takes normal SSDs when you add 2?

No additional hardware?

 

Without even getting into laptops from other brands, I'm having trouble stomaching that the SE got a 94% for display whereas the F21 and F22 both got 90% (particularly given RedOrangeGate). I thought the general consensus was:

F21's screen > F22's screen > SE's screen,

NOT

F21's screen = F22's screen < SE's screen.

I mean, I think the SE's screen is still far above typical, but I'm really having trouble accepting that it's significantly better than the F's screen. What am I missing?

 

Well actually its more to do with how notebookcheck really rates a display. And they are quite inconsistent really. And really I would take their display ratings with large grains of salt.
But they are at least a bit better than notebookjournal who only rate displays on contrast ratio and brightness measurements.

F21 - Scored only 90% I am guessing because the measured contrast ratio was low. Only 390:1. And also that it did not completely cover AdobeRGB gamut

F22 - Scored only 90% because the viewing angles were not exceptionally good and did not cover sRGB completely.

SE- It too did not cover sRGB and rather fared worse than F22 but it measured a high contrast ratio together with superb viewing angles and screen uniformity. So that might be the reason.

 

If anyone uses PassMark's PerformanceTest, some Vaio SE's are popping up in their database for you to download and compare your current computer against or any other one in their online database. You can get a 30 day evaluation copy which is what I did. Pretty impressive i7 in it imo.

 

You have to put the second drive in the optical bay. There is a company that makes such a caddy for the Vaio SE.

 

For this configuration, the company is www.newmodeus.com.

If you're talking about how Sony does it and still has the optical drive, someone else on this thread said they use a special configuration of 2 SSDs in the space of the HDD, not sure if you can do that yourself.

 

Yeah more interested in 2SSDs as Sony does it.

Anyone bought the dual SSD configuration? Or is the normal drives that come in it 2.5"?

I really don't want to pay the ridicules price they are charging for ssds, but my fear is that it requires a special bracket or something.

Could someone with SSDs provide pictures as well as someone without, please. It would be in the interest of science, or well finding cheaper ways to upgrade.

 

Biased towards the magenta spectrum?

 

At least Notebookcheck's reviews have a point:

Samsung Series 7 review out, display: 69%

 

To sum up, SE's screen quality is far superior than both Z and F series in terms of color accuracy.


Test Sony Vaio VPC-SE1Z9E/B Notebook - Notebookcheck.com Tests





Very good grayscale performance after calibration

 

If that is the case they why is there a discussion of orange/red not being accurate on the SE, while the Z, and F don't have it?

 

I believe that given an advanced calibrator software, an accurate ICC profile can in fact be made for the SE, which compensates for the orange-shift.

I know this functionality is not present in most of the entry-level monitor calibration packages, but I think for example basICColor display can do the trick.

Can someone with a calibration device check if basICColor display can eliminate the orange-shift? The 15 day trial is downloadable from the official website:

basICColor display

 

Someone may have answered this but short of changing the screen... what can be done about RedOrangeGate?

(and please don't tell me "I'm looking at it wrong" )

 

Simple. You just take the red pill... oh wait, it's orange!

I'm not returning my SE, because even with the inaccurate color, it still fulfills a larger subset of my requirements than anything else I can find at this time. However, I don't think we should let the orangeness slide without at least complaining to Sony about it. I don't expect talking to a customer service phone drone to do anything, so the trick is to find out how to send a letter that will actually get read by the right people...

 

Red/Orange: Is this really something you'll ever notice unless you're looking for it? From what i read here it sounds like a deal breaker..?

Can someone also please test and confirm that the new BIOS (31/10/2011) has fixed the SATA issue and now fully supports SATA-3?

 

Anyone comment on the SE1DGX/B? Its seems well specc'ed at:

Core i5 2430M / 2.4 GHz
RAM 4 GB
HDD 500 GB
DVD-Writer
Radeon HD 6470M / HD Graphics 3000
Gigabit Ethernet
WLAN : 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
TPM
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
15.5" Widescreen LED backlight TFT 1920 x 1080

I've seen a few deals........can anyone comment (for non-gaming user) in terms of performance, quality and known issues? Nice looking machine.

 

No professional review has mentioned it with the sole exception of the NotebookCheck.net review, which mentioned it only in passing before giving the computer an outstanding score for screen quality. I suspect for certain people who are highly sensitive to the issue or who work in photo editing fields, it's an issue, but for most people they either never notice it or it's not a big deal to them.

It's kind of like how my F2 apparently has poor vertical viewing angles, but I've never noticed it at all. But the 99% like me who don't notice or care don't post about it online. It's the 1% that do care who post online.

 

For everyday use, those specs are great. If there's anything more specific than non-gaming you're worried about using this computer for, I can't weigh in on. but the specs are definitely overkill for web/email usage

 

Office apps, several web apps, photo editing, family video and that's about it. It seems like a steal for $700. Especially w/the screen.

 

You're golden then, I don't know who has the SE for $700 but that's awesome. I spent about $1400 for the 15.5" with an i7 and extended battery, though i plan to game a little bit on the go

 

I've been looking for reviews on this Vaio on here and I can't seem to get any in the search results. I'd like a little user insight before buying......but I won't wait too long.

 

What type of user insight are you looking for? There are several of us who have been using the SE for over 3 weeks now... and are keeping them.

I think this is one of the best light/thin/FullHD notebooks out there... and I've been looking for a very long time. I had spent a month or so with the Dell XPS 15z and the Sony SE is much better in my opinion. I also think i got a pretty good deal on it, $1079 for the $1249 MSRP model... 6gb, 1gb video, BluRay and 650g HDD (and no tax thanks to Amazon).

 

The search feature is garbage on this site, or at least the thread search one is.

Not many people did a full review but everyone appeared to be pretty happy with it. Even after the issues with red came out I didn't hear anyone returned it. In fact the person who found it decided to keep it.

Talking about the good is somewhat pointless so the bad is internal speakers suck, some don't like dedicated numpads causing keyboard to be off center, and the internal battery could be better.

 

Sounds good.

Not enough to 'not' purchase it. I'm sold. Time to order.

 

Yeah... I have comments about the SE in multiple posts throughout this thread.

Neuntoter pretty much sums up the cons... except the speaker issue is alleviated somewhat by turning the Dolby functions on (I have mine set to Movie mode, which has more bass).

I'm finding the battery lasting 4-5 hours with moderate use so it's adequate... and considering this is supposed to be my desktop computer, the slice battery will help with that (or the AC outlet).

I don't know where the other poster is finding an SE for $700... that's a bargain just for the 1080p screen alone. Makes my deal look sad.

 

I never would've noticed if I didn't read about it here and go looking for it. I went to the Coca-Cola site (as advised, since it has a ton of red) and I could still barely notice it. As Mitlov said, unless you're highly sensitive to this sort of thing or you do a lot of graphic design or photo editing, you'll probably never notice/care.

 

Where are you guys buying your SE from? The only one i see on amazon is over £1000

 

The first week it was out, there was an Amazon/CircuitCity model for US $1079 on the $1249 model. The cheapest one of that same model is now $1169 from DataVision on Amazon (the CircuitCity one is now $1199).

There are several of the $999 MSRP models for about $950... but I don't see any at $700.

 

If your in the UK the only real place to order is the sony online store at the moment.

I'm tempted with the free 4GB RAM upgrade myself

 

Maybe that problem varies in models but the 2 samples at the Sony store I saw were pretty orange especially compared with everything else in there. I opened the Coca-Cola website too and it just looked strange. Colours are vibrant but it's just not red. If it cannot be calibrated I don't see how it can be used for any photo editing and that's what I'm looking for mostly. It's a shame really cause it has so much potential

 

Damn! Looks like I missed out on a great deal there. Although it seems the majority of the price of the laptop on the higher-end models is due to the blue-ray disk drive which I don't really need.

I've been looking at configuring it myself but don't really know that much about what specs would give the best value, here's what I opted for:

Processor:
Core i5 .
2.4 or 2.5 ghz?? Don't know if it would make a significant difference?

RAM: 6GB?

Hard disk: 500 GB 7200 rps

Graphics: AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6630M 1GB

Is that configurationm ok, what would choose or change?

 

Buy a messenger bag for $699 and get a free Vaio SE:

Sony VAIO SE1 Series VPC-SE1DGX/B & Deluxe Messenger Bag - Bundle - VPCSE1DGX/B-BUN - Bundles - CDW.com

If you want the machine only, its a few hundred more and has a few different specs (i.e. win7 home).

 

The difference between 2.4ghz and 2.5ghz i5 is nominal (at least to me).

I would probably only change the RAM... I think for the extra 2GB, it costs more from Sony than for you to put in an extra 4GB (total 8GB) yourself.

I didn't have a choice as mine was preconfigured... but I did want the 1GB video. I didn't really care about BluRay either but getting the BluRay was a bonus because CTO on the Sony site put me at $1099 w/out the BluRay. And I would have also preferred the 7200 500GB drive.

 

Greyscale is excellent, yes. The sad thing is that the gamut is small - by far it does not cover sRGB. So I can not use this screen for photo workflow. Wanted to buy it becuase of FHD screen, IPS and only 2kg. So now I have a Z with 1600x900, fuel sRGB and a dE94, which varies from 0.5 to 0.6 (between 120 and over 300cd).

There are 2 important points regarding color fidelity:

• greyscale, color temp.
• gamut (red should be red, green should not have a yellowish touch... etc.)

Walter

 

No certainly not to me either. I am picky on laptops but given whats out there and whats coming that is public, this is simply the best out there for people who want higher resolution.

I hope that the stats on this board of people choosing this over the Samsung Series 7 due to resolution are accurate on the global scale, perhaps that will send a message that we like the option for high screen resolution.

Yeah that's all true, and on the battery thing it's really not bad; it just could be better. Although, for what you are getting and with the addition of the slice this thing does real well.

 

Can please someone test this?

If SATA 3 i back in business, I'll order this lovely machine myself!

 

I have yet to seen anyone who could notice SATA 2 vs. SATA 3 in real world usage on a laptop. Windows loading 1 sec faster? Big deal...

I know internet is now full with people who sleep better if they have better "score" in some benchmark, but I don't think anyone could notice SATA 3 vs SATA 2 in real world usage on a laptop.

 

Doesn't change the fact that I want it And the only thing keeping me from ordering, is this.. thats why I ask..

 

For those of you who ordered directly from Sony's online store; how long did it take before they shipped your machine? I ordered my CTO on the 3rd, but now, 6 days later they still haven't shipped it.

I also noticed that when I tried to configure a machine in October, I would get the option of choosing the slightly better Exmor-webcam for a small fee, but when I ordered mine, there was no option at all. So I'm wondering which cam they are shipping with..

 

Your Argument is invalid and irrelevant.

1.
Display with WCG does not equal to better color reproduction.
It is all about the color depth and grayscale performance.

Your Vaio Z is intended for multimedia purpose. Unless your main os is Mac os, I would not recommend you to apply wiide gamut display for color critical work. It is totally waste of your money. Only the professional displays from NEC P/PA series amd EIZO CG series could offer you wide gamut to sRGB conversion without loss of color accuracy. 14 bit/16bit 3D LUT and advanced color matrix management/hardware calibration remain the key features among professional display solutions.


2.
For WLED Backlight as well as Wide Gamut Displays, it is recommended that spectrometer is more suitable than colormeter in terms of color accuracy.
The least acceptable way is to apply designated CCMX files to compensate your colorimeter.

3.
Based on your recent comment, it is fair to say that you are inexperience in color critical applications. For 2000 bucks, combinations of 2 X NEC P241W + Colorimunki Photo + Vaio SE will offer you excellent Performance to cost value.

 

Gatehouse, can you shed some light on my questions if the orange shift could be corrected given a professional software and calibrator device? I've asked these questions in the last few pages.

I believe that it must be possible, as much worse kind of color shifts are corrected daily on projector setups, etc. I think it's just the limitation of the budget softwares / calibrator devices.

Do you think that if someone has access to professional level calibrator, then he can make a profile which corrects the orange shift and share that profile, thus solving the orange problem at least in color managed applications?

 

With the CPU upgrade discount in mind. Are there any cons selecting the i7 vs the i5?
I know that the i7 potentialy can generate more heat/noice/lower battery, but when performing the same task as a identical setup with i5: wouldnt the i5 genereate more heat and noise since its running on much higher % of max power than the i7?

In other words; are there any reasons not to go for the i7?