Sony SE Owners' Thread

SSD will consume less battery..i wouldn't say its impossible if you turn the brightness way down, but i wouldn't think you'll see 6 hours on an average charge without slice

 

I'm getting a slight screen flicker at times on my screen...i think it may be auto adjusting brightness. anyone else get that? if so, how can i adjust?

 

Thanks. So someone can do reall life test brightness 60%, wifi on, stamina mode? How long You work on the normal battery and maybe second test for slice one? This will be very bad if this pc can get only 3 hours on wifi. Very very bad. Strongest HP 8560w can take the same timing.

 

From ENGADGET review:
In this mode, and during our video rundown test with WiFi on and the display brightness set to 65 percent, the laptop managed one minute short of four hours. Not bad, but not great. With the $150 optional sheet battery slapped on the bottom we more than doubled that.

honestly though, you're comparing apples to oranges. vaio is less than 1" thick, and sub $1000 price range...you can't compare a computer that is almost half an inch thicker and $650 more. With the slice on it prob weighs the same and gets better battery than the HP, albeit with lower specs.

if you want a light laptop with a great screen quality and don't need top end specs, the vaio is for you..if you expect to get that WITH great speakers, superb battery, etc you are going to pay more.

 

That's an Intel power saving issue.

If you turn it off, that fixes it.

 

Yeah i check this review on, but they dont say they are working on the Wifi and get this 4 hours. That can be readers test who prof nothing.

The problem is i can pay more but i cant find laptop which is light, beauty, it have power and long battery life. Maybe Samsung 7 will be great if they put to this unit better screen (sRGB scale and viewing angles and contrast from this vaio). I reallu thinking about SE but if this computer on the standarsd battery cant hold 4 hours on wifi so weight is not important cus i cant take it with me everyday on the trip... Cus i need power source. If i purchase VAIO i will put a SSD instead slow basic HD. I also like docking and easy acces to the inner parts in Vaio.

 

I've installed my own SSD and don't get anywhere near 6 hours using wifi

 

" easy acces to the inner parts in Vaio." How is this easy. you can only acces hdd, ram and dvd drive. Bios is closed hell too. Sony's drivers are also nothing to be proud of.

I got 2.5 - 3 hours watching hd movie only btw. no ethernet. (i7,sdd+hdd,6630)

 

Yeah but You can check how long You take on wifi? If i buy VAIO (with i5) I want to put SSD into old HDD place? What Solid State Drive do You recomend im thinking about crucial M4 128 Gb, do I need some bay for this disc and it is not too thick?

3 Hours on HD movie, then on wifi should be longer... I need minimum 4 h battery life.

 

Fully charged, stamina mode, brightness fully down, wifi on, Samsung SSD, only browsing one tab at a time I get 5 hours.

Fully charged, stamina mode, brightness fully down, wifi on, Samsung SSD, multiple chrome tabs, one HD youtube video, some torrents downloading and Skype on, around 2,5 - 3 hours

That it is for me.

Edit:
without slice and the i7 cpu
BK is off of course

 

Newegg.com - Crucial 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model CT51264BF1339

will this ram stick work with the SE? i notice the voltage is 1.35 instead of 1.5... which one is better for the SE?

 

Theres any chance to correction orange red with some high end stuff? FFS i almost buy this computer but i was today in sony center and its freaking real orange, on f22 red is red...

 

where do i find the option to turn that off? i see a few intel items in my programs menu but nothing looks obvious

 

^ right click on the desktop > Graphics Properties... (the Intel one) > select Power > change Power Source (top right) option to On battery > uncheck Display Power Saving Technology.

 

Is it me only or everyone else can't toggle between stamina and speed mode when internet explorer is open? Whenever I try to switch while I.E. is open I receive a message that says "the performance can not be changed because other applications are running". This is only happening when I.E. is open.

 

I believe any running software that uses GPU acceleration will prevent switching stamina and speed mode. Internet Explorer is one of them.You can try telling internet explorer to not use hardware acceleration. Go to tools>internet options>advanced> check the use software rendering ... checkbox.

 

happens using chrome as well.

 

anybody any ideas when ivy bridge will be launched and how quick sony are normally to do a refresh and start using new processors in their laptops ? trying to decide wheter or not to order at the end of the month or hang around for the ivy bridge launch.

 

Thanks laper, that did it.

 

I had chrome installed but could switch without problem unless chrome has a similar feature to I.E. and it is on software as default

 

i just got this one - Newegg.com - Crucial 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model CT51264BC1339

i can confirm crucial brand works..not sure if the voltage will be an issue. for a dollar or two more there are plenty other brands that should match the voltage

 

I've tried the search function without success, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced that the integrated webcam on the SE is horrible? Mine is almost black/white, grainy and dark, and although I've tried to adjust the settings, nothing makes it look any decent. I'm not expecting the camera to be superb, but this is by far the worst integrated webcam I've seen on a laptop.

 

same for me

I haven't tried it out in sunlight and i can compare it only to a very good Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000, but i'm extremely disappointed. It looks like the "Sepia" effect is always turned on. Just Brown and dark, almost no colors.

 

Yeh many people seem to recommend that one but as you can see its been out of stock for about a week now. Does anyone know the difference bewteen the 1.5 voltage and the 1.35 voltage?

 

Less heat produced, less power consumption, hence better battery life. I'm using this one for my SB tho.
Newegg.ca - SAMSUNG 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model MV-3T4G3/US

 

Don't you have to change the voltage in BIOS when you use the 1.35 version? (what is probably not possibel with the limited features of the SE BIOS)
Or does it recognize the needed voltage automatically?!

 

No I didn't change any settings when I put the stick in. CPU-Z sees the module as 1.28v tho.

 

I notice in your signature that you're an owner of the SB series. To the best of my knowledge, I hear that the BIOS settings are slightly different from the SE (the SE BIOS settings being more limited). I am also curious as to whether I can just stick an 1.35voltage ram stick into the SE.

 

Hey guys Im looking into buying this laptop, what are the idle temps and the temps while surfing the web/ youtube videos on this generally thanks. Im going to check out in store tomorrow as well to get a feel for it.

 

Isn't the bios exactly the same unlocked bios is available for the s series. Dangerous stuff though. ( mine is in repair center to reset bios settings )

Also why are you sticking with crucial, there are other brands in stock arround the same price. There in stock again though, but you can only order 100 at a time ;(

 

I'm pretty sure the BIOS's are the same tho.

 

I had a few questions for you guys that own this already. I'm hoping to order a CTO sometime in the next few weeks. This laptop seems to be the best all around bet for me right now.

Question though, I currently own a 2 year old CW series sony that can't connect to a 5ghz wireless N signal. Is this one able to? And does this have multiple antennas in it? I can't find anywhere that says what kind of wifi adapter this has.

Also what did you guys buy for a warranty? I want the full 3 year accidental but I hear dealing with Sony is a mixed bag. I hear a ton of positive things about square trade though and their laptop warranties. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

Hi,

I'm considering this laptop for my girlfriend and I'm wandering if it's possible to replace the HDD with a standard SSD or if it's some kind of proprietary solution as in my VPC-Z1?
From this video Sony Vaio SE disassembly - YouTube it looks like it should be possible but I'm wondering about the ZIFF connector, is it a standard SATA connector?

Will it void the warranty or is it at least possible to put the original HDD back in place without the service dept. noticing it if it has to be serviced.

This must have been answered somewhere within the 100+ pages of this thread but I can't find it with the search tool.

Thx

 

The connector for the hdd is sata 3 ( but locked to sata 2 speeds ). Also the connector for the dvd drive should be sata 2.

I also added a normal ssd in hdd slot and it works fine.


Also you can acces the ram, hdd, laptop battery and dvd drive without voiding the warranty.


@dan96max

Depends also on your location.

 

I read somewhere in this thread (can't remember where) that it is impossible to calibrate the screen to compensate for it being too red/orange. Is that true and if so, how much does it bother you?

And is that the only real issue with this laptop (if it really is an issue)?

 

I live in the US and will order from Sony direct. It'll be configured with the i7, 8 gigs of ram and the base hdd. I have a seagate hybrid drive to swap into it.


I checked the drivers out on Sony's support site but the drivers are for Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 Driver and Intel Centrino Wireless-N 6150. One supports dual band and 300mps over the 5ghz channel and the other one doesn't so that didn't help much.

 

Hi all, I just got my vaio se. I'm having problem that it doesn't keep graphic settings (contrast/saturation) in stamina mode after restart. Does anyone know how to fix that? Thanks.

 

Another graphics issue - Connecting to TV with HDMI. Problem with desktop extending beyond the edges. I need to resize the desktop. On my F11, the graphics card software allows manual adjustment. I've looked in the Catalyst control center and the Intel card, but can't find any way to do it?

 

Intel's graphics drivers have a mind of their own. there is no going around it unfortunately (at least i haven't been able to find one). it will reset back to whatever it likes after each restart and each log-in. i manually load my color calibration every time i'm using the STAMINA mode.

 

As far as I know you are stuck with the issue. I use the SE and I am a colourist for comics. I'm aware of the problem so it doesn't bother me. I just check things on an external monitor later for accuracy but I usually get around the issue by using swatches in Photoshop.

The level of clarity the screen gives me when operating at 100% brightness is amazing, even when it's "golden time" in the studio I work at. The screen blasts through most glare.

The other issue is you can't rotate you're screen as far as I know. It's been disabled. This probably doesn't matter to most people but it did to me.

Hope that helps.

 

That's too bad. I hope they will fix that. Well, I found out if I start with speed and then switch to stamina, the settings will stay. Just don't forget to switch it back to speed before turning the vaio off.

 

Using ICC profile? Did you disable igfxpers.exe? It's the Intel persistance module for GPU drivers? It's the biggest impedance vs ICC profiles.

That's strange. The stock AMD and Intel drivers provide it, however, the Sony modified drivers removed the functionality I tried creating a custom resolution with underscan in the Intel IGP panel, but that doesn't work, either. Maybe it will for you. For the reference, using a Dell U2711 and a Mitsu 60" DLP.

 

i don't think they're going to fix it. it's been like this for ages. in my case (VAIO SA), the settings will revert back to Intel's defaults whenever i log into the laptop or whenever i wake the laptop up from sleep. i tried any possible fix, none worked!

 

Sony drivers currently suck and that definitely is not gonna change for youre current laptop.

Switchable graphics is a big fail with drivers anyway.
Otherwise you would not even need sony drivers perhaps.

 

I'm using those modified drivers posted on the main Sony board and all has been well for a week. I gained some more options in Catalyst Control but that's really all I noticed.

Haven't tried gaming too much on this yet so maybe I'll see a difference there.

 

Cool can i have a link to that message board?

I still have the issue that sony's drivers only let me use 1 external screen. Maybe the modded drivers fix this

 

Hello, I just registered to join into the thread.
I've tried out the Vaio SE, but I'm somewhat disappointed by the lack of fluidity when switching from Stamina to Speed mode and vice versa. It doesn't allow me to switch when other programs are running and the screen goes on and off five times. Is there a way to make the transition smoother? Perhaps driver updates?

 

same here. huge disappointment i must say. also: how hard is it to put a somewhat decent webcam into a latop nowadays?

has anyone a solution to the problem? maybe change drivers? because as of now, the webcam is pretty much useless,i'd say.

UPDATE: I just managed to improve the quality! now, my native tongue is german so you must translate the instructions.

1. run the ArcSoft Webcam Companion
2. click on "capture" (the option on the left)
3. click on "preferences" (top right corner, second from the right) OR press "Ctrl + W"
4. open the "advanced..." menu
5. click on "camera management / control"
6. check the "compensate in low-light conditions" (i don't know what it is called in english...)
7. enjoy the improvement !

UPDATE 2: Of course, it makes sense to make some adjustments afterwards.

among other thinks like birghtness and contrast:
in the advanced manu => video-proc options you'll find a further option that is helpful. it is the last option in the list and should be labeled something like "intensifier or amplifier". if you boost that, it should improve the quality or rather the brightness of the picture.

 

It's all in this thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/636724-universal-driver-set-all-switchable-intel-ati-graphics.html

Hope that solves your problem.

 

Does anyone else notice that the trackpad becomes sluggish, almost as if it's updating at a lower rate, when the computer is in Balanced power mode?