Sony SE Owners' Thread

Yeah, too bad the fingerprint sensor isn't available in the US

 

Actually in the UK it wasn't advertised as available for the SE1 (although someone earlier in this thread said they got the sensor on their CTO), they only started offering it with the SE2, so maybe they may start offering the fingerprint sensor later on? There's still no fingerprint sensor on the pre-configured models though...

As a side note it's really odd that the pre-configured models are so expensive. The stock SE2 pre-configured model goes for £899, but if I configure an SE2 to identical specifications it's £674, which is a sizable price difference...

 

what is the difference between SE1 and the SE2? and what does CTO stand for? kinda confused here.

 

CTO = Configure to order... ordering online at Sony with customized configurations

 

Is there a possibility t change DVD for another hdd\ssd?

 

Yep, but you have to do it yourself. Here's a video and a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFcQ1Lw5tQ

 

If I use the dvd slot hdd caddy, could I put another ssd in and run in raid? Does the motherboard have a raid controller or would it be software? Would it be faster or a waste of time?

Also to anyone from the UK who has one: sony dispatched mine to the European warehouse last night, how long did it take you after this email?

 

I think it will be mostly a waste of time to do raid-0. Mobo is capped @ Sata2 speeds, so one Sata3 drive will already saturate the Sata2 bus on mobo.
See image below for results on a Crucial M4 128GB device. Top image is sata2 port, bottom image is sata3 port. (Note this is not on a Sony Vaio device).

 

Followed this thread for quite a while before taking the plunge and ordering my SE. I kept waiting for a decent offer to come up, and the recent offer of free extended battery finally convinced me to order.

It arrived yesterday, and overall very pleased. Worrying at first as the fan ran stupidly loud, but seems to have settled down now and is much quieter.

My main issue currently is that I don't seem to be able to charge the extended battery, and the laptop doesn't seem to recognise the extended battery when connected.

Am I missing something obvious?

 

So just added another 4GB ram (instructions in the VAIO manual and from Crucial). After checking that the ram was recognised, I swapped out the HDD for a 256GB Crucial M4 (using instructions here http://www.docs.sony.com/release/989202617_VPCSB_series_HDD_CRU.pdf for an SB but similar set-up). Now doing a recovery from recovery discs, which is taking a while...

Approximately a week for me:
Last Tuesday (28/2): email saying dispatched from factory
Last Thursday (1/3): shipped from European warehouse (probably in Netherlands - that was the sender address on the parcel I received, although DPD tracking says it was in Germany).
Monday (5/3): received my laptop


As a note, if your laptop's being delivered by DPD (as mine was):

The email from Sony gave me a parcel number and a link to tracking on the dpd.de website. Last Friday I tried this parcel number on the dpd.de site which tracked it to somewhere in Germany; for fun I also tried this number on the dpd.co.uk site which said they had no record of the parcel.

Over the weekend I kept checking the dpd.de website and the website seemed to still be stuck in Germany with no sign of getting closer to me. On Monday morning dpd.de still said it was in Germany. I then decided to try the dpd.co.uk website again, which showed that actually it had arrived in the UK over the weekend and was due to be delivered on Monday around noon! (The dpd.de website later updated, but at least several hours after the dpd.co.uk website did...) I was actually pleasantly surprised as I was expecting a longer wait for my laptop...

So moral of the story: also check the dpd.co.uk website!

 

dpd.co.uk starts working as soon as the laptop is in the UK. Actually it's so modern that it tells you that in which hour the carrier guy is going to arrive.

If I were you I would start with a clean install. Usually clean install always gives a much faster machine and longer battery time. On my Acer I can do 10 hours in idle vs. 6 hours for notebookcheck and it's the same hardware. The difference is that I didn't install any unneeded software, just the minimal drivers.

Can you report on that how loud is the fan? So far this is the only point which keeps me a bit worried before ordering the laptop. A quiet computer is really important for me, I have even written a custom fan profile mod for my Acer, so now the fan is off 90% of the time.

 

Yes I realise that - DPD was fairly decent actually and they did deliver within the hour slot! Just hadn't realised how disconnected the two DPD websites were...

I was going to try a clean install, but it got too frustrating trying to use mod2wim and spent far too much time messing around with settings without much success. I'll live with the recovered system for now and see how I get along with it (see how fast/slow it works...)

For what I've been using it so far (web browsing, skype), the fan doesn't come on that much, running in speed mode. It does make a noticeable noise when it does come on though, but it's not bothering me too much (possibly because it's still quieter than my electric heater or my old laptop - though this might say more about the electric heater and my old laptop than about the SE itself!)...

 

No need to use mod2wim, you just need any Windows 7 install media, all of them are the same! Remove ei.cfg and select the same version your laptop came with. I wrote about it here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/8361998-post1499.html

 

Hello,

I've bought a SE in december and, yesterday, I've replaced the HDD by a Samsung 830 SSD (in less than 5 minutes) [256 Go] and the result is... fantastic ;-)
It is the first SSD I use and it will be difficult to go back...
It is... much much faster (I use Debian on my Vaio).

David.

 

is it possible to change splashtop browser with something else .e.g ubuntu? I would like to start ubuntu by pressing the web button when the computer is off has anyone tried?

 

UPDATE on ORANGEGATE!

So i just bought my SE off newegg, VPCSE13FX/B.
i5
650gb 5200rpm
512 graphics
8gigs ram

I am a graphic designer. I depend on colors being true. This is NOT as bad as people are saying.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Check out that site. All red/maroon. I looked at that site and a few others with my new Vaio SE, a macbook pro, and with my old HP laptop with a really nice screen and correct colors (ive been designing for clients on that for 5 years and had no problems). The vaio was SLIGHTLY, and i mean a tiny bit more orange than the other two computers. In fact, it wouldnt call it orange at all. I would call it red that is slightly more orange than pure red. I dont see this being a problem at all with my professional work.

that being said..

THE SPEAKERS SUCK. They sound worse than my 4 year old smart phone. Tinny, static, no range, not loud.... My HP had altec lansings so i guess im spoiled.... seriously, seriously, disappointing.

The only other problem i face is my spacebar SQUEEKS like a little mouse when i press it. When i type fast its so annoying. That, and the resolution is so good that im straining my neck muscles to read things, and im young. I guess as a professional designer i should have invested in a desktop replacement, but this will do. An external monitor will solve this problem!

Overall, im very happy...

 

Thanks for this update. I am more and more leaning forwards the viewing angles vs. color accuracy. I found that for reading FullHD on a 15 inch screen good and stable viewing angles are a must. How do you find the fan noise in Stamina and Speed mode?

 

Fan noise? what fan noise? To be fair, i havent put it through any realllyy intensive tasks.

I havent even installed the latest driver from Sony that fixes the fan noise problem. If that driver does what it says and makes the fan quieter then it will be virtually silent.


edit - and the viewing angles are great!

 

Try enabling the Dolby enhancements... it's still probably not as good as your HP but better than stock.

 

And speaking of OrangeGate... why has HP responded to this issue but not Sony?

HP acknowledges complaints about the HP Envy 15's color calibration, will release a tuning utility in the 'coming weeks' -- Engadget

 

thanks, i tried what you said - it helped the static, but its still the hardware...

 

Yeah, the bad speakers and lack of media controls (play/pause, stop, next) are the main things I'm not looking forward to. Otherwise, my SE shipped today so I'll hope to see it by the 13th

 

Buy a proper 24bit/96khz USB DAC/headphone amp combo and listen to some good headphones You can keep it for your life, no matter what computer you are using. You can get a really good system from about 200 pounds / dollars.

 

I have to say that the more I use this the more I really like the screen. Viewing angles - I just had dinner in front of my laptop (watching a DVD) and loved how I could move around and still get a really good view of the screen. Also useful for using the webcam - can shift the angle of the screen around (so the webcam faces me) but still be able to see the screen no matter how angled it is.

I think what I was worried about was getting all the drivers/etc in the right order, as that seemed to be recurrent problem with doing fresh installs on Sonys.

With Crucial M4 + recovery + uninstall my laptop currently goes from power on to Chrome in about 25 seconds (including the bit of delay where I log on), which I'm fairly happy with. I'm sure it could be much faster with a fresh install though, but for now I'm happy (may reconsider in the future...)

Yes SSD is amazing! And it was surprisingly easy to replace the HDD (though I kept worrying about dropping the screws into the depths of the laptop). I'm definitely now a convert to the SSD side!

Agree about the speakers - they're tolerable (probably better than an iPhone 3GS though!), but my external laptop speakers definitely work much better.

I've not had a problem with the spacebar - just did a typing test (doing about 110-120 wpm) and not noticed any squeaking...

 

I will look into that for the future... However i'm rocking a set of 5 year old logitec speakers (Z-2300) they still BLOW anything ive heard recently out of the water! I love those things.

Mostly just annoyed that i cant watch movies in bed without plugging into the speakers (first world problems!)

 

I got all the drivers from sony on my external.

I am now attempting a full fresh install of Windows 7 PRO x64 (free cd keys from employer)

The only thing i am worried about is sony website said "brightness function keys may not work properly" even with drivers. Anyone have this problem?

 

Be carful with this kind of test!
The red on the site of the university is very dark / washed out.

Just repeat your test with Coca-Cola Global: Soft Drinks & Beverage Products or even better: Media Markt Europe !
I think the kind of red they are using is more likely the one that couses the problem.

 

good point, noted:

just tried Media Markt Europe - wow thats a red site!

Definitely a lot more orange tinted than the university's maroon, but still, red. I almost like it better on my SE than the mac - the SE is more orange but it is soooo crisp and clear and bright.

I can see how people want this problem fixed, i do too, but functionally it does not bother me.

 

What I really really don't understand is that people complain about the slight orange tint in the SE's amazing IPS screen, while 99% of the notebook screens s*x so badly. I mean how can we talk about color calibration or color stability at all, when on an average TN screen there is not a single spot where the whole surface of the screen would show the same colour. I have paid fortunes for S-IPS and S-PVA (desktop) screens in the last few years and I really care about good screens, and I wouldn't care less than about a slight tint difference. We even have a name for this orange issue, while millions of people are using 1366x768, glossy, TN super-no-viewing-angle screens without problems.

 

Probably because most people who use 1366x768 TN panels with no problems don't care that much about their screen. No offense intended.

People who use these IPS panels are probably more attentive to screen quality and have thus rejected all the TN 1366x768 panels. So they're more nitpicky and notice slight problems with these high-end panels (whereas 1366x768 users aren't going to notice or care because to them no viewing angles and seeing red at the top of the screen and purple at the bottom aren't even problems). Personally, after seeing the SE in person numerous times, it was the best screen I had ever seen.

Yes, it would be nice if a screen this high-end and this great didn't have an orange/red issue, but it doesn't bother me...(and I've returned numerous laptops for various small issues...I'm very picky).

 

I agree totally. For me, not being picky is greatly affected by the fact the second lightest Full HD IPS laptop with switchable GFX is the Dell M4600, which weights 3.16 kg + 0.85 kg for the power supply = 4.01 kg vs the 2.3 kg of the Sony. We are talking about almost 2x the weight difference.

Actually, the only fact I am hesitating about the Sony is that I am studying computer science and I would like to learn about CUDA possibly one day, and this is something I cannot do on the Sony, but i'll do somehow.

 

People complain because they are paying premium for this screen and the it has issues. If you don't care about it that's fine and I agree that it's of course better than the 99% of the TN laptop displays out there, but bottom line is that it's quite sad that with so many choices and manufacturers of laptops there is not a single one that would be able to deliver an actual high quality display that would be comparable to desktop IPS screens.

Meanwhile there doesn't seem to be a problem in putting higher quality IPS displays with no issues in f***ing tablets that can't do any real work.

And exactly what Ichinenjuu said. Most people that do buy 1366x768 screens couldn't care less. I'd be willing to bet a lot of them don't even know what resolutions are and which one they're using.

And I'm sorry but that statement from HP is complete BS. I actually laughed out loud when I've read it. There is no software calibration that would be able to fix the color problem. If the hardware is actually fine than perhaps it could be done via firmware update but definitely not through a "tuning utility" unless that means firmware.

Typical HP with their responses. When my last HP laptop died due to a faulty Nvidia chip, which some of you may remember from a while ago, HP refused to settle it in any way with me and they kept offering me to send it in for a repair to replace the motherboard with another faulty chip! For around $200!!

When I finally got through to someone way higher the best they could offer me was 10% off the repair. I was going to sue them but didn't end up doing that, tho maybe I should have, as they lost class-action lawsuit in the states and had to give people who purchased these faulty laptops their money back. Too bad they only had to do that in the US and I was in Canada.

 

Don't forget the HP Envy 15. It has switchable graphics and Full HD IPS. Glossy screen, though.

But it has missing keystroke problems, strong "Orangegate" issue, and iffy build quality.

 

I was talking about being picky with the screen. The Envy 15 has the same screen, or at least a very similar one. But they are so clever in copying Apple that they have put a glass in front of it. Like if the lights were not on the ceiling in 99% of the world's universities and offices.

 

The HP Envy buyers have an issue because the full HD screen is an upgrade. You can only get the Sony SE in full HD so that's why some of us (me) are okay with OrangeGate.

 

It's an upgrade for both HP and Sony, the only difference is that with Sony you don't have a choice. But you are still paying premium for the display.

 

For those who are still looking to buy a SE, or are on the edge due to price, both Newegg and Tigerdirect has the Silver laptop on sale for $799.
Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz), AMD Radeon HD 6470M

 

this is off-topic, but HP never paid any money for that settlement. what happened was that NVIDIA setlled and offered two crappy laptops to HP owners: one was an ASUS tablet PC with netbook specs for those who had purchased an HP tablet PC, and the other was a low-end COMPAQ for the others (this is as far as i can remember). so basically, people paid about $1000 (and maybe more) for brand new HP laptops with NVIDIA chipsets, and in return, after years of dealing with faulty hardware, they were given a $400 craptop replacement.

 

It is off-topic and I really don't want to start a whole discussion here, considering this is a Sony SE owners thread, but you're quite right, which only proves my point about HP. Owners of Dell and Apple got free replacements where HP offered affected customers s**t.

But there is something to take away here. Similar situation is happening again, even if I realize that having reds look like orange is nowhere close to having your GPU fried, the point is that these companies have absolutely no problem selling customers faulty hardware which is exactly what happened back then. They very well knew what computers were affected and instead of pulling them off the market they kept selling them and asked customers to pay for repairs!

I think customers have a right to demand properly working products considering the price they are paying. If people keep saying, oh well I don't really care because it doesn't affect me that much, it only allows these companies to keep selling us cheap crap. And that's the moral of the story. I for one fully support the upset owners of HP envy machines and I think Sony owners should be upset as well.

 

I didn't see this answered and it is something simple but not quite obvious. There's a plastic cover over the connection on the bottom of the notebook. Remove that cover before attaching the battery.

 

..the silver one is 130 dollars less than the black one with the same specs.....if i only knew that 4 days ago... Ah


edit- yeah like i figured newegg said "oops your screwed up , sorry"

 

and i support your view as well peace.

 

How do you guys manage your power options? This laptop is ridiculous with power options, so far ive done this:

-Windows power options > Balanced

-Windows power options > Balanced > Advanced > Vaio power management

-Control panel > Vaio control panel > power options

-Intel graphics power options

-Catalyst power options

It took me hours to get all my power options sorted out how i like them, but it was worth it. I really like how the LED keyboard goes off after 10 seconds of non use.

 

Additional comments on the screen (following above discussion):

I started looking seriously at the SE because it was essentially one of the lightest (if not the lightest?) 15"-ish laptops around.

Before I decided on the SE, I looked around a number of laptops in the stores I went to. The SE had the best looking screen - there was no competition (interestingly I preferred the SE's screen to the F's screen, but I suspect the F they had on display had the lesser display configuration...). I knew about the red/orange issue but after watching sample videos (Batman Dark Knight trailer and some wildlife video), in which the red/orange issue wasn't noticeable, I decided that I could probably accept the red/orange as a tradeoff for the size/weight/screen.

Should add that I wasn't actually picky about screens before, and my old laptop's resolution was 1024x768. I hadn't realised how much difference the resolution and quality of screen makes to enjoyment and ease of use, and it's going to be hard to go back to a poorer screen after the SE!

So basically - I'm happy with the screen. Would I be happier if there was no red/orange issue - the answer is yes. It would also be nice if Sony acknowledged that there was a problem with the screen. However given that there's currently no other laptop available that is thin and light (2kg or under), with a 15"-ish high-resolution screen (and great viewing angles), I'm willing to trade-off the red/orange issue (which I barely notice in day to day use).

 

I've not played around too much with the power options yet, as for the near future (next few months) it's going to spend the majority of its time on my desk. That being said I will need to change them once it's battery mode - just did a quick test of usage with battery and got just about 3 hours (!?), though this could be because it's still in the first charge cycles, running on speed, max brightness, plus I was copying a fair number of files during this time.

What do the Intel graphics power options and Catalyst power options do? As in how does that work together with the Windows power options?

I do like how the LED keyboard goes off too. I actually get rather annoyed by the backlight, but I think that's because I touch type and the backlighting is distracting rather than helpful for me...

 

That's great that you're happy with the screen. What you're saying is exactly what I wish Sony would do. Acknowledge that the screen has problems and fix it in the next refresh or even before. Guess they missed their chance since the SE just got updated.

 

I just spent half an hour in the shop playing with Sony SE (1st gen) and as a graphics artist I have to say that the issue with the screen displaying red colours as orange is a killer(( the red tone's aren't just a little orange, they're very orange. I wonder if the 2nd gen models have exactly the same screen, or if they've improved the tones somehow.
On the plus side, viewing angles are superb on this model and colours are more vibrant than other sony models too.)

 

Same over here. I would've bought the SE a while ago had it not been for the Orangegate. And the screen in the 2nd gen is apparently the same...

I wonder what is HP going to say when they respond with their "utility" and what, if anything, is Sony going to do about it.

 

anyone else has poor output from the headphone jack? it sounds weak, distorted, and you hear chirps and clicks every now and then?

--

Ok i managed to solve this, the laptop is not compatible with TRRS headphones i.e the ones come with microphones like an iphone headphone, the trick is to pull the headphone slightly out.

 

does anyone know why when i have it in STAMINA mode in my windows experience index i get 6.4 for AERO graphics and 6.3 for gaming graphics, and when i have it in SPEED mode, i get a 5.3 for AERO and 6.3 for gaming?

STAMINA
AERO graphics 6.3
GAMING 6.4

SPEED
AERO graphics 5.3
GAMING 6.3

shouldnt it be the other way around?