Sony SE Owners' Thread

The SE's screen is LP156WF4 (SL)(B1)

The viewing angle is much better in the SE screen. The color gamut is much better in the AUO. The AUO is thicker, so you cannot put it in the SE.

 

Is it confirmed that SE is compatible with 8gb stick of RAM for a total of 12gb? Which model number of RAM have you used? I currently just have 2x4gb but after turning off paged files, I run out or RAM fast.12gb would be much better for me if possible.

I remember seeing other posts about this but I wasnt sure if it was for the SA or SE.

 

SA and SE are very similar. SA is confirmed to work with 12GB of RAM.

 

has anyone found a solution to enable SATA III speeds yet?

 

It's possible by downgrading the BIOS firmware but I wouldn't suggest it because the older firmware has stability issues, battery recognition problems and the fan sounds like a fighter jet even when you're not pushing the notebook much.

Also I think the old firmware seems to be meant more for the SA series and not the SE series. I did'nt have full functionality of my keyboard after flashing (separate number pad did not work plus certain letters were numbers).

 

was that my firmware that i dumped for you?

 

No it was an older BIOS (R1031H4) that was intended for the SA series imo for the reasons I stated above. SATA III ran at full 6GB/s on my SE with it, Sony later removed this capability in the newer firmware.

I haven't flashed the dump you sent me because it's a bit of a different process. Here is a screenshot I took after I flashed the old BIOS firmware and benched my SSD (note I only have one SSD installed in my SE, not two in Raid 0 like you do).

 

After months of deliberating and investigating (while waiting for money) my laptop search has ended thinking this is one for me. I have the money now sitting in my hand and just want to take a second look. Now I've read through many pages of this post and know the problem of the fan/cpu noise. I don't think that should bother me as my 3 year old HP can get noisy as heck too. Other then that are you guys still happy with your purchase? Would you advise grabbing one these days? If is there one you would suggest instead that has a similar profile/graphics card?

Cheers.

 

Yes - am still happy with my laptop (more than a month in now).

The orange/red issue that initially put me off the SE has turned out to be unnoticeable in daily use - so not an issue for me at all. The screen is amazing - very sharp, amazing viewing angles, and the matte screen is a definite plus.

Noise is barely noticeable to me too, not had an issue with this at all. Although my spacebar has started squeaking a little (not very noticeable and usually drowned out by the clicking of the keys when I type)...

If you replace the HDD with an SSD it runs very fast.

Although - these days it may be worth waiting for Ivy Bridge update. I would have waited, except that my old laptop was basically dying and I needed a new one...

 

I hear that at least desktop Ivy Bridge processors run hotter and don't give noticeable advantage power savings. Maybe next stepping will fix some of that. Laptop CPU chips have bare packaging (no metal cover) so st least excessive heat with Ivy Bridge may not be such an issue. Still, Sandy Bridge SE is a very good value even with first wave of Ivy Bridge laptops.

 

So I'm having a bit of a problem here:

Does anyone else get random increases/decreases in brightness while on battery? This does not happen when I have it plugged in, but for some reason when I have it on battery, the brightness (and sometimes contrast) will randomly decrease and increase from time to time.

This is extremely annoying. What is causing this?

 

Intel's super-smart, super-amazing power management for the iGPU. you can disable it in Intel's graphics control panel. set power mode to "on battery" there, and uncheck that god-awful feature (or shall i say 'bug'?).

 

Thanks

Why anyone would want that is beyond me

 

Has anyone installed Ubuntu or any other forms of Ubuntu on this laptop? How does it run?

 

It runs so so, but you need to do some modifications to Ubuntu 12.04 to improve battery life and stop the fan from running so much. Wireless is terrible in Ubuntu and I find myself going back to windows to do anything that requires the internet.

I forgot to mention the battery life and fan issue probably comes from the linux sandy bridge problem, and the wifi problem might be because of an update to the wifi in kernel 3.2 .

 

Thanks for the reply! I installed Ubuntu on my other Sony laptops and had fan problems as well. I couldn't figure out how to adjust the fan. How did you fix that?

 

So, is there any solution to the CPU whine on this laptop? I have an SSD so there is noticeable high-pitched "whine" at almost all times coming from the CPU. Unfortunately my young ears are quite sensitive to it...my parents can't even hear it

Is there nothing that can be done about it?

 

I'm planning to buy an SE and I have a question regarding the raid 0 SSD option.

In Europe, there is currently an offer to get the raid 0 SSD for half price (i.e. 256GB for €200), which is quiet appealing.
However for the same price I could buy an SSD like a Crucial M4.

But I don't know which solution would bring the best performances.

It is indeed difficult to find benchmarks of the raid 0 SSD included in the SE since most people prefer to bypass the option and upgrade the HDD with an SSD because of the price Sony is asking for it.

I know the standard SE version only supports SATA II; Is it also the case of the raid 0 SSD version ?

But more important, which solution would bring the best performances in real life ?
(I'm not sure the SSD used in the raid 0 configuration is as good as a M4 for example)

Thank you for your help !

 

Well I'm not sure if the Raid 0 might be a little bit faster than the Crucial, but I can say two things:

1. With the Crucial M4 it's really extremly fast. Maby the other configuration will start 0,5 seconds faster but I assume you won't feel it. (Maby its also slower...)

2. Even with the offer it's extremly expensive!
Remember that Sony always has an offer. It differs from 50 € on RAM Upgrade up to a free CPU-Upgrade (saves 175 € .

So you can assume: The SSD-Upgrade for half the price is one of the worst offers. When you compare it to Upgrading it by yourselfe you save nothing.
On the other hand side you will e.g. have a real dicount of 175 € when you wait until they offer the CPU-Upgrade again.



Of course this hint is only relevant for you when you can wait some days/weeks.
When you really need it now I see no problem in buying the Raid-Solution...

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8422397-post1665.html

 

Thank you for the replys.

Actually I had already seen the post with the chart (showing SATA II transfer rate), but forgot about it. Shame on me !

I think I will do as Hardwarefox suggests and wait for a free CPU upgrade !

 

Hi there. I purchased a VPCSE2C5E which I have now owned for a couple of weeks.
I must say the orange-gate problem with the screen is not noticeable to me (I thought this may be a slight issue but is not at all). In fact i am very impressed with the screen.

The overall performance is good but I am biding my time to get an ssd as the prices seem to be tumbling right now.

I had an issue with a couple of sd cards (would not recognise, requested to format but failed). Downloading sd formatter from:
https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_3/
fixed the issue and now all my cards work ok.


I just wanted to check what memory I need to upgrade. I am aware I can upgrade by 4gb only.
Is it: 204 Pin SO DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600 1333MHz memory?

If so is this suitable?:
Sony VAIO Laptop VPCSE1Z9E/B Memory Ram Upgrade - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed at MrMemory.co.uk



One final question, (I have looked through the thread but found no solid answer), when I upgrade to ssd is there an actual way to clone my drive to the ssd without any loss in performance once the ssd is installed?

my current drive is 320gb and I am likely to purchase a 256gb ssd.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

Yes 204 Pin SO DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600 1333MHz memory is what you want. Any of these below should work fine, personally I use Kingston as I've never had a problem with it.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Laptop Memory, 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM, DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600), 4GB

You can clone your original drive using a variety of programs that will take care of everything for you but imo I suggest doing a clean install on the SSD.

 

Great thanks!!

got the ram

Pushed my ram rating up to 7.8 from 5.4.

pushed my processor rating from 7.1 to 7.2



From breifly scouring the net It sames that the graphics rating on the experience index is only for the intelhd graphics.


So as I have the radeon 6630m which should perform better than the intel, I am assuming this index rating is lower than what it would be if the radeon was taken into consideration.
Anyone know if these assumptions are correct?
Its just every index rating table I see for these vaios', both the graphics ratings within the experience index are at 6.7


Thanks!

 

I too have ordered a VPCSE2C5E with the 320Gb HDD and 4GB RAM. I also got the extended sheet battery but think I'll sell it. How much they going for generally?

Looking to fit a SSD in the future but with the falling prices I'm going to wait a few months. Regarding the RAM which did you go for and where from ferarri100? If somebody could point me in the right direction it is appreciated.

Also, what are the chances of picking up a blu-ray drive for this laptop some point in the future? I'd be interested maybe.

Thanks,
Guy

 

I bought a SE2 a little while back with the 320GB HDD and 4GB of ram, can't remember the exact part number but it worked perfectly.

I also upgraded to a 256GB SSD, bought the crucial M4 with cloning kit, this was very easy but do be careful in selecting the right options in the cloning software. Physically changing over the drive is very easy, there is a guide for the SA laptop which shows everything you need to do.

Overall very impressed with this laptop, as said the orange gate issue is not very noticeable unless you are viewing sites with lots of red e.g. ferrari home page, etc.

Enjoy.

 

Hi Guy, not sure where you are but if your in the UK, you can buy from crucial:
4GB, 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 upgrades for Sony VAIO VPCSE23FX/B Laptop/Notebook, CT2806440 from Crucial.com

this is the ram I purchased.

 

You can easily find the answer by yourself.
Just turn the switch to stamina (= Intel grapics) an you will see that doing the rating again delivers 6.4.
The rest is logic.



And also remember some wise hint:
The expirence index is only a synthetic test and has no practical use.
So look e.g. for more resolution, details ect. while gaming instead of points in this useless test.

 

Great, thanks. Sorry should have said but yes I'm in the UK

 

Hi - I just bought the SE i7 with the 6630 card. I love it so far but I am worried about the battery on it. With my brightness at the lowest the battery said it could last 3 hours - is that normal? I was hoping for like four hours....

 

Does the RAM matter if it's ecc or non-ecc?

 

you want non-ECC if you want to upgrade the RAM.

 

New S Series announced.

Sony - Enhance your productivity with the faster, smarter mobile VAIO S Series from Sony : : News : Sony Europe Press Centre

Think I'll be returning my laptop when it arrives if this is available to order.

 

^
Hmm according to UK PR only 13 will get i7 Quad. Or I am reading it wrong.

 

not sure. It could refer to the 13 getting a SSD as standard to partner the i7

 

I think it says that i7 is not standard on all 13s. Very confusing wording for PR.

 

Anyone tried to replace the GPU in the docking station (is it even possible?).
If yes what's the best card one could put in there and how complex is the process?

 

Saw that Sony have announced an updated version of the SE15, wonder if they have fixed the organge gate issue?

Anyway I posted a while back about the active window becoming in-active at random, some suggested it was the mouse pad faulty or me accidentally touching it. Well it seems related to the Sony Smart Network application VSNClient.exe, with the task manager active you can identify the application that is changing the windows focus by the CPU spike it creates.

Anyway disabling VSNClient.exe stops windows losing focus which is good but obviously I don't have Smart Network working. Any thoughts about how to get these to work together without the user annoyance.

Thanks

Pete

 

To anyone who games regularly with the SE, I have been using the Intel 3000 only for the last few months since I just use Photoshop.

My friend wants to play Diablo 3 with me so I downloaded Starcraft 2 to give this computer a modern game, ran great on Speed. Medium settings with FHD (anything less than 1080p looks like now ).

The fan ran like crazy of course. Should I consider getting a cooler or will the fan be able to do its job? Would a cooler even help?

Just curious to hear some other people's experiences before I start playing games on this thing.

 

a cooler helps. i have a CoolerMaster NotePal U2 with moveable fans which i've placed directly under the cool air intake vents. it helps reduce the temperatures by 4C-6C when i play Battlefield 3 on my VAIO SA. gaming on VAIO SE is fine, and you don't need to worry about it. just monitor the temperatures (you can use GPU-Z to see the GPU load and temperatures); anything below 85C is fine (the lower, the better).

 

Thanks Darxide, always helpful

 

Seems like all of sudden my SD card reader has flaked out and when I insert a card, it fails to appear in Explorer or My computer. When it does show up it's not accessible. I don't use it all that often sine my main camera uses CF cards and I use an external USB 3 reader for that (SD cards work fine in the external reader). I already tried re-installing the driver but no help there. Any ideas? And yes, it did work up until about a month ago.

 

GPU in the docking station?

The docking station for the Vaio-SE has no GPU at all!
It's just a nice accessory that helps you quickly connecting peripherals and sorting your cabels.
So inside the docking station you will probably only find minimalistic electronics and / or cables.

 

Ah wrong model derp <_<

 

What's up guys, I just posted this in the BIOS hack thread and thought a few of you might want to see it....


I have finally managed to enable full SATA III speeds on my SE1 (15.5 inch version with the extra num pad) and have an almost fully functional notebook by downgrading the BIOS to the official R1031H4 stock firmware. I have tried this in the past with Pyro's hacked version of R1031H4 but my keyboard was messed up (some letter keys were not assigned properly and giving me numbers instead when pressed), also the cooling fan was constantly on so I was forced to go back to the newer stock BIOS firmware (R2085H4) or Pyro's hacked version of it which did not have these issues.

Anyhow today after flashing the stock R1031H4 BIOS the only thing not functioning is the num pad but the normal area of my keyboard works perfectly along with everything else on my system. Even the cooling fan is virtually silent, it runs very quiet like it's on the R2085H4 firmware. I'm quite surprised to be honest.






And as you can see below IRST reports the SATA transfer rate is running at 6GB/s instead of 3GB/s like it was with Sony's newer firmware.

 

I think this has been asked already in this thread but I can't seem to find it. When I switch the switch from STAMINA and SPEED, my video settings in games get reset to default and never get saved. Anyone have a tip?

 

My blue dead pixel has been doing my head in recently, it's not right in the centre of the screen, a bit off to the left and under the central line, but I think it's got a little bigger.

Now is the time I think I'll try and get Sony to replace the LCD.

Does anyone know if I can take my laptop to a Sony store if I bought it online? Or is my only option to call Sony and get them to pick it up?

I think the dead pixel policy on this Vaio is 5+, but I hope they'll still go ahead and fix it if I moan enough. Anyone else have a dead pixel issue sorted by Sony? (with any Vaio)

Thanks for responses.

 

I have ordered a SE2 model, you think the red/orange issue is meanwhile solved?

Initially in our shop all was well but after a few minutes I noticed the bad color, really terrible.

 

No, the issue is not solved. The same LG IPS panel is used in the Sony SE1 & 2, the HP Envy 15, etc. There's only one 15-inch IPS panel available right now and it has an orange/red color issue.

 

On the german site new models are online.

They also have a new name scheme.
Seem like the new one is now called SVS.

major changes seems to be:

• slot-in optical drive
• Ivy-Bridge Quadcore
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE GPU with 2 GB
• 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 (with charging function)
• button-free touchpad
• Max RAM 12 GB
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Now Audio-Connectors moved to the front and it has a microphone connector