Sony SE Owners' Thread

There is a slight difference: The Canadian version has a default 500GB 5400rpm hard drive whereas the U.S. version is 500GB 7200rpm. Upgrading from 500GB 5400rpm to 500GB 7200rpm costs $30CAD.

 

Any feedback on the screen on the SE. The notebookcheck review on the SA says it is bright enough for daylight use. Anyone looked at this screen outside?

TIA

 

True... but even at $850, this seems like a deal!

 

It's got a matte finish and it's, by all accounts, a much nicer screen than the SA's. I'm sure it's fine for outside use.

 

It definitely is. You can get the 6630M, 7200RPM drive and a slightly better processor for a bit cheaper than the US version. Is the i5 2540M one of the processors that was just released or is it from earlier in the year?

 

so ive given up on the samsung series7 and have decided to order this silver SE

i5
6gb ram
6630

off amazon for $1079.

I would also like to replace the HDD with crucial m4 128gb ssd i found here:

Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I this the correct size? can anyone provide a basic explanation or link on ho to swap out the hdd and put in this ssd? i think i read in the reviews that it comes with a cable so you can copy the OS over to the SSD then jut drop it in and its ready to go, i this correct?

 

You can see the pictures of the SE screen on my post on page 9. I love the screen -- great viewing angles, matted, 1920x1080 -- it's perfect.

I'm really close to getting it, but I'm trying to hang on for another few weeks to see if the non-Best Buy version of the Samsung Series 7 notebook has the same quality screen as the SE.

 

The $999 in-store one at Sony Store is tempting because it has the BD player but it only has the 512mb video.

The Amazon one for $1079 is a better deal as it has 6GB, both the BD and 1GB video and because it's sold by Circuit City... no sales tax... but I no instant satisfaction.

Hmmm.

 

Thanks for the responses! Yeah I'm definitely relieved. I was really hoping that 1.32" H was an error. I'll probably pass on the battery slice. Another error I've noticed is that there's no option to choose color (silver and black seem to be the 2 options from the photo) when you customize the 15.5" model.

I just realized I never posted the link to the page in question: Sony S Series (click specifications and 15.5")

 

Color is the first choice on page 2 of the configuration form.

 

I just ordered a Sony laptop from the CircuitCity/TigerDirect Amazon store (both are the same company in reality, but in tax law [and technically], they have certain states with no operations in them, so CC is tax free in Cali, TD in FL, etc). Even with expidited shipping (2day UPS, not air saver, thank fully), they take about 2 days before actually processing the order and dropping it off at UPS. But the difference for me was 8usd normal shipping and 11usd expidited shipping, so I chose the fastest one, naturally...

Otherwise, they are fine.

 

so i went ahead and ordered this 2 day shipping from amazon came to $1100. Can anyone answer my question above?

 

This is the one that comes with a cable.

Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit

 

The pictures above confirm that it is a glossy display with an anti-reflective coating. If you tilt a matte display down, you can't see the keyboard reflected in it at all. All reflections are completely diffuse so you can't see hard edges/outline of a silhouette.

 

Finally saw the silver one at the Sony Store... like a white iPad... it seems lighter than the black one (heh).

Turns out the $999 one at the Sony Store does not have a BD so looks like I'm going with the Amazon/CC one.

 

Ended up cancelling the CTO, and going with the Silver -CircuitCity/TigerDirect, and saving over $200 from the previous configuration. I'll be swapping the 5300 RPM drive out for a Crucial SSD later. $1,097.89 with 2-Day shipping.

 

its safe to do a backup of ur hdd nd clean install from it into the ssd. chk the SA/SB thread for details nd why its imp to clean install.

 

Could anyone post temps and fan noise? I heard it gets very loud while gaming. Thanks

 

i don't think i've seen a laptop that doesn't get "loud" during gaming...

 

Is it possible to swap the dvd drive out of this and replace it with a blu ray drive yourself? I'm interested in this laptop, but the cost of upgrading to blu-ray on the UK store is an utterly ridiculous £370, and I'm thinking, if its possible, it must be cheaper to do that myself after buying it.

 

I just ordered a CTO SE from the European Sony Store. On the page it said 2-3 weeks delivery time but hopefully it's not going to take that long. I'll do a mini-review when I get it, although I'll try to make it as thorough as possible.

My specs are:
- Core i5 2430M
- 320GB 5400RPM HDD
- Radeon 6630M
- 4 GB RAM
- DVD Drive
- WWAN
- Slice battery
edit: It's the black version.

I didn't go all out on the ram and hard drive because frankly, I can't afford paying $160 for a 4GB stick of RAM when I can get one for $35 here in Norway. The hard drive will also be replaced with a 120GB SSD in a month or so, so I don't need the more expensive options.

Also:

Thanks for the extra info about the screen quality guys, this actually helped me choose between the SE and the Samsung 7 series. I think Samsung has a long way to go when it comes to releasing laptops properly. Judging by the posts in the 7 series Chronos thread it looks like its been delayed and had some hardware changes(rumors that the backlit KB has been removed). Samsung didn't do a good job with marketing this time around. In the end I just gave up on it.

 

Just read through this whole thread and decided to order the 1299 model from Amazon. This notebook seems to combine good performance, battery, looks and weight for a reasonable price. Can't wait to get it!

 

i wonder how much samsung has lost out ($) because of this, i was checking the thread/TD daily and finally gave up. My 2 previous laptops have been vaio business models (SR, dont remember the oldest one) so having the SE as my 2nd choice was never a bad thing, but after reading reviews on the screen it made my decision that much easier. the only downfall i see to this laptop is the video card. luckily i have my ps3 for BF3, jut hoping the 6630 can handle GW2 and diablo 3

 

FYI I have the CA right now a/ 6630m. Stock it it benches at 70003dmark06, but OC i've gotten it to 10k 3dmark06. Almost 50% improvement, and surpasses the 6750m

 

Does anyone know why the SSD options require the AMD Radeon HD 6630M and which brand and model SSD comes with the CTO? Are the SSDs SATA II (3GB/s) or SATA III (6GB/s)?

from: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...52921666383164&categoryId=8198552921644768017

256GB (128GB x2) solid state drive with RAID 0 (Reg. price $580.00) [add $530.00]
256GB solid state drive is only available with AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB) graphics.
512GB (256GB x2) solid state drive with RAID 0 (Reg. price $1,380.00) [add $1,280.00]
512GB solid state drive is only available with AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB) graphics.
1TB (512GB x2) solid state drive with RAID 0 (Reg. price $2,980.00) [add $2,780.00]
1TB solid state drive is only available with AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB) graphics.

EDIT: I found the manual here: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/VPCSA3_SB3_SC3_SE_series.pdf but it does not mention SSDs.

 

What's the difference between the $1299 model from Amazon and the $1079 model from TigerDirect?

Sony VAIO VPCSE16FX/S Laptop Computer - Intel Core i5-2430M 2.40GHz, 6GB DDR3, 640GB HDD, Blu-Ray Player, AMD Radeon HD 6630M, Backlit Keyboard, 15.5 Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Silver at TigerDirect.com

Amazon.com: Sony VAIO SE1 Series VPCSE17FX/B 15.5-Inch Laptop (Jet Black): Computers & Accessories

It seems to me that the specs are the same besides the color.

 

I saw the SE at the Sony Style in Tysons so i'm going to give my impression from that while I wait for a video review on youtube.

Design/Chasis

The layout is pretty much the same as the SA except more spread out. Personally, I like having the dedicated buttons at the top of the machine but some of you might not like them but I can't really see them being annoying. The unit was much bigger than I thought. Compared to the series 7 15", it has a much bigger foot print. In contrast to this, the laptop is very light for a 15". I could lift it with 1 hand easily.

Screen

The screen is pretty good. Its no vaio Z screen (as far as I could tell) but i'd say its in the same calibre to the HP DV6t 1080p screen. The blacks are black and the colors, while they don't eaxactly pop, look accurate and good. The screen housing is very thin. I could twist it and that worried me a bit. The hinge is also something I was concerned with. It didn't go back to 180 degrees and i'm worried it might suffer similiar problems that the SA has. Overall though, The screen is where it should be for $999.

Performance

I didn't get to really test this but I can say it runs minecraft fine. On the specs, I wish Sony had included a better GPU. To me, it just seems chinsy to not included something even a little more powerfull when they had more room and heat distribution for it.


Overall, I had a mixed impression of the laptop. I have my doubts about its longetivity but only time will show this.

 

Does anyone have the SE with the i7 processor and the AMD Radeon HD 6630M yet? I would be interested in the PCMark 7 scores, especially with the SSD option.
Windows 7 Benchmark test - Basic Edition Free Download

 

'Bout ready to pull the trigger. Can anybody comment on the hinge opening angle? My HP Envy 15 barely opens enough to view on ones lap.

 

Does anyone know if VGP-KBL3 will fit the keyboard on SE?, it looks like it will fit but I couldn't find any where people mention about keyboard skin for SE.

 

so the asian model has fingerprint module and us models doesn't have it.

 

The Amazon one has the extra slice battery. At least that's the only difference I noticed.

 

I was originally planning on buying the sammy 7-series, but am now seriously contemplating placing the order on the Vaio SE instead. I'll go to the local Sony Center and have a look at it tomorrow in person just to be sure, but I'm pretty certain already.

However, I'm a bit unsure as to how to spec it and was wondering if anyone here could help me out a bit. I pretty much use my laptop all day long, but mostly at home and usually just for web browsing, word, pdf's, movies etc. But I also use FL Studio and Sketchup a bit, however no games.

The cheapest option in Norway costs $1200, with i3-2330m, HD 6460, 4gb ram.
Since I can't opt for the HD 6630 without also opting for the i5-2430, the price jumps to $1380. Is it worth it?

Also, I don't know if it's a bug on the config page, but the 500gb 7200rpm hard drive is a no-cost option from the 320gb 5400rpm. Sure, it's no ssd, but will it improve speed? and what about heat and noise? One of the reasons for buying a new laptop is that my current is burning hot and too noisy to use at school without getting stares.

 

There is quite a noticeable difference between the 6470 and the 6630. Which one you'd want all depends on what you'd do with the laptop. I like to think that if it's strictly for work then the low end actually helps focus on just that. If you need something you could use for (mostly) anything, including some gaming, I'd opt for the 6630. Judging by the specs it probably does reasonably well if you step down from native screen res and max details.

CPU-wise both have the same TDP (35W) so there is a high probability that they may have the same power draw. Not 100% sure about that one though. Notebookcheck doesn't have any benchmarks of them as of yet so unsure about the performance difference. I guess you could look at the similarly-specced ones for a rough comparison.

Notebookcheck links:
6630M
6470M

i5 2430M
i3 2330M

 

I placed an order for the Sony VPC-SE13 today from Amazon. I was waiting for the Samsung Series 7, but the macbook that I spilt water on over a year ago is starting to die and I needed a replacement ASAP. I didn't order the VPC-SE16 with 6630M or BlueRay for $120 more since I'll be using the laptop mostly for school-related work.

I also ordered an extra 4GB RAM and a Crucial M4 128GB SSD along with the computer and I plan on installing everything later in the week. My only worry with this computer is the fan noise, I've read complaints about the SA fan being abnormally loud and never turning off, and I hope the SE doesn't have a similar problem.

Has anyone replaced the HDD or RAM from their SE yet? I've seen the pics near the beginning of this forum and it seems like it should be pretty easy to swap out the HDD. If anyone wants, I'll definitely keep you guys posted when I receive everything later in the week.

 

Please do Pics would be greatly appreciated!

 

I just came back from the Sony Center where they had the SE displayed, albeit only in black. The one displayed had a fingerprint-sensor on it, so it seems like it will be available on European models. My first impressions were that it looked good! Relatively much flex on the screen as someone else mentioned, though.

The Governator: have you received any mail regarding your order? According to the salesperson, Sony has had problems with the scandinavian keyboards on CTOs and that it could take some while before it got fixed.

 

Last night on Amazon, they had the $1299 one that Circuit City sells for $1079 for only $999 from ABT Computers with free shipping. I tried to order it this morning but they sold out... I guess I shouldn't have been so lazy last night.

We'll see if it comes up again... has anyone who ordered it from CC/Amazon received theirs yet?

 

I actually tried to order that one yesterday. Turns out that Amazon labeled it wrong it was actually the VPC-SE13 model that Amazon sells for $966. I ended up canceling that order and getting the Amazon model. I ordered at 1:00PM yesterday and used the free 2 day shipping that I get with Amazon Prime student. Just got an email within the past hour saying that my shipment has arrived, looks like 2 days = 1 day in some cases? Love Amazon. Anyways, I'll pick it up later today and post some first impressions.

 

It sounded a bit (pun intended) too good but it was only an $80 discount off of the CC one so it seemed okay. I just checked the abt site and it looks like you were right... they have it at $1249. Thanks for the heads up.

So you got the Circuit City one? Please let us know how it is... looks like I'll have to order the same one today.

 

Meanwhile, those of us with a CTO are still twiddling our thumbs waiting for Sony to stop twiddling its thumbs... Would you be able to go into the Device Manager and check out what model of wireless card it has? Thanks!

 

Is it possible to connect a monitor with 2560x1440 via HDMI?

Thanks, Walter

 

I just ordered the $1079 one that Amazon fulfills with CC but it wasn't Prime eligible... hopefully their expedited shipping is fast.

 

My CTO order showed "completed" on Monday and they have charged my credit card. Now I am waiting for it to ship. For some odd reason it still shows an estimated ship date of 10/17. I called Sony and they said it "may" ship earlier but I wouldn't know for sure until the tracking info shows up.

I am anxious.

 

Can anyone that has one comment on heat? Especially ones with the 6630M. I am torn on the base model and the upgraded ones. I am not a gamer, heat and battery are far more important to me. The bluray might be handy and the extra 2GB of RAM is good too. Just not sure if for me it's worth the extra $100 just in case down the road...

 

Shipped yesterday, will arrive tomorrow with 2 day shipping.

BTW found a great bag for it: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...mc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03ORDER-_-Deals

 

I wouldn't worry about the heat of the 6630M, as you can disable it with the speed/stamina switch. Yeah, if you're going at full load of both CPU and GPU for an extended time, it's going to get hot. But for day-to-day use, particularly with the GPU disabled (switch set to "stamina"), you should be fine.

 

I haven't heard anything specific from them regarding the KB but I did get a mail with an "Order Acknowledgement", whatever that means. Got it today morning, but AFAIK they charged my credit card on Monday. Yesterday the order status said "production of your unit has started at our factory", today however the status message is gone and it only displays "we are building your machine", without a detailed progress message like earlier.
I'm kinda worried that the machine might be delayed, I sorely need a replacement ASAP...
I can keep you posted if you want - I check in at the Sony site daily - at the moment I have to shuffle between two laptops to keep a good workflow so the SE can't arrive soon enough.

Might even pop by the local Sony Center to have a peek. I based my decision off of the SB Series, so I'm kinda expecting to be positively surprised, but I might as well get real and check it out in person.

 

Got my shipment notice for the CTO today; estimated delivery date is October 17th (which was the original estimated ship date).

 

Finally NBR is back up... my SE is somewhere in a KY Fedex depot awaiting transport to the Wessayyeeeed.

Did anyone get theirs yet?