Sony Vaio CB Official Owners' Thread

The Vaio CB is now available to order in some countries. This is the official owners' thread for prospective owners and owners of the Vaio CB.

I'm looking for a decent laptop that I can use for school, and also that I can download movies and music on. I can't afford a macbook pro, but I really like the looks of the new Sony Vaio CB. I customized it on sonystyle.com and this is what I came up with....havn't purchased it yet. I decided not to upgrade to a blue-ray player for the extra $70 because I can easily download HD movies, and don't see myself paying the extra $ just to buy or rent the blue-ray discs. Do you think this is a good price for what I picked out, any suggestions??

* CD/DVD Player / Burner
* High capacity battery
* AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
* No Fresh Start
* Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)
* Sony® Imagination Studio™ Suite
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
* Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor (2.30GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
* 500GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
* Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
* White
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 15.5" Full HD VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080)
* Cart Subtotal $ 1,009.99

 

I'd suggest you get the faster 7200 rpm drive if you don't plan to install an SSD later. Otherwise the configuration looks fine for the purposes you mentioned.

 

I don't think I will be installing an SSD later...do you think it's worth the $50 to upgrade a 500 gb 5400rpm drive to a 500 gb 7200 rpm drive?

 

What does everyone think about this one for $1310.00? Plus, are there any coupons out currently?

I'm not a gamer - this will be used for HD photo editing, HD video, music/entertainment, web browsing and general application use such as Excel, Word, etc. Just a family laptop.

VPCCB190X CTO
AMD Radeon HD 6630M with widi
i5-2410 processor
15.5 premium HD display
500GB HD (7200 rpm)
6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Blu-Ray Player and Burner
high capacity battery

trying to decide between this one and the Dell XPS with full HD screen....

 

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just stick with the stock ram and buy some at newegg or something?

In terms of build quality, Sony has an edge over the majority of Dells, though that XPS has a really killer screen.

 

XPS screen is nice but very reflective. You could wait for reviews to see how good the premium CB screen is. If you are like me and give importance to aesthetics, then the XPS is an eyesore. It is a big, bulky and ugly machine, but it beats every other laptop when it comes to audio quality. XPS is also suffering from CPU's overheating under load due to inadequate cooling. Head over to the XPS Sandy bridge threads to see people complaining about it.

I like the Imagination Studio Suite that Sony includes in the C series. Vegas Movie Studio HD can be particularly useful for HD video editing.

 

Yeah, Sony Vegas just freakin' rocks! So much easier to use than Premiere (which has become sort of a cluster-F at this point).

 

i already made a customized cb order, but i see that theres some that are called the signature collection, am i missing something? whats the difference with the customized ones and the signature collection ones? besides the signature collection ones being premade

 

Hi,

just came across this thread while searching CB reviews. I've been shopping around for a new laptop with the latest Sandy Bridge Chips and I have to say that the Sony is a good deal although I have been looking at Dell too.

I have a few questions regarding this laptop if anyone here can help:

1. I would like to go with the Large Cap Battery as I travel a lot and its just more convenient not to be sitting at airports and planes with wires wrapped around you. Does the sony large cap battery protrude downwards or out the back of the device? I have an HP with a large cap battery that protrudes down and in fact it isn't so bad, it actually helps when you lay the device on a table as it raises the back end of the laptop and makes typing slightly more comfortable.

BTW props to the guys at intel for what they have managed to do with the power consumption on the new chips. Mac is not the only manufacturer that can now boast of 6+ hour battery life. The best anyone could have asked for from a standard Windows based manufacturer was 4 or 5 hours, now lenovo is easily boasting of 7+.

2. I've read a few posts that mention SSD purchases from third parties. Are you guys talking about an external drive or will you be replacing the standard issue HD with an internal SSD?

3. Guys, what about the XPS 15", you can get similar features, HD screen, Blu-ray 6GB Ram but with an i7 (2nd Gen) and more memory on two fronts, a 2048MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT540M, and 640GB HDD (running at 7200RPM), all for around the same price of a CB with only an i5, 500GB HDD and 1GB VRAM. Anyone have any comments about this?
I have to say the Sony does look a hell of a lot sexier, and no doubt it will stand out a lot more than a dell. Is there something else I'm missing here as to why you can get more bang for buck from dell or do they have Sony beat? Read somewhere that the Sony build quality was better? Don't know myself since i've never owned a sony.

Thanks

 

#1 The battery is a "sheet" battery so it has the exact same footprint as the computer. The whole thing gets raised evenly from front to back, left to right. This is not like your HP or a lot of extended batteries that simply raises the rear of the computer.

#2 They're talking about replacing the internal HDD with an SSD.

 

Ok, found the answer to my own question.

https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wc...91551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10551

Can clearly see the pads on the bottom of the battery, meaning it protrudes out the bottom.

 

Several Questions about the CB series...

1) Does it have switchable graphics?
2) Is the premium display really "premium"? Or are they using the same display that was on the EB series?
3) Is the one in black glossy or matte?
4) How much thicker is it than the new S series?
5) What is the approximate battery life in a real case scenario?

I would really appreciate it if someone could answer these questions. Thanks.

 

1) according to this review of CB that someone posted earlier
http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/review/notebooks/sony/vaio_cb_series_vpccb15fg/378083
".....dual graphics consisting of integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics and an AMD Radeon HD 6630M. The system switches between these two adapters automatically, depending on the load it detects, and sometimes a pop-up box appears asking you which adapter you would like to associate with a just-launched application. It did a good job at auto-switching in our tests....."
so it's dynamic choosing the graphics accelerator for the performance needed


2) I am not sure, but i also hope the 1920x1080 is higher quality compared to 1366x768, haven't seen any reviews that have given objective measurements yet


3) I can't tell from the pics to be sure, but I posted these videos earlier, hopefully they can give you a better idea of what it's like from different angles and lower light conditions
"VAIO C series' 5 colour variations" filmed at Sony Store Osaka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oJKY1Ipv-8
not too sure about some of the coordinated colour keyboard skins(!!), tho they show the CA and CB side-to-side

filmed at Sony Store Nagoya, new VAIO C Orange, Pink, Green designs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vqgQUtCMP4&feature=related

filmed at Sony Store Nagoya, new VAIO C Black, White designs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9K4KDkV0z4&feature=related


4)
CB (15") dimensions
width 375.1mm×height 31.3mm(at thickest section 39.6mm)×depth 250.9mm
(at thickest part includes the rubber feet)
( http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Cb/index.html)
( http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Cb/Images/pic_spec.jpg)

SB (13") dimensions
width 331.0mm×height23.9mm×depth224.5mm
the S series is a flat design so the height is the same all the way through
( http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Sb/index.html)
( http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Sb/Images/pic_spec.jpg)

for reference
CA (14") dimensions
width 341.0mm×height 27.9mm(at thickest section 36.2mm)×depth 235.2mm
(at thickest part includes the rubber feet)
( http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Ca/index.html)
( http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Special/Computer/Vaio/Ca/Images/pic_spec.jpg)

(all figures from SonyStyle.jp, click the image link to see a diagram of the dimensions)

 

Has anyone received a Vaio CB yet? I am so anxious to purchase one, but I am (not so patiently) waiting until someone can give us some hand on first impressions!

 

I found it tooooo costly, you can get better specs/configurations with the $ you will spend on this laptop

 

Some pics:
? CA15 CB15 ??~???(??????????) - Mobile01

 

Just out of curiosity, what are the better options?

 

Not necessarily better, but for the same money you can get a faster Sager computer. I haven't owned one (mine is coming in a few days), so I can't really talk about build quality compared to the Sony CB. I'll probably check at BB or Frys once they get a CB in so I can compare the build quality to the Sager I purchased.

The good thing about the Sager is that you can buy from one of many great boutique shops like XoticPC, Mythlogic, Powernotebooks, etc and actually get real humans on the phone in a matter of seconds. Another plus is that many of these resellers offer a very high quality FHD 95% color gamut matte screen as an option.

 

I was wondering if the hp pavilion dv6t would be a better deal?
Mostly the same, but you get beats audio and a better graphic card and processor for the same price.

I'm just waiting for reviews
I'm on the fence with this one I like Sony look and free editing software(for fun) but hp just seems better for the price.

 

Well it's official, I went ahead and ordered my Sony Vaio CB today. The estimated ship date is 04/08/2011. I decided to stick with the slower 500gb 5400 rpm hard drive...for what I will be using the laptop for, I don't think I will be able to tell that much of a difference compared to the 7200 drive. Plus, I can always switch it out in the future. Also, I added on this reversible blue and black Vaio notebook sleeve. I am excited though, haven't owned a Vaio in about 6 years!

Customization Details

* Blu-ray Disc™ Player
* High capacity battery
* AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
* No Fresh Start
* Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)
* Sony® Imagination Studio™ Suite
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
* Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor (2.30GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
* 500GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
* Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
* White
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 15.5" Full HD VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080)

 

If you don't fancy the Full HD screen or the backlit keyboard then yeah dv6 is a good choice. But hp has had overheating problems of late, so watch out for the reviews before taking the plunge.

 

With Sony you are always going to spend more for the brand name and better reliability than many of the cheaper brands.

 

Hi guys

Please help me out, i just bought a new laptop C series VPCCB15FG and reinstalled win7 in it without noticing that sony did not give any backup cd or driver cd and now i'm stuck with a system that can't access the net.

i dont have a wireless router at home and only use internet through the ethernet cable. The ethernet hardware is not properly installed showing "ethernet controller" as problematic in device manager.

Could anyone please let me know what brand or model the ethernet controller is using so i can go find the drivers for it? Do all sony laptops use roughly the same type of ethernet controller? Could anyone please let me know, this is urgent, please help!

Thanks you in advance!

VPCCB15FG : C Series : VAIO Notebook & Computer : Sony Singapore

PS, cross posted in the general forum as well!

 

Hi,
Did you try looking here?
Support for VPCCB15FG : C Series : VAIO Notebook : Sony Asia Pacific

 

Since I last posted I've been around the net looking at the competition but I keep comming back to the CB. It's actually very well priced. Sure you can get a Gigabyte or a Sager with a lot more power for the same price but then you are always taking a gamble with those manufacturers.

The new acer Timelines are comming out and people say that have really improved reliablilty so they may be worth a look. Especially the 13.3" as a competitor to the SB. As for the 15" as comp for the CB no way, no 1080.

Anyone have a comment to make about the Gigabyte P2532N, it has everything the CB has for the some price but you can throw in an i7 and a 2GB gpu.
It's also the slimmest i7 laptop on the market, but the battery life suffers as a result.

Still undecided.

Anyone getting one soon, can't wait to actually here what its like in the hands of a real human and not online laptop review people.

 

yes i did but there was nothing regarding the ethernet controller.

 

I think Dell XPS 15 is a worthy competitor for the CB. I'd have bought that instead of the CB if I were going to buy a 15.6" computer, but I decided on a little more portability without losing any of the power, and I really dislike having a numpad on a laptop.

 

Did you try this one? It's for the CA but it might work for the CB.
VAIO : Sony Europe

 

oh man, thanks for the help. anyways i've sent it back to the shop, it's all good i guess

 

what does everyone think about this one? Will be used for music, HD video/photo, web browsing and some microsoft application use. Nothing too major and the main focus is on HD screen resolution.

i5-2410M
full HD premium display (how does this compare to the Dell XPS?)
AMD HD 6630 w/widi
500GB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
6GB DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Blu-Ray Burner

Total: $1309.99

 

Go for 4GB RAM and save $100, then add RAM later. That will work out much cheaper.

 

I'm also looking at one of these to replace my dead I9300.

Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor (2.30GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Lightning White
15.5" Full HD VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080)
AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
500GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Blu-ray Disc™ Player
High capacity battery

Sorry, don't buy the 5400 vs 7200rpm HD argument. Win7 does such a great job of preloading your fav apps once it learns you, apps load BAM fast from local memory. For the few times I have to load via HD, not a big issue, save battery life too.

Comparing to the XPS as well, but Dell is piece mealing things and it adds up fast, for an equal model to the Sony above its $130 more, and has nothing equivalent to Sony's Multimedia app. Though I do have Epp so I can get a nice discount on the Dells. (at least 16%)

Wish more reviews were out.

 

Those are exactly the same same specs on the Sony CB I just ordered a couple days ago. I should be receiving it at the end of next week, and I will post what I think about it as soon as it comes in.

 

Sweet, looking forward to it. Plan on ordering something by end of the week, going on a Euro Cruise soon and need laptop to download my DSLR pics nightly...

 

Well, I wouldn't wait for my opinion if you are wanting to purchase this laptop soon...my sonystyle.com shipping status updated today, from 4/8/2011 to 4/13/2011. Not very happy about it

 

Hello,
can anybody kindly provide his DSDT?
Thank you

 

I'm thinking of either buying this laptop or waiting for the gigabyte laptop to come out. The design and what it comes with caught my eye. Trying to dig up more reviews before i pull the trigger

 

What gigabyte laptop would that be? Could you post a link?

Also, the CB was just launched in Canada, but it isn't customizable. Comes with an AMD Radeon 6490M, 1366x768 screen (which is disappointing), BluRay player, i5 2410, and a backlit keyboard. It doesn't have any colours available aside from Bolt black and costs $999.99 without tax.

This is kind of disappointing. I would love to get a FHD screen along with a better graphics card.


EDIT: 2 minutes after I typed this up they have enabled the rest of the colours. Bolt Black is on backorder, as are green and orange. The white and pink are available though.

 

Looking for a new laptop to use for web, video browsing and streaming, some photo/music editing, no real gaming. Was looking around $1k and never even considered Sony. Always thought the VAIOs were out of my price range. Been configuring Dells and HPs and finding myself adding more than I need to get coupons to kick in. For the specs people are posting here, about $1,100 for the CB seems like a great deal for a couple specific items:
- backlit keyboard
- Full HD screen
- Blu-ray
- USB 3.0
- Both HDMI and VGA out

Can't configure an HP or Dell with those things for less than $1,100. And certainly not look as good as a VAIO. Can't commit yet - just don't have it in me to pull the trigger on that much money. But this is the new frontrunner for me!

 

Oh man this is tough, Sony built as above is $1079 before Taxes and shipped free.

Right now I can configure a XPS and if its over $1499 I get a 30% April EPP discount, made one with mostly same as the Sony but to get price up added an new I7 and 6GB memory...after discount its $1063 plus taxes and shipping. Hell of a lot of laptop for that money, though have never owned a Sony and would love to see how their quality compares.

Any thoughts? Gonna pull the plug tonight probably....

***************************
Edit, had to go for the Dell, main reason was the GPU, the GT540M while not great, is a fair jump over the 6630, and to drive 1080P games you need every little bit. Built it up and got them to ship it free to match Sony. $1210 out the door, i7-2630QM, 6GB mem, 1080P, 5400M 2GB, 640GB 7200rpm HD, BD Drive, Backlit KB, top Intel Wireless with BT3.0, etc. Maybe next time I can check out a Sony, thanks for the help!

 

do any of you guys notice some keyboard flex on your cb? its bothering the hell out of me, my eb has no flex at all but this one has alot, right under the space bar it looks like it hasnt been sealed all the way, is it the same for all of you?

 

Heya baoweezie,

I bought my Vaio, two days ago and the keyboard is very comfortable to use, the only flex that i have found is near the number pad mainly the number 4 and 7 but it isn't very deep, it is right above the DVD drive so i think that may be the cause, but there is no flex anywhere else that i have come across, hope this helps .

Vaust

 

Hope it works out for ya, good luck with your new laptop!

 

Near as I can tell, the signature series is just the fully configured regular CB laptop (except with the 640GB 5400 RPM HD and 4 GB RAM, strangely). And only in black (would be fascinated by someone over 12 who actually buys one of these in neon orange or green!). I can't tell any other differences from examining the features. Maybe it says "Signature collection" somewhere on it. Can't tell.

 

Thanks Bud! Same to you! Can't go wrong with either one....

 

How is the screen quality? Did you get the 1080p screen? Please post some photos of the laptop and your impressions if possible.

 

Just placed my order today:

* Blu-ray Disc™ Player
* High capacity battery
* AMD Radeon™ HD 6470M (512MB VRAM) dedicated graphics
* No Fresh Start
* Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)
* Sony® Imagination Studio™ Suite
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
* Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor (2.30GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
* 500GB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
* Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
* Black
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 15.5" Full HD VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080)

$1,079

 

hello everyone, i'm very interested on purchasing this laptop... i've decided to give sony another chance after a bad experience with a vaio f(past year model)... For those who already have the laptop... can you guys tell me about the quality of the 1080p screen, the laptop comes with backlight keyboard right?... And it would be nice to know what's in the box (want to know if it comes with the keyboard skin) and your overall experience with the laptop and how it performs with latest games, that's very important to me... thanks in advance for you help...

Btw, i'm planning to buy the laptop with this specs:

-Intel® Core™ i5-2540M processor (2.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.30GHz
-Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
-Bolt Black
-15.5" Full HD VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080)
-AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
-500GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
-4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
-Blu-ray Disc™ Player / Burner
-High capacity battery

$1259.99

 

For people who already have their Vaio CB, install a new synaptics driver off of their website. It drastically improves the touchpad response and it allows for more multi-touch gestures.

 

Does anyone have this yet? I'm really intrigued at the 1900x1200 screen on the 15.5" C. I've never owned a Vaio before though. How cool do they usually run? I'm looking to avoid overheating issues in past laptops (Asus 1201N, HP Pavilion few years ago).