Sony Vaio CB Official Owners' Thread

What cb series do u buy? Vpccb17fg? if yes, then i have some benchmark videos on the previous pages. Maybe u can look the videos for references before going to buy it

 

I don't know if someone has encountered that problem but explorer crashes when I try to open folders on my desktop 32 bits with my CB 64 bits via network?

 

hi am plannig for CB 15....i checked ur video...games work fine on ur machine,,,, hope cb 15 could handle these games same like urs..any idea from CB 15 owners on its gaming performance.....

 

how is the quality of the best available screen in this CB series vs the best available screen in the Dell XPS15?

Also, can this laptop do Widi 2.0?

Is the keyboard standard size / width or smaller (to accommodate the numeric keypad)?

 

^^ The fullHD screen (requires upgrade) of the Dell XPS15 is better than the VAIO. The default screen of the XPS15 sucks.

 

Yes, select models of the CB do support WIDI 2.0. The keyboard is a standard size one.
The CB screen is absolutely fine by every means and I think most users here feel the same. I have not seen the XPS 15 1080p screen eyes on but have seen and used the XPS 16 RGB LED 1080p and the CB screen matches that screen.
I guess the XPS 15 screen is more color accurate, so if you are a professional into photo and video editing then the Dell screen would be better but if you are not then the CB screen more than holds up.

 

Gonna have to change my stance from earlier and echo Cassy. There's a problem with recognizing the HD 6630M. Brink won't boot up, as it recognizes only the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics, which do not support OpenGL 3.1 or greater. However, both Radeon cards do. High performance doesn't help at all. Installing the hotfix for the Radeon drivers doesn't help, as the game is unable to see the dedicated Radeon. Emailed Sony tech support, they gave me a bs answer of contacting Brink's developers. I replied telling them that this is their issue, not Bethesda's, but I'm sure they won't listen.

 

I would like to purchase this laptop, but the graphic card problems I’ve read about on this thread are holding me back from doing so.

How many of you CB owners out there have encountered issues? Are they serious enough where you regret purchasing a CB?

Lastly, is anyone optimistic that Sony will fix this problem?

 

Somebody have an answer from sony about the graphic card issue?... I'm getting my laptop tomorrow and I'm beginning to think that getting a xps 15 would have been a better idea...

 

Sony's latest reply to me was to talk to Bethesda (Brink). I've contacted ATI, see what they have to say. I'm not a big gamer, so I don't regret it fully, but it'd be nice if it worked. The processor is great, the screen is great, the backlit keyboard and the overall feel of the keyboard is great, etc. The only problem is the Radeon issue for me.

 

More importantly,also told to sony do not underclocking the gpu speed of hd6630m

 

I'm not really worried about over or underclocking when the card itself is spotty in even being recognized at this point.

 

iam going to buy this one despite that it have some graphics issue becasues am loving it.....and i am hoping that issue will be handled out soon...

 

Do post your impressions and pics of the laptop here ASAP.

 

Does anyone know where they have this laptop on display?
I checked in one of the local Best Buys and I did not see it, I only saw the EB and EA series. Also, there is not a Sony Store in my city. Should I check a different Best Buy?

 

@paul_dmps

When are you getting the CB ?

 

Had to delay it due to personal reasons. My bad luck. Most probably, I'll get it next month.

 

@Yazzinit I have the same problem with brink and I just contacted sony as well...

I also posted a few threads on forums to see if I could get any help (didnt know it was the laptop problem) PC Brink error on switchable graphics - Splash Damage Forums

I hope the update the intel driver or fix this problem.

 

I'm a CA190S user with Radeon 6630m and is experiencing similar issues (maybe I should be mentioning this in the CA forum, but it doesn't seem to be an topic of discussion there...). Whenever I switch the graphics on High performance for SC2 the in-game background graphics crashes and can only see a black screen.

I'm going to make a call to Sony sometime in the next coming days, but I don't know how someone in the Philippines is going to have a vested interest in solving the problem...

 

Last I heard from Sony's "advanced support team," their engineers were "still working on it."

I get the feeling there's more to this problem than I previously believed...

jfunk over at that other forum summed the issue up pretty nicely.

 

Thanks for the updates cassy101. Please keep on them and let us know of any resolution.

 

What is SD btw??
Gosh, I hope they actually fix this so I can play Brink while there still is a community.

 

He's referring to Splash Damage, the game's developer.

I'm curious if there's some way to spoof detection, which might be possible on a software by software basis.

 

I sent email to sony and email and this is what they replied.

Dear XXXX XXXX,

My name is Hayden. Thank you for your enquiry and for your patience while awaiting a response. I have read over your notes and understand you are having difficulty with applications not detecting the graphics correctly on your VAIO.

Due to the nature of the problem you are experiencing I have forwarded your enquiry to our IT team for assistance with this issue. Our IT team will investigate your case and be in contact with you in 3 - 5 working days.

For an update you can contact the Customer Care line and quote your reference number detailed below, or via reply email.

If you happen to call our customer services team on 1300 137 669 (Mon - Fri 9am-5pm. EST), please quote this reference number #949571 as I have saved our email correspondence for future reference.

Regards,

Hayden

Sony Australia
Customer Contact Centre


Privacy Statement:
Sony believes privacy is an important right. Sony is pursuing world best practice policies and procedures in how it deals with your personal information. We only collect personal information for specific purposes such as processing registrations, responding to enquiries, keeping customers informed of upcoming events and products, and assisting us in improving our service to you. We require our service providers to observe strict guidelines and we do not disclose your personal information to other companies without your consent. Whether or not you disclose personal information is your choice, but if this information is not provided Sony may be unable to process your registration or enquiry. You have the right to access and to alter any personal information about you which Sony holds. Please direct any enquiries you may have in relation to this matter to the Personal Information Officer.

Here is the message I sent.

I have a VPCCB17FG, and it appears to me like many other customers http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...0-sony-vaio-cb-official-owners-thread-25.html that when I run games they detect the intel HD graphics card instead of the AMD. This is particularly a problem when running brink as I can't even start it.. It comes up with an error message because it dectects the intel hd graphics 3000 card (which only has opengl3.0 and not opengl3.1 > PC Brink error on switchable graphics - Splash Damage Forums.
I was wondering when will this be fixed.

 

I emailed ATI a few days ago and opened a claim ticket, this is what they replied with:

Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[8200413684]} has been reviewed and updated.

Response and Service Request History:

Thank you for your request. Based on the information provided, we understand you have noticed that only your Intel HD 3000 (Sandy Bridge) is detected instead of the Mobility Radeon HD 6630M for a SONY Vaio VPCCB190X notebook.

Generally, SONY preconfigures both Mobility Radeon HD 6630M and Intel HD 3000 (Sandy Bridge) to function and switch with specific software and/or BIOS configuration. Please contact SONY for instructions to switch graphics.

Since the Mobility Radeon HD 6630M Series is modified by SONY and released as an OEM SONY recontruction of the base or reference Catalyst 11.x, we recommend to install any release updates directly from SONY, whether BIOS, video drivers as described:

Sony eSupport - VPCCB190X - Software Updates & Drivers

The following notebooks are not compatible with this release (of the newest Catalyst Control):

* Any notebook launched after this driver release

* Switchable Graphics enabled notebooks using Intel® chipsets.

* Toshiba® notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver support for these notebooks)

* Sony® VAIO® notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver support for these notebooks)

* Panasonic® notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver support for these notebooks)


So basically, this is indeed a Sony issue. I haven't had time to contact Sony IT or use Live Help, but I will do so soon. Maybe if the rest of you have time, you can use the info I posted above and get their IT more aware of this issue.

 

sony has a guide about using the switchable graphic card on the CB/CA, just set it up

How to manually configure the Graphics Driver of a specific application? : FAQ : Sony Australia

 

Please read the topic again. We all know HOW to set it up. The fact is is that it DOES NOT WORK. The dedicated card is not recognized by any applications despite what the Catalyst says

 

Well said.

 

just tested with sc2 and wow, after setting to high performance, everything works perfectly. loving the laptop

 

I can play that fine on ultra - almost.... The terrain strangely disappears unless it's specifically set to low.

I'm told this is a glitch on all ATI mobility cards at the moment though.

 

btw, do ur notebook have the same problem like me? I was testing some benchmark with ff xiv and also street fighter iv. But, no one characters in the game is in moving condition. they are just standing on there. But, the effects and sounds are works fine. Do u know what's wrong with this? --a

 

Because it's probably an issue with only being able to use the Integrated HD and not the dedicated card

 

Ignore this.

 

I dont think so. Do u know previously i testing some benchmark with games like dmc 4, RE 5, mafia 2, gta iv, css, n etc. All works fine except both of them(ff xiv n street fighter iv) i don't know what's wrong with this--a does anyone in here have some problem like me? --a

 

i lost the Sony Media Gallery feature when i selected Fresh Start

 

And let there be light!!

Don't know if this is going to solve everyone's problems but it did solve my SC2 issues so definately try it out.

Originally from:
crashed graphics in game - Forums - StarCraft II

AMD developed a hotfix to solve most gaming issues

AMD Catalyst? 11.5a hotfix

I'm running SC2 on ultra settings at still getting 50fps(!!) with the fix. didn't know 6630m was this powerful. This is miles beyond what I used to get on intel HD 3000 and is a clear indication that my game was running on the intel HD 3000 all this time.

 

Btw, what's ur laptop? Do the drivers will works on vpccb17fg since sony locks the gpu driver? I have got tired with the gpu problem. If it works on vpccb17fg then i'll give a try later

 

Thank you so much for linking to that post. Fixed all the rendering issues I'm having in games.

Now the only major issue seems to be the card recognition problem...

 

What about your Adobe Photoshop problem, has the hotfix fixed that also?

 

No actually it is proof that the card was working all along. This is an updated driver and has no control over the switchable graphics.

 

I've tried that Catalyst Hotfix. Brink still doesn't work, as it still says OpenGL not supported and it shows the Intel HD 3000 as being used, rather than the Radeon

 

There are several ways to recover that. The easiest way is by using Vaio Care. Just press the assist button on top of the keyboard then Recovery & Restore on the left pane and Recovery, then Reinstall Applications and Drivers on the right after that just select Media Galery and NEXT.

I did a fresh install myself and installed Windows 7 Ultimate but I didn't reinstall that Gallery because it's always indexing your files in the background using a lot of CPU for nothing. But if it is useful for you, you can have it back running in no time.

 

oh. thanks sir.. however, the sony tech support said it is not included on my recovery since i selected Fresh Start. No worries now, i saw a downloadable Media gallery

How's your Vaio? Hopefully you're not having issues like everybody else in this thread.. im thankful i dont have their issues on radeon , im not a really a serious gamer. Street fighter 4 is enough for me

 

The only game I play is Solitaire... sometimes so the Radeon issue is not affecting me too much

 

I'm using a VPCCA190S. It should work with any make/model with radeon 6630m as the GPU.

 

No, it does not, unfortunately. That's still ongoing with the recognition issue.

You're right, though the driver having issues like this is somewhat more troublesome.

Yeah, we're still plagued by the recognition problem. It's unfortunate, but we'll have to wait for Sony to fix that one. I'm glad that AMD at least has been solving some problems.

 

Hmm... Still need to wait for further information. Im not so sure bout this. well. If i've already got my break time then i'll try it

 

Hey guys just wondering, if I were to use the Catalyst Hotfix would I lose control over the switchable graphics?

 

OK I've got my CB today. It's a nice looking lapto really!. I got some questins, i noticed that blacks have a slightly red tint, it is noticeable when i'm looking at the screen from some angles. And bcklit ilumination changes a lot with no reason, how do i fix that? i think some feature just adjust the brightness but i don't know where i have to desactivate hat feature. And i want to ask how long the battery lasts. Thanks in advance...

 

You can change the auto-backlight and the auto-brightness through the Vaio Control Centre, Open the Vaio Control Centre and you should see options for keyboard and mouse and display. But for the 'black' appearing 'red' i have no idea about that.