Sony Vaio CB Official Owners' Thread

hp model is dv6 6017tx.....

someone from other forum says that he bought it for 52.5 k,while sony site shows 54.5k........

ps:i have finalized on hp dv6 as i am ok with just a HD screen....

 

Just checked notebookcheck.net. The 6770m is just higher clocked 6630m. So heat levels would be higher due to the gpu and not due to the cpu.

And the Sony one is selling for 51-52k at retail stores.

 

so what do you suggest?
hp dv6 a good buy??
i was worried about heating issues but then i came to know that this model has new "coolsense technology" which will prevent from overheating.....

 

Get the HP if you live in a cold place and will not game for hours together. Also the reliability on HP is not the best. So do think twice before getting it. Also do get extended warranty to be on the safe side.

 

Look for some reviews first before going for the HP. No doubt, it will give much better performance than the Sony. But I like the much better looks, compact & build-quality of the Sony.

BTW, any updates on the graphics switching issue?

 

@pauldmps
not many reviews yet,but those few reviews are positive
yeah i heard about graphic switching problem but that is not a major one and we can also switch it manually,right?

@avmaxfan
i live in one of the hottest region of my country
but i surely won't game more than 2hours and also i will get a cooling pad

@both
can we get a extended warranty after like 3 months or 6??

 

I would say sony has a better customer service and repair service. I would def go with the one that has better customer service. My old hp laptop had a problem, and it took them 10 weeks to fix my laptop, but in contrast, sony spent only 5 days to get my laptop replaced.

 

In India, HP used to have the best service a few years ago. Now their service quality has degraded.

Check out the HP throughly before taking a plunge.

 

Can somebody help me to disable that auto contrast thing when my computer is not plugged?... I've been searching a lot with no results, and that "feature" is making me nuts...
NOTE: The "Adjust brightness automatically" option on VAIO control center have nothing to do with that, I unchecked it but the contrast still changes depending on the image that the scrren is showing...

 

i am confused again

actually i want a laptop which would suffice my needs for 4+ years which would include 2 years MBA(away from home)....portability issue..durability...

everyone says hp is only good for desktop replacement.....

 

OMG ! i was just about to buy this laptop when i read in some previous posts that gpu issue has not been solved yet

looks like i will have to go with hp or dell

 

Nobody? Also I have another question, I've noticed that on windows startup a reddish tint on the background when the windows logo animation appears... Is this normal?

 

check this:

How to change the memory and hard drive in a Sony Vaio VPCCA - Kingston PnP 8GB 1866 memory and a 128GB V100 SSD

Kingston PnP 8GB 1866 SODIMM & 128GB V100 SSD Sony Vaio VPCCA Upgrade & Review

 

can anyone please tell me about the gpu auto switch problem.......
i need to make a decision urgently....
i wrote earlier:

 

look here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...ca-official-owners-thread-15.html#post7553223

programs such as photoshop or games like brink not recognizes the ATI video just the Intel...ATI / AMD has already released a patch...on the CA thread you can find more info about the ATI issue

 

i didn't understand.....the patch has solved the problem or not??
brink is playable after the patch??

 

as far as I understand it only solves the problem with photoshop ... I think the problem with brink dont

 

ok so other games run fine,right?
and what about gta 4?
future games might have this problem????

u got this laptop?

 

1. yes, it is assumed
2. I do not know
3. I do not know (hope not)
4. no, I have not...I only speak of what I've read so far and the experience I have

the only reason I still have not decided on this laptop is just the GPU, not because it is bad, but I prefer NVIDIA...this laptop is worth

I have 2 months looking at laptops and reading reviews, and like many others my first choices were AW M14x (Dell sucks) and Asus G53 (to bulky) ...this lappy looks great! really great nothing else with the same quality (for now)...the only thing that has not convinced me is the GPU and more knowing that Sony goes fu***ing with the ATI/AMD drivers

 

The GPU problem can be solved by a simple driver update by Sony in the future. There is no reason to skip this great machine for a solveable problem.

I have decided to go for it.

 

i hope this problem gets solved in future..
i guess i will also go for it
BTW how is the screen,viewing angles??as good as dell??

 

Don't blame Sony, blame lies with AMD for the rubbish drivers they provided. That is mostly fixed now though. As far as I can see at the moment the only problem the card has is stupid people looking at incorrect text and screaming about their card not working.

 

1. Far as I can tell CCC can enable the 6630M in most cases, but not for detection.
2. GTA 4 is the worst port ever. Seriously. It's coded horribly. Don't expect it to run well on anything.
3. intel will switch automatically to hd6630 even though the results are still displaying under the name of mobile intel
4. just have a look out for next sony's driver... these cases are solveable... don't worry

Yes... this is the right choice

hmm... Sony made the drivers OEM, they took AMD driver and modified it... if we are pointing fingers, i think, sony's the one to blame. and they locked the bios too...
some of the program didn't recognise the AMD card... you should know that... like Brink, it takes intel OpenGL 3.0 so, it can't initialise, cos the minimum requirement is OpenGL 3.1 if i'm not mistaken

 

thanks for the help guys
i can now get mine without any tension

 

Dude, you sure can but I do hope you stick around here as much as you do now AFTER getting the machine
HAHA!
Would appreciate you posting a review here and your experience with the CB .

 

Sigh. It's not just incorrect text. When programs are telling you that your card doesn't support OpenGL3.1 and lists the HD 3000 as being used no matter what, it's not just "incorrect text." The Radeon HD6630M supports OpenGL3.1, simple logic shows it is not being used despite the Catalyst Control Center.

ATI/AMD gives Sony and other manufacturers drivers, who then lock them/sign them to their hardware. Sony has the drivers signed for the CA/CB. Until Sony gets off their asses and brings an update, ATI/AMD can't do anything. I haven't had the time to complain to Sony's live chat yet.

 

Sorry, but that is completely and utterly incorrect.

 

Sony is blocking the bios and the drivers ... i agree with others sony's the one to blame

 

yeah sure!i will be active here.....will try to help others how they helped me
and about the review.....i will try to post one(never did a review b4)
BTW buying date postponed to 6th.......

 

I'll also get mine around 10th June.

 

how much are you getting it for?
i talked to sony authorised 1 and they quoted 54k....

 

Not a good price IMO.

A few pages back, a user was quoted 51k at Kerala. A month ago, a guy at Techenclave forum bought it for 52.8k from Lamington Road, Mumbai. Max you should pay is 52k.


Letsbuy.com is selling it for 53.6k with a Targus backpack, 8gb pen-drive & some other goodies. Plus you get 1k discount using ICICILB coupon.

 

Right.. So I am guessing the patch AMD provided didn't actually do anything, all the laptops just happened to coincidentally improve their performance after applying AMDs placebo hot fix?

Brink I am not sure about, but in the other games where the card was 'definitely not working' turn out to be working after all. IF you can provide an example of Brink working on the same card in other non Sony machines then sure you can blame them. But I highly doubt you will find a single example. Sony do not write drivers.

 

it improved performance, yes, but didn't help about the recognition of AMD card...
Brink working on the intel... this has been proved many times, in Brink forum.. you can check it...

 

Help please!!!!

 

Not really, no. Sony signs the drivers. ATI can release all the drivers they want. Won't work unless Sony signs them. Brink works on other cards supporting Open GL3.1

AMD Radeon HD 6630M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Oh look, what's this? Detailed specs saying the card is more than powerful to run applications, yet is stalling in many? Yeah, just stop responding with trash when you're obviously wrong and misinformed. Sony and all other OEM manufacturers SIGN drivers to use on their systems. ATI can do whatever they want, but if Sony does not sign the driver, it can't be used. But continue to spout things you're ignorant about, it certainly helps nobody here.

 

I had Sony's highest tier of tech support confirm with me that this problem is an issue that they (Sony) had to fix. I've also checked with AMD, who confirmed that card detection had to do with how the bios was configured (which is locked down by Sony).

Please stop spouting off nonsense.

Best,
Cassy

 

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is that you're describing....

Screen brightness should be controlled via power options and is dependent on whichever current power plan you're on. You can always increase the screen brightness regardless of which plan you're on by pressing Fn + F6.

If this doesn't help, could you please give more details as to what the specific problem is?

Best,
Cassy

 

Can any cb15 user elaborate in what way the bios is locked? Is it possible to change the boot sequence, enable/disable AHCI, enable/disable sata controller? Also is it possible to permanently disable the hd6630m via bios?

 

Sony never signed the hot fix, yet it worked perfectly on my machine. Secondly, yes the card is powerful enough. Yet before the hotfix that power was crippled by bad drivers. That fix alone made civ5 go from default setting and quite choppy to maximum detail and smooth. Had similar performance jumps in other games also.

Your response really helps my cause. It is a perfect example of someone claiming the card is not working because they think it should be more powerful then it appears to be.

 

Yes the detection has nothing to do with them. That is why the hotfix working wonders for so many people confirms that the card is and was working.

 

You're confusing issues here, which helps nothing. Detection issues are caused by bios settings, simple as that.

AMD released a fix recently that repaired DirectX 9 rendering issues. While the recognition issue made it difficult to troubleshoot the rendering issue, they are distinct, separate issues.

To be completely blunt: These are two entirely different issues, confusing them just highlights your own technical misunderstandings.

If Sony does ever fix this issue, it will have to be through a bios update.

Best,
Cassy

 

The problem is that when my computer is no conected with the power cord the display changes te contrast or brightness (i dont know) even after disabling the auto brightness feature on vaio center, when it is connected this does not happend...

 

Sounds like power plan settings. Click on the battery on the lower right of your screen (next to the time in the taskbar) and then click "More power options."

There should be 3 settings you can choose from High Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver. Click Change plan settings for whichever one is currently active.

From here you can see that the plan has different settings, depending on whether or not the laptop is plugged in. If you want consistent brightness, make sure that the brightness settings are the same in both columns and click "save changes."

Hope that helps.

Best,
Cassy

 

So with your technical expertise, explain to me how all other applications can use the card as normal? If a BIOS update is needed to even detect the card, why is it only needed for a single game? How are the applications I use even working with the card?

And you are still yet to provide a single example of a HD6330 working with brink, which would prove this is a Sony issue as you claim.

Answer those question and not avoid them, and show an example of this card working on other branded machines. That is all you have to do to put this to rest. Your claims are not baseless are they?

 

Just to add to this, I guess every single AMD mobile card is gimped by Sony because everyone has the same issue with them:

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
Problems with "Video card / Driver combination unsuporting OpenGL 3.1 or newer" - Steam Users' Forums

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
brink problem >>> current video card / driver combination does not supp - GameSpot Forums - PC & Mac Games

ATI Mobility Radeon
OpenGl Driver Problem - Steam Users' Forums

ATI Mobility Radeon 5145
Video card/ Driver Problem - Steam Users' Forums


I could list hundreds of people with ATI cards having the same issue with all sorts of laptops. This is an AMD issue (or just a Brink issue) very clearly.

 

I see you're still intent on acting like a card recognition issue isn't even a problem because it doesn't impact your particular use. Oh well.

Best,
Cassy

 

The card isn't working because it's actually not being detected. Your responses only show that you know nothing of this situation. You mean to tell the numerous people in this topic having the same issue that we're all beginners with computers? Yeah, nice try. Keep living in your fantasy world where ignorance is the norm.

 

Can someone answer me?

 

sony locked it all... except some booting device option and virtualization option and ofcourse time and date