Sony Vaio Duo 13 Owners Thread

I have been wondering about the sd card reader on duo 13. It has been asked before, but there have been no definite answer. What sort of read and write speed does the SD card slot support?

Also, what is the limit on the size of the sd card? I have seen a sheet of vaio duo 13 specs on the hk site, which states that it supports sdxc card up to 64 gb. But i have also seen people claiming that duo 11 works with 128 gb sd card. I wonder if this applies to duo 13 as well. Anyone has an answer? Thanks in advance!

 

Backlight Bleed

 

Thanks for sharing. Not very nice is it? Not quite a deal breaker for me anyway as I would never use a computer in complete darkness.

 

I use a 128 GB SDXC card in my Duo 13. Also worked on Duo 11 and SVZ anf Z2.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 2

 

Would it be possible to say, make "Documents" default to loading from the SD card? By "Documents" I mean the Windows folder, vs a short cut.

 

It is possible. Right click on your documents library, location tab, select new location, use the location you want to. It will automatically transfer the old files there. This works for almost any kind of library you have in windows: documents, pictures, movies, etc

 

That's awesome. Thanks for this. I am at work on a Windows 7 PC and it looks like your instructions only apply to Windows 8. I will give it whirl when I get home.

 

It should work in win7, I have done it myself. My version is in spanish so I might have misnamed tabs and options though, keep that in mind

 

I have read some threads that the duo has some bad WiFi performance. Can any owners in the thread chime in on how their device is doing in that regard?

 

I have ordered a duo 13 with the "Mobile Broadband : AT&T Wireless LTE Mobile Broadband Built-In" hardware.
Does anyone know if the 4G Sim Card is pre-installed? Is the Sim Card removable?
Can another carrier's (like Verizon) Sim Card be installed or is the hardware locked and therefore prohibiting this option?
Has anyone attempted to do this and were you successful?

 

Howdy!

I doubt the SIM card is installed. You will probably have to visit an AT&T store or do it online.

The AT&T broadband will NOT be compatible with Verizon (or Sprint)!

Best Regards,

Shane

 

Can someone please tell me how long it takes from placing an order for a custom built until delivery occurred? You see i'm heading to the US in September from Australia and would like to order a customised one from the Sony website. Will save me roughly 600 dollars this way! Here's hoping they will deliver to a hotel...

Also any idea how long the current sale will last? And sony still offer an international warranty, right?

 

Finally an answer to my question as well. Thanks, mate! Can't wait to get my Duo 13 over here. Taking too long to get it! Lol.

Also, anyone on here use the Sony Bluetooth mouse (BMS-11 I think) with their Duo 13? Any issues? Thanks in advance.

 

I'm using the following bluetooth mouse with the DUO13 without problems:

https://shop.sony.nl/shop/VAIO-notebooks/Muizen/VGPBMS21/B.CE

 

I've been using mine for about 2 weeks and I can say - yes - it does have some bad performance. Many times it's ok - then many times very slow and low signal. I sat near my router - and found when I had
the screen up I got a better signal. I did this over and over. When closed I had 2 bars - when open I had 4. I have no idea why. Also, sometimes when I take the computer to someone elses house, it will not find their
wifi - even though I have used it there many times before. Yesterday it couldn't even detect ANY wireless connections - so I rebooted the computer - still nothing. Then I restarted again and it located
all of them and connected to the one I always connect to.

I'm pretty much easy to please so I just deal with it and hope for a driver update or something at least to come along and fix it.

 

Thx for your help

 

I hope it's a driver issue. I asked the Sony Support and they answered unfriendly that they dont know anything about it. Love the Sony hotline ... .

 

this is disheartening. There is no way in hell I can buy a laptop for school if the wifi doesn't work properly

 

Users have had similar issues with the pro 13 and a new driver update fixed the problem it seems

Sony eSupport - SVD132190S - Support

UPDATE Broadcom 802.11abgn Wireless SDIO Adapter Update - 6/26/2013

Did you update already?

 

Well, I finally took a risk after debating about the Duo 13 for so long. Very pleased so far, and I was surprised to find it came with a uk vodka phone SIM card as well which I was not expecting.

Sketchbook pro works brilliantly, but artrage suffers from a feather lite pencil as others have pointed out. Here is hoping that someone sorts out the issue, either artrage, sony, or ntrig cos I feel lost without it

 

I sure did - as soon as I got the laptop.

I read about other problems so I did it immediately. I'm sure if it continues I'll eventually get so frustrated I'll have to do something.
I've already looked into getting the small USB wifi drive but passed on it for now.

I got the computer to do some work while laying in bed at night - I can do that.
I also got it for doing some work while being a passenger - I can do that

I can do mostly what I bought this for, so I overlook the shortcoming of the wifi for now, although the wifi is extremely important.
Once I play around a little and get a signal it stays, for the most part anyway. We'll see how it all progresses - I am hoping
for the best. If not - I don't think I will be buying any more Sony products- that's for sure.

Tom

 

I would recommend reinstalling the regular wifi driver and then the update to see if that solves the issue.

 

Anyone can comment on the SD Card Performance?
I know it would be great to extend the storage with a 128GB Card, but I doubt that the Performance is anything near good...

 

Classic Sony!

Sounds like you will not be buying a Sony Duo 13 for school - though they do have, I guess, 2 weeks more to get it fixed. Truthfully, as much as Sony Vaios, especially the top end ones like Z's and Duos are so seductive to buy, they are just not reliable or durable enough to be your main or one and only mission critical machine, as I assume you plan for this purchase. I suppose you could just expect to allocate some time to dealing with computer issues while in school, but I'm not sure I'd make that choice. That said, I love everything I see about the D13, as I have loved my two Z's though it was always my special purpose, stay-at-home laptop. Tis a lot of money to spend on a second laptop - which is why I bought both of mine - and about 5 others long since sold - used or refurbished, a year old model when purchased, for about 40% of the original price. You don't have this opportunity now since the D13 is a brandy new model.

See just above. I think this one fail, despite how serious until resolved, should not be a reason not to buy anything from the brand. That said, if this is your first Vaio product, you probably should think hard about buying another if your lifestyle or just priorities do not accommodate working around some computer issues and devoting some time to it, with absolutely no reliance on Sony's customer service to supply anything other than headaches.

 

Want to say it again. Same problem with signal strength happened to my Lenovo ThinkPad Tab 2. It was a bad connected antenna (in a lot of machines)... . Need the Duo 13 in about 2-3 month and hope that they will do something. I need WLAN at University

 

Found something (in German) Sony Vaio Duo 13 - Seite 10

It says that only Windows Index shows 2,4GHZ but he tried it with CPU Z and Single Core went up to 3GHZ, Dual Core up to 2,7Ghz. Means there is no throtteling.

 

Thank you very much!

Now it could be interesting to get this confirmed or denied. Does the Duo 13 really have Intel HD 4600 Graphics as this review from Croatia claims it has tested the Duo to have? Says it's the real reason for the different performance between the Duo 13 and the Pro 13 concluded in many reviews. Could be great if that really was true
Translated in google

 

Intel currently does not offer the HD 4600 with any of their ULV CPUs-- the ULVs are available only with HD 4400 and HD 5000 graphics. A few full mobile CPUs used in larger notebooks are paired with the HD 4600. Some utils incorrectly identify the GPU however, and that's likely what happened in that review.

 

Hi. I'm new here and after reading the owner's thread regarding pro 13 I wasn't up to reading all the written thoughts regarding the duo 13.

What I realized about pro model that they often seem to have problems with the fan going on with very low temperatures (max 65C vs Macbook air's 95C), just saying it seems to make noise at very low temperatures.

I live in Finland and many upgrades for duo are twice more expensive compared to pro13. Like processor and hard drive.

Is it just they built pro in China and Duo in Japan.

I don't have really time to order one for testing and returning one back and order other model. Hopefully there is one store where they might have both models available to have a look even in the back lands of Finland ;-)

I'm by no means any kind of drawer but I do make a lot of notes by hand and would dream of using mindjet's mind mapping with duo, but I guess that's not available yet in the form of handwriting the maps. Also I have some work related things that makes me perhaps lean towards the duo but the simple form factor of pro 13 is hard to rule out. Mainly I would be still writing and creating. One thing in duo is the possibility for mobile connections. I have a 3g modem free of charge, but I've always preferred the machines to work independently without anything additional.

Also the battery life of duo is amazing vs pro. I don't know how practical the sheet battery is.

Still especially if I would prefer better specs here the price difference is quite big compared what for example mobiletechreview.com said (around 150$).

In Finland the basic configuration is around 1700e vs 1200 pro with touch screen.

Anyway I need a new laptop and would simply appreciate some thoughts from you guys and ladies ^_^

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

@danPc Its the 4400. The one with the 4600 was a sample CPU. Maby Sony throttled the Pro13, thats why the results are different.

 

I have found that disabling the Microsoft Kernel Debug Network Adapter, as mentioned earlier in this thread, does improve Wi-Fi performance somewhat. I would recommend this.

I've also found that applying this fix: How to fix "Limited" Wi-Fi connection on Windows 8 [Step by Step] - YouTube also improves Wi-Fi somewhat BUT WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT. When I did, it caused my device to hang every time I tried restarting and I was forced to revert to the old settings.

I am trying to find a way to automate that fix using Task Scheduler so that it is applied at startup and then reverts to the old setup before any restart or shut down so that there is no hang.

 

Ive got my Duo 13 today and I have the issue that the left speaker is approx. 100% louder than the right one, this means that I dont have a Stereo sound impression. The right speaker is noticeable but on a very low Level. Anyone else who having that problem??
Thanks in advance! TheHM

 

My sheet battery on my pro 13 is not noticeable, sure it lifts up the laptop but it just feels like it is being held up by something, for me it is comfortable.

 

May I ask is it still very portable even with the sheet battery. How great is the dimensional growth?

Could you carry it with a basic 13 inch case? Just one thing I'm wondering. But I think I'll have the chance to see at least one of the models live at monday. Nevertheless there won't be any accessories to check out.

I really just want to buy a small notebook to carry around with me without having to think about the battery life. Other thing is the ability to connect to Internet without wifi.

In my nightmares I never find a place where to connect into. ^_^

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

Hi all,

New registrant to the forum. I've been reading through some of this thread and the reviews of the Duo 13 seem to be mostly positive. The one query that I have regards the fixed screen angle; does this provide a big issue for people or is it generally OK? I appreciate that the viewing range is quite good, but wondered if the fixed screen was causing people trouble... Your feedback welcomed.

Thanks

 

For all those with expected dates of 8/2 keep your eyes open got mine already!

 

You lucky xxxxxxx...

My expected date of shipping is 2 Aug, yet the status of my order is still Your VAIO is being built. It's been 9 days for God's sake...

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up real soon...well duh 8/2 is coming anyways. But mine said being built for about 7 days then suddenly your product is done and it showed up on my door before the money even came out of my account. And that is truth...lol

 

This is the NFC device, if anybody else also wondered.

 

After 2 days of use, overall I quite like it. Besides the common problems such as the WIFI performance, my duo 13 has severe backlight bleeding that I mentioned earlier. If most of you do not receive a unit that suffers that much, it worth the trouble and time to ask for a replacement. Blasphemy58 is happy as far as this issue is concerned while perry1mm did notice backlight bleed. Anybody else care to comment? Thanks.

 

Finally got someone to give me an education discount on a custom Duo 13, so I ended up buying it. I got the i7 4650u with HD5000 and 8Gb ram graphics. I was going to get the LTE option but I can just tether my phone to the computer whenever I need internet. I also didn't get the screen protector given that it may mute some of the colors which wouldn't be ideal. Hope I made the right choice!

 

Anybody know if you can pop a T-Mo sim and have it run in the US?

 

I ordered the same thing but I got bot the LTE and the screen protector. Can wait for the thing to show up

 

word of warning: do not upgrade to 8.1 preview unless you've got a penchant for debugging and troubleshooting.

so far, the list of problems is rather daunting:
1. fastaccess is stuck on rear camera and does not switch. the app elects either first available or rear. well when rear is first one the os recognizes, what then, pray tell?

2. screen orientation is flaky, and combined with 8.1's auto-sizing features, the resulting process one goes through in attempts to stabilize the landscape or portrait view + lock the size adjustments is rather comical. I'd be laughing louder if I hadn't just bought this thing.....

3. the sony apps and bloatware are not well suited for the immersive-yet-adjustable start screen. i've had to reboot 4 times in the past few hours, just to get out of one of their apps that would not let me "windows" key back to the desktop.

4. i do think battery life is better in 8.1. But I only have a small data sample to gauge from. if early experiences prove accurate, expect another 45 minutes to an hour on average over win 8.

5. finger recognition seems to be intermittent, yet the pen works without fail. odd....

overall, it's been a less than pleasant upgrade experience. I've performed the same upgrade on my lenovo t420s, a couple of desktops, and even an old panasonic toughbook without any issues (Toughbook's touchscreen is better than it ever was in winxp!). The duo 13, however, is another story. Hopefully, the restore/downgrade goes much better

 

Thanks for your reply, but im from Portugal and i dont know anyone in usa :/ ...

 

Thanks, for the replies pdagal #929 and teiger #931. I guess HD 4600 graphics was kind of wishful thinking from me.

Now it could be nice with a little assurance that a solutions for the wifi is be on the way, but until then a USB wireless adapter can be a temporally solution. Has Sony replied to anyone about a solution?

 

I've been exchanging messages with Sony about the WiFi problem and have been through a load instructions for a fix to no avail. will maybe have to send it in.a guy on the official Sony forum claimed he received his back from repair after 3 weeks only for the WiFi to be exactly the same.

 

Hey I've been trying to get the education discount as well. I was pretty frustrated when they removed the discount because it made my laptop $100 more expensive on the customized version. It's the only thing I need to make the laptop that I want in my price range. On top of that, I need to get it before mid-August before school starts and I know customized orders take upwards of 3 weeks to build/ship from Japan, so my time is running out. I've tried talking to a customer service rep online everyday for the past week, but not a single one could help me out.

If you don't mind sharing, how were you able to get the education discount? What can I do?

 

Hi everyone, I have only one minor question. I have disabled auto brightness yet I can detect that the brightness (backlight) flickers a bit sometimes then stabilizes. Did you notice something like this. For example, when you minimize a window then maximize it, you see that it flickers (brightness I mean) as if brightness is being adjusted then stabilizes!!