Sony Vaio Duo 13 Owners Thread

Just wanted to let you all know that N-Trig has released wintab drivers (32 and 64 bit) available under the support section of their web site. These drivers are windows 8 and compatible with the Duo 13.

For those who don't know, this means that the pen with pressure sensitivity is now usable with programs like Adobe Photoshop. Yea!

 

Thanks for posting this! I've been running the 32 bit version, and it worked fine, but I always forget and open the wrong version of Photoshop. I installed the 64 bit as soon as I saw your post -- and realized I left my stylus at home.

But now I know I unequivocally have the best computer out there.

 

I think $500 is pretty steep for accident/warranty protection, but it it's a gamble either way. If you're buying an entry level I'd say that's way too much. If your spending more than $2000US, maybe if you're prone to drops. I've seen a replacement battery for $130 US.

 

I can't help with much of your request, but my slipcase is an "incase" brand. It fits the long-end well, but a little long on the short side. But much cheaper than what sony offers (which is probably a better fit).

 

Do it in bathroom with shower running. The humidity will reduce the flying dust.

 

You heard it first here folks

 

For accidental damage warranty (if we're talking dell-level cover, and not 'we're going to use every excuse to wriggle out of cover' cover) it's not that steep.

 

I went through 2 screen protectors in 6 months. I cannot live without one mostly because of glare. Sony should have applied anti-glare coating like Thinkpad does. Align it such that you have 1-1.5 mm spacing from top edge and the same from the sides. If you install one and found dust under it, lift it from the closest corner and use a weak scotch tape (paint mask or something like that doesn't stick like a glue) and remove the dust. Applying pressure will remove the air bubbles. There is plenty of tutorials on YouTube.

 

Good tips. Now if you've got tips for rescuing one with a huge gouge across the entire screen...

 

I would just sit there and cry... lol

 

Bad idea with Windows 8.1. you'll forever lose key features of Windows like Refresh and Restore by going that route.

Instead use then Windows feature to move the recovery drive to USB. Then uninstall the Sony stuff you don't want... however besides Kaspersky Antivirus, Sony has really improved its position on bloat.

 

Another US sales rep update - we were told again that the VAIO line was getting one more refresh. Regarding the Duo, the rep said that it was going to be more of a configuration update than a refresh. Sounds good to me. When asked for a date for the refresh, the rep said boy you really want to get me in trouble. That's all.

 

I've been asking the likes of BH Photo and Adorama about the Duo 13 and it seems like they won't be receiving any more stock from Sony. So I while I hope your sales rep is right, there are ominous signs!

 

In Europe at least sony doesn't sell duos anymore -even in the outlet store, they are completely gone-, and all shops that marks the tablet as "not in stock" are telling me after I call them to ask for one -days later- that sony told them that duo will not be sold anymore, that the current stock its the last one.

So, I don't know for US but at least in Europe looks pretty sure that there will be no more.

Unless they are gonna change all the duo line to the haswell refresh and for some reason they cut the chain some weeks/months.

 

CTO's seem to be no longer available. However distributor chain has plenty of machines in stock. I just ordered what should be my last ones.

 

It seems from the rep that the refresh will only be available online, not from the stores. I might check this to verify. I see that BestBuy is offering the i74500 model for $1500, while the Sony online store has it for $1900. It seems the retailers want to just unload their inventory.

 

Hello is there somebody who could send me the color mode settings from the recovery pls, did a clean install and everything is working only the color settings in vaio control center , i deleted the recovery partition.
Thanks

 

Are there wifi issues on the 223 model that comes with windows 8.1 by default? Anyone here owns the 223 model instead of the original 213 model and can add some input?

 

Thanks for the advice - and yes there is less bloat than my FZ21 had...

I have now done exactly what you advised - but being a UK version I seem to have been given McAfee (which was an absolute nightmare to remove because of the parental protection and antitheft) - but SEEMS to have been dealt with now.

I also seem to have not been given art rage pro - can I get it somehow or was it that UK just does not get it?

I now have 8.1 and all updates - pretty happy how it is running. What windows feature allows me to move the recovery partition, or rather, where do I find it?

Thanks again.

 

Mistake! Sorry

 

Me too, a PITA!

Also, after upgrading to Windows 8.1Pro I seem to have lost bluetooth!

Any solution?

 

If you're at the basic level that you're saying McAfee as installed on the VAIO is an "absolute nightmare to remove" DO NOT MESS AROUND WITH THE RECOVERY PARTITION will save you a lot of headache in the end. Just get a USB key if you need to store that extra few gigs extra.

 

I finally jumped on it, I saw a duo 13 with the latest I7 4650, 256gb, 8GB and W8 pro for about 550€ less than the latest known price on sony online store 1350€ vs 1900. Even if its in the end of life of the product i think its worth and also there's nothing else like the duo on the market right now.


Also on some european sony online stores they don't sell anymore not only duos but the vaio line is entirely gone.

 

Received an e-mail from Adorama saying new stock of the Duo 13s will arrive in the first week of May. This is likely to be the very last batch!

 

To move the recovery partition to a USB drive
Use the search charm and type "recovery" - from there you can click "Create a recovery drive".
As you move along through the prompts, make sure you check copy the recovery partition, and check delete the recovery partition at the end.

Re: Artrage Pro - Unfortunately it isn't distributed on UK machines.

 

I just bought my Duo. A manager told me that he is 100% certain that there won't be any more updates. He said he was going to inform all sales reps who are still saying that there is a chance to no longer say this. He told me inventory is running out on some models like L series desktop and Tap 21. He had no more screen protectors for the Duo, but I found one online. Looks like the end of the road for VAIO, so act soon.

 

remo26, thanks for the update. Where did you buy yours? on Sony online store? did you get the 4560u model? thanks.

 

For my other computers using Realtek HD Audio, I usually get the configuration panel icon on the system tray and in the control panel. I can't find it anywhere. When I try to manually run RAVCpl64.exe, nothing happens. Is this control panel not applicable to our machines? Do you guys have the Realtek Audio control panel or not?

 

I bought the "1323" model of the i74650u/HD5000 loaded with 8gb ram/512 ssd, Att Lte 4g card with Photoshop essentials, sleeve case, and VGA adapter with edu discount thanks to my son. I did not go with accident protection. Screen protector was separately ordered from amazon. Btw I was tempted to get a protector set for $13 which said it was meant for the Duo 13 which had 4 covers: 2 regular and 2 matte. In the end, I chickened out and went with the Sony cover.

 

Confirmed. Last batch of any VAIO in Canada! Hurry in.

 

deleted (wrong thread)

 

Wrong thread. You may get more responses in the Pro 11/13 thread.

 

Any idea what's the difference between SVD13218 vs SVD1323X??

In Singapore the previous model was SVD13218PG and a new model SVD1323XPG appeared in the webpage (without RRP). The only difference in the webpage was that newer model comes with Win8.1 Pro.

Both are i7-4500U, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM.

 

It should be 8.1 update as you said.

 

I was wondering if people here can work on a Clean Install Procedure for Windows 8.1 on Duo 13. I have tried it before. Everything worked but when it ran out of battery, it unexpectedly shut down rather than hibernate (the hibernation was active though). Somehow the order that you install the Intel and Sony driver matters. It would be great if we can do it because I hate installing Windows 8, then update, then install 8.1, then update and still have Sony bloatwares around (specially VAIO Care which eats up RAM like crazy.. up to 80% on 8 GB RAM!).

 

Something is seriously wrong there - VAIO Care eats no more than 200MB or so on any of my Duo 13's, and that's while it's running. I suppose it's because I haven't gone and fiddled with stuff that I don't know how to actually fidlde with...

Quick question also regarding backup media - is this unique to each VAIO (doubt it) or could I keep one set of backup media for all my Duo's?

 

Here is the thread to VAIO Care RAM issue. Unlike Lenovo, Sony sweeps issues under the rug and do not answer to actual problems on their forum. I have seen this repeatedly.
Vaio Care agent (vcagent.exe) memory consumption - Sony's Community Site

I believe as long as the model # is the same, then you can keep one set of backup media but you need to double check my claim.

 

I wouldn't dare to fiddle around. Saw a post whereby a bro deleted the recovery partition and then unable to reinstall Win 8. Not sure how this is configured but I read somewhere that you can't simply boot via a thumbdrive to perform a clean install of Win 8.1.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

By the way, you can uninstall the bloatwares if you want to.

 

Not in quite the same boat as you but I spent a good chunk of last Sunday doing a clean install of Windows 8.1 on my Vaio Pro 13. I installed a variety of drivers that I'd massed from a clean Windows 8 install (from both Sony UK and Sony US) in this order:
01 - Intel® Chipset Driver 9.4.0.1017
02 - Intel® Management Engine Interface Update 9.5.2.1489
02A - ME Sustaining - 9.5.3.1520
03 - Sony® Shared Library 6.1.0.02040
04 - Sony Firmware Extension Parser - 1.0.0
05 - SATA Driver (Intel) - 12.8.0.1016
06 - Graphics Driver (Intel) - 10.18.10.3316
07 - CPPC Driver (Intel) - 1.0.0.1015
08 - Bluetooth Driver (Intel) - 3.1.1311
09 - Wireless LAN Driver (Intel) - 17.0.0
10 - iSCT Driver (Intel) - 4.2.41.2710
10A - Intel® Smart Connect Technology Registry Patch (Wireless Wake On LAN) Software 1.0
11 - Intel® WiDi Software 4.1.14.0
12 - NXP NearFieldProximity Provider 6.1.1.0
12A - NXP NearFieldProximity Provider Update 6.3.1.0
13 - Realtek® High Definition Audio Driver 6.0.1.6895
13A - Audio Driver Registry Patch 2013 0410
13B - Audio Driver Registry Patch Update 2013 0426
14 - Memory Card Reader Writer Driver (Realtek) - 6.2.9600.28145
15 - Pointing Driver (Synaptics) - 17.0.9.1
16 - VAIO® CPU Fan Diagnostic Software 1.2.0.03050
17 - VAIO® Hardware Diagnostics Software 4.8.0.132500
18 - Color Setting File - 1.2.20130513
19 - Sony Video Processor (Intel) - 4.1.2370.10170
20 - Hotkey Utilities 1.0
21 - VAIO® Location Utility 1.2.0.09200
22 - VAIO Image Optimizer Update Program - 3.3.00.10220
23 - VAIO Control Center
23A - VAIO Control Center - 6.0.21.13060 Update

Things that I'd point out:
-- Use something like Magic Jelly Bean to get your Windows 8 key
-- Find a Windows 8.1 ISO from the usual locations and create a bootable USB.
-- Use Vaio Assist to boot from USB.
-- Leave the OEM, recovery, UEFI partitions alone, format the main partition (should be obvious from the fact it's the largest) and get Windows to install there
-- Find a 'generic' Windows 8.1 key to perform the initial installation and then activate Windows with the key from 1.
-- The Sony Firmware Extension Parser fails to install - cmd.exe seems to get stuck. I manually installed by killing the processes in Task Manager, go to Device Manager, right click Unknown Device, Update Driver, navigate to Users/AppData/Local/Temp and let Windows find the driver that the installer had unpacked.

As mentioned - I assume that there will be small differences between the drivers for a Pro and for a Duo so your mileage may vary, but as an overall sense of the order in which things should install in, hopefully the above helps.

 

I have deleted the recovery and restored from USB memory at twice by now. No problem. It's a waste of precious SSD space anyway. You can clean install 8.1 from ISO USB but the order of driver installation are important. I did it except it wouldn't hibernate properly. Looks like the guy above got it right. I might do one like that for Duo once I finished school.

 

Finally received my duo 13 and, welp It have A LOT of backlight bleed. Is this normal or maybe a faulty unit?

Model: SVD1323Y9EB




The backlight bleed from the right down corner is super annoying but I don't know if every duo have it, saw some people with bleeds but maybe it is a duo 13 global problem?


So, more things from early use

- Sometimes the virtual keyboard doesn't appear when it should do
- I had under certain circumstances like the login password some kind of lag where windows replied to the touchs but I couldn't write the password
- The wifi works great under G mode, at 20 meters with walls maximum bars

Some questions

- What are the key differences between the gray and black nibs?
- How do you test the battery to see that everything is correct? I saw a lot of posts where people with 8.1 got ty battery times
- Should I do anything or install anything to the vaio?
- Can I do a clean install of W8 but keeping the drivers and vaio apps? Just debloating it from mcafee or adobe software.
- Any essential tweak to do?
- How can I turn off the display but not sleep or turn off the system?

 

I'll give it a try to answer some
- The grey tip is softer whereas the black is harder...
- you should install the n-trig 64 bit driver if you are going to use photoshop
- clean install with drivers, not possible.. needs to be done manually... what I did was install from viao assist and remove other softwares that I won't use.
Can't answer the rest...

 

hi
can someone can answer me about your duo 13 wifi issue
i got my svd13223cyb
and it's wifi will disconnect every 15min while i connected to my bluetooth headset
the system already using newest driver

 

I see some slight bleeding on the lower right side which is not too bad but could be better but I had worst backlight bleeding especially on the alienware 14 and clevo w230st. Check this Alienware 14 IPS panel out.





Btw, How is display quality on your Vaio Duo 13? Do you see a sparkly or grainy effect to it especially when viewing white backgrounds? Are the colors vivid and colorful? Are the blacks real blacks or slightly grayish?

 

Hi

Well, the colors are vivid for a laptop and I didn't saw any problem of grain. It is super crisp as the display doesn't have any coating of antiglare like other displays. Of course you can't compare it with other panels like h-ips or the amoled from a galaxy note 3 and you can note that the display is only 1080p and not like the phone ones with 48358349589345 dpi, but all around is pretty great, my only complaint it is the bleeding light and I work normally with superb displays like the u2713H.

Maybe this will help you more

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-Duo-13-SVD1321M2E-Convertible-Ultrabook.97628.0.html

 

Uhm, another problem I have found

When I use some kind of display test like eizo monitor test or images to detect banding

PRAD | Eizo monitor test

I can literally see how the colors and bands move and change instead of being fixed, like for example test 12 and 21 of the eizo test or this image

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/img/gradient-h.png

Anyone with this problem or who knows how to solve this? Maybe it is a software thing of windows or vaio trying to adjust by software the colors showed on the screen?

 

Anyone knows how can I backup the recovery partition to a usb or similar, and then delete from the hd to do a fresh install?

I want to keep a backup for maybe the future if I need it use it again.

 

There is another method for using the N-trigg pen on Photoshop, the one were you create a PSUserConfig.txt with the following text:

Code:

# AllowRTS
uRTS 1

Photoshop 14.2 pen pressure without Wintab drivers

At least for me, i think that the digitizer work better with the that method in contrast of using the N-trigg 64bits drivers.

 

@DRKirsh - My backlight bleeds are quite even - I use three right now and all of them are roughly the same. They all bleed at the corners and the bottom, but it's not what I could call an egregious amount of bleed.

I kind of get the feeling from the images that you're pumping it up more than you can actually see yourself in person...? Or is that what you actually see in normal light?

However, I think all of mine are the 21's.

 

Can anyone confirm that duo 13 is compatible with "bluebeam revu" pdf annotation program and works flawlessly?

I currently own surface pro and i want to buy vaio duo because of the larger screen and because i am tired of the diminished accuracy of the stylus especially in the edges.

Bluebeam revue works perfectly on my surface pro.

the digitizer on duo 13 is different from multi flip fit 13 which is newer?

i am just intrested in taking notes and annotating pdf files hence i prefer duo 13 for its better accuracy.I have tested the pen in a store and i am impressed with its accuracy compared with the accuracy of the surface pro(wacom)

the aspect ratio of the display must be 4/3 (or at least 16/10 )in order to be the perfect paper replacement.
this is the only drawback that i have noticed from testing the sony vaio duo 13.It is strenuous to read or write in portrait mode with a 16/9 aspect ratio.It is so evident that you do not have to be an expert technician to grasp this notion.We do not need this tablet for watching movies...