Sony X Series Official Owners Thread

Hi everyone
On the subject of Power Supplies for the X Series, has anyone tried powering their Notebook with a 12 Volt supply (instead of the specified 10.5 Volt supply) ? The reason I ask is that 12 volt power supplies are absolutely everywhere and if they work OK, it will free us all up to obtaining a greater range of power options. I am suspecting that the internal power circuitry in the Notebook probably regulates the supply down to the voltage it really requires anyway so it should be OK, but I wanted to know if anyone has tried it. Then we can all go out and obtain any 12 V supply to power out notebooks (as long as they have the 2.8 Amp current capability).
regards

 

12V should be OK. I was even tempted to plug in my Z's 19.5V power brick (the one with the long DC cord) I was so pissed off by the thick AC cable that came with the Vaio X. I decided against it though. My dad is not $$$.

(Which reminds me, maybe legiTI and his dad's credit card could do us a favor and try various power supplies with increasing voltage, and see where things stop working? If he has the trial-and-error sk1llz, that is.)

Fortunately I found a solution to the disgusting AC cable problem. You can get an adapter for the power brick that lets you use any figure-8-type cord out there. My rant on the topic and the links to the products themselves are here:

http://angerisanenergy.tumblr.com/post/382615759/vaio-x-ac-cord

(Sorry about the blog spam, but it's got the pictures and all.)

 

Hey Martona - that is a fantastic find. I read your page and looked at XPCGear. They actually sell both the mickey mouse adapter and the retractable power cord from their site - if you buy the Power Cord, the adapter is added as an extra for only 4.99 extra - works out to a total of about $17. My problem is though that I am in Australia and they won't ship overseas, so I am wondering if there is any other kind person out there who would be prepared to buy both of these items for me and then send them to me in Australia ? Iwould send the money to you via Paypal. Anyone able to help out ?
regards
Mark

 

Guys
Just checked again and the kit that you can buy from Amazon, XPCGear or any myriad of other sites in the US sell the retractable cord with the Mickey mouse adapter for as low as about $8 or $9 all inclusive of the 2 items. I just wish I was in the US to be able to buy it as none of these guys sell outside the US !
regards
Mark

 

PM me your address and I'll mail you the adapter. However, I won't be able to do it before the 26th. If nobody else volunteers here then you can try myus.com - they charge a yearly fee but I used to love their services when I was living outside the US. That was a number of years ago though, I don't know if they're still any good, and it's only worth it if you're buying a lot of stuff online.

 

Hi again martona

Sorry I am new to this so not sure how to "PM" you. Could you please email me at [email protected]

I've found the kit (Retractable Cable including the Mickey Mouse to Fig 8 adapter) on another US site for your reference plenty of online sellers for under $10, so I would really like to get the caretractable cable and adapter.

http://www.costcentral.com/proddeta...q_Notebook_Power_Cable_Kit/ZIPPWRNB/10374244/

I really appreciate your help. Once you email me, I'll send you all my details.
rgds
Mark

 

We can buy those figure of eight to cloverleaf adaptors in the UK at Maplin for £3.99. Order Code: N13GA

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223685&C=38089

 

a noob question how come my backlit keyboard never worked?

 

Because the Vaio X never came with a backlit keyboard option?

 

I think it would - I mean look at the powerconsumption here - it says 3.35 Watts - that is a lot lower than the power those large panels can produce. So I think a smaller one could work. I found this blogpost and it says with that rather cheap panel you can get 5 Watt.

And even if you can't work on it like forever, it would even give you more power than you have just running the x11 on battery, right?

Martin

 

Useful information on power consumption:
If anyone out there is interested in using alternate power supplies to get away from the Sony unit and it's thick cords, I have done some detailed testing that has revealed some cheap easy to find alternatives.
The Sony power adapter operates at 10.5 volts. There will be internal circuitry in the laptop to "regulate" this voltage down to a lower level. As 12 Volt power supplies are very very common, I wanted to test the feasability of using a 12V supply instead of the Sony one. Well ... You can and safely !
My testing has revealed that with (a) The laptop powered off and the battery quite flat, the laptop draws about 0.6 Amps (600 mA) from a 12V supply. (b) Powering on the laptop and observing the peak current draw during boot and also running heavy applications sees the current peak out at about 1.7 Amps.
So if you want to use one of the regulated "Plug Pack" type power supplies that has all of the electronics built into the casing that has the AC pins into it, you can get away with a 12V unit rated ideally at 2 Amps. That way, you can eliminate needing an AC power cord all together and the cord going to the laptop will also be quite thin. Just make sure that if you buy a plugpack that comes with a range of "Tips", that you plug the tip on so that the positive (+ve) is in the centre pin and not on the outer pin. There is a little diagram silk screened onto the laptop. (As an alternative, if you are travelling and am looking for an ultra small plug pack, then you will get away with a 1 Amp unit provided you only ever use it to charge the laptop battery without powering the laptop on). The 1 Amp units are a bit smaller physically. Having said all of that, I am getting away with a unit that is rated at 1.5 Amps and powering the laptop on - this is because even though the unit is rated at 1.5 Amps, it has a safety margin......but it's best to go for 2 Amps to be sure.

 

Well, in the post right above this:

So in bright sunlight you may be able to charge the battery, but even that seems to require .6x12=7.2 watts. If you turn the computer on, you need significantly more. I don't know where the hardwarezone article got the 3.x watts figure, but it clearly seems bogus. Isn't that what the Atom CPU itself is rated at?

Anyway, I think this is the panel:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5w-12v-power...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9dcd7ec4

It's only $14, so may as well check it out. I see two problems:

1) Weight - adding an extra 1.1 pounds is a big deal

2) Size - the panel is almost 1.5 times wider than the X, so you can't mount it on the back of the screen.

But there may be other options.

 

Weird sleep/hibernate behavior!

I put the laptop to sleep (lid close action is set to this). For a few minutes (20?) it stays in sleep mode, but then it silently hibernates on me.

It's a big annoyance as (ever since installing TrueCrypt) resuming from hibernate takes 3 minutes

Anyone experiencing this? (Not the long resume, but the premature hibernation.) I get this with a full battery too. Every laptop I've ever had waited until the battery was dangerously low before going from sleep to hibernate. This guy however just can't seem to wait.

 

Martona

Is this because it's still remembering the "time to hibernate" after the sleep setting timer in power settings ? Try disabling hibernate in the power setttings.

 

Actually, that's not weird, it's deliberate. It's a two-stage power saving mechanism to save the battery from draining. Your power settings are such that after so many minutes of nonuse it then sleeps, then after so many minutes of sleep it hibernates. This prevents the battery from draining entirely if you forget that the notebook is asleep.

Of course this is a moot point with most Vaios, including the X, since with Sony's proprietary EpicFail(tm) technology, the battery drains anyway even when the unit is powered down.

 

Yup here are the steps in Windows 7:
1. Right click on the Power icon in the bottom right, select Power Options.
2. Click Change Plan Settings, then Change Advanced Power Settings
3. Click the Sleep setting, then change the "Hibernate After" setting to whatever you like. 0 will turn it off. Personally I have it set so that when my X is running off the battery it will go to sleep after 10 minutes, and hibernate after 500 minutes (I find the battery doesn't get too drained in 8 hours in sleep mode). On AC Power, it'll sleep after 20 minutes and only hibernate after 1000 minutes. That way my X will resume from sleep immediately when I'm using it during the day and evening, but if I don't use it over a weekend then it'll eventually go into hibernate to save a bit of battery.

 

Hi I have just received the VPCX115KX

Its the Sony Collection Gold x from the USA

However I'm in England and want to know if there is anyway to use the mobile broadband/gps here. Atm its all verizon locked and so I don't seem to be able to use it.

 

How did you get the gold version? I thought it is sold out!

 

Ordered it back in December, and only just got it. I had to wait for some1 to go across to the US to pick it up.

 

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Serie...on-Sierra-wireless-1xEV-DO-card-for/m-p/32481

http://www.dc-unlocker.com/

 

I bought mine here in Germany directly from Sony. If you go to a Store here, you get it locked by T-Mobile. This way I had a completely free choice for the WWAN provider. Used it here in Germany with O2 & T-Mobile, in the Netherlands with Vodafone & in France with some other provider, can't remember... Maybe you try the sony Europe Hotline and ask for Kevin Griffiths, great guy, always trying to help

 

I have a VPCX115KX series notebook and am having trouble playing videos on itunes. For some reason my downloaded movies are now unwatchable on my X series. Is there any way that I can remedy this situation or is it just that this notebook can't play itunes vids? PS, I have 2 gb ram and the 128 ssd.
Thanks

 

Did you test out your X with this panel ?

 

I want one of these...that is all

 

Already an X with a more powerfull processor or any plans for this ?

 

I don't know if this has been answered before, but is the Sony Vaio X from sonystyle USA made in Japan?

I just want to make sure before I buy one, that it is made in Japan. I'm interested in the signature edition.

Thanks!

 

Not yet, still looking for a better form factor

 

Yes the USA siginature X's are made in japan.

 

Thank you beazel for clearing that up. Do you own a sony vaio x signature series? If so, did you buy it from sonystyle USA?

I was hesitating to get one since I spoke with a Sony representative on live chat and he told me that all vaios are manufactured in the US including the X series signature model. I was surprised but also I didn't take his word for it as I've heard before that the high end vaio (especially the signature editions) are made in Japan. If I'm going to be paying a premium price for this model, it better be made in Japan!

Thanks!

 

Yea I've got the gold signature X and bought it from sonystyle USA and then brought it back to the UK.
Only downside is no gps or 3g

 

It doesn't play videos very well. It can do standard YouTube videos, but HD videos is pretty much a no go.

 

Guys this applys to our X aswell!

Support for Atom Z5xx with GMA500 - Flash HD support

http://www.liliputing.com/2010/02/adobe-flash-10-1-beta-3-now-supports-atom-z-series-netbooks.html

 

Can someone confirm if they have successfully installed this updated driver and note changes?

 

Flash 10.1 beta 1: didn't work
Flash 10.1 beta 2: didn't work
Flash 10.1 beta 3: works quite well actually

I'm running the GMA500 2020 driver by the way, with Aero turned on. I'm not sure that the older 2015 driver is tweaked for Flash GPU acceleration but maybe somebody will prove me wrong. Internet Explorer is my browser of choice.

My problem with the older Flash betas was that ordinary flash or videos were crazy unstable, or wouldn't play at all. But I've had this beta 3 on the X the last 2 days now and it works fine for ordinary videos (which is important) but also does a decent job of HD 720p playback. I've only tried with Youtube HD trailers so far but generally it looks good. Still a bit of judder every now and then but maybe that's because it's still beta, or because my X is the 1.86Ghz model. I haven't even tried 1080p Youtube vids because I absolutely refuse to see the point of playing 1080p on a laptop that can't show all those pixels anyway.

How's everyone else getting on with the beta 3?

 

any idea if sony is planning to put in the core i7 620/640um in this...???

 

Hello Gents. I have a USA "X" and a "P" on its way to me! If I get one of them hooked up with a Verizon data account, will I be able to simply take the sim card out of it and put it in the other? If so, is it a simple and quick thing to do?

 

Yes, you may need to enter the APN settings on each machine the first time you use it though.

 

My experience with the Flash Beta 3 is that 720p runs smooth but full HD does not. However as jdbrookes pointed out there is no need to have full HD on the vaio x screen.

I'm running firefox and the 2020 GMA driver with the 2ghz CPU

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Ok, thanks! I'm in Canada but the Canadian Sony is sold out of the X, although a sales rep at the store said they were discontinued, who knows.

I don't need the broadband connection for use in Canada because here we can tether our iPhones (on the Rogers network) which is really great. However I am planning to get Pay As You Go data from Verizon for travel in the USA.

 

General Performance Feedback:
I thought I would post some general information about the performance of these little laptops running Windows 7. I am an IT engineer who tends to dabble quite a bit with various laptops. I am in Australia and bought a VPCX128 model. The 128 series is exactly the same as the 118 series but has the "Premium Carbon" lid - that's the only difference. It has 2Ghz CPU, 128Gb SSD, 2Gb Ram & the internal WWAN for 3G.
I've tried 3 different mobile carriers SIM cards and they all work - the only change you have to make in the WWAN config is the APN settings fr your carrier.
Anyway, after a considerable amount of tweaking registry, startup and other settings in Windows 7, I have now got this baby tweaked to be rather slick. Boot time is down to about 40 seconds from cold power on and the Apps start up quite quickly (including office). So if anyone out there is thinking about buying one but maybe worried about the Atom processor, then don't be. For the size and weight benefits these units offer, they really are very very good. Any desire to jam a faster processor in them is going to be more of a compromise of reduced battery life and you dont really want that any lower than it is. My only gripes are the size of the keys and the battery drain when not in use but I am casually thinking of putting a small switch in the laptop to physically disconnect the battery when it's powered off (Even thinking of converting the physical wireless switch for that purpose to avoid aesthetically damaging the laptop. You can switch the wireless on/off anyway via the software).

 

NEW VIDEO DRIVER
Everyone, Intel have now released on their website the version 2023 GMA500 video driver. It's supposed to work better with Adobe, so if you are loading Adobe Beta 3 mentioned above, also get the updated Video driver.

 

I also feel that with a little tweaking you can manage good performance from this model for day to day tasks.

Please let us know how you went about configuring your system? That would be awesome! Thanks

 

Yeah, a short tweaking guide would be welcome!!!

I also thought about a HW switch for the battery...but the wifi switch didnt come into my mind...maybe I will check it out on the weekend.

thanks

 

mt1964, thanks for the headsup! I just installed the 2023 gma500 driver as well as flash beta 3...and WOW! Flash videos are amazing. 720p at full screen is silky smooth, 1080p at full screen has a few hiccups here and there but overall great. These updates are transformative. It changes how I feel about the X, for once I am a bit wowed by the performance, not just the form factor. Youtube is great, Hulu is great (aside from the slow frame rate, but that's Hulu's fault). One downside is exiting from fullscreen can be slow and pretty unresponsive, it can take a minute or more sometimes.

By the way, Windows Experience Index - Graphics went to 4.5. Nice!

p.s. Remember to uninstall and delete the old GMA driver, after which the system hangs, force reboot, and install the Intel setup file.

 

Exactly what I waas thinking - looking at the whole package, it is a great piece of technology. I can work with WWAN or Wifi switched on (and using it constantly) for about 6 hours - switched off up to ten. The processor is fine and the SSD is giving it another kick I think.

Great idea! I haven't opened the laptop yet and honestly I'm not the greatest DIY'er. If you do this, please take some pictures and a few notes, so others/I can think about if their/my skills are sufficiant to do that...

Thx!

 

I've read somewhere on this forum, I can't remember where, that Xp drivers are available for this system in sonystyle europe. And the individual also gave a link to get them. Does anybody have any idea how i can get those drivers?

Also, do you think it would be better to just stick with windows 7? I currently own a windows 7 professional 64 bit but no 32 bit . I understand how it has better support and what not, but if XP works, and with it's smaller footprint and no GUI candy, which really doesn't bother me, I think I might give it a shot and see how the performance goes after tweaking it. There is a tool out on the internet (SSD Tweak Utility) that will adjust your system, so that you will see better performance from your SSD.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

 

I have a very similar dilemma. I cant decide between the Win 7 prof and Win XP SP3...

I guess I will have to make a clean win 7 install without sonys bulls...ware and see how it performs. I also cant find the winxp drivers...

Any experience here?

 

You can find the XP drivers here

 

VAIO X utilities update :

VAIO Smart Network

Setting Utility Series