Another Sony Vaio SR First Impressions/Possibly Review

Sony Vaio SR Review by silverwolf0






Overview and Introduction

The Sony Vaio SR is a small, portable 13.3” laptop made by Sony. It won’t exactly fit inside an average-sized women’s purse, but any murse will work just fine. The SR is one of Sony’s latest laptops, touting a new chipset named Montevina and a revised Penryn processor with a lower TDP or max power draw. The design is fresh and new from their existing lineup, with a snazzier macbook-esque keyboard and LED backlighted screen. It is a nice mid-range laptop that will keep you feeling smug that you got the latest intel platform under the hood without feeling like you had to shell your college fund for something that would be obliterated in Crysis six months down the road.

Specs

• VGN-SR129E/B
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26G
• 13.3" WXGA 1280x800 Xbrite-ECO with LED backlighting
• Samsung 2GB DDR2 800mhz
• Toshiba 250GB 5400RPM
• DVD Super Multi
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 w/ 128MB
• 1 x ExpressCard /34 slot, 2 x USB ports, 1 x Firewire, headphone jack, microphone jack, VGA
• Memory Stick Duo and SD Card slots
• Built-in 1.3 megapixel MOTION EYE camera and microphone
• 12.4"(W) x 9.2"(D) x 0.99 - 1.3"(H)
• 4.14 lbs
• Standard 4800mAh battery.

Reasons for Buying

My other laptop, an Asus V6va, was growing a bit on the old side after about two years of use. I wanted something more portable, with the latest processor and a nice design and screen. In truth, I really didn’t need to upgrade from my old laptop since my single core Asus worked perfectly fine and didn’t even look like it had aged at all. When you get bored and start reading gadget blogs, you start getting thrown into the hype and your fingers get itchy. Before you know it, you’ve clicked the finalize button and another piece of gadgetry that you never really needed pops up, and the buyer’s remorse sets in from then on. It’s the thrill of climbing towards the apex where you push that finalize order button that governs everything. This is actually a very serious problem for poor people like me.

Where and How Purchased:

The Vaio SR was purchased at Newegg.com for $1269 after a $30 coupon and comes with free shipping. I thought it was a great deal for a small Sony laptop and considering that SonyStyle still had the SR on pre-order status, this was the only place available to buy it.

Build & Design:

The Vaio SR is nicely constructed and does a good job at balancing good construction and materials while not outright aiming to be a completely fortified tank. There is no splashproof keyboard or titanium hinges or built-in time machine, but the construction is quite above consumer-grade and along the lines of light (but not that thin) portable business notebooks. Aesthetically, the black look is quite conservative, but there is a bit of flare and uniqueness with the grey interior, macbook-esque keys and cylindrical hinge/back.

Keyboard Area

The entire area in and around the keyboard is greyish aluminum and the subtle but large black keys contrast nicely with it. Online pictures show less distinction in the grey and the black, but the contrast is far more striking in person and thank god it didn’t look like a Thinkpad or any of those other solid black matte laptops. The aluminum exhibits absolutely no flex and I don’t really expect it to since it will permanently deform otherwise. This is great news for people like me who hate keyboard flex and don’t like to type with their keyboards caving in. The keys themselves initially feel on the thin side, but once I got used to the keyboard, I didn’t notice it and the large gaps of aluminum between the keys helped reduce typing errors appreciably. The key travel was also high, allowing typing to feel like a desktop keyboard while still retaining that nice touch-typing ease of thin notebook keys.

One thing to note is that there is a gap bordering each key, separating it from the aluminum. It is less intrusive on the black SR model, but once you spot it, the appeal is a bit reduced as the keys don’t look as flush as they should. I personally can’t really tell until I actually look for it, but my main concern is that the gap around each key allows for more dust particles and cheeto flakes to get lodged under the keys. The keys on the Asus V6va are flat enough and close enough to where I can usually just brush away anything that falls on them and not have to worry about it falling into gaps and me having to pop keys out to clean it and hopefully not have them break when I try to repop them back on.

Palmrest Area

The palmrest area, which I kind of like, is the same grey color as the aluminum surrounding the keyboard and is made of plastic. I think the use of plastic is ideal because using something like brushed aluminum like the one on the Asus V6va would create unnecessary warmth as it acts as a large heatsink. Using the magnesium alloy that is on the underside wouldn’t feel as smooth and good either. The plastic is not cheap feeling and doesn’t have any annoying gloss. The palmrest basically has no flex unless you try to push on it with some force. It is easier to push and flex the right side where the DVD tray is, but that goes without saying for all laptops with plastic palmrests. Resting your palms or wrists will not cause any movement or bend the palmrest in any way, so they should be strong enough to hold up to most hands and paws.

Touchpad Area

In the middle of the palmrest is a large touchpad that has a nice textured look while still being smooth and very responsive. The buttons have a satisfying click but aren’t too loud in comparison to the crazy loud and hollowish sounding buttons on recent Asus models. HP models have a more quiet, cushioned feel, but are mushy to use. My V6va makes almost no noise when I push its buttons, but I usually have to rock the whole laptop from all the force needed to depress them.

The fingerprint scanner works as advertised, but unless you type like my mom or have the memory of a goldfish, it’s faster to just type a password in at windows login. I haven’t used it for any of its other functions, however.

Lid and Hinges

The lid is a nice matte black that isn’t too dark or flat to be repulsive like the Thinkpad lids. There is also a nice and mildly reflective metallic Vaio logo to avoid Thinkpad-esque black void syndrome. The lid isn’t super super thin, but when you push with a bit of force, it does flex inward. This is nothing to worry about as the Asus V6va and Macbooks flex about the same, and only when pushed hard enough. The MSI 1029 actually flexes worse even though it has a thicker lid, and the Fujitsu S7010 has even more flex.



I test laptop lids by pushing it down and closing it gradually, seeing whether the entire surface remains flat or not and if pushing from the center exhibits a satisfying reaction and cohesive movement from the entire lid. The Vaio SR passes well enough. I don’t really care about LCD ripples or wobble and I am definitely not going to test for something that I would only do if I was purposely trying to break my screen.

As far as the hinges go, they are smooth and strong enough for the light lid. Once you get a few inches from closing the laptop, it automatically shuts closed, probably from some strong magnets, stronger than the ones in the Asus V6va.
The cylindrical back and hinge are interesting and give the SR more of a futuristic look. The glowing green power button on the end is kind of a novel idea for placing a power button, but I’ve quickly forgotten about it because the people who actually notice it on the side is everyone else but you, like fancy psychedelic rims on your car, which may be a good thing if you are the flashy type. In fact, it can get annoying when the battery gets low and the green light starts pulsating like that annoying sound that keeps beeping in Zelda when you have less than three hearts left.

Chassis

A bit above midway up on the sides going downward and completely on the underside is the magnesium alloy casing. It’s matte black (not too black) and feels nice and strong with that fuzzy texture. It also has that thin, lightweight feeling to it and feels much sturdier than some cheap 13” laptop made of thin plastic. I actually really like this material, if only for most of the underside, and doesn’t seem liable to creak further down the road when it gets older.

Left Side

On the left side are a microphone and headphone jack, air vent, VGA, firewire, and the express slot. The headphone jack is inconveniently placed near the back next to the air vent, but seeing as the laptop screen is small and laptop depth short, it’s not that big of a deal when it comes to cord distance. The only thing that makes me paranoid is that the heat from the vent would affect the headphone cable, but it most likely won’t since the heat feels so mild.

To digress, I’m also paranoid about having any laptop sitting on mice or power cables due to the impossibility of them melting from the heat on the bottom, but if that were the case there would be a gigantic hole where my crotch once was. I once knew someone who had an S96j and since the power plug was right next to the air vent in the back and that sucker ran hot, the plastic melted from the power cable and needed to be replaced.

Front and Right Side

The front side has a wireless on/off switch, something called magic gate for Sony’s proprietary memory stick duo crap, and a nice SD card reader that doesn’t shove your card all the way in like the Asus V6va dioes On the right side is a very flush and slick DVD player, two USB ports, and a latched cover for the Ethernet and modem ports. The two USB ports may be a little stingy for some, but I really don’t need more than two and a Bluetooth mouse would free up one anyway.

When I first tried to connect an Ethernet cable, I was like oh crap they pulled a first gen trick on me like how they didn’t include HDMI even though there is a placeholder for one and did the same with the Ethernet port, placing a faux Ethernet indention to mock me. But then I saw this faint gap and feeling around, the cover pushed down and revealed two ports! Tricky bastards they are. Maybe I’m just still green when it comes to technology.

SuperMulti DVD Drive

Anyway, another thing to note is how solid feeling the DVD Tray is when it pops out and when you place a DVD into the spinner and push it back in. It doesn’t feel flimsy or about to break when I push a DVD in, and the thickness of the laptop allows for a sturdier drive with stronger rails, which is a good thing in my book. There is no loud initial whine or sawing sound when reading DVDs and the drive is pretty quiet, with some vibrations when reading at full speed. The drive in the Asus V6va made weird squeak noises when initially running a DVD and it got worse when reading things it couldn’t recognize, which was most of everything.

Opening DVD Tray
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Underside

The bottom of the laptop has two panels for hard drive and memory that look easily removable for upgrades. The port for docking has a sliding door that opens and closes easily and can accidentally be opened. What is a bit unnerving is that the battery has the trademark Sony wiggle and unless something is placed in the gap to keep it in place, it will wiggle quite noticeably if you are holding the laptop from front to back. When I am holding the laptop and moving around, the battery moves with the palm of my hand. It’s never going to fly out or anything, but it bugs me like how some people worry about wobbly screens. Think of briskly walking with a bowl of jello. Other SR owners have said the wiggle is rather minor and not worth mentioning, but I consider it an egregious and conspicuous design flaw that Sony has yet to properly address from the SZ days.

Weight and Portability

Weight-wise, the laptop is quite light without feeling like a frisbee you might accidentally toss out the window. I wouldn’t call the Vaio SR thin; it is slightly thinner than an average consumer laptop and the curves and blackness add an extra layer of slimness to its appearance. With the small footprint of a 13’3” laptop, it is by far the most portable laptop I’ve owned and easiest to handle and carry with its larger, sturdy body. Widescreen laptops are also easier to hold for me than regular aspect ones as the difference in depth does make a difference. In comparison to the V6va, a thin 15” laptop, I can hold the SR with one hand anywhere without feeling like the weight would bend one side down or something would go squish if I grabbed hold of it too firmly. The lack of thinness and the rounded sides make it more ergonomic for the hand. Some laptops have these exoskeleton anorexic chassis that’s molded around every component (oh noes I’m referring to my v6va again) and I think they need to take some queues from cellphone manufacturers that angular, unshapely cases make for a bad groping experience.


Screen

As far as the LCD screen goes, I’ve had some mixed reactions ranging from absolute horror to “oh it’s better than most,” with a bit of nudging from peer pressure. One of the reasons why I whine about the screen a lot is because I have these special vision problems that make me more sensitive to cheap LCD screens as the difference can be night and day. To that, the TN-Film screens are the worst of the breed but also the most widely used and my choices are basically nil when shopping for a laptop that isn’t old or expensive that doesn’t have this type of screen.

As you can see from the videos, the screen on the Asus V6va is an IPS screen (or so I’m told) and even with bad video capture quality, you can clearly see the difference in viewing angles. There are other problems dealing with uniformity, light leakage, and color inversion that isn’t so clearly seen on video, but I won’t belabour the point and instead stick to how the Vaio SR’s screen performs with other TN-Film screens.

At 1280x800 on a 13.3” screen, the resolution is readable even with only 20/70 in my best eye and text looks sharp but not so sharp to where you can see individual pixels. The fonts and screen effects in Windows Vista make text harder to read and many people complain about the pastel blue highlight color, which is hard-coded into the aero and basic themes and cannot be changed. It’s not as big of a deal to most as it sounds, but I’ve reverted back to the windows classic scheme for ease of use and to save a small bit of battery life.

The screen can get quite bright, and the brighter the screen the more uniform the lighting becomes and the more vibrant the colors. It is basically twice as bright as my V6va on max brightness. The gloss on the screen also doesn’t pose that much of a problem as it isn’t too reflective and doesn’t have any fishbowl effects caused by excessive gloss and poor backlighting, like the MSI 1029.

As far as viewing angles, horizontal viewing angles are quite good for a TN-Film. At around 40 degrees, the colors start inverting a bit and the screen dims, but at the furthest angles text is still legible. The color does not invert when looking from below, but the brightness dims. From above, the screen gets milkier and contrast gets worse while colors invert dramatically. The angles are better than those found on the 13.3” macbook, for comparison.

Overall, the screen has good brightness, decent viewing angles, and looks good for a 13.3” screen. Smaller screens usually suffer in quality and the best screens are placed on 17” laptops while quality gradually diminishes as you go down in size.

Viewing Angles and Movie Watching
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Heat and Noise

Coming from a not too warm but sometimes uncomfortable heatsink laptop, I can pretty much say “what heat?” When you are just surfacing the net and not taxing the system, there is little to no heat to be found or felt. The fan is constantly blowing, but it does not whine and has this low wooshing sound that is easily drowned out by ambient noise. I am sensitive to fan noise and the SR manages some good marks on that front.

When doing something GPU or CPU intensive, there is only one general area that heats up, and that is the left side next to the air vent as well as the left palm rest. The left palm rest gets just mildly warm, barely noticeable. The area near the vent, including the underside, gets somewhat warm, but the chassis doesn’t seem to conduct heat well and everything feels like holding a hot cup of coffee in a thick Styrofoam cup. I’ve messed around in Oblivion for a few hours with the laptop on my bare thighs, and I could leave it there for hours more if it weren’t for my aching back. (I can’t stay sedentary in one position for too long) I can even wrap my fingers around the vent and leave it there while encoding without really feeling much. Basically, unless you are abnormally sensitive to heat, the SR is cool running and the heat will not be a factor.

Temps while surfing:


Temps while gaming:


Temps while encoding:



Performance

The SR loads a bit slow with all the Vaio junk and OneCare crap preloaded on it, but once most of everything is removed, the boot-up time is decent. Windows and programs pop up and transition very smoothly without hiccups and internet explorer actually pops up almost instantly when I double click it, as opposed to waiting five seconds for something to pop up and then a few more for the page to load like how my other laptop did. The hard drive is 5400rpm and fast enough as it is.

HDTune and Bootup

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Upgrading to a 7200rpm drive wouldn’t speed thing up noticeably and from prior experience with upgrading a 4200rpm drive to a 5400rpm Samsung drive in my V6va, all I got was more heat and vibration with the same performance. SSDs would be a nice upgrade once they drop in price, but skip the 7200rpm drives.

Processor performance isn’t really that important if the machine runs smoothly and feels snappy. However, things like encoding video can be greatly helped by a faster processor, and I actually am encoding video while typing this review.

Here’s a 5-minute segment encoded in TMPGEncXpress comparing my desktop AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ at 2.01Ghz versus the laptop processor Intel Penryn P8400 at 2.26Ghz.




A good 30 seconds are shaved off of the encode. I’ve also noticed that batch encoding is even faster than this one instance.

Here is the WPrime benchmark using only the 32M test. Left is desktop, right is SR.




3D Performance

I am not much of a gamer, but I downloaded 3dmark06 anyway to show some benchmarks. Gets 2000ish points.



The only game I have that would tax the system would be Oblivion. Here are some youtube videos. I didn’t bother taking any screenshots since it should look the same across all computers if the right hardware is there. The speed and fluidity at high settings is what really counts. This is just for a general idea, as placing it on youtube probably blurs some of the jerkiness.

WARNING: Animal Abuse

1280x800 on Medium Settings w/ Bloom

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1280x800 on UltraHigh Settings w/ HDR

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On medium settings, the FPS ranges from 25-40 depending on where I am. On ultrahigh, it drops down to 15-20 but still playable as can be seen from the videos.

Battery life

I’ve heard 3.5 hours repeatedly from other SR users and it seems true enough. You can probably get 4 hours or more with the brightness dimmed all the way, which is still usable for many people.

Conclusion

I am satisfied with the purchase I’ve made and I do recommend the Sony Vaio SR for anyone who wants a small, lightweight laptop that runs very cool, feels good, looks nice, and isn’t a Dell or a Macbook. It has enough power to replace a desktop computer (pretty much most can) and once attached with a nice 24” screen, can serve as a good workstation and entertainment center. You can also do some non-DX10 gaming with relative ease and play most games available for the PC market without your laptop becoming a space heater. One would be hard-pressed to find another 13.3” as refined or balanced as the SR.

Pros:

• Good screen with wide angles and bright LED lighting
• Great build quality and ergonomic feel
• Lightweight and portable with good battery life
• Nice keys and large touchpad
• Attractive but still conservative enough
• Snappy and performs well
• HD3470 gives good 3D performance without too many sacrifices (like heat and failing die packaging)

Cons:

• Screen not one of Sony’s new OLEDs
• Stingy 2GB of RAM
• Green power button can be annoying.
• Audio jacks placed inconveniently
• Port selection small. No eSATA or HDMI
• Battery wiggles noticeably
• Vista is XP with a broken GUI covered with lots of superfluous fluff

More Pictures:




More Videos

Boot-up
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SR and V6va Viewing Angles
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Mode Switching
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Screen Size Comparison
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Front Comparison
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CD Tray
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Keyboard and Touchpad
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Lid Comparison
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Same Brightness Movie Viewing
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Max Brightness Movie Viewing
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Size Comparison
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Left Side
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Back Side
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Vaio logo
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Here's the battery wiggling. You can see it pretty easily, and feel it while carrying it.
And say hello to Mr. Lion
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LOL. You guys are still with that? Anyway, congrats man! Thanks for the pics!!

1. any games to test out the FPS?

2.How about heat? Does it get warm on the palm rest? Is it comfortable to use in the lap?

3. is it black in person or more of a dark grey? sort of dissapointed to see such a contrast from the keyboard plate and the bottom of the laptop. seems gray and black..but some pics looks all black...

4. Is that a room fan or the SR fan? Really loud!

My thoughts:

The good:

*Wow! Great screen! Even for an ECO, the LED just shines with clarity and brightness without looking washed out!

*The resolution on the screen is perfect. I don't know how the hell you could go any higher. Icons are perfect size to me from what I can see.

The Bad:

*Looks a tad reflective though compared to my FZ screen

*WTF. Looks like some of those keys are touching the screen when its closed.

The Ugly:

*The SR looks like it's been on a milkshake and burgers diet. It's ****ing fat!

 

it looks fat but its still thinner than an SZ..

 

Wait Duke2007, did you finally get your SR from Sony?

The grey is very noticeable in person and contrasts sharply with the sorta black matte keys. If its in a really dark room, probably not as much.

When I first turned on the SR I thought I had made a bad purchase since the screen looked really bad and the viewing angles were terrible. Either it was my imagination or something happened after I finished the initial Sony configurations and rebooted. It's definitely better than the other screens I've seen before on display, and liveable considering the tradeoffs of higher performance, but its no competitor to the v6va screen-wise. The glossy coating is only noticeable when the screen is black, and much lighter than others I've seen.

That's the window mounted AC in the background noise. I would demand a refund even if Newegg didn't allow refunds if it wizzed like that.

It feels kind of flexy, only if you look for it however. Doesn't feel like something i want to squeeze, unlike something like the Dell Inspiron 9300, which I would probably sit on. Reminds me of my old Fujitsu s7010, which I thankfully sold off after a few months when it was beginning to fall apart. The Sony feels a bit stronger. It might just be the lightness and superthickness (compared to v6va) thats bothering me, giving an unfounded hollowness.

The trackpad is kind of grippy right now, but I think will eventually get smooth. One of the pictures above zooms in on the texture. It is completely flat so that is just an illusion. Not really liking the keyboard right now. It looks nice, but feels cheap, like I am pushing on cheez-its or saltine crackers. I'll also have to get used to the spacing, since I like the keys closer to each other.

 

im assuming the keyboard is just like the FW which I tried. i would have to get used to it. the keys did infact feel cheap to me...especially since one broke off already from the display model, lol. the CR's keys felt more cheap if I recall when I had one. I think its just the style we're not used to. i previously owned a FZ and I loved the keyboard. short travel made it feel really punchy and solid.

ohhh boyyy silver...was the SR worth it? damn... not seeming like it so far... and im not about to cash out 400 more for a Z. **** that. well...sonystyle told me I have 30 days to return, full refund, so I'll have to give it a go myself.

 

Yeah I can probably live with the SR. It's because my standards have been set too high. For a normal person, it would be fine, but my older laptop, which was released I think Dec of '05, can beat this one in a number of areas other than sheer speed. Asus doesn't even make laptops like they used to, or maybe the v6va was their one special fluke and can't really count towards the overall quality of their laptops.

The keyboard is actually getting better to type on. I seem to be making less errors than I usually do on the otherl aptop. I don't really notice the cheapness that much anymore either.

OMG the screen...sniffle

Probably end up getting a nice external monitor.

And what about this almost black black I've been hearing from other people? All I see is light. Maybe if I turn off the screen, I can get that nice deep black my other laptop had.

 

the screen is that bad?

 

Please give detail about your screen complaints on the SR???
I saw one at the SonyStyle store and did not find it that poor, so PLEASE elaborate!!

Thanks.

 

Maybe super high expectations?? Thats what I'm hoping because so far I've only heard good things about the SR and I'm so close to getting one for myself

 

That's why I want his (Duke2007)'s opinion, since I have seen the SR.
I want to compare what he says to what my eyes saw!

 

my opinon or the topic creators? I already said what I thought.

But more detail:

I think its fat. Sony claims it a "Ultra Portable. Ultra Thin and light" Do you call the SR ULTRA thin? what the hell are they thinking? ULTRA thin is mac book air. I wonder what sony would call the macbook air... "Mega Thin?" lol. Please... false hope advertisement.

I don't see anything wrong with the screen, personally. I had a Hi Color FZ and I loved loved loved the screen. So great. But, I'm not too much into screens. As long as it gives good brightness and color without looking pale and washed out, I don't care. I use it indoors, so glare isnt much of an issue unless I'm in front of a windows or somethig..but it would still be nice if it had no glare..

As for the keys touching the screen..look from the side angles. It looks like some keys (NOT THE RUBBER STOPPER THING) are touching the keyboard...like the keys more towards the mode, settings, ect.. buttons..not the ones near the palm rest. THAT IS BAD. I hope they really aren't touching. It's getting sent back if they are. I'm not paying money for a damn cloth to protect something that shouldnt need to have protection like that. "oh excuse me, i have to put my microfiber cloth on my new vaio because sony designed it so the keys press against the screen. Isn't that lovely for a 1,500 laptop?" GIVE. ME. A . ****ING. BREAK.

 

Hhaha "mega thin" I like that. Anyways its marketing not false advertisement. It may not be nearly as thin as the air but its a heck of a lot more functional. Besides its still thinner than most notebooks out there. Is the term "ultra" only reserved for the thinnest notebook on the market?

edit: oh and about the keyboard touching the screen. I think the keys only barely reach the bezel of the screen (the edge of the lid), if even that, so since the screen isnt flush with the bezel, i dont think theres a problem

Edit again: ok looking at the sonystyle website, the keys dont go past the palm rest and since the screen doesnt touch the palm rests, it cant possibly touch the keyboard. Come to think of it, thats probably why they designed the keyboard to sit lower than the palm rests. I doubt sony would overlook that

 

But can the super flexible screen flex and touch the keys??.. just a question..
can the screen still bend, in the center, when the lid is closed?? cause that is something I felt, when I saw a SR at sonystyle...

 

Lol, ORLY?

 

I would like to know what Silverwolf0 meant by "OMG the screen..."????

 

lol. that made my day because this "Your VAIO is being built" for the past 60 hours sure isnt

 

Sorry haven't really been playing with the SR for the past day cuz I've been doing other things. I'm probably gonna downgrade to XP as I am finding Vista a bit annoying with the new layouts and the Sony crap installed on top. The screen isn't bad for a TN screen, but like I said, I got some high expectations and there's this icky inverted film look I can see on all TN screens. I also use to own a Gateway M680 with a 17" screen. That was three years ago, and that had a better screen and no icky inverted look to it.

I'll have to wait till morning to get a good shot and comparison of the screens between the SR and the v6va so I can show you some of the major differences. No good lighting at my house and the cameras I have are pretty bad.

 

what is TN?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#TN_.2B_film

 

Most digital photos taken of computer screens don't really show anything with any real accuracy. I would much rather have you say what you see than to see pictures.

 

Sigh... Well I'm hoping for the best. I'm not too picky about screens so I hope it's fine.

 

After uninstalling basically everything the laptop came with, it's pretty snappy! I don't see how anyone can really complain about the screen--it looks beautiful to me. By the way, I got around to installing Counter Strike Source on it. It gets an average of 85 FPS with the recommended settings (basically everything high, except no AA or V-Sync) at 1280x800 when running the stress test. It warms up noticeably during gameplay, but that's to be expected; in everyday use, it runs virtually silent and very cool except of course for the warm air exiting the vent on the side--the wrist wrests do not heat up at all.

Now, I must say something: I think it actually suffers from the battery-drain problems that I've seen others talking about. I'll shut it down (yes, I know how to actually shut down the computer) with 100% battery, turn it on 24 hrs. later and it will be down to 90%. It's disconcerting, but not a terrible thing for me, since I'll probably be using it every day at college. Has anyone come up with a fix for this problem? Should I call tech support (and maybe get a free replacement battery out of it)?

 

The problem is not in the battery but I think you should call them anyway and ask. It's not good for your battery life as you are making extra cycles.

Also try to find the thread, because I think there was some kind of solution.

 

Added lots more vids. Quality is pretty poor, but it does the job sorta.

 

just put something in the crack so the batt doesnt wiggle. like a piece of paper or black electrical tape. takes 1 minute to do.

Tahnks for the vids! Why does the SR get so washed out when you look at it from different angles? Is it because of LED lighting? Kind of a dissapointment... But I always look staight on to my screen so it shouldnt be bad for my uses. Nonetheless, it's still a dissapointment.

 

^^ I was thinking the same thing about the electrical tape.

 

silverwolf0, are the keys really soft? are they easier to use now?
also, how many hours are you getting from the battery? can you see how much just using internet, word, and listening to music? is about 3 hours?

 

As well as watching a DivX movie?

----------------
Now playing: GFW Staff - GFW Radio weekly podcast - 07/30/2008
via FoxyTunes

 

I posted a video of the vertical viewing angles. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with it.

 

Exactly what I was looking for. Thx. +rep

 

yea thanks for the CS Source info. Looks like i'll be playing some CS again!!

 

Alright BIG questions buddy. Before that, props for the review, pics and videos. I have been researching about this laptop for weeks and nobody has ever posted a review. You're the first one I see.

The reason I wanna ask you is because I am very close in spending 1800 USD in buying this SR. So I want it to be flawless.

There are some things that still worry me:
1. The SR screen seems to get really blurry really quick when you move around your camera from left to right or vertically. Is that mean a good thing? I noticed that your ASUS' screen still gives you a perfectly clear picture no matter how you tilt the monitor or position your camera.

2. Do you find the wiggling battery as an issue? Will it fall off? Did you experience any battery leaks? How long does it last?

3. SR Series come with P8600 processor that support 1066 MHz fsb, and I know that they come with DDR2-800 memory. Are you finding any lack of performance? If I want to change the memory to DDR3-1066, can I upgrade it?

4. How do you get ATi graphic card in your Vaio SR? It's not in US spec. Are you getting it from US?

5. You mentioned about the keyboard to feel really cheap. When I was in Circuit City and looked at VAIO CR, I could tell from far that they keyboard is really cheap and the chrome around the laptop looked as if they are easily peeled off. Do you find anything dissapointing in the laptop built or should I put it as the materials or they way they manufacture it?

I appreciate it for your time answering the questions.

 

Okay first off, this is just a bunch of pics and videos that I randomly threw together as well as some mixed reactions. I think ShinyFalcon and umm the other guy Duffysomething have some much better impressions an actual reviews. In truth, I haven't really been messng around with the SR because I am using a desktop with a much bigger screen and a comfy chair. I plan on writing up a half-a$$ed review once I actually get some quality time with the machine. Now to answering your questions:

The laptop I compared the SR with has a special screen that isn't made anymore due to high cost. It's better to compare screens of the same size. 17" usually have the best screens. As sizes get smaller, they tend to get sh*ttier, probably something like the TZ is an exception. Compared to what I've seen, this screen seems a bit above average, but my judgement might be skewed because I need to go take another good look at my local office depot to see if this screen is worse or better than they are. It isn't awfully terrible, and poor viewing angles is common among most laptop screens these days, so you aren't losing anything with the SR.

Sorry can't comment on the battery. The wiggle is a bit disheartening when I pick it up and feel it while carrying, but it can be easily fixed. Shame on Sony for not fixing such glaring problems. The battery life I will have to test later. The battery meter in the taskbar is not trustworthy. I had the laptop on for 15 minutes one time and it dropped only 2-3 minutes. Gotta test it empirically...

There is a guide or tutorial series on NotebookRevew's front page. One talks about memory. Basically it says that memory speeds don't really mean anything. I don't know the exact reasons but I've been hearing the same toot for years from many sources so there must be some truth to it.

Ummnm its the Newegg one that everyone on the forum is talking about and that Duke2007 thinks is possessed by Lucifer. The last time I checked, you could configure an SR on SonyStyle with the ATI card...

time answering the questions. [/QUOTE]

The body of the laptop is actually quite good. The best feeling laptop I've owned so far. The cheap keys aren't really that cheap, just thin. The entire body (left, right, front, bottom) has this black fuzzy material that I am guessingi s supposed to be the magnesium alloy. It feels nice and light but also solid. The aluminum aroud the keyboard looks and feels nice. The plastic palmrests don't really do anything until you push hard enough to slightly flex them. Much better than say the Toshiba or HP consumer laptops I've squeezed.

I'll have to type some more som other time as i it is getting late and having Obliviono in the background i making my keyboard type really funky.


One question for anyone who knows. Is there a program I can use to see GPU temps for the HD3470? I've tried GPU-Z and nothing shows up besides the clockspeeds. Thanks.

 

LOL.

(10 char)

 

Maybe "Everest" can do it...

 

As SilverSomething mentioned the Asus screen is either MVA or IPS which is screen technology you usually only see on desktop monitors and fewer and fewer notebooks. It's more expensive and uses more power so it's very hard to find on portable machines. Just about all laptops (minus some tablets and specialty machines) have TN displays. TN displays are cheaper to manufacture, have vastly narrower viewing range, backlight bleed, etc. With that said the display on the SR is one of the better TN displays that I've seen on a notebook. The viewing angle is fairly wide, horizontal and vertical, and the colors are vibrant. The display has nice contrast, but as I mentioned previously the black level could be better.

The battery has a very slight wiggle. I only mentioned it because Sony aficionados have a long standing tradition of checking the battery wiggle. If you pull the battery on the SR you can see that Sony did in fact add little rubber pads to reduce the wiggle. Trust me if I had not mentioned it most people would not have noticed. I haven't done any official battery life tests, but in the past week I have been averaging around 3.5 hours. This was with the display dimmed, WiFi on, and using a WWAN USB adapter. YMMV.

The memory is not upgradeable to DDR3. The FSB on the SR does run at 1066 MHz. The memory bus runs at 800 MHz. The greatest benefactor of a faster memory bus is a machine with integrated video. Integrated video shares system RAM so it shares memory bandwidth with the CPU to use for the video. On a discrete system the discrete video card uses built in video RAM, initially, then will take system RAM if necessary. So memory bandwidth isn't as much of a bottleneck on a discrete video system.

The discrete ATI solution is available in the US from Newegg and configurable from Sony.

The keyboard actually feels very good. There isn't any mushiness and the keys have a nice break to them which is a plus for touch typists. There isn't any chrome or cheap looking/feeling materials on the SR. The SR chassis is very solid and feels well made. The system (in black) looks very nice and classy. I had a chance to take a look at a silver and pink SR at the local Sony store, and I don't think they look as good as the black model. In particular the display cover feels and looks cheap and almost feels like it is made from plastic (which is isn't). The black display lid has a light texture that feels like the carbon fiber lids of the SZ/TZ.

 

There are more reviews available. Here on these forums and at least one online.

 

Thanks again for silverwolf0 and duffyanneal for the thorough answer.

Does all of Sony Vaio SR have discrete video card? Including Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4700MHD with Intel® Clear Video Technology both ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470?

I don't know which one is better this Vaio SR or the following Fujitsu: NEW LifeBook® S7220 Notebook and NEW LifeBook® T5010 Tablet PC.

 

No the ones with Intel 4700 have integrated graphics. Ati HD3470 is dedicated graphics.

The ATI is better suited ofr gaming.

If you post a link to the specs, me and/or other people can comment.

 

For the battery wiggle questioin, it is actually more noticeable for my SR. i didn't specifically look for it because it was a Sony, but when I pick it up on the underside and have my palm upward touching the bottom of the chassis and my fingers wrapped around the backside, basically grabbing onto the battery (that's how I usually hold the notebook), it will wiggle a little back and forth when I walk, but not something that is a deal breaker. It is just a slight bit annoying. Also, the latch that opens and closes to reveal the dock mounting connector is easily opened and closed, so that thing will sometimes slide open as well. There's a bit more moving parts than a completely gapless notebook usually has, but I just wanted to point them out. Like I said, they aren't deal breakers.

In regards to the fujitsu S7xxx series, I do not recommend them at all. I had one of them before and the way they keep the weight down is using cheap plastic material and shoddy hinges. Mine was falling apart after two months of light use. The look hasn't changed at all other than the wide aspect ratio on their newer models. Just double check it in store or something before you consider it as an option.

 

With the intagrated graphics and the high capacity batter can I expect to have 8hours battery life for basic stuff?

 

Yes, here they are:
NEW LifeBook® S7220 Notebook:
http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=S7220


NEW LifeBook® T5010 Tablet PC
http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=T5010

Those are the other two laptop I crave on besides Vaio SR. I think they are a tough competitors to SR.

 

The T5010 is in a whole another league, IMO - I think the T1010 might be a more fair match.

The T5010, of course, can offer more than the SR can, but that functionality comes with a steep premium, looks like $500+.

----------------
Now playing: Jack Johnson - If I Had Eyes
via FoxyTunes

 

I am not sure if they have LED backlit screens. I don't know if you like the Fujitsu design but I don't really.

If you'd like to get more feedback consider starting a 'what should I buy' thread in the appropriate forum.

 

My review is up on the first post. Read at your leisure.

 

Excellent review, thanks dude!

Now, I'll say what I've said elsewhere -

ECCCKKSSSSSSS PEEEEEEEEE.
Windows XP vs Vista battery life comparison =P

 

Most benchmarks I've seen show that Windows XP actually reduces battery life quite a bit compared to Vista, due to Vista's extra power saving features.

 

Could you point me to those benchmarks? From my personal experience, on multiple machines, Vista battery life is about 15%-20% less than the exact same system running XP.

 

I think it's one of the pre-configured SR's for business.

You can see the whole list of them on Sony's site for business:
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcategory/notebooks/ultra_portable/sr-series

TZ's an exception because its screen's got like around 75% color saturation.
The best TN screen out there is probably the one on Z, which has 100% color saturation.

@jannovrusli, why not getting a Z if you are going to spend that much?

 

I'm not sure where I heard about it, but after searching around, results are mixed. I think Vista can potentially last longer, but when people enable Aero, etc., of course it sucks up battery life more.

Here are some posts on these forums I found: