Does the VAIO Duo 13 have the same issues as the 11?

I know that the keyboard and touch-pad are better, but how is the Duo 13 when it comes to wi-fi signals being dropped or screen burn-in?

How is the CPU whine? Does it emit a noticeable squealing when in a quiet room? I could sure hear that coming from the Duo 11...

 

I think you mixed the Pro 13 with the Duo 13, but that is OK, I have all three including the 11.

The touchpad and fan noises are roughly the same on the Pro's, but I run the machine on the silent option and neither bother me but I can hear them from time to time. The WiFi reception on the Pro's is roughly the same (superb) using the Intel 7260.

The fan noise is lower on the Duo 13, not silent, but I don't notice it like on the Pro's. The WiFi in the Duo is based on an Broadcom adapter that is VERY picky about what it connects to.

 

I have slow-to-connect-after-waking wifi (though once it connects after about 15 seconds, it works perfectly) and minor screen ghosting, but I have NEVER heard squealing/whining coming from my Duo 11, and I'm sensitive to quiet noises from electronics. I associate noise complaints with the Vaio Pro and the Vaio T before it, but not the Duo series.

 

Unfortunately I associate noise complaints with all Sony's, so part of me wonders if I should even bother. I'm glad that you haven't experienced it on the 11, but the one that I tried out did have it quite severely.

I went to the Sony store not too long ago and even in the loud store, I could hear squealing CPU whine coming from the Pro 13. I unfortunately forgot to check the Duo 13. I've returned too many computers to take a chance again; CPU whine is not something I can put up with. I'm just way too sensitive to it. It starts to give me a headache if the room is quiet enough.

Anyway, thanks for the information about the WiFi and the noise. I won't rule it out (the Duo 13, that is), but it's not too likely.

 

Neither of my Sonys have noise issues at all, and a coworker's S15 is similarly pleasant. Don't assume that all Sonys have noise issues.

Don't judge the Duo 13's noise level by the Pro 13's. Remember they've got completely different cooling setups, since the Pro 13's vent is partially obscured by the hinge (like many Apple designs) whereas the Duo 13's vent is completely unobstructed in either laptop or tablet mode (the slider is well forward of the vent).

I'm not saying this as a "noise is no big deal" guy. I've passed up laptops I otherwise wanted solely because of noise (the XPS 15's infamous fan pitch variations). I sometimes cook in the dark because the lights in our kitchen make a slight hum, which my wife can't hear at all, which drives me insane. In that context, when I say the Duo 11 is the most pleasant laptop I've ever used in terms of noise, it should mean something.

 

Oh, I understand, but remember, I'm not talking about fan noise or cooling-related noises. I'm strictly talking about the sounds produced by the CPU; sounds that are affected by things like scrolling or opening certain programs. It's a very high-pitched squealing noise. My parents, for example, can't hear it very well. If you put your ear up to any computer, you're going to hear some CPU sounds; I understand that. But I shouldn't be hearing it sitting at my desk in a quiet room. My Mac makes no such noises. But when I tried out the Duo 11 (and the SE I had), I could hear it.

 

Actually my Retinas do from time to time. But no to noise & Duo 13.

By try out, where did you do it? Home or shop? I'm wondering if it was some sort of power supply issue (which is also what I suspect for the Retinas, since it doesn't happen in most places).

Poor wifi - again, no worse than the current Air, if that's your yardstick. It is poor in absolutes though.

 

At home. I used it for a week (my friend's computer). When I had it on my desk in a quiet room, just sitting at my desk, I could hear the CPU: a high-pitched squealing noise. I can't hear any such noise from my MacBook when it's in the same situation. As for the Pro, that one was emitting such a loud noise that I could hear it in the loud store.

 

No noise issues from my Duo 11 but I do get dropped WiFi more than I'd like. I assumed it was Win8 because my GFs new Lenovo laptop has some WiFi issues too. So it could be adapter on both machines?

 

Could be. My experience with the WiFi was both getting dropped mid-use and a refusal to re-connect after putting the computer on sleep. As this happened both at my house and at the library, I didn't think it was a router issue.

 

I've had the same issue with my Duo 11. Disconnecting from a particular router then reconnecting normally works; if not, try putting the Duo 11 to sleep and then repeating.

In addition to Jorj's gf's Lenovo doing this, I've read similar complaints on XPS 12 user forums. I'm pretty convinced it's a Windows 8.0 glitch and not specifically a Vaio Duo 11 glitch.

 

More likely a Centrino - Broadcom glitch, since it doesn't just happen in Windows.

 

It's kind of predictable in that when the Air had similar (and for me, ongoing) issues, Broadcom and Intel were fingered - correctly or not - straight away. When it happens on a Sony notebook, it's either Microsoft or Sony

 

Had my Duo 11 for a couple of months i have had no problems with any noise, or screen burn-in or wifi problems, an all round great machine.

John.

 

Noise is highly subjective and dependent on your living / working scenario: e.g. Many people elsewhere (quite apart from just a simple case of Applezombieism) piled on me when I said the '11 27-inch iMac was a noisy piece of crap that ran too hot, when even His Anandness said it was dead quiet. Every single person who attacked me said they couldn't hear it.

And yet lo and behold, the '12 iMac is notably quieter, though in terms of load stability it's an even bigger piece of junk, since it runs even hotter... but at least I can now have them running at home for basic uses alongside my as-quiet HP Z's (which are also waaaay quieter under load - and we're talking dual-hex/octos with dual GPU's/GPU+GPGPU here - when I up the iMacs' fans to keep them to somewhere near a reasonable Tcase) without wanting to throw a chair through the screen because of the noise.

And though it's made a major difference for me, a lot of people can't seem to tell the difference. This speaks more about the noise levels of where they live or work (or whether they also had both as they claimed, but that's another internet problem altogether).

Which is when someone says something is noisy, I'm inclined to believe them. But they can also be e.g. misattributing PSU whine with device whine, etc.

 

I had the same WiFi issues on my old Air. It would randomly disconnect every now and then and then would not be able to reconnect. I'd usually have to turn of the AirPort for a while and then turn it back on. Very annoying...

Noise is definitely subjective. My friend had a Dell XPS 15z and I could hear that thing squealing from 10 feet away. He didn't seem to notice it at all. Or if he did, he just assumed it was unavoidable.

 

I had wi-fi issues with Windows 8 on my Lenovo laptop as well, but Intel fixed drivers and latest drivers from Intel don't drop the connection anymore. So make sure you have the latest drivers from Intel or Broadcom.