Few questions about the '12 Sony S13

Hello everyone,

I'm in the middle of a laptop swap, and still hesitating, so I've got a few questions about the S13 please :

-Is there a need for a special caddy bay to replace the DVD, or is a "basic" model enough please ?

-In order to do some office/web stuff (mainly texts, server administration, powerpoint ...), multimedia (iTunes, mkv and else, maybe so music creation ...), some games (D3, DotA2, SC2 ...) and some MatLab/Maple/Solidworks from time to time, is there a real need to go from i5 to i7 please ?

-Does the hacked bios, and o/ced GT640M LE, give a real boost in games ? Are there some concrete examples please ?

-Has anyone succeeded in booting on / installing a Linux distro on the S please ?

-Eventually, did any EU ordering person get the chance to get a model with a QWERTY US layout from Sony EU please ?

Thanks in advance

And have a good day !

 

You can read the owner's forum for your other questions, but here's some info about Linux:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/677765-linux-vaio-s.html and Sony VAIO S and EFI troubles

 

OK I will answer some of your questions that hasn't been answered.

1. Any caddy will do as long as it is 9.5mm I think check this thread for details.

2. The dual core i7 isn't a very big performance boost maybe only around 10% tops.

3. The hacked bios will give you a big boost due to the fact that it is now operating at the same clocks as the GT650m. now don't worry the GT640m le, gt640m, gt650m and gt660m are essentially the same chip. But are limited by nvidia for varying qualities of the die.

4. No one in the EU will get a US keyboard through Sony Europe - only the QWERTY UK English layout and Sony UK won't deliver to France. Try phoning them up in France here: 01 55 69 51 27 and see what they say.

 

rohandhruva -> Thanks
Well, at least if it's possible, it's okay, I'm used to having problems booting with my desktop computer ... ^^

voyanger -> Thanks for your answers
I should get an extra SSD instead of upgrading to i7 then, would be more valuable.
Will try to call them tomorrow, thanks

 

My suggestion:
Order the laptop with cheapest HDD and replace the harddisk yourself with SSD. Much much much cheaper (Sony lets you pay top prices for options.. actually it does here in EU). Many of us have bought the Samsung 830 SSD.
Of course: you need to be comfortable with re-installing Windows or making a clone of your HDD to SSD (something I personally wouldn't recommend)
Same applies also for memory: 4GB is soldered and there is a free memory slot. Just buy a 4 GB module yourself. Placing this is even more simple then SSD.
There are already some video HowTo's online.

 

I think the only European country to have the U.S. layout is The Netherlands. Every other country has it's own modified layout. France will have AZERTY and others will have extra keys.