G11 thread

Hello. Just thought I'd move the topic of discussion over to a separate thread from my 'travelling notebook' thread.

As I said, I won't do a review or anything but I can answer any questions.

While it's not exactly a powerhouse, it takes Office in it's stride. Vista runs fairly smoothly on it, and the Aero interface works fine. I've clocked the battery life routinely to 7 hours and over on power managed modes. The claimed weight of 1.13kg is genuine.

The screen is bright and clear, and once again it's brought home to me that I prefer a decent matte screen than a glossy one for all-purpose use. the LED lighting can be very bright - brighter than any Apple laptop for example (but then of course I usually use it in the power managed modes), and while the dot pitch is less than similar-sized widescreen laptops at 1024 x 768, I find it an acceptable size for the kind of stuff I do with a machine like this.

The notebook on battery power is almost silent virtually all the time. When on AC power and working in 'performance' mode however it's as bad as the SZ - I can easily hear it from across the room. Also as with the SZ, you're always a bit worried about the screen since it twists so much when you lift it up by a corner... but my SZ hasn't broken yet. All in all though, I think I've found the best ultraportable I can buy at this stage. The G11 takes the portability aspect to a new dimension. The 600g difference between this and the SZ may seem minute but it does make a difference in a bag, especially with the tiny PSU. And the battery life... well, I've never owned a laptop that goes this long on a charge with this level of portability.

I'm sure I'll get used to the keyboard eventually, but right now I find it an awkward pitch to type on. The layout is fine, I have no issues with any of the key placement.

The sole build quality gripe I can raise at this stage is the battery, which is prone to rattling a little (i.e. it slides back and forth on it's mounts a little) when under movement. This isn't unique to the G11 on a Sony laptop though.

I didn't buy this to be my main laptop. The transportables I use most often tend to be of the 17" variety. But for when they aren't practical to carry, this is a perfect choice - for me, a better choice than my previous SZ. What can I say, I'm pretty impressed.

 

Thank your for these additional observations. As you point out, the PSU size is an important factor in controlling the overall travel weight. I've got an ancient Fujitsu P2020 (633 Crusoe CPU) sitting on the shelf at home and that has a small 45W PSU.

Your comment about the fan noise is helpful. I deduce that it is a small fan due to the slim dimensions so it has to run very fast when it is operating.

Slightly flexible displays may not be an issue as long as the flexing is not enough to cause the LCD to crack. Impact resistance is probably a bigger concern. Lightweight notebooks should not need padded cases.

Loose batteries seems to be a Sony feature. I had an S series a couple of years ago which shared this attribute. I bit of card stuck in the right place fixed the rattle. Samsung seem to have worked out how to avoid this feature.

Do you have a feel for the battery life yet?

John

 

As I asked in the other thread but you didn't answer since it was at the end, how is the LCD compared to the premium SZ/TX screen which is the ultra thin, ultra bright LCD? That would be my only concern since I've gotten used to this screen

The G will most likely be my next laptop since my main use for the SZ will not be needed all the time. But the SZ provides a great, lightweight (all things considered) fully powered notebook. My lineage is the JVC 741 and the U70 - very small, light laptops. So I know the power vs. size tradeoff.

Most likely I'm going to hold out for a few months to get the G because:
1. I am hoping Sony re-engineers it and puts the dual core ULV in there (and for Santa Rosa's ULVs, I didn't see any Core Solos in there)
2. Right now, it's only available in Japan and Europe. I am no stranger to Japanese notebooks (all of my notebooks for 4 years have pretty much come from Dynamism), but the Japanese one does not come in the config I want right now (but it does in Europe - I want the brown one with the 100GB drive). There's always a chance Sony will release it here (hell, the U and the X505 did come out here albeit briefly), and will most likely be like the Euro configs.
3. I want to see if a 64GB SDRAM drive comes out and if Sony will incorporate it. That would rock. I'd pay a premium for that. It would take one of the weakest points of the ultraportables (a 1.8" 4200rpm drive) and remove those concerns about I/O speed.

 

The spec I bought is the VN/T model with the 100Gb disk. The colour is is a sparkly brown that I've found impossible to capture properly in photos. I had the same problem with the raven-like hue of the SZ2.

Didn't I answer both unanswered questions

The G screen can be extremely bright. Since I've finished configuring it and am now using it on battery power for the majority of time it's now powered down to somewhere between one and two notches on the brightness scale. The 1024 x 768 res in a 12" screen means that the dot pitch is visibly coarser than some of the compact widescreen displays. But it is very crisp, and the matt screen means no glaring as I get outside on the SZ. That, plus the glare in some situations overpowering the reduced brightness I was running the SZ at for battery use was the really annoying aspect of the glossy screen. To me the G is much more legible in real-life situations than the SZ.

And as I said before but maybe didn't expand on, at that one/two-notch display level with WLAN on and the CD/DVD-ROM drive powered off, doing Officey - webby things I'm getting 7-8 hours on a charge which I am stunned with. Sleep seems to work more solidly in Vista (I use hybrid sleep as a hedge - I'm a cautious guy) and this is a laptop that I can really open and close on demand and use genuinely all day in a working situation, and still have some juice left over at the end of the day so I haven't completely depleted the battery.

As for the bending, SZ owners will probably be aware of the level of flex their screens have. The G is about the same and the picture below shows a typical deflection that the screen will be undergoing when it's opened by the edge of the lid.

 

Vogelbung,
Could you please look at your AC adapter and tell us what is the output current rating? I know that the voltage is 16V. My goal is to decide if I can use it for my TXN. The TXN's adapter is rated at 16V, 4A.
Thank you!

 

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Qnavi/Detail/VGP-AC16V11.html - see for specs
and
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Acc/VGP-AC16V11.html

The TX series is not listed as compatible

 

16v @ 2.8a

 

Hi,
Could anyone tell me if the G11 can be used for gaming?

I know its not a gaming notebook... I was just wondering if older games such as CS Source run on it. I know the CPU is not great, but I heard that you can't judge it just on the Hrz.

I'd be thankful for any reply
Squall44

 

The GPU is the important factor for gaming and it's a GMA950. Maybe it can run the original CS at a fair clip... but Source? Forget it.

 

Hi Vogelbung,
Is it easy to swap the G11's HD out with a SSD? I mean can one access the HD by removing a small cover from the back of the notebook just like upgrading its memory? I know most of sony's ultraportables would not allow that.
Thanks!

 

No idea. I never bother with upgrades.

 

Can you take a snapshot of G11's bottom so at least we know what it looks like? Many thanks!

 

I'm planning to buy a G11 (in France) but before I would like to have more information concerning the fan noise (if possible).

The author of the topic write that under battery power the vaio is completely silent. However on AC power it is as loud as the SZ. But is it all the time, even idling, or just when the laptop is doing intensive tasks ?

Thank you for your replies, and sorry for my poor english (I'll improve it this fall I hope )

 

It depends on what you're doing with the G in terms of if the fan is on or off. I don't find the fan on my G1 (Japanese version) a problem in any case - battery or AC power. Can you hear it? Sure, but what's a loud fan to someone isn't so loud to someone else.

 

No, no hard drive hatch. You'll have to open up the whole casing to get at it. So if you're uncomforable doing it, it won't be easy.

 

I have to say that it's not very helpful. Can you make a comparaison with another laptop (like a MacBook) so that I can realize better how quiet or loud it is ? Do you confirm that using word an browsing on the web on AC power it is barely audible ?

 

Thanks for the clarification! I've got a lifebook q instead and swapped out its slow 4200rpm hd with a ssd. The difference was like night and day

 

Well, sorry. I don't have a MacBook.

Again, what someone considers loud, someone else may not. Right now I am on battery power, using wireless, and surfing the web, and it's pretty quiet.

Does the fan kick in? Absolutely. It never sounds like an airplane taking off to me.