Review: Sony Vaio SA

I was looking for a laptop about a year ago and was also comparing Z with S series. The S series looked pretty washed out but the Z from what I remember in store looked really good.

for the SA from the screenshots people have posted, I do not think the contrast is that high for the panel.

I have a Envy 14 on order but if I feel it is too heavy the SA is my only other option .

 

When you say things like:

That doesn't sound like a GENERAL opinion Fscussel. If you really want to spread a general opinion then tell people you've heard good and bad things. Don't post stuff like that.

 

So I used my Spyder 3 Elite to calibrate the SA screen under optimal conditions (darkend room where calibration works best).

Honestly the screen isn't that great if you look at the numbers but still a decent calibration gives you a better result than before.

In the attached zip-file you will find two different profiles to choose from:
1. 2.2 Gamma, 65k Whitepoint, Iteration
2. 2.2 Gamma, Factory Whitepoint, Iteration

View attachment profiles.zip

If you like to have a different calibration please feel free to ask.

Here are the instructions to use them based on a the original description given by slrosenfield for his Vaio F profile:

1. In Vaio Control Center/Display/Automatic Brightness Settings uncheck the box that says "Adjust brightness automatically" and hit Apply
2. Make sure screen brightness is set to maximum using Fn and F6 on the keyboard
4. Download the attached zip folder and extract the profile of your choice to your desktop or other easily traceable location
5. Navigate to the extracted profile on your hard drive, right click on it and choose "Install profile"
6. To verify that it installed to correct place, look in "C:Windows/System32/spool/drivers/colors. The profile should be in that folder. If it's not there you can copy and paste it into the correct folder manually.
7. In your Control Panel click on Color Management and uncheck the box that says "Use my settings for this device" then click the "Advanced" tab at the top of the Window
9. Click "Change System Defaults" at the bottom left and in the new window, click "Add" near the bottom left.
10. This should bring up a list of profiles among which should be the one you downloaded called Vaio-SA xxx.icm. Highlight this profile and click OK at the bottom right. Then with your new profile highlighted in the box click "Set as default profile" toward the bottom right.
11. Toward the top of the window click on the "Advanced" tab, then check the box "Use Windows Calibration" toward the bottom left. As soon as you check this box you should see your screen change to the new profile and this profile should remain in effect until/unless you change it.

If there are any questions please feel free to ask!

P.S.: Please remember that there might be small differences between my screen and yours because no two displays are the same!

EDIT: Please be advised that the Intel Graphics Control panel which is loaded automatically with windows will overwrite these calibrations each time it is run (which means each time you logon to your computer) and you have to reenable them again manually. To avoid this problem disable the panel through msconfig (Intel Common User Interface - igfxtray.exe and igfxpers.exe).

 

damn I guess the old Z is still pretty good.

 

Isn't the current Envy Brightview screen almost as bad as the one on the SA? Worse if you look at the resolution. Considering it has the same graphics card, a higher resolution screen and is smaller and lighter I would say SA is your best bet

 

Yeah:

Pretty much a standard display it seems.

 

Why are there two different SBs offered in the education store (US) with different trackpads? Also, why don't any of these Sony Vaios allow for 2 finger scolling or 3/4 finger swipes?

 

Wow, I completely missed that. My bad. Guess i'm still waiting for something to show what the screen actaully looks like.

 

You're comparing two different lines of product. Z is super premium, while SA is a premium but not at a level of Z.

The screen looked pretty washed out but it is average, not that terrible. Other than the screen, everything is a top notch.

 

ME LIKE IT A LOT.

Wow, I'm all set. Screen looks much better. Thank you Stromblade83!!!

 

You're welcome! Which version do you use?

 

Based on the GENERAL opinion I´ve got from reading all this thread and also the owners thread I am convinced that the display quality is not good and certainly not compatible with how much the notebook cost. That display quality is compatible with let´s say an Acer 3820TG which cost around 700 USD. So yes, based on this view (which is consequent to all the reviews of the screen that poped in these threads), I believe I will sell the SA and buy a new Z by the end of the year. I never said everyone should do this, I´m just not happy that sony is asking a price premium for a non-premium product.

 

I like the 6500 Kelvin better only because I prefer cooler colors plus I'm using Gunnar yellow glasses for work.

Which one you prefer?

 

Crappy multi-touch is not limited to sony. none of the pc makers offer good usable multi-touch like apple. its the fault of the oem makers as well as useless touchpads manufacturers like alps.

 

I think Apple patented multi-touch. Not sure about it but it would make a sense why others (inlc Sony) not following the trend.

Anyway if not for the patents we would be by now going to Mars for a weekend vacations.

 

There is a difference between what our general opinion is and what your general opinion is.

We get that you hate the screen based on what is said on this thread, just don't say that is everyone's opinion.

That is all I ask.

Yes they did patent their style of trackpad and its touch features. Too bad for everyone else

 

I believe what we got here is a bad english by me. When I use general what I really mean is prevailing. I hope you understand now.

 

Hey Stormblade, I was wondering.....

If I use your calibrations and hook my laptop up to an external monitor (via HDMI/VGA), will the monitor have its own color scheme? Or will it follow the calibrations that you posted?

Not that I think your calibrations are bad or anything, I would just be a little worried if the colors on my monitor got thrown off. As you said, all monitors are diffferent :/

 

There are 100s of things that tech companies patent and someone else uses it for 4-5 years, then gets sued..pays a few $10mil penalty and then its open for all... thats the way they should go! In any case, if apple has a wide patent on it and refuses to licence it to anybody else, its violating the 'spirit' of patenting philosophy IMHO. Heck, even apple has ripped off concepts from others (most recent: some android stuff and wireless sync)

Plus, I dont think thats the reason, because the vaio EH already offers 2 finger scroll.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387919,00.asp

 

Seriously - does no one else have issues with the flimsy cd/drive and screen hinges, etc.?

It detracted me from buying it but I went back again today to try to convince myself it wasn't that bad and even my girlfriend (who knows nothing about computers other than if they look pretty) was like wow, that's bad.

Maybe I don't absolutely baby my computer like some people, but I'm just not comfortable with the way this laptop is built..

 

I never noticed those problems with the SA I played with at the Stanford mall. Unfortunately I won't have my SA shipped for at least another week so I won't be able to test mine until then.

 

I've been to three sony stores and all have been like this... the sb seemed slightly better and the sc was a lot better.

 

They only work for the internal display. For your external display you would need to create another color profile and load it seperately. Therefore by default if you use an external monitor through HDMI/VGA it will be used with the standard plug and play color image. So you shouldn't encounter any difficulties. Also a reminder: If you want to use the color profile regularry remember that you might need to enable it for both video cards!

 

Yes I also like the 65k version better but when I first calibrated a screen with 65k it took some time to adjust my eyes to the new look

 

Thanks for the info, Stormblade!

 

Does anyone know if I'll notice any difference in quality going from a Dell XPS M1530 to the SA series? Because after going through this forum and hearing people comment about the terrible viewing angles, I noticed that my laptop doesn't really have really great viewing angles either.

That aside, through pictures, the laptop looks like it has great build quality, but many have said that the hinge is flimsy? Can anyone describe what this means?

Also on a less important note, do the SA laptop's chrome accents really look cheap? :/

 

what material is the interior of the sa made of? same plastic as sb?

thanks

 

Basically if you touch the screen it wobbles. The hinges don't hold it firmly in place at all. Plus if you grab the sides of the screen you can pretty much flex/rotate it a bit... It's terrible.

Like I said in an earlier post if you baby your laptop im sure you'd be fine but this is a huge turn off for me - the sa has all the features I want but I really don't Like the quality. Ugh.

 

To SA users, never ever try to scratch your SA with something sharp, the black coating will peel of hahaha

I tried to pick this little dust that gets under the keyboard with paper clip, it scratch!!

 

Ah...thanks for letting me know dyzfunctiond. :/ Does it only wobble? Or does it move out of place? Because with my Dell laptop, if I tap the screen, it wobbles but stays in place. With my Nokia Booklet however, if you tap it lightly, the screen changes position.

Does anyone know if any of the USB ports will charge your devices even if the laptop is off? I haven't seen that feature listed anywhere, but it's becoming increasingly common on laptops so I was thinking this one should have it as well.

 

Does anyone know how the speed of Sony's 128gb SSD compares with Intel's 320 series SSDs?

Also, does swapping out the SSD void your warranty?

 

i went to look at an SA with a 256gb (64gbx4 in RAID). I did a ATTO benchmark , 900mb read, 500mb read. But that's for compressible data, I didn't have AS-SSD on my thumbdrive to do a bench of that.

I think i posted the warranty somewhere before, it voids the warranty for any part damaged by the installation/changing of the HDD/SSD.

 

Does the SA come standard with multiple electrical plugs?

The reason I`m asking:
I live in the EU mainland where the plugs are different from the ones in the UK.
Since I can not get trough to Sony NL I`m considering buying from amazon.co.uk and ship it to Poland or Belgium...
But if the plug is not usable I won`t be able to use my SA...

 

I just ordered on eBay two additional power cord for $5.99 each. It is kind of expensive but in two months I will be moving from US to UK. I will be also traveling to Poland and other EU countries.

Anyway search for "AC Power Cord Sony Vaio" and you will find plenty of cables. They mostly coming from China/HK.

 

Nevermind, I Just tried to fill in shipping details and at that point the say they can not deliver to Belgium or Poland...

On top of that, it seems they raised the price another 300 Eur for the base SA...
I`m getting very tired and frustrated with Sony...
First I can not get an SA, and then I notice that they raise the price, so even if I managed now I need to pay more...

 

thanks for your reply, but it doesn`t make any difference any more

 

Can't definitely answer your question, but I bought a US model in the US and it came only with a US plug.

** Nevermind - I see your later post.

 

Just checked it on the dutch sony site. Same specs 330 euro more expensive then yesterday for the SA.

 

^
I saw that yesterday. At this price point i really would expect this laptop to have a good display. It doesn't appear to have any cfrp as we expected. I do wonder what it is made out of, why is this information so hard to find out?
With W7 Pro and the standard spec it is £1,433. With a £60 ram upgrade to 8GB it is £1,500, with the BD drive then it is £1,843. The pricing indicates for a 13.3 thin and light that this is a premium notebook.
The last gen Z with a 2.5 drive and no ssd used to sell at the same price as the base SA.

 

for some reason why is everything more expensive in Europe?

Like the HDD CTO is $1349 in US only.

 

It seems it is not just the SA...

The SB, 320GB HDD, i3, no wwan, 4GB Memory now costs 1200 Eur... Where such a config used to cost around 900 Eur.

Nice move of Sony...

They look like good machines but are now way over priced!

 

some big website like CNET's gotta give them some bad reviews man.... then they'll lower the price again =P

 

Unbelievable move by Sony raising the price of a basic SA by £300 - nearly 30% - overnight! I was just about to pull the trigger on it from the Sony UK website when it was about £1100, thinking it wasn't too bad a price despite the well-document poor/average screen and other issues. But now - now way - it's priced itself way out of its league.

Nearly £1,400 or so is FAR too much for this laptop. For that price I'd want a top quality premium screen at the very least, and probably an SSD and a lighter weight - basically the SA we were originally promised but that obviously never happened. The new SA is now the price of the basic Z, surely indicating a mixed up and confused pricing strategy. Sony sort it out or you'll lose thousands of sales from people like me! This laptop is arguably a reasonable purchase at £1,100 but a definite no-buy at £1,400.

 

I'm getting more an more glad that I alreday got an SA before the price increase. The prices now are simply way of the top. Noone I asked would pay 1900 Euro for my machine. I don't see the point behind that strategy. Maybe they needed the factories for the Z production and therefore wanted to decrease the interest in the SB/SA series...

 

I completely agree!!! Was in the market for an SA and was going to buy this week!

Am going for the Z instead, gutted as it costs almost the same now but well above what I was planning to spend :-(

 

I guess that is what the point was pointing people to the z

 

I went to the Sony Store yesterday to check out the SA laptops, and the screen isn't as bad as everyone is making them out to be. Bad vertical viewing angles, but that's typical of most laptops. As for the expensive ram upgrades, it's almost never worth it to upgrade ram on the manufacturer's website. It's always cheaper to purchase it yourself and do it yourself. The materials that it is made out of is apparently some magnesium alloy for the cover, aluminum alloy for the screen and keyboard area. BD drive isn't really worth it in my opinion because I stream most of my HD movies from Netflix or Amazon (though admittedly, the quality will be higher using a BD drive).

What I'm going to do is purchase an SA laptop with 128gb SSD and upgrade the RAM to 8GB at a Microsoft Store for $60 to get it upgraded by a "certified technician" so my warranty will not be void

 

I actually don't think that the ram upgrade from 4GB-8GB at least in the UK is that bad.
I see that you're purchasing from the US where the price is much more reasonable. Things have generally always been cheaper in North America than they are in the UK. Still, the prices of the SA has gone up in the UK by quite a bit.
I think most have said that the SA display is average.
I've always said that i would pay more for a premium display. The price point where they are now where i live i would definetly expect to have a better display. There is of course though some disparity around the world with the pricing so opinions will differ about this. Thanks for the information about the materials.

 

I don't believe that 'everyone' is saying the screen is bad. I'm happy with mine and have said so here several times. It's an average screen - no better, no worse.

I upgraded memory myself and have absolutely zero concerns about warranty - if need be, I'll just take it out. And I'd prefer not to have a retail store clerk open my new laptop!

(Also, I'm in the US and got a nice discount from a local retailer versus Sonystyle US pricing a few weeks ago - so also happy with price I paid.)

 

Yeah I agree with you. I was a bit tired of reading all the negative reviews and thoughts regarding the screen so I though I'd just throw it out there that it's not bad.

Which RAM stick did you stick in? And was it as easy as just taking out 4 screws to put it in? How noticeable was the performance boost?