Review: Sony Vaio SA

The SA feels like the only decent midsize laptop with a decent GPU in the current US market.

 

That's probably because it is and not just for US market only!

 

Anytime

And could you not get an external mouse with a non click noise? Or not click near her

I wonder if there is anything you could put over the mouse like a protector or something, that could reduce the noise level possibly

 

How will the SA screen compare to my very old macbook (2006 - first macbook with intel cpu) ?

 

anyone had both a SA series and a Asus G53? Is the fan noise any less with the Asus given the nice duct design? I'm sitting here listening to the SA high pitched fan next to me and its annoying as hell. and the laptop is idling...

 

Has anyone gone into any stores and compared the vertical viewing angles on other laptops?
I went into Best Buy, and many laptops in the same price range ALL suffer from a poor vertical view angle. I placed the same background on the ones I compared...the WAVE photo. Every laptop washed out at nearly the identical angles, just as the SC did.
The only exception was the 1980x1600 screens....true 1080p screens.

 

Don't know about G53 but Asus N53 is dead quiet next to SA. It (N53) is quiet even when encoding video or playing games. But then it's monstrous in size compared to SA.

 

I'm really considering an SA, having a hard time deciding between the 13.3 and the 15.5. I'm mostly using a POS HP 15.6 Dv4000 right now, its heavy, but the size is manageable. I've seen the higher end screens at Frys when i was in Vegas, and it seems very nice. The only thing is I'm super anal about the touchpad buttons. I've been used to pushing both button with my thumb for middle click for the last 10 years, so I'm really hoping thats possible with the SA. Don't want the thumbprint thing. Can anyone chime if if they are able to get middle button to work?

 

Pressing both buttons on the SA touchpad simultaneously turns cursor into that panning thing (four-way arrows in a circle), same as pressing middle button on external mouse. Does that answer your question?

The bad thing about SA touchpad buttons is that, as you get progressively farther from the center (from finger scanner), you need to press harder to register a click. It might be specific machine that I have in front of me but I've heard this from other SA users.

 

You are right^^


There is no "pure" middle click option for pressing both buttons. Only that panning mentioned above, a quick app launcher, and a "double click" option, lol.

 

oh man.. asus G53 is back on sale again.. was $1099 and now back down to $899 again.. powerhouse. but heavy.

i mean everyone would probably say my SA25 is simply "better", but if im gonna have a large laptop maybe i should have a real strong one.. it has 1080p which even my 22" PC monitor doesnt have.. (1680x1050)

 

For the people that live in the US, you're extremely lucky..The Sony prices are considerably cheaper than UK ones..an SA (standard) costs £1024, which in dollars is 1600..but on the sony.com site, there selling it for $999.. which is cheaper than a SB in the UK. Why is this?! !
p.s I've ordered an SB which still cost 1170 dollars no way am I paying £1000+ on a laptop I'll probably change in 2 years.

 

The prices in Canada are about $200.00 more for the same notebook then in the US but not as expensive as in the UK, I asked a sales rep one time about the difference in price he just said it was based on volume of sales that is why they can offer cheaper prices in the US.

 

If that's *really* the only reason, then given that, at least in Germany, you can actually order your laptop with a US-layout keyboard, that option should really be priced competitively with a US model (plus the extra cost of a 2-year warranty which is mandated in the EU).

 

I have VPCS111FM right now. I am thinking of upgrading it. I know SE and Z have good displays but SE is too big and Z is too small for me. SA/SB seems to me the perfect size.

Does SB has the same LCD as last year's S? or it's improved since then? I know SA has higher resolution. The quality of the SA LCD is better than last year's S also?

Thanks in advance.

 

Is anyone having trouble with the middle mouse combo? I get this weird scrolling icon half the time I press it.

 

I'm thinking of purchasing a SA3. Is the CPU replaceable ( not soldered to the motherboard)?

 

It's soldered. Not that it matters. It's easy to crack open this computer, but rather difficult to remove the MB due to the sheer amount of ribbons and cables that snake across it.

At which point, you will see three, large, flip chip packages - all soldered on.

 

Guys, I've had the vpcsa290s, which I purchased from Sony Vaio Canada for $899. Yes, the price is insane and Canada rocks and I'm aware the model I got costs 1800 in the uk, but the laptop is the same worldwide and here's why you shouldn't get it.

At First, I was estatic (while ordering). I got the i7, 500gb, 4gb ram etc. I added another 4gb stick which I picked up for $12 and it works great, so i'm running 8gb ram. I also picked up a Crucial m4 128gb SSD and put the 500gb in the dvd bay using the same enclosure I picked up from newmodus.

So overall specs are: i7, 8gb, 128 SSD 6gb/s+ 500gb storage.

The problems:

1. Microphone (Worst I've ever used. I have an SB with the same issue) When I skype my GF with an SB or my mother with her SB, it's unusable. The microphone is so overly sensitive. It picks up any noise anywhere. When using the computer, all you hear is the swype of the touchpad or keys clicking or awful humming and screeching sounds. Both the SA and the SB have the microphone set at the lowest level. It's horrible design and even worse placement. If it were placed near the webcam, a lot of the problems would be solved.

2. SATA 3 Support vs Firmware/fan fix. (You decide which one you want, firmware upgrades past the initial do not support SATA 3! Therefore my computer runs hot and the bottom plastic of the laptop has warped due to heat and it no longer fits my Battery Slice!!!!!)

3. Webcam - noise is terrible, my old laptop had a better camera!

4. Video Driver problems, I have problems with skype becoming choppy on both my SB and my SA.

5. Screen - I can't stress this enough, the screen is terrible! Just awful. I miss my m1330 xps, even with all it's issues the screen was beautiful. IPS or not, the vaio has poor colour reproduction and horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible viewing angles.

Do yourself a favour and stay away. This is an awful laptop. I can sell it and profit and I will. Laptops I'm consdering:
The new LG's looks great.
HP Envy
Anything else really. If you don't need the power, get an ultrabook. I got my sister the Zenbook from Asus and it's beautiful.

Thanks for listening!

 

the worst experience in my life....

STAY AWAY

 

Anyone found a "real" driver for the webcam?

The coloring from the webcam is sooo crappy. It is either very grey and grainy or other times it is very yellow.

It seems a like a very common issue.

I tried adjusting the settings but it isn't really working.

Sony's website only has the Webcam software "Arcsoft webcam program".

The driver being used is some generic microsoft driver from 2006.

Seriously the quality from the webcam is so crappy.

 

someone uninstalled the ArcSoft software for the webcam and reported that it worked beautifully after that. maybe you can try that.

 

Do you know if yours came with the "HD" webcam? As there are 2 types for the model when you spec it up yourself on the VAIO website.

 

It is the HD webcam yes.

Exact model is VPCSA3AFX.

 

After waiting 3 weeks now i got my new Vaio SA4

I installed an Crucial C300 250GB SSD, done a Win 7 x64 Ultimate installation from scratch - installed all Chipset and RST Drivers but RST shows only 3Gb/s.
Bios Version is R2086H4 - did sony removed SATA 6 Gb/s support?

THX

 

yes, no SATA III support on SA.

 

does anyone get 3 minute periods where the OCZ SSD seems flooded and the hard drive light is constant...windows 7 freezes...?

 

Before I purchase a CTO SA from Sony's website, how does the internal battery work? Can I remove this battery easily? Also, which model comes with the finger print scanner? Does the SA come with it? Sorry if these questions have been asked before.

Thanks!

 

yes, you can remove the battery very easily. and yes, SA has a fingerprint scanner.

 

Thanks so much for your quick reply! I was wondering if you can take pictures of the battery removal process. Thanks so much!

 

here you are:


you need to remove two screws on the the bottom panel (top picture), remove the panel, then remove the battery (bottom panel).

 

Oh wow, thanks so much.

I really appreciate it!

I guess it's time to make my purchase!

Edit-

If I don't get the CF lid, is it magnesium?

Also, is the bottom of the notebook also magnesium?

Thanks!

 

i dont have any problems with my ssd.
update the firmware of your ssd - maybe that can solve your problems...

 

Anyone in the UK wants to buy a Sony Vaio SA 13.3" Laptop (Black with Carbon Mesh finish) at a good price? All retail boxed and in perfect condition with original Sony invoice and warranty. Core i5 (2.4GHz w/Turbo Boost), 8GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB 7200RPM HDD, 3G WAN, BT, WiFi N, Fingeprint Reader, AMD Radeon 6630M 1GB Dedicated GPU (Switchable with Intel) and a gorgeous 1600x900 LED Backlit display. Contact me for more info.

 

Someone please correct me if I was wrong because I have only seen SA (mine and others in shops) and SB (in shops):

SA - magnesium/aluminium casing all around.
SB - non-metal bottom.

 

Just recieved confirmation from sony that my order has shipped, yay!

SA4 Specs:

13.3" LED backlit display (1600x900)
i7-2640M (2.80GHz / 3.50GHz with Turbo Boost)
6GB DDR3-SDRAM-1333
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive
AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB)
Blu-ray Disc™ player
2year warranty + sheet battery

I got it all for just under $1400 USD. I think i got a pretty nice deal overall. I just have a few questions from fellow vaio owners:

1) How do I enable the turbo boost on CPU? Is it easy to do? Any reason not to enable it?
2) Any tips/recomendations I should know about my laptop as far as gettign the most out of it? Any battery life tricks I should know about or anything?
3) Is the 1600x900 resolution considered 1080p as I've read? How can this be so?
4) If anybody has any pictures of the black carbon fiber vaio sa series they can post, that would be great! Thanks

 

1) TurboBoost is enabled by default; you don't have to do anything. you could disable it if you want to lower the generated heat during short blasts of 100% CPU usage.

2) i have enabled the battery care in VAIO Control Center which sets the battery to 80% to lower the wear. also, use msconfig.exe to disable some less-than-useful processes during startup (don't disable things that you don't know). also, you can uninstall some SONY bloatware from Control Panel (again, don't uninstall things you don't know). if you're not using the AMD GPU, put the switch on STAMINA to use Intel HD3000 to save power and lower the heat.

3) idk!

 

Hi, folks!
Waiting for my SA vaio Meanwhile, maybe somebody tried to upgrade to 16 RAM?
I know CPU supports that, but sony specs doesn't. So I need opinion from person who tried and it worked (or didn't).

Thanks!

 

Given that there is 4GB or RAM soldered to the motherboard and 1 free RAM slot, I would guess the max right now would be 12GB. Havent seen any 16GB modules out there yet, often they are advertised as 16GB modules but are either 2 x 8GB in a kit or a 16GB desktop module.

 

12GB of RAM works on VAIO SA. i don't think anybody here has tried 16GB though.

 

I bought my VAIO laptop sometime in 2011 and have no regrets.
My suggestion for new models is that they not include an optical drive because I've never had a real need to use one. I'm not sure what I would do with the extra space; perhaps Sony could condense the unit and make it more portable and lightweight. That's the main reason why I chose the model I have in the first place. Lastly, even though the screen is matte, I think they could do better. The screen is mediocre at best. My 22" ViewSonic monitor has an exceptional matte screen and so Sony should at least strive for that (considering Sony is known for their breathtaking and beautiful Bravia TVs). I haven't witnessed the new IPS panels they have now in their current line of Sony Vaio S series notebooks and so my argument about the display could maybe not be an issue now.

This is my somewhat relevant, somewhat irrelevant post about the laptop — sorry for breaking the thread stream.

 

Hello everyone! I have Sony SA2 laptop with windows 8 (clean install, drivers are installed as in this post says: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-f….html#post8925905). Everything works fine exept Sony Smart Network. This application installed correctly, but it doesn't work at all. If I go to c:\program files\sony smart network and try to click on exe files - nothing happens. Its seems that there are some system libraries missed. What should I do to make this application work? Thank you!
P.S. Sorry for my bad English.