Official Sony SB/SA/SC/SD Series Owners' Thread

[frozst]

are you sure that it's the plugged-in microphone rather than the one under the HDD light that's picking up your voice?

I think so, I can't test it now but I tried yesterday and it seemed to work, but I'm already doubting...

[ptrkhh]

Sorry, I should have mentioned, I’ve been running it at 80% and in silent mode. This helped a bit, but the fan still gets unbearably loud about 40 mins in. No complaints about battery life either…it’s at around 5 hours. I’m also not a gamer at all, and while I do play or stream video while doing other tasks, in general it’s pretty light use…just the internet + some office programs. Plugged in the noise is obviously even worse.

The fan honestly sounds possessed. My sister's VPCSB is about 3 months older than mine and from another shop--not necessarily a different batch, I know, and these adjustments didn't do much for her either. She's sent hers off to Montreal...wonder what'll come of that. :/

How about 70% or even lower? I think fan is triggered from processor clock, so when the processor hits "X" GHz then the fan is on, and have 4 levels of speed (and noise), so putting the maximum processor clock to certain value may prevent the fan from running.

EDIT:
On some early post, there is someone says that the fan gets noisier in Silent Mode compared to Performance/Balanced Mode, may be you can try switching. My SA always set to Performance Mode and the noise is still acceptable for me, except when gaming...with the speaker muted.

Hi guy!

Do you know where is located the microphone? I was making a video call with Skype and my friend started to ask me if I had the vacum cleaner turned on, so I had to set the CPU on silent mode.

I think the sound transmits thru the body of the laptop to the microphone so the fan sounds very loud on the microphone

Which processor do you have? I think may be my i5-2410M doesn't need much cooling from the fan since the fan noise never gets very loud other than gaming or heavy task, at least not when video calling with Skype.

[nadzee14]

Hi, I wonder if anyone is able to help me as I am relatively new to laptops.
I have a Sony Vaio SA which I bought in August 2011 (I am based in the UK).
I have enjoyed it so far but now have noticed in the last few days that the power lead connection seems to be loose where it plugs into the laptop.
Even a minor change in position causes it to stop charging. This is obviously frustrating as I like to use the machine with the power lead plugged in.
Has anybody else noticed this and what can I do about it? Will buying a new power lead solve the solution?

[lardmaster]

I'm looking to purchase a cheap AC Adapter for my SA3, does anyone know of the connector size? I believe it is either 6mm x 4.4mm or 6.5mm x 4.4mm, if it even makes a difference.

Thanks.

[darxide_sorcerer]

Hi, I wonder if anyone is able to help me as I am relatively new to laptops.
I have a Sony Vaio SA which I bought in August 2011 (I am based in the UK).
I have enjoyed it so far but now have noticed in the last few days that the power lead connection seems to be loose where it plugs into the laptop.
Even a minor change in position causes it to stop charging. This is obviously frustrating as I like to use the machine with the power lead plugged in.
Has anybody else noticed this and what can I do about it? Will buying a new power lead solve the solution?

the plug is designed to be loose a bit when connected to the laptop, but you should make sure it's fully plugged-in.

[onlysnybaby]

Hi
New to this forum but this forum encouraged me to get a sony vaio s series...so i got myself a sony vaio sb190 cto....i read somewhere in the thread about some settings which will really help maximizing battery like adjusting screen brightness and that post got a lot of validations that it worked...cant find that post....would be really helpful if someone could report that or guide me to that link / post

[kangxu]

Hey guys,

Just got a sony vaio sa. Whenever I open up the lid, once I let go at a good viewing angle, the lid or hinge (something??) makes a light popping sound. Is this normal? Anyone else experience this?

Thanks.

[ptrkhh]

Hi, I wonder if anyone is able to help me as I am relatively new to laptops.
I have a Sony Vaio SA which I bought in August 2011 (I am based in the UK).
I have enjoyed it so far but now have noticed in the last few days that the power lead connection seems to be loose where it plugs into the laptop.
Even a minor change in position causes it to stop charging. This is obviously frustrating as I like to use the machine with the power lead plugged in.
Has anybody else noticed this and what can I do about it? Will buying a new power lead solve the solution?

You can try your friend's Sony VAIO power adapter first...
If yours still in warranty, why don't you ask Sony for the solution & replacement?

I'm looking to purchase a cheap AC Adapter for my SA3, does anyone know of the connector size? I believe it is either 6mm x 4.4mm or 6.5mm x 4.4mm, if it even makes a difference.

Thanks.

Get the one that made for Sony VAIO notebook, so you don't have to worry about the connector size, and other electrical things too like the voltage.

Hey guys,

Just got a sony vaio sa. Whenever I open up the lid, once I let go at a good viewing angle, the lid or hinge (something??) makes a light popping sound. Is this normal? Anyone else experience this?

Thanks.

Is it loud? My SA does not make any noticeable sound when opened.

[mindsg]

Hi, I have read the NBR threads and have come to be interested in a Sony Vaio SA laptop. Does anyone knows if the serial number S/N at the back mean anything? I was hoping that the set I am looking at in the store is the latest batch which could hopefully resolve earlier issues plaguing the SA series (screen, etc).

Also, is it true that there are some Sony Vaio SA screens that do NOT suck? If so, how can we minimise getting a lousy screen?

Where I am, the only contender to the Sony SA is the Asus UX31 256GB (Sandisk SSD, unfortunately). Both cost exactly the same (importing from elsewhere will incur high taxes). Does anyone care to comment on Sony SA v Asus UX31 256GB having owned the SA?

Thanks!

[Megol]

Hi, I have read the NBR threads and have come to be interested in a Sony Vaio SA laptop. Does anyone knows if the serial number S/N at the back mean anything? I was hoping that the set I am looking at in the store is the latest batch which could hopefully resolve earlier issues plaguing the SA series (screen, etc).

Well you can look at the generation number (VPCSA#). However I don't know if there's any real differences between them.

Also, is it true that there are some Sony Vaio SA screens that do NOT suck? If so, how can we minimise getting a lousy screen?

I don't think my screen sucks. It isn't the best I've used but using the right screen angle blacks look black, the contrast is okay and colors are okay too. Now the Vaio VPC CW I had for a short while had a screen that was almost unusable with lousy contrast, bad colors and extreme mirror effect. The only good thing about that was that it had a strong backlight (still too weak to use outdoors though).

Using a SA3C5E if that makes any difference.

Where I am, the only contender to the Sony SA is the Asus UX31 256GB (Sandisk SSD, unfortunately). Both cost exactly the same (importing from elsewhere will incur high taxes). Does anyone care to comment on Sony SA v Asus UX31 256GB having owned the SA?

If the UX31 is the machine I think it is I'd prefer the SA. However I've used the SA as my main machine while the Asus was just used ~15minutes. YMMV.