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

[zedd137]

How is it with an RAM upgrade? I guess this would be straight forward plug in of the extra 4GB?
Seems like the best option is the 2430m with mech HDD and just my own replacement...

I strongly agree with you. The other CPUs are only slightly faster and have the same number of cores. That money is used much better for a larger SSD and another 4 GB of RAM. And one should not worry to much about SATA 2 versus SATA 3. Without a stopwatch one will never notice any difference.

[baydigital]

I strongly agree with you. The other CPUs are only slightly faster and have the same number of cores. That money is used much better for a larger SSD and another 4 GB of RAM. And one should not worry to much about SATA 2 versus SATA 3. Without a stopwatch one will never notice any difference.

Go an extra 8Gb of Ram and get it up to 12GB total - these things can support it.

Amazon.com: Corsair 8 GB Module (1x8GB) DDR3 1333MHz PC3 10666 204-Pin Unbuffered C9 Laptop Memory CMSO8GX3M1A1333C9: Computers & Accessories

[Destiny]

went for this one in the end
BuyDig.com - Sony VAIO VPCSA41FX/BI 13.3" Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-2450M Processor

[thomash2]

I'm just doing a clean install for my new SE1 and I noticed there is no audio equalizer. Is there?

The SA has an equalizer.

Something is wrong with my audio jack on the SE. it will not support headphones with microphones unless I insert the jack 2/3rds of the way in, leaving it hanging out and loose. Normal headphones can be plugged in all the way.

My SA has no such problem.

Has anyone experienced the same issue? Is it a problem with my drivers? I've installed the latest audio drivers from Sony. I would assume the problem with the jack connection would be a hardware issue though. Any ideas?

[Megol]

I'm just doing a clean install for my new SE1 and I noticed there is no audio equalizer. Is there?

The SA has an equalizer.

Something is wrong with my audio jack on the SE. it will not support headphones with microphones unless I insert the jack 2/3rds of the way in, leaving it hanging out and loose. Normal headphones can be plugged in all the way.

My SA has no such problem.

Has anyone experienced the same issue? Is it a problem with my drivers? I've installed the latest audio drivers from Sony. I would assume the problem with the jack connection would be a hardware issue though. Any ideas?

The jack is probably broken, headset plugs are designed in such a way the microphone connection is grounded if the jack doesn't support headsets. It should just work in other words.

For the equalizer settings you could try the SA audio drivers. If that doesn't work please post the id of your Realtek high definition audio hardware.
My SA have: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0275&SUBSYS_104D5000&REV_1000

[thomash2]

The jack is probably broken, headset plugs are designed in such a way the microphone connection is grounded if the jack doesn't support headsets. It should just work in other words.

For the equalizer settings you could try the SA audio drivers. If that doesn't work please post the id of your Realtek high definition audio hardware.
My SA have: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0275&SUBSYS_104D5000&REV_1000

My SE1 has
HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0275&SUBSYS_104D5C00&REV_1000

Does the SA or SE support headset microphones? I tried testing it with the SA and I did not hear the microphone.

Looks to me like the headphone jack is on a small board attached to the keyboard. Wouldn't be difficult to replace except for the slow service from sony.

I'm also getting a lot of noise from my right speaker during cpu and hdd loading on my SE. i don't hear this on my SA.

[Megol]

My SE1 has
HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0275&SUBSYS_104D5C00&REV_1000

No real difference.
If you want to eliminate any chance of software problems the Realtek audio driver from realtek.com.tw should work.

Does the SA or SE support headset microphones? I tried testing it with the SA and I did not hear the microphone.

Not my SA at least. The built in microphone is so sensitive that it's hard to test, even if one covers the microphone opening it will record sound.

Looks to me like the headphone jack is on a small board attached to the keyboard. Wouldn't be difficult to replace except for the slow service from sony.

I'm also getting a lot of noise from my right speaker during cpu and hdd loading on my SE. i don't hear this on my SA.

That could indicate the problem is on the sound/card reader board where the speakers are connected. Guess problems on that board could cause the headset problems too.
I'd send it in :/

[thomash2]

No real difference.
If you want to eliminate any chance of software problems the Realtek audio driver from realtek.com.tw should work.


Not my SA at least. The built in microphone is so sensitive that it's hard to test, even if one covers the microphone opening it will record sound.


That could indicate the problem is on the sound/card reader board where the speakers are connected. Guess problems on that board could cause the headset problems too.
I'd send it in :/

Strange, if I press the button on my microphone which is used to answer and end calls, the audio is perfect. Maybe The button disconnects or grounds the mic contact. But it would mean having to press the button all the time.

I tried plugging in the power adapter with ground pin, muting, balance left right, increasing and decreasing volume, but the sound in the right speaker is the same. I think it has to do with interference with the speaker or cable contacting something.

I will go to the local sony store and see if the model in their shop has the same socket problem.

NEW: I went to the shop and the SE1 on display had the same problem. Someone on the SE forum mentioned he had the same problem with his SE1. Looks like it won't work with 4 connector plugs that have mics. All the other models on display worked though. Sony made an error in selecting this plug for the SE.

[Crotia]

Does anyone have the 128GB SSD from Sony that they can benchmark for me?

It would be much appreciated!

[mzatanoskas]

I want to triple boot (win7, mac os x, ubuntu) on my SB but am running out of hdd space.

I'm thinking of swapping the optical drive with an SSD, moving windows there and having os x and ubuntu on the main hdd...

Has anyone done this/ have any advice?

At the very least, is it possible to boot from the new ssd? (I imagine it is, but just want to check I won't run into some strange problem).