Since the last 2 months, i was on the lookout for a feature laden laptop based on Intel's
second generation core series of processors[codenamed SandyBridge]
but the cougar point scandal delayed my plans and finally in April the laptops began to trickle.
As of now there two contenders in the budget-performance segment available in India...The dell xps15/17 and the Sony Vaio CA & CB series.
What prevented me from going for dell was their slightly higher price, & the lack of a vga port.
The Vaio C series is known for its loud colours
So, on 12th april I finally added a new member to my digital family...the all new VAIO CB15FG .I opted for the only decent tone in the gamut..Black.
My Vaio:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Specifications
CPU Intel® Core™ i5-2410M Processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.90 GHz
OS Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (English Version)
HDD 500 GB (Serial ATA, 7200 rpm)
Memory 4 GB (4 GB x 1) DDR3 SDRAM (upgradeable up to 8 GB)
Graphics AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M / Intel® HD Graphics 3000[switchable]
Display 15.5 inch wide (fullHD:1920*1080) TFT colour display (VAIO Display, LED backlight)
Camera HD web camera powered by "Exmor" (Resolution: 1280 x 1024)
Disc Drive DVD SuperMulti Drive
Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth® Bluetooth® standard Ver. 2.1 + EDR
Backlit keyboard
The laptop came in a briefcase like box, and was bundled with some very thin manuals, a 6-cell battery and an adapter.
what i did not like is sony dosent bundle either a windows dvd or their driver dvd!
Hullo Mr. Sony, i paid for the software too!
now let me run through the construction:
The colour is black, but the construction material is a translucent plastic, so depending on the lighting it does look deceptively blue..had fun watching my friends argue on whether its black or blue
on the front is the card reader, which accepts memory stick[pro/duo], SD,MMC.
the power light which indicates on/sleep/off states
the charging light which is on while charging and blinks when the lappy is low on juice.
the HDD activity light.
The physical wireless switch, which turns on your Bluetooth and WIFI.
on the left is port for charging, a LAN port, Vents, VGA port HDMI port,a USB 3.0 port & a USB 2.0 port respectively. The usb ports are a little tight, but i think they'll loosen up after some use.
the right side presents us with standard 3.5mm audio & mic ports, a DVD writer of the tray type[would have appreciated had it been of slot type] and a Kensington-lock port
Sony has provided a backlit keyboard with this one, and i gotta say its a very useful feature which is big on the cool-factor.
Whats more? its a full-featured kb replete with the numpad on the right, which, incidentally is missing in the Dell XPS.
My only worry is that there are gaps below the keys, through which dust can easily pass and settle on the LED backlights.
The fullhd screen takes the cake though.Its quite brilliant when set on top 4 notches of its brightness control, and the graphics look crisp and sharp.Having some months of experience with the Dell w+rg led display, i can say this one is on par with it.
The colours look a teeny bit faded compared to the desktop counterparts, but i haven't come across a laptop without this problem.
The speakers are a bit of a letdown though, which need a considerably quiet room to be audible.Luckily for me they weren't a priority as i won't be using this one much for entertainment.
Overall Build Quality: The build seems pretty solid, with hard plastics used wherever its structurally important.The translucent material is just for aesthetic purposes.No creaking was noticed when pressed at the joints.
The glossy exterior is a fingerprint magnet, so wiping it frequently is mandatory.Luckily the surface is hard enough to not get scratched in the process.
the keyboard is rock-solid near the outer edges, with just a teeny weeny flex at the dead center, but again thats the bane of all laptop kind in general.[except the thinkpads, though]
the multitouch-capable touchpad is sensitive enough, and the physical click buttons are a boon.helps avoid false touch registrations.
what i wouldv'e liked, though is for the hinges to be of metal.but sigh! you cant have everything, can you?
Ran a quick windows experience test on performance mode, and here are the results.
I suspect the lowest score of 5.3 in aero performance was due to the laptop not switching between intel hd3000 graphics and the ati 6630m.
The laptop came with a typical rectangular laptop-bag, which is of reasonably good material with two main compartments,enough top store the lappy,adapter,mouse,external storage and a coupla magazines and documents so that your laptop stuff goes wherever you go
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As reported by pauldmps later in this thread:
An important update.
There had been issues running OpenGL programs on the dedicated GPU since AMD Dynamic Switching only allows integrated GPU to run OpenGL programs.
Sony has released a BIOS update to allow a fixed mode so that any GPU can be selected manually, solving the problem. Unfortunately, the BIOS update was meant for VPCCB29xx models, so the installer fails when using the official update installer.
Some fellows of Notebookreview forums have successfully extracted the BIOS installer & now it can be installed on our laptops.
Download this: https://rapidshare.com/files/199430895/EP0000250856.zip
Don't worry, it absolutely safe to use the update. Just run the UpdTW64.bat in Windows & reboot when done.
There is a huge improvement in battery life (mare than one hour added) when using IntelHD since now the AMD GPU completely shuts off. Also you can now choose to always use AMD GPU when on AC power.
---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tried this and got a confirmed battery boost of arnd 1hr running on only intelHD graphics.
second generation core series of processors[codenamed SandyBridge]
but the cougar point scandal delayed my plans and finally in April the laptops began to trickle.
As of now there two contenders in the budget-performance segment available in India...The dell xps15/17 and the Sony Vaio CA & CB series.
What prevented me from going for dell was their slightly higher price, & the lack of a vga port.
The Vaio C series is known for its loud colours
So, on 12th april I finally added a new member to my digital family...the all new VAIO CB15FG .I opted for the only decent tone in the gamut..Black.
My Vaio:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Specifications
CPU Intel® Core™ i5-2410M Processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.90 GHz
OS Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (English Version)
HDD 500 GB (Serial ATA, 7200 rpm)
Memory 4 GB (4 GB x 1) DDR3 SDRAM (upgradeable up to 8 GB)
Graphics AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M / Intel® HD Graphics 3000[switchable]
Display 15.5 inch wide (fullHD:1920*1080) TFT colour display (VAIO Display, LED backlight)
Camera HD web camera powered by "Exmor" (Resolution: 1280 x 1024)
Disc Drive DVD SuperMulti Drive
Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth® Bluetooth® standard Ver. 2.1 + EDR
Backlit keyboard
The laptop came in a briefcase like box, and was bundled with some very thin manuals, a 6-cell battery and an adapter.
what i did not like is sony dosent bundle either a windows dvd or their driver dvd!
Hullo Mr. Sony, i paid for the software too!
now let me run through the construction:
The colour is black, but the construction material is a translucent plastic, so depending on the lighting it does look deceptively blue..had fun watching my friends argue on whether its black or blue
on the front is the card reader, which accepts memory stick[pro/duo], SD,MMC.
the power light which indicates on/sleep/off states
the charging light which is on while charging and blinks when the lappy is low on juice.
the HDD activity light.
The physical wireless switch, which turns on your Bluetooth and WIFI.
on the left is port for charging, a LAN port, Vents, VGA port HDMI port,a USB 3.0 port & a USB 2.0 port respectively. The usb ports are a little tight, but i think they'll loosen up after some use.
the right side presents us with standard 3.5mm audio & mic ports, a DVD writer of the tray type[would have appreciated had it been of slot type] and a Kensington-lock port
Sony has provided a backlit keyboard with this one, and i gotta say its a very useful feature which is big on the cool-factor.
Whats more? its a full-featured kb replete with the numpad on the right, which, incidentally is missing in the Dell XPS.
My only worry is that there are gaps below the keys, through which dust can easily pass and settle on the LED backlights.
The fullhd screen takes the cake though.Its quite brilliant when set on top 4 notches of its brightness control, and the graphics look crisp and sharp.Having some months of experience with the Dell w+rg led display, i can say this one is on par with it.
The colours look a teeny bit faded compared to the desktop counterparts, but i haven't come across a laptop without this problem.
The speakers are a bit of a letdown though, which need a considerably quiet room to be audible.Luckily for me they weren't a priority as i won't be using this one much for entertainment.
Overall Build Quality: The build seems pretty solid, with hard plastics used wherever its structurally important.The translucent material is just for aesthetic purposes.No creaking was noticed when pressed at the joints.
The glossy exterior is a fingerprint magnet, so wiping it frequently is mandatory.Luckily the surface is hard enough to not get scratched in the process.
the keyboard is rock-solid near the outer edges, with just a teeny weeny flex at the dead center, but again thats the bane of all laptop kind in general.[except the thinkpads, though]
the multitouch-capable touchpad is sensitive enough, and the physical click buttons are a boon.helps avoid false touch registrations.
what i wouldv'e liked, though is for the hinges to be of metal.but sigh! you cant have everything, can you?
Ran a quick windows experience test on performance mode, and here are the results.
I suspect the lowest score of 5.3 in aero performance was due to the laptop not switching between intel hd3000 graphics and the ati 6630m.
The laptop came with a typical rectangular laptop-bag, which is of reasonably good material with two main compartments,enough top store the lappy,adapter,mouse,external storage and a coupla magazines and documents so that your laptop stuff goes wherever you go
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As reported by pauldmps later in this thread:
An important update.
There had been issues running OpenGL programs on the dedicated GPU since AMD Dynamic Switching only allows integrated GPU to run OpenGL programs.
Sony has released a BIOS update to allow a fixed mode so that any GPU can be selected manually, solving the problem. Unfortunately, the BIOS update was meant for VPCCB29xx models, so the installer fails when using the official update installer.
Some fellows of Notebookreview forums have successfully extracted the BIOS installer & now it can be installed on our laptops.
Download this: https://rapidshare.com/files/199430895/EP0000250856.zip
Don't worry, it absolutely safe to use the update. Just run the UpdTW64.bat in Windows & reboot when done.
There is a huge improvement in battery life (mare than one hour added) when using IntelHD since now the AMD GPU completely shuts off. Also you can now choose to always use AMD GPU when on AC power.
---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tried this and got a confirmed battery boost of arnd 1hr running on only intelHD graphics.
