Sony Vaio CB35 Discussion thread.

Hello Guys, I have seen multitude of users creating similar threads asking help on CB35. Plus I got countless no of PMs regarding the same. So, I thought its better to discuss everything at one place which will be gradually benefit other members too. Please pour in your any queries, suggestions & problems, if any.

PS: It'd be better if you can please have a look over my review Sony Vaio CB35 Review. It may help clearing your doubts, if any.

I have few queries mate.

How is the viewing angle?

How good/bad is the touch pad?

Can you ditch your usb/bt mouse even for prolonged work on photoshop?

How many ext. display does it support?

Is there any physical button for gfx switch?

Sorry,actually asked a lot of questions!

red dragon said:
1. How is the viewing angle?

One word, awesome. While playing a 1080p video at 4/15 brightness, I couldn't notice any difference in viewing till approx 85° (from straight), but 80° can be said as the sweet spot. Also, a drop in viewing angle can be seen as the quality of video is lowered, not much noticeable though. Overall - 9.5/10

2. How good/bad is the touch pad?

This is the point which I feel Sony needs to improve on. Its too smooth to handle. If your hands are smooth, then it will work butter smooth as capacitive touch screen, but hands with even a smallest bit of moisture will make it sluggish. Gesture controls are very good though. Score - 7.5/10

3. Can you ditch your usb/bt mouse even for prolonged work on photoshop?

Not at all. For me nothing can beat a mouse. I'm also saying in regard to quality of touchpads I have used till date. Have listened a lot about touchpad of MBP though, still got to use it. (haven't even seen a mac )

4. How many ext. display does it support?

I guess you're referring to display ports. 1 HDMI + 1 VGA. If you're talking about multiple displays, I guess its 3, including laptop itself. Not sure though, saw in "win+P" menu.

5. Is there any physical button for gfx switch?

No, only for WLAN. Hardware switching is available only in S series AFAIK, which cost totally irrational.

red dragon said:
Sorry,actually asked a lot of questions!

Its all my pleasure sir

Thanks a lot Sujay.

3. Can you ditch your usb/bt mouse even for prolonged work on photoshop?

Having used both MBP and the CB35 touchpad, I can tell you that its not even close and at least I would personally not be happy if I had use the CB35 for long periods without a mouse. They keyboard is really nice and almost up there with the MBP but the touchpad is nowhere near as large and as smooth and responsive as the MBP.

Relative to the MBP
CB touchpad - 6.5/10

That 6.5/10 for a Windows laptop is pretty good.
The thinkpad or latitude touchpad is so damn annoying!
@sujay,did you get any driver cd with it?
Have you installed Ubuntu or something like that?
Do you know of any 13inch vaio with 1080p screen within 70k?

^^I think there is no Sony VAIO 13'' with 1080P display.1600X900 display is available though.Check this out.It has killer looks.
VPCSA35GG : S Series : VAIO Laptop & Computer : Sony India

Buy Sony VAIO S Series Laptop VPCSA35GG (Brown) at Best Price in India - Also find Specifications, Photos, Features & Reviews

Weight-1.6kg only

S

How good is a 1080p screen on a 15.6" screen? I've always thought the text would be quite small on that small a screen? Is it comfortable for general day-to-day use?

I was considering trying to upgrade the screen on my laptop (if it's actually possible!) because it would help me with my work, but I didn't want to sacrifice readability for it.

randomuser111 said:
3. Can you ditch your usb/bt mouse even for prolonged work on photoshop?

Having used both MBP and the CB35 touchpad, I can tell you that its not even close and at least I would personally not be happy if I had use the CB35 for long periods without a mouse. They keyboard is really nice and almost up there with the MBP but the touchpad is nowhere near as large and as smooth and responsive as the MBP.

Relative to the MBP
CB touchpad - 6.5/10

I haven't used a MBP thats why I gave 7.5. But I feel its still far better then other laptops out there.

red dragon said:
That 6.5/10 for a Windows laptop is pretty good.
The thinkpad or latitude touchpad is so damn annoying!
@sujay,did you get any driver cd with it?
Have you installed Ubuntu or something like that?
Do you know of any 13inch vaio with 1080p screen within 70k?

Sadly Sony doesn't provides physical disk. But recovery partition does its work so well. I must say its lot better than carrying a 7 disk. You'll be getting driver setups in C: by default which you can copy and backup. Though one thing I found irritating is that to create recovery media, it asks for a whopping 12 GB space! Or 3 single layer DVDs :shock:

IDK what it installs in 12GB.
AFAIK there is no 13 inch laptop with 1080p display, but do you really need 1080p on a 13 inch ? It will be too dense in IMO. 1600*900 will be more than enough. The S series model TeniDa mentioned (which I already mentioned in my 2nd post) is one of a piece I like above MBP. Its the only piece which I feel is above MBP in aesthetics. But its too costly to justify its tag.

swooosh32 said:
How good is a 1080p screen on a 15.6" screen? I've always thought the text would be quite small on that small a screen? Is it comfortable for general day-to-day use?

I was considering trying to upgrade the screen on my laptop (if it's actually possible!) because it would help me with my work, but I didn't want to sacrifice readability for it.

You'll have to increase DPI settings to increase size of text. They're of course a bit smaller than 720p but still a lot readable.

@RedDragon

As already mentioned above, there is no 13 inch VAIO with 1080p screen. The SA35 is a great machine but even though it has 1600x900 resolution screen I must warn you that the screen on it is strictly average at best. In fact its roughly the same quality as the 1366x768 screen on the SB models. Both are a far cry from the super glossy but still good quality MBP13 screen.

Since you showed some interest in the CB, I would instead recommend you take a look at the Vaio SE17GG. It is a 15.5 inch notebook but weighs just 1.98kg. And comes with a Full HD IPS screen with great viewing angles both vertically and horizontally. Notebookcheck rated its screen with a score of 94%. This is the highest display score they have given this year to any notebook and this score is higher than any MBP reviewed (MBP 17 scored 86% I believe and the CB scored 84%) The screen has a high contrast ratio too ~ 750:1
It also comes with a dedicated hardware Graphics Switch button. Also with the extended sheet battery it has a battery life of 10 hours.

And both CB and SE/SA/SB support only one monitor at a time. Both the HDMI and VGA output cannot be used simultaneously. There is a workaround though. You could try using Display link USB solution.

Why doesn't Sony takes a leap from 6630M

dashing.sujay said:
Why doesn't Sony takes a leap from 6630M

The reason behind that is the VAIO line does not target hardcore gamers, especially the C series. Its an everyday notebook that is aimed at people who want to use their PCs to perform daily tasks and for multimedia consumption with some light gaming.

And the reason why Sony uses the 6630M across a range of models is that it has a nice balance between performance and price, and at the same time plays well with the thermal design as it does not generate a lot of heat. Using a more powerful GPU like the 6770M is not feasible due to the higher heat dissipation.

6650M could have been appreciated.

Not a single model has med-high gfx.

^
6650M level performance can be achieved easily with a mild overclock

^Yeah, but the difference is significantly 120Mhz. Heating issues can't be ignored. Moreover, a factory OC'ed gfx card is preferred any day over custom OC'ing.

Thanks a lot guys for your valuable inputs.
I have to find something under 14 inch.
No matter how light,I just cannot imagine carrying a 15 inch laptop(actually I have to travel A LOT)
Any smaller laptop with an ips display?
Sorry for going o.t.
Do not bother replying here,a pm will be nice.

Thanks again.

randomuser111 said:
@RedDragon
And comes with a Full HD IPS screen with great viewing angles both vertically and horizontally. Notebookcheck rated its screen with a score of 94%. This is the highest display score they have given this year to any notebook and this score is higher than any MBP reviewed (MBP 17 scored 86% I believe and the CB scored 84%) The screen has a high contrast ratio too ~ 750:1
It also comes with a dedicated hardware Graphics Switch button. Also with the extended sheet battery it has a battery life of 10 hours.

And both CB and SE/SA/SB support only one monitor at a time. Both the HDMI and VGA output cannot be used simultaneously. There is a workaround though. You could try using Display link USB solution.

I can't find review of CB35 on notebookcheck. Link please? And whats the source of info of no of display?

Also, if no of simultaneous display is restricted to 1, then why its showing like this? (see pic, duplicate & extend)

*i.imgur.com/Jqry6.png

dashing.sujay said:
I can't find review of CB35 on notebookcheck. Link please? And whats the source of info of no of display?

Also, if no of simultaneous display is restricted to 1, then why its showing like this? (see pic, duplicate & extend)

*i.imgur.com/Jqry6.png

Let me explain those.

Computer Only - Self explanatory. Only the laptop monitor active

Duplicate - You see the same image on both the laptop screen as well as the external monitor

Extend - Both the laptop and external monitor are used as one single monitor allowing you to use both the screens together as an extended desktop giving you greater screen real estate to play with.

Projector Only - Again, self explanatory. When connected to a projector the laptop screen goes blank.

You can confirm it with Sony support if you don't believe my words :wink:

All Sony Vaio notebooks with HDMI AND VGA cannot use both simultaneously. Only the Vaio Z2 with Power Media Dock supports 3 monitors - 1 from the notebook itself and 2 from the PMD.

Link to CB review
*www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPC-CB2S1E-B-Notebook.59604.0.html

Thnx foe the info, btw the link of review you posted is of a model almost similar to CB35, but not CB35. Changes, 7200 HDD, BluRay. Still its a decent comparison. Apart from it, IDK how they got less battery back up (3hr58min with WLAN off). I get 4 hrs and 30 mins with WLAN on.

@sujay - how are your hinges??

Prongs298 said:
@sujay - how are your hinges??

Hinges are all perfect except for one I mentioned in my review. But its too minor to be noticed. Even the notebookcheck guys didn't noticed it.

In This review It is mentioned that CB15 suffers Heating issue

What's your take on it?

My take- Observe the following screenshot-

*i.imgur.com/lHhVj.png

Now, see the Up time which is 3hr+ and temp is 47°-48°. I must mention that laptop is running by kepping on bed which further obstructs cooling & increases temp. If after this much temp is just this much, can you see any point of heating issues? My lappi daily runs for at least 16 hrs and has never crossed 51°. There is not at all any heating issues mate.

Moreover I feel blow of "hot-air" only and only when I game, then temps are in sixties or early seventies after prolonged gaming.

I hope this clears all your confusion.

dashing.sujay said:
I hope this clears all your confusion.

It does

Woah!
CB45 model out, priced at 59990!!!!

I dunno what else to write here. Sony just blew it.!

randomuser111 said:
Woah!
CB45 model out, priced at 59990!!!!

I dunno what else to write here. Sony just blew it.!

CB45 is just an overpriced CB35 with only 1 change. 500GB.7200 Vs 640GB.5400 . Now, at least for me, the prior wins hands down, may be the shooting sales of CB35 made Sony greedy :))

What I meant to say was they are going to hurt their sales with this Rs.5000 price hike. CB was a good buy cuz you could get a Full HD screen laptop with decent specs for just about 51-52k. At 59k I am not so sure why someone would choose it over the Dell XPS 15 and HP DV6 and the new Asus models.

IMO it does not deserve that price with only a dual core CPU and 6630M GPU.

Thankfully the street price will be about 56k. So its not THAT bad a price but still it should have remained the same.

Hey Sujay I am also looking to get this laptop.
Had one query - Is it possible to turn off the backlit for keyboard? If yes how?

^
Yes you can turn off the backlight by going into the Vaio Control Center - Keyboard. You can choose from auto, always on and never.

My friend has bought a black coloured CB35 model.After about 1 month of troublefree usage,he's been facing issues with the OS.After every 5-6 days,a message comes "OS NOT FOUND".We hAve tried recovering the system 7times,but the same thing happens everytime.My other roommate with an E series vaio has also started facing the same issue from the pAst two days.
Can someone help on this??We are really fed up of this and the irresponsible behaviour of Sony support team.

Where are you seeing the error?

thanks for the prompt reply..
The error is generated just after the vaio logo(bios)

^Most probably your vaio recovery partition is corrupted. I have 3 vaios with me and never saw this problem. But I saw one guy at service centre with corrupt recovery partition issue, though his problem was something different. You'll have to take it to service centre.

Can this issue,by any far probability be related to kaput CMOS battery!??Because a similar issue on hp laptop was solved by replacing the cmos

^I don't think so. Sounds illogical. But tell me, when you do recovery after you face the issue, does the problem re-occurs instantly or again after a week?

no,always after a week or so..but for the last time,it occured after a day.

Hmm.. I guess there's some locha in recovery partition itself. But corrupting again and again sounds like

. Rare chances of some rootkit sitting inside recovery. I'd still suggest you to visit sony centre and get you HDD factory restored (mention recovery partition sepcifically).

A

hi, i have purchased d same cb35 just 15 days back. i gt to say your review of it ws quite helpful. i m havin jus one problem since past couple of days. my keyboard backlight has been kept on auto. in the beginning it used to turn on whenever the ambience lighting ws low (say suppose i switched off a light in the room, it wud turn on). Bt nowadays its been turning on only wen i press a key. i m thinkin mayb theres a problm wid its light sensor??

anakin said:
hi, i have purchased d same cb35 just 15 days back. i gt to say your review of it ws quite helpful. i m havin jus one problem since past couple of days. my keyboard backlight has been kept on auto. in the beginning it used to turn on whenever the ambience lighting ws low (say suppose i switched off a light in the room, it wud turn on). Bt nowadays its been turning on only wen i press a key. i m thinkin mayb theres a problm wid its light sensor??

Thanks for appreciation.

Light sensor should be just opposite to light to sense properly. But IIRC backlit never turns on automatically if I shut light off. Its for display light. But I'll try and report back tomorrow. (my laptop is messed up now).

randomuser111 said:
^
Yes you can turn off the backlight by going into the Vaio Control Center - Keyboard. You can choose from auto, always on and never.

Sorry for the late reply, n thanks!

Also are you guys satisfied with performance of second gen i5 or getting Quad i7 is worth?
How is the performance of 6630M? Anyone played games on it?

W

6630m review:
AMD Radeon HD 6630M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

i7 quad core in laptop is worth only for those who use their laptops for serious video editing/encoding,virtual machines/environments,3d rendering etc.for most i7 just means more temp(especially in indian summer)& battery consumption.

whitestar_999 said:
6630m review:
AMD Radeon HD 6630M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Thanks but I had already checked that.
Just wanted to know your gaming experience.

whitestar_999 said:
i7 quad core in laptop is worth only for those who use their laptops for serious video editing/encoding,virtual machines/environments,3d rendering etc.for most i7 just means more temp(especially in indian summer)& battery consumption.

Ok, so will the two cores suffice for next 2-3 years?

Terabyte said:
Thanks but I had already checked that.
Just wanted to know your gaming experience.

Ok, so will the two cores suffice for next 2-3 years?

Everything depends on what you exactly use? For instance which games, at what settings. Throw some light on your uses, then it'll be helpful for us to suggest you in a better way.

dashing.sujay said:
Everything depends on what you exactly use? For instance which games, at what settings. Throw some light on your uses, then it'll be helpful for us to suggest you in a better way.

Games like NFS n Dirt series will do for me.
Laptop will mostly be used for Visual Studio, Oracle, Dreamweaver(i.e. basically all kinds of coding) and other things like browsing and movies.

W

an i5 mobile(2 real cores+2 virtual cores along with turbo boost)should be enough for your usages for next 3 years.according to notebookcheck review 6630M is enough to play dirt3 & should be able to play NFS Shift at low/med settings.i am not a gamer so wait for others but i think NFS shift is graphic intensive game & 6630M will not be able to handle Shift 2 even at low settings.for a good gaming experience on a 1366*768 laptop i think a GT540M or radeon equivalent is the recommended option.

Guys so should I finalize this laptop?
Also how is the Sony service compared to Dell?
Please reply ASAP!! Thanks!

Edit: Also can we extend our warranty? If yes for how many years?

Terabyte said:
Guys so should I finalize this laptop?
Also how is the Sony service compared to Dell?
Please reply ASAP!! Thanks!

Edit: Also can we extend our warranty? If yes for how many years?

Yes, go for it. Its a very good laptop. Sony's service is also good.

And yeah, you can get the warranty extended for another two year at just 2500/- only, which is the cheapest in the world

. I have already got it.

^Sony support? Good to see here

Now give TDF guys some mouth watering deals

^^^
He sujay you stole my words, I was gonna say the same thing....

dashing.sujay said:
Yes, go for it. Its a very good laptop. Sony's service is also good.

And yeah, you can get the warranty extended for another two year at just 2500/- only, which is the cheapest in the world . I have already got it.

Great!
Thanks a lot.

@Sujay
I am soon going 2 buy a laptop as soonas i get into college(a couple months maybe).Can u suggest me which would be better b/w Sony CB35 and asus K53SV.I primarily need it for gaming(Mass effect series ,skyrim ,COD etc).
Asus has better processor, more ram but does'nt have a backlit keyboard and full hd screen like sony and i don't know which one's gpu is better , asus has GT540M.
I am really confused.

540M is slightly better than 6630M (appx 10-15%). If your priority is just "gaming", then of course laptop with better config will win (which k53 has). Regarding backlit keyboard, its bling bling factor, if it lures you go for it, its totally worthy. It totally makes your laptop different from crowd.

1080p display is something which you won't regret if you can go for it. It just makes everything so beautiful with a bit sacrifice on GPU.
So, set your priorities and get one. And CB35 is very less in market these days. It'd be very hard for you to grab one.

The GPU of Asus is better but all over sony one is much better.
The display of Asus is not that impressive, that is the major drawback of that laptop and many people have posted about it.

Is there any better alternative upto 50K.

No, not even after you add 5k.

Well,thank you sujay and aroraanant for your advice.

temperatures are 50+ for me even in idle or when downloading something.,it even reached 76 on BF3....
i guess its because of keeping mine ON all day long
*img407.imageshack.us/img407/6107/capturept.png

i am thinking of getting a cooling pad....
\cooler-master-notepal-l1-cooling-pad\
hows this one for cb35??

Can't say. But my temps are around 48-49 and after gaming 3hrs of TF2 it is around 65°.

And why its not showing HDD temp ?

dashing.sujay said:
Can't say. But my temps are around 48-49 and after gaming 3hrs of TF2 it is around 65°.

And why its not showing HDD temp ?

is it supposed to show HDD temp too?

*i.imgur.com/eZFTH.png

The TOSHIBA is HDD in HWmonitor.

strange, what version of HWM are you using, mine is 1.19.0

1.18
Driver version 135.

Try RealTemp.

T

Sorry guys for bumping a very old thread. I have this laptop and i love its keyboard a lot. I m not getting comfortable with using any other keyboard but i need to buy a new wireless keyboard. Please suggest me any wirless chiclet type keyboard like the one on this laptop. I have bought belkin and dell wireless chiclet keyboards and they are not even 10% as good as the one on this laptop. Please suggest me something , budget is not an issue. Thanks