Sony Vaio CB35 Discussion thread.

[dashing.sujay]

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.

 

[red dragon]

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!

 

[dashing.sujay]

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.

Sorry,actually asked a lot of questions!

Its all my pleasure sir

 

[red dragon]

Thanks a lot Sujay.

 

[randomuser111]

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

 

[red dragon]

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?

 

[Tenida]

^^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

 

[swooosh32]

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.

 

[dashing.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

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

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 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.

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.

 

[randomuser111]

@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.

 

[dashing.sujay]

Why doesn't Sony takes a leap from 6630M

 

[randomuser111]

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.

 

[dashing.sujay]

6650M could have been appreciated. Not a single model has med-high gfx.

 

[randomuser111]

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

 

[dashing.sujay]

^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.

 

[red dragon]

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.

 

[dashing.sujay]

@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

 

[randomuser111]

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 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

 

[dashing.sujay]

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.

 

[Prongs298]

@sujay - how are your hinges??