Extracting 3TB Drive from Seagate Expansion External Drive

I have a 3TB external Expansion Drive from Seagate that I bought solely to extract the drive from to use in my desktop.  The case is held together by many plastic clips that you have to use a thin card or tool to pry apart.  I followed a guide like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouaO946KnDA

After I took it out, I put it in my desktop and booted up.  Windows 7 showed 3 partitions:

1. ~300GB, RAW, mounted as drive E
2. ~1900GB unallocated
3. ~700GB unallocated

I deleted the raw partition, then right clicked on the  drive in the storage management view and selected 'Convert to GPT disk'.  This converted the disk to a single volume, which I formatted.

Now I'll run some more diagnostics on it, then start transferring data over.

Mouse Jitter Problems

I solved two different mouse problems that I thought were being caused by the same thing - a bad mouse.

I have a Razer Copperhead mouse.  It is several years old and has dpi and sensitivity adjustments, as well as some other features.  In order to use all of the features, you have to install a Razer control panel.  Not my favorite thing to do, but I did.  I flashed it to the latest firmware also.  At this time, it is driver 6.10 and firmware 6.32.

I was having two problems.  The first is that when I would drag a window across my desktop in Windows 7, the Aero shake feature would activate.  This feature minimizes all windows except the one that you are dragging.

The second problem was in Linux Mint 14, which is an Ubuntu derivative without the Unity interface.  In Linux Mint, there is a hot corner in the upper left.  When you move your mouse there, the desktop shrinks and presents all of your workspaces.  This was happening whenever I dragged a window around, and sometimes when I was just moving the mouse.

My first thought was that the driver for the mouse was registering strange jumps, which would activate the shake and possibly trigger the hot corner.  I tried another mouse, and I did not have the Aero Shake problem.  I watched the mouse when using the copperhead and noticed that it was very jittery.  I tried to adjust the dpi and sensitivity settings, but I was unable to resolve this.

In Linux Mint, I knew that I had not installed the guest additions for VirtualBox, so I went to install from the supplied guest additions.  I then noted that the guest additions were already installed.  Linux Mint must have been smart enough to figure it was a VM and installed the packaged during the initial setup.  I noticed that the additions from VirtualBox were newer, so I uninstalled the provided ones, rebooted, and installed the guest additions from VirtualBox.  Mouse problem solved.

My next step was to uninstall the Razer software, which left crap behind.  Specifically, the copperhd.cpl file was left in windows\system32 somewhere, so I had to delete that.  The .cpl file creates a control panel entry, but doesn't cause any problems other than being an eyesore.

My final solution is a Gigabyte Thor mouse.  It is a little bigger, but tracks much more smoothly. It does have an obnoxious blue light coming out from the laser area, but it usually doesn't matter unless you pick the mouse up.  I'm not sure what I'll do with the copperhead.  It does not track smoothly using the default windows drivers either, and still triggers Aero Shake.

XP Physical to Virtual

Last time, I had taken my old XP hard drive from a previous computer and converted it to a virtual hard disk (vhd) using disk2vhd.  I was able to add it to a machine in VirtualBox 4.2.6, but it wouldn't boot.  I changed the disk controller from IDE to SATA, and I was able to boot, but it locked up.

Today, I checked the "Enable IO APIC" box under the System page of the VM settings.  I also changed the number of CPUs from 1 to 2 to match the previous physical machine.  I probably only needed to enable IO APIC.

After that, the machine booted fine and started installing new hardware from windows update.  Not all of  the installations were successful.  My mouse did not work until some of the devices were installed.

I rebooted into safe mode to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions, including Direct3D support.  To do this, I had to restart the machine multiple times until I was able to press F8 during the boot with the keyboard captured.

After installing the guest additions (as administrator), I rebooted normally.  All of the devices seemed to be installed properly.

I wanted to check the video, so I first went to graphics properties.  The adapter was listed as VBOX with 128 MB of memory.  I had set that earlier in the virtual machine settings to 128 MB, which is the maximum allowed.  I reran dxwebseup to install the latest directx, but the machine was still current.

Then I uninstalled some of the old software (video, sound, and network drivers) and rebooted.

Finally, I ran a game to see what would happen.  It started pretty slowly.  I had sound, so that was good.  The mouse sensitivity was so far off the charts that I couldn't even get into the menus to adjust it.  The problem seemed to be caused by using mouse integration.  Once I disabled mouse integration, the sensitivity was back to normal.

I loaded the previous save.  It took forever to load.  So long that I left to get a snack.  It eventually crashed.  That's usually IO driven.  I'll have to check the hard drive performance of the virtual drive later.

I rebooted and restarted the game.  I turned off all of the graphics options and ran it in windowed 1024x768 resolution this time.  It took a long time to load again, and then it crashed.  I'll play around with it a little more, but it looks like a physical machine might be best in this case.

Migrating Physical XP to virtual

I have a disk from my old desktop that has XP on it specifically to play some old games.  I finally turned it to a virtual image using disk2vhd from Sysinternals.  I made a new VM in virtualbox and started it up.  Of course, nothing happened.

I shut the vm down and removed the IDE controller and replaced it with a SATA controller.  I attached the vhd and started the VM.

This time I got the warning that windows did not start successfully and would I like to start in safe mode or normally.  Of course I selected normally, and it locked up.

I'm pretty sure that I have to go in and replace some of the hardware settings and maybe the disk ID.  I believe that there are some common known issues when converting physical XP machines to virtual.  It's just too late to look them up right now.

Convert Windows Server 2008 R2 from Physical to Virtual

I rebuild my computer recently.  By that, I mean I bought a new motherboard, cpu, memory, hard drive, and case.  I reused the power supply and dvd burner, keyboard, and mouse.  I even got a new monitor.  So it wasn't so much a rebuild as a replacement.

Anyway, I had Windows Server 2008 R2 on the old machine.  I backed up all of the data, but I thought it would be nice if I could virtualize the old machine.  That way I could go back and get data, run old programs, check settings, etc.

I mounted the old hard drive in the new computer so that I could do a physical-to-virtual image.  The old drive was 600GB with a 100GB boot partition and a 500GB data partition.  There are several physical-to-virtual tools available.  Some run on an already running system, and some run on a disk.  I wanted one that ran on a disk.

I use VirtualBox instead of VMware, so I didn't want to use the VMware tools.  I decided to use Disk2vhd from the excellent Systernals Suite.  It creates a .vhd file, which is a microsoft format.  VirtualBox can read those natively.

I had the drive that I wanted to image already mounted as e:\ and f:\.  I chose just the e:\ drive to image and let the software run.  When it was done, I had a new .vhd file.

I created a new windows 2008 machine in VirtualBox and attached the virtual drive.  I started it up, and of course got a blue screen.  The OS couldn't find the boot drive.  This is caused because the disk controllers/IDs/or something else is different.  The solution is to make changes to the registry.

To change the registry of the virtual disk, first take the physical disk online.  If you don't there will be a conflict with disk IDs later when we try to mount the virtual drive.  I used Windows 7 to mount the vhd.

Go to Computer Management, then Disk Management.  Click on one of the drives in the lower right so that the module is active.  Then right click on Disk Management and select Attach VHD.  Select the .vhd and make sure it gets mounted to a drive letter.

Now, open a command prompt.  I did this as administrator.  Assuming that the .vhd is mounted to drive e:\, I ran these commands:
C:\>reg load HKLM\VHDSYS e:\windows\system32\config\system

This loaded the .vhd registry to the current registry under HKLM\VHDSYS.  I started regedit and modified the Start key from 3 to 0 under these two entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\VHDSYS\CurrentControlSet1\Services\Msahci

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\VHDSYS\CurrentControlSet1\Services\IastorV

I closed regedit and then unloaded the .vhd registry with this command in the command prompt:

C:\>reg unload HKLM\VHDSYS

Then, I started up the virtual machine.  It booted normally.  Then I installed host additions.  That gave me a better resolution and mouse integration.

However, the machine was not activated, and the old key did not work.  I'll have to research this more.

Fresh Windows 7 Install Using Upgrade License Key

I have a Windows 7 Pro Upgrade key.  However, I like to install to a fresh disk.  I entered the key during install, but I was told it was an invalid key.  This had me a little worried.  Here is how to solve the problem.  I used option #2, the registry hack.

I installed to a fresh disk.  After installation, I tried to activate, but I was told that the key was only valid for upgrades.  Here is a fix, assuming that you are legally entitled to upgrade, meet the requirements, and have an appropriate key:

• Open regedit
• Go to key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
• Change key MediaBootInstall from "1" to "0"
• Close regedit
• Open an administrative command prompt and type the following command
  C:\>slmgr /rearm
• If it works, a dialog will appear saying "Command completed successfully.  Please restart the system for the changes to take effect"
• Reboot and follow the activation procedure

Making a Universal Windows 7 SP1 USB Installer

I used a usb stick to install Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium and Professional on my new sony laptops.  It works on both bios and uefi machines.  You'll need a couple things in order to do this.

1.  A 4gb or larger usb stick
2. A Windows 7 Ultimate x64 iso (download is provided later)
3. A bootmgfw.efi file from a working windows installation or from online

I followed two different guides to get it to work on both bios and uefi machines.

• Guide to install from usb
• Guide to install from usb to uefi machine 

I tried the Microsoft USB/DVD download tool, which I don't recommend using.  I also used an ei.cfg iso removal tool from http://code.kliu.org/misc/winisoutils/.  This is also unnecessary.  

First, here are some things that did not work.

1. I've used the ei.cfg removal tool in the past.  It is supposed to set a flag so that the ei.cfg file does not get written when burning a dvd.  It worked before.  Now that I was extracting the files to usb, the flag was not honored.
2. The MS USB/DVD download tool will burn the iso file to a usb drive or dvd.  I used it to write the iso to my usb stick.  It wrote the files just fine, but it formats the drive to NTFS.  This will not work with uefi machines.  I tried to format the usb stick to fat32 and then run the MS tool, but it reformatted to NTFS.

Here are the steps I used to get a univeral (any version of Windows 7 x64) usb installer that works with bios or uefi machines.

1. The first step is to download the Windows 7 Ultimate x64 iso from http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-24395.iso
2. I prepped the usb drive following the guide at Maximum PC.
1. Format to fat32
2. Open admin cmd prompt
3. Run diskpart
4. Type "listdisk" and find the usb stick
5. Select the disk with "select disk X" where X is the disk number from listdisk
6. "clean" - removes all partitions
7. "create partition primary" - creates a new primary partition
8. "select partition 1" - selects the new partition
9. "active" - makes partition 1 active
10. "format fs=fat32" - this is different from the guide, which uses ntfs
11. "assign" - to give the usb stick a drive letter.  It might get one automatically after formatting.
12. "exit" - exits diskpart
3. I extracted the files from the iso to a folder on my computer.
4. There is a great utility in the Windows 7 installer to create a bootable usb drive.  In the boot directory, there is a utility called bootsect.exe.  In the command prompt, cd to the boot directory and type the following, where x is the drive letter of the usb stick:
   c:\temp\win7\boot>bootsect /nt60 x:
   This will create a bootable fat32 usb stick.
5. Copy the extracted files to the usb drive.  This will give a usb stick that will install Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on bios machines.
6. Remove the ei.cfg file from the usb stick.  It will be in the sources folder.  The ei.cfg file tells the installer which version of Windows 7 to install.  Without it, it will ask the user during install.  Now you have a usb stick that will install any version of Windows 7 x64 on bios machines.
7. Two more things need to be done to get this to boot on an uefi machine.
1. Copy the "boot" folder under efi\microsoft to the efi directory so that it is efi\boot.
2. From a working Windows 7 machine, copy c:\windows\boot\efi\bootmgfw.efi to usb stick\efi\boot.  If you don't have a working Windows 7 machine, you can find the file online.

Now, the usb stick should boot on any machine and install any version of Windows 7 x64.  You'll have to provide your own valid key.  I was able to install Windows in under 10 minutes using an old usb stick.

Reinstall Windows 7 on Sony S13A (SVS13A190X)

I recently posted a review on the Sony S13 laptop that I just got.  I'm going to reinstall Windows 7 SP1 because I like to know what is on my machine.  Even though I ordered it with Fresh Start (limited bloatware), there was still a crapton of Sony utilities, links to services, and other applications that I don't want.  I'm also installing an SSD.

The first step was to recover the applications from the restore partition on the existing drive.  There is a good explanation in this thread, which I'll expand on later.  There is a slightly different procedure with the UEFI machines, which is documented in post 21 of that thread.

In addition to the software that came with the machine, I downloaded all of the latest drivers and applications from the Sony web site.

I downloaded Windows 7 x64 Ultimate sp1 iso from Digital River and created a Universal Installer so that it can install Windows 7 Home, Professional, or Ultimate (delete ei.cfg in sources directory).  I installed to a USB drive and modified it so it could install on an older machine with a regular BIOS, or the Sony with UEFI.  I'll document that later.

I replaced the Hitachi hard drive with a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD.  It was a little tricky to remove the existing drive and ribbon cable.  Once it was out, there are two rails on the hard drive which I transferred over to the SSD.  I put the SSD in and replaced the bottom cover.

The next step was to install from the usb stick.  I chose the correct version and let it rip.  It took about four minutes to the first restart.  I had to pull the usb drive so it could reboot to windows, where it completed installation and restarted again.

On this restart, I enter user name, computer name, and password.  Then I entered the windows product key, which was on the bottom of the laptop.  After that, I was at the desktop, where I could start installing drivers.

I followed this guide for installing the software.  This is the order that I used.  Reboots took about 11 seconds.

Motherboard/SATA

1. Intel chipset driver 9.3.0.1019: INDCHI-00265280-0042.EXE (reboot)
2. Intel® 7 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI / SATA RAID Controller Update 11.1.3.1001: INDOTH-00269039-1040.EXE (reboot)
3. Intel® SATA Driver Registry Patch 120417: INDOTH-00268213-0042.EXE (reboot)
4. Intel® Management Engine Interface 8.0.0.1262: INDMEI-00267507-0042.EXE (no reboot)
5. Microsoft® Hotfix KB2708549 Update 6.1.7601.17832/6.1.7601.21854: MIOOTH-00268675-1042.EX (reboot)
   This hotfix resolves an issue where a blue screen may occur during startup when a USB hard drive or port replicator is connected after running a System Recovery.
   
6. Sony® Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver 8.0.2.3: SODOTH-00264792-0042.EXE (reboot)
   This enables support for function keys and other laptop specific functionality.
7. Sony® Shared Library 5.10.0.12150: SOASSL-00264711-0042.EXE (no reboot)
   Required for Sony applications (not sure which ones)
8. Hotkey Utilities 1.0: SOAOTH-606A0000-0042.EXE (reboot)
   After reboot, it continued installation.  (reboot #2)
   This enabled the function hotkeys
9. Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller 1.0.4.220: INDUSB-00266909-0042.EXE (no reboot)
10. Realtek® PCIE Card Reader Driver 6.1.7601.92: REDMCC-00266072-0042.EXE (reboot)

Graphics

I couldn't take the low resolution any more; it was making my eyes bleed.

1.  Intel® HD Graphics 3000 / 4000 Driver 8.15.10.2712: INDVID-00267845-0042.EXE (reboot)
2. NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE Driver 8.17.12.9618: NVDVID-00267034-0042.EXE (reboot)
3. Intel® WiDi Software 3.1.26.0: INAWID-00266775-0042.EXE (reboot)

Sound

1.  Realtek® High Definition Audio Driver 6.0.1.6570: REDAUD-00265997-0042.EXE (no reboot)
2. Audio Driver Registry Patch 20120308: REDAUD-00266875-0042.EXE (reboot)

Network

1. Realtek® PCIe GBE Family Controller 7.53.216.2012: REDETH-00266641-0042.EXE (no reboot)
2. Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 Driver 15.0.1.1: INDWLL-00265236-0042.EXE (reboot)
3. Intel® Centrino® Wireless Bluetooth® 4.0 + High Speed Adapter 1.0.13.30079: INDBLT-00265296-0042.EXE (reboot)

Other (touchpad, camera, fingerprint scanner)

1. Synaptics® PS/2 Port TouchPad 16.0.0.5: SPDTPD-00267239-0042.EXE  (reboot)
2. WebCam Companion® 4 Software 4.0.21.457: ARACCU-00266402-0042.EXE (no reboot)
3. AuthenTec® AES1660 Fingerprint Sensor 3.2.1.10: AUDFPD-00265311-0042.EXE (reboot)
4. Infineon® TPM Professional Package 3.70.2281.0: IFAOTH-00264024-0042.EXE (no reboot)

At this point, I had a fairly clean system with all drivers and necessary software installed.  I wasn't sure if I wanted the Vaio CPU fan control, Vaio Hardware Monitor, or Vaio Smart Network, so I skipped those.  I realized that there were more recent Intel drivers for the HD 4000, USB 3.0, and WiDi, but I left those for later.

Before I did anything else, I activated my copy of windows.  I had entered the product key during install, but activation said that I had to call the automated telephone system.  Rather than do that, I reentered the key from the label on the bottom of the laptop.  It activated fine that time.  I should have done that first in case there were any issues.

Windows Update

The first thing I had to do was update windows update.  Then two rounds of updates.

Applications

1. Firefox: I downloaded the latest version using another computer to a network share.  I installed Firefox and copied my profile over.  I started firefox using "firefox -profilemanager" to create a new profile and choose my profile directory.  The profiles are stored in %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles by default.
2. 7-zip: this is a great free zip/rar/archive tool that opens just about everything.
3. MS Security Essentials: A nice, lightweight free antivirus.  I used firefox to download the current version.  I installed it and ran a scan right away.
4. Keepass: I use keepass to store my passwords, so I installed this.  I use the keefox plugin for firefox, so this actually pulled the current version and installed for me.
5. Dropbox and Boxcryptor: dropbox application and an encryption helper for it.
6. Steam: wanted to start downloading games.

Optimize Windows 7 for SSDs

Now that Steam is downloading games, I wanted to tweak the SSD.  I followed several guides:

• Seans Windows 7 Install and Optimization Guide for SSDs
• The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned

Here is what I actually did.

• Disable system restore.  I never use this and wouldn't trust it anyway.  Go to System, System Protection, click Configure, and disable it.
• Disable indexing by right clicking on the ssd drive and selecting properties.  Go to the General tab and uncheck "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties."  Select for that drive and all subfolders.  You may have to give administrative rights.  There might be an error when trying to apply attributes - select ignore all and let it update all the files.
• Disable disk defrag by right clicking on the ssd drive and selecting properties.  Go to the Tools tab and click "Defragment Now..."  On the Disk Defragmenter dialog, click "Configure" and then uncheck the "Run on a schedule (recommended)" box.
• Disable hibernation.  I haven't used it for a long time (I had an SSD in my previous laptop) and don't miss it.  It reserves disk space equal to the amount of memory you have.  I have 12GB of memory, so this is a good chunk of space.  Open an administrative command prompt and type:
  C:\>powercfg -h off
• Turn off the pagefile.  I have 12GB of memory and can do without the pagefile for now.  If I had only 4, I might leave it on.  Go to System and select Advanced System Settings.  In the Performance section, select Settings.  In the Performance Options dialog, under the Virtual memory section, select Change.  Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives."  Choose "No paging file" and click Set.  Accept the warning, then click ok to get out of the dialogs.
• Disable superfetch and prefetch.  These are used to load frequently used programs into memory so that they load faster.  They'll load fast enough from the ssd.
• Run regedit.  Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters.  
• Right click on EnablePrefetcher.  Select Modify, enter 0, click ok.
• Right click on EnableSuperfetch.  Select Modify, enter 0, click ok.
• Close regedit 
• Go to services (run services.msc).  Scroll down to Superfetch and set it's startup type to disabled.
• Windows Search.  This is the indexing service.  Go to services (run services.msc), scroll down to Windows Search.  Double click to bring up it's properties.  Stop the service if it is running, then change the startup type to disabled.
• Disable startup splash screen.  Run msconfig.  Go to the boot tab.  Select the "No GUI boot" checkbox, hit ok.

Other

At this point everything is functional.  It's just a matter of adding some favorite applications and transferring any remaining data from the old laptop.  Here's a list of some basic applications to install.

• Systernals Suite
• Printer drivers
• Pidgin (IM client)
• VLC
• Virtual Box
• Java
• Flash
• Foxit (pdf reader)
• Chrome
• Media Player Classic
• MS Office or alternative (Open Office)

Sony S13A Quick Reviews

I bought two Sony S13A laptops recently.  I bought the new 2012 Ivy Bridge model (SVS13A190X) and the older Sandy Bridge model (VPCSA490X).  These made it to my short list because they had a very hard to find combination of features that I find important.

My wife and I have been using Acer 1410 laptops for almost three years.  I like these because they are small (11.6") with a reasonable keyboard.  They have dual core celerons (SU2300) that are fast enough for browsing, and we could play Diablo II on them.  I put an SSD in mine along with 4GB ram, and it was fast enough.  They weigh about 3lbs 2oz.

I have three gripes about these laptops.  I dislike the glossy screen with a fiery passion.  I fixed it by using a matte screen protector.    My second gripe was the low resolution screen, 1366x768.  I hate it, but it is far more suitable for the 11.6" screen that the 15.6" laptops that have the same resolution.  My wife found it hard to read, so she wanted a slightly bigger screen.  The final gripe I have was the cpu.  While it was powerful enough to run some games, it is still a slow celeron from three years ago.

With that in mind, I determine that these were the key features I was looking for:

• Resolution greater than 1366x768 (bleh)
• Non-glossy screen
• Discrete graphics to be able to play casual games (think Diablo II, Torchlight II)
• Bigger than the 11.6" machines that we have now
• Light
• Decent battery, 4+ hours

Basically, I wanted a 12.1" gaming laptop with better than 1366x768 resolution, a matte screen, and good battery life.  Good luck finding this mythical configuration.  The 11.6" Sager gaming laptop is very close, but has poor battery life.  I found this thread to be extremely useful: http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/662161-thin-light-11-14-notebooks-gaming-worth-compendium.html.

I knew that my wife wouldn't go for the Sager.  It was too small for her, weighed too much, and had poor battery life (my biggest issue).  I had always avoided Sony in the past because I felt that they were overpriced.  However, I could not find anything suitable in the 13" and smaller size.  I started reading up on the new Sony.  They had all the features that I thought were important:

• 1600x900 screen (yes!)
• Anti-glare screen (wtf?  It's not matte, but it's better than the glossy screens)
• Discrete graphics - not only discrete, but they are one of the few to use the new nVidia Kepler core graphics cards
• 13.3" screens - It's about 2" wider and 1" deeper than our 11.6" Acers
• Light - they are about 3lbs 8oz, so not too much heavier
• Battery - I don't check, but it seems to get 4+ hours if not gaming

The non-glossy, high resolution screen really sold it for me.  I appreciate that, so I decided to give them a shot.  I've also read that the 640m can be overclocked to 650m speeds, so this seemed like a winner to me.  My wife doesn't game as much, so I got an older model with a Radeon with a docking station for a discounted price. 

Thoughts on SVS13A

I got the i5-3320M cpu (middle choice) and the 2GB GT 640m (Kepler core).  I am happy with the wight and thickness.  After using an 11.6" laptop for several years, I find the laptop and screen to be too large.  I am happy with the resolution, though.  The anti-glare screen is also very nice, although it is not IPS.  I've read that people are not happy with the color reproduction or tint.  I haven't noticed anything, but I'm coming from a crappier screen.  The Sony screen seems fine to me.

The keyboard is backlit.  I wasn't looking for this feature, but it is useful to have.  It is a chiclet style, and I am used to that from the Acer.  I don't notice any flex, although that has been a complaint on the forums.  The keys are a nice size.

The trackpad sucks in my opinion.  I've always hated trackpads and much prefer the trackpoint found on some IBM/Lenovo laptops and some Dell's.  One thing that I liked about the Acer was that the trackpad buttons went along the front bevel, so you could click them easily with your thumb.  The Sony has a big trackpad with the buttons hidden inside of it.  I guess it looks nicer, but I want functional buttons.  I would much prefer to have buttons along the front edge so that I could easily hit them with my thumb.  I also hate the tap-to-click function of trackpads, so I need good buttons.  Gestures are also iffy.  I can't state how much I hate trackpad gimmicks; I really want two solid buttons.  It is so bad that I bought a lapdesk with a mouse area so I can always use a mouse with the laptop.  It is so bad that I almost would prefer the older model with trackbad buttons over the newer model.  I hate the trackpad, but I'll probably get used to it eventually.

The laptop runs great.  It has Optimus, so it should switch between the Intel HD 4000 graphics and the nVidia GT 640m LE as needed.  It plays games fine.  It is easy to type on.  It has great connectivity:  GB lan, dual-band wireless N, bluetooth, Intel Wireless Display, two USB ports, hdmi, SD slot, and even an optical drive.  I'm not sure that we need the optical drive.  I wish the USB 3 ports were on the left, so they wouldn't interfere with using a mouse on the right.
I haven't reinstalled windows yet, but I will soon.  I have added 8 GB of ram and will install to a 256 GB SSD.  I am currently reviewing all of the applications buried in the recovery partition to see if there is anything that I need.  I'll document that process in another post.

So far, I really like the laptop.  I bet I'll like it even more with an SSD.  One issue that might pop up is that the SATA ports appear to limited to SATA II unless you buy SSDs from Sony.  If this is true, it is a shitty, shitty, shitty move by Sony.  I don't know why companies do that crap.  I do know - money - but it doesn't mean that I care for it. 

Thoughts on VPC13A

My wife loves her S13.  It is the previous model.  It is almost identical to my laptop other than Sandy Bridge, a Radeon, and a different trackpad.  In my mind, the cpu is about the same, the Radeon is definitely slower, and the trackpad is much better because it has buttons.  It was also more than 33% cheaper and came with a docking station.  The trackpad is a different brand and has less gesture capability.  I like it better.

Graphics Comparison

Because the two laptops are so similar, I wanted to see how much of an impact the newer graphics card made.  I ran 3DMark 11 on both computers right after I started them up.  The SVS has a Ivy Bridge i5-3320M at 2.6GHz, while the VPC has aSandy Bridge i5-2450M at 2.5 GHz.  The SVS has a nVidia GT 640m LE (2GB), and the VPC had a Radeon HD 6630M (1GB.

SVS 3DMark 11 scores:
P1339 3DMarks
Graphics score: 1225
Physics score: 3419
combined score: 1108

VPC 3DMark 11 scores:
P990 3DMarks
Graphics score: 876
Physics score: 3513
Combined score: 905

I don't benchmark much, but I do know that benchmarks can and will be manipulated by hardware manufacturers.  Take the results with a grain of salt, but it looks like the newer model is anywhere from 20-50% faster according to 3DMark.  I think both will be able to play the games we want to play, and I'm happy with the screen, resolution, keyboard, speed, and connectivity of these laptops.  Firewire would have been nice, but I'm pretty happy with them.