Inside of a Sony Vaio Flip 15 (in case it's of use to anyone!)

[first last]

Yes the left and right hinges at the rear were the last bits to come away and like you I was a little hesitant. I used a thin flat head screw driver to lift (like you do with most of the sides) and pull out (i.e. using the screw driver as a "see-saw") one of the sides till it came forward of the ports/inputs nested within it. I can't remember which side but check them both out, it's the one that seemed like it required less work. This eventually unhooked and lifted fully. Once this was released the base easily slid the other way removing the plastic collar from the ports on the opposite side. Be gentle and patient but this method worked for me.

Thanks very much for the quick reply. Just to make sure I have the right picture in my head: when you say one side "lifted fully", do you mean the whole side, including the hinge, lifted clear of everything? And at that point was some force still needed (either lateral or upward) to free the ports on the opposite side, or did the cover just slide freely away?

[cptwhite_uk]

The way I remember it one the front edge and sides have been seperated the two final areas to remove snap fits from are the curved rear hinges. Once one has been freed the other comes away easily.

[first last]

The way I remember it one the front edge and sides have been seperated the two final areas to remove snap fits from are the curved rear hinges. Once one has been freed the other comes away easily.

That worked, thanks.

I did try removing the hard drive, but didn't have much success pulling out the connections for the ribbons above it. Since I wasn't actually replacing the hard drive I gave up potentially damaging it.

Have you seen that type of ribbon connector before? If I knew what it was called, I could try to find out how to disconnect and reconnect it. I'm reluctant to use trial and error because I can't tell how it works exactly - which part to prod in which direction to free the cable.

Again, any suggestions would be appreciated.

[first last]

The way I remember it...

Just letting you know that I did manage to finally get the cover off - thanks for your help!

If you're interested, I posted some thoughts on the tricky bits of the whole procedure here:

forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/734539-official-sony-vaio-fit-multi-flip-pc-owners-thread-113.html#post9503279

[DeepSix]

Thanks for the teardown. Only 15 Flip teardown I could find. In case others find this page like I did, here is my experience upgrading my 15A Flip.

first of all I tried 1.5V memory and I can confirm it doesn't work.

The HD is upgradable but the thickness of the drive is less than the 9.5mm Intel 330 SSD drive that I wanted to use. It looks like the drive might have physically fit but I would not have been able to screw the mounting bracket to the chassis. My solution was to remove the top of the SSD drive, essentially cutting the drives thickness in half. The open face points "down" towards the keyboard and the SSD's circuit board touches the plastic surface of the chassis. Of course this violates Intel's warranty but according their site the drive only generates 850 mW during full usage and can operate up to 70C.

Removing the drive was not too difficult. The two ribbon cables have to be removed by gently prying up the while/beige connector. The HD connector that attaches to the laptop prys off easy, but when reconnecting it, it took a little bit of careful effort to line it up and push it back down. The drive and sata connector are taped up which could possibly tear when peeling off. I tore off the tape on the bottom only because I didn't want it sticking directly on the SSD circuit board.

I also had issues with right speaker not working at all (left in OP's photos). I disconnected the speakers from the circuit board (near headphone jack) and reconnected it and that seemed to fix the problem (at least for now).

Another tip is to use a pry tool to open the laptop (after removing screws) and to pry open the ribbon cable connectors. They are soft plastic but have a sharp edge and are normally use for opening smart phones. You can find them on ebay for a couple of bucks.

Overall not a bad laptop/tablet and the SSD really speeds things up.

[cruzz563]

Hi, I'm the market for this same model, the Flip 15A, and was wondering what you guys had to say about this teardown I found on Sony's blog of the laptop:

blog.sony.com/2013/10/sony-vaio-flip-pc-gets-the-teardown-treatment-now-available-for-pre-order/

The HDD appears to have a different orientation from OP's configuration. I thought maybe manufacturing could have been re-tooled since then OP purchased their laptop. It looks like the ribbons have been moved under the HDD. The reason I ask is because I want to get that model and put my own SSD in it. I became uneasy about being able to do that since I've seen OP's pics, however after seeing Sony's own teardown I don't know what to think, thoughts?

Thanks!

[DeepSix]

Hi, I'm the market for this same model, the Flip 15A, and was wondering what you guys had to say about this teardown I found on Sony's blog of the laptop:

blog.sony.com/2013/10/sony-vaio-flip-pc-gets-the-teardown-treatment-now-available-for-pre-order/

The HDD appears to have a different orientation from OP's configuration. I thought maybe manufacturing could have been re-tooled since then OP purchased their laptop. It looks like the ribbons have been moved under the HDD. The reason I ask is because I want to get that model and put my own SSD in it. I became uneasy about being able to do that since I've seen OP's pics, however after seeing Sony's own teardown I don't know what to think, thoughts?

Thanks!

From what I have read on other forums, the Sony teardown is of the 14 inch model. I just bought my 15A weeks ago and it is the same as the OP. The SSD upgrade was relatively difficult for a laptop upgrade but not impossible. Make sure you get a thin ssd. I believe 7.5 mm is the right size. Read my earlier post for more details of my ssd upgrade experience.

[cruzz563]

From what I have read on other forums, the Sony teardown is of the 14 inch model. I just bought my 15A weeks ago and it is the same as the OP. The SSD upgrade was relatively difficult for a laptop upgrade but not impossible. Make sure you get a thin ssd. I believe 7.5 mm is the right size. Read my earlier post for more details of my ssd upgrade experience.

Ohh, I see. Thanks for the info!

[0Louis0]

Are you sure the CPU is upgradeable? I thought it was soldered to the board

[tcosta]

hey, i need some informations, who did change ram or HDD ?

i buy one sdd evo 500gb, i input this SDD in computer but i can't install windows... boot for pen drive isn't work.
second i buy 16gb corsair vengeance 1600, i change this memory but computer not work only original memory, i'm not change configure to bios.

who help me in this situation... ???

[DeepSix]

Are you sure the CPU is upgradeable? I thought it was soldered to the board

I didn't check but I think you are right. AFAIK all ultrabooks are soldered.

[DeepSix]

hey, i need some informations, who did change ram or HDD ?

i buy one sdd evo 500gb, i input this SDD in computer but i can't install windows... boot for pen drive isn't work.
second i buy 16gb corsair vengeance 1600, i change this memory but computer not work only original memory, i'm not change configure to bios.

who help me in this situation... ???

The SecureBoot needs to be disabled in the bios to boot from different HD.

Is the memory 1.35v ie DDR3L? It won't work with 1.5v.

[tcosta]

The SecureBoot needs to be disabled in the bios to boot from different HD.

Is the memory 1.35v ie DDR3L? It won't work with 1.5v.

Hey, man thank you very much. I see the bios, i change the UEFI to Legancy and disable secureBoot. this work now..

About memory, i see in official site Corsair spoke "If your notebook uses a 4th Generation Intel Core processor, you should use one of our 1.35 Volt Vengeance memory kits."

Thank's DeepSix o/

[rwinter]

Hi

Thanks for this thread it was helpful. On the questions about replacing the hard drive, the ribbon connectors for the ribbons the run over the drive flip up very easily with the little plastic flaps. One can use a screw driver to get under the plastic piece or even a fingernail. Then the ribbon just comes out. What a compact design, very nice. The drive bracket is partially a sticker believe it or not to save space. Also there is a sticker that wraps around the SATA connector. Just peel them off carefully and re-use. I took my time and the drive swap went fine. I used image software starting with an F on a 30 day trial and windows fired up just fine- windows 8.1 after imaging the existing drive. Only issue was my mathematica software flagged the new drive and I have to call customer service for a new activation key. Good luck out there, with patience this can be done without too much risk. It was delicate enough to make me sweat a bit, not like a full sized laptop for sure. The drive height is 7.xmm, keep that in mind when buying the replacement. With the SSD this computer really "pops". I like it. Not sure if I'm allowed to drop names on this site but I got a ssd which has slick software that optimizes the operating system for the SSD so I don't have to google it for hours on end, awesome. And it shows you how much difference the settings make with a benchmark, and it was huge. Kinda cool.

[hmo]

Hi,
Thank you for a helpful thread. I successfully upgraded the memory (to 16GB) and replaced the wifi card (with intel ac version). Links to purchased parts from Amazon below. I am working now on upgrading the HD with Samsung EVO 840 1TB...

Unfortunately the board does not allow posting of links before making 5 posts!!! any one interested e-mail me..

[ubergeekseven]

Hi,
Thank you for a helpful thread. I successfully upgraded the memory (to 16GB) and replaced the wifi card (with intel ac version). Links to purchased parts from Amazon below. I am working now on upgrading the HD with Samsung EVO 840 1TB...

Unfortunately the board does not allow posting of links before making 5 posts!!! any one interested e-mail me..

I don't have your email, but would like to see what ram you purchased. Was it the 1.3v? Could you give the item name or part information? Thanks, best buy has these refurbished for $1049 right now and I can upgrade to 16gb for less than the original price.