Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

I assume you mean using the HDMI port? I did not know this was even possible, does this feature have a name?

The AW is ok for gaming, it is not a gaming notebook however and being unable to use NVidia's own drivers unlike other notebooks kinda hurts in the gaming area.

General there should be little problem using the HDMI, at least no more problems then any other notebook would have.

 

*sigh* I'm so confused about all this-do the regular reference drivers work okay (since we can't install these new Nvidia ones)? Do they wreck Blu Ray? Or is it just you'd have to manually switch to the old display mode before launching the player app? And is it just the included version of WinDVD that has trouble with Vista's Aero, or all playback apps? And is it just Sony's hardware that has trouble with it, or all hardware? It's so confusing, and I really want this AW over the Asus or Macbook Pro now

 

I've just gone through this. The regular reference drivers work fine for everything except playing blu-ray movies. It is NOT the switch out of aero that is the problem - it believe it is the HDCP (content protection). I think there is something in the sony driver that lets the blu-ray player know that the path from the blu-ray drive to the internal monitor is HDCP compatible. Without the sony branded drivers, the blu-ray player thinks you don't have an HDCP compatible display path, and so it won't play content protected movies. DVD movies play just fine, but blu-ray wont.

Also, running the sony branded drivers, trying to output to an HDCP compatible monitor through the HDMI port, I got about half way through a movie when all of a sudden WinDVD BD popped up a message saying that it can't play content protected movies over a non-HDCP path. It had been working just fine for about an hour, but then right in the middle of the movie it changed its mind!

I am seriously looking at software by SlySoft that is supposed to remove all the HDCP checking from any blu-ray movies. If anyone has any experience with that, please let us all know. We could then (I believe) use the regular nVidia drivers.

Brian.

 

There is a trial version of that SlySoft software, you need the latest version to work correctly with the AW however.

 

Crud! Well, thanks for the info as obviously I need to know that *sigh*

I don't understand though...if I were to buy that Asus or Macbook Pro I'd have to add an external Blu Ray drive to it...and at that point as far as I know, I COULD play Blu Ray discs on either the main screen or outputting to a monitor. So I don't know why the AW needs special drivers...unless I'm totally screwed up about all of this.

 

yep, I use the HDMI. the feature is in the nvidia control panel and called something like "desktop resize". you can set the exact screen size using vertical/horizontal size change buttons. I didnt know there was still an overscan in modern (LCD!) tvs, what an anachronism.

 

Isn't that weird? I don't understand the point for ATSC...but I guess it still does have overscan?

 

I currently have a unibody Macbook Pro and I have an external blu-ray drive hooked up to it to watch blu-ray movies under windows. I don't use windvd though, I use Powerdvd because that's the software that came with my blu-ray drive. Aero gets disabled whenever I launch Powerdvd though, I get a message about the software not being compatible with Aero or something. I simply disabled Aero in Vista though as I don't care for it.

Moving on to HDCP now. Laptops treat their internal monitors as analog meaning your laptop doesn't have to be HDCP enabled to play back HDCP enabled media. If you connect your laptop to to an external device then your laptop and the monitor/tv you connect to it has to be HDCP enabled in order to play. One solution to this is to use Slysofts Anydvd HD. It'll remove the copy protection on the fly and you won't have to worry about that non-sense.

A second solution is to convert your blu-ray movies. This is what I do. I convert them using a second windows machine and then I burn them to a dual layer dvd or keep them stored on my hard drive. Then I use Boxee in OS X to play back my media. I can also hook up this setup to a tv and I no longer have to worry about HDCP among other benefits.

 

Just on a side note:
Is the stuff you're doing legal?

 

I did a scan with VirusTotal and 12 out of 38 antivirus programs report problems with WinDVD.exe: http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/242480471fe88fb181c2b3e1817e6e0b

The previous scan the other day by someone else at VirusTotal.com had shown 16 out of 38 antivirus programs reported a problem. I asked it to reanalyze the file and the number dropped from 16 to 12.

 

When I'm using Firefox 3.0.5, the back and forward buttons on my mouse don't do anything. I have a wired Microsoft Intellimouse Optical USB mouse. It's only Firefox that is having this problem. Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, and Directory Opus 9 all work perfectly with the back and forward mouse buttons. Does anyone know what the problem might be?

I google searched, but I only found Logitech owners who had to update their Logitech SetPoint software. I am not using the Microsoft Intellipoint software because I only want the default actions for my mouse. A Windows XP SP3 computer that I have with the same mouse doesn't have this problem with Firefox.

My AW120D has Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit.

 

I just found that the Vaio Control Center allows you to resize the HDMI output to 1768x992 but it only works when it's only the external display thats on.
The LCD TV that I tested it on still had some small overscan however.

--Edit-- There is a vertical/horizontal resize function in the default Vaio Nvidia driver, it is available when the HDMI display is the lone display.

 

My AW190 Premium has developed a yellow stain in the lower left hand corner of the screen. I contacted Sony and they had me go into BIOS but that didn't fix it. I've made arrangements to send it in for repair as it is probably the screen. I'm beginning to doubt whether I really want to do this as I know nothing abut the quality of service Sony provides and have heard horror stories regarding the service centers of other electronics company’s. The alternative would be to keep it as the stain is not in my field of vision. But then I fear the stain getting worse. And there's a part of me that questions whether I should settle for a 2K plus laptop with a discoloration in the screen.

Has anybody sent a laptop into Sony? Did it come back in good shape? Any suggestions on what you would do if you were in my shoes? Finally, does anybody have any idea why this yellowish discoloration would form? Nothing spilled on the screen by the way.

Thanks.

 

I'm looking to pull the trigger on the purchase of a VAIO AW series laptop, but had a few questions I was hoping to get answered first...

Based on my research, the VGN-AW190JAH offered at NewEgg for $1400 seems like the best "bang for the buck" deal out there.

1.) Is there anything I could add from a CTO version that would make it worthwhile to go the CTO route? If I did my math right, a comparably equipped
CTO model to the AW190 would run ~ $1750. Even the AW120 offered at SonyStyle is less computer for more money. Am I missing something?

2.) Can you buy an aftermarket extended battery that would work for the AW190 computers?

3.) The NewEgg description for the AW190 doesn't list any software that is included? Does anyone know what's included with respect to full (not trial) software? MS Works? Office? How bad is the bloatware?

4.) The NewEgg description lists a 250GB 7200rpm hard drive. Is this a misprint? The SonyStyle CTO doesn't even list a 7200rpm version of a 250GB HDD. Anyone know?

5.) For anyone that has taken delivery on a VGN-AW190JAH from NewEgg:
Satisfied? How was customer service? Anything you would change/dislike about this model?


Any and all input/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

McTwitch

 

I bought the VGN-AW190JAH from Newegg that you are inquiring about. I too looked at the CTO's from Sony Style and before Newegg put it on sale, I sat on the fence for a few weeks thinking about it. As soon as it went on sale for $1400.00 from Newegg, it was mine.

The CTO cost about $400.00 dollars more with the only difference I saw was the hard drive was a 320GB 5400rpm and a processor speed of 2.53 P8600 Core 2 Duo. Everything else pretty much matched up as far as I can remember.

You can buy the extended battery from Sony Style but my recommendation is to buy it separately. After registering the AW190 at Sony Style, you will receive a 20% off code to use with accessories. That's the route I took when buying the extra power supply.

As far as software, no RGB Adobe whatever as with the piano black version, but some software that is included is the Roxio media and editing software, Inter Video Win DVD for Blu Ray, the Dolby Control Center, the VAIO Control and Recovery Center, the usual Windows Media Center stuff, and the usual trial bloat stuff. But the bloat software was actually quite minimal compared to years past. It was not time consuming at all to remove.

I am happy to report that the Newegg VAIO is the exact one as listed. The 7200rpm hard drive is what I had wanted very much, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, the Core 2 Duo 8600 processor, the Nvidia 9600M GT is in it also. There's another AW model for the same price that has the 9300 Nvidia card so watch out. So, it is a great machine in other words.

Shipping took 3 days and the box was well handled, no damage to report. This VAIO rocks ! I am even pleased with the way Vista Home Premium 64 bit is performing. I had heard all the nightmares on Vista but now I wonder why I waited so long. This was the best $1400.00, actually I spent the extra $120.00 for the 2 year warranty, and also got the Zalman notebook cooler, and a Logitech VX Nano cordless mouse. It came to $1665.00. I hope I was able to provide enough feedback.

 

And one more thing. The titanium grey of my VGN-AW190JAH looks fantastic and the screen is beautiful !

 

Thanks for your input/feedback. Which extended battery did you purchase? How is battery life with installed versus extra batteries?

My wife was wondering if it came pre-installed with MS Office or Works? It doesn't say on NewEgg's spec list.

Thanks

McTwitch

 

Let me clarify. I bought the VAIO AC adapter ( VGP-AC19V25 ) which I referred to as a power supply in an earlier post. Sorry for the error. But using the standard battery with wi-fi and bluetooth off and screen brightness at maximum levels and just messing around with stuff like the blu ray player and web browsing only lasted a little over an hour.

As for MS Office, it is the full suite of apps to use for free for 60 days, but must register it. As for MS Office, the full suite of apps is included for free with no registration required. So basically the usual stuff that I've always seen Sony include.

 

has anyone found a good bag on wheels for this monster

 

Regarding the Newegg AW190 - had one for a few weeks - good deal IMHO but have seen some things I wasn't happy with:

- Backlight bleed - lots of backlight bleed (more than normal IMHO) at the bottom of the screen (adjusting brightness, BL level, etc. doesn't totally solve it - worse at some viewing angles/screen tilt - most noticeable with solid black background (DVDs, etc) although still noticeable with some other solid color backgrounds (like grays)
Also a dark corner in the lower right (again only noticeable with some background colors, light gray shows the most variance in backlight uniformity like this - although boot screens show the bottom edge bleed the worse - not an issue though in normal use for me)

- and (my own fault I guess) during trying to defrag the HD (5 hrs and never completed) I had prevented the screensaver from running - now there's a shadow burned into the LCD from the windows start bar (noticeable on any light color background - even vista login screen)
- I've now turned on start menu bar auto-hide and hoping hours of use w/o the windows bar there will eventually clear that up (maybe not)

Some other owners of this model (CCFL backlight, not higher $$$$ option LED backlight model) also commented on BL bleed, which I've seen on many notebooks but none as bad as this one (maybe I got a worse than normal sample - but doubt sony will do anything about it and leery of them even trying - anyone do a take-apart of the display panel to try and improve this?)

- Power on button frustrating at times - (I read the note on this at sony support - didn't help) - eventually works but often it takes several tries to power on (even holding down for 5-10 seconds) - not a biggie but just a FYI.

- although there's space for a 2nd HD, this model ($1399 newegg) has no connection for a 2nd HD. (I upgraded the stock hitach 250GB/7200rpm drive for a $115 500GB/5400 rpm WD scorpio - used acronis to clone the original drive via USB connection fine)

Despite the above overall I'm very happy with it. Color quality (IMHO) is very good and I like the overall design, keyboard, etc. - much better build quality IMHO than some other notebooks I've had (other than the CCFL bleed noted above)
I'm satisfied with COD4, Fallout 3, game performance so far and picked up the $49.99 Paintshop Pro X2 ultimate deal at BBuy for editing my photos.

I just wish sony (like many other mfrs) was more pro-active on graphics driver updates.
Nvidia recently posted beta Notebook Gforce drivers - but note that they list Sony Vaios as one of the "unsupported" notebook vendors currently... (not tried them to see if they refuse to install - wish they explained why the Vaios were not supported)
I know there's other sources for notebook driver updates (for years) just disappointed to see Sony (and some others) listed at Nvidia's site as not supported...

Anyone have a recommended (unofficial) nvidia driver source for the AW190 9600GT?

 

That's a monitor defect then. LCDs don't burn in, and there's no way ANYTHING should be happening to one in only 5 hours!

The problem is, from what others have said on here, while you can install Nvidia's reference drivers, then Blu Ray playback quits working (at least with the copy of WinDVD that's included).

 

I've heard of this before (years ago though- I think it was in some apple doc on some LCD display issues like this - with some tip on clearing it - but can't recall the details now) but trust me, after about a week of use (and didn't notice it until after that day of 5+hrs trying to get vista's builtin defrag to complete w/o allowing the screensaver to run) it's there. I don't think it's a "defect" in the panel as it was not there before that, but then I've never noticed this with any other laptop or desktop LCD before. (and I WINCE at having to deal with sony support on something like this...)

Hiding the start menu bar with for instance a light gray solid desktop background (and even at vista login screen) shows a thin slight dark strip/line where the top edge of the windows start menu bar was at the bottom of the screen. (like a shadow thin edge - not a complete burnin of the entire part - just the top edge of the bar where the contrast/brightness would be higher with the default settings)

Thanks for the note on non-sony nvidia drivers... (not had any performance issues with the preinstalled drivers, although by nature always looking for tweaks/better performance - and after seeing an article the 9600M chips had bad bumps, would like a tweaker to increase fan speeds/cooling - but will look at other nv utils for that. Been a few years since I had a PC/notebook so not up-to-date on what's out there...)

BTW - after running with start menu hide for a couple days it seems to be fading a bit (although still seen at vista login screen or w/light gray background - seen as a darker/shadow-like strip where the top edge of the vista menu bar was, is still visible but seems to be dissipating a bit.)
It's now only slightly visible (thin shadow line) on the left side (that side had the darker shadow burnin) - hopefully it will eventually completely clear up over time with the settings I have now. Again the only way I see it is at the vista login screen or with a light background (like solid light gray) in windows. (If I never hid the start bar in windows I'd never see it (except for vista login screen, if looking at the lower edge of the screen for the shadow line/strip)

The notebook default had nvidia CP and system brightness set at max- I've changed that a few days ago along with setting the start menu/bar to auto-hide. I was surprised to see the dark strip burnin (not sure what else to call it) but clearly it's where the top edge of the start bar is.

Maybe I'm the only AW190 (CCFL backlight/newegg sale version) owner to notice this - but if anyone else has one that's run for a couple weeks or more with the start bar static (for many hours) I'd be curious if they've noticed this.
Maybe I should post a separate thread on this here to get more feedback on this specific item. (any way to check for this specific sample's LCD panel and backlight OEM mfr?)

 

I got this Targus bag from luggage.com. It fits this VAIO perfectly. The bag has good storage and is of high quality construction.

http://www.luggage.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=TAR1265

I got it for about $75.00 with the holiday discount.

 

You can read the EDID various ways. The easiest is to run REGEDIT and check the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY

 

Wasn't there an issue of old LCDs getting burn-ins? Has anybody else heard of a notebook LCD getting a burn-in?

 

My laptop's screen can be running for nearly all day - no "burn ins"...

 

Same here !

 

Found the articles on LCD display burnin (often menu bars) and notes on restoring (removing image persistance)

Here's some article links (including the one at apple I remembered from the past when this came up some years ago - menu bar burnin/persistance) - each has tips on restoring it (usually works or at least improves)
One link to a Viewsonic LCD page no longer works (either moved or removed) granted many are from several years ago but again I have seen this within a week with this AW190 (still visible with start/taskbar auto-hide and a light background - there's a shadow line from the vista task bar - getting lighter though - just barely visible now about 1/4in from the bottom of the display - about 1/16in light shadow line across the display - clearing up a bit over time after not having taskbar fixed (now auto-hide and SSaver not disabled - I've also set the screensaver to a solid white full-screen image as mentioned in these article tips)

I'll admit I had thought modern panels were immune but clearly this one isn't. (If it was a defect I would have noticed this originally and the shadow line matches the transition of dark to bright in the taskbar - didn't notice it until several days of use and after many hours with a static taskbar on the screen)
Anyone else with a recent newegg (CCFL backlight/not high end LED model) AW190 that's ran it for a week or so w/o screensaver and a fixed taskbar for many hours on end (static taskbar on screen, no full screen apps run for 5+ hours straight as I did at least once) should try hiding the bar and setting desktop to a white or very light gray to see if they see a shadow line from the taskbar like I do. (hopefully it will eventually completely clear up)
It's not like text was burned in, just a thin shadow line across the lower edge (again about 1/4in up from the bottom) where the vista aero theme taskbar (dark to brighter transition part of taskbar) was for many hours straight.
It seems to be getting lighter thankfully...
with the solid light background even relatively small viewing angle changes make the differences in backlight uniformity stand out (shadow in a corner, edge bleed, etc.). The viewing angles of this sample isn't nearly as good as some other panels I've had. (BTW - checked registry - display ID is SNY07FA - found one google hit on that - a forum thread here from another sony owner.)
But regardless I'm still happy with this machine (esp. considering the price and features)

"Avoiding image persistence on Apple LCD displays "
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2807?viewlocale=en_US

"LCD Image Persistence"
http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitors/a/LCDBurnIn.htm

"LCD Screen Burn - A Warning"
http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_index.html?/main/lcd-screen-burn.html
page 2 has notes from NEC and Viewsonic, pg 3 has notes on how he restored his
http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_index.html?/main/lcd-screen-burn.html

"Here are some methods on how to reverse or remove afterimage or image burn-in

* Turn your monitor off for several hours/days/weeks.
* Use a screen saver that uniformly "exercises" each part of your screen
* Display a white image on your screen for several hours/days/weeks
"
2005 post on Dell 2005FPW LCD menu bar (mac os) burnin/persistance
http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?1,2352989,2352989

"LCD Burn in / Image Persistence Problem"
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=890200

someone even created a "LCD scrub" OS X app for this (2008) "LCD Scrub: Get Rid of Unwanted Burn-in"
http://macapper.com/2008/06/07/lcd-scrub-get-rid-of-unwanted-burn-in/

HDGuru's "Yes, Virginia, There is “Burn In” On LCD Flat Panels" (includes mfr's comments)
http://hdguru.com/?p=151

 

That "persistence" thing is a theoretical possibility, but it shouldn't be very likely and it's not burn in.

The monitor is defective if it's showing burn in at all, let alone after only 5 hours. I'm sure most of us have monitors that show parts of the same thing whenever they're on for years, and never see anything like that.

EDIT: Many of those links make claims that "image persistence" is the same as burn in. They're totally different, and there's no lasting damage with the former. LCDs do NOT burn in, and you've got a defective panel somehow if you're seeing something like that with only 5 hours on the same display. I'd guess even image persistence is extraordinarily rare. At least I've never seen it in using LCD panels exclusively for over 5 years.

 

persistance, burn in, whatever (not saying it's permanent, from the get go I hoped to clear it up) - and most all of the useful articles clearly had tips on restoring/clearing it - my point (and theirs) is it can happen on LCDs (and has for many - clearly...) You can find other people that have noticed it (granted after longer terms - but many kept a static menu bar (for instance OS X where the top menu bar is static, no auto-hide)
I've used LCD displays for more than 5 years (my first computer was a 8088 btw), but who cares how many displays I've had and not noticed this - I was just asking if anyone else had seen what I had with this AW190 specific model.
I lost count of how many LCDs and notebooks I've had over the years but currently have a 24in dell (almost 3yrs old now I think), a fairly new Samsung 24in (no bleed, no 'persistance' that I've seen so far), a 2007 24in iMac (work machine/OSX), - none of those show any (cough) "persistance" that I've noticed.

And again (nth time) I used the AW190 for a couple weeks but didn't notice the shadow line where the taskbar was until a day after the 5hr+ static (nothing full screen run) attempt to get defrag to complete.

I'm just saying what happened on this sample and wondering if any other identical AW190 owners had noticed this/had checked for it. (Not asking for a pissing contest over what to call it) Hopefully it will completely clear up but I think those links show what I've seen isn't that rare.

I didn't mean for this to be a ping-pong match over what to call it - just posting what I have seen and some reference links about it... If you don't see this I'm glad - wish I hadn't. Just wanted some other AW190/CCFL model owners to check theirs (as many may not even notice it, but maybe I'm the one in a million....)

the other reason I posted was about (worse than normal IMHO/experience) bottom of screen backlight bleed. Wondering if this sample is worse than typical in that regard.

 

It IS rare though. You're going to have a really hard time finding people who have ever seen that, even with most people using multiple LCD screens. No one else is seeing that with this screen either. My point is you almost certainly have a defective screen somehow.

 

Havent seen anyone else with an AW190 like this (CCFL) say they checked for it (maybe I missed it - but haven't seen a direct reply from any other AW190 owner like mine comment on it here - a couple replies saying none seen but none said theirs was an AW190 - one reply sig listed a different sony model, the other reply didn't say what model he had)

But its a very light shadow line now (typing this with a white background, taskbar hid - barely noticeable now -definitely seems to be getting lighter) I suspect even if I called sony (and got a tech that was savvy) all he'd do is suggest doing what I already am (running solid white bkgnd, white screensaver, etc. to clear it up) And I'm almost rather take a beating than deal with most computer mfr's tech support.

Still like the AW190 overall better than the last notebook I had (gateway 7811fx from bestbuy) - it had less bleed at the bottom and faster memory and GPU (9800GT) but I like the bigger screen and the AW190 case is much higher quality IMHO (and much better keyboard - the 7811fx l had like every one I saw at two BB stores had the buckled keyboard (poor assembly I think) - I returned it after the wireless card failed (infant failure) - they had then discontinued it. good gaming laptop for the money, but glad I got the AW190 (for about the same $$$).
I like the case design better than any notebook I've ever had.

Anyway maybe mine is an exception (plus the bright backlight bleed in that very area - only saw one other comment on noticeable bleed like that at newegg owner reviews - static desktop icons didn't show persistence, just a strip of the taskbar) and it seems to be clearing up - maybe a few more days and the shadow line will be completely gone. with most typical backgrounds it'd never been noticed as it is now even with the taskbar hid. (It's lightened up to the point now where I really have to look for it - I doubt anyone else would even notice it - definitely less noticeable than it was a couple days ago and I've not used it that much lately so I really think it's going to completely clear up.)

have to go catch some Z's (gotta go to work in a couple hours)

 

hey to all,

had my aw11xu now in the uk for a week, loving the led lit screen and rest seems to be going well...

only concern i have is an intermittent change of the screen brightness every now and again (kind of like a flicker but more subtle)

Im trying to see if anyone knows how i could narrow it down and check if its software related ie vista/some setting tripping in..

rather than a defective screen etc.. the box was dented when i got it so convincing myself its been damaged .. when it may just be a driver or something in vista kicking in and causing the change i notice every now and again??...

seems to be more noticable with internet explorer open so again im wondering if its a vista/internet explorer with vista? related issue and nothing to do with the laptop hardware.. ?

dont want to go through the pain of sending it away unless im sure there is a problem, but how do i isolate it to find out..?

has anyone else with the rgb led lit screen noticed it change brightness on its own, maybe its something to do with the way the led backlighting works?

many thanks

andy

 

I do wonder what happened with that FX series. They'd been doing those for a few years, and then it seemed like the 7811fx was only on the market for like a couple months, and then poof, nothing. A LOT of people seemed to have issues with that last model though (and many were speculating a whole shipment got damaged or something).

 

By default my AW turned off the LCD after 20 minutes of non-use, I assume this is true of all AWs.
So did you turn off or extended the 20 minute LCD shutdown of the notebook? Which I did btw.

 

I have made professional monitor ICC profiles for the Adobe RGB screen... both Gretag (6500, 2.2) and Spyder 3 Elite (Native, 2.2)... if anyone would like them for evaluation purposes, please email me. These will only work for the Adobe RGB screen. Please note: 120 luminance is achieved by "one-click/notch from the bottom on the brightness display," which must be set in the power preferences or after restart the display will default back to maximum brightness. I recommend 120 luminance for this screen.

The difference is profound. With these profiles, this is the best screen money can buy. I have tested the gamut and, yes, it is 100% (and more) Adobe RGB. Without these profiles the colors, particularly the reds, are way off.

Best,
Richard

 

Have you tried them on the CCFL version? I believe they're both the same panel, just different backlights. In any case, I'd be interested in trying them, but I can't seem to email or PM you due to some limitations of this forum....

 

Richard, I would like the profiles but you don't have any contact info in your profile and I can't send you a PM either, can you send the files to my email address is in my profile. Thanks

 

I am loving my AW190 ($1400 from newegg).
Although the case has room for a second hard-drive. there is no SATA connection equipped. I looked closely and can see the motherboard does have an empty header where the second SATA connection would go. So now the issue is finding a parts supplier for the SATA cable and drive caddy. Anybody know where to purchase these parts?

Here are some pictures of the drive bay. I have drawn on the first one to indicate where I think the second SATA cable would go.

http://www.activewire.net/mcmahon/sony/cable.jpg

http://www.activewire.net/mcmahon/sony/p1020106.jpg

http://www.activewire.net/mcmahon/sony/p1020107.jpg

http://www.activewire.net/mcmahon/sony/p1020111.jpg

http://www.activewire.net/mcmahon/sony/p1020112.jpg

 

Hi U will find that sata cable but not yet . heh
am keeping looking it man still nothing ..
its new AW series nobody has got failed these laptops and sony will show u middle finger
i just upgraded new hdd WD 500GB 5400rpm thinking will be better buy WD passport 500GB , instead messing around with extra sata cable install in ..
and disassembling will be very difficult i suppose...
i have got aw11s/b series
just checking on everest ult edition chipset supports 8GB

 

Hello All,

Quick introduction since I'm sure I'll be trolling these boards for quite a while. I'm a Dept of Army Civilian (retired US Army) currently serving in Baghdad. I found this laptop, VGN-AW190JAH , as many of you did on Newegg and thought it was the most bang for the buck. I'm hoping that the laptop arrives safely through the Military Postal System. I'm not a photographer or video guru but I know the quality of Sony Televisions. Combine that with a nice Blu-Ray disk player and I've got hours of entertainment.

Thanks to whoever posted about the coolfeet to improve airflow. I'll be grabbin a pair of these. They look handy.

I'm looking for a foam filled ruggedized case that this laptop will fit in. It would be nice to be able to throw the laptop in the case and the case in a backpack and not have to worry about it getting damaged during the frequent flights on choppers I sometimes take. It doesn't have to be waterproof but I'd like to keep it as small as possible. No handle or wheels needed because I plan on throwing in in a backpack. Any ideas or suggestions very welcome. It will have to be ordered off the internet and delivered because shopping is limited over here. Thanks.

 

does the premium edition of this laptop (the black color) have an LED screen?

 

like it but need one with wheels

 

another question. Is there a major difference between the regular screens the RGB screens

 

The backlighting. The grey models use traditional florecent bulbs, the black models use three color LED backlighting.

 

Is there any reason to get the LED other than it simply looking better? Is it healthier on your eyes or something?

 

hi booville,

saw your post kindly offering to email an icc profile for trial.. that would be most helpful if you could send some across for me to try..

i dont work professionally so am struggling to get the screen set up properly and begin to appreciate it so welcome and guidance/profiles you can send so i can learn from them..

did you see my post about my rgb screen blipping occasionally its kind of a flicker but less obvious and im trying to find out if its due to a fault or a quirk of the led lit screen?... its almost like something software wise is firing up causing the change every now and again??

anyway thanks for your time, im at my folks now for xmas for 2 days but should be on email and back to my laptop on sat.. my email is [email protected] for any help/profiles you can send..

thankyou in advance

andy

 

hey immersive,

i have the rgb screen sony... it offers a lot higher colour gamut for photo work ie more like real life and is new technology using leds to light individual areas of the screen rather than tubes which gives better control of the black levels and makes the colours pop out at you, supposed to handle fast movement better aswell..

had mine for a week now loving the machine, screen is amazing but it needs to be set up properly to really appreciate the screen so im learning as i go along.. it also has the faster processor and the solid state hard drives...

thanks

andy

 

I know it wont do it any justice but could you post some pics of the screen and the unit itself. I am really on the fence about this.

I can get a quad core HP HDX18 for a few hundred less but I am really all about the screen image............


torn

 

Andy,

I'm not an expert on color profiles or anything, but from what I understand - at least with my Spyder3Pro Color Calibrator Peripheral and Software...

When it creates an ICC profile for my Sony AW Premium, if you set under Control Panel->Color Management to point to the ICC profile file...that still won't push the profile to your LCD screen.

I still need to have the "Spyder3Utility" software running in the background to communicate with the OS to push out the color profile to the LCD screen.

Thus, whenever I boot up Vista, you can tell right before the Spyder3Utility loads up that the screen looks uncalibrated and super-bright. And then once that program loads up, the profile has been loaded to the OS and pushed out to my screen and everything looks good and calibrated again.

If I exit out of the Spyder3Utility program, the screen loses the ICC profile connection and looks uncalibrated again.

Just one thing to note if booville sends you a file -- you may need the corresponding software as well in order to push it out to your screen.