Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

What do you mean atracious cable card? I have Earthlink so if I get cable its Time Warner and my options are local channels roughly $10 per month 200 or so cable channels $40 per month add Starz HBO Showtime $50 per month. I assume they would give me a full cable box and it connects to the AW through what? USB? Apparently all those options include HD channels-Dish isn't an option since no access to roof or a balcony.

 

am sure threre is digitall reception trough classic antena but on that rf u will receive freeview only there are no hd-channels
u will have to order some package from provider they will install hd-channels trough cable or satellite system with set-top box
othervise u can buy your own satellite receiver and antena an u will have to pay for crypted channells all hd are censored i suppose

 

Do you think that the screen is better than in my current TFT screen I bought in 2003 (LG L1710S)? http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l1710s.jhtml

 

Can't tell from those specs. Given the age, it's possible this screen is faster, but it's also possible that's not a TN panel, which all or virtually all laptop screens are.

 

This was on some site:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/search.php?query=&select=model

 

Hmm...okay, still can't tell. It is a TN panel apparently, so it's probably not drastically better, but there's no way of telling if it's much better or worse (since specs are pretty much made up in terms of contrast and things like that).

As laptops go though the AW has a really good screen.

 

I am in the NYC area and with the supplied antenna, I can receive at least 10 channels that air HD content and about 8 other channels that don't have HD content. NBC, VBS and a lot of over the air channels already give a a lot of their shows in HD that are all free. the antenna works ok but I am sure there are amplified antennas that you can get out there to work a bit better.

 

How is the WAN card on the AW? I know that it uses the Intel 5100, which is supposed to be a not-so-great card (why Sony chose it for a flagship model is beyond me). Have AW owners had problems with it? I make heavy use of WiFi in lots of places and need something solid. I am trying to decide between an AW Premium and a Dell Studio XPS 16.

Thanks.

 

Personally I'd go with the AW over that 1640. I had one of those and wasn't particularly impressed. Bad cooling (the vent gets covered over by the screen when it's opened) and ATi graphics. Though technically I don't know if the AW is any better, but from what I've heard it sounds good.

 

wow
allright that's good
here in england there are no free HD channels
have to pay ..
and what that hd chanel are ?
teleshoping , news and some adverts ?

 

In the US every broadcaster (like NBC, ABC , CBS & independents but not speciality channels) has to air free HD signals over the air, the content is not always HD but a lot of times usually is. Canada has HD broadcasters OTA too.

Are the stations broadcasting from largely different locations? Problem is a lot of indoor antennas are gimmicks.

I use two antennas (connected into two devices) a Channel Master quad that can receive signals from a long distance and from different locations and a home made coat hanger I use for local stations.

The quad is large and need to mounted on something but can be used indoors and beats the two store bought small indoor antennas I got and quite frankly the coat hanger beats the two as well.

You also need a long cable so you can position the antenna correctly which you need to test to find the best angle.

 

Guys, I have an AW 190, and am, so far, very disappointed at the performance.
I have been (trying) to work on Photoshop CS4 for a while, and even when working on images for the web (small, 72dpi resolution) I keep getting laggy performance. It acts as if I'm pushing it beyond it's capacity. Sure, I have about a dozen layers in the file, but still, not anything overwhelming for a 2.8 core 2 duo processor, 4 giga ram.

I've tried a lot of stuff to get this machine working properly. No results. Can you guys tell me if this performance is normal for this computer? Any suggestions on how to get it out of first gear?


*I know I only cover PS CS4 issues, but the overall performance is paired with the example.

 

Seems the $300 bundled offer on sonystyle has come to an end - i wonder what the next offer will be...

 

hey all. is there any diagrams on how to take this beast apart. I am trying to swap out my cpu and its a bit daunting without some diagrams. I have done this before with an Acer 8920.

Thanks for the help

 

hey everyone, i've been lurking for a few days and decided i would post.

i'm hoping you guys can give me good advice, since this is the "owners" thread. i'm looking to get a vaio AW 290 with these specs:
2.4 ghz
4 gb ram
320 gb hd
blu-ray disc read only
xbrite hd (1080)
extended battery
this configuration comes to about $1725

basically, i'm wondering if you guys can give me impressions from what you've experienced with the AW line. it's going to be a college graduation present, so i'm looking to get the best laptop i can for under 2000 bucks. if you think the vaios suck and can reccomend something else, please do.

thanks!

 

I don't know. I have a 190-JAH and it works just fine. I usually run Illustrator and PhotoShop CS3 at the same time (sometimes in addition to DreamWeaver and Flash) dealing with no smaller than tabloid-sized files at 300ppi and it doesn't lag noticeably. The only time when I have actually had to wait for a screen redraw was when I was working on a 60-foot-wide banner at half its original size at 150ppi. This was the largest single file I've worked to date (about 6.5GB).

I think you should check and find out what's running on the background. Maybe some obscure app is slowing down your machine and compromising your CPU and RAM.

Are you using 64-bit Vista? Check the Adobe forums for any issues. I've run into no problems running the Adobe Suite on Vista Ultimate 64-bit so far, but then again... I'm currently using CS3.

Good luck. I hope you can find out what's wrong (and I believe something IS wrong probably in your OS).

 

Thank you, It's a relief to know that you have little trouble working on big files such as 6 giga. Then probably I didn't waste my money.

I am using vista home premium 64 bit. I will try to sort out what's wrong, and, if necessary, ultimately format the machine. - Now, that's going to be a pain.


thanks again

 

I think whoever receives this as a present will be very happy. The machine works well and it's probably the best buy for the price considering its specs (check out the VGN-AW190JAH and 290JAH at Newegg.com for $1,699 and $1,499 respectively). $1,725 for an AW with the 320GB hard drive, extended battery and Blue-Ray drive is a very good price.

The AW is very light for a computer its size and runs very cool. For comparison, I had a 17" Toshiba Satellite which was heavier than the Sony AW and it was always running extremely hot.

The AW is solidly built and it can be expanded to accomodate a 2nd internal hard drive (though the hardware required to mount the drive is more expensive than the drive itself) and up to 8GB of RAM (that is until they start making 8GB memory SO-DIMMS in which case you'll be able to crank it up to 16GB RAM). Bottom line: you can expand its hard drive capacity and RAM adding a couple additional years to its useful life.

A custom-built Alienware will be heavier, smaller (largest screen size is 17" versus the AW's 18.4"), and cost about $300 - $400 more. The only issue with the AW is finding a backpack or case where it'll fit, but besides that... the computer's a dream. You can check out additional reviews from owners at Newegg.com and surely at many other online retailers' sites.

Don't take my word. Keep looking and reading around, and THEN by the AW. You (and whoever receives it) won't regret it.

 

Well... I actually bought and installed Vista Ultimate 64-bit and removed as much bloatware as I safely could. Find someone who is Windows-savvy to have him/her remove any unwanted / unused software that might be slowing down your machine. Remove any Windows Sidebar gadgets that you don't really need. Avoid using Windows DreamScene and deactivate the "Aero glass" feature on the Control Panel. This will lighten up the CPU usage a little.

Good luck!

 

I think Aero runs off the GPU from what I have read....

 

hi i think u will need to upgrade your laptop on core 2 duo t9800 8 gb ram 7200 rpm hdd for these programs and soft's and try set your nobo on high performance option selected ...

 

anyone????

 

Not sure where you are in LA, I'm on the beach and get 30-40+ channels, some HD, with the aver media ntsc tuner and the included antenna.
Actually we get the same number channels as with a big fancy digital antenna for our TV.
EDIT: update says it found 50 but some are low

 

Same as the other poster,
PS CS4 runs very well here on an AW290, 2.6 4gb. Its a laptop so its gpu, the 9600m gt is going to be slower than something like the much older and popular 8600gt for desktops, but it still should easily handle the images you're describing.
I can have PS CS4 premiere, illustrator, and AE CS4 open with dozens of layers in each without issue.

Get rid of Aero no windows effects etc, just use classic windows to ease the GPU load.

 

The Intel 5100 is a POS.
I just ordered a TP-link from Amazon, (well actually not Amazon, a seller associated through Amazon it arrived fast), and the card achieves 300mbps in a crappy old Dell M50 to a linksys WRT350n no problem, and never wavers.

By comparison the 5100 in the VAIO in my experience generally maxes out at 54mbps on a few routers Ive tried with correct settings to achieve higher.
The sonystyle store service guys, I met with to address this, were arrogant, immediately starting the conversation with "no" it cant go higher than 54mbps and questioning whether it said wifi N on the box, had I installed the latest drivers, blaming my router, etc.

The service guys were not able to make their own store model aw290 achieve anything higher than 54mbps.

Fortunately I found some different firmware on routers can get it to 135mbps, but thats the highest Ive ever got it.

Anyone upgrade their Intel 5100 on the AW to something better for N?

 

Yeah, and it runs great on a 9600GT class GPU. I really don't see a reason to disable it. Personally I really like having the GUI finally rendered by the GPU like that. I guess it's not a huge deal, a lot of it just just things like transparency, but it does allow things like realtime views of windows when you mouse over items, or task switch, etc. It slows down a bit if I'm running Folding @ Home on the GPU, but otherwise I can't imagine it really having an impact on anything.

 

I`ll do that.
How did it work for you? Was there any sensible difference?
thanks

 

Yes there's a difference in AE and PS, not enough to overcome the large lag you are describing but it will make a difference. Its required for Autodesk Maya etc to even function well.

Its recommended to turn off Aero for DCC, CG, and especially 3D gpu accelerated apps.

Just to be clear is the lag processing, like applying plugins slow?
Or is the lag interaction, like moving layers around?
If its the later, yeah sounds like a video issue.

Maybe try setting the NVidia settings to default.
Or, have you tried to update the NV drivers from Sony?
I prefer to use the latest NV drivers for my CG apps, NVidias site wont allow an update of a VAIO, but http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ has ones that work. Unfortunately they don't fix the VAIOS lack of screen rotation function, that is standard on pretty much every other laptop and desktop that uses NVidia cards, (so you need to change the INF yourself to enable rotate).

 

The lag is mostly in the interaction. Layers show/hide slowly, brushes delay, etc. It`s a real pain.
I thought it could be a video driver issue, but downloaded the new one from sony's website. Maybe it isn't the latest after all.

 

With Nvidia, even aside from their official notebook drivers (that unfortunately Sony won't allow ) you can just force their regular drivers to install. I've done it on other notebooks, and others have reported it works fine on this one. There's no need to resort to iffy third party stuff for Nvidia.

 

Nope. I used to run the Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2) on a 1.66GHz Pentium 4M Satellite with a 60GB @ 5400RPM drive and CS3 on a 2.1GHz Core2 Duo with a 200GB @ 5400RPM drive.

I don't think that's the issue (unless his AW comes with a Celeron processor which is not the case).

 

what then?

 

I Just Buy This Yesterday And I wish It Will Be God Im So Sad Because I didn't Have Enough Money To Buy The Black One But I wish The Titanium Will Be Nice

Product: VGNAW290B-CTO
Component: QuickBooks Simple Start
Component: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9550 (2.66GHz)
Component: TV Tuner
Component: Engraving
Component: WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
Component: Standard Battery
Component: Windows Live™ OneCare™ 90-Day Trial
Component: Blu-ray Disc™ Read and Write Drive
Component: XBRITE-FullHD™ (1920x1080)
Component: None
Component: None
Component: 4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)
Component: Microsoft® Works
Component: Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
Component: 400 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
Quantity: 1
Description: VGN-AW290 Configure-to-Order

 

Where Can I Find Sony Vaio Aw290 Vista 32bit Drivers I dont Want To Install The Windows 64bit ?
Please

 

try this :
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/VAIO/ORIGINAL/

 

Thank You Peto But Dont You Have Something Easy Than This
Relay Idont No Which To Download And Which Of The Are The Latest Update And Which Of Them I need ?

 

go here and find them all on that link what i gave you first step by step
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNAW290&SelectOS=36

 

Vista 32bit Drivers Not 64bit ?????

Thanks Man

 

they should be 32
because i downloaded some and am using vista 64 and instalator says 32 bit ...

 

OK Thanks Man

 

Do The Sony Blu-ray Disc™ Read and Write Drive
Has Also LightScribe & Dvd Wr+ - Options ?

 

- no light scribe
- DVD +- R/RW yes of course

 

Good morning gentlemen (and ladies),

Need to buy a new laptop... have read this entire thread over the course of some days and have a couple of q's about the AW21, would appreciate some help.

Uses will be image creation (Corel Painter, PS) and heavy Audio Production (Ableton Live, Sonar, Reason etc)...

1. Am I going to encounter much difficulties having a dual boot system (i.e. installing XP for music) - are drivers readily available for this, do the bios restrictions cause any problems?
2. Would replace the Vista install with a clean install, will there be an issue with sourcing all Vista 32-bit drivers for this?
3. Will need to swap out for a 7200RPM HDD, is this a difficult task on the AW or simple compartment on the back?

Overall, I'm just worried about some of the restrictions you guys have noted in this thread about the Vaio series... some feedback from music makers using the AW would be appreciated! Specifically Ableton Live...

Many thanks!

 

yes, simple compartment on back, one screw on cover then pops open,
but you need the chassis as noted in earlier threads for second drive bay if you didn't get 2nd drive originally, but you're replacing a drive.

I plan on replacing one of my drives when larger SSDs become cheaper for the same need for speed.

 

My AW (AW50DB - Japan "Video" model) recently formed some dead pixels in the upper left part of the screen (about 4 dead pixels in the same spot), so I took it into the local Service Center, which happens to be inside the Sony headquarters for me (I live a few blocks away in Tokyo). I dropped off the computer on Thursday afternoon, and on Sunday I received a call saying they were fixing the screen. On Monday morning, I got a call saying I can pick it up already. That is some great turnaround for warranty work! The new screen is perfect.

 

I know some people are running Windows 7 on their system. Has anyone gotten the brightness controls working properly? They work for me only until the lid is closed. After the lid has been closed (suspend or not), the brightness controls cease to function. Does anyone have any idea how to solve this? It's possible this can be fixed with a Windows 7 power settings tweak (I'm using the 64-bit version, by the way).

 

just finished setting up my AW 290J. Screen is beautiful. GPU is being overclocked to 660/970/1650 and is running exceptionally well. Updated to OS to Ultimate with my disc.

Just disabling a few more programs.

For those wondering what the 1TB raid 0 numbers look like:



that's my machine. not bad at all. access times could be faster, though.

Anyway, I do recommend you all get PowerDVD. It's much more featured than WinDVD.

 

I agree that the WinDVD doesn't really match up to PowerDVD. PowerDVD 8 is fine. The improvements in the new PowerDVD9 are mainly DVD improvements and does not apply to BluRay playback. What did you use for your GPU overclocking? My results with HD-Tune are below.



2.93Ghz
8MB RAM
640GB - HD

 

Speaking of WinDVD - its horrible on my SZ - it sometimes just crashes at startup...

Did this happen to anybody on the AW?

 

I'm wondering when the next pre-configured AW model will be released. Does anyone have a guess, and a guess as to whether it will be steeply discounted given the state of the Japanese (and world) economy?

Thanks for any input.