Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

Yes, that's contradictory, maybe a statement by default in the page, but the premium models having led displays don't have to contain mercury, only the fluorescent backlighted ones.

 

Still looking for a good case for this little babies, on post 1838 darklich, give a good example, but still very little space for the rest of the equipment. Does anybody have experience using the cases from Pelican, they look kinda ultimate on the protection side, but the looks is like you carring a bomb on it The 1495cc1 model is very interesting, but l like to know if someone tried it and fit the 290 fit inside the liner and the power source fit in the side. I work at the mountains, it is sometimes a hard environment, so the military grade is a convenient thing, but will it work???

 

I don't know if you saw my post #1731 about the Briggs & Reilly bag. I am really pleased with it. It fits perfectly, has room for all the accessories, and is just an all-around great bag. No, it's not waterproof like a Pelican, but it is made from the finest ballistic nylon, so it's just about bulletproof. And don't forget the lifetime warranty on all B&R bags.

 

It will definitely fit in that Pelican case. The AW is 17.2 inches wide and the case width is:
1495CC1 Laptop Case
Interior Dimensions:
18.87" x 13.12" x 3.81" (47.9 x 33.3 x 9.7 cm)

The Pelican case is 3.81 inches deep so there might be enough room for the power brick, but there doesn't appear to be an pockets for it. I guess you could put the brick in the Sony neoprene case and just stick it in there, but it wouldn't be secure. The Matias case that I have is about 3 inches deep inside and there is enough room for a portable hdd or a slim mouse and some cables. I have a flash drive stuck with velcro onto the inside of my case.

There's just no way around this one. Anyone carrying an attache case looks suspicious. Just slap a Caterpillar sticker on it and people will just assume you have some kind of tool.

 

So the ones that have LED lighting are saying that? My Asus does (hopefully) but has that warning...but I *hope* it's just a generic warning slapped on all of them since some models do :-/

 

I thought LED backlights should be mercury-free until I see the label

 

They are mercury free

 

how much did the T9800 run you?

 

dunno what u mean ??

 

I took some pictures of the Briggs & Reilly large laptop bag with the AW-290

www.jaykeller.com/vaio/Briggs&Reilly.htm

 

Jay, that's a piece of bag! Looks impressive hanging from a person. This machine is a pleasure to use on a desk, but when the time to move it safely comes.... it reminds me my old "portable" board to make technical drawings (now it's much smaller, they call it AutoCad ). No way to put the Titanic on a small box!

 

Just in case anyone is interested the CF reader transfered about 20 4-5MP pictures almost instantly. How cool is that!

 

maybe I misread. I thought you bought an aftermaket CPU and upgraded your AW. If I did read right, I was asking how much that upgrade cost you.

and I love your bag, badboy.

 

Looks like the perfect bag I have been searching for. I found it online for $95.00 w/free shipping. It's on the way. Thanks Jay

 

Hello to everyone! Congratulations to all who have upgraded the cpu without any problems or meltdowns!
Been seeing the bag discussion, I bought yesterday a Targus XXL Clamshell thing and it is way to huge for this laptop because it is intended for 19-20 inch laptop, but because I can´t find anywhere a 18.4 inch bag I will have to go for the proper Sony Vaio bag (vgn-mba10) which is very pricey for a laptop bag!
On another topic, did a little bit of disk drive testing with HD Tune and these are the results. One is 500Gb HDD and the other is 128Gb SSD. They are Read tests!
What do you think?

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2538/hdtunessdread.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1392/hdtunehddread.jpg

 

looks about right.

 

aah allright ..
cpu cost me 209 pounds ..

 

ok. cool.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has had success with any aftermarket replacements for the AW's AC power adapter. I'd like to have a second one, but I'd rather not buy the $$$ony.

 

Jay, i still have my old GRT160 (power adapter PCGA-AC19V7 ), wich have the same tension 19,5V but more power consumption (120w max), so the adapter is more powerful (and bulky). I think it's perfectly able to power the AW, the extra watts shouldn't count negatively on this, and I remember i've seen it for 30 bucks on ebay, not replacements, but new original sony units. For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ORIGINAL-AC...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

 

Wow...! That's got to give piece of mind when taking the computer outdoors!

 

Hey guys

About a month or so ago, I came to this thread complaining about the AW's performance when using some software (namely Photoshop and some other adobe products).
Well, it seems the problem wasn't in the computer at all, but in the software. To anyone who is experiencing lagging and hiccups when working on the products mentioned above: Apparently, It`s a common complaint about the new CS4 package.
I tested it on my Quad core (high end) office PC, on which I formerly had CS3 running, and had similar issues. (Sort of a relief...in part?)

Just thought I could give you guys some feedback on that.

 

thanks for the insight, Jota.

will look forward to future CS4 updates.

 

who have nice wallpaper of aw to use in desktop
i cant find good pic

 

It kinda figures since much older hardware could run older PS versions with no lag.

 

Was reading about all these bags and I wanted to let you guys know I got the Crumpler Golden Dig XL a couple of months back. It fits like a glove and it isn't as huge as the business bags. It doesn't look big at all when you're wearing it. Here's a link:

http://www.kit2fit.com/range/product/index.asp?1525,0,2,32,5

Not sure if they sell it in the US. I got it at a local store for around 100 euro.

 

ha funny, i was just going to take some pics of my 290 in the pelican 1495CC2
It fits very well with an extra row of foam cubes on one side to spare (CC2 has foam), so you can pop out a few of the squares beside the vent at bottom left to allow air flow to work on it while still in case for short bits.
The power source will not fit beside it, but since the case is deeper than needed by quite a bit for the 290 you can put the power block above the laptop, or more securely the power block fits perfectly in the small pocket on the right in that second picture you linked to, and then just stick the cord and your other stuff like a wacom tablet,etc in the big pocket.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32401&d=1238379486
You could squeeze the power source sideways I think above it beside the handle indent, but I prefer to have foam all around the laptop on sides

I previously had a pelican for my dell m50, it survived 5 years and 2 continents of travel, lots of shoots, a couple mugging attempts, dive boat trips, beer spills, they are water proof and indestructible, you can even sit on them vertically.

The pelican cases have padlock holes with metal surround so you can lock it to your table or whatever on set or chain it to your seat in the car etc. The hardshell would take a while to crack open

EDIT: just to add since it just fits with the foam insert with only one extra thin block of foam left, Im not sure, but I doubt the 290 would fit in the *inner* case inside of the 1495 pelican case in the image you've shown, but it does fit in that *outer* 1495 case with the foam inserts version that i got, the cc2

 

hi i have nice wallpaper : it's black screen saving display ..

 

I am about to purchase a sony AW series after doing a lot of research into different options.

Moving from HDX 20" Dragon so it's a baby compared.

The above quote about the RAID0... Does this apply to all models?

IE if i buy the uk model AW11Z/B with 2 320GB 5400rpm drives, RAID will be an option?

Thank you

 

Hope someone can help, because Sony's Live Help Chat is not!

First of all Glad to meet all of you here.
I am a proud new owner of a VGN-AW290JAH, this is my very first laptop at the age of 38 .

Here is my prob/question i guess. This Aw Series did not come with a Blu-Ray player. What I am wanting to know is can I buy one from sony and install it? Basically upgrade from the stock stndard DVD it came with to the Blu-ray drive?

Should be able to just pull the dvd and slide in the Blu-Ray drive right?

 

Hello pontiac! I can tell you that here in Europe all the AW models come wit1h the Blu Ray drive (read/write). Therefore it is difficult for me to answer your question, but I give you another one, this is nearly a high end model and I ask why this does not come with the Blu Ray drive!!! It´s pathetic. Give Sony a ring at their client service number that comes with the manual and see what they tell you! What I know for sure is that if they can change it for you it will probably hurt your wallet a bit. I can´t believe it anyway!

 

Sir, I greatly appreciate your advise and I will contact them to see what they have to say. If anyone out there has done the swapout then please post any info regarding it. Thank you.

 

Hey guys I have many questions about the AW. It looks like the laptop I want but some of the issues I've read about worry me.

I plan on getting: SONY VAIO AW Series VGN-AW120J/H

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117797 (when it comes back in stock that is)

Questions:

I've read there are at least three different types of LCD screens for the AW series. What screen does this have? LED...? I don't care for the RGB so I'm just wondering if this is a really good screen.

RAID: I also plan on RAID-0-ing two OCZ 32g/64g Vertex Drives in the system. I'm just wondering if this model has the second SATA connector. I've read some of these models but its unclear which ones are actually missing the connector and bracket. If this is in fact missing the bracket/sata connector, is it possible to install these post-purchase? If so where could I get them to do this?

RAID: Assuming there are two SATA ports/brackets, how would you go about setting up RAID on this system? I haven't been able to find much on that.

These are my two major concerns. The notion that doing RAID might not work, and the screen might not be of top quality is what really deters me at the moment.

Any clarification on these would be greatly appreciated.

Also any other ideas or suggestions would be helpful. Also what do you think of this version of the AW in comparison to the above model?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117886

Only problem I have with this model is it's 200$ more for just a black finish and a 400 mhz bump in cpu speed and plus 3mb L2 Cache. Is there more to this or is it just that? There also appears to be a lack of a Blue-Ray drive which would be nice but also not necessary.

 

With regard to the screen, I only know about the one I have, it's the " XBRITE-FullHD™ (1920x1080) with Adobe® RGB color management". It's extremely bright, in fact my wife says it's too bright! She has a point, turning it down a notch or two (Fn-F5/F6 controls it) is still more than bright enough. The colors are fantastic compared to my other machines. My understanding is that "X-BRITE" is Sony's synonym for LED-illuminated-LCD.

On the RAID question, yes you can add the cable and disk-shell after purchase, but it's not exactly easy and costs about $125 in parts (not including the HD or SSD). You'll find my earlier post about 2 weeks ago where I describe this with a link to pictures on my web site of the process.

Once the second drive is added, the system detects it automatically and boots into a RAID manager option, where Ctrl-I will let you go in and configure a RAID arrray if desired (I am not using RAID but I still see this every boot).

There's another hardware option where the second flat cable has dual connectors, allowing a 3-disk configuration, at least two of which must be SSD's. I don't know the part number for that cable, I should have ordered that one instead of the one I installed, then I'd have the option of easily adding another SSD later if a choose, without the difficult job of swapping out the cable yet again (the covers must be split to get at the cable connector on the motherboard).

 

Why dont you just return it and get a model with a blu-ray drive?

 

pontiac, your JAH should have come with a BD Drive.

 

Hi Thogrom! If you want a LED baklighted screen, also with the adobe RGB cromatic gamut then you need a black one. This plus is because of this upgraded otions not only for the glossy piano black, ah! it includes the magnessium alloy casing for the display too (the black part precisely).

 

post duplicated with 1889

 

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post duplicated with 1889. Sorry about the mess!

 

You should be able to swap out the DVD drive with Blu-Ray. Though you'd still need software to play those BDs. IMO its more economical to buy one with blue-Ray drive else you'd end up paying for 2 items (AFAIK there's no free Blu-Ray player out there)
Just my honest opinion

-J

 

Both the models that you have listed are normal backlit displays (ie. FL) not LED and both are grey not piano black.
I don't think 120J is coming back on newegg seems they have discontinued that. Its still available though at clearanceclub.com - same price. I haven't bought anything from there so can't offer any opinion about the seller do your research before you buy.
RAID setup has been discussed here in detail check all the postings.

-J

 

Issues with Blu Ray drive on VGN-AW290 premium.

One-Slumdog Millionaire (Fox) Blu Ray disc brings up red screen warning that player requires an update to play disc-updates do not resolve the issue. Called Sony support and they said they would work on an update and to check the update page for Blu Ray downloads. Called Fox and they want me to send the disc back-which is an inconvenience and a waste of time and not really interested in doing so. This is the only Fox Blu Ray I have right now although I do have Goldfinger, Thunderball and Quantam Of Solace (MGM/Fox) all three play without problems.

Two-trying to burn MP3 files to Blu Ray is difficult and time consuming-unlike DVD's you can't just send the files to disc and I don't want to have to repeat the process of clicking to Burn Aware 5,000 times in a row to fill one 25 GB Blu Ray disc let alone a 50 GB one. The program doesn't seem to allow multiple transfers-i.e., you have to do them all at once without closing the program. This is a major, major pain in the . Any suggestions?

 

Get PowerDVD. WinDVD sucks.

 

Hello AW owners,

What are AW vaios made of? I read on the sonystyle site that the back of the screen is made or magnesium alloy, but, what about the rest?

Thanks!

Pablo

 

Follow up to my original post.

The AW120j has been out of stock/deactivated several times already on Newegg and has always come back in stock.

I'm just wondering, is there any major visual difference for a standard user between having the Fluorescent screen and the LED screen? I'm just wondering if its worth the extra cash to get the LED over the fluorescent.

As for the RAID parts mentioned in http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4565101&postcount=1551, are there any other parts? Somewhere previously mentioned in this thread there is a dual SATA cable and a double SSD bracket. Does anyone know the part numbers/price of these components? Also the drives in the AW are in fact 2.5" and not 1.8" right?

In addition to this, the prices for such relatively simple hardware is ridiculous, are there any other places that offer better prices? Also are the screws mentioned in above post special in anyway, or are they just normal small screws you could probably find at a hardware store?

Oh, I forgot to ask about the network card. I hear the WLAN Intel 5100AGN isn't particularly good and the 5300AGN is significantly better. Is it possible to replace the 5100AGN with the 5300AGN, and if so where can you buy the 5300AGN? Also I''m looking into an external battery for the laptop when I do get it. Is it possible someone could find out what the input voltage is? Like from a wall not from the battery? Most laptops are 16v and I imagine this is 19v but I want to make sure.

Thanks again, Thog.

 

It seems ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS to pay $99.95 for Power DVD when Win DVD works just fine EXCEPT for Slumdog Millionaire. The trial versions of Power DVD do NOT support Blu Ray and the only version that does is the version for $99.95-and even then then there's absolutely NOTHING about it solving my Blu Ray MP3 files burn issue. Until I can figure it out I bought several packs of Sony DVD-RW discs. I also have four of the Panasonic 25 GB Blu Ray rewritables but the only one I've used thus far is the one I tried to write with Burn Aware. It seems with Blu Ray the only way to go is rewritable as I've read many reports of write once Blu Rays becoming useless.

I don't know what the AW 290 is made of but its solid and fine workmanship. You don't have problems with keys letting in small foreign objects (they could if you look closely but almost certainly won't.) I have the premium model with the piano case which is nice but really very standard as far as materials go-my $600 HP has the same type of case-definitely nicer than the gray case and the LED screen is the major reason to go premium unless you really want the Adobe software then that becomes a better way to go.

I'm disappointed I can't use the AW 290 as a cable ready HDTV as the only HDMI is an output, not an input. To watch HDTV the only thing you can do is use the tuner (supplied with the premium model) hooked to a decent antenna to watch local network and over the air channels-a bit frustrating, because the signal can vary from time to time and more on some channels than others.

There's no way I'm going to pay $99.95 for Power DVD just to watch Slumdog Millionaire and other Fox Blu Rays-they should work with the supplied software since everything else does.