Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

Are you sure the drive is not damaged and is able to write other discs? Or maybe the disk needs formatting (for drag and drop copying)?

 

This might be of little help but I am able to write to a DVD-RW with my BD burner, what software are you using?

 

Hi
Can You tell me the manufacturer of HDD's please
Thnx

 

go to your Device Manager.

Take a screenshot of the Device Manager.

Take a screenshot of the "DVD/CD Rom Drives" tree opened.

Take a screenshot of "My Computer".

...and post them here.


I'd like to see if your drive shows up properly in Device Manager and in My Computer.

And as someone already asked, please let us know what software you're using. Please download and try "imgburn" (Google it) and let us know if it too has issues.

 

They are from Hitachi.

 

Thanks guys for asking about the various issues with the AW 290...

I purchased a three year extended warranty with damage protection and put it to good use with several phone calls lasting a total of maybe four hours to Sony customer service...

They were able to fix the issue with the Blu Ray not playing Slumdog Millionaire with an update from Sony's esupport web site.

They were able to get the computer to recognize the Blu Ray drive and it seems to now be able to write files to DVD+RW discs I purchased. I also have four Blu Ray rewritable discs and they say it should also work with those-I'll be working on those files more in the next few days as there are a lot of files I want to copy to both DVD+RW and Blu Ray rewritable. I also want to be able to delete and add files at will to those discs, which should be the entire point of rewritable discs.

I purchased a Philips antenna with a built in antenna amplier at Fry's for $34.99 and it's quite an improvement over the $24.99 Channel Master I returned. For the most part I can receive Los Angeles Channels 4 (NBC) 5 (CW) 11 (FOX) and 9 and 13 (Independent-My Network TV) as well as 28 (PBS). 2 (CBS) and 7 (ABC) are very iffy. Fry's has some type of antenna amplifier device designed for outdoor antennas hooked to cables over 50 feet in length-any chance that might improve reception further or any other ideas?

As most of you know, the AW 290 can't be used as a cable HDTV receiver since the HDMI jack is an output not an input so that limits HDTV to over the air with the supplied tuner or a similar product.

 

Are you asking about outdoor antenna reception or something else?

 

No I'm using an indoor antenna hooked to my AW 290 for HDTV reception-I just want to get the best indoor reception I can. Part of the reason I don't want to buy an HDTV is that few HDTV's could match the AW 290 for picture quality and HDTV's that can display 1080p like the AW 290 are more expensive-also anything not on over the air HDTV can easily be found elsewhere anyway.

 

What is the make and model of your current antenna?

 

The antenna is Philips MANT510. The box says Superior High Definition 50dB Amplification Indoor Amplified Antenna VHF/UHF/FM/HDTV Digital. It's a rabbit ears with a square box in the middle that houses part of the antenna and rotates and also it has buttons that go up and down for some type of signal fine tuning.

 

I've been reading this thread for the last month now, and I finally jumped in and ordered the VGN-AW290 Premium CTO.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9550, Vista Ultimate 64-bit, 6GB DDR2-SDRAM, 640GB SATA Hard Disk Drive, Blu-ray Disc RW Drive, XBRITE-FullHD w/Adobe® RGB color, TV Tuner, WLAN Bluetooth, Standard Battery.

This is my first laptop since buying an IBM Thinkpad(seems like 100 years ago). Anyway, I've always had good luck with Sony still have a Sony RS270DS(CompUSA) desktop that still works fairly well for an antique.

What I looking for now is the best, or near best, wireless router to use to link my current destktop (Compaq SR1717CL). Connected to COX cable modem. Just don't want to spend $200+. Hope someone out there has had good experience with a reasonable cost router. I would like to get some thing in the 802.11n, dual band range.

 

One more thing, are the stations you want to get broadcasting from the same direction and distance or at least very close to each other? If you do not know use www.tvfool.com to find out.

 

Apple Airport Extreme. It works well for Wireless-N 5GHz, which is more than I can say for Netgear/Linksys/D-Link (I tried and returned them all). I don't particularly like the control program for the Apple, it's not browser-based, but the box itself is the best of the 4 I tried.

 

Just wondering what poeple on here use to clean there screens, inparticular the X-black LCD, RGB 3chip LED screen

 

Does anybody know what Pixel Fault Class SONY claims for their AW displays? I or II? Especially for RGB LED screen.

 

To clean my screen I use a special TFT screen spray that contains no alcohol and has a slight lemon fragrance. It is biodegradable and anti-static. Just the best for the AW.
I must say also that I have a 15 minute routine of cleaning the laptop from household dust before using the unit. My bedroom is like an Intel laboratory since I bought the laptop. One last tip, I use surgical tweezers to remove hairs & other dirt from the keyboard. This is my routine.

 

Thanks for the info, anoi chance of the name of the TFT screen cleaner.

 

I use just plain H2O in a spray bottle with an anti static micro fiber cloth.
I have the normal fullHD screen not RGB LED.

-J

 

Don't know about which class the Sony displays fall in but I believe for laptop screens Sony has a policy of max 4 dead/stuck pixels (always on, or always off).
Check with Sony to be sure. There are software solutions out there to correct these pixels (make them unstuck, if they are just stuck and not really really dead) JScreen-Fix is one of them.

-J

 

For cleaning my screen, I used Dust Shield which you will find at Home Depot or Lowes. Works great on a lot of things and is all natural. For the occasional laugh, I spray some on the wood floors and let my small dogs try and get traction....

 

The name is Vivanco TFT Screen Cleaner.
It´s german but sold over Europe. Website: www.vivanco.de
Don´t worry too much about it, just use something with no alcohol, butyglycol or methanol.

 

On another note, playing very well at call of duty, devil may cry 4, crysis warhead and test drive unlimited! (not all at the same time lol!).
Having problems with media center since I had to install 64 bit codecs for watching divx films and so on, and the thing is that when I fast forward or rewind it crashes! Microsoft informs me that ffmpeg is the one to blame but I have uninstalled/reinstalled other codecs and the same crap! Downloaded Vaio Zone as alternative to media center but sony´s particular software doesn´t like the codecs and wont playback. Software monopoly issues. Any hints for saving media center or getting this fixed?

 

AW available in Costco price seems to good to be true!
VGN-AW130J/H with T9400 processor, 320gb HD (7200 rpm), 4gb RAM and blue-ray (doesn't mention but most likely read only) for $1,199.99 only.
As usual Costco's return policy can't be beaten + they extend the usual 1 yr manufacturer warranty to 2 yrs.
Don't know if this deal is online only or available in stores also.

-J

 

Run MSCONFIG and disable the logitech KHALMNPR.EXE (logitech setpoint) command. It solved the same problems for me and I use both a touchpad and a logitech mouse on my T61. When you upgrade the logitech software, you have to do this step again.

 

I watch divx video without crashing on Media Player Classic and Home Cinema (aka Media Player 64-bit). The only downside is there is screen tearing sometimes.

 

Has anyone gotten into the advanced BIOS settings? I'd at least like to know what's in there.

 

Laptodd5 what codecs or codec pack do you use?
I´ve tried 32 and 64 bit codecs and media center crashes the same! That is if I fast forward or rewind in some cases!

 

i already asked you this question

 

anyone know if there's a way to remove the keyboard cover piece so that we can actually clean the keyboard?

 

2 x 320GB 7200 rpm (AW11Z/B) vs
1 x 64GB SSD 1 x 500GB 4200RPM (AW21Z/B) vs
2 x 64GB SSD RAID 1 x 500GB 4200RPM (AW21XY/Q)

Try to decide between these models based on disk access times vs cost.

Probably been asked before but:

What make are the SSD's to see if there are existing benchmarks?

Are there existing disk transfer benchmarks for these models?

More importantly is putting them in a RAID 0 a huge increase?

For people who have used non SSD and SSD models is there an actual usage difference between them?

Thanks

 

Tomcom2k, I have the AW21XY/Q model and the ssd are from Intel, which right know claim to be the fastest! See one of my posts where I did a benchmark with HD TUNE and you´ll see the difference. Note that the benchmark are tested in read not write, I still have write to do!
Raid0 is a fast configuration but not the most safest!
Read this if it might help but anyway if you don´t mess around too much or avoid viruses you´ll have no problem. Faulty hardware can do the same but it´s more difficult.
Hope this helps you!

http://www.ufsexplorer.com/inf_raid.php

 

I installed the K-Lite Codec pack. I can fast forward in DIVX but rewind does not work correctly but does not crash, I perfer using the seek bar anyway.

 

Thanks awfully.

I work with a lot of server client networks and do a lot of installs using RAID 5 and RAID 1+0.

I'm thinking of spending the extra for the AW21XY/Q but a friend in retail can get me an AW11Z/B refurb for about £800 rather than £2200 odd.

Is the screen / SSD / brand new machine worth it? hmmm...

 

Tom,
I bought the 320GB and later fitted 2 Intel SSD's. Yes it's much, much faster.
Also the 320GB Hitachi drive I got with my AW-290 had a lot of vibration, it bothered my hands (the disks are under the palm rest). Needless to say the SSD's have no noise or vibration and they use less power as well. (Intel that is, the other brands are far behind in the power consumption figures as well as the speed). I have two 160GB SSD's in a non-RAID configuration.

Be aware, as posted earlier, that Sony in their infinite wisdom only provides the cables and connectors for the drives that are actually shipped in the system. Don't buy a system with an empty drive bay and expect to plop a second drive into it, there'll be no cable or connector for it. (Sony, I really hate you for stuff like this!). I had to buy the connector parts from Sony (expensive) and open up the system to install them (scary). It all worked out okay, though, and I posted a lot about it back in March when I did it, including pictures which you can see on my website http://www.jaykeller.com/vaio

BTW, I bought the Intel SS drives from Buy.com, who had the best price I could find at the time.

 

Dear Sony Vaio User,

I bought my Sony vaio series AW series. On my desktop background, It seems to be redish from the original photo that I editted in Photoshop. When i was trying to edit a photo, I turn down the redness and save. Later, I save it as desktop background but seems it appear redish on the wallpaper?

Anyone face this problem??
Are there any solution to counter this red screen??
Is it Graphic card or screen problem?

Thanks for you all who anwser and read.

Regards,

Bryan

 

Hi,

The cheapest way is to convinge your boss that you and him deserve a AW for work and fun... Worked for me, so we made a deal with a local retail network in Bucharest: advertising over VAIO notebooks

 

Use VLAN instead of Media Center whe watching DVD's. Very nice, has it's own codecs - you don't need to install anything, but the program: http://www.videolan.org/

 

Thanks for the tip Deep Silence!
Tomcom2k, on buying the laptop that goes in taste and wallet. If you don´t need high specs and your friend can get you a bargain go for the AW11Z/B, make sure anyway that you get the blu ray drive read writer for some models change specs without notice. Now, like in my case, if money is not an issue for you, then get the whole high end package (AW21XY/Q)! You will not be dissapointed I guarantee it! It´s touching perfection this model! It´s like having mercedes but the SLR model! Car example!
If you have to wait then be careful because these models could be coming out with quad cores soon, nevertheless speak this issue with your dealer for more info!

 

Oh by the way for the AW gamers out there!, has anyone monitored cpu temperature after exhaustive gameplay and if so what readings do you get?
Greetings to all proud AW owners!

 

Thanks for the RAID link edgain.

Does anyone know if you can configure the AW for RAID 1? I will either have 2x320GB or 2x500GB HDD. If so, is it relatively easy to do? Would it void my warranty?

 

Hey,

Has anyone solved the AW's webcam issue when dealing with flash applications?

 

Hi everybody,
What do we do if we didnt make any recovery discs before formatting both drives? I thougt I could find them as downloads.
It is bad to be unable to use bluray player and dvd writer since I dont have those software anymore.
Do sony sell those or can anybody send them to me if I pay you?
My model is aw-190j
Thanks.

 

CPU hangs out ~62C

GPU hangs out ~75C

overclocks are in my sig.

6639 on 3DMark 06

 

The problem is with the tv tuner driver not with the flash uplication try to uninstall tv tuner driver and it will work

 

Ajreynol I get cpu temperature of around 80C. Stupid question, but this is because my cpu is a 2,93 Ghz right?
More power, more temperature?
What games are you doing?, just to figure out if they are demanding! Thanks.

 

I have a AW21XY and the Raided SSD's are Samsung, not Intel.
Under All Programs, run the Intel Matrix Storage Console and it gives detailed info.

The HD Tune 'Read' stats I get (after a few tweaks) are:-

MIN 75.7 Mb/s
MAX 149.1
AVE 93.1
Access Time 0.3 ms
Burst Rate 127.3
CPU 4.5%

I suspect raided Intel SSD's would give better performance.

The best feature of this model is definately the Adobe Screen IMO.
It's a nice machine and I'm very happy with it but there are some irritations:-
(1) Too much pre-loaded software, so if you want to improve performance its best to backup and do a System Restore and reduce the hidden restore partition etc..
(2) Screen brightness setting keeps going back to full brightness after coming out of screen sleep state

 

I've just been experimenting with Vista settings regarding SSD speed and what seems to make a big difference is:-
In Device Manager - Disk Drives - Properties of Volume0 - Policies
Ticking both Optimisation options:- Enable write caching on the disk, and, Enable Advanced performance.

I now get the following HD Tune benchmarks for read ops:-

Min: 184.2 MB/s
Max: 304.2 MB/s
Ave: 205.2 MB/s
Access Time: 0.3ms
Burst Rate: 543.8 MB/s
CPU Usage: 9.9%

 

Hi guys!

I just lost a looong post which was supposed to be my first one in this forum . As you can see i'm not too good with computers but i just bought myself a Vaio AW21Z/B and, although i'm pretty happy with it, i have some questions that maybe are kind of stupid but i hope that you can answer them to me in a language i can understand! hehe

So, i hooked up my computer the other day and i started to get some things in it and.... what? the memory is full! I then realised the C drive it's the 4 gig SSD ram thing... whatever, how come that's the default hard drive? I have my user documents folder on that harddrive by default, but with so little memory i just can't use it. I wanted to move the whole folder to my D drive but it just won't let me cut and paste. So, should i create new folders on the D drive where my bigger HD is? Because of this now i have 2 Program Files folders, one in each HD, which is a mess since the computer came with a lot of already installed software in the C drive. How do you guys manage the information with this kind of configuration? I really don't get it.

Second question i have is about Bloatware. I've read most of this thread and it seems very obvious to you that the first thing to do with this computer is to get rid of all the bloatware, but i really don't know how to identify it. I really don't want to delete something i may really need or some of the full software that comes with it that might come in handy to me (like some of the Adobe stuff). Could you give me some tips on how to get rid of this bloatware?

And third question, and maybe related to the previous two, is about the recovery discs. I still haven't done any yet, should i do it after getting rid of the bloatware and resolving my hard drive issues? Do i have to format the hard drives? I'm a little scared of doing this because i don't want to go into to much trouble later on with drivers and other stuff so, if it doesn't make too much of a difference i think i'd rather skip it ( i have the ability to break computers just by looking at them so the less i do with them the better), but if it's not that hard and will really improve the performance of the computer then i might give it a go.

Thank you all in advance, hope i'm not bothering you people too much. This is the only good thread i've found about the vaio AW and you seem to know your stuff, so i hope you can help me!

Bye!

 

wearafrown,

You need to make the recovery disks as soon as possible. You should do that before doing ANYTHING else with the system.

Once that is done, then you should feel free to remove anything you don't think you want - because you will have a copy on the recovery disks and can always reinstall it later if you decide you want it.

As for the hard drive configuration, I think you may be getting confused between SSD / Hard Drives and RAM - but not sure. My system does not have the SSD drives, so I don't really know how that is configured. Hopefully someone else will be able to help you out there.

Just be sure to make those recovery disks as soon as you can.

Brian.

 

You do not need to remove Bloatware, just turn them off like the update junk, the "for your protection" junk and numerious internet hogs.