Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

So all of you guys with the Sony VGN-AW160J/Q Ive read various places that the most you can max out RAM is 8gigs and others say 4gigs. Can someone please verify how much ram can I max this machine with. Also instead of putting in two bays of 320 gigs running at 7200 can I put in just one. Will it cause any problems if I did that.

 

I have the same problem as ajreynol with the rubber wrist pad, bit unglued in some points creating little lumps, not even surface. Will wait until I can squeeze some glue with a syringe or something and glue it down eternally! Not very noticeable unless perfectionist! I say better this than defective hardware or something more serious!

 

Raid 0 is striping which means if just one drive fails, you lose access to your data on both. See the link for the details on other configurations.

My current plan is removing the 2 250's and installing my new single WD 320gb 7200 drive and put one of the original drives in an external USB enclosure. Hopefully I can get this installed in the next few days and have some performance and noise results.

I have not seen cycling colors, but I did find a utility online called Calibrize that helped me calibrate the colors and remove the bluish/green that was definitely there. The program does not seem to work for a dual monitor setup so I used only it's test pattern to fine tune the nvidia settings.

Yes, I think that is the case. I'm happier with the display now that I've corrected the color balance. Basically changing the gamma settings for each of the 3 colors indepently while looking at the calibrize test pattern. I would like to see that pattern built in with the nvidia tool.

The viewing angles are about the same as my other TN-based notebooks, but the color saturation is sooooooo much better.

Yes, I have the 160J/Q from Costco and pretty happy so far and the price was more than fair. Thank you Borat1 for verifying the model being shipped was not a typo on Costco's part.

I'm wondering what this wrist pad will be like in 3 years of constant use? I would have been fine with the wrist pad design of the grey model (non-premium) personally.

 

So my understanding is that a RAID 1 is better than a RAID 0..

Man my laptop will being delivered today via UPS. I feel like its Dec 24th.. Im just curious on how fast or slow Adobe CS4 will run vs when I had it on my MacBookPro.. Also anyword on the RAM and whats the max.

 

Raid 1 uses at least 2 drives mirrored providing the capacity of one with better fault tolerance and performance than a single drive. So if that is more important than capacity then that is not a bad choice. I use Acronis True Image to create daily incremental backups since mirroring alone will not protect you from other issues such as viruses, etc.

Max memory according to the specifications is 8GB which is quite expensive at this time.

I run CS4 on my Thinkpad T61p with almost identical specs (CPU and RAM) and find performance is quite good but I've not used Premiere CS4 yet.

 

What about After Effects.. .. But Im also thinking about upgrading the HD but I want to do it locally and all the places Ive check want about $120 for 320 gigs @ 7200RPM.. Online Ive seen prices for about 70 bucks

 

glad i was able to help. i have noticed the issues with the screen. namely where it seems to be changing colors very subtly. this is a tn panel and the poor viewing angles are to be expected but the color saturation and accuracy are impressive. still not sure im keeping the machine. if i do, ill be putting in two seagate 500gb 7200rpm drives when they hit around $100. also, im already noticing lumps in the rubber rest and the machine only sees an hour of use a day so that is a concern(had it for around 3 weeks).

 

So paint chipping any thoughts? Is this considered normal wear and tear even though its happens quickly and not to all of us AW290 premium owners apparently? Would be nice if they replaced the part thats peeling away.

 

that's very unusual.

to into the Vaio Control Center and set it to not change to the "optimal color mode" automatically. see if that doesn't resolve the oddity.

 

OK I finally recieved my laptop and Im currently making my recovery disk.. What all bloatware do I need to remove from my AW.

 

whatever looks like something you won't use.

 

Don't know where the bloatware is because judging from my startup screen icons there really isn't any

 

Remove is the wrong word, you just need to turn off junk, for instance the automatic looking for updates on the internet.

 

Q9000/Q9001 Quad CPUs - Does anyone know if these are really the SocketP that is in the AW - I read somewhere that they are "Socket P'", and that's different.

Brian.

 

Hi folks - wondered if someone could help. I'm looking for a replacement for my current 6yr old Vaio. Having looked around the AW ticks almost all the boxes I'm looking for and looks a great machine. The one thing that bothers me though is that on all but one model (top of the range) I've seen they don't support more than the 4GB RAM installed. I know this is not a problem with a 32-bit OS (even WIN7) but as they come with 64-bit Vista which supports over 128GB for some os versions, this seems to be something that could limit the lifespan of the laptop (eg my current Vaio from 6yrs ago came with half a gig of ram, I soon upgraded it to 1GB, the maximum, which hasnt been enough for quite some time now)

I'd like my next laptop to serve me for a good few years and I'd have thought that a desktop replacement that comes with a 64bit os would asupport at least 8Gb RAM. Any thoughts and do most people stick with the Vista thats shipped or tend to ditch it for the 32-bit version.

Thanks for any responses in advance.

 

I see what you mean according to the specs. However, according to this post, all the motherboards are probably the same and the 'marketing specs' are out of date or wrong for some of the models.

 

I have a 170 which stated it does not support more than 4gb and trust me it does

 

Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd toggle the setting, but I could not locate this setting. The only thing I found was 'apply motion reality setting' under the 'display' category.

 

By the way it was the AW21M/H I was considering. All the info I can find on this model states 4GB max..

 

They should all support 8GB max just fine, although that's going to be really expensive. I use just barely over half of my 2GB, and that's with 20 programs open, etc.

 

OK you guys are going to have to excuse me but treat me like Im riding the short yellow bus. I own the SONY VGN-AW160J that I got from Costco. Some people are saying that it supports up to 8gigs of RAM others say 4gigs. Some websites say it supports or comes with 4 gigs. But no mention of it will take 8 gigs of RAM.

 

BTW when I was researching for a AW laptop I found that your posts and info was very useful you and that other guy Hosier in FL. I just added 2 your rep

 

I just dont want to chance it any waste money on something that I know wont work..

 

because no body bought them yet those 8GB ...

 

Go figure.. What about a 6gig then, I'll settle for that. We need to bring in all the early adopters of the AW.. Im talking about all of those guys who posted in this thread for 1-175. They should have some info..

 

That's is better choice ..

In near future it will be end of classic ram like we using now :
The changing in RAM architecture
mem controller will have 3 channels
the system will run best when RAM are multiples of three not like classic two
the machines will be fitted with 3GB 6GB or 12GB instead 2GB 4GB or 8GB ..

 

I bought 8gb Corsair on Newegg several weeks back when they had a sale that was simply to good to pass up. It was low $300's if I recall. Others wont call that a bargain but most of the memory I have seen is well north of $500. This was for the PC6400 modules to boot so I couldnt refuse.

 

Okay.. so did you install it in your VAIO..

 

Yep and is rocking windows 7 64bit as we speak.

 

So whats your AW model number and can we get some pixs as well

 

Just to clarify, I'm not expecting to need to upgrade to 6 or 8GB RAM anytime soon but my current VAIO has lasted me 5 years and I'm pretty sure I'll need to upgrade on the 4GB at some stage (with 64bit o/s) if my next lappie lasts me a similar amount of time. Thanks again.

p.s I don't understand why the specs would be out of date when the sony site does list the top of the range model supporting 8GB and all others just 4...

 

See thats my provblem even though I have a top AW160J/Q laptop it have a Adobe Screen it comes with the wrist pad, yet theres no mentiono of the RAM being 8 gigs.

 

Is it me or Vista but my screen is flickering everytime I open a program.. I installed the latest updates and it still no change

Is this the most current drive for the AW Vaio

 

That wouldn't have anything to do with Vista. Maybe video drivers?

Pingu, ah, I see! Well the great thing is hopefully that much RAM will be much cheaper by the time we end up needing it! (At least if they still make this type.)

 

Im sorry for the confusion... But yeah thats what I meant, I also was reading people installing the force drives any sucess are enchance performance by using them.

 

Jerome, go here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=VGNAW290&LOC=3

change the model number on the right side of the screen if that's not your computer. then click on Drivers & Software in the left menu bar, download and install the bios update. it should resolve the flickering issue.

don't worry about the Dox video drivers unless you plan on gaming or something.

 

Well I do want to do some gaming like Madden, Tiger Woods stuff like that but if it will also boost the performance of my future apps like After Effects, and other CS4 apps then Im down for that as well..

 

it seems to me that the brightness and color gradient subtly change for no reason. if this persists i wont be able to keep the aw. the worst part is costco is oos so...guess ill be looking for another machine unless someone knows how to fix this.

 

I have the VGN-AW170Y

Its the small one on the right

 

I meant a screen shot of your windows experience or system page whichever one that shows your RAM and processor speed., not of the system itself..

 

I'm convinced this has to be a software/electronics issue. I notice it less since the BIOS update, but it's still there and happens occasionally. I notice it every time that I decrease or increase the panel brightness, it's almost as if it adjusts the white balance accordingly, but it seems unneeded. I doubt a system replacement would solve anything.

Nice picture, that's quite the little collection you've got there.

 

how are u rocking windows 7 on ur AW and where do u get it from?

also what model is that hp laptop and your main comp screen?

 

Windows & Release Candidate was made available to the public several days ago. Google it and you will find tons of stories.

HP is an HDX9000 and the larger monitor is a 30 inch Gateway

 

The release candidate is freely vailable for download from MS. You'll get your licence key there too. microsoft.com.

Or you can get the version complete with Trojan from some of the torrent sites. You have been warned.

Gordon

 

I'm glad a lot of folks took advantage of Costco's AW-160J/Q while it lasted. I was afraid somebody might buy the lot and resell them on eBay or something, but I couldn't keep the info to myself knowing there were so many other guys jonesing for an AW like I was.

When I saw the price, I was like "Buy it quick and buy it now, you won't get a second chance." Now myself, my sister and my brother have one. Good thing we got them when we did, because they were sold out the last time I looked.

We all got the SRS-Z100 speakers (astonishing), and the Briggs & Riley case that badboy2k recommended. My sister and I smoke and we're paranoid, so we hooked ours up to an external LCD, keyboard and webcam to protect the AW from exposure.

I'm going to give Windows 7 a try. Frankly it sounds a little "Windows 98 will be faster and more efficient with better access to the Internet" to me, but anything would be better than Vista IMHO.

 

But once it becomes retail how will they make the switch to charge people for it..

 

Hello everyone!
Just want to inform everybody that I have the same problem as rodney32, the plastic oblong piece opposite to the webcam on the upper side of the laptop lid is chipping away. It´s like small glossy plastic pieces breaking away. It´s not to severe and I have put adhesive transparent tape over it to avoid contact with this area and stop the cracking a bit! I will probably send it in to sony sometime near the warranty expiry date. I´m trying to determine why it has happened because it ocurred from one day to another (heat, some one hit it, dont know yet!).
By the way, Aleicgrant, nice picture of your laptops, good rigs you have there! Whose in the photo with the horse? Just kidding, you don´t have to tell me!

 

damn you guys are good. That me and my wife in Hawaii celebrating my b-day the day before we got married. !!!

Here are some additional pics of the Sony. Forgive the crappy Iphone pics

 

Shake & Bake!!!!!!! Sweet

 

Take a pix of it.. Im curious to see how it looks.