Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

There are rumors that they will be releasing a 17.4" model next month. As it stands, the F-series is the largest screened vaio laptop, at 16.4".

 

why would they go 17.4", I wonder.

 

I know it's a lazy request .............any chance of link to the update.

 

It would probably be better if you went to the Sony esupport webpage for your model.

 

curious question.

ajreynol, why does your nvidia ctrl panel look different from mine? you have the extra performance -> device settings part where you can overclock.

thx in advanced

 

@ Real eyes

recently, i had a tech guy come out to my apt's and fix my sony Z 620N. i remember back a couple of pages you had spoken to the filipino customer service and they had sent a tech out to your site. I too had spoken to a customer service rep from there and had a great experience. i believe my fan was not working correctly and had been restarting by itself, so they quickly sent me a new mobo and fan. everything was fixed and he put the comp back together, but when i using the laptop the next day i had found out that the gpu was skyrocketing up in heat. if the power cable was plugged in it would idle at 80 C and it wasnt it was at 50-55 C. when i plugged into the HDMI it would go to a crazy 107 C and then shut off. So i called customer service again and their sending another guy out.

Sorry for writing a book, but the point is if you have warranty and need something, i usually call around 2-4 pm pacific time and the phone is answered by a friendly service rep who will usually send someone to your house.

 

I snapped the CF push button. Is there anyway to fix this? I have a Nikon D300 and I kinda want to be able to use the CF. Sucks that Sny couldn't have made the jack with a push to release mechanism, like every other card reader.

 

you need to install nVidia system tools. it'll give you control over the GPU.

 

@djbootea.... thanks.

1st part, tech sent to you = good news!
2nd part, system behaving badly afterward = bad news (i find that degree of overheating scary, too)
3rd part, good news again! sending someone back to (hopefully) do it right this time.

107C --- yikes!

rising operating temp concerned me, too. maybe the same happened with yours: in the beginning, system's running cool & increases in heat seem appropriate (i.e. more demanding, esp video intensive apps, increased ambient temps). yet by the time my AW reached @ 4 mos of age, the overheating issue was almost constant from the time it was powered on & I don't know what changed....or is that just the way it goes?

now at 7 mos old, the system is no longer functional. since it was new, i've seen the blinking cursor @ boot up & at times msg that operating system couldn't be detected (but a restart or 2 usually resolved that). there were mounting power mgmt issues, power connector melted (disfigured). Screen went solid white periodically tho increasingly more often, only system restart would get the picture back. The keyboard replaced in August was again malfunctioning 1 mo. later. Ultimately, I had to reinstall Vista tho I was doing all I could to prevent that plus reinstalling SP2, updates from both MS & Sony + my own programs. Ended up doing all that anyway & it still continued to fail, ending w/the battery discharging w/in minutes (from 100% to 0%) & no power.

this time i was so hoping sony (via same terrific philipines call ctr) would also send a tech my way a 2nd time---esp given the 1st tech said he wasn't knowledgeable @ certain repairs so they went undone (like the audio prob; headphones disappeared from device mgr, can't detect OS & the heat issue. but turns out, this time they're being the opposite of accommodating altho they're quite courteous in the process.

i'll spare you the full situation but to say, some things don'e jibe---like this unit's registered plus they've already done a major service call on it. makes no sense to me why i'd have to keep faxing proof of purchase (under warranty till May 2011). also, tho i'm presently closer to the san diego service ctr than i am to home, i'm not allowed to take the unit directly there for repair, or to pick it up when done. tech support believes this is about a defective mobo.

like you, i wish they'd send a tech w/ replacement parts. Or, at the very least, how about i can print out a label to affix to the original box this unit was shipped in from the retailer. their way involves lots of hrs of travel that's totally unnecessary & poses further delays & hardship....& i did let them know that a health issue (namely chemo) makes this pretty difficult at this time. doesn't seem to make a difference however. right now to me, I feel I have to accommodate them tho I've been sold a defective machine. i'm typing this on a borrowed Dell XPS M1530....wish my AW had the build quality of this baby.

i wonder if there's anything else i can do at this point to get a more supportive solution. please let me know how your next repair works out---really want to hear that it's done right next time. love a success story!

PS: pardon my replying to your book with a much bigger book;-)

 

107C = return to Sony for repair before your GPU dies.

that is about 20 degrees beyond the top level of acceptability, dogg.

 

@ajreynol & djbootea....

Here, here! I double the notion! 107.C is extreme. No wonder your system shuts off at that point (heck, who wouldn't?!;-) Hope your onsite tech's visited you already----& maybe not the same guy this time considering the aftermath of your 1st repair.

Never did take my AW's temp after the system heated up excessively, but I do know that the bottom of my unit was too hot to put my hand on it. Being used to touching very hot items (tho quickly for baking/cooking), I've never personally experienced a PC to get so hot you'd need protection b4 lifting it. Also, after @ 4 mos old, the HDD became super noisy like it was chewing or choking on something. Don't think the fan was turning on as needed anymore (erratic). Originally, the unit ran so cool & quiet, i was very pleased @ that.

My PC's never been injured & has barely moved from it's original place. All Sony-issued updates were maintained to current. Of all of those, only the last BIOS update & 2 of the WinDVD for BD updates caused failure (BD playback stopped working & on 2nd update, DVD drive disappeared from Device Mgr & reg patch didn't correct it like has worked in the past on other systems). The tech @ the Philipines Call Ctr advised recently: don't install optional updates unless having problems. IOW if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I think the heat increased some more after that BIOS update (R1054Y2 I think) which took @ 20 mins to complete install & was unbelievably noisy during the process, sounded distressed/painful. Is that within normal range? Other problems increased after that update, too. So maybe it IS the mobo? I wanna be able to recognize what the symptoms mean to help avoid future probs. I'm ready for a complete replacement at this point.
(insert violin music here;-)

 

oh wow. I didn't realize his temperatures came after an in-site repair.

the reason Sony is refunding me now...it all started because of an in-site repair. a guy who may or may not have been familiar with the AW Sony line.

I'm almost ready to officially say: refuse in-home repair. your laptops are safer in the hands of Sony repair technicians who repair Sony's daily. Trust no one else with your Vaio if you can help it.

 

hard to say. I didn't experience any heat issues like that with my Vaio after bios updates.

but I'd recommend that you download HWmonitor and check out your temps.

if you want, download ORTHOS and do a CPU & memory stress test. Just let that application run for an hour or 2 and observe your CPU temps.

you can run something like 3DMark to stress test your GPU.

CPU shouldn't get over maybe 70-78C. GPU shouldn't go over 90C. If either does, you might want to call Sony. your thermal paste or fans might be questionable.

 

If motherboard acts strange it is good idea to test with one stick RAM at a time. Try with stick A only then try with stick B only.
I saw the case with notebook over heat because memory problem.

If BIOS update failed you should try again start from scratch download the BIOS from Sony. Some utility block or give wanning to downgrade version but most cases are OK to redownload same version.
If you feel new BIOS cause some error. You should talk to Sony about down grade BIOS to previous version.

Overheat or not it is good idea to undervolt CPU.
Idea is Intel took very wide margin on CPU supply voltage spec.
Let's say CPU will work on 0.8V but they spec it 1.2V. It is great for overclock but Notebook BIOS is not supporting overclock so instead lower the voltage to 1.0V.
Result is longer battery life, cooler running notebook without performance hit.
See this guide for How to do.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824


Good Luck!

 

Hi guys.

I haven't visit this forum in a really long time.

I have the AW290JFQ /w adobe RGB.

I am thinking to upgrade the OS to window 7.

Will Window 7 work 100% with AW290JFQ? Any problem?

Please anyone who has Window 7 please give me some feedback.

Thanks

 

Hi santodx5,

I have been using windows 7 for almost a month and I had 2 setup issues but after that seems stable.
1. I have to reinstall Sony utilities because S1, S2 and blue function keys were not working.
2. Difficult to connect to none windows 7 home network but I found solution using google search.

You can start from here for step by step instruction and you may qualify for free Win 7 upgrade.
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/os7upgrade.pl

Good Luck!

 

hi, i left my vaio aw190 open over night and i guess the hinges came loose or broken (notebook won't stay open and just flops about) i tried tightening screws in the back but no luck, i suppose ill have to open it up or something. Does anyone have any input on what i should do? maybe there are screws need to be tightened inside the computer? my laptop still works just needs to propped up, please help thanks

 

do you have your warranty in tact? if so, call Sony.

if not...I'd still probably call Sony.

 

No good news for a new A series, so far: we get a new Z series instead
https://presscentre.sony.eu/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=5545
Althoug 96% of Adobe RGB is not bad at all

 

Been using Windows 7 for months now and no problems. You can get all the drivers you need from my thread.

 

I've left mine open for days and the hinge is still tight. Strange yours came loose after just one night.

 

i think you guys might misunderstand that the current problem isnt my AW, but in my post i had stated my sony vaio "Z" 620N. my AW is doing fine, but the Z620N is acting up. the reason i posted here was b/c i wanted to say something about the great service from the filipino service center ppl.

so the tech guy came back (oh, last time when he was opening my Z620N, he scratched the hinge part next to the power on hinge. was taking it apart all barbarically) he put in another mobo and new fan. he forgot to connect the right speaker last time so he redid that but now the speaker is blown for some reason and is very distorted (very annoying). the problem now is that the cpu core heat is the same as the gpu. b4 the gpu had always been higher. ive been gettin paranoid at the little things because i think there might be a problem w/ the electrical part of the laptop. everytime i plug in the adapter the cores jump 8-10 C. its weird and i cant explain it. any ideas?? im going to call sony again to replace the right speaker, but im afraid the same tech guy is gonna come out and tear my laptop apart like the first 2 times. he scratched the left hinge when he opened it up the 2nd time around =(

so if you guys got any input on this situation, it would be great to hear. sry its not about an AW, but i wouldnt expect this kind of problem w/ a high-end product.

*sigh

oh ajreynol, for ur refund, did u ask for it or did they recommend? b/c if it is a an electrical problem, i might just ask sony for a refund and not go thru the waiting game of sending, getting it back and it still not being able to function correctly.

thx guys.

 

My guess is on battery the CPU is in power saving mode and when you plug in the CPU is running full speed.

 

Geeeez, I'm almost reluctant to report that mine has been left open most of the 7 mos I've had it, no degenerative hinge changes. Also have used it while on the road in our RV. From the start, tho, b/c the lid flexes so easily, it's been obvious the lid has to be opened, closed, & adjusted very gently, either from the very center front edge, or using both hands, one on either front corner of the lid. Already had more than enough internal problems since the thing was new---Cautious not to add to that heap o' trouble.

I'm in no position to know what caused the hinge to let loose after just 1 night but then, even these mass-produced machines are not identical. And all I can think of is, if not via accident (which wdn't take much!), then maybe it already had some vulnerability that wasn't known?

Here's hoping Sony doesn't consider it accidental damage not covered by standard warranty. Best of luck with that.

 

@ ajreynol --- wow, thx a lot! you bet i will download your recommended apps to monitor my system just as soon as it's repaired by sony. the unit became completely unusable so i'm presently typing this on borrowed (dependable!!) dell xps m1530. sure do miss my vaio aw however & so looking fwd to getting it back home where it belongs (in front of my face;-)

 

After the latest Win 7 update today my fingerprint reader and web cam aren`t working. Also I constantly get "USB Device Not Recognized" even when there are no usb devices connected to the laptop. External HDD works, but my mouse Logitech MX Revolution really isn`t recognized.

I installed webcam drivers AGAIN but it still isn`t working...

 

Sounds like you've got a build up of static. Remove the battery and power for a min.

 

Sounds like you were about right! Thanks, mate, that fixed it.

 

Dontcha love when that happens?! Something as simple as that & it really works. With the malfunctions described, I know I wouldn't have thought of discharging static buildup. Good job!

 

I continue to have this "USB not recognized" issue so often that I've removed the battery to make it quicker and easier to 'reset' with removing the AC adapter.

For me, it happens the most when playing back video and I use the touch controls above the function keys. I think they need to have a hardware change to dissipate the 'static' or whatever to ground to eliminate the issue.

This happens probably 2 times a week at this point and is EXTREMELY ANNOYING!

 

I've had my VGN-AW31M for around 3 months now, an excellent laptop however already the palm rest is wearing through, revealing a black plastic underneath the original silver/grey finish.

After contacting Sony I was told I'd have to pay £240 for them to replace the palm rest as it didn't fall under warranty, this is ridiculous considering I've only had it for 3 months, this shouldn't happen on such an expensive product.

Any info on removing the palm rest would be much appreciated, as £25.77 for a new palm rest and doing it myself beats £240 for 5+ days without a laptop EVERY TIME.

I've searched around yet nothing has really touched on taking the palm rest off, any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks allot in advance guys!

 

Do you use the AW at home or on the go?

 

Exclusively at home.

 

just upgraded stickers a bit added dolby win 7 and intel sticker look nice

 

How about using an external USB mouse and keyboard? Wireless would be even better.

 

people with palm rest issues:

give up now. I watched the repairman come out to repair my AW by replacing the palm rest. there are about 30 screws, power cables, and other stuff attached to it. it was a nightmare to take apart and it would be a nightmare to put back together.

If I were you, I'd get a few stickers and live with it. Yes, it suck that your expensive machine was so susceptible to this (mine did something much worse), but all laptops are vulnerable in this way. palm sweat eats away at laptop palmrest areas. after my repair experience, I can't even say sending it to Sony is a good idea. seems to do more harm than good.

 

@ajreynol
what actually was wrong with your laptop?
which part?

 

This is why I've not sent mine in for the annoying USB problem. Overall, I've decided that the pain of rebooting, disconnecting power, etc, is less than the risk of sending it in and having something else screwed up, especially the RGB display which is the real asset of this AW notebook.

I did go for 45 days between December and January without the issue and thought for a minute that a BIOS reset solved the problem, but it comes back even after doing subsequent BIOS resets. I believe it really is a hardware problem, not firmware, not software. At some point, perhaps they modified the design and later builds do not have the problem.

Anyway, I agree about not sending it in if you can avoid it. My palmrest, although wearing down to a smooth spot (on the rubber premium model), is still working fine.

 

I have had my AW190JAH for a while now, pretty satisfied. However, I have been having problems with the wifi card. My connection will randomly drop, the router is listed as an available connection but I get the "Windows can not connect to this network" error if I try reconnecting. The only fix is to go power cycle (unplug and plug in the power) my router. It seems to be totally random, sometimes during basic web browsing, or while streaming media to PS3 with PlayOn, or even while the computer is just sitting idle. There are 3 other laptops used on my network and none of them have this issue.

If anyone has a suggestion or solution, it would be very much appreciated.

PS - I am running Windows 7 and I have updated the drivers.

 

That's so true, it's only that I wish had done that in the first place had I known the palm rest would wear away so quickly...

I intended to do this after its repair but to be honest that looks pretty much out of the question considering the price and risk of my laptop likely coming back wiped (you never know when you send your things away...)

There is already a black patch about 2cm high and a black streak running along the bottom edge of the palmrest just from general use, maybe its a bit late for an external keyboard, it'll still look rubbish.

 

For those who may be interested I have successfully upgraded my 180Y/Q with 8GB of RAM, 1TB Seagate hard drive and a T9900 processor. All are performng really well.

The hardest mod was the Seagate HD..I had to remove the drive caddy and use homemade foam cushions to hold the drive firmly in place on three sides. The drive bay cover fits snugly and hold the drive in place veritcally.

Despite Sony's claim that this model will take only 8GB of RAM the BIOS accomodated it with no problem.

This system flys!

 

@orionz
yeah about ram that is old we know it will eat up to 8 gig
but about hdd why u said u upgraded when u have ancient hdd there.. ?
u should upgrade properly ... put there 2x ssds in raid then u will have speedy machine that core 2 duo or 8gig ram will not make huge difference in performance ..

 

I was thinking more in terms of convenience and practically.

 

yeah I agree with you, I just hate when my things get like this, especially when they aren't supposed to...

My wireless Logitech mouse is still working perfectly, I'll probably pick up a wireless keyboard as well, thanks.

 

Good to know this and thanks for posting. Running win 7 64 bit?

 

Right now Vista Ultimate 64 bit.

 

There are 1TB 2.5" HDDs already? I am quite interested, where did you buy it, what did you do to fit it and so on. I have the standard 1 320Gb 7200RPM HDD.

 

Hello everybody!
I'm interested in buying a Vaio AW series laptop and can't realy understand the nomenclature Sony uses. I've heard that these series uses a magnesium alloy display lid and some king of leather insertion in the touchpad area, do these features come with all the models in these series?
In my country I could only find at an afordable price these two models: AW290JAH(T9550, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 9600GT 512MB, FULL HD) for about 1100EUR and AW41ZF/B (T9600, 4GB RAM, 2x500GB, 9600GT 512MB, FULL HD) priced at 1200EUR. Another thing I've heard is that there are three different colour schemes: titanium grey, matte black and glossy piano black. The thing is that I don't want it to be glossy, it looks to me like a fingerprint magnet, so can anybody tell me please if the models above are or are not glossy.
Cheers!

 

My AW290JAH is matte black which I find really good. No fingerprints at all!
It doesn`t have the palm rest cushion though I thought it would, but...

 

@viktor999, I think the best way to describe the titanium grey is like a smooth, non-glossy finish. It does not show finger prints. It looks nice and provides a good contrast to the black keyboard keys, which is good especially in rooms with dim lighting. There is no palm rest cushion but I have no comfort issues when typing. I thought that leather palm rest was just a premium asthetic enhancement anyways. They should both be fantastic machines. And, the 1920 x 1080 screen is beautiful. My AW190 is 14 months old and is still going strong.