Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

My Seagate bought from ebay is ST91000430AS...I think it is a older drive and cost $165. Didn't care too much about speed as I use it to store mostly media files (TV & movies) all the stuff needing speed goes on the SSD's. Drive just fits in bay...WITHOUT caddy...but gives me all the room I need to store the big stuff.

 

Hm, there seems to be one auction for a Seagate 1TB 2.5" but it ships only to USA. Speed IS a problem with me because I don`t have any SSDs and my second bay doesn`t have any electronics to connect a second HDD. Maybe I`ll just get a 500GB 7200RPM.. not quite the upgrade from 320, but still...

 

Guys
AW and FW models disappeared from sony website ..

 

Well, the old FW-Series is now the F-series.

 

Where is the new AW series?

 

dear all as i had these problem once send back they didnt find any problem didnt cure my problems on my aw 18.4 and i was reading in a forum and i find out is static is the problem the only solution is unplog the laptop from the main turn it off leave for 5 to 30 minutes every thing comes back belive me it works you will get it again do the same which i did but i am sending mine so they could investegate to me is hardware problem. try it. thanks

 

Hey people, has anyone tried something exotic like 2x 256GB Samsung SSDs in RAID0? How blazing fast would such a setup be?
I`m interested because I mainly store photos on my hard drive and frequently have to batch manipulate a lot of files.

 

I actually have the cables, drive caddy, screws etc to install a second hard drvie in an AW...I did it for a previous machine which is now sold. The only requirement is that your BIOS have the option to see two or more drvies. Let me know if interested. RAID NOT possible unless you have the RAID option in your BIOS.

 

I have the 180Y/Q with 2x64gb Samsungs...I keep all my media on my mechanical hard drive EXCEPT my photos because of the dramatic decrease in access time! It is nearly instantaneous!

 

2x64gb Samsungs are slow try 2x 128 or 256 those latest ones
i cant dont have friggin RAID ..

 

R.I.P. AW series. Long live those AW's still going strong. I'm disappointed Sony didn't continue to refine such a fantastic notebook series. I'm very pleased with mine and will use it hopefully for years to come. And no to some who are thinking....the F series is NOT an AW replacement.

 

Typical. Sony saving $$$ with this config. SSD's get upgraded next!

 

Welcome to the bleeding edge. Lighten up mister, it's not the end of the world.

 

There is AW with 2X INTEL 160GB SSD and T9800.
I think Intel SSD is faster then Samsung.

See picture in his web site.
http://www.jaykeller.com/vaio/

 

I suspect the 18.4" formfactor will be back soon. Maybe March? with an i7 and at a competitive price.

the pricing on the new F-series has encouraged me. i7 QUAD + 640GB HDD + 6GB ram + 330M GT + 1080p @ 16.4" + backlit keyboard...for $1,600.

mighty impressive. I'd love to see a reborn AW series with similar specs (but an ATI DirectX 11-capable GPU instead of the 330M) for $1800-$2000.

I'd be a VAIO customer again. you guys just don't understand the withdraw I'm going through without my AW. nothing comes close to that Adobe RGB LED display.

 

Haha...yeah, you're right. I think I was irritated from another discussion at the time. Noted.

 

There are no other notebooks with a RGB LED display?

 

I guess that's another way of discharging static buildup. What's worked for me (as Sony techs instructed months ago) is to unplug, remove battery, press power button for 30 seconds----then reinsert battery, plug in, then power back on. It's quick. Since you, too, have had success with that trick then I guess there's more than one way to do it.

 

You described exactly what I want, too!!! Exactly.

 

HP EliteBook (8730w etc) with "DreamColor" built in conjunction with DreamWorks Studios (so sayeth HP;-) Honest, I'm not an HP fan yet what I've seen of this model (17" or 15") impressed me. Like it's barely 1" thick, lightweight, all metal (brushed anodized aluminum but comes in 2 color schemes or at least it did a few mos ago), has Sony's island-type keyboard called DuraKeys, & DuraScreen -- IOW, durable finishes that don't wear off like most laptops. Note that I don't own this so my hands-on knowledge is non-existent. But it's got an RGB-LED display!

also...
Dell XPS 16 (or Studio XPS 16) has an RGB-LED display.

I can't say that these will look the same as the AW's with RGB-LED. Can only let you know that they exist. Whomever's searching: wish you the best!

 

Urgent help needed, It would appear that I have been victim of some kind worm or virus that has stopped the loading of my desktop.

I have the following AW series AW11XU with 500gig hard drive and 128gig solid state hard drive. I have anti virus software installated and run a full system scan, which reported a number if viruses etc

I executed a file repair and clean up and this is when my system crashed. I can see both C & D drives and all of my data on both drives and the usual desktop etc.

I can start programs like office etc via short cut icons in my desk top file. I have a totally blank screen on my acual desktop with no start menu bar.

What I want to do is carry out a system restore using the system restore disks, if I do this will it wipe the whole of the C/D Drives or only the protected partition on C drive where the operating system loaded.

Any advice or help on how I can restore my machine would be much appreciated.

 

Hi p.laver,

Please see above 2 posts for how to keep d: drive while restore c: drive.
Seems he did it without issue. But I still recommend backup your important data before restore.

 

Guys, what`s the best way to software-calibrate that gorgeous RGB-LED screen of my AW-290JAH? Accurate color reproduction and gamma level is important to me since my main hobby is amateur photography but I don`t own a hardware calibrating device.

 

Just got off the phone to sony. The representative seemed to suggest an upgrade may be available soon.

 

Cheers for the info, I'm backing up my data now

 

buy a hardware calibration device. it's the only way if you want to get accurate colors, bro.

I recommend Eye-One Display 2.

I have it. It's worth the money because after you've calibrated all your computer displays, you can download free homebrew software and use it to calibrate your HDTVs as well!

and upgrade to what?

 

I figured, too, that I`ll have to get a real calibrator sooner or later. Can you mention some settings that you run on your AW notebook`s screen?

 

the eye-one display 2 creates a custom color profile that loads automatically with Windows. you don't need to adjust any settings other than brightness yourself.

you basically sit the sensor on the screen, hit "next" on the software and wait for it to finish.

don't go with the Spyder 2/3. they have quality issues that are well known. Eye-One's products are widely regarded.

 

Hiya, I have managed to get some life back into my laptop, I'm continuing backing all my files on C D drive, I would be very interested in thoughts on the following screen shot of my Drive configuration, it show an area of 12gig EISA, is this where the operating is stored. Thanks

 

Hiya,
No, Operating system is stored in c: drive. You can see (System,boot,....) in the status of C: drive.
I think 12gig EISA is hidden recovery partition. I heard you can run system recovery with hold some F-key while push power key to activate recovery center with out recovery disks. See manual for more information.

Once you run the recovery center, there are 2 options.
First one is "Restore c: drive".
If you select this it will test recovery partition and if it's good then restore C: drive to factory shipped condition. (over write your data in c: drive)
If recovery partition is not good. return 403 error.
Then select "restore complete system" option. It will restore C: drive and recovery partition. This option is not suppose to over write d: drive but I recommend to back up d: drive also.

This is what I learned from Rusty82. You can click > key next to his name to go to his old post and see the discussion we had.

Good Luck.

 

Hiya, Thank you for the feedback, I'm hoping 'D' drive won't be touched as this is a completly seperate hard Drive. I have backed all my data, I intend to move office and itunes to D drive, after double checking last night I don't have any data on C and the only programs I've installed on C is iTunes and Office.

I'm a little confused with the Recovery, when I use my recovery disks I get two choices

VIAO recovery
Windows recovery: I choose this option which pulled up menu with several choices and it allowed me to restore back to pervious version which worked. Vista now boots up correctly and I can back up all my data.

I'm assuming the VIAO recovery will carry out what you have suggested.

If I don't get the error '403' will it restore C drive to it's shipped condition?? Thanks

 

Hi , I have An VGN-AW390J and i was updating "UPEK protector Suite QL Software" The latest version and now the program doesnt work , any idea? I was using Sony web support for this update and now i get this message everytime i try to open the program " An internal Error occurred (rpnp2: no-svr(00000001fusserver))

Helpppppp

 

Yes, If you select "restore c drive" option.

 

Why just they don't announce anything oficially?! I'm going to return my f11 as 1080p is too small for a 16.4 but it hart to change i7 for a core2duo

 

Dell M6500 has RGB-LED display, supposedly the same as in the HP Elitebook 8730w (and upcoming 8740w) and the upcoming Lenovo W710.

If you check out the M6500 thread you'll see that many graphic professionals are having problems with accurate colour representation on the high gamut displays. (Even after calibration)

Saying that for the average user films and photos look so nice.

 

Is there a detailed comparison of vaio AW 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th seires? I'm interested in the RGB-LED display models which in Europe are: AW1RXU, AW2XRY/Q, AW3XRY/Q, AW4XRH/Q. As far as I can see, it's all up to increasing CPU about 0.2 GHZ with each refresh, adding some 2GB ram and ... What else? Are SSD drives the same? Are there any issues with old series that might have been resolved in the new AWs? In fact I'm trying to decide whether to take the first or the second AW as they (aw1-aw4) all have the same chipset (isn't it?), so I can save tons of money buying and upgrading an old series. Does this strategy have any drawbacks?

Or, in other words, can I simply buy AW1 and make AW4 out of it replacing the CPU, HDD and a few more things or not?

 

If there's anyone still alive here: please post a windows performance index for some top AW model (T9800, for instance) to compare with F11. Was unable to find it with this stupid search this thread...

 

This is what i have : BASE SCORE 5.9

Sony Vaio VGN-AW390J

Processor: Calculation per second - 6.4
Memory (RAM): Memory operations per second - 6.4
Graphics: Destop performance for Windows Aero - 6.4
Gaming Graphics: 3D business and gaming graphics performance - 6.4
Primary hard disk - 5.9

 

Thx a lot for the info! What CPU and RAM do you have?

UPD: as I understand, Intel P55 Mobile Chipset supports DDR3 and 1066 MHz system bus. Has anyone tried upgrading their AW with DDR3@1066? Intel also says that the chipset support core2quad and extreme processors - has anyone tried upgrading their cpu?

 

I just bought my VAIO AW series and was also wondering this exact thing especially the upgrade possibility of the cpu and gpu so any help would be great

 

Well, as for the RAM it should be rather straightforward - there's supposed to be a two-screw lid covering the RAM bay. You can buy any DDR3 1066 SODIMM memory and enjoy up to 8GB total of RAM The same is for HDD replacement. And as I understand such upgrades should not void the warranty (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

what configuration would the ram be? would it be 4 ram slots for 2gb ram? or to for 4?

thanks

 

Two for 4. So far, I've never seen a laptop with more that 2 slots.
You are welcome.

 

my old alienware m7700 had four slots but 4gb max

any idea as to the best cpu and gpu that can be fit into the Sony Vaio VGN-AW41MF/H? just got one for 800 euro that good?

 

Has anyone here received and installed the Sony Windows 7 upgrade kit, if so can you advise what's in the upgrade kit. Thanks

 

Hi michaeljordan1635 and qBot,

Thanks to orionz

known AW upgrades are
CPU: T9900
RAM: 8GB(2x4GB) DDR2 800Mhz
GPU: Nvidia 9600GT (cannot upgrade)
HDD: 320GB(2x160GB Intel SSD) RAID-0
(Raid-0 is BIOS dependent)

Chipset is PM45 and it support Q9100 and QX9300 but we don't know BIOS will support or not.
http://ark.intel.com/chipset.aspx?f...le+Intelﾂｮ+PM45+Express+Chipset

 

I wonder why nobody tried 1066 MHz DDR3?

 

Has anybody had to replace their optical drive? I have an AW21XY/Q and the central hub on the drive has broken and doesn't hold discs. The part number is: A1599970A ODD PCC [Blu-ray/12.7/x4]

Sony are being very slow to respond.

Alternatively if anyone knows a way to repair the hub rather than the whole drive (which works fine) then I'd welcome suggestions.

 

I checked with Sony about two weeks ago when I thought I had a failed optical (BluRay) drive....and they wanted $741.00 for a replacement. Imagine how happy I was when it turned out to come down to cleaning the lens on the BD drive!