Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

Hi Varog
My AW290JFQ comes with 2 Cables for TV capture.An External Cable as follow and an Antenna to adapt to the External:
1) M760_TV_CABLE EXTERNAL ( F TYPE)
1-835-558-11
2008.09.26 REV:A

2) the small antenna ref:
M780_RF_CABLE
073-0001-5286_A
08.1003 REV:A

I hope that can help you

 

If you want to go the safest route you can use the below 259.42 version:

ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/VAIO/ORIGINAL/NVIDIA_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_8.17.12.5903_X64.ZIP

Installed fine on my AW over my previous driver version, just tell the warning that pops up to ignore it being non-signature.

Did not fix my old issue of PhysX not working darn it.

 

anyone know will AW available with sandy bridge?

 

Sony is making AWs again?

 

AW was D/C'd a long time ago. Too bad cause the version I have has one of the best displays available on a notebook. You should see it compared to a 17 inch MBP. Poor Mac just can't hang particularly with regard to the color red. Not enough market for it though and away it went.

 

The mine is broken. Did you buy it; I don't know where can I buy it. HELP! Thanks!

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask you about the gaming mouse you are using on your VAIO AW.

I have bought a Roccat Pyra Wired laptop gaming mouse and it turns out that it is not compatible with the AW. Whenever the computer is started with the mouse plugged in it, you'll have to disconnect and replug it again once you are in windows in order for it to be recognized.

This does not happen on other computers in my home. I tried setting the USB power saving stuff, flashing the bios, updating drivers... With no luck.

Can you please tell me if one of you is successfully using a Roccat mouse (or Razer) on its AW successfully? I would like to change my Roccat Pyra to something else, but I want to be sure I won't get the problem again.

Thanks a lot to you all for this impressive thread, by the way. It has been very very useful to me.

 

I use a Razer Orochi without any problems. Bluetooth works fine too!

 

I've got two year old AW11XU and was wondering what upgrade options I have.??? Maybe graphic card, CPU etc

Anyone have any ideas

I think my Blu-ray drive might be faulty is there anyway of diagnosing potential faults with the drive.

 

Is this a good deal or bad? Thinking about 8Gb RAM in my AW.

Amazon.com: Corsair Memory VS8GSDSKIT800D2 8 GB 2 X 4 GB PC2-6400 800Mhz 200-pin DDR2 Laptop Memory Kit: Electronics

 

Darklich, I think it´s a good deal because:
1-Dram market prices have dropped and it is best time to buy or upgrade memory
2-I have checked other RAM dealers (this is my case here in Spain) and this memory isn´t available, only corsair have the 8gb pack.
3-Corsair memory is trustworthy

I will probably be upgrading my memory sometime in august because I have holidays in september and want to try out and test the new memory with games and all!
If I upgrade before you I´ll post to tell you cost and compatibility of the memory etc...

 

i Think so Laptodd5
japan use it still for corporate and individuals.Not discontinued, except Japan.It is a sacred desktop replacement!

 

The AW Series is still one of the best VAIO's ever released IMO. Max out the RAM and put in an Intel 320 or Samsung 470 series SSD and it should remain "current" for several more years. Too bad Sony discontinued the line.

 

I have AW-VGN120J model...and i'm thinking about installing SSD drive and 8GB RAM memory. (2 x 4GB).

What is best solution for this upgrade, what is the best SSD drive for sony aw model's or it doesn't matter?

Can somebody send me a tutorial about this update, or link where I can find how to install it.

thanks

 

DDR2 RAM is unfortunately more expensive now than DDR3 but the AW uses the DDR2 so finding a deal like the Corsair RAM posted from darklich is a great find. As for the SSD's, the Intel or Samsung ones I mentioned seem to be the best compromise of speed and reliability and that they are a good SATA 2 SSD choice.

 

Can you recommend some sites or links where i can find how to instal it?

 

Try looking at these links.

Sony eSupport - VGN-AW190 - Manuals / Specs / Warranty

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/994660400_VGNAWseries_SSD_CRU.pdf

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/994660200_VGNAWseries_HDD_CRU.pdf

 

Just quit on my 17 MBP again. What a shame that my 2 year old Sony AW has a better display than any other notebook out there. Is everybody blind or something? Jeez, where's the progress and what's more important than the quality of the display?

 

Hi!
It took some time but I have just found that my AW11S has a second HDD bay...
I'd really love to put a SSD inside it, but there is no cable.
Looking on internet I found this thread where some interesting infos were posted. It was said that with these components:

Item M780 SATA HDD2 FPC, PART NO. 173023011 — $82.12
Item M780 HDD BRACKET SUB-ASSY, PART NO. X23201541 — $43.03
Item F SPECIAL APPEARANCE M3X3 Screw, PART NO. A1222968A — (you need four of these)
Item M2 SPECIAL HEAD, EG G SCREW, PART NO. 467283601 — $1.84 (you need two of these)

it would have been possible to add a second HDD.
This thread is quite long and it's a bit difficult to read it all, so I'm sorry if I'm asking something already said, but... are these information valid? Where can I buy these stuff? It looks like the Sony spare part website is down for maintenance.
Is it any schematics or tutorial about the work to do to install these pieces? I mean, what to open, where plug what, etc.
Beside that, what kind of SSD would be better to buy? SATA-I, SATA-II or what?

 

Hi GPC,

I was in the exact same position as you.

The info there is correct, but I could not locate the parts anywhere on the net. My only option was to regularly check ebay for salvaged parts of broken machines.

It took several weeks but eventually I found the parts I needed!

The 2nd caddy is identical to the one already found inside your laptop, as are the 4 screws needed to attach the HDD to it, and the 3 screws needed to attach the whole thing to the chassis. You should be able to get all this together - expect to pay ~£20

The cable though will completly replace the one already inside rather than add to it. This will probably cost ~£50

You'll need to remove the back cover to install this, but it very simple. You'll see exactly what to do once it's open.

Regarding the SDD, I ran out of money soon after I bought the parts above so am currently stuck with 2 HDDs!

Good luck!

 

Hi Stam, thanks for your answer!
I spent some time on internet looking for those pieces and they are in the catalog of a few websites, but available in none. I don't know if I can post links to shops, but I found one where they have the cable and the bracket claiming to ship it in 7-14 days after order.
Do you think it would be worthy to wait when the sony spare part web site comes back online next week to check if they have something available?
Well if you need money and get tired of the second HDD I can buy all stuff from you

 

From what I can tell LCDs in general have been stuck with the same flaws for the past few years. I have little hope that will change until OLEDs are made.

 

I'm not having the best luck searching these forums so I hope you'll excuse me if these questions have been asked.

I own a AW120J and have had problems with heat ever since I bought it. The exhaust on this laptop is insanely hot. It has never shut off because of it but I was wondering if this is normal??

My hard drive is always running which certainly doesn't help with the heat and I am curious if anyone else has this and if so what did you do to stop it? I've never had a computer whose drive was this active unless it was defragging.

Finally, I want to upgrade to Win 7 from Vista. Is there anything I need to worry about before starting? When I upgrade am I going to have to reinstall all my drivers or will it keep the drivers it has. I could care less about everything else on the hard drive just hate searching all over the internet for drivers, especially for laptops.

Thanks!

 

I have installed Win7 on my AW11S and it works fine.
Of course you have to look for all drivers: I suggest to make a list of all your hardware and download all drivers before doing the switch, so you have time to check if you have everything or not. And be prepared to lose some functionality of the function keys, at least that was my case.

 

Alright, hopefully when I install 7 I wont have this constant working drive problem. It's hard to concentrate on anything while the clicking goes on and on and on and.....

Thanks for help.

 

You should check out the new F 3D screen. Its better than the AW screen. Posting some pics comparing the AW RGB LED vs the new F 3D IPS. The AW is of course the one with the larger screen.

 

Do you know what panel type that F 3D IPS is?

 

Its kinda complex really. Sony has not shared any details regarding what panel it uses. And its hard to determine exactly cuz
1) It has all the characteristics of an IPS screen - super wide viewing angles (in fact better than all other IPS screen laptops), accurate colors BUT it has an ultra fast response rate which is not characteristic of an IPS panel
2) It could be a VA panel like in their Bravia TVs but then VAs cannot match IPS viewing angles but the F has viewing angles as good as IPS desktop monitors.

So its really very confusing. I have talked to many experts as well on this but even they are confused, some believe it is IPS and some think it may be VA.

 

I have a question about these two screws...
Are they so special? I found it for 60€/piece, it's crazy. But they are M3 and M2 screws, so quite normal... do they have something special? Can I use standard M2 and M3 screw?

 

Looks great! I'll have to check that out. Do they display this model at the Sony stores?

 

Yes most do You can find more pics in here (Bluray shots) like this one


http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...3-sony-vaio-f-3d-series-owners-lounge-61.html

 

Hi, any idea about how to recalibrate the laptop battery? When I unplug the laptop I have just a few minutes before it shuts itself down without any notice...

 

Are you sure it's calibration, mine does that, I've put it down to a knackered battery. I'm willing to be proved wrong and try a re-cal.

Anyone know how to do the re-cal.

 

Ops, sorry, I missed this message...
Well I'm not sure of course if it's a calibration problem or not. Surely the battery has lost capacity, but with my old Asus I had the same problem and battery recalibration helped to... well, not to solve the problem, but at least making it less annoying, since the computer *knew* that the battery was dead and didn't shut down without notice. It just told me that it was going to shut down...
So I thought to give a try also with this Vaio, but until now I've been unable to find any utility to calibrate the battery.

Anyway, I have a question.
I've received the cable and the piece to install the second HD. I hope they are ok, I didn't see them yet, I'm on vacation and they are at my workplace . I didn't buy the screws because it was simply a robbery: they are just M2 and M3 screws, I will cut some of the thousand screws I had at home to adapt the length, but I will not spend 30€ for a screw...
Does anyone have some instruction on how disassemble the bottom of the laptop to install the cable? When I open the PC hatch I can't see the socket for the hard disk cable, so I suppose I have to open it... more. Thanks!

 

I need some urgent help, the Bluray burner fitted in the AW series laptop is it the same Bluray burner that is fitted in the FZ series laptop.

Thanks

 

I received the cable and hd support, I'm ready to try to install them, but I'm really unable to find any guide on how to open the bottom of the laptop. Any help?

 

Hi

I Have Sony Vaio AW11Z\B And I Want To Upgrade My Computer

Do U Guys Have Any Suggestions What Can I Do With This Model ?

Can I Upgrae To 8 Giga?

Another Question I Want To Replace My Cpu Fan And Battery Do U Have Good Site In Europe Or Us To Buy Parts To My AW11Z\B ?

Thanks

 

RE: Upgrading RAM in VAIO AW Series
Sony's misquoted specs led to much conflicting info @ max RAM.

I have a 2 yr old AW160J/Q and a few mos ago when the unit was in the shop, finally got a definitive answer re the max amount of RAM that can be installed. It's 8 GB max on this model, however, I'm told by the tech service where mine was repaired that all the AW's have the same American MegaTrends mobo & all accept the same 8 GB RAM (2 DIMMS, 4 GB's each). I'm soon to upgrade to 8 GB -- this unit came w/only 4 GB & I'm always turning off programs/services to free up more RAM. I'm assuming the European AW's have the same specs/capacity. Good luck!

 

A couple wks ago the RGB LED display suddenly changed colors, as if a transparent film was superimposed on screen -- it cycled thru red, green & blue while the screen dimmed & brightened several times. Then it went BLACK. Dead. Have since connected it to an HDTV via HDMI cable, works just fine---but I want my laptop screen back! The display was the reason I purchased this model.

After HOURS on the phone with Sony tech "support" (& I used that term loosely w/ this mfgr), Sony agreed to repair/replace the display granted they could prove I didn't somehow (huh?) burn out the LED's myself (don't even know how I could achieve that). After agreeing & sending me an empty box to return the unit, Sony then emailed me that "due to a system error" they either can't perform the repair OR I must refile the claim (whew, the usual). The laptop is now 3 mos out of 2-yr warranty but given the heavy delays & incomplete repairs Sony's onsite techs performed, Sony sent me a letter in reply to my written grievance that they would extend further support---hence, I responded gladly to that.

I haven't done that yet but did get 1 estimate on screen replacement from LaptopGeniuses.com for $169 total. What I'd like most to know is whether this problem is caused by the LEDs/lamps & if so can just those be replaced or does the whole panel need replacing?

 

The AW uses a standard 9mm tray optical drive. What's your BluRay drive's mfgr & model number? I'd suppose you can find out which model the other VAIO series comes with (sorry, I'm not familiar with that line). Call Sony or compare both models' driver updates at esupport.sony.com; see YouTube vids; Google it, whatever). Best of luck to you.

 

Upgrading the 64GB SSD drive

Hi guys

This is my HDD configuration 1X HDD + 1X 64GB SSD:



My plan was to swap the 64GB SSD for a 128GB
I purchased a Samsung 470 series 128GB SSD
Samsung 470 Series 128GB Solid State Drive

I then realized that the laptop SSD connector is a double uSATA (micro SATA) model
Samsung is only plain SATA


Is there any trick to install the SATA Samsung 470 ??
Should I return this SSD unit ??
What about changing the uSATA ribbon cable for a M780 SATA HDD2 FPC cable (1-730-230-11) ??

THanks for your help

 

This is interesting... I've bought a M780 cable, what kind of SSD should I buy now? I had no idea there was different connectors...

 

Hi, I have Sony VAIO AW11XU and the problem is with laptop is it is not detecting it's hard drive which is 500gig it is only detecting it's 128gig RAID memory. Any one have any solution to the problem. Thank you

 

Have hardware damage. NW350F was plugged into a Radio Shack AC/AC adapter accidentally. Still fires up and runs W7 perfectly, but does not charge. AC/DC adapter and battery okay. I have 2 identical laptops, so diagnostics are correct and good 1 charges batteries for bad 1. Fuse, or Chip damage?

 

Upgrading the 64GB SSD drive

let me answer my own questions for future reference

To install a "plain SATA" SSD, you need
- M780 SATA HDD2 FPC cable (173023011)
- M780 HDD BRACKET SUB-ASSY (X23201541)
- 4 standard M3 screws

Installation is straighforward



I also replaced the 500Go HDD with a 1 To HDD
I now feel all set for the years to come




I will place the surplus hardware on ebay
The SSD could be used to build a RAID configuration

 

Kas2,

I may interested in the used parts. send me an e-mail when you post them on e-bay or if you want to just sell them to me directly.

Thanks,

blhx

 

Hi blhx
Please send me a PM with your e-mail address

 

Kas2,

PM option is not available for me.

 

@Kas2 - exaclty the same Ive found out (two uSata Ports)
What I did - I change tha main HDD to an Intel 80GB SSD.
Than I just bought a 128GB uSATA Flash SSD. Bacially I have now
80GB Main
64GB uSata 1.
128GB uSata 2.

Currently I have bought an HDD BAY for the optical drive and I am looking how to remove the optical drive now from my AW-21.

Does anyone know how I can remove the BlueRay Drive ?

 

blhx, I got your message