Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

From whom did you buy it from?

In what OS representation language was it ordered?

I rather have a perfectly working F w/o dead pixels, etc than exchange it for "newer" one with some problems, but he, that's just me.

BTW, my first boot (US F) was not directly to Win 7, there was some setup stuff & program installation options.

JUST PLAY WITH IT!

 

Storename won't tell you much (Media Markt), it's originally in dutch though, soyou cleared my first suspicion up in the previous post... indeed, it does make sense that the fact that I did not choose the original language means it has to do a new install...

Indeed no dead pixels, hearing the high frequency sounds every now and then (whistling of the wind type of thing), but again, no biggie. Loving it so far.

 

The "whistling" noise is probably normal, when I first heard about that I didn't know that the vaio uses a panasonic maglev fan. Maglev fans are nice because they have no bearings to burn out (so it should in theory last the life of the machine), but they are known to make whining noises.

Also explained before, the i7 changes temperature a lot depending on what mode it's in. Problem is Sony didn't bother doing averaging, they just made the fan adjust based on live readings (good and bad.. for your wit XD)

The power supply issue is more common than I thought it'd be, but I still don't believe it's a good thing. Eg, they might've picked the wrong type of PSU for this machine, unfortunately.

I'll borrow my bro's camera later (mine doesn't do video recording), and show you the nature of the issue. FWIW I first noticed this issue on my first Z while installing OS X lol.

Speaking of OS X and hackintoshing, don't give up hope yet. I will get back to that (most likely) during the summer, or when work lightens up some.

 

Yeah, I just checked the youtube video of the unification topic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjINGudIi-s , and mine is nothing like that. In that video the noise is very apparent and constant, while mine does it only sometimes and it's not as loud as that... as said, it's like the wind blowing through a narrow place. I think this is as good as it gets. *fingers crossed*

 

I never had a noise like that. I am fine with my machine's noises (although, concerned about the LCD inverter buzzing as it does).

The power supply crap has me wondering though.

 

That's my F on the video. It was not loud, the mic & camera mic sensitivity were turned up to the max.

 

Thanks, that is great. Do you by any chance have some instructions to dismantle the screen?

 

Thanks for the update, I haven't started that process myself yet, but soon, work has been a dog recently. I have to confront them about when the laptop went in for repair, the technician told me the LCD was defective, but when Sony talked to them, it suddenly became 'functioning normally'. Sorry i have never used the "E-promise" program.

 

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/02/03/repair-notebook-lcd-screen/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_FtMr_40-w

 

Soooo

*stares at the F11ZE owners and their funny keyboards*

Someone brave enough to pry their LCD open? Aww

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6042581#post6042581

 

Hello to All.

My Vaio F has a problem in first 2 days, it has just stopped functioning all of a sudden when I was watching a movie in internet, I mean no keyboard or mouse did work, I tried ctrl+alt+del to switch task manager on but in vain, so I had to turn it off from the power button. The same thing happened 3-4 times in the next 2 days. Did anybody have problem like that or could anybody help me to solve it?

VPCF1190X-CTO, i7-720QM, US Premium Display (1920x1080), 8GB, HDD 640GB, Blu-ray player, Key Backlight, Standard Battery, Black, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Shipped at 16 march.

Thanks in advance.

David.

 

(1)Run VAIO care to check memory.

(2) could be a power supply problem, drop in voltage would cause a freeze.

 

You don't give much details; what "internet", browser, etc?

Check: VAIO_F_Series Lockup on Youtube?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6039850&posted=1#post6039850

 

But it always seems to be an Nvidia motherboard chipset, incomplete Flash install (with Ctl-alt-del still usable) or in fact bad memory. There's no account of a perfectly stable system freezing entirely on Youtube. Thus memory should be eliminated as a Problem. I watch LOTS of Youtube, AND run Premiere etc. and have not had one system freeze.

 

ummm, now this is my first laptop, but after a full charge sessions yesterday night and youtubing abit this morning, the computer suddenlyt went black and shut down... rebooting windows showed it had 2% battery life left... after about an hour and a bit of using youtube... now I know from the unification post that this is about normal, but how does this compare to other laptops?

 

To all in the know in the UK:

Has anyone asked about the BI model coming back in stock? I'm waiting on one ordered through a local supplier but everywhere is telling me it's not currently available. Was told it'd be delivered on Thursday but it was a no-show from the Sony delivery guys.

There any problems with the BI model or is it just understocked for the demand?

 

I was hoping for something more specific to our model, because there are some screw which cant be accessed because of the drop hinge. Wondered if i would have to dismantle more than just the screen assembly.

 

Remove the two screws each side of the hinge (underneath) and slide back.

 

To UK spec owners,

Does anyone know if the f11 will play region 1 DVDs ?

 

Oh OK, didnt realise it was that easy.

 

This screen is far inferior to most others.

Okay. The topic of the US 1080 screen has been well documented in this thread and I have made my opinion known as well. But yesterday I had a chance to really compare this screen to other laptops and it does not fair well. Even with monitor calibration and adjustments this screen looks a little washed out compared to others. The bottom light bleed is worse than others. The vertical viewing, which results in flat black blotches in the dark and shaded areas, is also inferior to anything I have ever seen. I did a side by side comparison with my Dell XPS 1400 x 900 and with many other friends with laptops, at my favorite coffee shop- Sony's included. Being objective I cannot put this another way. This laptop is fast and powerful. It has most of the bells and whistles anyone could need. Great look as well. But if one is considering to use this laptop for their media screen- maybe has no TV at all, I would strongly discourage you from choosing this laptop. I have had this machine for over six wees now and have given it very positive reviews. But Sony really dropped the ball with this screen. I think I paid an extra $250 for the HD option as well. To any of the seasoned posters here- am I missing something?



Frankly, I'm a little bummed. The screen eliminates the wow factor.

 

You paid only $50 more for the 1920 X 1080 screen rather than the 1600 X 900, and $100 more for the GT330 rather than the GT310. The latter is WELL worth the upgrade and not related to the display resolution or quality in any way. In other words you didn't pay any excessive amount for the screen.

 

Quite right Melody. But what is your overall current opinion of the screen? I mean it's not unwatchable or just plain horrible, but compared to other screens currently out there- my opinion it's far inferior.

 

I agree, but the display model number is the same as that used in some FW's so something else is going on. Sharp, the inventor of the LCD screen, would hardly be making the worst screens on a laptop, especially since they supply many of the other laptop manufacturers also.

 

"this screen looks a little washed out" - I disagree totally about this. I do critical photo editing on my F, the main reason I bought one is for handling my huge Adobe Lightroom catalog (90,000 photos) & to apply amazingly fast any editing effects I choose to do with Lightroom, Photoshop, Nikon CaptureNX, etc.

If I could not obtain with the Vaio_VPCF110_series true colors, contrast & saturation, I would sell it immediately. My ultimate test is: tweak the photo & then print it. It looks exactly like what is displayed on my screen. Otherwise, what is the point of photo editing in the first place?

Maybe there is something wrong in your settings or with the profile you chose if your display is "a little washed out". Check Monitor Profiles Roundup and double check your settings following slrosenfeld’s or my instructions.

This is truly what I see on my monitor, I compared it with an expensive full size physical X-Rite Original ColorChecker Card held next to my F display:

 

Any requests for the unification thread (format, additional links, additional tweaks/issues that SHOULD be there but aren't, incorrect information, etc etc)?

Joe, I have your mails, and will get to adding your links soon, I don't mind waiting a few days to see where the thread heads before I update the unification, and I've been pretty busy trying to shoot some footage of my kids and then edit the film.

I need to find a better AVCHD editing software I think. The Sony Vaio software instantly recognized and imported my AVCHD files - which was very useful. After import, I am using Pinnacle 14 ultimate for image processing, and it is user-friendly, but crash prone. I was able to render a 1080p avchd on DVD disk that plays in my blu-ray, and it took about an hour to process the image file. Burning was about 10 minutes or so, I really need to time these things more exactly.

I can only imagine how long this would have taken on my core 2 duo laptop that I gave my wife. Windows performance showed 8 "cores" running at 100% on my i7 chip. Impressive. That's a lot of computing power at work.

Anyhow, I have a masterpiece 1080p hi-def 30 minute movie of our trip to my parents house, and grandpa and my son riding around in a jeep in the desert. Canon Vixia HF S100 + Wide-Angle Lens for most shots + Sony Vaio F11 for the processing and burning. It's a match made in heaven.

On another note, I have an external eSata drive, and I copied from my intel SSD 160 GB a 2gig file... for some reason the transfer speed stayed around 150 MB/s the whole transfer. It started faster, then slowed down as it went, but compare that to the traditional USB speeds, and you will realize how happy I am. Did I mention that I _love_ eSata? Computers are so so so so so so so so SO much better as time goes by.

-Lovin my Vaio-

As far as all the issues people post about... I have simply been using my VAIO and not noticing the issues. And I am happy with the screen, speed, bootup, and performance through my everyday use of the laptop as a law student, professional, father, and a 31 y/o casual gamer.

Keep on rockin' the thread guys.

 

"I am using Pinnacle 14 ultimate for image processing, and it is user-friendly, but crash prone" - Trying this search: "windows 7" 64-bit Pinnacle studio 14 ultimate crashing, I found this: Pinnacle Studio 14 ultimate Collection Crash Down Windows 7.

Have you checked: Studio Ultimate 14 Support?

When editing & rendering, my original movie footage is on an external drive connected via eSATA so C: handles only the program & temp folder instead of going back & forth between footage & temp folder.

I would try to fix your Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate before buying a very good but pricey Sony_Vegas or Adobe_Premiere, for example.

Use your Windows Event Viewer to find the error messages related to your Studio Ultimate 14 Crashing and write down the error #: Start > type: event > and click on Event Viewer.

Or: > Start button > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking Event Viewer.

What information appears in event logs (Windows Event Viewer)?

BTW lrudyk, thanks for creating & maintaining the Unification Post #2!

**************
And this applies to everybody asking for suggestions to fix something: please report if it worked or not! So the next guy with a similar problem does not have to post: So X, how did you solve your problem?

 

I have no screen issues whatsoever. I am never having to constantly adjust the screen, nor having issues with multiple people watching a trailer on this laptop from many angles. As far as I am concerned this screen is excellent. Watching Transformers 2 on Blu-Ray on this screen is a sight to behold especially if you have the Walmart exclusive big screen version. Using the color profiles provided by other's makes it look even better. I am very pleased with this laptop and cannot wait to save up and improve it some more. i just ordered the extra large battery, looking to upgrade to a 500gb 7200 rpm and increase from 6gb to 8gb ramm. I am not discounting others thoughts on the screen just giving my own opinion and others that I have shown this bad boy to.

 

"As far as I am concerned this screen is excellent" - Thank you for your actual F owner display feedback.
____________

"looking to upgrade to a 500gb 7200 rpm" - I did that and killed two birds with one stone, check:

VAIO_F HDD Choice & Intel's Memory Ratings

Vaio_F: Seagate 7200 vs. Samsung 5400 Windows Experience Rating

And I am now using my F OEM 5400 rpm HDD in an external Power eSATA enclosure. See: Sony_VAIO F Power Over eSATA Port & ext Enclosures Benchmarks

Be sure to check: Sony_VAIO_F C: Drive Partitions & Recovery Trick.

Before attempting a HDD Upgrade:

1- Create recovery discs (to preserve factory state, DL not too good, 2 DVD's. 1 or 2 more may be needed if you added optional software via CTO.

2- Create a system repair disc (one CD)

3- Create a system image, which contains a copy of Windows and copies of your added programs, customized system settings, and files with Windows Backup or an other backup utility.

3.1 - I used Acronis before but with 7, Windows Backup is already included in the F's OS, fast, free & working just fine. My most recent full system image size is 110GB so way to big for DVD's. An external drive should be used for this, preferably connected to the F via eSATA or Power Over eSATA vs. the much slower USB port.

So, if you want the OEM Factory State, use the recovery discs to install your new HDD. If you want the new HDD to be exactly as your old HDD is @ the present with your added programs & customizations, use the system image!

Hope it helps.

 

Yes! Thank you very much. Now I just have to patient and save up. Thanks!

 

*smirk*

Joe stop it! Sometimes I find the screen varies just by colors displayed. For example, you can get a fairly wide viewing angle if your screen has a light (daytime) picture on the screen, but an impossibly narrow one if it has a very dark image.

You see the solid aqua info bar on the left side of my post? On my F series, if I make the window the height of the screen, it's very obvious that the aquar bar is getting progressively lighter as you go up.

It's not the worst screen I've seen in a laptop, but I've seen much much better. OTOH, nothing comes close to the IPS/AFFS screens you can drop into lenovo thinkpads.

 

Turns out Sony had misinformed themselves. My laptop WAS shipped to me on Friday and it's due to arrive tomorrow! (Monday). I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow evening.

 

Sorry about the late reply...I was out of town. Actually photos are already in the forum...You can find it here (Thanks to slrosenfeld:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5808888#post5808888

I was also worried about it sticking out too much and not fitting into my laptop compartment in the back pack...But after I got...it fit just fine.
It does come out about little over 1/2 inch or so. It props the laptop up when you are using it...makes the laptop breath little better and helps you type little better. I am glad that I got it. For me...I can live with the bulk that adds.
I hope it helps....just let me know if you have any other questions!

 

Sorry if this has been answered already.
I have done exactly this...my first F came with 2 x 2GB when I ordered 4GB...but I had to return the laptop because it died in less than two days.
When I order the replacement...Sony started to offer 1 x 4GB when you order 4GB of RAM...which is great for us. I have ordered 2GB DDR3-1333 from E-Bay. Someone had a used one (which came out of a brand new HP they bought)...I got it for $21 including shipping. Before my first boot when I received my new laptop...I put the 2GB module in and I was in business!
Saved $160 because Sony started to give away 1 4GB module instead of 2 x 2GB. Mine came with Samsung DDR3-10600 (1333MHz) And the one I bought from Ebay was Samsung as well. Lucky for me...I guess
It is very easy...Only one screw...you just have to make sure that you have 1 x 4GB... Good luck to you!

 

Sony done me right...my first one specifically said 2 x 2GB...and it came with 2 x 2GB...
My new one specifically said 1 x 4GB...and it game with 1 x 4GB...

 

Your F is broken!

You should return it & get the much better brand X instead.

 

Great! Was is the exact model # of the stick you got on Fleabay?

Any other feedback on your new machine besides the memory thing?

 

Hi, Joe... I have actually posted my thoughts on my new one when I've received it already... http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6026993&postcount=1232
One other thing I have notice was that...I manually put it to hibernation after I finish using it one night...when I did this...I had 48% of battery left.
The next morning...I plug the machine in...pressed the power botton...it would not turn on...
After taking the battery out...manual drain (press and hold the power button)...put the battery back on...It powered on...
After it booted...my battery was @ 2% and charging. I think F series has a problem turning itself back on after hibernation or while it is sleeping... Not sure.

Tonight I connected my motorola S9-HD (Stereo Bluetooth headset)...and loving it. My 3.5 year old daughter took my headset...walked away from the computer (About 15 feet)...my bluetooth mouse became very sluggish...when she came back closer...the mouse came back to normal working condition.

I am attaching a picture of my new F...and picture of my memory modules...the 4GB (on the bottom slot) came with my F...the 2GB module is the one that I bought from Ebay....You can see the part numbers in the picture...They are Both DDR3-10600S.
4GB was made in Korea with Date code of 1007 (2010 CW 07) ...and 2GB was made in China (with date code 0936). I know the module that I bought came out of HP machine...probably Envy...because it has a sticker saying "replace with HP replacement part" or something like that on the other side...

 

Ohh Thanks so much, I was hoping someone had done the same.
I may go ahead and order mine now. Although the Blu Ray drive is on backorder and shipping date will be 4/6/2010!!

 

That's great kihokang, your 2GB stick is the same brand & has the same type of chips as you 4GB one.

About your hibernation & battery problem, it's a perfect case for calling powercfg to the rescue!

Check also " Vaio_not sleeping or hibernating correctly" in, you guessed it, the Unification Post #2!

Battery Overnight Drainage FIX!

On a sad note, your F is gray, my black F is much nicer.

Thanks for the photos.

 

Thanks!! this really helps, now I just need to bite the bullet and go order it!
Saving $90 as they are giving free Blu ray upgrade plus we can get Student Discount!!
I checked on Ebay and i found the memory but they want over $50 for it! I'm going to try offering lower and see what happens

 

Joe, his F, your F, and my F are all the same "black" color lol. He just took his picture with a flash..

The "grey" F is silver on the inside. Too bad, I'd love it XD The keyboard contrasts nicer Still looks pretty damn good in the black color though

 

Hah...you are so funny Joe...
Thank you for all of your post/help as well...I must have read ~1000 of your helpful posts...

This is just me kidding with you now...
First you call my F a bear (due to hibernation issue I meantion earlier)...now you are telling me that my F is ugly bear...Hah Hah...I will have to now post something to make your belly hurt a little...

I got all of this for $1179.99 + tax...then $21 extra for 2GB RAM from Fleabay.

i7 720QM...6GB RAM...320GB 7200RPM...BD-ROM...1080p screen GT 330m card...backlit keyboard...large capacity battery...

Actually mine is black as well (US Model)...well...black as I can get it in US.
I think glayish color is due to the flash...

 

Thought so XD

Dang! You bought from that one dude huh! GRR. I paid so much more for mine at best buy *HITS*

Damn! lol.

 

Ok...this is for the folks who are afraid to get the large capacity battery because you are afraid that your F will not fit in your laptop backpack...

Enjoy!

 

Wow, that's a good very price. I paid $150 more for the same specs except for a regular battery & 500GB HDD.

On a sad note, you'll have to spend the savings on a new camera if your F is also black.

P.S. My F is still nicer than yours because it's what's inside that really counts.

 

photos please

 

Crazy right?
After telling the sales person on the phone for discount on my first order...I told them I was over my budget and my wife will kill me...
They initially offered me 5% then...10% when I said I would really like to upgrade to BD-ROM. When I received my CTO...they started to offer the free BD-ROM on the same day... So I called and asked for refund...they gave me back $90+Tax. So the total came out to $1089.99. I was so happy...then my laptop died next morning...

When I ordered the new replacement because I didn't want to get my brand new laptop...they still have the free BD-ROM upgrade...then they started to offer 1 x 4GB on CTOs...when I explain the detail about my first experience...they gave me flat $150 off...

Since I got the free BD-ROM...then $150 off...I figured I would add the large capacity battery...Worked out great so far...but I hope this one doesn't cause me any problems in a long run.

 

Ugly! I would have thought it would be better with the battery turned to the inside of the case. Anyway that's decided me that I will NOT get the backpack, but rather the Microsoft Messenger 39000, or Stephen Gould Mythos. But I realize a briefcase-style bag is for a different general "philosophy" of carrying stuff around than a backpack.

Thanks for the pictures..