Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

aaronjb, are you sure you did not mix your pills this morning?

 

Please ease up on Joe, this sniping doesn't contribute to the thread and may result in deletions of genuinely useful information.

Newcomers are getting confused over the mixed messages on the screen, and are being put off buying a unit for no reason, or are looking for faults on their genuinely good screen. I admit Joe has never explicitly accepted that there are production variations for the display, as there is for the cooling system..

 

And Joe, you don't personally know this fellow, so why get personal?

 

Totally uncalled for...

 

It's obvious.

You are kidding, right?

I never attacked first this guy.

Some thanks I received for my "irrational drivel":

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6009974&postcount=953
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6010452&postcount=971
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6010488&postcount=973
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6022104&postcount=1185
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6010452#post6010452
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6023153&postcount=1201
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6024596&postcount=1223
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6029497&postcount=1276
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6039543&postcount=1415
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6039701&postcount=1420
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6043192&postcount=1481
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6046427&postcount=1533
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6047087&postcount=1546
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6052751&postcount=1626
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6054105&postcount=1642
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6055017&postcount=1669
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6068042&postcount=1897
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6093857&postcount=2407
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6097833&postcount=2454
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6107130&postcount=2527
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6115691&postcount=2626
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6124050&postcount=2790
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6147162&postcount=3105
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6147751&postcount=3115

 

I've tried to read thru this thread and there's just too much info to digest. I'm under the impression that on newer models, Sony has fixed most of problems (whine, morse code etc). Is this a true statement and if not what isn't fixed. I am on who would not be able to tolerate the whine. I'm sensitive high pitched stuff.

 

Afraid not

 

Yup I have the exact same bleed! I still had not used my laptop to view movies till I saw this. I went into a dark room and sure enough mine has the same light bleed.. also the screen just seems a tad too bright/contrasty no matter what settings I adjust.

Other than that mine is great.

 

Most obvious ones seem to have been resolved at least from what I have been seeing.

I just got mine 2 weeks ago although it is a CTO versus a retail one. I don't have a whine, just a low constant fan noise which revs up an down according to what i am doing. which is expected with an i7 processor in there!

I do have a squeaky space bar and I am checking the posts on possible fixes. The only other issue I am researching is the battery drain when hibernated. My battery life dropped to 85% overnight from 100% and it was just sitting on my sofa overnight. I have checked all the recommended settings and tried the drain completely then recharge completely to calibrate suggestion as well

 

Shhesh you must be a 4year old in kindergarten......

 

Did you try the profiles found in Vaio_F_Series Monitor Profiles Roundup & US glossy
vs. EU Premium Displays?

Is auto brightness disabled on your F as well as auto color mode just under it?



*****

"I do have a squeaky space bar and I am checking the posts on possible fixes" - I took my spacebar off to make the photos in this post: F Squeaky Spacebar Fix & US Backlit Keyboard. Warning: may be considered "irrational drivel" by some.

I took it off a second time to take this one so it's not difficult & won't break anything:

 

I am stunned to find that people are still attacking the screen and Sony (and now Joe). The screen is what it is. The thing is that right now there is no other laptop that does what the F does at it's price point...except maybe HP....if you like the lovely little bubbles design. But they don't offer backlit keyboard as a CTO option as far as I know. Companies have to maintain margins and deliver profits...they all have to make choices. And so does anyone who doesn't like the screen. Give it back and get something else. Why live in pain? Life is too short to carry around resentments towards a laptop and a company.

PS - Ain't nobody who has been of service to as many people on this thread as Joe (Derrida, MelodyMaster, and To no End).

 

Yes Thanks, I am using spyder profile that another user submitted. I do have Autobrightness turned off. It is more that the screen is just bright in the total darkness even with brightness all the way down. For some reason it will not let me touch the auto color mode, keeps saying I am displaying to an external monitor since day one!

So I saw the remove the spacebar, but how does removing it fix it??

What do I do after I remove it? or does removing and reinstalling fix it??

Thanks again for all the help

 

"keeps saying I am displaying to an external monitor since day one" - Investigate that, check again the instructions how-to install profile.

Follow the link to the spacebar fix post & the links in it, I linked to some videos.

You can just wait a couple of days & the squeak goes away usually or remove, blow air & reset or add a tad of graphite (pencil dust) where the plastic clips to the metal bars & where there is metal to metal contacts. Just a few molecules of graphite is enough.

*****

@ Glashub: Thanks!

 

Yup, when I had started from out of the box and followed
1.In Vaio Control Center/Display/Automatic Brightness Settings uncheck the box that says "Adjust brightness automatically" and hit Apply
2. In Vaio Control Center/Display/Color Mode Setting, check "Do not apply color mode" and hit "Apply"

When i went to do step 2 it says "! Outputting to external display. The color mode setting is disabled"

 

AHA!! So you were the one who posted in the beginning of this owners thread about the graphite fix for the squeaky keys....Now I remember and that was what seemed like a long time ago. You probably had less than 10 postings at that time.

To anyone who's reading this, that method above can fix it instantly OR for a non-surgical way to get rid of the squeak, just leave it alone and let the internal parts settle in once you use it often enough. It will go away.

 

Hi!
Someone have the F11M1e screen profile?
thanks

 

I assume you have the european model with semi-gloss screen (not a matt screen)?

Here's a link to a useful post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6017649#post6017649

Note to yourself: the search function in the top right corner is a very useful function ;-)
This time I searched it for you, but normally I'm not in such a good mood

Btw, this thread has a superb Unification post, be sure to check it out!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5992644&postcount=554

 

I think SONY doing some clearance on the current stock of F...

 

Stunned!? What's stunning is that a company that used to be reputable is KNOWINGLY hocking FAULTY screens to unsuspecting customers and then sticking Canadian customers with them because all CTO sales are final! I've been ripped off and I'm not going to take a $1500 loss without a little resentment!

 

yes i have a glossy screen but i don't know witch profile to take
for the moment i use "matt800's profile (made with Spyder3Elite)" but i don't know if it's the good one

 

Agreed, SONY shouldn't let the customer taking the cost of their mistake even though SONY didn't know that the screen that they ordered from SHARP is defective/low quality but it is their decision to go with that route. They should be responsible rather giving an attitude that they never make this mistake.

Whatever they did, lets face it...the F that they sell have few known defects! Morse code (a mic fix would prevent the PC to enter sleep mode-unacceptable),whining fan,squeaking keyboard and the screen quality (even my 6 year old acer laptop have better screen). Its clearly a defective product and I refused to swallow my loss just like that.

 

Okay, so basicly I was following your procedure (exactly as described), and I managed to get the power led blinking green, every four seconds. The problem is, it just stopped blinking at some point, and never blinked orange. After that, I tried to power on the computer again (first without AC power, and then with AC power), and now it turns on but nothing happens. I can hear the optical drive turning on (it will even open if I press the button), but the screen won't turn on, and neither the HD led. I guess I bricked my F, and Sony can't help me since I live in Brazil.

I tried to remove the battery, unplugging the AC power, and pressing and holding the power button for a while, but it's not helping, nothing happens, it's not booting. AH, but after 20-30 seconds, the fan goes to full-speed.

Thank you Sony for making such a wonderful laptop.

 

THe LED will blink green as it is going into hibernation. You have to let the unit hibernate which will shut the computer down. You also have to leave it alone for a while and in my case a couple of hours. . Once the laptop shuts down and then immediately pressing the power button never brought me to a condition where the LED will blink slowly green and then orange.

 

Stunned too that you didn't do your research first. I'm sorry you're in pain but the truth is that you're now adding the the loss becuase Sony's taking up prime space in your head and they're not even paying you rent. Resentments lead to lost momenst full of the potential for beauty and lead to badhealth imo. As Sparky Anderson once said, "I don't spend any time thinking about the past, there ain't no future in it". I understand your feelings of powerlessness. We have only 3 choices in any situation. Accept it, leave it, or change it. You can't change it but you can leave it by selling the lappy or most practical...accept it. Just my .02.

 

Keyphrase - "few known defects". I own the F-11. I was one of the first on this forum to buy one. I returned one and have another with its own challenges. But I knew that as an early adopter I'd pay a price in terms of "problems". I still bought it because I needed a laptop knowing that those who followed could learn about flaws from early adopters and thereby make educated decisions. I am not a victim here. I chose to buy a product. There's a wealth of information regarding Sony and its products and other companies too. But i chose to go Sony. It's not the greatest product. Heck, I liked the Sony Vaio AW Premium better. But it cost much more.

Every product has issues for first movers. And every company has to heed the bottome line. And many companies cut corners where you can't see them. Think Toyota where quality comes first.

Look, I'm not trying to bust chops here. I am sorry that people are in pain. But there's no future in being a victim. Victims keep having the same experience over and over again...being victimized. That's a larger truth. It's easy to feel like a victim. I'm tempted often but I gotta own up the fact that at the end of the day I made a series of decisions based on intellect and emotions that puts the onus of responsibility for an unwelcome outcome on me.

 

I know, I did exactly what you said (and it's obviously not your fault, don't worry). I managed to get the green LED blinking some hours after it went into hibernation, but it stopped blinking alone, never managed to get an orange LED blinking. And now it looks like it's bricked, I can't get it to boot.

 

A laptop is not a first mover product. A laptop screen is by no means experimental. When I can look at screens made years ago that are significantly better than what Sony offers now, how can you argue that the poor quality Sony screen is a first mover issue? Same with the speakers, fan, etc.

 

Unless you really want it, I highly recommend not buying the F series from a store that doesn't have a no-questions-asked return policy.

Even then, this is not a premium laptop. It's like the ultimate Wal-Mart laptop or something. You know those $350 Turion laptops? Ok stick the i7 motherboard in there, and you have the F series.

That's all I have to say about that.

 

Is this F really all that bad? All the external reviews are pretty glowing. As far as I can tell judging by the reviews over at Best Buy, the latest iterations don't have any whine issues, and any iterations that do, they're easily fixed by messing with some microphone settings.

It's pretty incredible what's going around here. Usually the opinions here reflect the opinions on the rest of the net. But you guys are pretty much slamming this laptopl, when there's about 143 reviews of the laptop at Best Buy, that for the most part are all claiming it to be wonderful. Notebookcheck had basically nothing bad to say either. Nor Cnet. Nor Laptopmag. I mean...

What's the deal? Is the screen really that horrible? It's a 1080p screen, how bad can it be? I've heard about brightness issues, but seems that's related to the ambient sensor.

I don't know if it's a regional issue or what. But regarding the VPCF115FM sold at Best Buy, this machine seems to be a real big winner. What am I missing?
Usually I can read through several pages of a thread and get a general impression of the laptop. This thread is a mess. People arguing about the screen and speakers more than anything and attacking each other.

If someone could give me some pos/neg about this laptop, it would be great. Main thing I'm concerned about is the heat and fan noise, I don't want a blow dryer and I don't want the heat to kill it, I need it to last for another four years or so. Also, size wise, is it kind of portable? I understand it's a 16.4in screen, but is moving it around from one room to another room a chore? I like to move it from the desk to the bed for instance...

I'd appreciate some clarity on the machine, as you guys are confusing the heck out of me...lol

Oh, n the backlit kb, can you have it enabled all the time or are you at the mercy of the light sensor? I'd like to be able to control when/how long it turns on...are there any controls for it?

 

I agree NU_D, I have the VPCF115FM and have had very little issue's with it. The screen if great especially compared so some of the other screens out there. With all products there as some minor defects in the screen but unless you take a magnifying glass to it you won't be able to notice it.
I think alot of the issue's also reside with Windows7 and the drivers available for the OS. I am using Ubuntu 9.10 and while there are some things that do not work (such as auto dimming of the screen), the rest of the computer works flawlessly. The only time I have issues is when I start to tinker with it.

 

This is supposed to be a SONY, that alone is a "Premium", its not as bad as the wall-mart laptop as those usually ranged from 300-800 for the top of line. Even though its priced below Z series, F is still considered more expensive for the same class laptop from other manufacture (beside apple off course, their price is something else, maybe because of the aluminum body) All the defects usually not come from design part, its the material and assembly part. How can you explain if those $350 laptop even have better viewing angle screen then the F with no apparent light bleed?

 

Feel free to ignore the crazy people. For the most part the newer iterations don't seem to have any of the earlier issues. I love the screen other than for trying to watch movies in the dark which is where the light bleed is a little annoying. It does push out a lot of hot air, obviously because of the Quad core processor that is being cooled but is off on the left hand side and not a problem unless you put your hand right there. I've been using it on my lap with cushion under it and not having any problems. It does not weigh as much as I thought it would about 7 lbs. Not a chore to move it around at all.

The fan running is a little annoying initially, but if you have the TV on in the room or music playing not as obvious.

 

The F11 is a great value for the money. However, I'm unwilling to accept that the screen is "awesome". Again, at best it's tolerable.

 

Thanks for the comments guys! Can you guys shed light on the backlight on the keyboard... is there any control over it or is it all controlled by the ambient sensor? I'd like to use it a lot, not just when the room is pitch black. So if I could turn it on all the time for instance or something....

So would you say it runs "cool?" I've had 2 HPs die on me due to heat/Nvidia issues so I'm kind of scared as heck with heat. Regarding the fan noise, so if I were to use it in a lecture hall, it would annoy people around me?

Thanks so much guys!

 

You can say anything about this product,

BUT DONT SPEAK ADOUT JOE LIKE THIS.......

 

I've been told you can just stick a piece of tape over the sensor and the backlight stays on all the time. Since this is a relatively new machine, I really can't say about it running cool. Maybe Joe, MelodyMax and others who have had the machine for longer can answer that

 

I love my F119GS.

PROS
The system is fast and quiet and does everything I toss at it with elan. It will even play games well. When the system is working hard the fan pushes out hot air, but there's no whistle or whine. The F11 is one of the COOLEST-running i7 laptops on the market, as well as the fastest. There's no morse code. Audio is superb on external speakers either with the mini socket or HDMI, which supports Dolby 7.1. It's large enough for professional work with CAD windows and toolboxes, and light enough to carry around in a sleeve. The keyboard is the best I've ever used on ANY system. Battery life is decent, considering, and two batteries with sleeping between sessions will get the system through a workday without AC. The system clocks down on battery, as designed. The notebook case is durable (and good-looking) and resists flexing, it would handle reasonable impacts without interior damage I'd think. Win 7 is great and runs nearly everything flawlessly. Every software issue I've tracked down has been due to video driver (196.17 is a bit unstable in CAD and Direct 3D, so I've reverted back to 188, which is rock-solid) and VB7 dlls.

CONS
The screen is terrible, the worst I've seen - putting aside resolution and colorimetry, which are decent. There is too much shading in movies, which affects the ability to preview results properly in Premiere. And like all Nvidia cards, the GT330 does NOT support mirroring, which is the ability to output a DirectDraw image on a second monitor while showing the regular desktop on the primary. This also means that so far I have not found a way to run a game on one monitor and with monitoring tools on the other. Any ATI card will do all this.

For $2000, including Premiere Pro and 256 Gig SSD, this system was a bargain.

 

Wow there's a lot more hate here now than there was 2 days ago...

Why don't we try to (atleast) settle the screen debate. We need some volunteers (2 or 3?) who KNOW they have a BAD SCREEN (1080p and 900p, who know they have a bad screen with the shading effect) or that the KNOW is not one of the "good" screens (keyword: KNOW, not "I think my screen is bad because it sucks compared to something else" k? - we're trying to be empirical here ). Similarly, we need people who KNOW they have a "good" screen (I KNOW I have a "good" screen, so I can provide one frame of reference).

PM me if you wish to volunteer (and say what type of screen, Good/Bad 1080p/900p).

For potential volunteers - this is what a "good" screen looks like at the appropriate viewing angle:

 

Okay -- so, yeah, Sony knows about this thread and thus the post above.

And, I just went to the www.sonystyle.com site to look at the F specs and pricing (someone got one for $799, right?), and the site has been refreshed with new products in the opening features. Took forever to load (and I have an SSD).

Then I went to the F CTO page (another eternity to load) and scrolled down to the screen and read this:

16.4" VAIO Display (1600x900) with NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M GPU (512MB VRAM)

16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM) [add $142.50]

More Info
Display
VAIO Displays provide brilliant colors, sharp contrast and crisp graphics. Also featured is a special, anti-reflective coating that lessens glare and light reflection so you can enjoy a better picture. Additionally, the F notebook has a 1600x900 resolution to help minimize those annoying black bars when you watch a movie.

VAIO Premium Display is a Full High Definition display. Premium displays allow you to enjoy the clarity and brilliance of a 1080p High Definition viewing experience wherever you take your F Series notebook. Whether you're viewing a Blu-ray Disc™ movie, gaming, viewing photos, or just plowing through your workload, Premium displays deliver an industry-leading viewing experience marked by super-crisp hi-def detail, richer colors and a brighter display. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...52921666069165&categoryId=8198552921644692000

Uh...wait a minute. Check my post above. Remember that a week or so ago, Sony was only offering an Extra-wide HD display (cf. above). And that this is about the time that the precursor series would have gotten a refresh, ya know?

HAS THE PREMIUM DISPLAY COME STATESIDE AT LAST?

EDIT: Naw. More Sony games. I put the model number into some search engine caches and back before they used the Extra-wide FullHD they had used the Premium Display and charged $150 extra as well. $150 more for adding insult to injury.

False alarm, sorry....

 

As for all of the people on this forum who are disappointed with the F, most have either returned theirs (and are sticking around to help those who may have the same issues that they did) or are those who got shafted with the bad screen, whine, or morse code issues. They are understandably frustrated.

Thankfully, I only had the morse code noise, which I fixed with the steps recommended in the unification post linked in my sig. Really, its a nice computer if you get one without defects and it is ridiculously FAST (and thats with the i7 720QM and the measly 320GB 5400rpm drive).

I have a sinking suspicion that most of those people who are disappointed are long-time laptop owners or professionals in the computer business. The main market for the F (fast multimedia laptop for the average joe, "Best Buy" sort of guy) should have no big qualms with it.

You have to remember to take this forum with a grain of salt. If you ever go on audiophile forums, there are ENDLESS threads bashing Bose Headphones for their sound quality (their fake bass "hump" and subjective, warm sound reproduction), yet a large chunk of the consumer population uses them happily for none the worse.

So for those who are scouring these forums trying to figure out if the F is generally a good computer it is. That said, also know that there are a few issues that might put you off. Firstly, the screen (even the good ones) have a limited viewing angle and have washed-out colors (made much better with the screen profiles posted on this forum, again, check the unification post linked in my sig). There are also reported issues with the fan being stuck at "100%". This seems to occur if the computer shuts down because of a critical battery state and is powered on before plugging it into the wall to recharge. This is avoidable - all you need to do is remember not to turn on your computer after it hibernates or shuts down due to a critical battery state before plugging it in. Users have also reported a whine from the CPU fan as the fan speed changes. Some machines may also exhibit a beeping "morse-code" esque noise. There is a fix for this involving the microphone properties (check the unification post in my sig). This behavior may also occur when you plug in a USB device. This requires you to (I think...) update your firmware. New units should have the firmware already installed, so for you prospective buyers, don't read too much into this because chances are, you won't have this issue.

So that's it.
Am I satisfied with my F? Yes.
Are there issues that need to be worked out? Yes.
If I had to buy an F right now, would I? If I had more money, I'd buy a Z11, or maybe the Asus G73JH - BFBC2 Max Settings @ 1080p with 8xAA sure sounds nice . But the short answer is yes. You just can't get this much performance for less.

 

I lol'd. I think when the screen does come stateside, they'll be advertising it as a matte screen as well.

 

For *@#% sake man. Full HD means that the screen does 1920x1080, that is the general term in the INDUSTRY.

It's also BULL. 1920x1080 is a cheapo replacement for 1920x1200 screens, and we're idiots going guh.. oooh bluray! 1080p! doh.

Could've been a 1920x1200 screen like anyone else uses.

 

I could easily give you a laundry list (in fact I wrote two while making this reply) of everything that constitutes the sony as a non-premium laptop. That it comes plastered with ~8 stickers and is wrapped in a piece of pink foam in a cheap box when purchased from Best Buy, is one of them.

There's more, of course - but the LCD is one that I think is way overblown. While I agree that yes, Sony should've offered a better LCD ... for $1350 and with those specs, it has one of the best LCDs on the market.

The alternatives? At that price range, you get a 1366x768 screen from Asus, or a 1600x900 screen from HP (i think).

I compared tons of laptops when I bought the F, my idea was to leave no stone unturned - even got some time using an HP envy (that was tough to find!).

You know what? Even the finicky Alps trackpad with the noisy buttons is a plus. Other manufacturers had horrible trackpads, usually with funky surfaces that would drive me bat insane with daily use.

That and the F is actually quite nice to use as a daily laptop as far as tactile/ergonomics goes (for me), and I'm amazed I'm saying that because of the offset keyboard (with the numpad)

Sony has always been kinda funny about quality. Long ago, back in the 90s my brother had one of the first Vaio desktops. It was a great machine, and I still have most of it around and it still works great.

However, it lives in another case now because the Vaio case's door kept falling off, lol.

It also looks nicer. At the end of the day, based on aesthetics I'd actually buy a Vaio F long before I'd buy a Dell XPS or Asus.

 

Sony has a backorder for the Dual-lamp Inverter board and thus it is expected to take 7-10 business days for the part to get to me. My laptop is of course out-of-commission during this time.

Will provide an update as soon as the part gets to me and have the screen up and running.

 

To be quite honest, a shop will take less than 15 minutes to replace the screen (or a 1/2 hour MAX), if they were doing it carefully (based on my personal experience). To charge $250 in labor for it, is just daylight robbery.

If I had known about the dual-CCFL lamp issue and made sure that I also got the dual-lamp capable Inverter board along with the new screen, I would have had the screen installed and ready to go within 1/2 an hour of the new screen getting to me.

And realize that I am not a computer hardware expert by any means and this is my first ever exploration into the innards of a computer, let alone a laptop. If you can recruit a friend or associate who has some experience with working on computers, then Joe's instructions should get the deed done in very short order. In fact, if I were you, I would simply swap your FW490's screen (along with the matched Inverter) with the F-series screen (along with the matched Inverter) and be a happy camper.....the advantage in your case is that you already have both screens with their respective matched Inverters and don't have to wait like me for the dual-lamp Inverter to get to you.

 

You had to get the new inverter from Sony? I thought they were generic parts. Could the supplier of your screen not supply one?

Thanks

 

andremaul, now you say that your F may be bricked but failed to mention what you wrote before & my reply to it:

We don't know what that unauthorized repair shop did to your F.

Sadly the international warranty on US F do not apply to Brazil as explained in that post but there is a glimmer of hope:

Unplug F and remove battery and:

- Remove & reset the memory sticks as described in the screen capture below. If you have 2 sticks, you can try with only one with a 4GB capacity.

- Remove & reset the HDD as show here.



- Remove the battery, press the power button for @ least 1 minute, leave the F unplugged and w/o battery alone for @ least 1 hour but overnight would be better.

- Make sure your A/C adapter works & the LED on it is solid green (not flashing). If possible, try with an other one with similar specs, the amps output can be slightly different but the voltage must be the exact same.

- Reset the battery, make sure it's locked in place, plug the F & let it recharge for @ least 1 hour (4 hours would be better). Is the charge LED on the front extreme left of the F solid orange indicating normal charging process? Does it turn off after a couple of hours indicating that the battery if fully charged?

- Try to reset the BIOS as described by MelodyMaster here

- You wrote: "I can hear the optical drive turning on (it will even open if I press the button)" - That's good. Use an unfolded paper clip to open the CD drive through the little hole next to the Eject Button (meaning before powering the F) & insert your Recovery Disc #1 that hopefully you created as recommended several times in this thread & by_Sony, and boot.

If all the above fails:

- Try replacing your HDD with a known working one.

- To reset the BIOS & CMOS: unplug F, remove battery, remove all bottom screws and remove the bottom F cover. Edit: andremaul managed to fix is F & fan stuck @ 100% & unplugged the CMOS battery via the memory door instead of removing the bottom cover. More details in his post here. Unplug the CMOS battery for 1 minute, press power button for 1 minute, reconnect CMOS battery and reassemble the F. Photo cropped & annotated form this post (link found in the Unification Post):



Edit: New photo with all the details of the process which worked for 2 users with a fan stuck @ 100% so far:



- Call Sony_USA support to see if you can ship them directly your F for repair. If not, send to a US friend who will relay it to them. If you voided the warranty by going to a local repair shop, it may be cheaper to buy a motherboard replacement or try the suggestions below.

- Call Sony_Brazil to see if they can fix it for a fee.

- Try to find a better local repair shop, specialized in_Sony laptops.

Good luck & please report here about your progress.

 

OK, this is my screen, I believe it is a bad screen.