Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

Dragon Age: Origins is up.

The game is fully playable without overclock. Mouse lag isn't as big of a deal in DA:O as it is in, say, an FPS or RTS.

25-40 FPS with all settings high 1280x720 4xAA
18-32 FPS with all settings high 1920x1080 no AA.

WITH OVERCLOCK (650/800/1625 core/shader/mem)
30-49 FPS with all settings high 1280x720 4xAA

More gaming videos

 

Will the following items work in a new F series?

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model F3-10666CL9S-4GBSQ
To bring the total to 8GB

Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Will the laptop last for 4 years?

 

Congrats . MBP's are amazing - glad you found a nice alternative to the F

 

The new Mac Book Pro refresh does not have a real quad core chip. It is a dual core with hyper threading enabled.

 

Thanks - yes, that has been attempted, to no avail.

 

I checked up VAIO VPC-F115 in Best Buy and i like every bit of it except for these two:

1. It is not that bright (Do the F series have XBRITE built into it)? I unchecked the Brightness option and maxed out the setting but still not that bright when compared to Toshibas.

2. Somebody mentioned to wait for the F series refresh in June. I don't have PS3 and I'm owning Wii. So, if the refresh targets PS3 users, I'm not that interested. But, if the refresh is in all the issues that people are complaining, then I would rather wait.

What do you guys think?

 

Thx Mango! You were instrumental in me taking a leap of faith and trying out the "F" based upon your lucid reviews of games and other technical aspects of the machine.

I realize now that building an i7 machine presents some intriguing technical challenges and it's still pretty early in the game as far as i7 rigs go IMHO. The value proposition of going i7 with upper cut graphics chips is a nice progression path, but for me, the "F" presents itself better as a desktop replacement rig with portability as only a secondary consideration - well - unless you're prepared to carry a spare battery and/or use the bulkier higher capacity one. None-the-less, power was only 1 of my considerations. It still makes me wonder why a cutting edge company like Sony didn't just go LED backlighting on this one but it's probably something to do with cost controls and/or the using up of existing panels. Who knows. The mere fact the the EU models are offered with matte finish is puzzling all on it's own too. I see great things for the "F" Series in the coming years with out a doubt. An i5 option with LED backlighting is going to go a long way in helping the power situation.

In any event, the Mac world is exciting for me now. It's nice having a laptop that just works without as much fuss and tweaking that a PC requires or tempts. I like the balance of having a smoking fast Win desktop to mess around with and the compliment of a Mac that is fairly hassle-free (at this earlier juncture ofcourse...). And I can always dabble with Boot Camp if I want to have a slice of the windows world on my MBP.

Ciao

 

Correct. You can make a strong case though that a quad-core in a notebook is a bit much in terms of real-world necessity. A stronger case for the "one computer" user needing desktop performance when plugged in... but then again, on a screen smaller than 24"?

Everything has some level of constraint when talking about the laptop world.

I personally think a dual core i5 or i7 makes more sense for the vast majority of users in real world application. 2 cores and 4 primary CPU threads at todays speeds is a hell of a lot of power "on the go".
And quad i7's use hyper threading to achieve 8 threads, so it's all relative.

To each his own...

 

At this point, I think the general consensus is a June/July refresh with a new range of processor choices (i9(?)/i7/i5 in the US) and possibly a gf 4xxm graphics card with dx11 support. There may or may not be an upgraded screen in the US (either the European matte screen or the dual-ccfl lamp "premium" screen in the FW).

As for the brightness, the auto-brightness may have been enabled, keeping the brightness from going up very high. You shouldn't worry about brightness levels though. The screen brightness is fine.

 

lol you guys!!

 

guys, wanna try the newer NVIDIA drivers for notebooks, 197.44?
Everything is working as previous update (197.16).

 

Anyone tried this/knows the answer to this? Literally a click away to buy kaspersky, but can't until I know I can actually get rid of the pre-installed mcafee without deleting windows stuff as well

 

Come on guys, lets face it, the F...regardless of what it capable for, it have defects..period. The MBP on the other hand, doesn't seems to have many complaints. Apple know how important a screen to customer, while SONY do know but it decided to go on a different way to save some money. The MBP is a good computer, all production house use mac for a reason.

The F is a good computer too, but it wasn't marketed right and as a customer you will probably disappointed at the product. I know I do, Filter as well. SONY need to fix these issue if they want their customer back, period. Apple already prove this by retaining their customer year after year, with what? Good product that just works.

 

You have to say this is absolutely ridiculous from Sony... a few others in this thread have had weird things happen to them after a full battery power drain, with the most problematic symptom being the fan running at 100% which can of course be fixed with that cmos trick but you shouldn't have to go through the trouble.
I myself have tried a battery drain because it normally is recommended to do so in calibrating the battery, which is why it is so criminal that apparently at least a few of these Sony Vaio's won't let you do that without triggering a bucket load of catapulting right at you... lots of people will intentionally go drain the battery, not knowing that they might be running the risk of screwing up their laptops. And not every one of those will frequent these forums and read about the fix...

luckily for me, when I restarted windows all that seems to have happened so far is some message about intel drivers which I could not catch and the mystery why the laptop hibernated when I specifically had all settings to never do so.

Good luck to you!

 

Please stay on-topic in here, thank you. I had to delete a few posts.

 

The F series doesn't really compare to a MBP in apples-apples ways because the equivalent MacBook Pro costs a little over $2000.

Would I take that MacBook Pro over a Vaio F series? If I had the money, ABSOLUTELY. For a plethora of reasons, for one it is a lot more solid, for the others it has a better screen (1920x1200, and available in matte), much better trackpad, and the ability to run OS X without worrying about hackintoshing.

Not really a discussion appropriate for this board, but as a *nix guy myself, I love OS X. As a nerd, Windows 7 is still really really good, and looks a little prettier IMHO.

True, they don't have blu-ray, but seeing as a lot of people here are more interested in sticking hard drives in the optical bay, I doubt it matters.

Anyway, lesson behind this post is the Sony VPCF115FM can be had for $1350 at best buy (what, $1500 with tax?) - still a good $400 or so below the price of a base 15" MacBook Pro.

At that price, it has a much faster processor, more GPU memory, higher res screen, bluray player, bigger hard drive, and 2gb more memory if I recall correctly.

So, when you have a squeaky optical drive bay cover, or you're fed up with the noisy trackpad button, remember you get what you paid for. I'm not saying that you deserve a defective laptop, and if you believe parts of your machine are defective, you should call Sony and have them fixed (or exchange the laptop for another).

If you want a more quality-ish build, you should consider a Sony Z series.

 

I have never used a desktop in over 10 years. All work is done via the laptop. The F-series is blazing fast for RAW photo editing and video editing type applications, where I believe all of those 8 virtual cores kick in and make mincemeat of the tasks.

You can always use an external monitor/screen when you have a need to work on a larger screen, right ? BTW, as you can see in my signature, my screen is a dual-CCFL XBRITE full-HD screen that came on the previous Sony FW490 but is no longer available on the current US market Sony F......night and day different from the F-series US Full-HD screen.

 

You can go ahead and un-install mcafee without any fear of breaking or deleting any part of windows. But, do remember. You can always set a restore point before attempting anything you're not sure of. That way, if it goes belly up, you can put it back as it was.

 

For those of you complaining about battery problems, stuck fan, etc...

Two of the 5 F11s that I have set up had "power" issues. Both had fan issues and a 50% max battery with an error message that "the installed battery may not be compatable or may need replacement" or something along those lines. Both were very frustrating.

Both errors began after installing sony battery monitor (or something like that) and sony power managment. I performed a second clean install on these two machines and did not install those two sony bloats, and everything is back to good.

I can't say for sure if these are the culprits, but it worked for me. The only Sony stuff now installed are the Shared library, the Vaio control center and Vaio Care. Everything works except the Assist, S1 and Vaio buttons. I might be a bit happier if they worked, but I can't see where I would use them much.

Bill

 

Hi,

Where do I get a F series with dual-CCFL XBRITE full-HD screen?. I live in the US and I don't know if I can order from any other country other than US.

 

Agreed. With the $800+ savings for a VAIO_VPCF11 vs. Macbook_Pro 15", one can buy a quite nice large monitor for it's office/home workstation.

While I agree that an i7-720QM or 820M 4 core is overkill for many users it's useful for others. That's why there is many models & configurations available on the market: different needs, budget & set of priorities.

Those 4 cores & 8 threads come in handy when multi tasking. When I'm working on some ecotourism websites I need: Windows Explorer, Photoshop often in conjunction with CaptureNX and/or Adobe Lightroom, a website editor, Word, often a video editor + a browser to see the work & follow stuff like this thread on the side + some miscellaneous stuff like a music player, character viewer, etc.

With a lesser computer, I had to constantly close & open programs so not to overload the machine with too many simultaneous tasks.

 

Are you sure that's all you needed from Sony_support or the recovery discs? What about: Intel Chipset driver, Ricoh PCIe Memory Stick Host Controller driver, Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver, etc, etc?

Did you have problems with the old VAIO Power Management software or the updated one (5.0.1.01270)?

BTW there is a firmware update just out: Broadcom Bluetooth Firmware Update 04/29/2010 2.2.3.593.596, 2.22 MB. Check the Sony_esupport page for your model:

 

About Friggin' Time! The troubles I've had with losing the mouse! Thanks Joe.

 

It's your cat that was freaking out your mouse.

My Microsoft Bluetooth mouse & Sony_headphones DR-BT101 work fine @ the present but I'll update the firmware anyway.

If you have the time & inclination, could you post a photo of your newmodeus HDD caddy on top of the OEM ODD, bezel removed to show the respective size & slots for mounting the bezel on the caddy? I would like to add it to the how-to HDD caddy in ODD bay article.

 

DUDE! WHAT HE SAID! Don't install Sony Battery monitor on a fresh retail install.

When I did that, it'd pop up a window every ~10 seconds telling me that I had to hibernate to replace the battery.

TBH Sony's really falling short on software support. Vaio update doesn't ever work for me, and having to dig around and find ~5 new updates when Vaio update isn't giving you anything is retarded.

Not surprised though lol.


Joe: You don't buy the $800 more MacBook Pro just for the LCD, besides it's still a TN unit. Even the best laptop LCDs currently on the market are only slightly better than the Sony F's LCD (unless you get a bad one). The $800 more goes into having a nice trackpad, nice aluminum case, slightly better keyboard (by this, I mean 10/10 instead of 9/10), and a lot more battery life.

I gotta say though, $800 would get you a nice LCD. If you want a 1920x1200 model, it's possible to find a 23" or 24" IPS between $500 and 800 that does that.

There's a new bunch of 1920x1080 22-24" IPS LCDs hitting the market that runs in the $300-500 range as well, keep an eye out for those if you want an amazing desktop monitor.

That said, you're not going to do much better with the $100-200 specials you see floating around - if you're lucky to find a 1920x1080 one, it's probably a very low quality TN model that may be even worse than the Sony's built in screen.

Dell does have a set of cheap eIPS screens that have awesome quality at a low price though, not sure if they still make em or not. The problem is that even at ~250-300 bucks, they're 1650x1080.

grats on your 1000th post, melody!

 

I have the F's OEM OS & I don't have any "Sony Battery monitor" software. Maybe you are talking about the Battery Checker utility found in the recovery discs? Or Vaio_Power Management? Or both?

Found here: Sony Vaio Battery....
Q "...i'm running Vista on my Sony Vaio VGN-S360...now, when i have the battery in the notebook (either plugged in or just running on battery power) i get a "this is not the correct battery for your notebook, press enter to enter hibernation and replace the battery with the correct one." - A: "Uninstall the sony vaio battery checker utility or disable isbmgr.exe from running at startup with msconfig (click start->run and type msconfig)." Or better, check Autoruns > Logon to disable isbmgr.exe which is located here in my F (enabled works fine for me BTW): C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\ISB Utility.

If one buys a car and replaces the customized engine with a generic one then one might expect that some fittings & OEM parts will not fit properly, no?

"...a fresh retail install" - Do you mean a clean install using the retail version of Windows 7?

 

I did a fresh install of Win 7 Ultimate on my VPC-F11LVX/B. I got the same message about battery. I took battery out and continued installing the drivers on the Sony site. Once done, I re-installed battery and everything ran perfectly.

 

Hi everyone! I got my F series! I like it so far. It's really good.

I made a recovery disc, but I am not 100% sure if the recovery disc was made. I followed the steps and at the end it told me to label it "windows 7 64 bit disc", so does that mean the disc was made? Just to be sure.

 

That's interesting.

Sony_support > Clean Install Instructions for Windows 7 > STEP 3 - Install Sony Drivers > "IMPORTANT: It is strongly recommended that you install the files in the following order" > listed as the last thing to install at the bottom of the page: 12- Sony Notebook Utilities... Installs the VAIO software component required for Function keys operation...

RTFM!

I asked this to Willscary: "Did you have problems with the old VAIO Power Management software or the updated one (5.0.1.01270)?"

I just found this 8 months old post here that may shed some light:

 

There should be at least two discs, even with dual-layer DVDs.

 

No. The McAfee tools section just launches the build in Windows utilities. I have uninstalled the McAfee software and it has no effect on the Windows utilities.

 

Hey Joe I just knew you would mention that when I saw the comment on the page a linked too
But in defence of ma-config I use this tool on the 2 other computers and 3 laptops I help to maintain in my family without any ill effects and you know from reading this forum it is always more people with a negative experience who post then people with a positive experience
It is difficult to keep 6 computers as up to date as possible and this tool helps. I also tried other driver utilities and they can give you even very wrong driver updates. I have not experienced this with ma-config.
But coming back to the intel rapid storage driver, there seems to be improvements in system performance: Intel® Rapid Storage Technology - Windows 7 Forums
You can get them from the Intel site, when you check for downloads manually; we have a 5 series chipset in our F11.
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...ProductProduct=Mobile+Intel®+5+Series+Chipset

 

I must say that for people concerned with audio they should know that the F is a giant step up from the FW. The FW I had (VGN-FW460j/b) wasn't loud enough for one person to hear a Blu-Ray let alone two. The only way I could enjoy it was with earphones. The speakers on my F11 is leaps and bounds better, I can now show clips and scenes from blu-rays to friends without worry. I must say that I am happy with my purchase and so far have had no major issues with my computer. No crashes or Failures whatsoever. Now if only Blizzard would stop making World of Warcraft and start finishing up Diablo III quicker I will really be a happy F owner. After looking at the mac specs and looking at one of the unboxing videos on youtube I am really happy with my F11.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Can anyone tell me where i can get " vaio hardware diagnostic " cause i already replace the new HDD and can't find where to download this software.

 

Really? I don't remember it asking me for a second disk. So does that mean I have to get new discs and remake them?

 

Check my previous posts and you will see what led me to the dual-CCFL XBRITE full-HD screen. Instead of trying to save a few $, Sony should have bought out this screen in the F - would have saved them a lot of complaints.

 

Infinite USB plug created by Chinese design student.

Infinite USB plug created by Chinese design student | ChinaHush

There seems to be a little debate on how many it can handle but cool.

 

I believe you are incorrect. I used a DVD+RDL 8.5GB on the slower mode to make sure it copies and only required one.

 

Good morning!

Yes Joe,

I installed all drivers. The drivers are not, however, proprietary Sony software. The Sony Shared Library, the Sony Notebook Utilities, Vaio Care, Vaio Power Management, etc. are. I loaded all drivers that were needed by our computers.

The Battery Checker was a major problem. Perhaps it was incompatable with W7 Pro. The other bloatware has so-far cost me only the 3 buttons (assist, S1 and Vaio). On the other hand, I currently have 52 services running, even though this laptop has been running for nearly 96 hours straight. These services include wireless printer software and a couple of pieces of software that I always want running. After my clean install, but before these programs were added, I had only 39 services running!

This computer, sans most of the bloatware and including an SSD, is a screamer!

Bill

 

I'm still curious on where you bought the dual CCFL XBRITE full HD VAIO F series. If you're living outside US, I wanted to know if I can place a customized order from that country to be shipped to the US.

Thanks.

 

Ok, maybe with no additional software. I had to use four discs myself. Incidentally it is a very bad idea to use a dual layer DVDrom for important data, the quality of the burn of the second layer is worse, and there is often corruption at the layer change, and they tend to fade faster than single layer. Always use single layer for data, and CHECK the burn afterwards. I should find some of the Nero DVDspeed charts I did of dual-layer burns (on Verbatim), not very encouraging at all!

 

I think I found it. But, it seems they are out of stock.

Thanks.

 

Which recovery disk did you do? There's two: 1. Made from "Backup and Restore" which is one disk. This is used when you've made a backup image of your system and you need to restore the computer to that time of backup (restores data and installed programs). 2. System recovery Disk is atleast two disk. This restores your compter to out-of-the box. You loose your data and any programs that you installed.

 

Can you show us how the screen looks and perform (picture)?

Check on the screen, morse code and fan issue. See if you have any of those defects, if not keep it. If you do, might want to return it and wait 1 month or so for a new F refresh.

 

Gandaff, I'd rather thrust the Intel Driver Update Utility adviser that tells me that I don't need an update than a random user on a forum.

What's funny is that the guy on sevenforums writes: "...it really improved my HD performance" and then proceeds to post a screen capture of his 7200rpm Seagate Barracuda st3320620as using HD Tune Pro and gets an "improved" Read Transfer Rate of 60.4MB/sec while I am getting 80MB/sec with my Seagate Momentus 7200rpm ST9500420AS & the current OEM Intel drivers & Matrix. His Maximum is 68.1 vs. 100.7MB/sec.

Maybe someone with an SSD in his F could check if the Intel adviser recommends a driver upgrade?

The only real method to see if changing the Intel driver & updating the Matrix as any benefit on the Vaio_F11 would be to run a bunch of HDD's benchmarks before & after updating which I may do on a really rainy day.

Expanding his "My System Specs", I see that he has a "Motherboard Intel D975XBX2 Badaxe 2 / 1365 FSB" which I don't have on the F.

Meanwhile as I wrote previously, I can run simultaneously 3 SATA HDD's on the F w/o any problems so until proven otherwise, why mess up with something that is working fine @ the present? In the Recovery Disc #1 > Drivers tab: "SATA Driver (Intel) (Non-RAID)" & since the F does not have the RAID option in: BIOS >Advanced...

Are the Access time & Burst rate related to the HDD's specs or Intel driver? I dunno. His HD Tune vs. mine:



BTW you guys who want to benchmark your HDD's for fun, there is a free version of HD Tune available here.

 

Good question. Maybe he created a system repair disc (one CD) which may be used by itself or in conjunction with a Windows Backup system image.

jjthenovice, MelodyMaster & Fishon are all correct: you should need @ least 2 DVD's or 1 double layer DVD for a VPCF complete set of recovery discs. I prefer the former for reasons explained by MelodyMaster. You may need more that 2 if you ordered extra software with a Sonystyle CTO (Cutomized To Order) like MelodyMaster did.

From Sony_support How to create a set of Recovery Discs:

Which is much better than to find out that they were not created properly when your system is messed up or after formatting your OEM HDD.

Mine said: label Recovery Disc #1 & then #2.

For the system repair disc it did say: label Windows 7 64-bit Repair Disc.

 

I'm thinking of using a bluetooth mouse and have several questions. 1. Once it's setup does it connect to computer automatically at bootup or do you you have to re-establish connection each time? 2. What bluetooth mouse to you use or recomment? Thanks.

 

For mouse,always logitech.

 

Sony_is very clear about the proper installation order when doing a clean install & since the Battery Checker works fine in my Windows 7 & on 3 of your 5 F's I think that the installation order made a difference & causes the checker error & special keys not working.

From the Sony_Notebook Utilities download page:

Again: Sony_support > Clean Install Instructions for Windows 7 > Step 3 ... IMPORTANT: It is strongly recommended that you install the files in the following order (in bold by_Sony).

*****

Again: If one chose to do a clean install and format the OEM drive, those might be a good read:

Creating a Media-less Recovery / Installation Partition
Solved Creating a Media-less Recovery / Installation Partition - Windows 7 Forums

How to Create a Recovery Partition with Image of Windows 7 DVD?
How to Create a Recovery Partition with Image of Windows 7 DVD?

You can also create a recovery partition on both laptops and even create one with all your customizations & added software instead of only the OEM factory state: Search: "WINDOWS 7" HOW TO CREATE BACKUP PARTITION

*****

Vaio_Hardware Diagnostics

That's not a standalone software, it's part of Vaio_Care, see above.

ASSIST > Vaio_Care > Troubleshooting > Diagnostics > Hardware or Software tests.





Some call this "bloatware" which it is until you need it.