Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

Use RealTemp GT techPowerUp! :: Download Real Temp 3.40

The CPU in the F11 runs cooler than the water-cooled Q9450 in my desktop when both are working hard. The F11 is one of the coolest of all i7 laptops, AND it's the fastest. The 32nm version of the i7, in the F refresh for July, will be even less hot.

 

Under desktop the display will look fine, and your task bar on the bottom of the screen is blocking the defect. The light bleed come from underneath of the screen. Tried to play hulu at full screen and take the picture again.

You have a point there, but actually its a little different in PC world..they divided into several sections, netbook, thin and light, notebook and desktop replacement. Usually the last one is the most expensive one, since it has all the fastest technology. The F should be on the last one and the price of a desktop replacement on average should top at 2.5-3K, unless its a gaming desktop replacements. in PC world, they have price cap, while the car you drive doesnt.

Should wait for the refresh , it will be out in about a month.

 

I do read PC world every month, and I did see the latest. I had considered the Asus G73 before I read the PCW article, but here on this site there seem to be troubles, so I bought this, as I have experience with other F11s.

As far as price caps, I could have dropped over $7G on a laptop (if I had the funds). There are Ferraris, Bentleys and Rolls Royces in the computer world also.

As far as coolers go, here is what I am using on all 5 of the F11s, plus 3 other laptops...

Amazon.com: Cooler Master Notepal U2 Notebook Cooler with Two Fans R9-NBC-8PBK-GP: Electronics

I highly recommend it!

Bill

 

Donald Graft's DGindexNV DGDecNV GPU-Enabled AVC/H.264 Decoder and Frame Server It's the only tool that will properly index an H264 HD stream (.ts, M2ts, or .MP4) so that after processing video and audio remain in sync.. Nothing else works properly. The resulting .dgi is then framerserved by AVIsynth to whatever the rendering application. Note that when playing/frameserving the .gdi the CUVIDserver has to be running. That should be in a directory with full permission, such as Program files(x86), and needs Administrator permission.

 

Yah, that picture wouldn't show the problem, if there is one. Some lightbleed is normal, but the bad screens have shading with actual inversion at the top of the screen, where the dark greys turn negative when the viewing angle is correct for the rest of the screen. A black screen without a full image won't show that.

 

I want this guy to design my site and do some video editing for me. Mod's will probably pull this, but with all the great recent info on video editing in this thread, I could not resist.

http://fastdesign7.com/index.html

 

I tried the RealTemp 3.40 and ran their "stress test" on my 820M. My idle temp is 43C, but it only hit 65-66C under the stress test with the cooler running beneath it. I'm a happy camper!

I will try to figure out how to get the light bleed. I do not play games, so perhaps a DVD?

Bill

 

OK, I grabbed the camera. It is fairly dark in here but not completely dark. I went to Youtube and found a video called "Dark Room XX". Who knew it would be some kind of parody on , in the same vein as The Groove Tube movie from the early '70s?

this was in 4/3 format, but you can see that it is a slightly lighter center with darker bars on the sides. You can also see that the bottom of the video is slightly above the bottom of the screen. This is what my screen looks like...I see NOTHING that I am concerned with. In fact, I am quite happy!

Can I get the light bleed to happen? Yes, if I move the screen so I am looking at it from an angle. Do I see it in normal viewing? Nope! You can see what I see right here:

http://webpages.charter.net/willscarlett/Dark video Screen Vaio.JPG

I hope this helps some of you!

Bill

 

I don't know if it's just me but I'm getting a little bit tired of your two recurrent post subjects: wait for the refresh & real or imagined light bleed.

I've been using my F for months & I am happy with it. Some need a laptop now & the F is an excellent value as reported by Willscary & many others. As with everything in electronics, the longer you wait, the more features & the lower the price should be. That's if your currency does not take a nose dive meanwhile.

"...Tried to play hulu at full screen and take the picture again" - You posted that many times. First, who needs Hulu for checking the display's unevenness?

Right click your desktop > Personalization > Desktop Background > drop down menu > chose solid color. The darkest gray does the trick for me but you can also choose pure black.

While you are there & to reduce GPU work & visual clutter: > Window Color > disable transparency & push color intensity to the max to have less washed out girlish colors for your Windows bars.

Now go back to desktop, right click the taskbar > Properties > select Auto Hide the taskbar to see your solid background desktop full screen.

Adjusting the viewing angle to the sweet spot, you should see some normal unevenness & the very bottom should be slightly brighter, that's where the CCFL background light tube is located on the semi glossy screen. Now we can compare orange to orange as we all have the same solid background choices instead of this & that video & player & whatnot software variations & viewing conditions. I think many here flunk their high school science classes.

Second & this is a big caveat: it's very difficult to take a photo really representative of the desktop brightness distribution as several users reported in this thread including I with my 2 DSLR Nikons & a Canon P&S.

For those just dropping in, check VAIO_F Series Backlight Uniformity? for screen captures of brightness distribution measurements made with professional instruments, not with a P&S cameras & Hulu.

*****

Win 7 Photo Editor

Yes you have one. While I use Photoshop CS5 & all, often I just use the included Paint which is much better in Win 7. It's simple, opens fast & can resize photos & other stuff. It's pinned to my taskbar next to Photoshop along with the awesome & also included Snipping Tool that I used to make about 50% of the screen captures I posted in this thread. It's faster than Prt Sc (or Alt + Prt Sc to capture only the active window) and pasting it in Paint, Photoshop, etc. Actually you could have viewed your photo, adjust size of the Photo Viewer to taste & capture the reduced representation with the Snipping Tool.

*****

Semi Glossy Display: EU = US

See more details about this & EU vs. US in the bottom part of the Vaio_F_Series Monitor Profiles Roundup & US glossy vs. EU Premium Displays. It includes a link to an EU 1080p Full-HD (NOT Premium matte) F i5 review with data & comments about the display & the brand & model number of the LCD is identical to my US 1080p semi glossy.

 

You have an extrememely good screen, dare I say exceptional.. I'm jealous.

 

Melody,

Yes, I think so too. I was very worried that I would have problems as reported by some people here. I am quite happy to report that I do not seem to. Of course, I had to wait an additional 18 days for my unit as they ran out of the 1920x1080 run of screens, so mine was fresh off the boat on May 3rd, I believe.

Joe,

My camera is not a point and shoot. Rather, it is a Sony Alpha a700 with a Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 lens. These pictures are taken in a darkened room with the lens at f/2.8. Granted, I did underexpose by 3 stops, but if I don't, all you will see is a gray screen with a black border and the background will wash out completely. It will still be uniform, but it will distort the truth as this camera is quite sensitive and the lens has a fairly large aperature...not as large as the Canon 50mm f/1.0, but the image quality is much better than that lens also.

Bill

 

Nice gear. I never said that you used a P&S but obviously your photo shows that it's not a solid uniform background. My Nikon D300S does not like the F's LCD & shows a strong moiré effect & the result is far from showing how my display looks in the real world. OTOH, I did not get that camera to shoot LCD's.

 

Perhaps you need more speed. Try shooting at a shutter speed faster than the refresh rate. Of course, in low light you will get a touch of fuzziness on an LCD screen at this rate, but when it's dark, it's usually wide open and as fast as possible.

Under-expose by 3 stops or more and you can get enough light at f/2.8. My 1.4 does better with the light gathering, but it is soft.

By the way, at least the sensor in your Nikon is a Sony!

By the way, how do I use Paint and the Snipping program? I really miss photo editing since getting the F11. I need to replace my old Elements 5, which is not compatible, but I am torn between paying the price for CS4 or CS5 and purchasing Elements 8 or Lightroom. Elements has always been "enough" for me, as I only perform very minor modifications and crops, but I would sure like to be able to batch edit in the faster 64 bit programs.

Bill

 

That could be a hint of the quality of screen we'll see for the refresh.

 

Thanks for the tips but I don't need to take some photos of my display. I voted awesome in the poll Sony_F_Series Owners Display (LCD) Opinions which has now 139 votes BTW.

Did you try the solid color desktop backgrounds?

"By the way, how do I use Paint and the Snipping program?" - Start > All Programs > Accessories OR Start > search: Paint or Snipping. Both have blue round Help buttons.

"...I need to replace my old Adobe Elements 5, which is not compatible" - Are you sure? Did you try right clicking the program's shortcut & Troubleshoot Compatibility? Check this: Are Photoshop Elements 5 and Windows 7 compatible?

*****

Please, when replying to a post, why not hit "quote" to keep the subject of the post you are replying to instead of the boring & useless "Re: Official Sony_VAIO_F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*" when using "Post Quick Reply" where you have no control over the title??

You are forcing me to edit the title of your replies every time.

 

Yes, I can run in compatability mode, but it has been reported by some as buggy, and by others OK, but with a loss of a few features. It's just plain easier to upgrade. I have had it for a long time.

My normal background is solid black, as my earlier pictures all show. I run in Windows Classic mode with all Aero and other performance leeches turned off.

Bill

 

I have been known to hit "quote" once in a while, but usually when I have been away and I am responding to an older post. If I respond directly after a post, it seems like a waste of webspace. I will remember to quote you from now on.

Bill

 

Sony_A700 Camera Firmware and Software Updates. It should include photo editing software, no?

PMB is a hog that scans the drives for media but that can be disabled. Same for the free Picassa. This said, I love both Adobe's Lightroom 2.6 & Photoshop CS5 64-bit as they are screaming fast with the i7 quad core & take full advantage of it. I also use Nikon's photo editing software 32-bit for some specific stuff & image tweaking.



"... If I respond directly after a post, it seems like a waste of webspace. I will remember to quote you from now on." - You can hit Quote to keep the post subject but can delete the quote itself if it's not relevant to your post. Right now, I'm quoting your " Re: Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*" title. You can also simply click Go Advanced instead of Post Quick Reply in the bottom of the page to be able to cut & paste a title or write a new one. It's more user friendly when skimming the thread for subject of interest & also yields better results when using the Search this Thread internal search engine.

I find some Aero features useful like thumbnail previews on the taskbar for example. The F has plenty of horsepower to handle it.

 

The Sony software stinks.

 

I posted this earlier and didn't get an answer. I've searched with google and the topic is vague. I did a clean install and loaded all the Sony's stuff and I don't have the Turbo Boost Driver found in the "Programs and Features" in Control Panel. Can anyone tell me what this is and is it necessary? I really have tried some research and have come up empty.

 

Are you talking about Image Data Converter_SR and the Image Data Lightbox_SR that came with your camera? Have you tried the updated versions? One is quite fresh: 04/16/2010 here.

Dunno, never tried it.

 

Maybe your Windows generic DVD installed some stuff or the Intel Chipset Driver on esupport did?

First boot after doing a clean install using the recovery discs: Intel Turbo Boost Technology Driver 01.00.00.1030



I dunno what it does but it's in the OEM install.

Edit: I removed the turboboost internal search suggestion as after uninstalling the Intel Turboboost monitor gadget, the search results disappeared.

Found it! Search your computer for Impcd.sys, if it is there then all is OK even if the program does not show in the list:

 

Your screen looks like a matte screen from the euro/asian market, doesn't seems to have the light bleed issue. Like MM say, you could have different screen then the rest of people over here that bought the product early, no wonder you are a happy camper! You might get a refreshed F model screen.

I know you were happy with your F and I never said to you to ditch your F. I said to people who just bought it this month would rather wait for the next refresh (suggestion as its more logical to do so), seems to be they didnt even know there is a refresh. just trying to help people that is new to the forum, so dont blame me if there is always newbie here that join the forum and seems to be doesnt know much about F's.

Hulu usually have dark screen from the bottom and top, that's why I always suggest hulu to test your screen, not youtube.

 

But how black is it compared to the solid desktop background? Dunno, not being a Hulu guy.

 

When I did the clean install, I didn't use the recovery disk. I have a copy of Win 7 Ultimate full version that I loaded. Sorry I wasn't clearer. I actually emailed sony and of course when I mentioned using Ultimate they said they don't support that and they didn't answer the question of what turbo boost driver is. I found this Sony eSupport - VPCCW2MFX/PU - Software Updates & Drivers on sony website and tried it but it said it wasn't for my system.

 

I know. Check my edit above about Impcd.sys. If it's there, all OK.

If not, installing http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VPCCW2MFXPU&upd_id=5284&os_id=45 should not hurt anything as this is what I have in the OEM. Just create a restore point before installing to be on the safe side, as usual. It says it's not for your system because your OEM was Home Premium & it's now Ultimate.

BTW, I entered an Ultimate key in my OEM Home via Anytime Upgrade in the Start menu & it upgraded it very smoothly in 5 minutes.

Search your F & report please.

 

Searched and Impcd.sys is not present... I wonder if this is a part of the Intel Matrix Storage? I never loaded that because I'm using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver...

 

Nope, I don't think so. Look at my screen grabs above. One is for storage (drives) & the other is for CPU.

Look in your recovery disc for Intel non-raid driver. Intel Rapid Storage Technology is mainly for RAID which we don't have on the F.

You can use Autoruns & search for: "Intel Corporation" & you can find everything made by them in your system. That's how I found Impcd.sys

 

I had to install the 32-bit Windows 7 for some specific software I use on my VPCF11M1.
Now I'm looking for the wright WLAN driver, can someone tell me what WLAN chipset that is used in this notebook, so I can search for the wright 32-bit driver.

 

That's pretty extreme as you can set compatibility, use virtual box, etc.

What software needed a 32-bit Win 7 OS and can't run on the Win 7 64-bit OS with compatibility please?

 

Is it worth paying $190 for an upgrade to the HD screen (incl 1GB video card) (for a USA F-series laptop)?

The price difference also includes an upgrade from 320GB to 500 GB (which is less impt to me; btw, both 7200 RPM).

I read somewhere that the HD screen is better quality ("much higher contrast and better viewing angles"). If that the is case then I would go for HD - even though I would have to modify the text size to read more easily.

Thank you.

 

Not mainly. Intels RST drivers are new, updated drivers with AHCI support and Trim support for ssd. They should be installed on motherboards with Intel chipsets - id doesnt matter if you have one drive, 10 drives, or using drives in raid modes.

There arent stand alone Intel drivers for IDE/AHCI and another one for RAID. I have MSI P35 Neo2 FR on my desktop, it came with Intel Matrix Storage Drivers - proper drivers for ide/sata controllers, and RAID support, though you dont need to use it.

 

Have any of you got any advice for a docking station? I want one where I can atleast get audio out...

I am also considering buying a notebook cooler: Zalman ZM-NC1500-B Notebook Cooler: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo - looks like a cool investment. *cough*

Cheers

 

There is no docking station for the F. For good quality sound out using USB I recommend the GF Tube DAC-09 and similar Chinese-made DACs. And 7.1 Dolby out is supported through the HDMI port. Also there is the optical output, even the headphone out is pretty good quality. So there are many options without using a dock.

I don't think the F needs a cooler, it already has an exceptional cooling system. But the Thermaltake IXoft helps when the laptop is actually on a lap, my preferred operating position, or sitting on a sofa or such. And it protects the bottom from scratches, and is quiet, unlike active coolers. Yes it does actually help the system run cooler by using passive phase change. Laptop/Notebook Gel Cooling Pad: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

Real world test, hulu is where I notice things like that.

 

Guys, I've noticed pretty interesting thing. When type on the keyboard a lot or simply press any key for a long time then fan starts slow down and when I unpress the key the fan speeds up again. And also sometime the fun suddenly stops and start speeding up again.

Anybody experienced the same effects?
My model is F11Z1R/B

 

I know your screen is not matte, but it doesn't posses the light bleed issue which 99% people here has. The european version doesn't have these issue either, but again they are matte screen. So your screen is something different. How about the viewing angle?

I guess SONY managed to fix the issue with the recent 1080P US screen, if that the case. We will know more by the end of the month/early June when the refresh is there.

 

hahahaha yes...this happens to me too

 

And where did you found that 99% figure may I ask?

Do I have to find all the feedback posts in this thread of owners who reported no display "issues" or link again to the F Owners display opinion poll with 139 votes @ the present? Are we all blind or stupid? Only you sees the "light"?

OK, then can you test with Hulu + an other test with the pure black desktop background as described here: VAIO_F Series Solid Color Desktop?

If both show the same light bleed then OK, yours is bleeding. If not then the Hulu test is not valid & not really black so how could it be a measuring stick for brightness distribution?

Tell me what part of this statement you don't understand & I will try to explain it differently: "Now we can compare orange to orange as we all have the same solid background choices instead of this & that video & player & whatnot software variations & viewing conditions".

BTW, Hulu is not part of my real world F usage.

*****

Re: Which screen to choose in USA for F-Series?

Well the GT 330M besides having 1 GB memory vs. the GT 310M with only 500 MB is also faster. Going to Notebookcheck's Laptop Video Graphics Cards - Benchmark List > selecting 330M + 310M & applying "Restrict":



So yes considering resale value, higher definition LCD, faster video card that can handle more documents/images in memory and larger capacity HDD, I think it's a good investment.

Don't forget that when selling the F you will recoup part of that $190 so what is the real cost of ownership of all these extras?

Then there is the peace of mind: you will never ask yourself if you should have chosen the best.

 

Joe, even the "good" screens such as yours and Mangosango's have some light coming through at the bottom, but they still are good for watching movies and other dark subject matter and get positive ratings from the user. Only new_vaio_F's screen shows NO bleed at the bottom or top. So yes, 99% sounds about right.

And a reminder again, I definitely have a bad screen, and not because of light bleed.

 

I think that is the best US (it IS a US 1080p screen, right???) screen I have seen to date. Congrats

 

OK, I will reply to several posts here...

My viewing angle is "within the box". In other words, I can raise my eye level to perpenducular to the top of the screen before I begin getting light bleed on the bottom. I can move side to side until my eyes are perpendicular to the sides of the screen before the opposite side begins to darken, and I can lower my eye level to where it is perpendicular to the bottom of the screen before the top of the screen really begins to darken.

I would never have others sit around the screen to watch a movie...it would not work well. I do, however, have the lattitude to sneeze or stretch without having my screen either wash out or blackout.

Joe, I agree. I use a black background all the time and my screen looks great. I used the Youtube black screen (which is not completely black) and really did not see anything different than my black screen, other than the darkness of the black.

Also, you talked about peace of mind of buying the better display. I have seen several of the 1600x900 machines and I found their screens to be very acceptable. I went with the premium screen even though I was worried about the finer resolution because I wanted that exact peace of mind. I did not want to say "What if?" for the next several years.





Finally, for all of you. Yesterday I installed the newest Nvidia drivers exactly per the posts here. It did not take well until the 3rd try. This afternoon my typing went haywire. I have no idea why, but my keyboard failed to respond on all occasions. I had this briefly when I first installed the video drivers, but it disappeared after the 3rd install. I uninstalled .9744 and reinstalled the latest driver from Sony. The problem seems to be gone.

Bill

 

Yes, it appears the screen looks great. I do also believe it's where the viewpoint is in relationship to the intersection of the angle. If I keep my screen at a 90 degree angle, monitor to keyboard, and my eyes are low to the screen, I see no light bleed. Looking down onto the monitor will produced some nominal light bleed.

 

I'll go back and figure out the screen quality thing when the new Fs come out, since my LCD has some dead pixels on it lol. Kinda scary to think about, but the 2 I had were both good-ish yes?

 

Ok, this may sound left-field, but have you tested system ram with memtest 86? Take away the fact that it seems to work alright on 188, and everything you've described sounds like bad memory. There HAVE been a number of memory failures on the F11, as with any new system.

And have you run VAIO Care? That is a very good program for finding problems. Run it on both 189 and 197. Speaking of VAIO programs, are you by chance running a "Clean Install" or some other user-created Medusa?

197.44 may introduce some weirdness, such as the Digital Vibrance slider not working as it should, but I'll bet you my Nipper that your problems are NOT due to the 197.44 driver, especially since they're intermittent! Or at the most it's a completely different part of the system that's misbehaving and interreacting with 197.

 

Clean install W7 Pro. Reinstalled all NEEDED Sony programs. Everything worked perfectly. So far, after restoring to just prior to .9744 driver, everything is back to good. Perhaps it will change later, but for now, all is good.

Vaio Care shows no problems now, and did not show a problem yesterday after .9744 installation.

I dunno. It really doesn't bother me. I just thought I would pass it along. I am done trying to update it. I am actually happy with the Sony driver, but I thought perhaps this update would help me. No big deal to me.

Bill

 

I think Joe Bleau will agree with me that we've just found the problem...

("Trojan Horse" may have been better than "Medusa." But it does appear that a look at the " Clean install"" has turned the graphics driver to stone.)

Has it occured to you that with a clean non OEM Windows and non-VAIO drivers this is no longer the F11 the modified driver.inf was written for and tested on, one so specialized that it wont even work for the GT310?

 

Hello I have received my premium Vaio
I have to say

1) I have received in my ssd option a samsung 128gb ssd instead of toshiba they seems to put in the customized order .I dont know if this model its better than toshiba one

2)to fix morse code is ok but dont try to put the webcam with this configuration (mic mute) in my case when the webcam is on I heard a VERY HIGH sound that seems to be inside your head, i dont know if everybody has tried it.

3)a new sound to disgusting ,when you put the screen in other value than top brightness fn ,there is a buzzing sound, I would like to know if this is common.

 

It had not occurred to me. I did not see anyone say that this only worked on OEM systems. Perhaps I should have also stated that I used all Sony drivers from the original recovery disks and updated with Sony drivers from the website.

I performed a clean install (single partition) of W7 Pro and installed all Sony drivers and all needed Sony programs. The thing really hums along. The new video drivers were the only thing that it could be.

Bill