Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

hahaha..i've had that before at a party...goes great with Thai chilli sauce

 

Mine freezes, will not work until I hard re-boot it. I can't seem to figure out what the problem is. Just loaded three things on it, CS4, Webroot anti-virus, and office 2004. It seems to take two or three times to load and work correctly. The buzz is no big deal to me. Works great when explorer doesn't lock the computer up.

 

My laptop is just fantastic. No problems at all. The only issue I have is that the screen is glossy (I prefer matte) and has a slim vertical viewing angle.....otherwise just perfect ! Fast, quiet and responsive for pretty much all everyday tasks. I will be doing quite a bit of video editing/rendering (AVCHD etc), along with kicking off large photoprocessing batchjobs during the weekend and that should reveal the true capabilities of the Quad-Core chip with 8 threads and 8MB L3 Cache and also the effectiveness of the 8GB of DDR3-1333 RAM.

I am happy as a hog in mud !

 

I get that now. My post has been deleted because I posted a silly pic of Nathan Fillion with his butt hanging out. Sorry if I offended anyone.

The Vaio's gonna be stuck with an i5?

Anyone else find that uncool? A $1000+ laptop left sitting possibly in the rain, with people walking by it all day....

 

Yep, I'm one of the ones with a F11 with no good angle. I think a couple of folks here have that and don't realize it.

Two people early in this thread said the system kept shutting down or wouldn't come on. And there was incorrect dscussion about the light on the power brick.

One poster said the lid on a unit he saw at BB was too loose and flexible. Also a German review said one unit tested had a flexible lid, the other did not.

It's worth noting that the units with the mystery buzz also don't work with an external mic, the input socket is dead. That's why it was REALLY important for Sony to stop production and fix it. The field fix for the buzz by muting the mic, doesn't repair the missing input capability.

And it's due to tightness - which will cure itself.

The first refresh is here, it's shipping now, and it's new mic circuitry and other fixes. The next refresh is probably June, with a 400-series video card and maybe USB3.

Yep, buy the F11 NOW, don't wait and wait until the BullS come home.

 

I guess it depends on what you consider "MAJOR". I would say that the MAJORity of the people in this thread are more than happy with their laptop.

I have read this thread from day one and agree it is a lot of posts to read. However, please use try using the search feature as MANY people ask the same questions over and over and over and people repeat the answers over and over and over...hence why this thread is so long!

The big question is why do you want to buy a laptop, what are your requirements? School? Gaming? Watching movies? If you are more specific, then maybe somebody will be able to answer your question.

If you are a student, it has short battery life so I would not recommend it if that is what you are looking for. Other complaints are with screen quality, but again, that depends on what you intend to use it for. Do you plan on using it for photo/video editing?

If you want a quiet computer, the fan noise can be quite loud and unbearable for some.

I do not think this laptop has any MAJOR problems. It turns on when you want it to turn on and it does what you want it to do when you want it to be done.

 

My credit card has actually been reserved this time, but it's coming from Sony Corporate, not Sonystyle, so there's no emails or assembly tracking information. Could turn up anytime.

For those who missed the thread, I ordered an F11 the day it went online, had it in my possession for two hours before returning it with a bad screen, Sony had my money for a month, but were completely unable to send me another F11 with GT330, they made a new direct inhouse reorder, while GT330s were still available to Canadian buyers, but some idiot cancelled it because it wasn't through Sonystyle, which had "priority" in short stock. Third try it has been bumped up the ladder so that this vocal and very pissed-off customer finally gets his Sony Vaio two months after he ordered one.

F-series owners are a rambunctious and vocal bunch..

 

Crossing fingers you get yours tomorrow.

 

Yep.

The problem with the F11 is that it is too cheap for what it offers in features. When you buy make sure you pay 25% MORE that what the Sony rep wants, so that it is inline with the pricing of competitive models from other manufacturers.

 

For everyone that's running off an Intel X25-M SSD G2, could you please run CrystalDiskMark and share the results (especially 4K read/writes)?

I'm getting poor 4K performance (~14MB/s reads and ~24MB/s writes) when on a normal boot, but better when on safe mode (~20MB/s and ~45MB/s). I wonder if it's something particular to my configuration or maybe a driver/chipset issue.

 

I have a non-plug and play legacy driver (under device manager - hidden devices) called Regi.sys that says that it isn't working properly. it is also disabled.
File location is windows/system32/drivers/regi.sys (by intervideo)

Apart from suspected malware pages in google, it links this to blu ray and a part of a step by step instruction to disable it to have region free playing.

Does anyone have this in their system?

 

Yes, it is true. You may choose to not believe it, but I priced out a Studio XPS 16. Once using EPP, once using a student discount and once just by clicking on their HOME and HOME OFFICE part of their site (no coupon codes, btw). Once configured, they all had the exact same specs: screen res, hard drive, videocard, RAM, warranty etc. Even their color schemes for the laptop lid.

EPP was $55 more expensive and Student discount was $75. They had no visible sale going on, at least not one that was shown once I chose to start the checkout process.

Could this have been an error on their part? Yes, most definitely. Could it have been intentional? Possibly. Either way, it is true. I do an insane amount of homework before I purchase a laptop (or build my own in the case of a desktop). I have a spreadsheet in front of me right now that I made for each laptop I was considering. I still have the info from when I configured the EPP and the SD versions of the Studio XPS 16. There was a price discrepancy.

For the most part, I am glad Sony doesn't try to pull what Dell did with me, intentional or not. 7% is a decent discount and I will be glad to have it when I choose to finalize my order for the Sony Vaio F. I do wish they had more sales and online coupons to offer though.

Has anyone signed up for that Sony credit card they offer? Does that give you an extra discount? I seem to recall awhile ago that if you used it to buy a PS3 you got a steep discount.

 

Seq: 242.6 107.1
512K: 185.9 105.7
4k: 14.00 20.18

 

@ddmeightball
@Mikazukinoyaiba

I recommend you check with Sony about that 7% student discount. I believe they give 'up to 7%-10%' but the F series limit was 5%

Check the program savings at the Education store. It's just about 5%
I suggest getting your order through phone sales and get an accessory, possibly a neoprene case or such and/or a service plan. You'll most likely get a 10-15% discount. I did that and got 15% off.

From how the rep broke it down, 10% off for getting a service plan. An additional 5% for getting an accessory. I'm not sure how that would work if you say that you're a student as well. I highly doubt that they would give a bigger discount past 15% unless you pair it off with more and much larger purchases such as tv's etc.

By the way, the service plans do not get discounted and the purchase is totaled at their retail price

 

OK, here are some custom monitor profiles created with X-Rite i1Display 2 colorimeter and the Eye-One Match 3 v3.6.2 software on my F US 1080p. I included some Colorchecker charts and a colder 7000K profile (save link as): Profiles_Joe_Bleau.rar



When using a colorimeter & it's software, you just put the sensor on the screen & sit back. The program displays different true colors with known specs and measures what is actually shown by the monitor & tweaks the monitor profile so the true color output is accurate.

While you can try my profiles, you will never know if the colors are really accurate because of the hardware variations, even for identical GPU & screen model numbers.

i1Display 2 automatically sets the custom profile as the new default but you need to follow slrosenfeld instructions here to try my profiles. There's a typo in step 6, path should be:
C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color









A good read: Monitor Calibration: Who needs it? and the more affordable Spyder2Express as the X-Rite i1Display 2 is pricy.

Note that if you buy a colorimeter, you can also use it on other computers & charge your friends some $ or drinks to recoup the investment.

This is fun: X-Rite Color IQ Test.

Hope this helps! If it does, please add to my reputation by clicking this icon way under the avatar image:

Edit 2010-02-28: I used to keep my display very bright but I now follow Damien Symonds' i1Display2 calibration recommendations:

- "You may have read that 6500K is the ideal target for digital imaging, and that is possibly true. But for a screen that doesn't have colour controls, it's best to try Native first.

- Gamma 2.2 is the definitive standard now

- Luminance: No higher than 120cd/m²: Choice of Luminance target is subject to (a) your lighting conditions, (b) your screen-to-print matching, and (c) your personal preference.

I recommend 100, then edit some photos and get some prints done. You'll quickly know if you need to go up or down. I've got my laptop below 50, and it's great.

DON'T go above 120. I don't care how dim it seems - you'll soon get used to it, and wonder how you ever tolerated it so bright before."

Give this a try on your US 1080p if you don't have a coloromiter like the i1Display2 than can measure Luminance: Fn+F6 several times > set to max (224 cd/M2 at least) > set to about 109 cd/M2 by going down two clicks with Fn+F5.

Try this US 1080p Native White Point monitor profile @ 109 cd/M2 (save link as): Native_5900K_2.2_109cd-m2.ICC That's the optimal profile achieved so far for my F for that given brightness level & editing photos. Please post some feedback if you try it!

 

So it's too long for you to read so we have to re-type everything?

And it's too much effort to use caps & punctuation?

Full recap here, just a few pages ago: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5939991&posted=1#post5939991

Shishhh!

 

Okay, perhaps it was true in your case.

It isn't however an outdated warning. I just configured an Inspiron 14z with the exact same specs on the normal catalog and EPP catalog save for the Lojack subscription that is standard on EPP and I couldn't get in the normal catalog.

Catalog price - $1013
EPP price - $769

 

@ MelodyMaster: "One poster said the lid on a unit he saw at BB was too loose and flexible" are you serious? Shoppers are Cro-Magnons & destroy every thing on display.

 

Sur'nuf. But I don't think Deutschlanden reviewers are any worse than Homo Neandertalis.

 

Any tips on how to go about asking for the discounts? Did you just ask if you'd get a discount if you bought the service plan? Did you do pretty much what Fishon recommended? (pg 493 if you didn't see it.) Thanks in advance.

 

I don't see what purpose there is in getting a 10 or 15% discount if you also have to spend more money. Unless you're going to buy those anyways, it doesn't save you money.

 

Definitely wait for the refresh, it is better in the end.

I only got this because of the sell and after playing with it a little longer I will decide whether to keep it (out of convenience) or return it within the 30 day period and wait for the refresh.

Either way, I'm keeping a Vaio Y but if the SU7300 fits my needs and performance I will be very happy that I got this notebook @ $664.

 

But what refresh? What, other than rumours and speculation, can you tell me that you are going to see in the refresh other than a computer that is no longer leading-edge?

 

A warranty is ALWAYS a good idea. And, if you're nice, which it doesn't sound like you are, you can sweet-talk the sales agent into giving you a discount. You WILL get $100 or 5% regardless just by phoning in the order..

 

Um... this was meant for the Y-series thread. >_>


*sheepishly sweeps post into appropriate thread*

 

@ bold

Why I never!

You're saying that atop of the student discount I could get an additional 5% off automatically? How sure are you of that? Either way, I have no interest in any accessories offered by Sony so I see no sense in purchasing one for the sake of getting a larger discount when you will end up spending more money in the end.

Warranty is another thing, I suppose for some it is better to get one while for others it isn't. With Sony's reputation and build design, I'm not worried about my notebook breaking down within 4 years.

 

I actually wanted a case. If I was going to get a bigger discount off the whole order then that would be great.

 

Buy more, pay less. Where did I see that before...

 

This laptop is woeful, poor viewing angles and no less than 3 distinct noises coming from all over the place at any given time. I'll have to ring the store today and beg they let me take my SR back, even though the colour reproduction on the SR is really terrible, I'll just have to buy an external monitor.

Quality these days... I thought Sony were meant to be top range.

 

Errr... this is a F Series forum?

What is a SR?

 

I had an SR but took it back as the colours on the screen were poor, they wouldn't give a refund even though I'd only had it a few days but offered to exchange it for an F. So I took the F, got it home last night, booted it up and heard the Hardware Orchestra.

 

The SR is a grossly overpriced Core2Duo laptop with a terrible screen and moderate performance which I gather Mawki prefers to the f11 with twice the speed and much much cheaper options. (Bluray is $400 on the SR!)

Obviously Mawki hasn't been reading this forum and doesn't realize that the i7 is GOING to be noisier, and that there are other issues with early runs of the F11 (such as old stock still sitting at bricks and mortar stores) which Mawki could avoid by ordering online,

 

yes dear, quite correct.

Although I've got the grey i5 model

 

@mawki: I can take it off your hand, what kind of discount are we talking about?

 

I'm in London, paid £950 for it, willing to let it go for £850

 

Wow, almost to page 500.
Incredible.

 

Best processor for this model.. And the Brits get a better screen than we primitive colonials, also. (unless you DIDN'T pick the premium HD screen??)

 

yeah I got the premium HD screen, the viewing angles really are poor though. To get the thin screen they've used edge backlighting
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39029474,49305134-5,00.htm

you've got two options:
1. be close enough to read text, impossible to get rid of the silver sheen from at least half the screen from any angle
2. be too far away to read text, but the lighting looks consistent at the right angle

 

Are you actually talking about the F11? Because everyone here has been saying how GOOD the European matte screen is. Except for IPS and a few other advanced screens nearly ALL screens on notebooks have a narrow vertical viewing angle.

 

How would I check which screen I've got?
This is my exact model - http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-f-series/vpcf11m1e-h

 

Oh man I just checked that URL, it's not the Premium display! What a jam, I specifically told the guy in store I was returning the SR because of the screen and that I wanted the Premium dislpay and that's what he gave me.... I'm a .

 

It's matte rather than the American glossy screen regardless. I think you may be setting too high a standard, mobile screens just don't have the viewing angles of PVA or even TN desktop panels.

 

Well alright, but it's still not a terrible screen.

 

We pay a higher price here in the UK though, and I do have high standards. This is my third laptop in a month, so I sure know the strengths and weaknesses of each. My first, the Dell Studio 1557 has an excellent screen had to send that back cuz it kept crashing on fullscreen flash content and they couldn't fix it. The Sony SR is great, at 2kg its portable and the P7450 processor would be fast enough but the screen was bad. And comparing the F to the previous two the colour of the screen is great, viewing angles much much worse than both others, but the most bothersome is the trio of noise - fan, high pitch morse code (top right), whirring/whining sound (a second fan? top left)... money is no object for me when I know I'll keep this thing for 2-3 years but I just can't seem to win, even buying the most expensive of the pick

 

The morse code is a known issue, Sony stopped production until the trouble was tracked down. And Sony will fix that for existing owners. As I say, as a store-bought unit you got existing stock that had not had the update. I suggest you keep the F11 and get Sony to update the mic circuitry that causes that buzzing. Also you'll find an external mic won't work.

OR say you have a unit with a known, well-documented issue, http://www.sonyinsider.com/2010/02/04/no-worries-the-sony-vaio-f-laptop-is-okay-and-back-on-sale/
and you want your money back. Then order an F11 online.

 

@DietSushi

Yes try Fishon's advice. It's always more productive to engage in a friendly dialogue with the rep rather than trying to beat in why you deserve the discount. Just say that you'd like to get a discount and be prepared to make the purchase. No sense in trying to angle in the 'discount' at a specific moment in the whole conversation. That's too much stress as well.
If they won't give you a good deal then try again later. (not 5 minutes later though.

 

I've had my F11 (UK version - VPCF11C5E) for three weeks now and with help from this forum I managed to fix all the minor annoyances that the F11 had (buzzing noise, colour profiles e tc).

The problem is now, the hard drive it came with is a Seagate ( link), and like many encountered on here, it shows it is connected in Generation 1 mode.
Does anyone know how to get it to run in Gen. 2? I've checked but there were no jumpers connected to force it to run in Gen 1.
I've also attached a screenshot.

 

My F117FX/B is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. I have a Sony Vaio VGP-WKB5US wireless keyboard which I would like to use with the new F117. I have had the keyboard for a little over a year and have been using it with my Vaio AR with Windows Vista. The keyboard manual says the keyboard is compatible with Windows XP and Vista. It says attempting to use the keyboard with any other operating system may damage the keyboard. Has anyone used this keyboard with their F11 and Windows 7?

 

Good morning! I awoke to several new pages to sift through!!!

I live in the USA. I ordered via phone. I asked for a discount and was immediately given 5%. I politely told the sales lady that there were several posters in this thread who had received 10% discounts. She told me that they must have been students. I told here that many were not and I would like the same discount. She said she could not do that. I told here I would love to purchase a first ever Sony computer for our church. She said she could not give a deal like that. I said that I had also been looking at Asus and Toshiba and that I would need to check them again before purchasing IF I did not get a 10% discount (I was nice about this though). I was put on hold and when she came back, she gave me a total build price and the new price after a 10% discount.

My confirmation email included a coupon for 20% off any accessories purchased at Sony Style after registration of the new computer. While there are very few accessories we would purchase from SS, perhaps a matching laptop case would be nice, especially for 20% off.

Don't give up on the discount. I was nice, but was firm that perhaps I would need to revisit other vendors before purchasing if I could not get a full 10% discount. I also offered to purchase immediately if the discount was given. It worked well!

Again, I hope this helps a few of you!

Bill

 

The keyboard will work fine - a keyboard is a keyboard. And WIn7 has native support for USB (of course) and BlueTooth.