Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Fan seems to be stuck on the highest setting this morning. Not directly at boot, but as soon as the Windows splash screen loads.

Anyone experienced this? Any remedies?

 

Sounds like the same issue I am having. Interestingly I also have CS4. However, I don't think that is the problem. My freeze seem to be when transferring a lot of data through the wireless chipset - and doing audio work at the same time.

What I am finding particularly frustrating is that there is no event log report, no BSOD code to note down, nothing.

My suspicion is that it is an issue with either the realtek audio chip, and/or the wireless device. I can almost reproduce this using filezilla. I am planing on running some stress tests to see what happens.

Whilst I don't wish these problems on other F11 owners, a greater awareness would be welcomed.

 

Melodymaster--thank you for your reply. I called Sony Support. The tech also verified that my wireless keyboard and bluetooth mouse will work with the F117. He was very helpful and willing to answer my question even though I have not yet received the computer. The keyboard has a USB receiver. I was afraid there might be an issue with the new 64 bit Windows 7.

 

I've also rang up Sony regarding the buzzing noise issue, they've asked me to turn the laptop off and start it in bios, the noise disappeared in bios but reappeared when logged in to windows. From that they concluded it was a hardware problem. The laptop will be collected on monday for "repairs".

I also mentioned the hard drive issues which some have, to which they replied even if the hard drive supports SATA II transfer modes, the motherboard might not. I'm curious whether your (Joe Bleau) F Series is a UK or US version as we seem to have the same hard drive, but different Firmware versions. Mine shows generation 1 and yours generation 2. I have no clue how to check what motherboard I have?

 

I don't believe the i5 versions come with matte screens, they're glossy i think. Not sure if it's the same one as the US models though.

I don't have any strange noises (apart from the fan, if you consider that a noise). Every single Owners Lounge for i7 laptops contains users upset about fan noise - a clue as to what you should expect on any quad-core machine. No clue about i5.

 

I agree with MelodyMaster that there is no significant advantage between the two standards as it applies to currently available 2.5" disc drives used by Sony in the F series. Thanks for steering me onto this research task.

I took one of my spare Hitachi 500GB drives (the same as the one shipped with my F11J) and enabled the SATA II function with the Hitachi utility program. I did this on an older desktop machine as the utility currently does not support the later Intel chipsets including the PM55 in the F11. I then installed the drive in my F11 and restored the system from the Recovery and Restore DVDs previously created.

Confirmed, via the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, that the disc interface was set for Sata generation 2. Ran the Windows experience rating and it stayed at 5.9.

Performed the disc read benchmark from Everest Ultimate and the only change in performance was in Buffered Reads which almost doubled from Sata I (123 MB/s) to 213 MB/s.

So unless your application is writing and reading the same cached data over and over again you really will not see any performance improvements of the 7200 RPM drives going from SATA 150 to SATA 300. I am sure when 2.5" drives push 10,000 and 15,000 RPM, SATA II will come into play. Of course then we will be whining about not supporting the SATA 3 standard not to mention the sound of the higher speed disc drives.

 

Thanks for the tip! +rep

Yes, after posting last night I went and tried configuring a Studio XPS 16 in all three places and EPP and SD did turn out to be cheaper this time. Not sure what was different from the first time I tried but I know that I wont be going with a Dell Studio XPS 16 (though I may be buying a Dell XPS broken one to fix up for my father to use). This will be the last I talk about it though. Thanks for chatting.

Thanks for the info. The few times that I have made a large purchase like this (for myself and for others) I did the exact same thing you did. Be polite but firm, dont talk down to the rep even if you know more about the computer than they seem to, mention that you are willing to go to their competitors but do say you are willing to buy TODAY. I got 20% off an inspiron laptop through dell that way. +rep for you!

 

Any more info on this? My 30 days is coming to an end soon and I want to purchase an ADH service plan. I feel I was mislead by two sony style reps when told that I had 30 days to add an ADH service plan. Had I been told on the phone that I could only get ADH at the time of purchase I would have made the purchase later when I had made up my mind on exactly what service plan I wanted.

Oh, and I did some further digging on Provantage. A member here, posting in the VAIO Z Seried lounge posted that Provantage uses the same 3rd party company, Service Net Solutions, LLC, as sony style.

Well I found out that there is a sony style store really close to me. I thought the closest one was over an hour away.

I'm going to take my F CTO in and get to the bottom of the noise I hear in the textured touchpad area. I did some more monitoring and discovered that the noise does not come on immediately when I turn the notebook on. It takes 2-3 minutes. It sometimes goes off then comes back on. I could have sworn that it was constant. Maybe it is the fan afterall.

 

Although not an issue, it would be nice to get this to show Generation 2 rather than 1. The motherboard is not an issue as it can support SATA II, so I'm guessing it's a matter of firmware upgrade, which I cant seem to find on the Seagate website, neither the Sony website.

 

so im REALLY put off my the f11 series, so my question is wat is the best sony laptop with similiar specs and same screen size to the f11 series. Also is it possible for sony laptop to have a RGB screen

 

Please see my post #5006 a few posts back. It may put this issue to rest.

 

Hi I just ran into trouble with making recovery discs on my wife's new EB series vaio. The display wouldn't com Back on after Closing the lid and I powered off abruptly. I have recovery discs and a system repair disc for my F series. Will these work for the eb series as I wasn't able to complete them ?

 

Anyone Plz Help?

 

You just don't seem to know how to go with the give and take in a forum, instead just shouting "help me, help me!" when in fact you HAVE been helped as much as possible.

There is nothing wrong with the F11, it is a great laptop. Every other notebook you read about in other forums, such as the VAIO CW, Dells with i7, Alienware, Asus, Toshiba, have problems, in many cases far greater than that of the F11. ALL mass-produced products have a percentage with issues, which are covered under warranty.

Buy the damn laptop, you'll love it!

 

Mine didn't come with the Blu Ray sticker. I bought mine from SonyStyle USA but others in the thread do have the sticker.

 

Glad you replied first. I don't think I would have been as kind. The F11 isnt perfect but it definitely seems quite a bit better than anything I could buy at Dell, HP, ASUS, etc.

What is the big deal about a sticker? Does it matter? Not trying to be snarky, just genuinely curious.

 

melody im really sorry, i want to buy something which doesnt give me problems, and which can last me a long time. But are there other awesome laptops similair to the f11 series which are the best sony ones.

In the UK the f11 series came out yesterday, i know the battery life isnt great im okay with that, but i herd there are some problems especially with the screen, i know its full HD, but hows the qulaity wen it plays blu ray moves or videos, is it great or pixely

 

I ordered mine on the 19th of Jan and got it on the 5th. Buy it, you wont regret it.

 

anyone anwser my above question. Thx, but there must be other sony laptops which are brillant as well in similair specs. Right?

How is the graphics card, can any play all new games easily

 

Strange - I can't find any changes to my power settings which would have reset my CPU fan settings. I'm at a loss as to why the fan is now on full-speed.

 

I'm gonna ask that you do some research. If you see a laptop you like, Sony or otherwise, look at the specs. There are plenty of websites out there, NotebookReview.com, Tomshardware.com, etc that offer great, and thorough, reviews of many types of laptops and the parts.

Yes, looking up this information can be tiresome and a little bit confusing but it will help broaden your knowledge of the subject. If you still want to ask these questions, please go to the What Notebook Should I Buy forum section. EDIT: It seems like you ALREADY have a thread in the WNSIB section so please ask your questions there. This thread is for specific F11 questions not which laptop is better than the F11.

 

ok fair enough i will go to my other thread. But how gd is the graphics card for playing games for the f11 series

 

That has also been answered - with screenshots and Youtube videos! It's pretty good.

 

!

Try searching this thread using the keyword "games". There are 104 posts that you can review to get your answer.

 

Take this and go.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-330M.22437.0.html

 

it doesnt seem like the graphics card can handle top new games. Man all that money and not a great graphics card

 

If you want something that will handle top new games with graphics on high prepare to spend alot more than the $1,000 that the Sony Vaio F is priced around. In fact, if it is that important to you, build a desktop.

 

OK...now it is beginning to sound like a troll!

 

no its no important all im saying is for the price u pay for the f series u expect a great graphics card. I dont like your attitude to me mate, ok. I dont know how to build a desktop btw and i DONT WANT TO

 

Apparently it is important otherwise you wouldn't have spammed the boards begging for answers to your questions. I'm sorry if you dont like my tone but I am nothing if not honest when I say I really don't care.

If you have an honest, and unique/new question about the F11, anyone will be glad to answer it. Just stop begging for info when you could have done a thread search instead.

 

FYI...when reordering CTO today, not shipping until March 16 due to Out of Stock part...she couldn't/wouldn't tell me what the part was.

 

The GT330 is actually an excellent video card, especially for a non-gaming laptop. other laptops costing way more have lesser video cards. A faster video card will mean more heat, and a noisier, heavier, thicker laptop with even less battery life.

If you want a gaming-orientated laptop with features required for a business and multimedia system at a good price point then go for the Asus G51JX-A1 (or a3) - but it costs $300 more than the F11. If you want a DEDICATED gamer then the Asus G73 at $1700 (but no firewire or Esata) or an Alienware (at over $2200.) If you want an all-round notebook with lots of upgrade options and bundles at a VERY good price point that can still do gaming then it's the F11.

 

I've had my F for about a month now.

I just want to say I'm a happy owner. I have a US version. The screen isn't an issue, possible because my last laptop was a 2006 Toshiba Satellite. This 1080p screen is great for me.

Graphics wise, it does what I want it to do. It plays Mass Effect 1/2 at max fine. Fallout 3 is a bit stuttery at 1080p but plays awesome at 720p. Fine by me.

I've ran 24 tables of Pokerstars, Holdem Manager (database program), Table Ninja and Table of interest all running at the same time and it runs beautifully.

The only issue I have is the buzzing mic, with a quick fix from this thread, I've had zero issues with that as well. Skype still works like a charm and I dont need to change ant settings after disabling mic noise.

I am a happy Sony Vaio F series owner.

 

Native white profile is working for me. Thank you Joe!

 

melody u are my new friend lol, i think u persuaded me agen. I understand where u coming from it it still a great card and can play most of the games, i really dont want an asus gaming machine or alienware as im not a hardcore gamer, plus price is too much.

However is the fan quiet, also does it overheat like some other high spec laptops. Finally hows is the full hd 1080p blu ray movies, is it perfect quality

 

WORD

 

The links were posted here somewhre, the F11 is actually cooler-running than almost any other i7-equipped notebook. The fan CAN be heard as a rushing noise, wind. There are some complaints of whistling - which involves changing the fan under warranty.

Bluray is impeccable.

 

You need to learn to wait for answers. This is not your own personal tech support.

 

melody, so are u saying the fan will give loud noises and may need replacing then. Is that the main problem. I was just curious of how great the FULL HD was on the f11 but from wt u are saying its awesome

 

Could not have said this better myself.

 

You have no subtlety, no understanding of nuances and balance. I'll say no more. You won't get the overall picture if you take apart each sentence word by word.

 

I've been looking at buying the F11 for the past week, in which time i've constantly been on this thread reading the posts about the pros and cons of the laptop. If you do this you can be prepared to fix any minor problems the F11 may have when it arrives, i know i am after reading the previous posts.

Anyway...i'm thinking of getting the F11 with i5 processor and either the 500GB 5400 hard-drive or SSD drive, just trying to weigh up which would be best to get taking into account what i'm going to use it for (desktop replacement, most likely social/internet, minor gaming and excel stuff for household bills/finances etc.)...any views would be great???? dont know much about SSD but know that it's faster and is suppose to prolong battery life.

P.S There's a pretty good review of the UK model on youtube

 

That's interesting actually, the GT330 is directly comparable in speed with the ATI 3870 - which is what was used in my previous gaming computer. If the F11 performs on games to that level then it's pretty good!

Get the SSD, I've just installed an OCZ SSD in my Asus netbook and what it's done to the perfomance over the previous 7200 rpm drive is beyond belief!

 

soz melody im just paronoid with little things. In your opinion do u think f11 is one of the best laptops that sony make as well as on the market

 

For Sony the Z-series is better, for the market in general there are many better laptops that cost more.

 

Hi there;
i had a FW590 that was defected since i got it out of box. In dec 16 2009 i received it and called sony asking for exchange (not refund) after many calls and at the first week of jan 2010 i called and they told me to hand it to sony service center wich is far from my place about 15 mnts (in toronto). i called many times and they kept telling me that they are waiting for a parts to get in but they never received that part. On Wed. (2 days ago) i called asking what is happening! after i talk to 3 persons (they switch me from one to another) the rep. told me that this computer is discontinued and they wont be any part, he talked to his supervisor and the answer was that there is a replacement or exchange with another unit will be he started appoligising because it is being for almost 2 months. the new unit that they will send me is the Sony VPCF117FDB. I hope i will receive it next week and not (2 months)
About the memory i will have 4 GB of ram (1333mhz) is there any store u know that i can buy an extra one 4Gb stick So i will have 6 GB?
Thank you in advance mates

 

this should be expected from an i7 machine if you want something quieter go for a machine with an i5

 

Warning though, the review on youtube has a different screen than the UK i5 models

EDIT: On another note, please don't send him there. My PM box is already flooded with identical type questions.

 

but isnt the screen on the sony z series smaller than the f11

 

I was joking.

Emphasis on this line: "- The fan sounds like any other laptop fan. A nice soft humm that will lull you to sleep -"