Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Good! I tested with the file on my F instead of downloading from the web, hence the .ink error. I'll know better next time.

Did you try checking the colors on your display with the Colochecker charts? Do you like the end result on your US 1080p?

 

Thanks Joe! The color profile worked.

 

Hi guys,
Before I write my question, I have done a search but its come up with so many results I'm left even more confused than before! I'm thinking of buying an F series with an i7-720 but I've read about the annoying noise. Have Sony managed to sort it out? I'm in the UK so will be buying a model probably from the sony style UK store when it comes out. Also whats the fan noise when say just browsing the web and listening to music as this can drive me crazy! I know it's a Sony forum but it's either this or the new 15" envy which I have read doesn't suffer from large fan noise when doing normal tasks. Even if it is £400 more.
Cheers in advance!

 

Where are the Colochecker charts?

 

Works for me as well- thanks again Joe

 

can someone make some sort of sticky that simply lists all the probs of the F series, and the current situation of them, if there is a fix, a temp fix, no fix, i've started reading this thread for 2 days now, and i find it very time consuming reading ALL 546 pages, i've spent 7 hours just reading today and have only gone though 60 pages, so if someone hasn't been reading this thread from the start i think it would be near impossible for them to ever be caught up and know whats happened and the latest info on the laptop's problems or fixes
if you dont know what problems a laptop has, what would you search the forum for?

and i've only been able to give 7 hours to reading this cuz atm i have nothing else to do, for other people who have school, or work, i think those people would just be lost and leave the forum

and reading though, there is probably 1 or 2 posts per page that actually talk about the actual laptop's probs or fixes, the rest is speculations and sh*t, or talking about this site has this, this one has this. I'm not saying its useless or anything, but irrelevant to people just starting to read this thread and want to know the problems or fixes

i don't mean to offend anyone or anything, just speaking my mind

 

Great - glad it's helping

 

Go for it. Mine - just bought from BT in the UK is whisper quiet.
I love it

 

In the unzipped profile rar file: Native_5900K_2.2_109cd-m2.rar

Guys, tell me also if it looks good on your US 1080p!

 

My take: VAIO_F Positive Feedback & "Issues"

EU F review: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPC-F11Z1-E-Notebook.25724.0.html

 

I made a slight change and now this thread has returned to its former useful state.

Does anyone have 3DMark Vantage scores on this laptop yet? I no longer have a license, but I'm curious to see how it performs.

 

The Spyder2express profile (think it is slrosenfeld's) is giving me the best results. I've tried the hueyPRO and many of yours as well. It appears there are just variations with the monitors. Your calibrator seems to have the best reviews out there, but again, the Spyder2express profile will be my default and will keep yours for options under different lighting conditions. I know what the calibrators cost and I am very grateful to all that posted their calibration profiles!

 

Evernote anyone?

I am keen to hear thoughts from the people who got a bundle including it. Is it the same generic build we can get evernote, or is it Vaio customized?

 

EU F review (includes 3DMark 01, 05, 06 & Vantage:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPC-F11Z1-E-Notebook.25724.0.html

Also try Search this Tread with: 3DMark

 

Found the Colochecker charts. They were in the http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=525X832&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.monteverde.org%2Fimages%2Fi1Display_2%2FProfiles_Joe_Bleau.rar you posted on Feb 25 (post #4965), not in the Native_5900K_2.2_109cd-m2.rar.

I like it. On my screen it doesn't have the slight red hue of slrosenfeld's Spyder_Vaio_F_profile, which I tried first. Before trying yours I had been using count_schemula's Spyder2express for US 1080p. Your profile is very similar to count_schemula's, just a little brighter and slightly less red push. Yours has a slight blue push in comparison to count_schemula's. Based on a couple hours of use I like the way it looks in my lighting. I'll check the Colochecker charts later.

 

It's really just a question of personal taste if you don't have a physical Colorchecker card to compare to your monitor with an electronic version of said chart on the monitor. Here is an example with a CRT and bad incandescent overhead light, I'll try to post one with a proper working space lighting and my F:



An other test is to check a photo on your display, print & see if it looks the same but then it means also calibrating the printer: Comparing Your Prints To Your Screen

If photography & true colors are important to you:

- Monitor Calibration and Profiling: "If you can not trust the colors displayed on your monitor, all other color management is a waste of time. Calibrating and profiling your monitor should, therefore, be your first priority..."

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

 

When I use the colorchecker the Spyder2express profile is much more vivid than the rest, but I am not sure about color purity.

 

I added the charts also to the Native_5900K_2.2_109cd-m2.rar probably after you downloaded it. Anyway they are in both profile rar now.

See post above about comparing with a physical Colorchecker chart.

Thanks for the feedback!

Edit: Here is a quickie shot with the US F 1080p & the Native 5900K profile vs. a physical Colorchecker chart. The caveat is that the energy saving neon I'm holding near the display (hence the glare) has a temperature of 5500K vs. the profile @ 5900K, that's the only reason why there is some variations. I will try to make one with a 5900K working area lighting but that will be tomorrow (maybe ):

 

I've brought this issue up before but nobody bit. Our Realtek driver does not seem to have a sound manager included like this one: http://www.mslinn.com/sites/mike/bear/images/realtek4.png I am very interested in installing something like this, but do I have to change the driver or is this just a additional download? Not versed in this and would appreciate any input.

 

Nope too cold. Still like slrosenfeld's profile. His even looks OK when Auto-Brightness is turned on.

 

On one of my desktop systems, I was able to download the full installer from here:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/DOWNLOADS...=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

I went for the 54689k Windows executable installer.

 

Everyone seems to have a different opinion here and it just seems to emphasize the need to have a personal calibrator for your own unique monitor.

 

Do you need more controls that what is found in S1 > Vaio Control Center > Sound (or Control Panel > Sound)?



I researched after reading your post & if you update your F via the Sony_Support, our most recent driver does not have a graphic equalizer.

If you use the Media Player 12, included in Win 7, there is an equalizer, have you tried it? To set the graphic equalizer or by changing skin: How To Enable Equalizer in Windows Media Player 12



EDIT: There is a workaround using only the mixer utility found in the AC’97 Audio Codecs file here and it works fine on my F even if it looks ugly : Get The Realtek Equalizer Back In Windows 7



In that article they mention that Realtek has started to put back the mixer in their drivers, I would guess we will find one eventually in the Sony_Support download page for our F's. Patience.

 

It's a standard Realtek chipset, just download the generic driver from Realtek, (it has to be the correct part) it will work fine and has the full mixer setup.

 

And if you can't afford one after shelling out your hard earned bucks for the F11, you can always search this thread (try keyword SPYDER), download the posted profiles and decide for yourself. That's what I did.

 

Have you seen the warning on that page?

Nvidia says the same about the video driver for our F, that's why it's not offered on their download page.

Edit: @ aaronjb: could you tell us the name of the equalizer's exe? Maybe it's possible to mimic the AC’97 mixer only workaround & not modify the rest of our Realtek drivers?

 

Spyder requires a purchase as well, you need the hardware.

 

Audio driver works fine on my laptop, and on a few desktops as well. I also use the generic NVidia drivers on all of my systems, desktop an laptop, without issue. In most cases, particularly with video drivers, there isn't a change to the underlying driver and it's simply a rebranding and repackaging.

With video drivers in particular, you have to pick up the latest (sometimes beta) NVidia (and ATI, for that matter) releases direct from the source to get the most performance. Waiting for the manufacturer to package the driver up is a losing game.

There is currently no 300-series driver available for download direct from NVidia. Once one becomes available, I'll download and install it immediately. Unfortunately, Sony does not participate in the NVidia Verde driver program, so the NVidia driver upgrade tool accessible from the NVidia web page will never detect a newer driver version. That means it's a manual download for us Sony users, but by no means does that mean the stock NVidia drivers won't work on Sony laptops.

 

Maybe you missed my edit: Edit: @ aaronjb: could you tell us the name of the equalizer's exe? Maybe it's possible to mimic the AC’97 mixer only workaround & not modify the rest of our Realtek drivers?

We have a different philosophy, I won't install any beta general drivers on my F, it already kick butts as it is, I'll wait for Sony_certified updates for my specific F model.

But I would install the Realtek mixer only.

 

Just wanted to share an experience with bluetooth audio on the F11. I connected it to a cheap bluetooth stereo music receiver I got from dealextreme (that rocks, incidentally... http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8422) so that I could hook up the laptop's audio to some external speakers while retaining the mobility of having a laptop (since the F11's speakers are subpar, especially compared to my old hp ze4325us's harmon-kardon speakers...which I had been taking for granted, though the rest of the HP is subpar...but I digress). Initially, the audio through the bluetooth receiver sounded AWFUL. I connected my phone's audio just to make sure I wasn't crazy, and it sounded fine.

I contacted Sony's online support chat, and they suggested reinstalling Broadcom's bluetooth audio driver and restarting. That did the trick, audio sounds great now. So, if your bluetooth audio sounds bad, reinstall the driver. Here's the link: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VPCF1190X&upd_id=5371&os_id=47

Incidentally, I'm going to disassemble the dealextreme bluetooth receiver and hardwire it to power so that I can just have it on all the time.

Also, while typing this, I noticed the spacebar's squeakiness is back, even though it had previously been fixed by reseating it. Oh well.

 

I ordered one of these on February 23rd and it said expected shipping date was today, but it actually left Toronto on the 25th. Should be here on Wednesday.

They might come out with some more pre-order pre-configurated F's such as this once they get their hands on some more GT330m's.

 

Sorry, it seems that while the Realtek HD driver installs, the Realtek equalizer is not available.

 

I did find the executable in the Program FIles>Realtek>Audio>HDA directory. The executable is RAVCpl64.exe and according according to the file description it is the "Realtek HD Audio Manager".

When I attempt to execute the program, it does absolutely nothing. Just like the other programs in the directory. This is the case with the "as shipped and updated" version as well as the version downloaded from the Realtek website.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I did install the R2.43 driver you suggested after creating a Restore Point & it updated the Realtek HD Audio driver to 6.0.1.6050 vs. the 01/21/2010 6.0.1.5992 on Sony_Support. I did not see (or hear) any difference yet nor any graphic equalizer.

Clicking the Speaker icon on the task bar > Speaker icon:



But that's a lot of clicks and not very flexible. I will report if I find a way to add a shortcut to this tab or find a graphic equalizer interface besides the two suggestions posted previously.

 

If you click on the three dots next to the canned EQ settings or leave the <user defined> as is, it will bring up a 10 band graphical EQ with sliders.

 

That's great, thanks!

I can't believe there is zero info about this on the realtek site.

Now the question is: how to create a shortcut to it as I can't drag it to the task bar or anything so far, & Start > Search to no avail.



Edit: I tested the AC’97 graphic equalizer on my F & it works fine even if it looks like a kid's toy.

 

I've tried both stock Nvidia drivers for desktop/laptop w/ modded INF, and they don't seem to work. The screen brightness starts to malfunction after 1 or 2 restarts and the screen shuts down completely. I had to remove the video drivers in safe mode. It wasn't pleasant at all.

With the FW590 and ATI Mobility 4650, the stock drivers from ATI worked w/ the Mobility Modder tool without problems up to 9.12

 

There's no three dots next to the canned EQ settings in the Speaker/HP Properties window of my F.

Btw, doing the ff made the sound output a lot better:
1. Under Enhancements tab, check Equalizer then select Rock as setting.
2. Under Dolby tab, check Audio Enhancer.

 

If you update to Realtek HD R2.43 driver as suggested by aaronjb, you will get the 3 dots & the graphic equalizer:

In > Start > Search > type: create a restore point > and create one before updating the driver so you can return easily to your actual OS state if there is any problems.

 

Tweaking the audio settings will definitely give you better sound.
It's what I did and it gave me better results with the onboard
speakers.

 

There are no stock drivers direct from NVidia yet with 300-series support. They'll be available this week, according to the rep on the NVidia forums.

The only driver that works with any degree of success on this laptop at the moment is the one Sony provides. NVidia seeds the manufacturers with pre-release driver code for those who wish to jump the gun on product release, as Sony did with this F11 to get it out the door as one of the first i7-based laptops.

When the next driver release is available direct from NV, I'll post here.

Update: Well, that was quick:

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win7_winvista_64bit_196.75_whql_uk.html <- Win 7/x64 direct link

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/26233-nvidia-forceware-19675-released/ <- link to laptopvideo2go post (has links to drivers for other OSes)

Sadly, no native Linux driver yet.

Update 2: Aaaaand it's a no-go. Looks like these drivers won't work, despite the GT330 being listed as supported.

It's a no-go, folks:

Update 3: Haven't had my coffee yet, didn't see that these don't have the 330M listed under 'supported devices'. Hence, the listing as Desktop drivers. Doh!

 

thanks aaron You had me so excited...but then I read the bold parts as I was clicking the link.

 

So if I have this right, if I download and install the Realtek HD R2.43 driver and AC’97 graphic equalizer, the sound output will be better?

I'm unfamiliar with tweaking an equalizer so do you set to a particular genre, rock, pop, etc, and that's it or do you adjust each slider yourself? What would be the ideal setting(s) for listening to TV shows like action dramas and comedies?

 

I've made the post more clear now, I think I got some hopes up.

Looks like NVidia is updating the driver selection menus on their web site, I'm crossing my fingers.

 

I'm sorry but I don't get it.

Why do you want to try to get from Nvidia some video drivers when they recommend updating via the manufacturer in the case of the F?

What do you expect to gain compared to the Vaio_F11 certified NVIDIA GeForce 310M / 330M Video Driver on Sony_Support. It's not recent enough for you?

NVDVID-00210978-0042.EXE

Version : 8.16.11.8783

Last Modified : 02/19/2010

Note: if you use the Vaio_Update_5 utility, it will tell you if you do need a updated video driver so there is no need to use the Esupport link above unless doing a clean install from a standalone Win 7 OS.

Going to the Nvidia GT 330M product page > Drivers & Downloads tab, it brings you to the Nvidia Verde Notebook Driver Program & clicking on AUTOMATICALLY FIND DRIVERS FOR MY NVIDIA-POWERED NOTEBOOK & installing the scan my notebook utility > the scan is BLOCKED for the Vaio_F11.

If anybody goes ahead anyway, I strongly suggest: > Start > Search > type: create a restore point > and create one before updating the video driver so you can return easily to your actual OS state if there is any problems. It's a good practice before ANY major tweaks & big software installation.

If you have problems like MidtownHD (quote below) on re-boot > F8 > Repair Your Computer > Last Know Good Configuration. Good luck!

 

Who's "they"? I haven't heard of such a recommendation.

I've been loading graphics drivers direct from the GPU manufacturer since video cards moved to the PCI bus. Updating drivers direct from NVidia isn't new, Joe - this is a standard practice in the PC hardware world. If you're unfamiliar with this practice, then I have to question the breadth of your technical knowledge, despite the great information you're providing in some of your posts.

Loading drivers direct from NVidia (or ATI, as the case may be) is the only way to ensure that the latest game-specific fixes are accounted for. NVidia releases drivers in conjunction with popular game releases, and these drivers often include game-specific fixes or optimizations. Laptop manufacturers often lag behind these releases by many months, or stop updating their branded drivers altogether. If you think I'm crazy, open up the Sony driver installer in a program like 7-zip: inside, you'll find the same driver files with the same checksums as the files distributed by NVidia. Sony isn't adding any value or benefit in this case.

I know you think your F11 is special, but it's not so special that it has a custom NVidia 330M GPU that can't run with stock drivers direct from NVidia.

 

My VPCF117FX/B arrived a little over two hours ago. This model has specs identical to the BB model except it has the 7200 rpm 500 gb disc drive. I bought it from J&R in New York. It was assembled in China. The box has the round green sticker on it.

I am following the Sony quick start instructions. The second recovery disc is now being created. I did make a WiFi connection to my home network and installed 17 Windows updates. I also activated Norton Internet Security 2010. It was a little bit of a struggle to find the proper place to enter my product key to tie this copy of Norton to my existing subscription but I was successful.

I have been following this thread since the beginning so I know what to check. My first impression is the screen is not nearly as vibrant as my 3 year old Vaio AR. I had to adjust the screen to a greater angle in order to get the best view than I normally do with the AR. The F cost less than half what I paid for the AR so I think I can live with its deficiencies. The fan is a little louder than the AR. I do not think it will bother me. Time will tell.

When I bought the AR, my first Vaio had died. I had to copy my personal files onto the AR and begin work immediately. This time I am going to have the luxury of thoroughly checking out the computer before I copy on my personal files or install any software.

 

It's a question of personal taste, the type of music you listen to and the type of external speakers or headphones you are using.

It's like these monitor color settings when not using a colorimeter or these anti-virus discussions IMHO. You have to try various settings & see for yourself what sound tweaking you prefer, if any. As sparton mentioned, this works for my Vaio_F11 laptop speakers & the sound is better for certain type of music: "Under Dolby tab, check Audio Enhancer".

One thing is for sure: you don't have to use an equalizer & if you do, don't use more than one simultaneously.

Recent options in this thread so far:

- with the current F driver, there are already some canned equalizer settings but w/o the three dots linking to the Realtek 10 band graphic equalizer (see here)

- the AC'97 graphic equalizer works on my F. It's not running all the time, you can start it or not. (see here)

- if you use Media Player 12 all the time, it already includes a 10 band graphic equalizer, SRS WOW and other Enhancements options, so there is no need to add an other one on top of it. (see here how to activate, same links as AC'97 graphic equalizer post)



- if downloading the Realtek R2.43 driver, it adds a 10 band graphic equalizer but I did not find a way to create a shortcut for it so far. (see here and jacksjw's reply below it)

Hope this helps!

 

Using Nvidia control panel for colour preferences, but every time I plug in an external monitor or wake it from sleep, it defaults to the sony profile. I have played with the colour control settings, removed the sony profile from system default etc, but no luck. Any suggestions?

 

Just to let you know, if you have very good external speakers/headphones, you should disable "Audio Enhancer" and "Surround Speakers" under the Dolby settings. When I'm using the Etymotic hf2 headset, or even the in-ear Bose earphones or the Bose Sounddock speakers, the sound is SO much better with those options disabled. But for the onboard speakers I believe that "Sound Enhancer" is a good option.