Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Control Panel - Device Manager - IDE/Atapi controllers - (right-click Primary IDE Channel) - Properties - Advanced Settings - (Transfer Mode should be "DMA if Available.") I'm betting it's dropped down to the much slower "PIO Mode" due to the Logitech driver interfering with disc access. This is a very common issue and the fact that removing the Logitech software removes the problem with jerky video supports what I'm saying.

It doesn't mean that the Logitech driver can't be used, but I can help Glashub if he's willing to follow through some troubleshooting.

 

I'm willing to follow your directions and I am most appreciative of your willingness to extend yourself to help me. I'll do trhe above right now. I'll report back momentarily. Thanks.

 

Yah, the fellow had it inscribed.. I didn't do that just BECAUSE I might want to return the machine :wink: The inscription would have been its name, also the network name, (Zoë) which will stay with the computer for its lifetime. And yes the inscription service and networking will accept non-keyboard characters (235 in this case)

 

Thank you to the people who gave solutions to the whining noise! I just bought this from BB today and its great apart from that noise. Hopefully Sony will come out with an update to fix this permanently.

I have one question: I would like to divide the HD into 2 partitions; 1 for Windows and another for my personal files. How can I go about doing this and reinstalling Windows? Do I need to make the recovery disks first and how do I partition?...As I'm not sure if the Sony installation process allows this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

There is a light sensor above the F9 key, the backlight lit only when the room is dark. You can put a tape on the sensor to keep the backlight on at all time.

 

Okay, maybe I'm missing something but I followed directions, and what I have listed is "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. I clicked there and got a drop down that lists:
Intel PCHM SATA_AHCI Controller 6 port
Ricoh Memeroy Stick Controller
Ricoh Bus Host Adapter

I right clicked each and I don't see "Properties or "Advanced" settings. I don't see Primary IDE channel" either.

 

Hello,

Does anyone notice that the fan is continuously on and emitting hot air constantly ? In my laptop, the squeaky sounds is probably inaudible because of the fan. Can someone verify if urs has a constant and loud fan rotation as well ?

---
USA VPC-F119FX 8GB 1920x1050 500gb 7200rpm i7Q720

 

you can put a tape on the sensor to blcok the light. The sensor is right above the F9 key.

 

We've got to remember guys that the F-series is a BUDGET laptop, much as one likes to think otherwise. It is a bit large for the perfomance and form-factor. And has little optimization for battery life. The Z-series is more compact, more solid, and a PREMIUM line, that's why it costs more for the same performance. The CW series is a business series designed for portability and battery life, and compromises are in other areas such as having less maximum performance and less efficient use of space available, so it can afford, and requires, the LED screen.

 

MelodyMaster, it's doing it again, the sputtering, even with Logitech uninstalled. I don't know what it could be. The video plays well after I reboot then the longer I keep the laptop on the more likley it'll start stuttering. I don't want to returm it as it runs well in all other ways. I do have enough bandwidth on my Comcast cable and, besides, all the other laptops play the video well.

 

To be quite clear, the CW series is pretty low down on the Vaio food-chain and is a consumer budget model. The "business" model in the vaio series is the "BZ" model.

 

Actually all downloads go painfully slow until I do a reboot. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Yes, the CW I would say is the "budget" laptop... I can't really see how our F series is a "budget" laptop...

 

If it's safely saying AHCI, which adds a few tricks for Sata drives including Hot Swap and queued access, then you're ok as far as hard drive setup goes. I didn't know the OEM win7 install would set it as AHCI by default.

Ok, since you know where the Device Manager is..
First download the LATEST Logitech software.
Now uninstall the AUDIO, yes sound, drivers, That will be the Realtek High Definition drivers, or some such.
Reboot, when the driver install dialogue comes up just cancel it.
Now install the Logitech drivers. DON'T reboot but test the keyboard shortcuts and video playback. It should be ok.
Now reboot and ALLOW the audio drivers to reinstall. Test as above.
Reboot.

 

It's not hardware, not a problem with the laptop. Very very carefully think of ALL the software that has been installed since you got it as a Virgin.

If nothing's critical use System Restore to go back to its earliest state.

Incidentally I forget preciseley what it was, (I'll look it up,) but both Logitech and Creative drivers can install a .dll that continues to screw up Windows after the drivers have otherwise been uninstalled.

 

First the F-series is Sony, and VAIOs have never been cheap, and it IS cheaper than the Z and BZ line. Although well-made there are compromises in its design, which has been noted in this thread, such as its size against screen size, and thickness and cooling quality.

I'm talking about performance versus cost, not how much it dents your pocketbook.

The price for mine, before Adobe software, is $1280. THAT'S cheap when the next models up for performance are The Qosmio at $2000 and Dells at around $1800. (All Canadian Prices, The Qosmio line is about 20% cheaper in the States.)

 

Does F have Intel 5300 or 5100 card?

Thanks !

 

Atheros 802.11b/g/n plus Bluetooth.

 

I notice that Sonystyle.ca has just corrected the graphics options. It now says GT310 and 330M instead of "211M" and "211P".

 

Is anyone here facing continuous and noisy fan operation with your F series ? I chatted/talked with Sony tech support, they have no clue..

 

It's not fan noise. Why not read back through this thread where the noise happens to be the dominant topic of conversation?

 

Hi....guys
now m gr8 owner of VPCF115FM/B i bought it frm best buy.....whn they hav even put it on to display....12th jan

i thnk this far more better thn ny machine....

i had mac pro i hate it a lot...

but this machine i can play ny games...
only d problem is d adapter....i got big one ....lol....
there shld b a sleek adapter

 

How about some pictures of yours?

Grtz Jan

 

So are there any European black models out there? I really like the US black with the silverish insides and black keys. Does the EU-version look the same, or is it completely black (like i think it is?)

Grtz Jan

 

Please let me know about fan noise? Is it noisy, is it quiet, is the harddrive more noisy than the fan?

Thanks

 

It's not fan noise nor HD noise (probably) and nearly every F-series laptop has it. I see this question is going to keep coming up even though it has been discussed endlessly here. There should be a sticky.

 

Yeah, I know about the CPU noise, but there's a fix for that apparently, I just wanted to make sure there are no problems with the fan and/or harddrive noise to worry about.

 

I'm 99.9% sure there is no backlit keyboard in europe

They asked me if I wanted to cancel the order since they told me it had it but it hasn't...

 

Hi Jan,

I have got a question for you personally. I am living in the Netherlands like you are and I am very interested in buying a Sony CTO laptop from the SonyStyle USA website. Unfortunately, we can't get one because we are living outside the USA. Do you know anyone who could help us getting one?

Or are there some other forum posters who can help us getting one?

I really hope that there is any chance or anyone willing to help me (us).

Thanks in advance!

Grt, Rens

p.s. Jan, could we get in direct contact with eachother ?

 

Running any task makes it stop. I prefer running something backgrounded, so it doesn't waste screen/toolbar space.

 

Note the temporary 'fix' a page or few back, which doesn't require an open window or additional taskbar icon as I understand it.

 

I messed around with all the options in the microphone and it didn't stop the noise. The only thing that stops it is slightly loading the CPU.

 

I'm not Dutch nor Jan, but maybe I can help you.

The answer to your question should be a yes/no and I briefly explain you why.

Yes it's possible to order from US from any webshop, also the ones that doesn't deliver in europe, with some workaround.

No 'cause laptops from sony US have not an international warranty (as for instance Asus has) but only a US one, so not so convenient.

Something else You may also consider is that with some articles that are not imported is the only way (not this case) and that many times You can save quite a lot o money due to the change with €, is this the case?

In any case I'll discourage you to do that since I doubt it would be so convenient (if you want to spare we have the cheaper i5 there) and for the warranty issue.

If still You want to do that I'll tell you how.

 

The price of the European versions is not the issue. I just want to order a notebook which suit my wishes perfectly, including the exterior of the product (the case). I understand that warranty-issues could show up, but I don't expect them. And if any problems turn up, I could send the laptop back to the USA, couldn't I?

So are you willing to tell me what the work-around is for buying this notebook and get it shipped to the Netherlands? Thank you!

 

It's possible that the Canadian CTO is cheaper than the US, especially with options such as SSD and the GT330M. Try building a unit from both sonyStyle com and ca to compare.

 

There was update on sony style japan with new vaios. I was checking CTO options for new F and it seems like version from Japan will only offer 310M GPU. Can somebody confirm this since I am not that good with Japanese language .

 

Before I was only warning you and asking You (and myself) if it was worth it or not.

I'm not aware if sony has some limitations that makes this method unusable but 'in general' what you can do to buy in the States is as follows:

1 obviously you need a valid credit card

2 you need to register to a site like myus*, a standard registration costs about 3€ (credit card will be used for the registration and for the shipping)

3 buy in the store you want and ship to them, some shops even do 'shipping free of charge in the US' (I don't know what sonystyle does)

4 myus ship to you with an insured DHL** packet with tracking number (to italy a note will be somthing like 80€, it may be similar for You)

5 when You receive it You have to pay the duty directly to dhl when they deliver, in italy is 20%, is it less for you?

*this site provide you an address to ship stuff in the us and then they forward it to you, (usually they provide cheaper rates for shipping than directly from a shop in the us)

**which is far better than usps that many use to offer since then it can be easily 'lost' between the custom and the final forwarder (this appens quite often in Italy )


You'd better do your maths and see if it's convenient or not, I hope this can help you

 

Sony USA doesn't offer international warranty and cannot even transfer it to Europe. I doubt you'd be able to send it to the USA for repair as even if they do accept to ship it back, you'll again be liable for duty when it arrives. Highly discouraged.

Asus and HP offer international warranties, so you could order an Envy from the US and have it serviced in Europe...

 

google is!


in the news about the model they talk about the 330 M, I'm now checking the CTO

 

That's useful information! I agree that it is not as easy as I thought it was, so I have to reconsider buying this in the USA, although the exterior is more appreciatable than the European (Dutch) versions...

Maybe I should buy one in the Netherlands...

@ Ilfuca: Thanks for your workaround. I thought you would have an other, 'cause I found this one allready, but thanks anyway!

 

One "fault" with Sony electronics in general is that they are very restrictive about who can access their warranties. And extending the warranty is expensive. You CAN buy Sony Laptop warranties from third parties, such as Newegg, who offer it at one-third the cost of Sony's own factory warranty. I don't know if there are any options for foreign service however - service outside the country of sale. Even Canada and the US can't swap service.

 

in japan they've got all those processors:

i3 330
i5 430
i5 540
i7 620
i7 720
i7 820

and also 512 gb SSD and digital tv receiver as options.

Screen and gpu aren't choosable but loking at the specs I assume that they all get the premium display and the Nvidia 330

 

Is the 512GB SSD, a 256GB x 2 ? Does it indicate that ?

 

Sorry but I don't know an easyer way.

But still, for something like the envy is still usable and by the way a friend of mine spared almost 500€ on an asus g51jx

 

no

either 256 x 1 or 512 x 1

2 battery sizes and also.... white colour!!

 

http://translate.google.it/translate?hl=it&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.sony.co.jp/


sorry, it doesn't get you to the page i were but still you can navigate from there.

 

When I was playing a game last night, the fan seemed pretty loud also at times, but I feel like it's not a big issue. I'm going to pick up a cooling pad I think. Does anyone have any recommendation as far as these go? Right now I am looking at ::
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834998686

Do you think this would fit it well? Also, does it tilt down? I feel like that would be annoying.

 

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/vaio/products/F11/

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/vaio/special/F11/

here you can see the 3 colours

 

Actually, the Z-line is expensive, purely due to the extreme engineering involved in fitting everything it has, including the optical drive, into a 3 lbs package. THAT is what makes the Z a unique product in the marketplace, and makes it expensive. This is a true executive level product.

The BZ series is also lower down in the Vaio foodchain than the F-series and probably in the same league as the CW series. A budget option. Business laptops are rarely the cream of the crop, in any manufacturer's laptop range. Note: "Business laptop" is not the same as "Executive laptop". A "business laptop" is something carted around by analysts and supervisors, with adequate enough specification but nothing more.

The F-series currently gets top-of-the-line Intel Quad-core notebook CPUs, DDR3-1333 RAM, full-HD screens and everything else that is pretty much top-of-the-line. The design is very slick too and my earlier comment about the screen-size versus the size of the body is just a design/visual-impact decision that Sony made - nothing to do with cheapness.

Talk about yourself. My F-series, with the 3-year ADH warranty ($330), and the 820QM CPU, Windows Ultimate, 8GB RAM, Full-HD screen and bluray burner comes in at $2691 (including tax). And this does not include the SSD option even, which would have taken the price to another $500 higher.

Just because a budget model F-series, with 4GB RAM and the lower-end CPU gets sold for a sub-$2K price does not make it "budget". The current "budget" version of the Z-series gets sold at a sub-$1600 price (available for even less if you watch out for deals).....this is the Z-series, mind you !

The CW or the BZ series on the other hand, when decked out to the gills with options, will not crack the $2K mark. That is budget ! Nor will they get any of the Quad-core i7 options or the DDR3-1333 RAM etc., anytime soon.

Just offering an alternate perspective.

 

Okay, thanks for the clarification !