Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

I have yet to find a laptop screen that looks good out of the box (including Macbook Pro). They all need to be calibrated.

With that said, I was in the same boat as you in terms of screen quality. I owned a Macbook Pro for a bit and couldn't find anything near it in terms of build/screen quality. This Sony model is the closet thing to a Mac on the PC side that I have used. Screen, build quality, keys. Sometimes I feel like I'm on a unibody Macbook Pro.

 

Go into the NVIDIA control panel and adjust desktop color settings. Bring the Gamma down signifcantly, then adjust the brightness & contrast. Then go into the windows7 color settings & adjust there... it will look a lot better.

 

Yes, don't get me wrong the i7 is no slouch and even on battery stuck at 930 mhz it performs fairly well. But, my only issue is that the user really has no option to select high performance mode while running the laptop on battery b/c the cpu speed will not go up above 930mhz. I would like to see the cpu be able to hit 1.6 ghz while running on the battery when I select high performance mode and deal with short battery life. I wouldn't expect it to use turbo on battery, but at least hit the 1.6ghz.

 

Thanks for the comments, that make me feel better about purchasing an Vaio F. I will, 95% of the time, use my computer plugged in to the power adapter. I just like a quality, bright screen with good contrast and sharpness.

 

Wow, that is a big move ! I think you are getting one the best laptops in the business, when factoring in all the points. And assuming we know what the pitfalls are (throttling while on battery etc), and are willing to work around it, this should be a winner.

 

In addition to allowing the brightening of the screen, I believe there are 3 screen modes. I realized that when watching a bluray movie and felt that the colors were a bit washed out.....seems like the screen-mode should have been switched to (I believe - since I don't have it with me here) the DVD mode or so, and as soon as that change was done, the whole screen just came alive.

In all these new products, it will take a couple of weeks to fully get "into the groove" and understand all of the quirks and intricacies.

 

Good to hear some positives... was beginning to think I should stop following this thread as it was making me depressed! I'm sure this thing will be better than my 2005 VGN-A417 though

 

I'm thinking about buying this laptop but I have a couple questions you guys might be able to answer. (please )

Are the volume control and other buttons and other such buttons touch or actual press buttons?

Is the F series or will it be available with the i5 processors?

Lastly... I had a dell sxps 16 and sold it. Would you consider that about the same dimensions/weight as the F series or are there any differences?

 

1. Press buttons. Note there is no dedicated volume control buttons though - they're only on the keyboard as secondary keys (i.e. use the 'Fn' button)

2. In the UK certainly (i5-520M) - not sure about elsewhere

3. Vaio:
Depth Main Unit (mm) 263

Height Main Unit (min – max in mm) 31 - 41

Width Main Unit (mm) 387.2

Weight with Supplied Battery and Supplied Drive (kg) 3.2

Dell: SXPS16:
Width: (384.9mm)
Height: (24.1mm) front / (33.95mm) back
Depth: (254.6mm)
Weight: Starting weight of (2.87 kg)

 

Sheebp, I've only realised it know!!

You already have in your hands an 'european' one??

Can You post a photp of the premium black and give us any other useful info that You may have found? Any new issue not found in the US ones?

 

Yes pleaseee

 

Interesting news. Just saw on a Dutch forum that there is now also an i3 version of the F available (basically i5 with lower clock speed and no turboboost). Have a look at for instance sonystyle.nl

 

i3 is available since today also in Italy and thus I suppose all over Europe, shall I check? I'll let You

 

Hi,
can anyone tell me if this laptop support intel-vt or if there's an option in the bios?
Sony disabled this function on my FZ3!

Thanks and excuse me for my poor english

 

Yes you can enable it into your BIOS !

The i3 version is available since yesterday in france too ... then in all europe it will be available !

Btw for backlight keyborad does somebody (european) received his laptop with backlite ?? I ll receive mine in few days so im impatient ! But for backlite there is no real info on !

 

Yes I confirm, we'll have i3, i5, and i7 in France.

 

yes check again (You have to enter in "Personaliser"& u will see corei3 the basic config cost 749,01 € TTC & with i5 u add 69.99 Euros

 

trop rapide /Too fast Parisnath

 

Merci !

 

Yasmina, have you ordered your VaioF on the sony site ? How long does it take to receive it ?

 

Does anyone know how to change vertical scrolling speed on the touch pad?

 

Sony actually has a section for Intel VT in the user manual, so definitely. I'm afraid I don't yet have my hands on a European one quite yet, but it should be arriving at the weeked. If anyone gets one before then do please post some photos! Otherwise I'll put an expensive post up at the beginning of next week.

 

ok thanks )

 

Hope not too much, I've already spent so much for the note....

 

It wouldn't be just any old post, it would be a VAIO post...

#Spellingfail

 

any one able to test this for me?

many thanks

 

What is the difference between 500gb (5400 rpm) and 500gb (7200rpm)...The 5400rpm hard drive is several hundred dollars more expensive...

 

How is the audio on the F... I noticed that some laptops have absolutely horrible sound quality regardless of whether its from the laptops speakers or connected to a good sound system.

 

Hello ,I am waiting to the prebuild models because in Sony Style CTO we have not the possibility to configure a black model with a premium screen here in Europe

Take care about that ,only the black premium finish has the premium screen
when you configure your vaio on the left you only have FULHD screen not FULLD premium,look about that.
I dont like the black premium finish

The only possibility is the prebuild VPCF11S1E/B, but its sad to see that Sony in Spain doesnt have this model in the web.

It would be very interesting to see real diferences between Premium and not Premium screen specially in view angles degress.

Perhaps not premium screen must be like double lamp in vaio FW screen and premium screen a new type we hasnt view yet
Because I had a Fw double lamp model (FW11J) and the screen was ok ,only very difficult to calibrate ,never was ok..but It had decent view angle
The problem is that I remember to see a single lamp Fw and it has very poor screen, I hope not to be similar in not premium screen in F models.

 

Hi everyone. I just received my laptop today (I'm in Toronto). I notice that when I tap the palm rest the blu-ray player makes a shaking sound. It makes this sound when I type as well. Any one else have this problem?

 

Built-in speakers = horrible
Headphones = amazing

 

I assume you mean from Sonystyle.ca. Check again, it was a typo.

 

Ah! They fixed it...It didnt make any sense before. You would think they would check for petty mistakes like that.

 

@hax0rJimDuggan
im fairly sure you own the best buy version?
are you able to check the region settings under 'Device Manager' for the Bluray drive? What the current region is and if it allows you to change it.

cheers

 

Correct, I do have the BB version. I just checked and there's a big list of regions in there, Australia being one of them.

Hope this helps.

 

I though it might have been a slower 500 Gig SSD. But since there are now two 500 gig mechanical drives I'm guessing it was the 5400 rpm 500 gig that was mispriced. I'm happy since I got the 500 gig 7200 RPM at +$10, rather than the $15 it is now. Also pricing has gone up overall; if I were building my system now it would be some $150 more than it was last week when I ordered.

 

cheers...
does it allow you to change the current region though to Australia? If so, im assuming it allows you change the bluray region, not just the dvd region.

sorry for all the questions. but i dont wanna buy it and find i cant play local blurays on it

 

Yeah, you can change both regions.

 

Excellent! Very good news.

By the weekend i should have my new f series

thanks for the info hax0r

 

You're welcome. Make sure to come back and share your impressions!

 

just hoping i have no issues with warranty. though not much of a problem for me since i buy all my mobile phones from overseas with no warranty, some very expensive ones at that... though sony style usa says that it has 1 yr global if you register it on the www.sony.com/irsp site... so we'll see how it goes. any software problems though ill be able to get fixed easily.

These new series only just got released yesterday on Sony Aus. With no release date as yet. The model closest to the one at best buy is listed for $3000aud here. Where as buying it from best buy, will only cost me about $1600aud approx from the US. Rediculous how much Sony shafts Australia with pricing!!!!

Once i get it, ill share some thoughts and some photos. Got my sisters SLR camera sitting here so should come in handy for that

 

I do not believe you are correct about the warranty when applied to an American model. I've read this question posed before, on the FW threads somewhere, and Sony had said no, it was not possible to have an international warranty on an American computer. However, if you have an Asian-Pacific model, for example, you can get the warranty to apply while you are in the States or in one of the other countries on this list from that site, including Australia (cf. https://ebiz.sel.sony.com/secure/public-irsp-content/common/booklet/introduction.html)

So, since I'm still in the first year of my FW's warranty, I went to the Website indicated above and allowed the site to scope my model number, etc. When that was done, the site told me that my computer was NOT eligible for international coverage.

Now, does this mean that, for sure, coverage for the American F will NOT be available? I suggest that someone in the States with a new F model go to that site and attempt to register and thereby determine whether their computer is eligible for the coverage (preferably someone who purchased their F from Best Buy).

Because if it doesn't come up approved (and I have my doubts that it will), then purchasing that computer and exporting it to Australia might not work to the benefit of the purchaser.

This reminds me of the story of a friend who imported a German-made BMW to the States because they are cheaper in their country of production, Germany. Well, it was not worth the trouble. Customs not only hit the car with a bill but also the car had to be retrofitted to meet the different (not necessarily better) safety requirements of the States.

I'd think twice about this -- Is Australia on 110V? If not, you'll need to purchase a new adapter and that will be a big chunk of change, as the saying goes, too.

Forum members with a Best Buy F model...please chime in.

 

There is definitely an international warranty available. This is for business travellers whose computer may break down in a completely different place from the traveller's country of origin. However I believe it has to be purchased through a business, or via diplomatic credentials or some such, and it is bought under special terms as an additional charge.

 

thanks for the info guys... as i said, i buy electrical items from OS a lot with out warranty and havent had any issues.

regarding the power, all i need is a plug adaptor for Australia sockets. A few $$$ at most. My friend is an electrician, ill get him to change the standard plug completely for an Aussie one

 

Is there any solution to force Core i7 run all its threads at high speed while we still use the laptop on battery power?

 

no_________

 

No. Have you been reading this thread?

 

fwiw I just calibrated my display with my spyder3 elite, and wow...this display is really amazing. I can tell you the default profile is very cool and the color temp is wrong.

I'm coming from a MBP LED backlit screen, which is a nice screen, but this is even better.

 

Glad to here that. I plan on getting my Vaio F from Best Buy the first of February. Hopefully they will drop price or run it on sale.

 

Awesome - anybody know of good freeware screen calibrations tools? I'm guessing the nVidia control panel comes with some screen tuning software, but just in case it doesnt...