Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Can you share this great profile with us? Every time I reboot I have to adjust the NVIDIA control panel.

 

Thanks grandmacpubah. I was waiting for somebody to do this. As soon as I get mine, I will do the same. I suspected that this was a quality screen just waiting to be "dialed in" with proper calibration. Lots of photographers use the Vaio FW laptops for photo editing because of their excellent screens, and I was hoping this one would be as good or better.

Mangosango, and others who are attempting to optimize the screen with software settings--my advice is to forget it. Fork out the $80 or so to get yourself a basic hardware/software monitor profiling kit like Sypder3 Express: http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc-s3express.php

You won't be sorry. You're paying good money for a top of the line laptop, and as you've heard from others on this forum, trying to mess with manual controls and adjusting by eye is hit or miss at best, and the settings you achieve won't even necessarily be saved.

With a package like the Spyder3 (there are others--this is just the one I'm familiar with) you hang a little puck-like-thing (called a colorimeter) right in the middle of your screen using the attachment device provided. You then run the software and it does the rest. It goes through a series of steps which measure the output of your screen at all brightness levels and with all colors. As grandmacpubah pointed out, usually those default values are way off from accurate, mostly designed to be cool (read blue) bright and contrasty as possible to catch your eye at the department store. Once the Spyder's done measuring, it compares your screen's output to a set of known, optimized, standard values. It then creates a profile which adjusts your screens measured values to the optimized ones. It automatically puts that profile where it needs to go within Windows so that each time you start your laptop, it's that profile and no other which is directing the output of your screen.

What's cool is when you first start the computer and boot into Windows, you'll see the original funky screen output for a few seconds until your custom profile kicks in, then the screen will shift to the accurate output you've created, so you get a visual confirmation that you're where you need to be.

For people who do serious photo editing I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, and you already have a hardware profiling solution. But even if you just want your screen to look great for gaming, watching movies or sharing photos with friends, $80 is a small price to pay to get the job done right. You can also use your Spyder to calibate your desktop computer, your spouses' laptop, etc. My Vaio F should arrive this Sat, and once it does, I'll get the screen profiled and see if I concur with grandmacpubah that this is indeed a top notch screen. PS, I have no affilitation with DataColor--I just feel passionate about accurately calibrated monitors

 

Thanks much slrosenfeld, I know that others on the Dell SXPS 1645 thread have posted several profiles from their calibrating software. Those files were posted with a "how-to" to load that profile into the display settings. I then was able to load different profiles onto my machine...

Go to the System Preferences Pane and search for 'color'; then select Color Management.

The first Color Management Pane you will see is the one for the user account (i.e. the account you are currently logged into). Under the devices tab, you should uncheck "Use settings for this device" if it is enabled (this deactivates the per-user-account cmm settings and allows you to use system-wide settings instead).

Then go to the Advanced tab.

Under the Advanced tab, select "Change System Defaults". Now a second, identical-looking CMM color management pane opens - this is the system-wide one.

Under the system-wide devices tab, add the icc color profiles you would like to use. If you want to work with more than one profile, select the one you want to use, then "Set as default profile". Now go to the Advanced tab (still in the system-wide pane).

Check "Use Windows Display Calibration". This should set the default icc profile as your system-wide display profile.



Hope this helps!

 

Unfortunately, I've decided to return my Sony Vaio F. At first, I believed this laptop was amazing.. but after using it for a couple hours, too many minor flaws started annoying me:

1.) The "whine" noise - Ok, so i fixed this issue with the muting of the mic and enabling "listen to this device." (nothing big here, just something minor)
2.) Glossy screen - I could see my reflection and the reflection of students sitting behind me while I was trying to read powerpoint slides. This was never a problem even on my Dell Inspiron e1705.
3.) Awful battery life - lasted less than 2 hours while browsing 2-3 websites wirelessly and looking at powerpoint slides, on default brightness.
4.) Backlit keyboard - Why would they even give an option for this feature if it doesn't turn on in light areas? How often is a user going to use the laptop in a completely dark atmosphere? I wish it would just stay on when the power is connected.

I plan on purchasing either the core i5 Macbook Pro that will most likely be announced on 1/27, or the core i5 Vaio Z series when they are available. I still feel that the Sony Vaio F series is solid overall for multimedia (beast core i7), but it clearly did not meet my everyday-use needs nor my expectations.

 

Has anyone run DPC Latency Checker on the F11? I would like to know if this one can handle real-time audio.
Thanks!

 

you want the lit keys in... ehm, light? :rolleyes2:

I understand and agree that maybe it could be better to easily choose to turn it on/off, but it seems to me obvious to use it with dim or no light at all.

I can see many occasions when it could be useful to have it in dark spaces, just imagine for instance using it every night with dark 'cause you (I) don't want to lit up the room only for surfing or imagine playing Resident evil or something similar and how can it be more scaring/entarteining in dark? Or maybe when someone else is watching a movie in your room or...

got that?

and that is why I really regret not having this feature over Europe, You can swap an HD, add some RAM or even a blu-ray reader or burner, but what about that?

 

@ wbglider: slrosenfeld did a pretty good writeup about why a colorimeter is so valuable. You PC experience is via the monitor, why not get the best setup possible?

I would add that profiles vary from one screen to an other, even if they are the same model because of hardware variations. So using somebody else's data is not very good.

My profile changes if working in daylight, at night or in some other locations with different type of lighting that affects the monitor but the colors I see on screen are always the same for a given image which is important for photo editing. I use the i1Display 2 with an ambient light measurement sensor which is the size of a small mouse. It's one of the best investment I ever made & lots of friends are grateful for the profiles created for their monitors.

http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?ID=788

@ bananaboi: thank you for taking the time to post your feedback, sorry that the characteristics of this model did not fit your needs.

 

I will let you know as soon as i receive mine ! Btw i ordered the laptop on 13 january & i should receive this week-end before saturday i hope !So lets say two weeks until order and delivery !

As soon as i receive i will post photos & comments !


/**************FR MODE***********/
Je te dirais ce qu'il en est sur ce pc (surtout par rapport au clavier retro sil est présent !!)
/************END FR MODE******/

 

I've just build Sony F CTO and Dell XPS16 CTO from US web pages. Below is the configuration. Sony F11 is absolutely bargain. Sony F11 costs $2169, and Dell XPS16 costs $2464. We should just keep in mind that when comparing those 2 laptops.

Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor
Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional
8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Full HD Widescreen 16.0 inch LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP
256GB Solid State Drive
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner
1GB Video Card
Intel® 5300 WLAN Wireless-N
Extended Battery
1 year Virus Software

Note: Same configuration from Sony Canada is even cheaper: $1950 Absolutely crazy.

 

um, assuming control of the backlight is not defeatable in software... cover over the light sensor with tape? (so the computer thinks it's always dark....)

 

The SSD is a bargain, I really wish I'd added it. Oh well..

 

Does anybody have one with an SSD in yet? Will it be the Samsung drive that was offered with the AW? I'm going for the Intel G2, not ever so happy about having to open up a brand new laptop to switch the drives out though.

 

Hi, I'm starting to read this thread from today, so pls don't punish me, if something was already answered before

I'm about to order VPCF11 in Japan with this config:
Win7 Home Premium
Sony Premium screen
Core i7-720QM (1.60 GHz)
4GB RAM
HDD 320GB (7200)
DVD drive
English keyboard

for ¥159,800 = $1,742

I feel it's relatively high price for this config comparing to US.

Anyway, my question is, is it better to choose Core i7-720QM (1.60 GHz) over Core i5-540M (2.53 GHz)? I don't have any experience with quad cores yet, so it's a bit difficult decision for me. Battery life doesn't matter as it'll be mainly for home use - movies, gaming, ...

The new F doesn't have special door for HDD? I'm OK with opening new laptop as I did it with Z, but I've thought it'll be much easier with F as it's much bigger machine

 

That seems high, locally that price would get you Bluray and SSD.

Nobody in this thread seems to have had experience with the i5 or i3 in the F-series yet, but the i7 runs quite cool, (compared with systems from other brands) though the fan can be heard. The i7 is throttled to the lowest multiplier when the system is run on batteries, in common with many i7 laptops. I'd go for i7-720 or 820 myself. The i7 has four cores plus hyperthreading making up to 8 cores (four virtual) when demanded.

Also the screen would be best at 1920 X 1080 with GT330M.. You seem to get a better screen than us North Americans. (Full Adobe RGB gamut non-reflective versus our HD 80% Gamut (NTSC) semi-glossy.) They're all Cold-Cathode Flourescent, not LED.

Also with Windows Professional you can have Fresh start, no junk to remove.

And don't overlook Bluray, Bluray playback is wonderful on this machine, and it's one of the few models from any brand with Bluray WRITING available and at a very good price.

I have yet to receive my laptop (it will be delivered a few hours from now ) but the hard drive apparently is easy to remove. A couple of screws undone from the case then just swap the drive in the carrying frame. Generally speaking Hard drives are easy to remove from laptops.

 

Will the Core i5 be throttled as Core i7 when the system run on battery?

 

Now THAT is an intelligent question...

 

Jan,

Ik heb goed nieuws voor ons beiden! Ik zag zojuist dat de Sony.nl site is geupdate. Ik dacht dat jij eveneens op zoek was naar een zwarte (niet premium zwarte) notebook met core i7 processor?

De F11S1E/B is in het zwart verkrijgbaar, met 720QM, bluray lezer, premium full HD scherm en 6GB DDR3.

Lijkt me een perfecte deal voor 1210 euro (staat hij in huis, en is op voorraad bij Computer Pirates)!

p.s. Sorry guys, I wrote this message in Dutch, it is meant for another Dutch person and it is useless for all of you.

 

That is THE question, and I'm waiting that very info in order to decide if I change it or not

 

I meant "Now" not "Not"of course. I don't think anyone in this thread has asked if the throttling is unique to the i7. Theoretically the lower power consumption of the i5/i3 would obviate the need of limiting speed on battery power.

 

Thank you for the answer. Sony is acting strangely in Japan. Not just that the price is higher, but also I have to get the English keyboard if I want backlight keyboard, as the Japanese doesn't have it. Odd.

Also, even if I choose W7Pro, I don't have the possibility of Fresh Start in Japan, so I prefer to go with the cheapest one. Anyway, if I'll feel not right about it, I have one Win7Pro DVD at home

About the screen, it seems that we have only possibility to choose the Full Adobe RGB gamut one, but I'm not sure if it's glossy or matte one.

I do have Blu-ray burner in my Z already (in my Sig) and I don't have really use for it. In the worst case I can always rip the movie and copy to F ) In that way it's completely legal in my country.

Looking forward to your first impressions with your F

 

It was clear

I hope you're having fun in minutes!

 

Having fun in minutiae you mean.. I'm excited about getting this thing, thus the minutial commentary..

 

You're right!

I was wondering that now already some dozens are already owned and apart for the whine and the recent battery throttle (maybe the first ones like many of us use it mainly or only on ac) there are non other reports for issues or good news.

Ok, some more that are more 'professional' discussed about the screen setting and a couple about the flexy keyboard with almost zero feedback from the others if everyone is experiencing that.

But almost no rewiew, no benchmark, really few images..

I think that maybe is a good sign, no writing, non complaining = satisfied, is it so?


Or you have all returned it

 

Yah, everybody who's written in this thread prior to page 90 has dumped their F11 and moved on to a Packard Bell or Emachine.. ..

I'm going to benchmark it..

 

Here's a video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIrZvr9W--s


Crysis played, Playing on 1024 x 768, tried 1920 x 1080 but it wasnt playable. after 1 hour of gaming there were no problems of heating nor any throttle that i noticed.


I've no clue, is it bad is it average, is it good?

 

good to know that there have been good results with setting the screen using third party software.

I returned my F (only to order another one )
My keys were squeaking and I know for sure this was a build quality issue. (albeit minor) I didn't want to return my unit and asked tech support if they could just ship out a new keyboard but apparently my warranty would have been voided if i did it myself.

Also, I ran my Adobe CS4 disc and during installation, the rattling was incredible. The bezel was not attached snugly onto the tray.

I will benchmark the new unit once i'm satisfied with it.

What's Packard Bell?

 

I think that's a 'possibly'!

 

That's good for Crysis, I was expecting it to be considerably jerkier. I myself couldn't really get into Crysis, but I'm a huge fan of Oblivion and Fallout 3, which I'm guessing would play well on this machine, as would World of Warcraft. When I got Oblivion when first released it would barely play on my desktop, which was a P4 with latest GT8800 500 Meg card. Now a little laptop will blow that system away - totally. My current desktop Q9450 with crossfired 4850 does well with Fallout and Crysis at full 1920 X 1080..

 

If I buy this and replace the drive with an aftermarket SSD will it void the warranty?

Thanks!

 

The answer seems to be to talk to a Human about warranty service if the laptop develops a problem. If the issue has nothing to do with the drive then it should be ok. But a lot of problems ARE due to drive failure. Make sure it's your registered copy of Windows installed on the drive.

 

I think He is a 'friend' of mine

 

Yes, it will, from what I understand. And that is a dilemma I have with the 3-year ADH warranty, which basically means that for 3 years I will not be able to do any swaps of equipment, without impacting my warranty.

Bottomline, if we are going with a longer term extended warranty, might as well get the product in the exact configuration one needs and then keep it and use it that way. Wait until the 3-years are up, before adding/swapping equipment. JMHO, of course.

 

Another answer is to keep the Windows install on the removed drive - you can use it for other data as well but keep the Windows directories intact, then install the new drive and reinstall windows. (You'll have to phone Microsoft to reactivate) Then if the system goes bad just pop in the old drive before sending to warranty services.

 

I have not noticed this. My keyboard is actually quite solid.

 

I wouldn't say the built-in speakers are horrible, but average as far as built-in speakers go.

 

So, who's from the UK and waiting for theirs to ship? (assuming no one in UK has received theirs yet)

Have you been given any delivery dates yet?

And, did anyone order from another UK supplier other than direct from Sony? If so, who and when is your delivery date?

I haven't ordered yet because I am waiting for impressions from UK owners first. When I do order though, I will use the customisable option on the Sony Style site.

matt

 

@aco

when you type on the keyboard, does the panel flex around the keys? Also, do you have the back-lit keyboard? i'm wondering if this is the case then. If you don't have the back-lit keyboard and the panel is solid, I will opt for the non back-lit keyboard.

 

I do not notice any flex in the keyboard. However, I also have a fairly light touch when I am typing. I have the Best Buy model and it has backlit keys.

 

I find it weird that the gt330m has a socre of 6500 in notebookcheck, while it is placed in this f model which used to have an ati hd 4650 which had a score of +-12000.
So, I guess notebookcheck is wrong? (here's the link: http://www.notebookcheck.com/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-330M.22436.0.html)

The sony vaio Z also uses the gt330m, and it would surprise me if that lil 13 inch laptop could handle something stronger than an at hd 4650.

 

@aco

Wow and thanks for the info..with the unit I returned, even with fairly light typing, everytime i press a key the panel surrounding it would depress down at the very least an 1/8th of an inch!

 

Mine has an estimated ship date of the 22nd, so fingers crossed!

 

The keys only require a very light touch, but the keyboard is very flexible if you use any more force than necessary... Now is that really a big deal? I think overall the typing experience on this keyboard is good; very easy to type FAST.

 

Thanks Joe Bleau. I agree that using someone elses profile is not ideal for the exact reasons you mentioned. I'm not against sharing the profiles, but I just think people will be happier having their own calibration kit, and as I said, the price is low, so why not?

phiil, my Vaio F will have the SSD and is due to arrive Saturday. Surprisingly, it seems I might be one of the first. I was unable to find out from Sony even who the manufacturer of the SSD is, let alone the model number. When I get my laptop, I assume I'll be able to find this out in Device Manager. I'll at least post what info I can glean about the SSD, including the Window's user experience, and the boot time with a clean system, to compare the SSD config with the spinning drive. If I can't get the model number info from Device Manager, I'm leery of opening up the back to look for the details. Though I've read that access to the hard drive is just a matter of removing two screws, I'm nervous that there might be seals in place that if broken would void the warranty. Does anybody know if simply opening the cover over the hard drive to look at model number, without removing the drive could in any way affect my warranty? Thanks. Scott.

Also, a question for the group. Since I will be one of first to look at the Vaio F with SSD, what tests would you like to see to evaluate the performance? I have no experience with Benchmarks, but am willing to do some if people are interested, and can provide some guidance during the process. Thanks. Scott.

 

Good luck with your delivery sheebp...did you order direct from Sony UK? and, did you go for a pre-built or custom-spec build?

Please promise to come back with some impressions!

Kind regards
matt

 

The only big review so far says they thought the keyboard was as comfortable as the MacBooks...

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/sony-vaio-f-series.aspx?page=2

 

Custom built from Sony Style - total cost £1379.

I will do my best to come back - but if you don't hear from me by Tuesday then the chances are it's so good I just can't stop playing with it

 

If one wants software to at least optimize their screen for colour and black and white gamma and levels, there are several freeware utilities available online.

HTML-based stepthrough http://lagom.nl/lcd-test/

Nokia (a classic) http://www.majorgeeks.com/download960.html

PixPeran (for LCD perfromance) and general links http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/testsoftware/testsoftware.html

Except for screen temperature, (white reference colour) which is more or less set by eye without a temperature calibration tool, the above takes care of anything needed to optimize the display.


Oh, by the way, my laptop has arrived... :rolleyes2:

 

I noticed the flex at Best Buy and although it was alarming it wasn't a deal breaker for me. If I hit the keys with normal typing force I don't get much, if any flex at all, which is what really matters.