Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Hurry up and play with it and report back on initial impressions.

 

Hi i'm new to this thread and i've been eyeing the Vaio F series for some time. I know the Vaio seems to have it's share of problems, but it does seem to be the laptop that has bang for buck at the moment. I was wondering if i should order this from the sony style site for the u.s or if i should get it from Bestbuy. I read earlier on in this forum that there are probelms with the models from bestbuy like the whining noise for instance.

I would really appreciate anyones opinions on this matter because i want to buy this laptop as soon as possible. Also is the Bestbuy model made in some other country regarding build quality because its cheaper than the price listed on site. For only 320 gb hdd and 4gb of memory it costs 1428 dollars if i buy it from the sony site, however the bestbuy model comes with 500gb hdd and 6 gb memory!! So right now im confused at best on which to pick

 

Mine too !

 

Not sure where you are getting the info on the best buy models, but it's exactly the same as one you could configure on the sony site. All models are susceptible to the whine. FWIW the Best Buy model just went up $100 too.

 

Looking at your link (maybe they corrected a typo) I see:

test 3DMark 06

NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M: 6575
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650: 6370

So slightly better

 

Any game tested ?
benchmark, fps ?

 

Yes, Best Buy now has two options on their website.
The differences are:
VPCF114FX/H | VPCF115FM/B
$1,249.99 | $1,349.99
Widescreen (1600 x 900) | High-definition widescreen (1920 x 1080)
500GB(7200 rpm) | 500GB(5400 rpm)
310M GPU | GT 330M GPU
512MB dedicated | 1GB dedicated
*Electrostatic touchpad | Electrostatic multitouch touchpad

*the touchpad info is according to Best Buy, this is questionable to me

 

Kind of sucks that their supposed "Gaming Series" version got the 5400rpm drive instead of the 7200rpm. Oh well, at least I got all the other goodies at at the $1250 price.

 

I have to wonder if BB or Sony screwed up on the price of the higher end initially. I couldn't believe I got this machine at 1249. Now the model for $1249 sounds about right with some lesser specs.

 

all of those same options are available from the sony style store as well. I'm not sure where the info came from that the BB model is a product of less quality.

 

I don't have anything in depth for you but here's my experience thus far:

Left 4 Dead 2
=============
Plays at native resolution with shaders on low and every other setting on high. I get very smooth framerates - 60fps or so.

Call of Duty: World at War
=============
Plays at native resolution with no other settings turned on. The framerates are fairly smooth. I see anywhere from 45-60. The "Knee Deep" map in particular causes fps issues but every other map seems very playable to me.

 

That's not bad at all for 1920 x 1080 As you say they weren't very in-depth tests but to maintain a decent frame rate at that res with decent detail on L4D2 is not too shabby at all.

 

You could try AS SSD Benchmark, never used it myself but I've never had an SSD before the Intel X25-M I'm getting to go in this F. Let us know how it fares.

 

Just got my VPCF1190x 4GB 128ssd i7 quad gt330. Yeah!

Now I just want to delete everything that came with it! Well the question is What is clean? What can I nuke to get more HD space back? BTW this machine is sic. Very fast...

 

This is easy. Start it up one more time in windows, open http://software.opensuse.org in your browser and download the 64 bit version and burn it on dvd. Now insert the DVD, reboot your computer and select use entire hard disk for the installation.

You think it is sic now he? After the above steps, you will need to see a doctor, that's how sic it will be!!!

PS. just joking of course, this procedure will remove windows completely, including your recovery partition and install linux. I just couldn't resist.

 

AHA!!!

I THOUGHT SO!!!

The backlit keyboard is a U.S. phenomenon.

AND now I feel certain that the U.S. screen isn't the premium screen at all but simply the same-old, same-old FullHD of the FW series....

 

Hello everyone, just wanted to point out we received a tip from someone at this forum about the whining/buzzing issue and made a post about it using your words and tips.

http://www.sonyinsider.com/2010/01/...untering-buzzing-or-high-pitched-whine-issue/

 

Thanks for that. The more the word spreads the faster a response we'll get from Sony.

 

Yah, the moment I opened it up I got busy with clients and was unable to do anything with it for a couple of hours. I'm typing this on the F1190S right now.

First off I didnt like the silver colour at all, but then I put ìt in the category of the PC version of a Macbook, and those are often white or silver or some such, and it does stand out. I`ll be happy with it - it will grow on me.

The screen is just a conventional TFT, and not a particularly good one regarding viewing angles. The colour gamut looks quite good however and it seems to be 10-bit. It has a wider field when sitting back and working on the system rather than scrunched over trying to find fault, the angles don`t get in the way of work. The glossy screen is again not unusual and perfectly fine except when something is behind me and bright enough to be distracting.

I see the keyboard flex, but the keys have an excellent feel, partly due to the overall flex..it`s not noticeable. It`s one of the nicest keyboards I`ve encountered. Those who complain about the keyboard `bending`must be quite heavy-handed. Initially I had trouble with double-stroking on some keys, but extending the delay in the Vaio control panel solved that. That was unexpected since I was only giving the lightest touch on the keys.

I don`t notice any noise at all except a slight sound of the air rushing out the left side vent.

That`s all at the moment, I`ll try using it a bit..

 

Glad your liking it so far. The keys feel great - and I'm coming from the legendary ThinkPad, so I know they're good!

 

I'm coming from an IBM T23, and agree wholeheartedly with the comparison. The IBM was less springy but had excellent confidence that the key had registered, the F11 a bit less so.

 

I feel sure that Sony is listening...both to the whine and to these forums ;-).

 

I'm not familiar with the site and its affiliation with Sony.

 

Are you guys telling me this model with the upgraded screen isn't a LED screen? Please tell me that is not so as I just ordered mine.

 

We're pretty sure it is not an LED. I was worried about this too as I've had LED in the past and didn't want to go backwards, but this screen is excellent.

 

Well I'm in between the black and white version. From pictures it looks like the white version is silver inside. Can't understand why? I hate silver plastic.

I'm curious how the premium screen looks like than. I'm quite spoiled from my Z and I expect the F screen to be the same...just bigger

I'm also coming from Thinkpads and again I love the keyboard on Z...hopefully the one on F will be the same.

That means that the fan is on even on light office work? Or just with games/PS/...

 

It's not affiliated to Sony in any way and this should be mentioned on their About page like nikonians.org does, for example.

 

Well I hope so. I just sold my MacBook Pro 15" that had a LED screen for this thinking it did.

 

First of all, a big thank you to everyone on this forum for helping me make an educated choice for a laptop. This F-series Vaio is going to be quite fun!

Secondly, I came to post the components I chose.

Product: F2NBSP10-LBOM
Component: None
Component: Intel® Core™ Quad i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GH
Component: 16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
Component: No Engraving
Component: Keyboard Backlight
Component: Large Capacity Battery
Component: Norton Internet Security™ 2009 (30 Day Trial)
Component: 320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
Component: DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
Component: None
Component: No Fresh Start™
Component: Black
Component: Microsoft® Works
Component: Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium
Component: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Per Unit Price: $1,291.79
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $1,291.79
Description: VPC-F1190 Configure-to-Order
Ship Method: Regular
Estimated Ship Date: 02/16/2010

And yeeeeeah, I see you all drained Sony's stock. Thanks a lot!

Looking forward to playing with my new toy (in a month or so) and fixing the whine issue

 

First powerup.

 

Sony should add for disclosure; Note: max CPU speed limited to .990GHz when running on battery.

 

.....with no user option to undo the throttling. But as pointed out earlier, it may be related to the battery itself.

 

LED should not be a deciding factor for a screen -- all it means is that the backlighting will be pretty even, no mercury is in the display, and energy efficiency is excellent.

What really matters is brightness, contrast, and color fidelity -- all of that the American FullHD screen had in abundance.

What the Japanese market (and likely the European market since forum members have stated that their models ship from Japan) has as an option for the F 1920x1080 screen is the premium FullHD with an anti-glare, scratch-resistant coating and Adobe RGB color trueness. But not, that we know of, an LED.

 

and glare, depending on your environment like outdoors for example...

 

nah, it's probably related to marketing, they don't want reviews saying: runs only for 1 hour with the CPU unrestricted @ 1.60GHz...

 

hi all, thanks for all the reviews and comments so far.

Could someone (with the respective models) check the part number/model for the following parts:

320GB 7200rpm HDD
500GB 7200rpm HDD
2x4GB RAM modules

You will need to unscrew a few things, but both should be easily available (1 or 2 screws, based on the FW). This will let us make a better informed decision on whether to upgrade through sonystyle or on our own.

Thanks!

 

Does anyone know if you can install Graphics Driver updates (when they become available) for the 330m directly from the Nvidia website, or am I restricted to only using drivers that Sony posts on their update site (10 months after Nvidia releases them).

 

I just ordered one tonight. I"m really excited I'm moving to South Korea in a couple months and this is gonna replace my desktop for hte next 2 years

* No Additional Video Editing Software
* Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz
* 16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
* Keyboard Backlight
* Standard Capacity Battery
* Black
* Engraving
* Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
* 320GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm) (Reg. price $55.00)
* Fresh Start
* No additional Office Software
* No additional Photo Editing Software
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333 (Reg. price $35.00)
* Blu-ray Disc™ player
* No additional AntiVirus Software

 

Maybe you don't need a screwdriver, I never tried it on Win 7 but here is a incredibly small 3.99mb freeware utility that gives you a ton of data on XP, including memory models, serial numbers, etc: EVEREST Home Edition 2.20

Best of all, there no installation needed, just run the exe:

http://www.brothersoft.com/everest-home-edition-download-61488.html

http://www.windows7download.com/win7-everest-home-edition/qzeqkbfu.html

There is also a free trail of the EVEREST Ultimate Edition v5.30 version on the Lavalys site that is certified Win 7 compatible with more bells & whistles but it requires an install:

http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?ps=UE&lang=en&page=10

I have both and they work great, includes temp monitoring, benchmarks, etc.

 

Greetings from a newb here.

I am in the UK and have followed this thread avidly. I feel I dodged a bullet with the Dell Studio XPS 16 with i7 what with the reports of throttling on AC adapter power, which I narrowly resisted ordering.

Throttling on battery isn't a dealbreaker for me as I will seldom be taking it anywhere. I will be using it for video editing and I am a novice. The camcorder is the trust old Canon HV20 HDV and I have some pressing backing up to do !

The build I have ordered isn't particularly extraordinary and probably a common order. I am told the wait will be 5-6 weeks, I hope thats very conservative

 

NO -- DO NOT DO THAT. You may void your warranty if you ever send it in for service and Sony detects that you opened the machine.

For the hard drive, simply follow this path: Computer; System Properties; Device Manager; Disk Drives. This will give you the manufacturer and model of the drive. For more details, click Details and then Hardware Ids.

 

Yes, thank you. Precisely -- which is why the matte vs. semi-glossy choice available in Europe is attractive.

 

Here's pictures..

500 Gig 7200 RPM Hard Drive:
Hitachi HTS725050A9A360
7K500 series - 500



Memory: Hynix (good stuff!)



BluRay burner: Panasonic
MatXXXXa (MatsushXta) BD-MLT UJ240AS
This is a standard form factor with Sony rails and escutcheon. You could put it in an IBM or Toshiba after removing the rails from their native DVDroms.

 

Only if one is an idiot and breaks something. This is put together and shipped, there are no seals.

 

Do you guys think the Best Buy version is still a good deal at $1349? I was upset when they raised the price by $100... They also did this with an HP DV7 I was looking at (DV7-3180US) - it went from $1380 to $1450 after a few days of being on their site.

Thanks!
Greg

 

Good to see that getting in contact with these sorts of people works - hopefully it'll make the problem more high profile

 

My thoughts exactly. I still plan on picking one up. They usually put them on sale. That is when I'll snag mine. I seen they dropped the price of the Hp Envy 15 to $1699 on the Best Buy website.

I just hope the screen lives up to my expectations.

 

Guess what? And this is a bummer ... The display is defective. There is a extreme bright spot on the bottom right third that shows a different colour from the rest of the screen, and the contrast varies so much between top and bottom that no point can be found to display a good picture from video. So it goes back - for exchange, I still like this computer.

 

There is some F i7 also available on B&H & Newegg. Many different model numbers & specs variations, make sure HDD size & speed, 1080p or 900p, 4gb or 6gb memory, etc are what you want.

 

Bummer! Good to hear you're going to stick with it though.