Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

I concur. The patch didn't stop the whine. My first impression after the patch was that the whine seemed softer than before, but that may have been wishful thinking. Anyone else who installed the patch think maybe the whine is softer than before? I would like to add that I think the problem is fairly trivial. There is a good work-around which as far as I'm concerned is fine even in Sony never comes up with a fix. I suspect they will. I would say to anyone considering getting this laptop to not let this particular issue dissuade you--it's minor, fixable, and in my opinion at least, has been a bit blown out of proportion on this forum.

 

That's really strange that Sony hasn't really acknowledged the actual noise characteristics. They certainly aren't stupid, so why did they issue a fix for the noise that obviously misunderstands it?

Anyways, I'm really happy that they seem to be responding. If I can move my Vaio and my Thinkpad, I'll replace both with another Vaio F!

 

For what it's worth...this is a repost from the general Sony thread....

Forgive me if this has been answered previously...but I've read through nearly 100 pages and not found a definitive answer.

Thinking seriously about picking up the Sony VPC115FM/B at Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...lack/9705382.p?id=1218154378383&skuId=9705382

I realize the 330M GT is not a tier 1 video card for gaming...but I'm curious if this card can drive the native 1920 by 1080 res of this laptop in modern games (MW2, Mass Effect 2, etc). I'm not looking for 60 frames per second...would be satisfied with 30...just trying to gauge if this is a reasonable expectation.

Closest answer I've found in the owner threads indicated that one person said it could run native on Left 4 Dead 2 and COD: World at War.

Very impressed by the performance of the i7 core and DDR3 memory...just hoping the video card can at least hold its own.

Thanks for any and all input.

 

Scaling up the size of the text in Windows to both 125% and 150% actually worked quite well. The text was crisp, not blurry and was easily readable. The enlargement worked for all icons and text within
Windows, and for text in Word documents, and posts to forums like this one. It didn't work for all websites. Some of the text within some sites seemed to be enlarged, but some sites seemed to retain the original (smaller) font size despite the upscale within the OS.

I will add that like you I was originally concerned that text would be too small on the 1900 x1020 at native resolution, but I've been pleasantly surprised. On the calibrated screen the text is so sharp and clear--even though it's small I'm able to read it without any trouble. I'm 45 and have recently begrudgingly started to wear reading glasses on occasion. Happily, I don't need them to read on this laptop at native resolution.

 

Did you keep the dpi settings up or go back to original? I'm 30 and I thought the res might be too high but I too, was pleasantly surprised.

 

Has anyone done a teardown of the F series yet (hopefully with pics)? I ask because I need to know if the processor is socketed or a BGA. I am lucky enough to have a friend that has access to the i7-820 that he can get me free and I'm trying to figure out if it will fit on the motherboard, I know they match electrically but I can only swap socketed CPUs.

 

Quick question - what is the difference between the 'Black' available in the US, and the 'Premium Black' available overseas? Is it just the padded area where the trackpad is?

 

Hi Phil. This is all Lavasys had to say about the monitor:

Field Value
Monitor Properties
Monitor Name Digital Flat Panel (1920x1080 60Hz)
Monitor ID MS_0025
Model Nvidia Defaul
Manufacture Date Week 45 / 2002
Serial Number None
Max. Visible Display Size 36 cm x 20 cm (16.2")
Picture Aspect Ratio 16:9
Gamma 1.00
DPMS Mode Support Standby, Suspend, Active-Off

Hope this helps. By the way, that Lavasys Everest is a pretty cool program. In just a minute or two it generated a report with boat loads of information about the computer. I haven't had a chance to wade through it all yet. If you or anyone else is interested, I can attach the full report.

 

I reset it back to 100%. I like all that can fit on the screen at that size, and as long as I can read it without strain--why not?

 

The padded area, the speaker grill and the back cover look signficantly darker and contrast more against the main body.

The 'black' version seems more dark grey all around.

 

I have been using a 1920x1200 (16x10) screen for over a year now (HP/Compaq 8710W) and I am just amazed at the amount of information I can fit onto it and the sheer clarity and readability of all of that. I have no problems with the screen and simply love it. That is what led me to deciding on the full-HD screen when looking for the Sony laptop.

My older Lenovo laptop screen looks pretty ragged in comparison.

 

Wow that's old! Everest accurately dates my LG desktop monitor to week 2 / 2007. The info is probably wrong, deleted after manufacture.

 

Thanks a lot. Seems like it can't be read.

 

Just in case none of you noticed, Sony F series notebooks are back for sales in the USA website.

 

I did this before I applied the "work around" fix. Needless to say, I still needed to apply the work around. Also, I think the updated driver was actually a higher version than what the patch update has. I'll check when I get home tonight.

 

This is a long post, but I thought I needed to lay out my situation and questions fairly comprehensively. I just configured (but haven’t ordered) the following CTO model on the Sony Style website:

• i7-720QM CPU
• Windows 7 Premium (Home not an option with Fresh Start)
• Premium (1920x1080) display with GT 330M GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 500GB @ 7200 rpm HD
• Blu-ray burner
• Backlit keyboard

The cost is $1810 versus $1720 for a pre-configured model with Windows 7 Home and no Fresh Start ($50 less), a 640GB @ 5400 HD, and Transferjet (which I don’t need). Now several questions:

1. As tempting as the SSD is for its stability and speed, an extra $550 is pretty steep. And I assume that replacing the HD with a SSD in a year or two will be very manageable and much cheaper. Of course, I might also decide just to keep the HD until my next notebook. Any flaws in my thinking?

2. Is there any good reason to order the large-capacity battery over the standard one? Especially given throttling that occurs when on battery, I plan to keep my F plugged in whenever possible. Still, I want to maximize my battery life, but I doubt the worth of the larger battery for the extra 1.5 hours (Sony’s estimate). Also, I understand that the larger battery extends beyond the bottom of the notebook, rather than the back. Is this right? What implications does that have for using the F?

3. Given the cost difference, should I just get the preconfigured model and delete the bloatware? I’m inclined to stick with the CTO mainly because of the faster HD, which I think I’d miss much more than the extra 140GB. Someone earlier mentioned the possibility that Fs with Transferjet might have a rubberized palmrest, unlike other models. Is this the case and, if so, will I wish for the standard palmrest?

4. There’s a cheaper preconfigured model ($1530) with 6GB RAM and the faster 500GB HD. Am I better off with this? My most intensive applications are probably Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator. Is the extra 2GB of RAM worth the added cost? I want to future-proof my configuration, but not at an insane price.

5. Do you think I can haggle for a lower price on the CTO model? If so, how much of a discount should I expect?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

I'll answer in order with my thoughts and observations...

1) I have the 500GB 7200 RPM drive and it's fast though we've not compared it to a SSD and won't until the prices come down. Too tempting. I'm going to likely do the same thing you were thinking and buy a SSD in another year or two when prices are more reasonable for me.

2) We noticed that unplugged and performing activities such as web surfing, MS Office and IM, we get about 2 hours with the standard battery. Hopefully that info would be useful for you in determining which one to get.

3-5) This will answer parts of these questions, though I have no experience with TransferJet other than reading a review stating it was slow. The palmrest on my model is standard and we're fine with it. I got the pre-config model listed for $1529 and I deleted the bloatware I did not want. That took about 15 min or so. I then installed everything we DID want, then took a complete image to capture the drive the way we wanted it plus the restore partition which contains the config that it came with from the factory. FYI if you go for this preconfig model, I would call and ask what type of discounts they may have out there. I scored mine for 15% off. You should be able to haggle and get a similar deal.

I hope this helps with your decisions and good luck!

update:I should add, regarding the RAM, 6GB is the most RAM I've ever had in a configuration so I cannot comment on the difference between 6 and 8 GB. We use Photoshop on our 4GB desktop with Win7 64bit and I thought THAT was fast. Have not yet installed it on this laptop.

 

How much of a difference will 8gb ddr3 and 6 gb ddr3 make with the i7 820 on this computer for things like gaming and multitasking? Or would the better choice be to change to the i7 720 and 8gb ddr3 from the 820 with 6gb ddr3? Would the 6gb ddr3 even matter on games like Crysis?

 

Does anyone know if Sony has resolved the noise and screen problems with the F11? If they have, I'm getting one ASAP. If not, then I think I'm going to have to get the I-7 Dell XPS 16. I really hope Sony has resolved these issues quickly.

 

Have a look at this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5776772&postcount=1376

The forum member @RyanFG got ubuntu working (same version as yours) and didn't report any problems with Wifi. Also, a live cd is probably more limited than the full distribution.

I did some googling and found this

http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k#Get_the_latest_ath9k_driver

it appears that any kernel >= 2.6.27 will have the ath9k driver required for this atheros chipset. Perhaps this driver is missing on the live cd but still present on the real distribution. Not sure of course if it will work but it appears to be supported. If the driver is there on the live cd then perhaps manually loading it using 'modprobe ath9k' might help. The command iwconfig and iwlist are also useful.

Cannot help you any further because I don't know what tools for configuration ubuntu has in addition to the command-line tools. In Suse I just use yast.

 

I find that EnTech Moninfo gives similar information to Everest, but in either case the actual PANEL type and manufacturer isn't present. That's the information we most need. For a desktop monitor panel details can be found out in the service menu, but I doubt laptop displays have such.

 

Nothing doing, crack it open, take out the screen and look for info. It's usually on the down-left or back side

 

May I suggest you look at the Dell XPS 16 on these forums as they are having a lot more problems than the Sony little noise issue and the display can be adjusted.

 

Bit the bullet, cancelled Play.Com and re-ordered with SonyStyle UK

Sony Style are offering the 5% deal on CTO models but it turns out you can't combine this with any other offer, so the accessories one i mentioned earlier didn't work out.

They threw in expedited shipping, 5 days from the point it leaves the factory in Japan, so here's crossing my fingers for a quick delivery.

Matt or other UK buyers, how long did it take for you to receive your production is scheduled e-mail? I just got an mail saying my order went through but payment is waiting to clear and that once that's done I'll get a production date. Isn't payment meant to be pretty much instantaneous (i used a debit card over the phone).

Thanks!

 

Has anyone tried a cooling pad to try and reduce the fan noise (or heat causing the fan to always run)? The machine's specs are good but the fan is going all the time and all I have done is web and outlook so far. I am concerned that when I try and do Autocad or Sketchup I am going to need ear plugs or crank the stereo up to 11.

Any feed back on the fan would be great help. I returned the first laptop after the mic noise issue. I can live with that fix but the fan may be the deal breaker. Thank you

 

I think the biggest advantage from the 820QM is the cache memory. It has 8MB of cache (like the "Extreme" version of the i7 Quad-core notebook chip), versus 6MB in the 720QM. That should be significant, for jobs that have a lot of I/O - in addition to the extra clock-speed in the 820QM. Intel, I believe have priced the 720QM at around $300, while they have priced the 820QM at around $500 and the extreme i7, the i7-920XM is priced at $1000. The pricing clearly depicts the changes "under the hood" and I think the 820QM is a solid compromise between the 720QM and the 920XM.

This is a good question, which I have thought about too. The SSD price, at a$550 premium over the 500GB HDD is a tough pill to swallow. But remember that if you go with the 3-year ADH warranty from Sony, replacing the HDD with an aftermarket SSD could void your warranty. If you don't have the ADH or any other longer-term warranty, then I would go with the HDD and replace it with an aftermarket SSD (after the 1 year factory warranty is up) which in turn could be cheaper and of higher capacity. The Sony SSD is also a RAID 0 SSD, I believe, but other than that, an aftermarket SSD should be a better bang for the buck, especially since it can now utilize the TRIM function of Windows 7 and retain high-speeds throughout its life-span.

I personally have no hesitation to go with the standard battery. Makes the laptop a lot more compact (than the bulkier extended version) and gets the job done for the most part.

If you need some of the hardware choices that are only available via CTO (say 8GB RAM or BD burner or 820QM processor etc), then I would go that route. Otherwise I would save money and go with the pre-configured models.

I personally do quite a bit of RAW photo editing and would want to maximize my RAM, CPU, GPU, BD burner etc. The harddrive is an area where I might go with the cheapest option and then upgrade to a higher capacity SSD via the aftermarket (after the factory warranty is up). The 500GB 7200 is a good compromise option, since even if you don't upgrade to an SSD immediately, the performance is reasonably satisfactory for a very minimal cost and you can keep going with it for however long you want.

Don't know if it will work but there is absolutely no harm in trying, right ? All they can do is refuse, but if they allow it, you might save some change.

 

The fan running all the time frustrated me. I returned the unit (but not just for that reason). My Macbook Pro fan runs more than I hear it, that's for sure. Don't see why the fan has to keep running while I am simply reading text from a forum such as this.

 

Hey All,

Does anyone know the difference between the colors on the European i5 and i7 verions? The i5 is offered two choices 1: black, 2: grey. The i7 is offered only in premium black. What do these look like?

Grtz Jan

 

Premium Black Would Be:






Regular Black Would Be:







The i7 also has a "Premium" display with 100% Adobe RGB colour and a matte finish.

The i5 display is a different version with I assume less colour gamut and a glossy finish.

 

I own an NZXT cooler built for 17" laptops. Amazon with shipping under $50. 100% satisfied, great look, adjustable fan speed, and quiet.

 

I have the Targus Stow-N-Go Chill Mat. It is small (Folds up) and is powered off a USB port. It only has one fan, but it is quiet. Weighs about a half pound (240g). I don't travel a lot but I want it wherever I take my laptop. I got it at BB for $30.

 

F series CTO is now available!!!

 

Thanks to Rowerray and MHMIke for your responses so far to my lengthy post (#1766). I have some follow-up questions, and I welcome any further responses to my original post.

So, although the i7-820QM was really off my radar, should I be considering it for $300 more? Will it really make much difference over the i7-720QM in my Photoshop work? And while I had been thinking of maximizing my RAM, I can save a couple hundred dollars by going with 6GB rather than 8GB. Again, how much of a practical difference will it make? I'm an amateur photographer, but I like to work with panoramas that merge a number of high-resolution pics. The merged photos can get into the 100s of MB.

Wow! 15% off is huge! What did you say to score that?

 

I think the 720QM should be a able to do pretty much anything you throw at it. And $300 is definitely a big ramp up in costs. If you can swing it, I would go with the 820QM but otherwise the 720 should get the job done too.

As far as RAM, I would maximize it - specifically - since you intend to do panoramic merges. Photo processing in particular, is a highly RAM intensive activity - the more the better/faster. A higher duty Quad-Core processor is also a big plus here, since this is one activity that can benefit from all of those 8 virtual cores of the Quad-Core 8-threaded architecture, kicking in.

 

Since one of my main interests is in photography, how important is it to get a display that supports most or 100% of the AdobeRGB gamut? How much of a compromise would I be making with the screen on the new F?

 

AFAIK, there's no reason why this would void your warranty. Sony even provides a how-to guide on upgrading your HDD (for the FW series, probably also for the F series).

 

Well I returned mine. I did try another one from BB, but it was identical. Reasons I returned mine were...fan noise/constantly running and over the last few days it also developed this bizarre whistle when the fan would run.

The semi-gloss screen got to me as well. I actually liked the screen quite a bit after it was calibrated with the spyder, but I just couldn't hack the semi-gloss.

Squeaky keys...

It's too bad too, because I really liked the laptop a lot.

 

Semi-Gloss? I thought the U.S. versions were pretty glossy.

Bit worried about the semi-glossy screen on the EU F(X) series as well, but there's nowhere in the shops I can take a gander before purchase

 

Well I hope the semi-glossy finish is similar to the one on the Z. As for the fan...did someone already tried to undervolt the i7?

 

In my opinion, it's not. In looking at the current Z it is quite a bit like the AW...a true matte. The F is like a plasma TV....it reflects everything but with more of a somewhat muted hue. You'll see. I liked the screen but after the AW found the reflections distracting.

 

If you undervolt, you could actually see a temperature increase. It's counterintuitive, but thats the way circuits work when the voltage goes too low. This is what I have heard not what I know.

 

Hi All,

This is a little off-topic, but I was wondering how you are liking Windows 7 with your new Sony F series? I am running 64-bit professional on mine. Typically, I like to wait until at least SP1 before adopting a new operating system, but I needed a new laptop to run Maya and had no choice.

So far, so good. Windows 7 is a little buggy (especially with 32-bit programs) but the interface is cleaner than XP. Looking forward to SP1. Any thoughts?

Steve

 

When a digital switch is "On" or "Off" it's saturated, drawing very little current. It's during the change of state that the switch draws a lot of current. If the voltage is lower the swing is slower, (less saturation region versus total swing) therefore it is in the highly-conducting change of state longer, generating more heat. Overvoltage speeds up the switch, thus allowing a slightly higher clock reference, but also the saturation region is larger, making the circuit less efficient. That's why a solid state switch, such as a CPU, works most efficiently at its design voltage.

If the clock is removed then a CPU or mosfet gate will burn out, since it sits at the change of state region rather than in the safe saturated region.

 

I called on a Sunday to place the order because they had Sunday hours and I figured it was worth a shot. If you don't ask, you won't get anything. If you DO ask, you MIGHT not get anything, so it's worth it. Anyway I got a very nice woman on the other end and I asked her what type of deals were going on at the time. She mentioned right off the bat that her manager could likely apply a 10% coupon if this model was the one I wanted, but don't ask him for 20%. So we laughed about it and I said sure. We got to talking about this and that while running numbers and taking order info. She gave me the final price of something like $1377 and I kinda grunted and asked "could we make it an even $1350?" She said "not likely but let me go try." She was gone for a bit and came back saying that her manager could do 15% which came out to an even $1300, but I needed to stop asking at that point and place the order, which I did. Judging by that experience, the willingness of them to make a deal, the knowledge of the women I spoke with, and the experience we've had with this laptop so far, I will likely be back in a few months to buy our oldest child a CW series for college.

I'm sure there's a good chance that they set prices a little higher on the sonystyle site than what you find at BestBuy knowing that some folks will call looking for a deal. I think I made out pretty good with this model as it was priced right around what the BB model with the slower HDD and no Blu-Ray burner was selling for. It also killed another issue as we were in the market for our first Blu-Ray burner. Now we have one.

 

Congratulations on that deal! I hope I have your people skills.

 

Me too! I think I'll be ringing up on Saturday (UK) and see what kind of deal I can get on the following:

Intel® Core(TM) i7 Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Premium Black
500 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
8 GB 1333MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Blu-ray Disc(TM) player
41.6 cm Premium LCD, 1920x1080, webcam

It's priced at £1,379.02, on the Sony site, but I wouldn't mind getting it down to £1,200!

 

Undervolting can significantly reduce temperature. See for instance:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824

edit: I'm not sure it will be possible for the i7 though.

 

'everybody be cool this is a robbery'*


*Pulp Fiction

I was going to post the great link that Fernandes already gave You.

@MelodyMaster you are a book of everythingology!

 

I've narrowed my decision to the Sony F or the soon-to-be released HP Elitebook 8540w. I'm eager to get some real-world reviews of the 8540w, which seems like it will be a more durable machine than the Sony--and with a full-HD matte screen, to boot. I also expect it to be more expensive, so I could still end up with a Sony even if I prefer the 8540w. One difference between the two is the GPU. Sony has the INVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. HP has either INVIDIA Quadro FX 880M (1 GB dedicated DDR3 video memory) or 1800M (1 GB dedicated GDDR5 video memory). From my little reading, I think the HP's GPU (either one) will surpass the 330M, but I'm a noob. Can someone enlighten me on the differences in these GPUs, as well as any other things I should be considering in deciding between the Sony and the HP? Thanks.

 

Check out his site:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

It's rather technical but you can at least make out the reltive strengths of the GPUs.