Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

oh crap.....I hope they are wrong just like when they said "yes, 2 ledlamps"
otherwise I might have to source a F series laptop from usa.

 

Warning about that, the warranty for the F Series is not international and cannot be transferred outside of USA (i checked with Sony Style USA).

 

Not only is there a warranty issue, but there may be further features issues. Note that, yes, the U.S. Sony Style site touts the backlit screen, but the European models advertise scratch-resistant screens and a light sensor that adjusts the screen's display brightness based on ambient lighting levels. Sounds like an engineering either/or being tested by Sony in different markets for a likely ultimate both/and in a later refresh.

In most cases, it's not a bad idea to be on the other side of the Atlantic or the Pacific rather than the U.S. when purchasing a configurable Sony Vaio. The North American models often have fewer choices of many specs. In Europe, for example, where customisables are available there are two tracks: one for the i7 and one for the i5 processor. No such choice in the States.

 

Why the European models wouldn't have backlit keyboard is a mystery to me... suppose it's one fewer thing to go wrong

 

I can't remember whether you identified the squeaking as coming from the hard drive or the optical drive (either of which seem to me the most likely source of such a sound).

Here's an alternative: Get the drive's specs from the Device Manager, phone the manufacturer and describe the issue. If the manufacturer of the drive states that it is a drive defect, get documentation of that opinion and go with it to Sony (since the manufacturer will tell you that that is your recourse, anyway). You may simply need a drive change. In the States, such drive changes are often made onsite, too.

Good luck!

 

You misunderstand: it's not "optional" because it's "standard" -- all F's have a Webcam.

 

Definetely a few positives ordering from the EU. E.g. the Premium Black and "Premium HD" screens which certainly seem to be different. Pricing definetely not one of them though.

On the phone she mentioned the laptops are manufactured/customized in Japan then shipped over (which is why there is such a delay in delivery times). Am assuming the F11's in the US are manufactured there as some users received there's awfully quick.

Would the users who received the laptops mind providing a bit more of an in-depth review? Are the speakers really as tinny as laptopmag indicated? Maybe a YouTube video?

 

Even in the US, it does not come with a backlit keyboard as a default. The buyer has to specifically choose it (in a subsequent screen from the one where the main options are listed) to get that option.

 

Best Buy wasn't very happy about exchanging. I'm going to just return it, because it's not worth dealing with multiple exchanges with the Geek Squad (they are a big hassle) for what is ultimately a toy.

I read in many places that it's a power management issue with all Core processors, but some simply exhibit it more than others. My Thinkpad also does it, but only when it is unplugged, which is why I immediately picked up on the noise.

 

So, is the F-series noisy?

 

Hi, im ordering an f series, it sho take a couple of weeks before arriving.. Iread that the the touchpad has gestures(zoomig...). anybody knows anymore info bout that? is it anything like mac gesturres? cause i think it would be alittle hard to gestures on a touchpad of that size....
THX

 

Dell quality is hit and miss at best....as is their support.

 

Actually ALL three pre-config models on Sonystyle.com (VPCF11MFX/B, VPCF11JFX/B, VPCF112FX/B) in USA come with a backlit keyboard as standard if you see the specs.

 

Same with OS X or pretty much any Unix based OS. They make much better use of multiple procs/cores and large amounts of memory.

 

this might be a stupid question guys and girls, why does the backlit keyboard not light up the space bar....any particular reason for this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miC8fYSyjV4
at 1:23

 

It is (apparently) reasonably good - don't expect anything iPhone-esque - it needs much more pressure. Also, you're right in that the small size is not ideal for pinching gestures etc.

 

@sheebp:thx a lot.
another question: has anyone tried the F with a music production software like Ableton? How good is the output Latency? Im not expecting much of the speakers, ive allready had an FE and an FZ and the speakers of both were really horrible compared to other laptops of this scale.... But the soundcard itself had been gr8. on more question on audio: can the microphone port be used as a line in port?
Thx

 

It's not "noisy" in terms of fan or HDD noise. However, I just got my second F, and the buzzing noise is still present. I'm going to search for ways to change the voltage slightly using RMClock, because that is supposed to solve the issue. I really wish PC manufacturers would deal with these types of issues--it's often the small things that drive users to Apple.

I think that all F's have this issue, it's just that older users probably don't have the high frequency sensitivity that younger people do. The older guy at the Geek Squad insisted that there wasn't any problem and tried to run some BS software test, but the younger guy heard it immediately.

 

@mith500: it's really simple the whole purpose of a backlight keyboard is to be able to see the keys in dark. to be able to see the space key you only need to have light around it... as simple as that...

 

Exactly what voltage are you adjusting? Is this also a BIOS setting? Do you have a link where the issue is explained?

 

http://forum.rightmark.org/topic.cgi?id=6:1257

There's actually tons of threads that discuss this. I have no idea how to disable C4 mode though. RMClock doesn't show the features for power management, and neither does the BIOS.

Does anyone know how to disable the C4 processor mode? I think that should solve the buzzing issue for good. The only surefire way I've found is to start up the webcam, which kills the buzzing for whatever reason.

 

Nice info.
This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErkhU2qK-fM appears to be what we are talking about.

From the looks of it, the issue could also be fixed by a BIOS update.

Did you also try disabling the popdown/popup modes as described in the discussions? Is that option even available on the F series?

 

That's 3 VAIOS with the same buzzing noise. All from Bestbuy. Perhaps a bad batch?

I'm willing to try to resolve this issue myself since Im already in love with this system. But the buzzing noise really is unbearable. The buzzing really stands out in class or in the library.

Anyways here are some new observations....

1. The noise goes away altogether in SAFEMODE.

2. Only begins once windows fully loads. bios, win load screen are all quiet.

3. seems to arise only when the PC is idling..(although this wasnt the case with the first VAIO i exchanged). Any cpu load seems to do away with the noise.

4. makes the noise whether its plugged in or not.

5. Tried disabling audio and lowered resolution in order to partially mimic safemode enviroment with no results...


perhaps a faulty drivers? found other cases where this was the issue...

 

THATS THE SAME EXACT NOISE!

 

Researching on the net and from the linke coupdetat provided above, this sounds logically connected to the C4. It seems C4 is a low-power idle state that the processor can revert to on supported systems and that causes this sound. Disabling C4 on C2D systems seemed to rectify the issue and the system instead reverts to a "C2" idle state which is not as low in power-consumption.

I don't yet have an F11 but are there any options in the BIOS to disable this?

 

I just received a call from Sony Canada about my F1190 CTO- they said the Nvidia GeForce G211p is the same as the GT 330m and the 211m was the same as the 310m

 

I am in a dilemma with choice of color ... I saw in a review on the black model how it looks like. Can someone post some pictures with a gray pattern?

 

Pictures please from the Premium 1080P screen of your new VAIO F ^^

 

This is the Email I got from my representative.

"I am just sending you this email to let you know that there was an error on our site in terms of the graphics card.

You chose the GT211P with 1 Gig ram

But it actually comes with the GT330M with 1 gig ram

Please let me know if this ok with you. We do apologize for any inconvenience. If you are not ok with this, please let me know and I can have your order cancelled."

Heck no! That's the best news this week.

 

That confirms my suspicions, from looking that the driver list on the support website.

 

There is no option in the BIOS, and I haven't found a way to get RMClock to display C-state options. Any ideas? You can hear the obnoxious high frequency buzzing from across the room! I'm returning my second F tonight, but I'll sit around and see if anyone can come up with a solution.

On my regular C2D Lenovo, RMClock displays all of the C-state options, so I guess the devs just didn't implement proper i7 support.

 

GREAT news, thanks!

 

I chatted with a Sony rep at Sonystyle in Germany about this matter. There's no back-lit keyboard in the european F series, unfortunately.

Wolfgang

 

As I said earlier, can anybody upload pics with the grey pattern?

 

That's annoyed me. I hate things being released publically and not being able to buy them just because I'm from a different part of the world.

 

Well that is now confirmed, I will not be buying this laptop.

 

Does anybody have any good information on the F11's display tech? Specifically, what the display has for lamps or if it's using anything from Sony's now defunct AW-series of RGB HD screens? Seems like the color gamut on the premium F11 screen is good.

But, let me guess...there's a back-lighting for the British release

 

Perhaps there is something useful in regular power management options in windows.
Otherwise, perhaps registry settings?
For example: http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-7/set-the-maximum-processor-state/

For linux, I found these links:

• http://www.inliniac.net/blog/2008/07/25/fixing-noise-on-ubuntu-hardy-804-aka-setting-max_cstate.html
• http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_high_pitch_noises

Edit: interestingly, the difference in power usage are not that big. The last link mentions 15.160W, 15.770W, and 16.100W respectively for C4, C3, C2. That means disabling C4 wouldn't be such a bad idea.

 

There was a document in the EU Sony site that mentioned that the "premium" HD F-series screen covers 100% of the Adobe RGB color gamut. I intend to do quite a bit of image editing on this computer and would definitely welcome that.

Hopefully mine will be delivered tomorrow.

 

Are you in Europe? What was the delay between order and shipment (UK Sony is telling me 3-4 weeks!)? Was it pre-config or customized?

THanks!

 

Wow. Thanks for the quick reply. I'll find that EU doc and check it out.

 

THat might just work. Try upping your minimum processor state using that link/Windows 7 settings (since from what I can understand it being too low is causing the noise).

 

I've tried upping the minumum state and it reduces, but doesn't eliminate the noise. I set min and max processor state to 100%, and the noise becomes more intermittent. There needs to be a way to disable C4, and possibly C3 as well. It's not like we badly need battery life on a laptop meant to be a desktop replacement.

 

Perhaps it is also an idea to try undervolting: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824

According to

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=276661

undervolting should be the first step in trying to solve whining noises (popdown, popup and C4 disabling comes later).

 

I also was told by the German Sonystyle livechat that the display covers 100 % AdobeRGB which is very welcome. They said, the display has a dual lamp technique but it's less glossy than the one of the FW series. I personally found the FW display not bad at all and I'm a bit concerned as for the brilliance of the matte F display. Maybe some of the early F-owners can comment on this and could compare the F with the FW ? I'm still torn between the Sony F and the Dell XPS studio 16 (LED-RGB), since I need the laptop for photo editing, too.

 

Well, the problem with undervolting is that RMClock doesn't seem to work correctly with Core i7's. It can't see voltages or anything, and all of the advanced CPU management options are gone.

 

Is there a BIOS setting for the voltage?

 

No. The BIOS is the most worthless thing ever, and might as well not exist at all.

 

Unfortunately the last release of RMClock I can find dates back to 2008 . Looks like i'll wait for this to reach the stores in the UK and have a listen before making the plunge.

 

I think John Lewis are going to be the first to stock it.