Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Ordered on 1/28 and received the 'Laptop is in Production' notification today. What is the lead time on shipment of the unit after production starts. I am in the USA.

Thanks.

 

HA! Yeah, a 1993 Corolla and a 1999 Corolla. I think the combined mileage is almost equal to the distance of a round trip to the moon and back, but they're still kickin.

 

Saw a Sony F in person for the first time in BB. Love the look of it. Hate the flexing in the keyboard! Shame on Sony.

 

Send me $10 & I'll post my best guessestimate. Err... for which country?

 

I received my Sony Vaio VPCF112 fx Yesterday. It functions very well, no noise, fast, with great screen.

 

What? Nothing to feed to the "issues" rumour mill?

 

My "first one" began production on a Friday and shipped on Monday. I had to return it for repeated bluescreens. My replacement began production yesterday. I'm hoping for a more careful build this time, but I'm still excited. I loved the first one for the brief time I had it.

 

Well, in the past, the really cool screen, I mean stunning, was kept for the AW Premium with Adobe Lightroom. Sadly, rascals in Hawaii stole it.

 

oops...

Ordered on 1/28 and received the 'Laptop is in Production' notification today. What is the lead time on shipment of the unit after production starts. I am in the USA.

Thanks.

 

If we had data like this for the F like in this Dell Studio 1747 review Core i7, we could compare orange to oranges with other i7 notebooks:

 

Agreed, that the AW-series was the multi-media flag-bearer for the Vaio laptop line. Unfortunately, towards the end of its lifecyle, it was left to fester by the wayside, with even the CW series getting better equipment than the AW, from a component-spec standpoint.

There are rumors that a new 17.3" Vaio laptop is on the way, which in turn could take the place of the AW. And since the annual PMA show (professional photography related) is just around a month away, it is possible that some of these multi-media related offerings might make their appearance then.

 

So the Norton Removal Tool is the only/most reliable/easiest way to completely remove the Norton Internet Security 2010 trial? Do I have to delete anything from the registry afterward? What about folders? Referencing the page from the second link do I complete Step 1, which involves creating an account and writing down the product key (unsure if one comes with trial version), or skip it and procede to Step 2?

Since I intend on creating recovery discs and restore discs right when I receive my laptop I want to remove unwanted programs (bloatware) before I do so. Anything else besides Norton recommended to remove?

 

I just don't see or feel what you do. I think the keyboard is one of the best features on this computer. I was considering a Dell Studio 17. Now THAT is a flexing keyboard!

 

So is it worth it to get the higher processor? All I play is wowright now. But don't realy wanna spend another 300$ if I don't need to.
Unless there are some discounts going around that could drop the price a little.

 

"So the Norton Removal Tool is the only/most reliable/easiest way to completely remove the Norton Internet Security 2010 trial?" Yes.

"Do I have to delete anything from the registry afterward?" - no. Complete removal is the point of this application and was created by Symantec after complaints that using add/remove program was leaving stuff behind. It's also what Symantec techs recommend to do when there are problems installing a new version on top of an older one.

You could also use the add/remove program, re-boot & run the Norton Removal Tool & re-boot again.

"skip it and procede to Step 2?" - Yes.

 

I used my iPhone which apparently has an accuracy of up to +-2 dB (ok, so it's not scientific but hey...) and I got these results, from 15cm from the front of the laptop:

Normal web usage (fan idling):
39 dB

Disk drive running:
40-41 dB

Under full load (8 cores 100%):
46-48 dB

Laptop off (what I consider to be silence):

37dB (which perhaps puts things in perspective).

P.S. This is in no respect whatsoever a scientific test. I just thought I'd see what it came up with...

 

The flex I noticed was near the center of the keyboard. Maybe its because it was a BB version. I heard somewhere that BB didn't get the top line stuff.

 

And where pray was that "heard somewhere" from ? From a reliable Sony source or from rumor-mongers generating more urban legends ?

 

I'm looking to replace a 2.93ghz Macbook Pro that has a 9600 card it in with possibly the Vaio F i7. How much better, if it all, would the Vaio be better at gaming?

 

Thanks! Scientific or not, it's a step-up from "it seems loud", it's a powerful DTR after all. If we subtract 2 db (margin of error) from your data, it's in the ballpark of the example below.

What is the app you used so other iPhone users could try-it too?

 

This is probably old news at this point, but I got Sony to give me the word on what exactly happened with the VAIO F, official response to the buzzing noise, and why it wasn't on sale for a period of time.

http://www.sonyinsider.com/2010/02/04/no-worries-the-sony-vaio-f-laptop-is-okay-and-back-on-sale/

 

I love those "heard somewhere" w/o any links or proofs.

To be noted, it's an other comment about a store unit mistreated by shoppers.

Owners comments I saw in this thread so far was: good keyboard with some reasonable flex near the enter key.

 

Yes, but still good advertising for your site.

According to lastdon's post here:

But I guess one more confirmation is a good thing.

 

I wasn't trying to advertise, just get a straight answer for everyone.

 

Thanks for the feedback. At least they took the corrective steps. And also the "on site solution" is a firmware fix to be available via the Sony support site, I guess, which is exactly what I had assumed would happen.

All in all, I believe this is a solid product. Now, if they could also provide that European matte "premium" full-HD screen, it would make the US version of the F-series a legitimate "multi-media powerhouse".

Providing the US customers with a glossy full-HD screen (while denying them the European "premium" Matte Full-HD screen with 100% Adobe RGB color gamut coverage) slightly thins the strength of their "multimedia powerhouse" argument.

 

Must say that's impressive handling of the situation ... especially compared to Dell and their policy of continuing to sell defective SXPS 16's to this day (was my previous choice before 'defecting' to the F11 myself).

 

Decibel http://www.gadgetfrontier.com/apps/decibel

 

Great!

OK, lucky owners of both F & iPhone, we are looking forward to your noise emission data.

 

Ok, it looks like we wayward Canucks can again order F CTOs starting Monday. The delay was INDEED to fix outstanding issues, and the short-stock was due to incomplete allocation.

 

Looking forward to your hands-on review 2, MelodyMaster.

 

Your right. It was just hearsay. I should not have posted the comment.

And I suppose if it wasn't the site founder making this post, the reliability of the information would have been questioned. You can't win.

 

Just as CCz Cataphract did for his Asus G51Jx-A1 (A strong second choice model for me) I'll disassemble it as much as I dare. But I won't get it until March.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5832673&postcount=601

Incidentally, in case there was some question, such as regarding a "rumour" remark in this thead, there definitely were problems with the F-series, two distinct issues. Individual reps and technicians have been very open about that.

In general, if there is a widepread problem with a popular item, Corporate clamps down and never lets ANY word get out. Just look at the Toyota situation. It wasn' t until things became untenable that they owned up to brake issues. I can also name a delayed issue of the DVD for "Duel." the few that got out sold as collector's items. There was massive speculation in the video forums, Speilberg being angry at bloopers that stayed in the print, wrong aspect ratio, etc. etc. until eventually Universal released the disc properly, the SAME disc, and to this day there's never been an explanation for the delay.

 

Speaking of which, still waiting on ilfuca's review of his EU F11

 

My US friend received my F and it passed the checklist I made for him with flying colors. He now wants to get one too. Problem is he will come to visit me in two weeks.

"Just look at the Toyota situation. It wasn' t until things became untenable that they owned up to brake issues" - yes but compare this with the recent history of American car manufacturers' % of failure, QC, reliability & durability of their products...

In the F case, Sony was pretty quick in solving the problems considering the product was just launched.

 

Hi,

I am about to purchase a nice Vaio F, but I am really doubting what HD to pick. I have read a lot about the pros and cons of SSD in general. But does anybody know about the performance of this particular model they put in the F? I am also a bit worried what real disk space you will be left with on a 128GB disk. Presumably there will be some space reserved for installation image. And you want to keep some free space for better performance in general.

Then, if SSD may not be the choice, what will give the best performance? The 5400 rpm or the 7200 rpm model. Does anyone know what brand and model they put in the F?

I ask this question, because some particular models of 5400 rpm can even outperform 7200 rpm models.

 

My US version from Bestbuy has a Samsung spinpoint M7 in it - HM500JI (5400rpm). I could have done worse! Much better specs than the M6 predecessor. Extemely quiet and reasonably fast. Not sure what brand the 7200's are. Easily checked in device manager is someone here can look. They frequently use more than one brand in these things though as market pricing and availability fluctuate.
I'm not sure about free space speeding up performance of SSD's. Doesn't make sense to me. You don't even have to defrag those things. Personally I would wait on the SSD until they get all this TRIM stuff figured out and the prices become more reasonable. I know I will be getting one in maybe a year or so.

 

ErikEngerd is also from Netherlands and reported here: "I have a seagate 7200.4 500GB drive".

"Personally I would wait on the SSD until they get all this TRIM stuff figured out and the prices become more reasonable" - STP12. same here, you can then clone to SSD & drop the old HDD in a cheap external enclosure to use it for storage or backup.

 

Thank you for pursuing this and posting Sony's reply.

I note the following expressions and their "traditional" Sony meaning: "manufacturing process" = "hardware" with "on site" generally meaning that a tech comes to the customer's home/office, with free pre-paid mail-in for those customers not residing near a contracted Sony tech. "Esupport download" (not mentioned in the formal reply) would be a software/firmware download.

 

And what about this option? I chose the SSD for approx $500 and kept with the 720 and 6gb memory. I could have gone with the 7200 and added the 820 and 8gb memory for about the same price. I hear SSD is much snappier but who knows what brand and quality SSD I'll be getting.

 

Joe, as far as I know, it is not a good idea to clone a Windows installation to an SSD drive (even the newest Intel 2nd Generation models).

When Windows 7 is being installed, if it is being installed to an SSD, it sets itself up differently than if you were installing to a standard hard drive. Apparently the best thing to do is put in an empty SSD drive and do a complete re-installation of Windows 7. I'm not even sure if using Sony recovery disks would work properly.

 

It's possible, I know almost nothing about SSD's. My point is I'll wait for the technology to mature & price going down as well as the capacity to go up.

I imagine that products like this will become more & more available: Storage Upgrade Bundles facilitate HDD to SSD transition and that the migration software will take in account the specifics of SSD's.

 

I just got notification that mine just shipped!! YAY!

 

ilfuca,abbiamo bisogno vostre prime impressioni e forse qualche foto

 

Me too. Hehe

 

Hello ,

Did anyone of you ( who ordered the F series during it's early days with fan noise, and whining sound etc.. ) get your F series repaired by sending it to Sony ? Did that resolve the issue ?

I am thinking of one of the two options:
1. Return the laptop and get a new one ( but its expensive now than what I got it for)

2. Send it for repair hoping that it resolves the FAN noise when idle .

What do you think is the best option ?

Looking forward to your advice.. Thanks folks !

 

I haven't sent mine in yet but if I end up doing so, I would go for option #2. They sound as though they have a fix for the fan and mic issues ready to go, and I would not want to take a chance on a new model with a dead pixel or some other possible problem. The evil you know is usually better than the evil you don't know. I would just send mine in for a repair. I think there was a post not too far back saying it took about 1 week for a turnaround.

 

Does the Vaio F come with Dolby Home Theater? (The AW did...)

 

While I'd like to post around some more and get used to this place, other than asking for help on my first post, this seems like it's an acceptable thing to do here.

First, I apologize if this has been covered. I read literally 90 pages of posts, skimmed, and searched, but didn't feel assured that my question was getting asked/answered in the way I felt I needed it to be.

It was mentioned way early in the thread that the F series throttles when unplugged. I intend to get the i7-720, so this will throttle out at 930Mhz. I know my fair share about laptops, but I am not sure about how cores work. I understand the i7 is quad core. Currently I own a very outdated and abused laptop with Intel Core Solo 1.86Ghz (1860Mhz). My question is, when unplugged does the i7-720 run slower/worse than my current laptop when plugged in, that is: does a laptop running a Core Solo at 1860Mhz run better than a throttled laptop with Quad Core at 960Mhz?

That may be a make it or break it deal for me.
Originally I was considering a custom F11, but the price and the speediness of getting it at BB has me reconsidering.

A second question. The answer to this could have been found skimming through this thread, but just for my own sanity and assurance I'd love a straight forward response to my own personal inquiry.

I intended to get: i7-820, 8GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm, 9-cell Battery (backlit keyboard was nice, but not needed)
instead I am getting: i7-720, 6GB RAM, 500 GB 5200rpm, 6-cell battery

My understanding is that, unless I am a hardcore gamer, using video editing software, photoshop, etc... I shouldn't notice a difference between the two laptops. Correct?
Also that the battery, and HDD are easily upgraded at a reasonable price, right?
Finally, that if push comes to shove, and I happen upon a load of cash, it is also possible and okay, to upgrade the CPU and the RAM, sure?

Thank you all for your help. This thread is the reason why I have chosen the F11 series over any other company or laptop. I needed that assurance, I'm not the kind of person who is able or willing to spend a lot of money at once, so I want to be assured I know what I am getting.

 

Here is a direct copy of the email, which i ave been dealing with this lady for days now and she has helped me out greatly,

this is for the harded individuals of course.
And i hvae blocked some information from the email so people dont bomb her with emails.

enjoy

 

How long ago did you order?
I just placed an order an hour ago as a gift for my dad.. he will be receiving what I'm hoping to be one very smexy gift.