Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

Depends on your usage, DirectX 11 vs. 10.1 may be important for some. Side-by-side data & added benchmarks.

 

glad You liked them

I hope to have made finally clear what colour is the "premium black"


@ joe at the same time different perspectives.. maybe you're right, I'm not that much into gpus

 

Thanks Joe for posting the links again. I decided to cut-and-paste the three sets of instructions into a Word document for my use. I decided others may want a copy as well. Warning: I did cut out a few images that I thought were unnecessary and it is a Word 2003 document.

BTW, this is my first time attaching a file to a posting. I hope it works.

 

Your Word doc works fine with Save Link as, thanks!

 

Thank you all for the awnsers, I saw that ATI Radeon HD5650 is better. I don't know...I saw the F's design yesterday in a Sony shop and is beautifull, I want to see the E's too before I will decide. Thanks again, wish you a happy weekend !

 

Has anyone purchased and received VPCF117FX/B? It is being sold by B&H Photo, Van's, J&R and Abt in the U.S. Its spec.'s are the same as the BB model except that it has the 7200 rpm disks. Is this model coming from China? Does it whistle or have excessive fan noise? Any other problems?

 

hey guys, does anyone know the difference between the QM720 and QM820 CPUs? Is the 820 worth 300$ more than the 720? Can anyone give me a easy comparison, like for example when encoding with handbrake with the same format how many fps each on does, or if it does a big difference in games, startup times... I'm planing on buying this PC, and it should stay with me for at least 4 years so i want it to be "futuristic"... Another thing is that I'm planing to get it in gray, prefer it to black, but I've seen a few Pics of the gray, all of the pics are ones of black VAIO F s, anyone got picture of the gray model?
Thanx

 

I am curious what the reason is behind your choice for SSD. Any idea what the performance is of the SSD that you get in the F?

 

Hey Frans,

I am a dutchie too. Can I ask you where you got your model? Did you have a specific reason to get the 7200 rpm drive?

 

Well, at the time i ordered it seemed the fastest option, besides solids ofcourse, which are to expensive for me. Maybe i'll get one in a year or so, when the price probably drops (and hopefully the lifespan increases).

My F i ordered at sonystyle, presumably the only place for custom builds!

btw, judging from the name you use, we probably are from the same province

 

Hello, I just found that my F will arrive today via FedEx, I'm pretty excited!

When I ordered it I asked if a travel adapter was available for use in the car, the gal said it is not yet available.

Does anyone know of any compatible adapters available for sale? Or is the F compatible with previous Vaio models' adapters?

 

I just use an inverter and plug in the regular power adapter for my laptop to charge it. I haven't tried it yet with my F Series because I am waiting for it. Expected next Wednesday.

 

it seems the ATI mobility radeon 5650 is better than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330

 

I don't know if any of You is interested in this kind of info but still for any geek interested I'll give You details about the BIOS

BIOS Vendor AMI
BIOS Version R0250Y6
Firmware version 2.50
BIOS Date 12-07-2009
BIOS Size 4096 KB
DMI Version 2,6

 

Hey Gang,
This was unexpected - my Morse code noise is gone! I was fooling around and decided to take a WD caviar black 320GB 7200rpm drive that I had and put it in this F series to see if i observed any better HDD performance. Firstly, I did not notice the morse code when the WD drive was in there. I popped an image of my drive onto it and messed around for a short while. It did not seem any faster than the 500GB Samsung M7 spinpoint 5400 that my F came with. Got the same score in the Windows experience index as well (5.9). So I put the original drive back in and made sure all hardware was tight. The 4 small screws that hold the HDD in the thin metal cage were not very tight to begin with. I made sure to push the HDD toward the connector end while I mounted it into the cage, and i applied pressure to the cage in the direction of the connector when I secured the cage into the chassis. NO MORE MORSE CODE!! Incidentally, this is the exact area that the morse code noise would emanate from just to the right of the touchpad. Perhaps with the somewhat loose hardware fastening the HDD to the thin metal cage allowed some high frequency harmonic resonance to develop in the cage? MelodyMaker - can you confirm this as a possibility? I am shocked and pleased that I no longer have that noise! This thing is PERFECT now!!

edit: If I put my ear flat against the palmrest just to the right of the touchpad i can very faintly hear a much subdued intermittant noise from that area. I can no longer hear it ambiently. Wife has confirmed! Very happy! Also seems to confirm a HDD issue which will be completely resolved when I put an SSD in this baby next year...I am STOKED!!

 

I'm having issues with the vaio bluetooth mouse that I'm using, which means I'm having to use the F series' awful trackpad (multitouch? it's crap...)

It's not the mouse as I've connected it to another pc fine. It seems to be some sort of adapter problem (the f series uses a foxconn adapter). Event log is giving few different bt errors, the most common of which is this:

"The local adapter returned an improper ACL data packet which was discarded."

I've tried all the standard stuff like reinstalling drivers, batteries, system restore, etc etc... Anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

 

I didn't have error messages in Event Viewer when using a (Razer) Bluetooth mouse in the brief time I had my machine, but it did disconnect sometimes, seemingly when there was heavy traffic via the wireless Lan. It had the Atheros adaptor.

And the touchpad was fine, no worse than any others I've used.

I'm using the Razer bluetooth mouse right now with the Shuttle desktop system, which ALSO uses the same Atheros chip,and there are no problems at all, no latency and no disconnects. One difference is that it's using XP, and all the software for Bluetooth had to be installed. Win7 has its own Bluetooth utility. So try a third party Bluetooth connect program.

(EDIT) Oops, wrong system, the Shuttle has a Broadcom Bluetooth adaptor, and Marvel Yukon Wlan. Sorry. As I say Bluetooth on this works better than it did on the F11.

 

There is a user on the forum who has the Sony 256GB SSD and he seems to be impressed with its performance, including random access times and also boot times.

The user's name is "srosenfeld" and it might be worthwhile searching for his posts on the Sony SSD.

 

I use only the touchpad in my laptops (no external mouse use) and found the one in the F-series to be perfectly fine too.

 

Any suggestions? That's the sort of thing I've been looking for...

 

No I can't offer any suggestions, since I have not yet had to pursue a solution for the issue (not actually having an F11 at the moment) but Bluetooth shareware can offer a lot of cool features. One I particularly like is that the computer can detect the presence of your bluetooth-enabled cellphone, when you walk away from the computer it will lock the keyboard, and unlock it and automatically sign you in to Windows when you approach the system. In other words your cellphone can be the key, also it can offer a remote keyboard for multimedia control, opening programs etc.

 

Just received my laptop last night and it is up and running. Restore and recovery discs have been created and slrosenfeld's Spyder calibration installed. No dead pixels, no unusual or loud sounds (when the fan kicks in are you calling that the whistle?), no excessive heat, keyboard is rock solid .Screen is more like my Dell XPS than the glossy HP I have. I rocket of a laptop I can take to work that has a classy and sophisticated look. Lighter and better balanced than other computers in this class I cannot believe what a great system this is.
USA i7 720, 6g, SSD, backlight and fresh start, blueray. If there are issues down the road I will advise. I most likely will not have a need to visit this forum anymore , and I want to thank everyone for their generous opinions, knowledge, and time.
Again. I highly recommend this laptop cooler for this size comuter.
http://www.nzxt.com/products/cryo_lx/

 

No, you would know if your fan whistles. The sound it would make literally sounds like a faint whistle and it's only at certain RPMs. I hear it when the fan is NOT kicked up on mine. Also, thanks for the link regarding a laptop cooler.

 

Is there any chance sony will update the f's graphics card any soon? I really love the other specs of this thing but the weak graphics card keeps me from buying it. I just don’t understand why they put the much better Radeon HD5650 in the EB series and not in the F series. EB stands for budget series right? Buying an Eb isn’t an option for me because of its weak processor and low amount of ram.

Could you please help me?

(Sorry for my bad English by the way)

 

A sony tech is supposed to be calling me this week to setup an appointment to come out to our house and fix the Mic issue. I'm going to try and set it up for a day in which I will be here so I can watch what he does. I'll then report back and compare it to your fix. It may not be until next week so that might be about 75 pages from now.

 

nice~~so is that monitor matte or glossy?

 

Yes, it barks when opening a document & meows when you delete-it.

Why pay $150 more to get a 7200 HDD w/ all other specs the same? Might as well spend $110 for this highly rated HDD, clone & swap, & use the 5400 in an external enclosure for data. You save $40 & get two drives instead of one.

 

Please do! I am very curious about Sony's 'fix'. The fact that it can be done in your home is encouraging. Are we talking about the same sound here by the way? Mine was not a feedback through the speakers or fan noise. A morse code type of noise from that area of the palmrest as described. Please confirm so I can keep my hopes up! He may be replacing the HDD for all we know right?
I'm not sure I 'fixed' anything - I just got it to where I can't hear it unless I flatten my ear against the palmrest!
Looking forward to your follow up post.

 

"Is there any chance sony will update the f's graphics card any soon?" - product just came out, point is low price i7.

"weak graphics card " - GT 330M is no so weak, see http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

The HD 5650 is not much of a step-up (except for DirectX 11) see 5650 vs 330m), Radeon HD 5780, now you are talking if gaming is your priority, see: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Hands-On-Asus-G73Jh-with-ATI-s-Mobility-RadeonHD-5870.25103.0.html and http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=447065

 

What more do you need???

 

Hi STP12,

The tech is coming to fix the "Morse code" noise which is temporarily worked around with the "listen to this device/set to digital output" settings. From what I was told by the Sony rep I spoke with, they are performing on-site fixes for this because it was a "known issue." He didn't go into details as to what it was and I didn't ask. I was just really happy that it's an on-site fix which is pretty cool.

Again, it's going to be another week most likely before the guy comes here, but I will post what he does to fix it.

 

I interpreted his post as either a) "for all useful purposes, the noise is gone" or b) "I'm LOOKING for trouble" to which I would respond "seek and ye shall find."

 

Excellent point! Hence I am quite happy! I was afraid that it was something on the mobo that was faulty. Been there and done that! This thing is great and I really love the keyboard, flex or not!

 

I'm sorry but I don't find that cool at all to get on-site fix for such a minor thing w/ at least two easy fix listed in this thread.

I expect a patch on Sony Support soon & anyway what's the obsession about being bothered by having 2 check-boxes selected?

STP12's easy fix: "From Sound in Control panel, click recording tab then right click > properties.
Go to Listen tab and check "listen to this device".
Then pull down 'Playback through this device:' and set to Digital Output/Optical". Fix #2.

On-site fix is very expensive for Sony & we all end-up paying for it, including the carbon footprint.

 

Hehe! I've been around this block enough times to know not to look for problems. That one bugged me because once I tuned into it it drove me mad and muting the mic or even the fix I posted kinda pissed me off. If I can't hear it, it isn't a problem right?
It's just that I fall asleep face down on this thing and the noise was really interrupting my REM! jeez...I've lost it!

Seriously guys, I love this thing 100%. Couldn't be happier (until I get my SSD)

 

this was earlyer today, then wazzup Joe, only tired or have I convinced you

Pignolo e b@at@rdo*


*It doesn't make a lot of sense for You, I was only quoting a quote from a movie and saying that I'm a "picky b@st@rd"

 

You stole my words!

 

I was posting my experiences with tech support in response to a question someone raised. If you don't like the fact that Sony offered on-site support (I didn't ask for it, it's what they're doing), or that some people want a permanent fix to a minor problem, that's fine. You're entitled to your own opinions.

 

I placed my order for an F Series CTO on Tues Feb 2 and received an order update at 9:50 am on Fri Feb 5 stating that production had begun and that manufacturing typically takes 5-7 days. Then at 5:37 pm on Feb 5 I received a shipping confirmation. Is this atypical? I'm glad, but a little perplexed, surprised.

 

how much ram are you talking about it the EB goes up to 8GB

 

Actually, I want to thank you for going through with having Sony perform the onsite service which the Sony Insider told us would be offered. I think it will be very helpful for us to find out from your experience whether it is a swap-out, a tweak of hardware, a firmware/software patch or whatever combination of those.

As for onsite service, apparently Sony always tries to do that with CTO models, I believe I heard, and maybe even with all laptops during the first year of their warranty. And in this case, apparently, all F owners with the problem, CTO or not, will have onsite service.

As for carbon footprints, well, let's see: the onsite techs are on salary and the techs in San Diego are on salary. No gain or loss there. But unless you live within 50 miles of Sony's San Diego tech center, then the carbon footprint of shipping your computer to San Diego versus having an onsite tech come by is a no brainer.

And the good will it creates for Sony to not force you to wipe your drive and send in your computer is something Sony should be congratulated for, in my opinion.

But heck, I've been in the minority here on the forum a lot lately. I'm the one who has been holding out for the hardware vs. software solution to the noise.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

 

So 1 tech in the shop repairing 50 laptops a day vs. 5 techs driving around and repairing only 10 each is the same carbon footprint?

You compare tech driving around vs shipping but when compared to fixing-it yourself by selecting two check-boxes...

No wonder USA is #1 in this table: Energy Statistics > Usage per person (most recent) by country (8.35 Tonnes of Oil Equivalent/person/per year).

 

I will, and thank-you for the kind response.

As for Joe's carbon footprint comments, I let them go as I usually do when people who own luxury items like $1000+ widescreen laptops make comments about other people's carbon footprints.

 

The fun part about the "checking two boxes" is that it isn't at all clear whether, over time, that's all that's needed. Especially if Sony is sending techs out rather than telling us to "check two boxes"....

We'll know a lot more after you chat with that tech when he or she comes to your home!

 

Have you not considered that the purpose of a "luxury" Office productivity tool is to support working at home, or in the field, thus obviating the need to burn gas and pollute the air commuting some 60 miles a day to a specific location just to do the work?

 

Sure. I work from home myself. This started when I was simply posting a reply to someone else and Joe expressed his opinion regarding me having an on-site service. I disagree with his opinions. Regarding carbon footprints, the whole debate behind the notion of carbon footprints and man-made climate change can be debated elsewhere. I came here to share knowledge about a laptop.

 

The comment was against Sony's policy of at-home service for troubled devices, such as TVs and computers. Me, if I have trouble, I'll just drive the computer myself to Gordon Baker and wait while they look at it.

 

That's the point of a forum: different opinions on stuff & exchange of information. Otherwise, might as well talk to my mirror...

You said that on-site service was "cool" for the whining thing, I strongly disagree & explained why I think so. We are not talking about a 42" plasma T.V. nor a dead laptop.

What's wrong with that?

 

Joe, you've added alot to this thread. Thanks. But I haven't seen anybody else slammimg other countries. Your shot at America is uncalled for. I'm sure I can do the research to find plenty of faults with your beloved, "morally superior" Costa Rica....safe haven for the online gambling and other bad industries.

 

Online gambling vs. flying to Vegas, which one has the smallest carbon footprint? And that's not counting all these lights flashing in the desert.

"But I haven't seen anybody else slamming other countries" - the linked page contained data about other countries too. We don't see enough data about the energy we consume, IMHO. It was more aimed at waste & pollution than USA itself. Besides, www.nationmaster.com is a great site if one likes stats & data.

OK, this was my last comment about how personal service choices can have an impact on all of us, including bottom line cost of the notebook. Which I think is somehow relevant to this thread...