Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

And Virtual machines will usually run stuff like that. I have used it at work running many old programs that wouldn't run on newer O/S's.

Try it. There are a few out there.

 

My new UK spec Sony F Vaio arrived this morning \o/ yay!

Here is my CTO build...

model VPCF11X5E
Intel® Core(TM) i7 Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional
Premium Black
128 GB Ultra SATA Flash SSD
8 GB 1333MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Blu-ray Disc(TM) writer
41.6 cm LCD, 1920x1080, webcam

Only had 20 minutes to play before going back to work,
so here are some brief details and quick impressions...

First thing noticed was the very large power supply, but good that it has a green LED when on.

Let's say it now, the Vaio F is a thing of beauty and perfectly formed. Koo che koo!
Mine is a black model and has a black lid, black chassis and dark grey background to the keyboard.
I've experienced lots of laptops in my job in IT and my Lenovo T61 flexes a little but this is not necessarily a build-quality issue. Fortunately, I can tell you that the keyboard has a nice action and is very solid with no flex.
Generally, the chassis is very nicely made with no gaps and is re-assuringly heavy!

Switch on! The build took only a minute to complete after putting in my regional preferences and there is some flashy screen graphics trying to sell you McAfee and Norton (why both?!) and then I was at the desktop.

Mmmmmm, the matte screen is gorgeous with very deep, rich colours. If this is the un-calibrated output it almost seems rude to Sony to run my Spyder 3 on it!
Brightness was very good and contrasty, but I could see that the vertical viewing angle needed to be in the sweet spot and horizontal viewing angle was quite wide. Font and icons were a little smaller than my 14" work laptop, but quite comfortable and not miniscule.

A quick scan of the specs then and the SSD hard drive showed I had 88.2GB left of 113GB (this is with Sony's apps still present!) and the model is a Toshiba THNS128GG4BBAA.

I will open up the back and report the memory brand and model number later.

On a scale of 1.0 to 7.9, here is my Windows Experience Index...

7.0 Processor
7.4 RAM
6.5 Graphics
6.5 Gaming graphics
6.7 Primary HDD

Startup takes 25 secs
Shutdown takes 10 secs

It was hard to stop myself from playing some more, but that is it until later.

Feel free to ask questions.

matt

 

Congrats Will you be running your Spyder 3 on it? If so can you post up the colour profile!

Still waiting for mine - expected tomorrow morning! But we will share the same screen. Glad to hear you're impressed with it. Are the speakers as dreadful as it seems from some other comments?

 

Yes, i'll post my Spyder 3 profile soon.

Didn't check if there was backlighting on the keyboard (i'm not too fussed), but I did check that there is no squeaking (hurray)!!!

Initial impressions were how silent the laptop was too. No squeals, morse code or fan noise here!

Wifi was very impressive and picked my home network up instantly (not so good downstairs with my work laptop) and some other unsecured ones from my neighbours i've not seen before!

matt

 

TO SONY INSIDER:

Could you get your contacts at Sony to give us the real story on the purchase options for accidental damage and handling (ADH) service plans?

The SonyStyle Website says they MUST be purchased at the time of the order, but several forum members have been told on the phone that they may be added later. Chat also tells customers that, as well.

A friend of mine was "burned" by Sony on this when Sony refused an after-purchase ADH plan, stating also that those third-party plans like Provantage (which tout that they are the same plans and use the same Sony techs, etc. but cost well over a hundred dollars less) won't be honored for after-purchase ADH.

Thanks for any clarification you can get Sony to provide.

 

The HD 5650 is not much of a step-up (except for DirectX 11) see 5650 vs 330m). So i'm not sure I would say "worser" about the 330M.

So it depends if what you do is CPU or GPU intensive. What is your usage?

BTW, if you want some feedback, it would be nice to post links or to post a comparative list of specs.

 

@tcklim, matt800

My F series has been shipped according to SonyStyle UK but I can't track it for some reason on UPS. Matt800, your experience in IT will be a boon for us

 

Give them a call to find out your tracking number. I haven't received an e-mail but they gave me the number over the phone, still waiting for the UPS update

 

Just got the Sony F11 with the i7 and 6Gb of ram. Pretty happy with it except for the high pitched whining. I think it is the HDD does anyone know for sure? if so I think I will just go buy a new HDD. Prolly should have read up on it more as it seem to be a pretty well known issue with this model.

My other question is can anyone tell me what the softwares do I can't find any info.

oasis2service 1.0

PlayReady PC Runtime amd64

Trying to get some of the crap-ware off of the system.

Also can anyone tell me what software is using the SQL server stuff? There are 2 version of SQL server on this laptop. Ridiculous

 

"...Sony to give us the real story" - well it's written in B&W on Sonystyle:



So why does ADH need to be bought at the time of purchase? Scenario: you drop your F on the floor. You go online & buy ADH, wait one or two weeks & claim a replacement for the "accident" you just had. Sony's ADH @ purchase time policy makes sense.

"Also, purchasing Extended Service Plans at a later date requires a valid proof of purchase and are only available within the first 6 months of your product purchase". So this you can buy after purchase, not ADH.

"stating also that those third-party plans like Provantage... won't be honored for after-purchase ADH" - bottom of the screen cap above: "All Sony Extended Service Plans are offered, administered and fulfilled by Service Net Solutions, LLC and Service Net Solutions of Florida, LLC. See Terms and Conditions for complete details".

So if you buy third party ADH plans after your time of notebook purchase, they are the one who should honor their plans.

About hearsay of reps that said that ADH may be bought after notebook purchase, either the rep is wrong and/or the caller is confused between the different plans. The website & logic trumps in this case.

 

"known noise issues" fixes: post#2462 and post #546.

Video about this fix. on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFJ8NOo_wiE

 

I would like to know if this laptop has the throttle's issue like other i7's laptops.

Dell has already come up with a solution, AC 130W + New Bios.

I dont know this one though

 

No throttle issues but i7 720M is limited by thermal management design to 990 MHz when running on battery. 820m: 1.2 GHz. Search this thread (top right) with: throttle.

 

So, no throttle issue when running on AC? but running on Battery will suffer the issue?

 

What, no "issues" to report?

Only some F US & Canadian keyboards are backlit at the present. It depends on the model & it is an option in CTO's configuration.

Congrats!

 

So, GT 330 of Sony F (6.5) is about the same as FX 880 of Lenovo W510 (6.4)but lower than Ati 4670 of Dell SXPS 1645(67) based on your graphic score

 

It's not an "issue", it's a design choice & it's not possible to choose in the BIOS full power on battery @ the present, even if it means shorter battery life.

If enough people write to Sony to request this option, it could be included in a BIOS update, but then some will whine about short battery life.

Is your "Search this thread" link broken?

 

Thanks, but the Vaio keys don't seem to show up in the Windows 7 keyboard manager. And only the S1 key shows up in the Vaio control panel. I wonder what would happen to the VAIO key if I deleted the pre-assigned program?

 

Can anybody see the difference in real life between 6.4, 6.5 & 6.7? And that's not talking about Windows Experience's criteria.

On this Laptop Video Graphics Cards - Benchmark List page, you can select different video cards & "Restrict" to compare data & benchmarks, including some games.

 

As long as i can turn up detail settings a little on World of Warcraft from that of my old Radeon 9700, i'll be happy!

To be frank, my Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are my chosen gaming machines! but, I plan to buy a copy of Crysis (loved the original FarCry) to play just for a laugh and I'll let you know the experience.

matt

 

Is this official ? If so please provide an official link to the Dell site giving the fix or at least detailing it

 

Thank you for reinforcing and repeating what I quoted from the Website myself in post 3181. Of course, note that all manufacturers' Websites have disclaimers about the possibility of error and how they take no responsibility for the accuracy of their sites ( http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...gal_info&hideHeaderFooter=true&storeId=10151).

The problem is that the reps and the chat for purchase at SonyStyle are the first point of contact and the last before the sale. Once the sale has been made, the purchaser apparently loses the right to add the ADH -- yet the sale was made in part on the ability to make that decision later.

This is called a "bait-and-switch" -- and there are legal implications for it in most states and countries. That is why I advised my friend to get the transcript of her chat and forward it to Sony (for informational purposes, given the disclaimer), and why I advised forum members to get the "add it up to 30 days later" in writing via, e.g., a direct email -- which is NOT subject to the disclaimer of the Website.

Either Sony steps up to the plate and cleans up its act (sorry for the mixed metaphors) or it will likely find itself in court one day. Sure, most of the time it's a one-on-one sale and a single customer goes away mad -- but the story proliferates, as this one is now, and contributes to the worth of the reputation of the company. And imagine a small corporation purchasing a few hundred and expecting to be able to add ADH within 30 days. Well, it just might be worth its while to take Sony to court on it.

We deserve better from Sony. In general, it has the better products, so we just want it to speak, as my friend put it, out of only one side of its mouth at a time.

 

Scenario: you drop your F on the floor. You go online & buy ADH, wait one or two weeks & claim a replacement for the "accident" you just had. Sony's ADH @ purchase time policy makes sense.

So Sony should be bombed because some reps or customers are confused or badly trained? Just complain to a phone reps supervisor & the reps will receive a memo.

One must make-up his mind about model & specs when ordering, why not do the same about buying ADH or not?

In court, it's the written terms & conditions that prevails.

 

Please check this link

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458139

 

On the written terms and conditions, I have already provided the link with Sony's disclaimer as to its liability for its accuracy, i.e. no liability whatsoever.

I have agreed with you that it makes perfect sense to require ADH at the time of purchase only. However, note that Provantage et al. purchasers are told that they are indeed purchasing true Sony manufacturer plans (cf., e.g., http://www.provantage.com/sony-pcga-4sypcd~4SOVA041.htm) and there are no provisos for time of purchase as at the Sony site, just put it in the cart: http://www.provantage.com/sony-vgp2sylpad~7SOVA08V.htm

In short, Provantage is officially selling the manufacturer's extended warranty plans with the manufacturers' code IDs as well, yet it is the manufacturer who has determined the terms. Sony knows about Provantage and its claims; my friend discussed them in detail with Sony last summer. Yet Provantage continues to claim that it sells Sony warranties. If that were false, wouldn't Sony have shut them down? When Sony gets the ADH claim from a Provantage customer, my friend was told, if the ADH was not purchased at the time of the laptop purchase, Sony will not honor that ADH claim.

Also, the reason training reps is so important is because they do indeed speak for the organization in a legal sense. How can it be that so many reps just don't have a clue about how ADH cannot be added on? Where does the 30-day mantra we are hearing repeated at NBR come from in the Sony call centers and at the online chat centers? And why is this mantra out and about after my friend told management in San Diego about it last summer in multiple extended telephone conversations -- and was assured that the Website would be much clearer, the other vendors would have to have disclaimers, etc. Uh-huh.

This is not rocket science -- and it's happening too many times to be just an occasional badly-trained rep. One of our forum members posted that he re-phoned Sony on it and got a different rep who confirmed what the first rep said: you can buy it later. What are the statistical chances that my friend's online chat last night at the SonyStyle site would have exactly the same "offer" as the one others have posted at this thread? This error has to be pretty rampant for it to reoccur over and over and over again across the country and the world.

Sony needs to control its point-of-sale information to avoid the impression of bait-and-switch -- period. End of sentence. Disagree if you will -- but caveat emptor.

 

I just want to add this tidbit to the warranty conversation: On my initial purchase, I bought the laptop, then successfully added the ADH warranty a week later. The caveat here is that I did so BEFORE Sony had even started building my laptop...so take from that what you will.

On another note, my laptop was scheduled to arrive tomorrow, but it looks like it's going to arrive today.

 

Got my Vaio F 115 from BestBuy in Las Vegas on Saturday. I am giving myself one week to decide if I will keep this laptop. After tax it was $1459.

Loves: i7, 1080p (calibrated using spyder settings from this thread, it is very very bright and a beautiful screen. viewing angle is decent i think, this is LCD - not plasma! actually my favorite laptop screen), Blu-R, I installed my Intel 160gb g2 SSD I had in my last laptop, and this thing is screaming fast.

Likes: 6gb, w7 hom premium, backlit keyboard (actually, this is a requirement for any laptop imo).

Dislikes: Jet engine turbofan cooling system. The fans are a little too noisy. Even under minor operations using powersaver settings, the fan is audible. My main concern was that it would be too loud in my night-classes when doing simple things like taking notes, but it wasn't too bad last night, and that was what finally helped me decide to keep the comp. I wanted the option to turn on the keyboard lighting when it wasn't dark, but couldn't find that. I bet there is a registry setting I can tweak when I get some time. Also, the battery life is miserable. I mean bad. 1.5 hours tops if watching netflix streaming, on low power settings, and no other programs running. That's barely acceptable.

I decided to keep the laptop because I don't want the hastle of reimaging the prior HD and reinstalling, then buying a new laptop (some ASUS or DELL XPS16), and then reimaging my SSD and putting it in. Just too much of a pain. But the fans they used in this laptop appear to be cheap. How much more would silent fans have cost? vvvvvvrrrrrrrrrrroooooooommmmmmmmmmm that's the sound I hear after a few minutes of play in borderlands (admittedly, borderlands on 1080p, and no stuttering in the game graphics or sound anymore when I do a burst fire of 30 rounds all at once on a hacked gun, it's smoooooth).

Windows experience specs: HD 7.7, GPU 6.5 (with slight OC using nvidia tools), processor & memory 7+ (can't remember, at work now).

Final thoughts:
This machine is high-performance. For gaming and graphics, an i5 and GTX 260 laptop would be far superior, probably cheaper, and have better battery, and probably be cooler.

But - I like the idea of having 8 cores, even if I never use them all. And the 330m does just fine on the stuff I do (office programs, streaming movies, blu-R disks, DVDs, Borderlands, and Company of Heroes). I think the real champion is the SSD I transferred to this comp. (Short rant now): Intel G2 SSD is the most amazing thing to happen in computing in the last 10 years. SSD in general are amazing, but the Intel G2 is genre-defying and revolutionary. I owned a Patriot TorqX - which had great specs, and no reliability. Intel has the specs and the reliability. (/rant) Sorry, can't help it. Once you go SSD, you will be converted too.

Nice laptop. Will last me probably 2 years before I upgrade again.

Sony Vaio F 115 from BB:
i7 720 chip (shows up as 8 processors in performance monitor), GT 330m GPU with slight OC, 6 gb ram, 160 gb intel g2 ssd, backlit keyboard, 1080p res screen (calibrated now, and looking beautiful), blu-r player/dvd burner, and a muted mic (inside joke for F owners).

 

You removed one phrase from my post in your quote :

 

That makes sense as you did not have the chance to trow it under a truck yet!

 

EINDHOVEN, BEST, NL 09/02/2010 18:34 UPS INTERNAL ACTIVITY
NL 09/02/2010 12:15 BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED


What the heck is UPS Internal Activity? My delivery is listed as "Exception" although it recently changed to "Exception - On-Time" .... i don't see any funds taken out of my account yet. Murphy's law.

Matt and Tausif, at what point were your cards actually charged? Lloyds seem to take their time updating online account balances.


EDIT : I decided to call UPS in the states who proved to be a lot more helpful. They transferred me to their "International" center who said the "Exception" and "Internal Activity" was because my package was being shipped direct from the Netherlands to UK (as opposed to via Brussels) and all packages flying out of the Netherlands have to go through security clearance (which is the "internal activity"). He said not to worry about the "Exception" in this case and that it should be on-time. FYI for anyone who ordered Express shipping to the UK The UK UPS center couldn't care less and just told me to bug Sony instead

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughtful feedback.

About noise emission, it's a powerful i7 after all & needs some cooling. If somebody wants a quiet notebook w/ long battery life to bring in the classroom, the DTR F is not the best choice.

What is deemed loud by one maybe different from the criteria of an other. I like hard data, check Sheepb's db measurements compared to the Dell 1747 also w/ i7. He used this app on his iPod from a 15cm distance: Decibel.



Note that, for example, this Dell 1747 i7 is also audible @ idle:



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

If you are broke, I can send you $0.99 via Paypal so you may buy the app!

 

I want to use my laptop really more for gaming than I do now. I want to play all new games with good details. Beside the gaming I want to use my laptop for my study, to watch blu-ray movies, to listen and create music, to convert video’s, and for Maya (Maya is animation software). So what do you think? Should I go for the ultimate CPU or better graphics?

This laptop is quite an investment for me (I’m 17), and I want a machine for the long run. So instead of buying a new one each two years I want to expand it, and when it’s really dead after 4-5 years I will buy a new one. I heard that the F is stronger build than the EB. Can you confirm?

I actually used the same site (notebookcheck) as you did to compare the cards. I thought I saw a great difference between them, but I’m no computer guru. One of my biggest questions is: what difference does direct x11 make versus direct x10?

I will post the specs in a different post, so this is still readable.

Thank you in advance
Joe

 

The sale isn't completed until your payment is made and Sony doesn't usually bill your credit card until the build is actually shipped, I believe, since that's when the actual transaction legally occurs. So, you did purchase ADH at the time of your actual purchase of the laptop!

 

Totally accidental damage during handling of the quote! Sorry ;-).

 

@Joe Bleau

These are the specs of the machines i'm currently thinking about:

VPC-F11S1E\B:
Core i7-720qm
6 gigs of ram
Blu-ray player
Gt 330M
'Premium' vaio screen
500 gig harddisk 5400 rpm

My own configuration of the EB:
Core i5-520m
6 gigs of ram
Blu-ray player
Ati hd 5650
Vaio display 'plus' (I'm not yet sure what 'plus' stands for)
500 gig harddisk 5400 rpm

 

If gaming is a priority & you don't mind heavier, a little bit bulkier & high-gloss screen, read the excited gamers' posts in the ASUS G73JH-A1 with ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 forum. More than 4,000 posts & counting!

Hands-On: Asus G73Jh w/ game benchmarks:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Hands-On-Asus-G73Jh-with-ATI-s-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5870.25103.0.html

"what difference does direct x11 make versus direct x10" - search the web, there are several reviews w/ video playing DX11 compatible games.

For my daily tasks, it's irrelevant.

 

I just received my f series and am in the process of the initial setup. I am at the Protect your VAIO PC page and I have the option to activate Norton 30 day subscription or not. I don't intend on signing up for a full subscription. If I select No, Thanks can I activate it later on, like after I create the recovery and restore discs? I'm still indecisive about which firewall I'll ultimately use so I don't know if I should a) activate it and replace it with a firewall/anti-virus later or b) not activate and use Windows 7 firewall and download a anti-virus and then figure out if I want to replace the Windows 7 firewall or not.

On a related note is the firewall in Norton Internet Security 2010 superior to Windows 7 firewal?

 

There must be a UPS UK forum somewhere.

 

I hear that Norton is really not as bad as they used to be, especially support. They get pretty good marks. I decided to go with the Norton 3-year option. Check out this review:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2349865,00.asp

 

I agree with you on this - most i7 laptops will be loud. I wish there were higher quality fans used in these laptops, especially at this price.

Let me clarify my true feelings so that my complaints are not misunderstood:

I am sick with joy and happiness over owning this laptop. I will probably file an action with the courts to adopt it as my third child.

 

No way! My previous laptop was just as heavy and this one contains a lot more megahertzes, and megabytes.

Battery life is sufficient for taking the laptop with you to some other place in the house and watching a movie or just working on it. I usually use it on my lap while connected to the power.

 

Asus is using an interesting design for their ASUS G73JH-A1 model, they choose a slightly bigger form factor but w/ 2 big fans w/ low rpm @ idle vs. the F with one fan @ higher rev.

That particular Asus model is 1.6 lbs heavier compared to the F but comes with a second HDD drive, 1080p 17.3 high-gloss screen vs. 1080p 16.4" US glossy (EU Premium matte) and measures 16.33"x12.59"x1.8" vs. 15.3"x10.4"x1.22-1.62". There is always some trade-offs.

 

So how bad is throttling with the f series on battery? Is it crippling like what the xps studio 16 is on a/c?

 

From the info I could find, its just as bad as the Dell XPS 1647 and the HP Envy.

 

That's not true according to many owners' feedback in this forum, read this page & "Search This Thread" w/ the word throttle.

 

Maya, like 3Dstudio, uses OpenGL for best results in rendering. The ATI HD5650 has THREE times the speed in OpenGL over the Nvidia GT330, and ATI cards are better in general for CAD (among non-CAD cards) This is for Radeon versus GeForce. FireGL versus Quadro is a different story.

 

Well, first off the Dell only throttled on A/C power (it actually performed better on battery). And that problem has since or is about to be resolved.

The Envy and the F throttle purposefully on battery power. If you intend to fire up heavy duty applications / games '/ processes on battery then yes your performance will be degraded.

If you plan to use it on battery only for office / internet / airport tasks then you'll appreciate the battery life savings over full performance.

When performing tasks such as the former, you really should be plugged in.

 

The trouble is the G73JH doesn't have Esata, Firewire, or Expresscard ports. That was the deal-breaker for me. For gaming I WOULD consider the Asus G51Jx-A1 which DOES have all the ports, 1920 X1080 screen, GT360M card, and four memory slots (for cheaper memory upgrade) It only has one hard drive space though, the second (in the Vx) was removed to make room for the memory. For about $1400, overnight shipping, I actually had my finger poised over the "Buy" button, until the Sony rep called at that moment saying a few more F11s were available on Friday.


Most of my other computers, desktop or laptop, have in some way been Asus, so I trust that brand, (but the marketing is stupid.) I always wanted a VAIO, but this purchase of an F11 is still a bit of an experiment for me.

 

Am also an ASUS fan but the design of their 1080p models (gaming only it seems) are just too bulky and flashy, considering I also use my laptop professionally. A big Republic of Gamers flash is a no-no. Still, the G73 is brilliant value for money and can't go unrecommended. Not many people actually use ExpressCard and eSata ports so it's not too much of a compromise, especially considering the 1TB of storage capacity.

The G73 doesnt really compare to the F11/SXPS though. Different targets.

 

From the ASUS G73JH-A1 with ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 forum: "Storage & Drives: 2 Detachable 2.5" 9.5mm (H) SATA Hard Disk Drives".

So w/ a fast secondary HDD on board, the missing eSata port is less of an issue. Firewire? That was good for my old Sony Digicam, not for my new Canon HD.

The big plus is the screaming ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 1024MB vs. GT 330M DDR3 1024MB, rated #2 vs. #52 @ the present on this benchmark page.

But this said, the F fits my needs & criteria & the Asus high-gloss display, extra weight & launch to market date was the deal-breaker.

At least we agree on the F choice.