Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge

So I can get a Vaio with these specs, is it worth it?


Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Black
640GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Blu-ray Disc™ player/burner

16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)

Large Capacity Battery

It will only cost $1,384 with my student discount, should I get it?

I'm just worried about a refresh coming up soon, but if the graphics are good enough now then I am all set

 

Yes, this is what I am thinking (a little too late ). I would rather sacrifice some performance to get a quiet system. The i5 version should be more quiet because of less CPU heat. It would be nice to have this confirmed though, so that GPU heat, stupid fan settings or something else doesn't cause it to run the fan as much. Does anyone here have the i5 version of the F11 or does everyone have the i7?

 

Well, I would love to be able to replace the fan. The F series is great, but the imaginary noise is just dead annoying coming from the AW series.

 

I received my F11 about a week and a half ago. I thought I would contribute my color profile that I generated using my colorimeter hardware. I'm using a "Huey Pro" device. Note that my screen is the 1920x1080 "Premium" screen purchased via SonyStyle.ca. As far as I know, these screens are identical to those sold in the US.

Download the color profile here:
View attachment HueyProSonyVaioF11-1980x1080.zip

To install it, follow the instructions in count_schemula's post here.

As has been already discussed, if you had your identical laptop right beside mine, showing the exact same thing on the screen, using the exact same profile, they would still look slightly different. I would suggest that everyone gets some kind of colorimeter hardware. If you haven't got the time/money for one, then at least try out all 3 of the color profiles that have been posted here previously to find out which one you like best.

 

I'm calling you out in public. Despite all the useful information you provide, the sniping is unnecessary. Don't crap up this otherwise useful forum with comments like the ones above.

 

I think there are only i7 F series right now.

Also, a lot (not all) of i5 laptops will just use the integrated Intel graphics, which would eliminate the GPU altogether, making it even cooler.

I hear the Integrated Intel Graphics handle Aero and HD video very well, so if you really don't game on a laptop, it's definitely a valid option.

 

Ahh, he's simply working for Sony support in a forums and other internet stuff department

 

Here in Sweden, there is an F11-model called VPCF11M1E/H. It has an i5-520M CPU and GeForce GT 330M GPU.

EDIT: From Sony UK: http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-f-series/vpcf11m1e-h

 

But fun!

I added some noise emission data for other i7 notebooks in the sniping post (Acer, HP, Dell vs, the F: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5930011&posted=1#post5930011

Yes, if it's the exact same case, a i7 45W CPU emits about 1/3 more heat than a 35W i5. A less powerful GPU like the GT 310M should also run cooler than the GT 330M.

The question is: is the fan stopped on the F i5 when not taxing the CPU or the GPU? Only an actual owner or a review site like www.notebookcheck.com measuring noise db can answer that question.

An other advantage of the i5 is longer battery life.

Have your tried troubleshooting the HDD & mic settings as I suggested?

qbot opened the F case, I dunno if he took a photo showing the fan. It should be fairly easy to replace because it's one of the very few mechanical parts in the laptop & Son_y probably made it relatively simple for their techs to service in the field.

For example: FIX SONY_VAIO VGN-CS110E NOISY FAN video and Cleaning dust from overheating vai*o (VGN FS315E) tutorial with photos.

I can tell you that as many others stated in this forum, my F fan is perfectly normal so if yours is abnormally noisy @ idle, well sh*t happens & that's why there is a warranty!

 

Thats the model I have. The fan on the whole is pretty quiet, I have no way to actually take db readings or anything but certainly the fan is not loud enough to bother me.
Most of the time I can hear it only if I'm listening for it. If I'm gaming it does fire up a bit but on the whole its not a problem. Using my laptop stand (or a ruler/pickle jar lid etc etc...) helps to keep it this quiet as I noticed it much more before using the stand.

 

Oh no! Not the fan! I'm not sure about the F series, but replacing a fan on my SZ3 was a nightmare! In order to get it out one has to completely (!) disassemble the laptop, cause it's just underneath the motherboard. There's a sort of common heat dissipation system combining the CPU heat sink and some other stuff that gets hot inside. I'm pretty sure it won't be easy on an F series as well (or I'm just a pessimist sometimes). Well, if it's up to the sony techs - go ahead, but I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself. I myself being an experimental physicist for over 5 years spent some 5 hours replacing the fan for the first time

Measuring noise is a very rough and stupid approach to identify the source of a high-frequency sound. Spectrum measurement is much better. And you don't have to try every possible fixes for other things, like mic, as it's very easy to identify where the sound is coming from. And it's not the amount of noise, but it's annoying frequency that troubles some users (including me). It might be anything from a bad capacitor to a fan Almost all electronic devices do make some sort of noise (try to hear how you BT mouse works - mine does produce lots of sound when being listened close to the ear), but it shouldn't be that loud.

Although I'm lazy enough to post (and repost over and over again) some detailed stuff, I'll soon show you the sound spectrum measured near my touchpad, the heat sink and close to right speaker. The problem is that this issue is not constant - sometimes it disappears.

UPD: damn, this issue mostly occurs at idle time, so when I try to record it instantly goes away ) Quantum mechanics at work... Gonna try an use my poor SZ3 for recording...

UPD2: Btw, does anybody know what kind of a sound card is used on F? In Sound->Recording->Advanced there's an option of 2 channel 16bit 96 kHz format which supposes that it's a 96 kHz sound card which I kinda doubt... Was unable to find any info using Everest...

 

That sounds nice. If you leave the CPU on 0% for a while, does the fan eventually stop or is it constantly on?

 

That's a way too low tech solution.

I use this, it's cheap, light in my notebook case, can be used as a back scratcher or even as a handy ruler!



If you use a piece of wood or whatever to lift the notebook's back, place it under the rubber feet to minimize vibration transmission to/from your desk.

I don't know if this foldaway USB Powered 2-Fan 2100-RPM Cooling Pad for 12~17" Laptop flexes but there are good user reviews on the page and it's only $6.41 including shipping worldwide. I ordered stuff 3 times from dealextreme. It took 2-3 weeks for delivery & the service is excellent.





I will probably be using the USB fans (22 db, .75W DC5V) only when at a sea level location & when the temp is around 32c in the shade.

If you visit that site, check the Solar Powered Cockroach & the users video. They are about the size of the ones we have around here.

 

I think an F series with the 1600x900 screen and an i5 would be perfect for the gf, but we don't ain't not got none of then here in the US.

She would def not enjoy the i7.

 

Well since when using the F we don't put our head on the touchpad (unless discouraged or depressive ), it would be nice to measure at different distances. notebookcheck measures from 15cm.

Faint high pitch is typical of HDD's, You say it comes and goes, could be related to HDD activity & tiny rpm fluctuations.



have you tried this from the sniping post: If you use a good HDD utility (Hard Disk Sentinel, for example), you can change the noise level of the HDD by adjusting the Acoustic Management Configuration and balance between performance and noise emission. I eliminated the high pitch noise of several hard drives using this method. Resonance is a complicated thing & changing the rpm even very slightly can remove or accentuate the high pitch sound.

BTW, I did not suggest a DIY fan replacement (a 10 minute job as seen in the video for that VGN-CS110E model), use the F warranty but in my case since I live in Costa Rica, it's a 6 to 8 weeks round trip at best to send to Son_y tech support. So 99% of the time, I man up and fix the stuff myself or rarely use a local tech. These days, there are so many help videos & tutorials on the web, the only thing needed is a little bit of courage & a few tools.

 

Okay, can anybody tell me how to get this student discount at sonystyle.ca ? I haven't found anything like this on their website but I'm interested in trying to get it. Thanks

 

There should be a hyperlink somewhere on the page that tells you to click on it, then it will apply the student discount when you go to your shopping cart.

 

2 Joe Bleau:
I've written this a couple of times and it's also in my signature: I've got an SSD not HDD. There are no moving parts except electrons and imaginary holes there And if you've got a poor hearing (as well as a probable defective vision) that doesn't mean that everybody has to get their year close to the touchpad to hear that noise And I've experienced this kind of noise issue even before upgrading to SSD, so it's definitely not the HDD making that sound.

So here are the promised spectra:


The one above is taken within 5cm from the touchpad using my HTC HD2 phone (which does have some noise-cancelling and is not the best tool for such things, but clearly it's enough for the task). The second one is taken within 5 cm from the fan working at idle speed (low). One can clearly see and hear, if he/she has no hearing problems , that lots of harmonics untypical for a quite environment are present at 1,2,4,5, 11 kHz and so on. At idle time I clearly hear all that sitting some 50-60 cm from my touchpad and I won't say that I've got an absolute hearing

 

When you are looking through the different vaio models, it'll be towards the bottom at the center. It'll have student store or something like that on it.

 

I love data. "At idle time I clearly hear all that sitting some 50-60 cm from my touchpad" that's the most important.

You say it comes & goes. What is changing? OS activity, fan going faster or not? Have you tried booting & going to BIOS for example, and see if the noise is still there before the OS kicks in? Have you tried booting w/o any HDD nor SSD?

Have you tried the mic fixes?

Have you tried tweaking in: Vaio_Control Center > Power Management > Viewer > Advanced > Processor Power Management?

 

Thank you guys. I see no difference between count schemula's and yours as it appears on my computer monitor. Just asking - does anyone have a profile with a higher end monitor calibrator like the Spyder 3 elite?

 

slrosenfeld's profile is made with a Spyder 3 elite. (Search this Thread > Advanced Search > Search by User Name)

I have the X-Rite EyeOne2 but did not profile yet, too busy playing with the F.

If you use someone else's profile, you will never know if the colors are accurate or not on YOUR monitor because of system, settings & hardware variations.

Look at the price for used coloromiters on ebay, they are quite high. I's a good investment an you can always & re-sell but you won't after seeing how good it is.

A good read: Monitor Calibration: Who needs it?

This is fun: X-Rite Color IQ Test.

 

slrosenfeld's moitor calibration post is as below:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5784440&postcount=1572

 

Why not let the man learn how to fish instead of giving him one?

 

Why not help others when you're in the position of doing so?

 

Can anyone tell me what SATA version is reported in their Intel Matrix Storage tool? Mine is telling me it is running generation 1 SATA which is SATA 150. I have the Hitachi 500Gb 7200rpm drive which is SATA 300. Is there a way to change it to SATA 300?

 

Call the sony reps. Atleast it worked for me here in the states. It should be the same worldwide.

 

Well, one might think that learning to fish is more useful than getting one fish for one meal.

Click my user name > Find all posts by Joe Bleau, I think I spent way too much time trying to post some useful stuff in this F thread.

 

Where do you see that?

Intel Matrix > View > Advanced, the screen grab I just did says Generation 2.

 

Have had my laptop for approx five weeks I'm developing or noticing my 'space bar' is a bit squeaky at times. Any easy fix for this? I've searched thread but could not find. Please advise

 

Brodude, why must you turn this thread into a den of lies?

Search this thread -> search term: "space bar"

http://forum.notebookreview.com/search.php?searchid=4523552

 

"Any easy fix for this?" - yes! Try searching with: spacebar.

 

Let us know when you get this done. For now I'll just use the HDD with the eSATA combo external enclosure, but I would probably prefer to switch it with the bd-rom.

I think only 1 or 2 here have the i5 version. I would recommend asking about fan noise on the new CW thread, they shouldn't differ much (but that's speculation).

 

Hello Count, I posted once a notebookreview search result link but it seems that they are temporary & stop working after a while. Just a tip.

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/9dtuRzUVi4o&hl

lol, can't embed or delete things, oh wells

 

Hello Joe, I was a little suspicious about "searchid"

Well, he has the power to replicate at least...

Search this thread -> search term: "space bar"

 

A few of us, including me, returned our machines for that reason.

 

For sure I will report when I receive the stuff in 1-2 weeks. I am waiting for a HDD optical bay caddy & a Power Over eSATA 2.5" HDD enclosure. I could not find a ODD Power Over eSATA cable as shown in the video on ebay so far.



I updated the external ODD cable video post as a cable seller told me that Power Over eSATA cables for HDD's & SSD's are different from the ODD specific cable.

Meanwhile check this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5106978 and check this cable mess. .

 

No! One word: spacebar. But space bar works too.

I really like MelodyMaster's animation:

 

has anyone had any instances of any of their keys falling out. I was running to catch the bus with my laptop in my hand and i go to get on the bus, open my laptop and find one of my keys dislodged :S

 

Credit where credit's due, its from EpHatch.com (I drive a 2004 Honda SiR) but of course it may very well not have been designed by anyone at that site. I've seen a different variation of the animation elsewhere, but that was for different forum server software. This at least is for the same server type.

[/QUOTE]

 

As I've said it's only noticeable at idle times. Haven't tried with bios yet. I'm not going to apply any absolutely irrelative fixes, as I've said Otherwise I could also try replacing the burned out lamp in the kitchen or changing the background picture on desktop I slowed down the fan a bit, but just to have a lower background noise - the speed itself does not influence this.

Here's my test (first try) result using the AdobeRGB color profile which I find the best, so far (going to buy myself a calibrator one day).

 

Seems to have gone quiet, I guess for many of us it's a waiting game.

By the way any future refresh of the F11 will probably offer USB3, I'd think.

 

That is exactly where mine says Generation 1, is there a problem with my machine or is it just a software configuration problem? Thanks.

 

I got my Sony Vaio VPCF1190X yesterday. I bought it from SonyStyle USA. I have seen pictures in this thread and on youtube where most of the Sony F series Laptop comes with a Blu Ray Sticker (near the speakers). My Sony VPCF1190X did not come with any "Blu Ray" sticker nor does it say anything on the optical drive if it is Blu Ray or DVD-RW etc meaning there is no printed label on the optical drive. I did check the system manager configuration and it does say "BD Player". I found it strange. Did anybody else experience the same ?

 

If your hard drive is running at Sata 1, then the bottom right of that screen should also show NCQ as not available..

Check the jumper block on the hard drive to make sure it doesn't inadvertently have the Sata 1 jumper in place. (for system burn-in and testing Command Queing and caching should be disabled, then reenabled after testing.)

 

What's the hardware ID under Disc Drives in Device Manager? Also you can take the drive out and LOOK at it physically.

 

I didn't have a Blu-Ray sticker but the Device Manager indicates it's a Blu-Ray Reader and the best test of all ... stick a Blu-Ray in there Works flawlessy

 

My shows Gen 1 also.

 

Thank you guys. Under Device Manager it did show BD-ROM. The reason I asked about the sticker is I saw the youtube videos from this thread and most the videos showed the Blu Ray Stickers on the laptops. I guess the sticker does not apply to US Sony Vaios.
Thanks again. I will check the BD Player physically today after work.