Official Sony VAIO F Series i5/i7 owners thread *Part 3*

Unless you like to pay for service, make sure it's not a problem caused by you messing up: use Windows Backup to create a full system image then restore your F to the factory state with the recovery partition or recovery discs. If the problem is still there then you may have a hardware problem, otherwise you are just stabbing in the dark.

That's good practice anyway because if you send your laptop for repair, the data may be erased so when you get back your unit, you can restore to it's current state + all your private data with the full system image.

Also, is this problem appearing when you are surfing with all the things that may go wrong (including bad wifi, router, etc) or with legit original quality media like DVD's, etc?

You don't give any trouble shooting info, how can we help you? When does it happen, with which programs, doing what, on which system with which video card with which video driver on what OS, OEM? Etc. Did you try connecting an external monitor via video out and not a TV via HDMI like you wrote before?

 

Anyone wanna respond to my GDDR3 vs DDR3 question for the GT 330m??

Also, for those of you that want a faster hard drive, think about purchasing this. It's cheap, $130.

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

Momentus XT | 7200 RPM | Seagate

Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive

It's a hybrid between a 7200RPM drive and an SSD. Seagate has a video displaying its power and it's only slower than an SSD by only a small amount. This drive is SO MUCH faster than a 10k RPM drive and especially a 7200RPM drive...and don't even talk about a 5400RPM drive haha. So if you wanna spend about 1/5 the price for almost as much power as an SSD...get that! ... On top of that all Seagate drives have a 5 year warranty. I have 3 Seagate drives and none have failed me.

 

Okay people, you trust me to provide occasional legitimate insider info without disclosing my source, and for lots of Firefly comments, with the occasional photo.
This is the former.


A certain popular retail store in USA will carry an Intel i3 version of the F12, with less than spectacular specs, far worse than their F11 offerings, and will offer it in the gray color as well. Why the downgrade?

PS lets just say I'm 100% certain.

And to not disappoint, a confused looking Jayne:

I'd like the quote to read "Why in the ruttin' hell they gonna do that?

 

Cheap is relative as you can get a fast normal Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500 GB for $68. I have 2 of those, like them.

The XT Hybrid was discussed earlier in this thread, search for it. There is also a full thread about that drive here:
Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid HDD w/ built-in 4GB SSD with plenty of benchmarks and comments about pluses & limitations. The jury is still out about effect on battery life. Some reviews report that it's shorter vs. some regular HDD's.

 

Of course a normal 7200 RPM drive is cheaper...but the XT blows 7200 and 10,000 RPM drives away! I'm not concerned about battery life as my laptop's usually plugged in all of the time except if I go outside or take it to class with me...plus I have the extended battery.

The XT increases performance by a lot, especially loading applications and booting up.

 

Nope, not on every aspects. Read the XT Hybrid thread & follow the links to several reviews. There is posts in there by some advanced users.

Everything is relative.

 

hello everybody,

may be this has already been discussed, but I would like to know if anyone knows whether the next version of the F series will have a better screen in the US market? I love this laptop, except the screen of the current version is so poor that I won't buy it. My dad has an FW purchased late 2009, and i took it to bestbuy and set it down next to the F, and compared multiple photographs side by side on the FW vs the F. The screen of the FW completely blows away the screen of the F. I suspect the FW screen is the same as what they sell the F with in Europe.

If the next F's screen will be changed to what the FW had, I'll buy it without hesitation. Anyone know if that will happen? thanks,

 

Wll I tried to restore my pc and everything, nothing changed... well those pixels appear even in the bios when my computer is turned on, so i'm sure that isn't any program, driver, overheat or something like those things causing this, i'm using windows 7 home premium with an nvidia 330m video card with the latest drivers, i didn't try to connect my laptop to an external monitor via video out, because i don't have an external monitor, only my tv... i'm positive that just something went loose causing a bad connection with the display or something like that... or else i think i won't have other choice but to pay a lot of money for a motherboard or display raplacement, almost every people with similar problems posted in other websites, that they had to replace those components to get their laptops to work again, except for those with desktop PCs who only had to replace their video cards...

 

Hey everyone!

I bought an F-Series (F115FM/B) about a month ago, and I must say this thing is awesome! Everything on it is just right- Comfort, Looks, and performance! It even has Blu-Ray and a 1080p HD screen! It handles games like Left 4 Dead and Just Cause 2 really well.

It really is great, but I have one issue with this laptop. I can't find a car inverter that works with it! I'm going on a six hour car trip next week, and I really want to use this on the way, for movies and games. I bought a Cyber Power 120 watt continuous inverter first, it would only charge the laptop when it is off or in sleep mode, not while it was on. Then, I got a Belkin 140 watt continuous inverter. It can't even keep the adapter light on unless it is not plugged into the computer! This is so frustrating! How many watts do I need to have in an inverter to make this work? Is there a specific brand/model that I need to get? Any help would be awesome! Thanks.

 

Why dont you just buy a "120w car adapter" just google it, instead of an inverter, it is much more energy efficient to convert 12volts to 19volts, then to convert 12volts to 120volts and then back to 19volts.

Just make sure it has a tip suitable for the F11

I have been looking for a combined car/mains adaptor but i have only found ones with 90watts not the needed 120watts so i would have to charge the notebook when it is turned off.

 

anyone know whats so gd about the screen of the f12 than the f11, and also will the UK have the backlit keyboard for the f12, i really hope so.

BTW regarding the pricing, seems like american sites and others are doing it expensive, amazon uk and sonyuk, have yet to give a price, but at the moment im thinking of getting a 6gb version for £988 exc VAT, does anyone think its gd price.

 

I don't think they will change the matte premium screen. I hope they will not, I don't want another display. If they touch the matte Premium screen I kill them, because it was perfect on my F11

Keep hoping. It's not probable. If you want it absolutely, you can always install a backlit keyboard yourself. I know someone in the Netherlands did it.

Sorry, my crystal ball is not working. I don't know how prices might go in the future. Sure, it's not a bad price.

 

The Sonystyle USA site is up with the F12. Prices look comparable to the F11. No great revelations noted - apparently no change in displays offered.

Tom

 

Well, I see the CTO, configured with the faster 840QM (compared to my 820QM) is $135 less than it was when I bought mine. All other options (8GB RAM, 1920x1080, GT 330M, backlit keyboard, no BluRay) are the same.

This is a great deal!

Bill

 

I disagree. Sony USA site now refers to the 1920x1080 display as "premium". In the description, they say "Premium displays deliver an industry-leading viewing experience marked by super-crisp hi-def detail, richer colors and a brighter picture." Seems to me that the same screen that was offered in Europe on the F11 has arrived to the US with the F12. Anyone agree or disagree. Would be nice to confirm somehow.... May be have a look at Bestbuy if they have it, or someone please buy one, have it rush delivered and post if the screen is the same as Europe's.

 

I have the F11, but mine was very late model and I had to wait for mine as they had run out of 1920x1080 displays. I believe that I may have received a different display as mine is fantastic.

I will say that mine is definitely NOT the highly regarded euro matte display. Mine is glossy, but not AS glossy as my kids' Acer display. It is very bright, very crisp and has next to no light bleed at normal viewing angles. When moving side to side or up and down, light bleed becomes apparent and the display washes out, but it is stunning when used normally.

My display had a yellowish tint out of the box. After auto calibration with the Huey Pro, it looks excellent. Colors are as they should be and the yellowish tint is gone.

I have never seen a display that was perfect out of the box. I calibrate all displays. There is always a difference between original and calibrated colors...and I always liek the calibrated colors better. In fact, I usually see nothing really wrong with the original color until I calibrate, then switch back and forth between pre-calibration and post-calibration. then it becomes apparent.

Bill

 

No light leakage at all on my euro F11 matt screen at any angle, I just got an Huey Pro myself

Maybe somebody should create an F12 thread, so we can find information easier.

 

I can't find the references now, but the F11 always did have faster GPU memory than any of the competitors'. The VAIO's GT330M outperformed that of the Dell's etc. I don't think the F12 COULD offer any better memory specs, maybe the F11 already had GDDR3.?

 

GPU-Z says my 330m has GDDR3

 

Strangely I bought a cheap cigar lighter invertor from Canadian Tire that works just fine for charging, though it loses the battle over a period of time for running. There are problems using an electronic (switching) power supply to feed an electronic power supply due to current phase lag, the efficiency is less than 40%. So you need, say, a 350 watt invertor to run a 150 watt system with switching supply.

 

Hi there everyone.

Here i am aftar using my new Vaio VPCF12S1E for one day and a half .

I have good news and bad news about it.

Good news are:
- There is no morse code noise;
- No screen bleeding or light coming from the bottom, beside the new screen is amazing it has more brightness that the old one beeing dual led. and the image is amazing
- No strange sounds on the keys specially de space bar one, and after one our of playing Fear in fullhd at max seting, smooth, the temps where around 60 for the CPU's and 65 for the GPU. amazing in my opinion.
- the fan dosent lock on full speed anymore, at least not untill now

The bad news (not for me anyway) are:
- The fan does make some noise at full speed, but its not a weening noise its a huge air flow burst noise and it does keep things real cool. Has i mentioned before, after playing for one hours the GPU was around 65º Celsius, and the laptop feels real cold to the tutch everywhere.
- No backlight keyboard for the Portugal, dont know if its the same for all EU countrys, but personaly i dont give a dam about it anyway

So far i LOVE this laptop, and bought a Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX to hang out with my new F12. That new dark laser technologie is really amazing working smoothly on glass surfaces

 

No, that's simply the better, fault-free, single lamp display that started to be shipped with late-run North American F11's. They finally got rid of that awful stock with the shading and inversion. (as installed on my earlier F11, unfortunately.)

 

so the issue for me is not so much whether the screen is glossy or matte. What's important is that it not be washed out like the F11 screen was in the US market. In fact, my Dad's FW590 from end of last year has a somewhat glossy screen, but the colors and contrast are awesome. I'm hoping the F12 US version has this same screen. Why else would they now call it "premium"?

 

OK,
So can someone tell me if the F12 in the US also has the same washed out crap screen the F11 had?

 

which i7 processors were offered with the F11 in the US? Am I remembering correctly, is the cheaper i7 on the F12 the same as what was the faster option on the F11?

 

Funny timing. Last night I was out to dinner with someone who works WAY UP there in Sony...and I told her that the F12s were on TigerDirect before SonyStyle and she said that shouldn't have happened...and looky here...now they're up for order!

No. The F11 had the i7 720qm, the F12's cheapest one is the i7 740qm, which is a tad bit faster than the 720qm. The fastest option in the F11 was the 820qm, which was $300 more...now the fastest option is the 840qm which is $300 more.

 

This is primarily for Nuggstein, but useful for anyone who is confused. I should hope that the F series' (along with all computers) graphics cards uses GDDR memory.

DDR = Double Data Rate memory. Used by the CPU for normal computing tasks.
GDDR = Graphics Double Data Rate. Used by the GPU for graphics tasks.

Thus computers have both GDDR (3 in this case) and DDR (commonly referred to as RAM) memory. It would be impossible for the 330m to use DDR3.

 

False. GPU-Z detected my previous GT 330m as DDR3.

Notebookcheck: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

 

so, not whether it's the same crap screen as the F11, because appaerntly it's somehow different, but what i want to know is if the F12 screen in US market is WASHED OUT AND LACKS COLOR DEPTH AND CONTRAST like the F11 did.

 

Where do you check CPU-z for GT330M ram type? I only found DDR3 pertaining to my Laptop memory?

 

gandalfPt, u got the F12 already, thought it wasnt out in Europe until late june. Also im really annoyed that Sony gives the backlit option to the Americans but not to Europeans. Im not bothered about it, but i woudl have been great.

 

I just got that Logitech MX Anywhere Mouse also, I love it!!! I got it in preparation for my new F12 purchase. The only downside is you can't click the mouse wheel on a link to open up a new window in the internet browser (you have to click the other little button underneath which is a bit convenient IMO)

Can't wait to order my new F12...sonystyle.ca is supposedly getting a new makeover, to be launched early this week so the F12's will be available for ordering. *fingers crossed*

 

something's not right here. if you look on intel's website, there is no mention of a 740qm or 840qm. only 720qm and 820qm. the speed of what sony lists as the 740qm is the same as what intel lists as the 820qm. anyone make sense of this?

 

Yes. The 740QM is a faster clocked 720QM. It has a faster clock speed, but the same cache (6MB level 3) as the 720QM. The 840QM is clocked faster than the 820QM but has the same cache (8MB level 3).

 

Hi,
Any one know at all if the HD display in the F12 now available in the US is any different from the last batch of F11 HD which used to appear with a milky color rendition, not overly crisp? or is it the same display?
Thanks for any insights...

 

so, is the speed of the new 740 EXACTLY THE SAME as the speed of the 820? Because if that is the case, then you can basically get the new f12 with same speed as the previous fastest option for f11, but for $300 cheaper.

 

"...tried to restore my pc and everything, nothing changed... well those pixels appear even in the bios" - That's the kind of troubleshooting "details" I was talking about.

If you can't transport your F to where there is an external monitor to try the video output or DIY or find a local shop that can determine if it's motherboard or video card or connections to LCD or LCD's inverter or LCD's itself then send it to Sony_repair w/o warranty in your case because bought abroad & brace yourself for an hefty repair bill.

When one buys something out of his country to save some $ but also out of warranty then one often says goodbye to the warranty. It's a gamble that I have to decide on every time I buy something like Nikon USA cameras & lenses vs. Nikon gray market products for example.

My F was bought in USA by a friend that brought it to where I live: Costa Rica. If anything breaks I have to weigh 6-8 weeks shipping round trip to Sony_USA @ best + S&H costs + damage risks + possible custom hassles vs. a DIY repair.

Just in case: does it do it on battery, did you try to plug the brick in an UPS, what happens if you change the display's resolution and/or color bits & refresh rate? Again: find an ext. monitor.

Good luck!

*****

 

No. 8MB level 3 cache will be faster than 6MB level 3 cache, so the 820QM will be slightly quicker than the 740QM. Also, I believe that the 740QM "turbo" mode is only 2.93MHz, where my 820QM turbo speed is 3.06Mhz.

The 840QM would be a decent upgrade though.

Bill

 

Sony USA lists the 840 as also having 6MB L3 cache. Are those idiots posting incorrect information on their website? And they also say max turbo speed of the 740 is 3.06. Also incorrect?

 

Well, perhaps the turbo IS 3.06...I thought it was 2.93MHz. The L3 Cache of the 820QM is 8MB, compared to the 740QM (and 720QM) 6MB. The 840QM also has 8MB L3 cache, just as the 820QM does. The 740QM and 840QM are simply faster clocked versions of the 720QM and the 820QM.

Bill

EDIT: Per notebookcheck.com, the 740QM has a max turbo speed of 2.93MHz as shown here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-740QM-Notebook-Processor.31146.0.html

One of them has a misprint, but I thought that I read somewhere else that the max turbo for the 740QM was 2.93MHz and that the max turbo for the 840QM was 3.2MHz.

 

@ considering f: You begin to sound like a broken record with your repetitive USA F11_LCD bashing posts. Many users including I are happy with their F11_LCD as posted many times in this & previous F Owner's threads and as many actual owners voted in the F11_Owner's display poll. "Washed out" was solved a long time ago with proper monitor profiling & auto brightness disabling. See page 1, post #1 & follow the link FYI.

Also, all the owners of the later run of F11_reported good screens.

Change your record or nudge your turntable please and move on.

******

New CPU Specs Thing

An other needlessly abusive language post:

As posted several times by MelodyMaster & others, the official lauch date for Intel's new mobile processors is 26 or 27 June. Then the data will be on their website & you will be able to do a side-by-side comparison here: Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor Family.

Meanwhile, relax!

 

@joe bleu:
So, I'm not sure if later runs of f11 had better screens or not, as the only f11s i've seen are at bestbuy. all i know is that those screens are junk. no other way to say it. may be because they're not calibrated or whatever, but the way they are in the store, they are junk. i know this because as i said b4, i did a side by side comparison with an fw590, and the difference was night and day. the fw590 was not calibrated or tweaked in any way, and it blew away the f11 screen i saw at bestbuy. that is what i'm basing my assessment of the f11 screen on. and i seriously doubt that any calibration could improve such a horrible screen enough to be acceptable.

now, as far as calling them idiots on the sony website. i am also correct here, any major company such as sony should get their facts straight and not make such a mistake. if what they are posting is indeed incorrect, then they are idiots, period. this is not abusive, as you called it. it is simply a fact.

 

So you saw it briefly in a store with beautiful overhead big box store neon lighting and where any shopper can and do mess up the laptop settings and your opinion is more valuable than mine who owns a BB VPCF115FM since February and posted this Vaio_F Series Monitor Profiles Roundup that includes slrosenfeld's & my monitor profiles created with professional colorimeters (we are both photographers so accurate colors, contrast & saturation are important to us so we don't use our eye guessometer for color management), or Mangosango's or Willscary's word about their F11_displays?



"...any major company such as_sony should get their facts straight and not make such a mistake" - Like Goldman Sachs, BP, etc for example? The F12_is a new product & all the websites talking about it are in flux at the present & most are incomplete or contain mistakes and that includes many non-Sony sites. Relax.

BTW, is your Shift key broken?

 

Joe Bleau, I put a book under my laptop( I'll find something better soon ) and the temperature dropped 5-8 degrees. Thanks

With original video drivers no problems till now.

Anyway, last night I was watching a movie ( 720p) and from time to time I had spikes. I tried with WMP and KMPlayer and I had spikes with both of them. I don't have any codec packs installed. Any ideas?

 

You are welcome.

Be careful about downloading codec packs, that's an easy way to messup things. At least create a restore point for safety before installing any. Personally, I did not do that & I am playing all kinds of video formats & filetypes w/o any problems. Try the free and open source cross-platform multimedia player standalone (it means no install needed ) VLC media player. That's my first alternative when Windows Media Player can't play something.

What do you mean by "spikes"? If you mean temperature spikes, it could be background activity like PMB or Media Plus or Windows indexing your drive or a defrag program or an anti virus or a Windows Update running or installing or a badly compressed/encoded video with some glitches, etc. You could open on the side Task Manager & see if some processes kick's in when you get those "spikes".

 

Sorry quick question that i wanted your opinions on - is it worth getting the blu-ray BURNER? I'm getting the player, but im debating if it's worth getting the burner now or if i should get one of those with my next laptop in like 4/5 years or something.

 

In 4-5 year we will have 4D optical holo crystals

 

Spikes as in "low fps" or even complete freeze for a couple of seconds and then everything is on fastforward. I don't like codec packs, that's why I use The KMPlayer, I can play all formats with no codecs installed.


LE: Tried VLC and works fine, no spikes&stuff. Hmm, but I'm still trying to fix KMPlayer

 

Ok,
Finally pulled the trigger on the new higher-end F12 fullHD from the Sony Style store after hemming and hawing for a month. I actually had bought the last F11 then returned it before opening the box when i heard about the upcoming processor upgrade. Anyway, haven't opened it yet but looked at the screen of the display model: Folks, it's the exact same screen as the F11 i last saw at Best Buy. So no screen change it seems despite all the verbiage on the web site. I am sure it will look decent after calibration, just not as punchy as the Z-model LED backlit screen for sure. BTW, it appears they now have a fullHD screen 1920*1080 on the 13" Z screen (unbelievable ppi).

Will post again once i have used it for a while and calibrated it.

 

And could you tell us with which utility you determined that please?

Any proof or is it more "verbiage"?

I removed the bezel & LCD on my US BB VPCF115FM 1080p. Here you go:



Image from Vaio_F_Series Laptop How To Replace the LCD Display & Inverter.

*****