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

Strange, I kill once & it's dead. As I mentioned, disregard the error message. Windows is fine, it's the factory recovery process that is stopped. After you removed disc #2 & it rebooted, Windows is done. The rest is fluff.

 

Iignored everything, but when I restart without anything in the dvd-drive it just keeps reinstalling and when I kill it a second time it says that I have to reinstall windows.

 

But they all do that. Just disable anti-virus and firewall and try again if any conflicts do appear. I never get false positives with Norton. Clean, simple and customizable. Hardly the bloated pos it used to be.

 

I ordered a Sony VAIO F12 last Sunday from Sony Style Canada. It's been 3 days and I haven't been able to track my order or sign in. Anyone else having this problem? I tried calling but I was on hold for 30 minutes and just decided to try again today, but it's a holiday.

When I ordered 4 days ago, the estimated ship date was July 27. Now, it says August 10 if I customize the same laptop. Which would be a more accurate ship date? I'm really excited to get the laptop, but waiting over 1 month is very long...

 

If you ordered the 1920x1080 with 330M video card then the date was very likely July 27 not June. I placed my order on June 26th and my est. shipping date is July 20. Look at the bright side, if you ordered it today with the i7-740, 1920x1080 and 330M you'd pay $84+taxes more and it wouldn't ship until August 10th!

 

hello billybest,

you cannot track your order from sony canada web site. you have to call customer service and ask them to track it for you.

I ordered mine on june 25th and the estimated ship date is july 20th

 

Hi guys,

Did I make a bad choice on the F12?

Two days ago I ordered the F12 from sonystyle.com and should be shipped on July 7th. I ordered the system with the extended battery. Unfortunately, I was reading through an older post about the cpu throttling down on battery power. My intent was to be able to play games as well as work on battery power for at least an hour or two. Has anyone tried to run any games on battery power? And if so, how do they run? I primarily play World of Warcraft.

I love everything else about the F12...

I appreciate any recommendations.

 

Thanks bigriderfan (I meant to say July) and Iznogoud. I'll call Sony tomorrow for updates. This is the laptop I ordered:

Intel® Core™ Quad i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz)
16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) Full HD
NVIDIA® GeForce® 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
Keyboard Backlight
500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
Black
Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333

Order Total: $1,248.26 (with tax)

 

So Long HDMI: New Standard for A/V Uses Ethernet Cables

DailyTech - So Long HDMI: New Standard for A/V Uses Ethernet Cables

 

I have an HP 19" monitor. Can I calibrate that?

 

Collected my F127HG finally after the long wait.

Can check with you guys whether is there something under the blue 'Blu-ray Disc' sticker at the top left? Mine is popping out and feels as though it is covering an LED. But peeling it will destroy the sticker for good.

 

I didn't even have a blu-ray sticker in the first place. So don't worry, there's nothing underneat it. :]

 

Thanks for the reply, I'm enjoying my new laptop. I purchased another 4 years warranty. This toy should last me 5 years.

 

How easy would it be for me to buy a (used) keyboard backlight unit and install it myself on my F11 M1E (euro model w/o the bglight)?

 

guys, anyone in Europe who has bought this F12, can u tell me how much more improved it is than the F12.

Also on another note how much will it cost get a backlit keyboard, in order to fit in in a F12.

 

most people here seems to go to CTO route rather then get the commercial model that was sold at Best Buy and any other retailer. Previously on the F11, the CTO is the one that have whistle issue, the CTO and commercial model have morse code. Anyone getting the commercial model?

 

Just udated bios, no problems there. Before I updated it, I decided to see if the VAIO Udate utility would detect the new update. It didn't. Does this utility actually work?

 

While I fully agree no one posting on this tread has ever had this issue, how can this be complete 'baloney' and pure 'balloon boy'? Does the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission just force manufacturers to recall or make software changes for no reason? If anything, they side more with the companies and not the consumer. I sure would like to know more about the 30 claims. Who are these people and what really happened to their laptops? Are these claims made from nefarious sources? While I am not at all alarmed, I am however keeping an eye of this issue. I think the heavy posters here should have a more open mind to this issue at this time.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10284.html

 

Just noticed Sony shipped my laptop and should be here tomorrow via Fedex! Unfortunately I won't be home waiting to sign for it but thankfully my landlord said she would sign for it in my absence! So tomorrow evening I will have a new laptop in my hands!

Am I the only one who HATES stickers on my gear? Something about it just really annoys the heck out of me.

 

I have a blue-ray sticker... whats the story about them? any related problems???

 

No, I hate 'em...first thing after I know I'm keeping something (turn it on and it works) I peel 'em off. Bugs me to advertise for intel/nvidia/windows etc.

Gary

 

Well, some users have reported their sticker is not quite straight!

 

finally ordered my vaio f over the phone yesterday
i7-740
Full HD premium display
BR-Player
obv. the 1GB 330M
6 GB ram
500 GB 7200rpm HDD
LED Backlit
Windows 7 Home Premium
3 year warranty

came out to be about $1450 including 75 buck tax T.T

are they suppose to send a email confirmation right away? i ordered last evening still didnt get everything. the guy said ill get it around the 20th.

now all i need is a mouse...debating between the Razer Orchochi vs. Logitech Anywhere MX vs. the Microsoft Mobile 4000 -.-

 

Lucky! I placed my order last night. It seems like the shipping dates are getting pushed back some. Night before last it was July 7th, mine was July 11th, today it was July 13th I believe. It also said my CTO was temporarily out of stock. If you're going to order one of these I would do so quick.

Also the 5% student discount with 10% promotional discount with a service plan is likely the max you're going to get. However, when I talked to the sales rep online he offered me some other options. I'm 99% sure I was offered 15% off without buying a service plan. 10% off with 3 accessories (24.99 or more) and 15% off with a service plan and 2 accessories. I was going to take the later 15% with service plan and 2 accessories AND still get my 5% student discount which the sales rep said would work, until it came time to check out and he said since I was receiving the 5% student discount the max promotional he could offer me was the 10%. At which point I had already picked out my external mouse and speakers and didn't want to part with them, so I kept them :/

Regardless, it's still worth talking to them as I got express shipping for free. And if you don't get a student discount or don't plan on buying a service plan it seems to me like there's still some nice discounts being offered if you contact them.

Customization Details

* 16.4" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080) (Reg. price $100.00)
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
* No Fresh Start
* LED Backlit Keyboard
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
* CD/DVD player/burner
* Standard capacity battery
* Intel® Core™ i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
* No Engraving
* Adobe Bundle
* Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)
* Black
* Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
* 2 Year Express Ship Service Plan for Notebooks

 

LOL... ok you got me worried here ..ROFL...... mine is straight....ufffff

 

Yeah, a buddy of mine bought a Sony_Vaio F the same day I did, just a few hours later and his hasn't even shipped yet, and he lives just a block away from me. So all I know is I got lucky!

 

I guess you miss my post here with link to the official press release: VAIO_F Series Defective Data, Recall Baloney & BIOS Update. There is more in the post but to quote myself:

It's a simple run-of-the-mill BIOS update, not a "recall" otherwise the Dell_XPS and both Envy_15 and 17 got recently "recalled" as they also had BIOS updates to solve overheating issues that a much larger percentage of owners have.

From your link & mine: "No injuries have been reported". But hey, this is USA where McDonald's gets sued if they don't write on the coffee cup that it's hot... hence the overinflated "recall" and "Burn Hazard".

Maybe you missed this post also: F_Series Overheating? CPU + GPU @ 100% with screen capture.

*****

 

CPU Throttling on Battery?

. This is normal & by design. Read this: VAIO_F CPU Throttling "Issue"? it includes an HP_Staff quote.

*****

Keyboard backlight

You can get a new one for $25 so why used? Look top right of this page, there is an internal search engine: Search this Thread with: keyboard or keyboard backlit. It was discussed with links a few days ago.

*****

Hate stickers?

No you are not the only one: +1 as I get exposed enough to advertising in my life. Besides, leave a sticker on for a year or 2 and then remove it to see a spot because that part did not got exposed to UV discoloration like the rest of the plastic around it. Same for cars' paint, etc.

There is but it said that if I don't keep it secret, it won't work.

*****

 

Hi everyone,

I want to buy a sony vaio notebook and after several research I chosed Sony Vaio F series VPCF1122FX/B

here is the link: Newegg.com - SONY VAIO F Series VPCF122FX/B NoteBook Intel Core i7 740QM(1.73GHz) 16.4" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

and the configuration:

Intel Core i7-740QM(1.73GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 1GB
BD Combo
500GB
4GB DDR3
Screen resolution 1600x900

I have some question in my mind..

How is the quality of speakers?
How is the quality of LCD Screen ? because I read some reviews and generally people concern about LCD Screen quality..
Should I buy Full HD LCD Screen ?

Is 1200$ good deal for this notebook ?
I will use this notebook for photshop, web, and for some games..

Thanks for your replys..

 

Interestingly, my F11 has a serial in the range covered by the recall, but it has never actually run hot or even more than moderately warm under any circumstance.

 

Bluray sticker causing a problem?? Yes, people will be banging on your door all hours of the day and night offering lots and lots of money for it. Seriously, see thread #2 and #1, a lot of us WANT a bluray sticker.. It even sells on Ebay (for $6 or so...)

 

i have a question regarding the hdmi port...

i have a 24" monitor that displays a resolution of 1920x1200 but it doesnt have a hdmi port..if i were to buy an adaptor so that i can connect it to the laptop via the hdmi port instead of the vga port would the maximum resolution i get be 1920x1080 or can i get the full 1920x1200?

 

you cannot get more resolution than the monitor can display.

 

I do agree that calling a BIOS flash a recall is disingenuous. My curiosity would like to know what exactly is going on to cause the keyboard to melt.

 

so because the laptops screen displays 1920x1080 i cant get 1920x1200 on my external (even though its capable of displaying that resolution)

edit: i think the wording might have been incorrect in my original post..basically can i get 1920x1200 on my external display via the hdmi port on the laptop?

 

You should have no problems using the HDMI port to get 1920x1200, just don't use the sony software to choose the resolution (use the display preferences bit in Windows).

If you were doing mirroring, then you'd be limited to 1920x1080.

I'm not sure what the exact limitation of the HDMI port is, but I'd assume it's a "regular" DVI port (not dual link), therefore it can't go that far above 1920x1200 (I forget the exact resolution but it's 2048xsomething I believe).

The "limitation" that leads some people to believe it's 1920x1080, is the crappy software Sony included. Yay sony!

 

That wasn't the question. Yes you can get 1920 X 1200 on the external monitor, but it's a bit tricky because the GT330 doesn't support mirroring.

 

In the much more sensibly titled NYT article: Sony_Offers a Fix to Prevent Vaio_Laptops’ Overheating:

So 39 laptops divided by 535,000 multiplied by 100 = 0.007%.

Remember the few F users that got their fan stuck @ 100%? It was related to the battery being fully drained and while to F was going into hibernation they connected the A/C adapter to charge the battery. The workaround I suggested was to reset the CMOS by disconnecting the CMOS battery for 1 minute:



Personally, my critical battery (5%) low action is set to shutdown the laptop & after it is, I then connect the adapter. I simply save my work when the low battery alarm warns me. I just don't feel that it's sensible to have the laptop go through a demanding hibernation process on low power and the F boots from a cold start really fast anyway. But that's me erring on the safe side.

Maybe there was some conflicting steps & operations @ that stage that got solved with the BIOS instructions set revision. Sony_should simply come forward & explain exactly & in detail the problem(s) & solution included in the BIOS. This overblown "recall" labeling thing will cost them dearly as well as dozens of upcoming repetitive alarmed posts in this thread and in many other forums.

 

I received this email from Sony Brasil yesterday.
It didnt bring any news already reported here or further details.
Its more like, we warning you, take care.
Seems like they are very confident in the problem' rarity.

I did a poor translation:

"Relevant Security Communication to the VAIO models VPC-F111FB, VPC-112HB and VPC-CW25FB owners

Dear Sony VAIO customer,

Sony is proud of his produts' quality. Recently, we came to know of a possible security issue afecting some notebooks models unity of VPC-F111FB, VPC-112HB and VPC-CW25FB.

In very rarely cases, these notebooks can overheat due a potential bad behavior in the temperature management intern system, resulting in a keyboard or cabinet deformation, as well in a potential burning risk to the customers.

If you had one of this models VAIO VPC-F111FB, VPC-112HB or VPC-CW25FB, Sony recommends that you download and install the BIOS Firmware, upgraded and especially designed to prevent this possible heating risk.

To get more details about the update procedure, go to ...."

Link: SONY | SONY STYLE

 

This confirms the quote in the post above yours. Thanks.

I registered my F 4 months ago to get the international warranty coverage but did not get the BIOS notification email yet.

Your translation is pretty good. BTW Brasil in English is Bra zil and Brésil in French while I'm at it.

You will win the Mundial, right? Or will it be Argentina?

 

This 's' thing annoys me, sometimes.
Nobody write or pronounce "UZA", rigth?
One told me another day that the spanish cant pronounce the "v". For them, "v" is "b", like Estev(b)an, for exemple.
Anyway, these cultural accent I think is cool.

About the World Cup, I think that Germany has the best team currently and hope we'll make with them a glorious final match.
Argentina its only Messi and, the Maradona clown.

 

Hi Efe, Please make sure you are not paying more than sonystyle.com CTO model f1290 with options you want. Depending on taxes you can make the best call.
My state has high tax with both.

 

answer from Nvidia : The NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU hits the sweet spot for mobile users who demand great performance and an awesome multimedia experience.

Maximum Digital Resolution 2560x1600
Maximum VGA Resolution 2048x1536

Yes you can get the maximum resolution from your monitor.

 

F12 shipped Tuesday, received today.
I just finished the windows backup and repair disks.
Very happy overall. My fan is not as loud as the old laptop sitting next to it. The display is gorgeous with any normal picture, had I not known to check a black screen I would not have caught it has 1 light only. Viewing angle is comprable/a bit better compared to my 3 year old Acer next to it. Overall I am happier with this screen compared to my old one or the retail one I saw at FRY's which was also great. My IPS monitor over HDMI shows different colors, motivating me to calibrate.
Will do the profile/calibration soon and say more. Black screen picture looks horrible compared to reality if I take a photo in my current lighting.
I have no blue ray sticker. My sony "why viao" sticker is one pixel off from one end to the other It was such a keeper otherwise.
My motherboard/bios as Joe requested below, from free System information utility in Joe's post:
----------------------------------
Property Value
Manufacturer Sony Corporation
Model VAIO
Version N/A
Serial Number A22xxxxx

North Bridge Intel DMI Host Bridge Revision 11
South Bridge Intel PM55 Revision 11

CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 740 @ 1.73GHz
Cpu Socket Socket 989 rPGA

Memory Summary
Memory Slots 2
Error Correction None

Warning! Accuracy of DMI data cannot be guaranteed
------
Bios tab:
Property Value
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
Serial Number 9730xxx-xxxxxx
BIOS Version R1100Y6
Firmware Version 11.0
BIOS Date 04/28/2010
BIOS Size 4096 KB
BIOS Starting Segment F000h
DMI Version 2.6
Characteristics - supports PCI
- supports Plug-and-Play
- upgradeable (Flash) BIOS
- allows BIOS shadowing
- ESCD support is available
- supports booting from CD-ROM
- supports selectable boot
- supports Enhanced Disk Drive specification
- supports INT 09 and 8042 keyboard services
- supports INT 10 CGA/Mono video services
- supports ACPI
- supports legacy USB
- supports AGP
- Smart Battery supported
- BIOS Boot Specification supported
- Function key-initiated Network Service boot supported
- Enable Targeted Content Distribution
Memory tab I could not paste, attaching picture. My 4G is Hyundai, IF I am reading the report right it is running at C8-9-9-24 but could possibly do better, if our bios had any settings.

I wish the BD drive button was like Display off button or anything better than what it is. that is in the noise for me, still very happy with the machine.

Below is Joe's post , I broke the quoting while shortening it seems:

 

I registered mine as well but did not get any email notification from Sony about this firmware update.

!!!BRAZIL for the win!!!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post feedback & data.

While it does not tell us much about the F12's motherboard model, I think that it is different from the F11_because the BIOS update that_Sony just recommended for the_F11 is R0280Y6 while yours is R1100Y6.

If R1100Y6 would have worked with the_F11 mobo, my guess is that it would have been the one to upgrade to.

So I stand by my speculation posted previously: the_F12 is not just the same hardware as the_F11 with the only difference being a faster CPU.

Enjoy your new toy!

With the BIOS update, I now have on my_F11 (note Firmware 2.80 vs. your Firmware 11.0):

 

I wanted to stress test the machine to make sure all works well.
Overall I have confirmed Joe's test and compared settings with him offline (thanks Joe!!)
My observations were that:
1. Under all the stress I could put in, CPU did not throttle. That is what I was out to check the most. See CPU throttle green line at 0 in graph below.
2. My fan goes to 5.4-5.1k area under max load and is not even constantly peaked out. No sound fluctuation, nice steady whoosh.
3. Machine case underneath/keyboard did not get noticeably warmer at all. I could have done this on my lap. I do have the back of the machine propped up about half an inch to help the cooling a bit.
I highly doubt any other laptop is this well equipped to handle an i7's heat like this, especially in a normal size case like this. I am impressed.

Here is what is happening in the attached picture on the left:

I ran furmark for over 16 minutes at high stress settings (extreme burning displacement mapping and post fx on, 1280x1k). See furmark time top left of picture. Sorry clip covered some of the text, it was not the plan.
I managed to turn on everest 8 threads after the first few minutes. As you can see in temperature graph, it was not getting warmer by the time I stopped after they ran together more than 10 minutes.
To give you an idea my cpu/motherboard/GPU tempratures before this were hovering around 52 C with fan around 3k-3.1.k RPM.
Full bore CPU/GPU climbed to 62 with just furmark. With CPU test added 100% on 8 threads my temprature climbed to 81 CPU /72C MB and GPU.
I tried furmark full 1080p before, it was not getting warmer but it was covering the temperature measurements on display. By the way everything in the picture are live measurements. Windows task manager has 8 cores maxed out.
Smaller picture is furmark with cache_memory test at the same time snapshot, if anyone is curious to see a memory system benchmark. CPU turbo is at 2.7G in this picture.
Sorry the pictures are small until you click on them, I did not figure out how to make them big while attaching.
Good luck to all waiting for their f12's to show up. Once again thanks Joe!

 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.
My Sony F series VPC F122FX has a F12 motherboard or not ? I cannot sure

and by the way in sonystyle.com there isnt any model which I bought from newegg. They have VPCF12JFX/B. Is this the same ? bcs the configuration matches..

 

The config to order model can be made to match the preconfigured ones like yours.
They are all the same base laptop. What is after F12 designates a certain collection of options. CTO has a promotion advantage right now for 1080p with 330m.
Edit: To be clear F122FX is an F12 so it has the F12 motherboard.

 

Just got my Sony Vaio F12 series and did a clean install.

I just got an annoying type of thing, every time i boot up windows, the touchpad app asks to run. I have to confirm three of the .exe files each time i boot up windows.

Se screenshot:


I do like the warning for .exe files, so i would like to keep the warning off, just let the touchpad app buypass it.

I found the touchpad driver from sony`s support site.