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

Was this a joke or could you provide a link please?

I searched to no avail.

 

My bad, meant to say update 5.

Sony eSupport - VPCF1290X - Software Updates & Drivers

 

You owe me 10 minutes of my life.

Did you fix your special keys on your custom clean install w/ OEM discs?

 

haha sorry about that, lack of sleep is obviously getting to me. And yes, finally. Everything seems to be running in order, I'll probably defrag and make a restore point by end of day. Now after everything is up to date my boot times are close to yours. The biggest pet peeve I have is where you posted screens of your memory usage being under a gig. Me with firefox and vaio care running I'm looking at 1.48gigs.

 

I'm on the phone with Sony right now. He is looking into a way to remove and reinstall Vaio Care without reformatting hard drive. Anyone know if this can be done? Quick answer please.

Just got off the phone with the guy ( from Costa Rica- Joe Bleau). Cannot fix without a reformat. What would you guys do? Live without or go the the hassle of a reinstall?

 

Why do you want to uninstall it?

Control Panel > Programs.

 

Firefox is not part of the OS. Apples to apples.

Look at screen cap above, run Vaio_Care > OneClick care.

Why don't you use significant titles for your posts, related to the content of what you are posting about like I do?

 

Program was not working. I just did another system restore, further back in time ( last critical Windows update) and it works again. I will reinstall the 6/24 software patch and the 6/3 troubleshooter update and see what happens. Thanks Joe and thank you for the software too.

 

I noticed that playing music and browsing the internet doubles my discharge rate. OW! lol.

 

Because I never knew one could do that haha. I'm not really much a forum user and I wasn't sure if that pick you took was just OS or some basic programs open. I'm also completely new to all the windows 7 and sonys, my last PC was a 4 year old dell xp desktop. Right now it's a lot to learn.

 

Yes, System Restore is often the easiest way to fix things. Sometimes a simple Windows update, VAIO_update, software we install or tweak we do can mess up stuff.

What part of Vaio_Care was not working? What symptoms?

 

Hello, I have a sony f11, bought in April. I looked at the problem with the BIOS and the website says "Your VAIO notebook is Not Affected part of the series." But I read this forum and I'm not sure whether or not to update the bios. Furmark I tried pressing the Shift key and low speed fan, this is normal? should update the bios? What problems might be?

Thanks

 

You mean on battery?

Some Music Players & browsers use more resources than others.

If you are viewing videos or visiting sites with a lot of Flash, it will use more resources.

 

@new_vaio_F: It came out to be around $1400 with the tax. Even though BB does in fact sell a 1080 with the i7, thats the one that I purchased.

@Joe Bleau: Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna buy a Zalman to just keep the comp temp good and cool, and to reduce the fan noise. I was just worried because the fan was really cranking during a run through of Portal, and between that and the recent recall I didn't want my computer to melt, lol. But, I'm gonna run a test on the GPU/CPU during a play of ME2 to test out the temps.

 

"Your VAIO_notebook is Not Affected part of the series." - Well what else do you want to confirm that you don't need a BIOS update?

Start > search: System Information & check the BIOS details.

The update is R0280Y6, so if you have that or more recent, there is no point in trying to update & messing up your system.

I would believe eSupport.

Search this Thread with: Everest or go back 10 pages & read.

 

It's mislabeled "recall", it's just a run-of-the-mill BIOS update like the recent ones for Envy_and_XPS, etc.

Besides it was for part of the_F11 production not for the new_F12.

 

You'll be just fine. I spent more time playing Portal on my Vaio F than I'd care to admit. I think if anything is putting wear on the fan in the machine, it's using it on my lap 99% of the time I'm using it. Because it's a magnetic levitation type of fan, it is a bit sensitive to movement.

Worst case scenario: In 2 years, the fan craps out. Fairly unlikely since it's a maglev fan! Even if it does, it's a ~$50 part probably and about an hour and some thermal paste to fix. Chances are good the fan would die when you're starting the machine up one day, not when in use, so if it did give up the ghost you'd find out well before you fried any chips.

 

Yeah, I just went back about fifteen pages to look for fan stuff and saw the previous discussion about that. , My bad. Presently running a stress test in Everest, been running for about five minutes and the ave. temps remain around 60-66. I'm sort of new to this, but from what I could gather those are pretty solid temps yeah?

 

Do it for 20 minutes + run the free Furmark stability test at the same time to really test your system.

Shut down browser, close all programs on your taskbar, disconnect from the internet, disable anti virus. Don't forget the enable anti virus before connecting to the web!

 

Everest Stress Test results after 20 minutes + Furmark Stress Test running in background



Seem a bit high, but I'm not too sure. I'd also had Everest running for about 15 minutes previously w/o Furmark

 

Having the exact same problem and mine also seems to work in safe mode, but there was no update available when run in safe mode, so I do not exact know if it is "working".

Did 2x OEM restores...doesn't help...still not working. Waiting to see if the next version Vaio Update.

 

I read how Joe has memory usage under 1GB. I don't know how to get mine that low.

Here is mine. Granted, I never shut my computer down (well, perhaps once a week or after an update of some sort...but otherwise it is left on 24/7).



I am around 1.3GB at idle. There are times when I am over 7GB, but this is my normal range. I have a total of 5 startup items. Included in the 5 are Huey Pro (display calibration), Microsoft Security Essentials (internet security), Realtek audio driver, SmartWI helper and Bluetooth software. I could do without the bluetooth because I don't have bluetooth devices, but other than that, I have no idea what else I could do without.

Prefetch, Superfetch, disk indexing, paging file are all turned off, so those services are not running or using resources either.

I have plenty of RAM, so I am not worried about my usage, but I am totally perplexed on how to get usage any lower.

 

High compared to what?

That's cool temperatures considering that you ran both CPU + GPU @ 100%. Compare to i7_Envy 17 reported here:

As I posted many times: FYI: i7-720QM Processor max temp: 100c (212F) in specs here (same as 820QM) and 105c for the GT 330 (could not find max temp in the specs for the GT 330M here
but did not search for a data sheet). You are way below. Sleep tight.

*****

Memory Usage

Under 1 GB was after the clean install using the recovery discs, + installing only these Vaio_software as described here: Vaio_F Series Windows 7 64-bit Clean Install Guide Using OEM Recovery Discs it went up to 60 processes & 1.09 GB.

Here is OEM vs custom clean install + minimum Vaio_software (note 30 processes less!):





This is the only VAIO software I manually installed & all my special keys & functions are working properly:



But I installed other stuff after that including an anti-virus so it's like about 1.4 GB usage but can't check @ the present because running some editing tasks.

"Prefetch, Superfetch, disk indexing, paging file are all turned off, so those services are not running or using resources either" - This is for an SSD, don't do that if you have an HDD or it will slow down your system & it will boot much slower!

Disk indexing is the only thing you can turn off but then every time you will search your HDD for documents, images, etc, it will be very slow. That's not a concern if you have a screaming fast SSD & the $ to buy one.

 

Hm..strange, I looked at BB online and at the store, they dont show any 1080P model. Maybe what you see over there is F11 on sale. They dont carry 1080P model for F12. I even confirm with the sales people.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...lack/9987998.p?id=1218205766476&skuId=9987998

It was listed for $1349 with my state tax, that would come up to $1480.52 plus the CA recycle fee for about $10, almost $1500 for me here.

 

I found that Staples (in Canada at least) sells a F12 with the 330 and 1080p screen, if ones prefers buying from a bricks and mortar store with a return policy, unlike the CTOs here.

STAPLES | BUREAU EN GROS

 

Sony - VAIO Laptop / Intel® Core™ i7 Processor / 16.4" Display / 6GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Black - VPCF126FM/B

This is the model I bought, and to my knowledge runs in 1080p thanks to the GeForce 330M built in. I've been running vids on youtube under 1080p and they seem to be running just fine

 

That would be the 900P model..if you go to specification, you will see :

Display Type 1600 x 900 widescreen

The 1080P Premium Full HD screen would be this one :

Sony VAIO VPCF127FX/B F Series 16.4" Notebook PC - Black in PC Notebook Computers at JR.com

 

Ah, well, then there that is, lol.

 

I agree about the SSD portion. I would never turn these items off when using a HDD.

Here is my current usage per Task Manager.



I am generally between this and about 1.3GB when idling and 56 processes is always what it settles at after the F11 is at idle for more than about a minute. The 57th process is the snippit tool running when I did this.

I feel much better that you are at this level. Not that I am running out of memory (although certain photo batch processes definitely get me close to max usage!), but I am happy that I am not wasting speed with unused processes.

EDIT: Joe, here you go! While much more expensive than HDDs, this is big enough for your OS and all of your apps (I would guess) and still has enough left over to probably keep you under 60% used space. This would be the biggest upgrade you can imagine to improve your speed. This was much better than more or faster memory has ever been when I upgraded prior machines. You can't know until you try one. This is not even a REALLY fast SSD...it is about comparable to mine.

 

So, does anyone make a VGA-> Svideo adaptor or an HDMI-> Svideo adaptor that would support the GT330m's analog output? Is there such a thing? Oh boy

 

Thanks for the responses. I will probably stick with a HDD for the present but would still like to find the guide for replacing the HDD with an SSD - not using the optical drive, for when the SSD prices become more reasonable.
Thanks
Douglas

 

According to the everest program, the version of the bios is "DMI BIOS Version R0260Y6"

Should I upgrade?

 

My F11_OEM BIOS was R0250Y6 & my Vaio_eSupport page said to upgrade to R0280Y6 which I did.

Now your Vaio_eSupport page says that your model does not need to be updated. Does R0280Y6 change anything, brings any benefit compared to your R0260Y6? I dunno.

You could write or phone VAIO_Support with your serial number if not listed to be on the safe side as you can't roll back once updated.

 

Hi OoTLink!

Maybe Monoprice can help you...

Analog / Digital Format Converters

For only $138.72 each when QTY 50+ purchased - HDFURY2 - HDMI TO VGA/Component(RGB/Y,Pr,Pb) CONVERTER *BLUE EDITION* (STANDARD EDITION) | HDFury - HDMI(DVI) to RGB Converters

It is HDMI to RGB, but you don't want to convert HDMI to S-Video.


S-Video was used on old CRT TV 20", 27", 32", 36"

 

For a while Vaio One Click Care would work, but never detect any updates. Ignored it for a long time since I was in the habit of always updating software through manufacturers websites. Yesterday, Vaio Care would not work at all and message stated program not responding. Sony support guy in Costa Rica took control of my laptop, just went for a system restore, with no luck. He told me only a reformat would fix it. After getting off the phone with him I picked another restore date further back in time( after a Windows update). After my system restore, all is well and now the updates are detected too. I wonder why we and/or Sony cannot remove/install this program? Anyway, I have a happy conclusion.

 

I wonder how much temperature drop we would gain if standard thermal paste was removed, and Collaboratory paste or pad would be applied or even Zalman STG.

 

I'm at 1.140 at idle with 12 startups.

 

Hello all. I've been reading this thread and the previous parts since April and have finally decided that I will soon be ording a custom F12. The 1 question that I have that I don't think has been posted anywhere (yes I used the search function) is what is the model/specs of the 256GB SSD that you can get from SonyStyleUSA? The CTO website just say's 256SSD and I was wondering what brand, SATA II or III etc.. before I decide if I will go with it or just get the cheapest HDD and upgrade myself. The $500 price seems average for a 256GB SSD right now, depending on the brand and specs. Thanks.

 

Someone might know, but something that isn't specifically stated by the manufacturer would be guess work. I wouldn't trust that the SSD that User X received with their laptop doesn't mean you'd get the same model. Until Sony states that they are tossing in a X25-m or Crucial (or similar) SSD. I wouldn't chance it. Too many uncertainties.

As I've mentioned before, if you really want an SSD, buy it elsewhere online. You WILL find it cheaper than $500.

 

If you read back a few months, I believe that Sony installs a Toshiba SSD. I Beleive that Toshiba SSDs are Micron based. They are not Indillinx or Sandforce based, and they are not the same controller used in the new Crucial 300 series either. They are SLIGHTLY slower in performance than my mainstream Indillinx SSD, but should be fine.

However, for about $550-600, you can purchase your own and install it, keeping the stock HDD as a portable data drive or backup drive.

 

Since the F is one the coolest i7 laptop under demanding stress tests, and I checked all the other major brands' benchmarks as quoted several time in this thread, I think Sony_put a lot of effort in thermal management and air flow & doubt very much that it would ruin everything with an inefficient thermal paste.

As I mention previously, it would instantly void the warranty for very little gain, if any.

Please call esupport about it if you don't believe me & report here.

F_Series heat sink photo by jacksjw (more internals photos in the #1 post on page 1 of this thread under > Unification Post > (10) Pictures of internals:

 

Thermal paste can make a difference, especially if the OEM stuff is overapplied, but in most cases you get a 2ºc difference at most

 

Izno I appreciate your reply, but it wasn't quite what I was talking about. That, and our laptops have VGA ports so it's a lot cheaper to use a converter in that sense ,if you want to use converter boxes.

What I was trying to pry into is if the way the GT330m is on our Vaios supports outputs other than VGA and HDMI with adapters (as it does in other laptops, for example many Dells will take a VGA->S-Video "adapter" that uses certain pins and the video chip in said laptop will know this and output S-Video instead of VGA on that port).

Those "adapters" are pretty much used for everything. The most common example (of course) is DVI->VGA as most video cards have DVI-I support.

I'm kinda baffled that Sony chose to do HDMI anyway when a dual link DVI-I port would have been a much, much much much much better choice.

 

I have confirmed that the Canadian Sony Store has two F127 retail models, The F127FXB and the F127FDB. Both are black with the same specs except that the FXB is unilingual English and has the US backlit keyboard, and the FDB is the Canadian bilingual model with the large L shaped enter key, and is not backlit. Both are at $1499,99 CAD = $1425 USD. If anyone buys one, make sure it's the FXB, unless you specifically want the bilingual one.

 

I just got VPCF127FX and its still posses issues that the F11 have. This thing going straight back to my retailer.

1)Lightbleed exist on 1080P screen (Machine build date is 2010-05)
2)Morse code exist.

Take a look at the picture...





I already give SONY 2 chances, they still screwed it up. I'm sorry to say, I'll be looking for some other brand.

 

just got my f12 with an 840qm ..

currently restoring my image from my f11 to the momentus xt i put in .. looks like that's gonna take about 8 hours holy crap haha.

talk to you folks tomorrow!

 

I presume you are using a slow USB external HDD enclosure instead of the faster eSATA port. You can also get a $25 ODD bay HDD caddy for even faster direct SATA transfer rates w/o going through the enclosure's chip.

Real world data with my F & the same HDD & enclosure but connected via eSATA vs. USB 2.0 (note Average):

 

Only 2 chances? How about 3 like they do on the OFFICIAL: HP_Envy 17 Owners Lounge thread?

 

I Envy those HP guys!

 

Have you seen this Official Dell_Studio_XPS 1640/45/47 replacement thread?