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

Thks for the reply. I'm going to order one for backup.

 

It's standard copy and paste text. It's on every series as well.

Apart from spec page which does not say the F series is LED. All you have to do to check this out physically is to look at the label underneath the laptop when you go to the store.

If it says "Lamp contains mercury. Dispose according to local, state, and federal laws" then its a CCFL display since I believe LED's do not contain mercury. This is a label on my F11.

Ken Quek has already confirmed that his F12 box says the lamp contains mercury.

Edit: Basically the sales rep that you talked to was blowing smoke

 

what do i do about my stuck pixel?

 

I'm just wonderin' if the customized lappys are indeed LED NOW. She DID state that this changed within the last month. I can't look at a label when they're online. But thanks for the tip. I'll remember that next time I go in to Best Buy. Of course, I imagine the store bought units are more than a month old. Still, I tend to agree with you. I would just prefer LED.

 

Well if you bought that from sonystyle get it replaced since it's within your 30day return. When I had a PSP a few years back, it had a few stuck pixels that were unstuck by a video file that looped a series of colored screens flashing at different intervals. Maybe there's a file like that? Also my iphone had a few stuck pixels that were successfully fixed by lightly rubbing the affected screen area. This second one is kind of risky though since the iphone has a glass top on the screen and your LCD has no protection.

EDIT: Still these were just my experiences. I'd rather recommend you getting the unit replaced or asking Sony to get a tech over to your home with a new screen to replace.

 

Read this:

How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor - wikiHow


But proceed at your own peril!

 

Well it would be great if this were true. The possibility is not entirely out of the question since for example the Z12's in North America can now be configured with the 1920x1080 res display. Before the refresh, the North American Z11's were only offered in 1600x900 resolutions and to get the full HD display you had to buy the Signature series for over 4K. Maybe it's just a matter of time.

 

Are you saying that the 1080 displays are more likely to be LED lit? Is there some science behind this, or are you juss 'speculatin'??

 

What? I never said that. I'm just saying that it could be possible to have LED screens in the future for the F series. This has nothing at all to do with screen resolution.

 

White LED backlits that you people are talking about don't give much advantage over CCFL.. it's the RGB LED that increases the color gamut and contrast of the displays

 

Having some trouble with my VPCF12S1E/B. Win7 keeps switching back to 16 bit colors every time I reboot. GFX driver issue?

Where do I get the newest driver? nVidia say their drivers does not support VAIO notebooks.

 

Do you guys still have this problem with F12?

 

I'm the owner of a F12 (VPCF12S1E/B). I have not detected any strange sounds (whistling etc.)

I'm curious if more people have tried to do a clean install using the recovery discs as was done previously for the F11 ( http://www.monteverde.org/images/Sony_Vaio_F11/Vaio_F_Series_Clean_Install_Guide.htm).

I know that patrick0t achieved reasonable results, but has anyone else tried since?

 

Just a few hours ago I downloaded and installed the newest BETA drivers from the Nvidia site (version 258.96) and I have had no problems.

Before downloading, be sure to uninstall your existing drivers. To do this, go to start and click on "control panel". When it opens, click on "small icons" on the top right. This allows you to see icons of all control panel items.

Once you see the icons, find and open "Device Manager". Click on "Display Adapters", then click on your graphics adapter (there should only be one...either the GT 310M or the GT 330M).

When this comes up, click on the "Driver" tab. Click the "Uninstall" botton. The next step is VERY important...as the drivers begin to uninstall, there will be a box that comes up that asks if you want to delete the uninstalled driver. You need to check this box. If you do not, as soon as you restart your computer, the missing driver will noticed by Windows 7 and the operating system will immediately find this driver (that you just uninstalled) and it will reinstall it.

When the uninstall is complete, you will need to restart the computer. Once restarted, go to the Nvidia drivers website. Open the "downloads" page. There will be several types of downloads. find the link to the "Beta and Archived Drivers" page and click on it.

A page will open that will have 6 drop down boxes. The first is the product type, which should be "GeForce". Under that will be a product series. For the Vaio "F" notebooks, this should be changed to "GeForce 300M Series (Notebook)". Under that will be the product box. Here you select either "GeForce GT 330M" or GeForce GT 310M" depending on your particular Vaio F hardware.

There is a second column of drop down boxes. Choose your operating system and language. Leave the last box set to "all" and click on the "Search" button.

Five driver versions will show up (as of today...more will come later). Beta versions are not finalized. WHQL versions are full working versions. Generally, you want to choose the newest WHQL version if you want the most reliable and best performing drivers. Many, however, choose to try the latest Beta versions, which may have better performance. Beta versions, however, are not always complete. For example...at thetime I am writing this, the newest Beta version, 258.96, has no ability to be overclocked in its control panel. The newest WHQL version (257.21) does have this capability in its control panel.

Click on the driver version you decide on. Click the "download" button. Click "Run". follow the instructions and you should be good to go after it finishes and tells you to restart.

If you have problems, or simply wish to upgrade again or roll back to an earlier driver, repeat these steps from the beginning uninstallation of the current drivers.

I hope this helps.

 

Was your 258.96 the english or international version? I downloaded the english version (US site) and I can't get it to work. Same issue with my 258.69 driver. I had to download the international version to recognize my setup. I'm currently running 258.69

EditL: nevermind...found the international version

 

US site, English version

 

Thks. I just installed the 258.96 International version on my laptop. Everything seems to be in order.

I find it odd since I have a USA F1190X CTO with a Feb 2010 build date. As far as I remember, all my Nvidia driver updates only worked with the International version of the release. The english versions never worked for me and always prompted an error.

Edit: What is everyone else who's updating in North America using for their language release?

 

The bottom tier CPU in the F12 is Intel® Core™ i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz, but I thought that the F11 had a better bottom tier CPU didn't it?

 

nope the f11's had i7 720qm's and i7 820qm's now the f12's have i7 740qm's and i7840qm's

the i7 740qm is the same in terms of speed as the i7 820qm only difference being that the 740qm has a smaller cache..

 

There were i5 CPUs in other parts of the world, but in the USA, the lowest CPU for the F11 was a Core i7 720QM. This processor clocks at 1.6GHz with a Turbo boost that I think was 2.8GHz.

My 820QM clocks at 1.73GHz with a Turbo Boost of 3.06GHz. In reality, at max settings and when benchmarking at 100% on all 4 cores, my 820QM runs at 2GHz in all 4 cores. This is exactly what Intel shows in their charts, so I am not quite sure why it is listed as 1.73GHz. Even the benchmarks CALL it a nominal 1.73GHz chip, but it tests at 2.0GHz.

Also, the 700 series has 6MB level 3 cache while the 800 series have 8MB level 3 cache.

 

You don't need to uninstall older driver versions anymore just download and install the new it gets rid of the older one.

Also to the gut talking about age of the empire
Or w/e it was; I'm playing StarCraft 2 beta with all settings on ultra and 1080p resolution I have no lag whatsoever

 

out of curiosity does the 2mb of cache make that much of a difference?

more to the point what exactly is that cache used for?

 

Just spoke to a sony representative he said people have differing opinions about the speakers. But his with the dolby theatre the sound is very high and very good for movies and music,so i dont know, as long as i can hear things properly thats the main thing.

Finally has the F12 got a RGB adobe screen as well.

 

EU and Asia does
US doesn't -.-

 

I notice that when the ambient light sensor is on and the room is dark, it decrease the brightness to 23% and it`s too low.
If u disable the ambient light sensor the keyboard backlt is turning off too.
I want to know when the ambient light sensor is on & the room is dark can u increase the brightness with F6 key or not?

 

Yea, you can adjust the brightness to some extent with those keys. As for omaroo, speakers were one thing I compared a lot of similar laptops on; By far, the Vaio F has the noisiest sound system of any laptop in its price range. For a 1.6" thick 7lb ~17" laptop, the speaker system is more than adequate. The only downside, of course is that while the Vaio can play music (I'd suppose) about 30% louder than a MacBook Pro or HP Envy, that 30% is obviously beyond the capability of the speakers as it'll be rather rough and distorted at that rate - NOT so bad that you can't stand listening to it, but you'll know you're pushing the speakers to the limit.

That said, it was the only laptop that in a noisy Frys or Best Buy, I didn't have to hold my head near the speakers to make out what Jeremy Clarkson was saying in episodes of Top Gear.

Speakers in a laptop are a bit of a silly expectation anyway! I'm not suggesting that there isn't such a thing as a laptop with a sound system that's worth listening to, but can you really expect that? Look at some of the Vaio F diassembly pictures out there, it's pretty crowded inside already!

The Envy 17 supposedly has better speakers... supposedly. I've seen and used the Envy 15 and it didn't really seem that amazing (and the speaker ports were tiny).

When I bought my Vaio F there were 3 things that stood out to me:
1. The keyboard was great
2. Speakers were pretty nice for a laptop
3. The performance was awesome (plugged in)


Also, without the ambient sensor enabled (it's connected to that wonderful SNC device that every Linux and Hackintosh guy hates), the keyboard lights up for about 15 seconds any time you press a key on it.

Just saying

 

ootlink thx mate for your help, i understand the speakers arent awesome, but as long as i can hear music and watch movies and hear the sound properly than thats the main thing.

Also regarding the backlit keybaord, has anyone in the UK inserted a backlit keyboard, if so how and for how much

 

Yes I did. I got a backlight keyboard off of ebay and after 1 hour of work I got my first glimpse of how a F11 EU version was supposed to look like in the first place...
The backlight keyboard completely changes the way in which the laptop looks like and how other people perceive it.

 

Good to hear that the backlit keyboard is working flawlessly on the EU model.
I will have to wait for the keyboard to appear in Germany though, because I want to keep my german QWERTZ layout. But yeah, I think it will take a loooong time for it to appear here...sadly. :/

 

For those of you complaining about the brightness issues...

Just open up "Vaio Control Settings" and disable "automatic brightness" ... then you can change the brightness to whatever you wish wherever you are.......

 

viper i dont mind not having a backlit keyboard, but i will try to get one in the future. Viper how much did it cost you mate.

 

Hey, any advantage to upgrading? I don't play any games etc. I'm still on the official version

Thanks

 

This happened on my F11...but now it's happening on my F12.

I had OC'd to what someone else did 730/915/1515 ... everything played great...now it locks up.

I was just playing Portal and it locked up...and if I restart the game, it plays @ 2D clock speeds...so I have to reboot.

So I reverted back to default clock speeds...played Portal...and it didn't lock up for a while...then it locked up again! What do I do? It's not even overclocked and it's locking up...and this is brand new...but this also happened on my F11...is there a way to prevent this from happening? ?

 

Which software do you use to read F12 temps ?
Thanks

 

buddy if u disable the ambient light sensor u make the backlit keyboard disable too!!

 

No it doesn't.

 

Hey guys was wondering if the Sony VIAO F series is a good deal? Any known problems so far? I need one for university and my dad really likes it. He saw it at a Canadian best buy for aprox. 1500 dollars. I think it is a base model or something. Well this is what I want to do:

 

My Furmark score is 68% higher with the newest Beta drivers than it was with original drivers installed.

Stability seems good so far. I have overclocked original drivers for testing purpuses and also overclocked the newest full drivers once. This newest Beta driver set does not include overclocking and I have not downloaded any other programs to allow this.

I am not a gamer either. I simply want the fastest base performance I can get that is 100% stable.

So far, yes...I am happy with the 258.96 Beta driver set.

 

Anyone know if it's worth the trouble to send in my comp and get a new screen b/c of lightbleed? It's not bothering me that much gunna test it a bit more, but it has occured to me whether or not it's worth the effort

 

Viper could you described the steps involved in replacing the keyboard? I know from Joe how to open the case but I would be happy to know more how to proceed.

 

Since the F12 screen is no different from the F11 then unfortunately what you'll get from replacing it is on a roll from the dice. From what i've seen on this thread iffy quality control. My first unit had severe light bleed. My second unit did not. In fact, it's very minimal and quite evenly distributed. Also, there's the chance that you might be replacing your unit with a new one with other issues.

 

please give me some information about VPC-F12S1E/B with vaio premium display (europe model). I wonder if this laptop has a LED or CCFL screen? And I want to know if this laptop has a magnesium alloy case or not ? thx

 

Remove the screws holding in the back bevel to reveal the speakers etc; lift off bevel; unsnap the keyboard; lift retaining rings and pull out two connector ribbons; set old keyboard aside. Pick up new keyboard; put in ribbons; press home ribbon retaining bands, snap in keyboard; replace bevel; put back in the screws.

 

Cold Cathode Flourescent on all displays EXCEPT the premium where the literature specifically says RGB LED. It's a plastic case, but the parts are mounted on a cast metal subchassis. It's tough.

 

Good point, and mine isn't THAT bad only when i see a pitch black screen do I notice it.

 

So the matte is RGB Led? I just saw it mentioned Full RGB colors under the product tour of the UK site

 

I thought premium displays are two lamb CCFL displays. So if it is led i can now order one thx again for your reply

 

Can anyone confirm that in fact the 8gb version has got more of a professional finish and leather on the front than it does for the 6gb version

 

Omaroo,

you need to either go to your local Sony website, your nearest Sony Style retail store, email or call Sony directly to get your answers.

I have 8GB of memory in 7 different Sony Vaio F11 machines. They are all the same chassis and cases as 6GB and 4GB machines here in the USA. Perhaps the F11/F12 series in your country IS leather bound. You need to find a local way to find your answers.

 

No. Memory is the easiest thing possible to change. There's no way they'd tie in different cases depending upon this spec. An entirely different model, maybe.