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

i try this and the activation won't work. Message: Activation not possible.

 

i think i found something. The fan have "play" to the motor. So you can push it up and down. When the speed is on 2900-3100 rpm, it goes up and grinds a little bit on the other metal. So, i put just a little little bit of WD40 on this blade. Now this high pitch frequency seems to be there but not so loud like before.

@vtecvaio: the sony support knows exactly whats going on! a kind of politics.

 

Today I bought F12Z. Immediately installed AVID MC4. Everything is working fantastically. Overall, the notebook is great.

 

As I wrote, I bought the F12 today. Unfortunately I can not play Bluray movie when the notebook is connected to the monitor via HDMI. My monitor is a Samsung T240HD. Can it be a cable fault? Can the monitor does not support HDCP? The manual has no information about it.

 

Have you tested with another PC and same and different cable?

 

Unfortunately not. Everything is new. Maybe someone already had this problem and help me before I buy the next couple of cables?

 

Hey guys-
I just got a VPCF121GX from CostCo. I want to upgrade the HD to a 500gb 7200rpm (until prices of SSD come down!) I'm looking at this one- helluva price IMO. Will this work in my system? I want to do a clean install with it.

Tiger Direct WD HD

Also- will this speed up my HD quite a bit? Or not too much?
Thanks for the help!

 

That drive is no good, its a 3.5" for a desktop PC. You need a 2.5" form factor for a notebook.

 

The OEM-HDD, seagate ST9500420AS, is one of the fastest HDD on the market. If you want faster get a Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 32MB 500GB.

Momentus XT | 7200 RPM | Seagate

 

DOH! I must've clicked the wrong one! Too funny- thanks for catching that! Glad I didn't order it!

So are you saying the one that came in my laptop is already one of the fastest? It's only 5400rpm- wouldn't a 7200rpm be better? If so, is it a LOT faster, or not much?

 

Thank you soooo much for this Anseio. It was showing the same files as on C: therefore it has worked.

Now my next tasks are swapping for the US backlit keyboard and doing a clean install using the recovery discs. Now that I have a system image, the latter can be attempted, after which I can do an additional system image. Thanks again.
Tausif.

 

I'm glad you got it figured out. Now, once your clean install is successfully backed up, you won't have the need for the system image you just made. Of course, you can hang on to it until storage space becomes an issue. I've set aside 100GB for backup storage, but may decide that I don't need that much room.

 

Sorry, my mad, I read your post to quick. xD

Get the seagate ST9500420AS or Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 32MB 500GB which is ridiculous fast for an 7,2k HDD. :O

 

+1 rep for your original post. Not sure why its not registered yet.

 

I'm just trying to see if it's worth the extra money- will I see a BIG speed difference, or not much? If it's not much, I'd rather wait and apply that money to a SSD when they come down in price. Do you think it's worth it to switch to a 7200 now?

 

That monitor is HDCP compliant.

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 10000:1 Built in DTV Tuner & Dolby Digital Surround Speakers

Samsung SyncMaster T240HD specs and LCD Monitor specifications - CNET Reviews

I would try a different cable.

 

It depend on what you use your Vaio for.

The 7,2k HDD give approx 30-40mb/s more in transfer speed then a 5,4k drive but a ssd is 150-200 mb/s faster. The XT is not revolutionary fast, but little faster then ordinary 2,5 inch HDD.

Wait if you can.

Check my post for benchmarks

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...7-owners-thread-part-3-a-354.html#post6587369

 

Awesome. That's what I was thinking. I'm anxious to get using my new laptop too! Now time for a clean install...

 

ok- looking at the Clean Install Guide and have a couple questions-

1) I'd like to try this WITHOUT using the Recovery Dics I just made. I assume I can just change it in the BIOS to boot from the recovery partition, and away it goes?

2) I'm confused on how I tell it NOT TO INSTALL specific custom programs. Does it ask me before it installs each program? Do I have to manually hit the cancel button during each one? Or, is there a list I can go down ahead of time, check which ones I want and which I don't- then let it run automatically?

I appreciate the help! Stoked to be a member of the Sony family now! I don't think I'll ever go back to HP.

 

1) Prec the assist button when the vaio is off too enter recovery mode, choose tools ad then advanced recovery.

2) When the drivers is being installed (you will notice), bring the task manager up and end app "Vaio care" (something) when the restart drivers is installed, or hit cancel when the apps is being installed, the later ALT: you may need to uninstall some installed app.

EDIT: Check under the headline "How To Do a Clean Install with the Recovery Discs" in http://www.monteverde.org/images/Sony_Vaio_F11/Vaio_F_Series_Clean_Install_Guide.htm . It is the same procedure as with the partition.

 

ok- I just want to be very clear before I try this. Sorry if I'm a moron...

So- on EACH custom program that's being installed, I have to hit the ctrl+alt+del to stop that (or try to hit the cancel button)? So this is something where I have to sit and watch it very closely if I'm going to try to get everything?

Also- does a clean install REALLY improve performance? Or, will a simple uninstall of apps in the control panel suffice? I'm not a gamer- but would love to maximize performance if it's easy. On the other hand, I don't want to screw anything up on my brand new toy and have more headaches down the road as a result of it

I appreciate your input!

 

Thank you for your help. Unfortunately, the official website of the manufacturer has no information about HDCP. While searching I found information that only the DVI input is HDCP. Is it possible?

 

Read the post linked in my signature. I should answer your questions a bit more.

I recommend recovering from the discs and not allowing the recovery partition to include the bloatware. It's easier to interrupt the process.

To answer your question... using the VAIO Care and the recovery partition to do a clean install... There comes a time in the process where windows is done installing and Sony software installations begin. First, it's the Realtek driver, then the ALPS (touchpad) driver. After those 2, then a restart driver is installed and the laptop goes through a reboot. Using Joe Bleau's method, you're instructed to interrupt the process after ALPS installs, but before the restart happens. You only need to do this once, unless you miss the window and then have to start over again.

My approach is slightly different, but worked easier for me. Use the discs and do not allow the recovery partition to include Sony Value Programs. When the installlation process moves to the Sony stuff, it won't be able to load them from the partition, so will prompt you about the importance of the programs and want you to reinsert the recovery discs. You can cancel out of these windows. Then Windows will begin the clean up process. Once done, you need to manuall install Realtek and ALPS.

Either way, you will notice that you are using considerably less RAM. On my 4GB, I went from 46% used during idle down to 26% as I write this reply. Your boot time will be much faster. Simply uninstalling programs can work too, but some stuff gets left behind. Google Chrome leaves a program running that annoyed me. Sony's Smart Wireless ran a memory hog of an app called ThirdPartyAppMgr.exe. It was used for the wireless network and it totally unnecessary.

Again, either process will yield great results. Just remember to make a backup of your clean install in case you ever need to go back to it again. Doing the whole process over is never fun.

 

Could someone kindly explain exactly how do you unsnap the keyboard off ?

I have got as far as removing the speaker cover and cannot for the life of me see how to unsnap the keyboard.

 

I never completely understood these massively long threads, but I will ask my question anyway. How happy are people with the F series? There don't seem to be any user ratings on the site. Thinking about getting on with the upgraded screen.

 

I LOVE my VAIO F. Most, if not all, of use here love them.

 

anseio-
THANK YOU! I'll give that a shot tonight and see. Can I still install the Microsoft Office app? I usually use a full install copy- but NEVER need all the extra apps that come with it. From that guide- it says it includes Word and Excel. I figured I'd give that a shot and see how I like it. I can always uninstall later and reinstall the full version.
Your thoughts?
Thank you!

 

Good to know.

Yes, as a flower needs water.

 

anseio, then your recovery partition will NOT contain the full Windows 7 OS. In my case, the full recovery partition is less than 9 GB out of 500 GB, a very small cost compared to the advantage of being able to return to factory state anytime w/o the recovery discs.



Read the paragraph below to No option. The Recovery Environment is NOT the full OS. The full OS is part of the Value Added Content. Don't ask me why.



*****

Just look at the location of the tabs of your replacement keyboard. Use a needle or something.

*****

That's partly why it's massive, people like you just post questions that was posted & replied too many times instead of reading the thread or using the Search this Thread tool top right of this page.

I will contribute to make the thread shorter & won't reply to your question.

 

Good Idea, let us keep the knowledge. :GEEK:

 

That's something I think I can live with.

Yes, searching is ideal. Do you know how many HOURS and days I spent trying to figure out what clean installing was, how it worked, and finding comprehensive instructions? It wasn't until I landed your post that anything began to make any sense. The search function here can be specific, but it's not easy reading through a gazillion posts with quotes, which also come up in searches (redundance). Sometimes it's easier to ask the question and get pointed in the right direction.

This reply is really off-putting. You could have simply not replied rather than being harsh. I suppose I could have not replied to your reply either. Point taken.

UPDATE - actually the verbage in the Recovery Center is grammatically ambiguous, at best. At one place, it mentions:

Is the dependant clause being used to qualify the latter portion of the phrase, the first, or the whole? Notice, also, that the beginning of the sentence is actually a complete sentence and should have been punctuated with a ":", indicating a list to follow, rather than pausing incorrectly with ",". The only way I can identify the intent of the Windows OS clause is by referencing what follows:

To me, this makes sense that if you don't allow VAIO software, then only Windows can be restored and the discs are necessary for bloatware and stuff. There is no indication, following the ambiguous OS clause, that Windows cannot be restored if the VAIO software is not in the recovery partition.

Regardless of the bad grammar, I do know that I cannot do a complete restore from VAIO Care without my discs. I do not have the option to restore my system. So... perhaps the OS isn't there? I dunno. Again, I'm fine with using my discs.

 

Maybe I've been around too long but it's frustrating to see that one spent hours to make posts with thoughts, experiments & references & links and simply because it was posted last week or sometimes even 1 or 2 days ago then it's like your post never existed.

That's also why I suggested many times to use relevant keywords in the posts titles instead of the generic "Official Sony VAIO_F Series i5/i7 owners thread *Part 3*"

1- It more user friendly & makes skimming through the thread much more efficient

2- I makes skimming through the search results much faster and also brings up more relevant results.

I was harsh because the question was do anybody like their F. Well some must like it since the thread is massive, not even including owners thread 1 & 2.

 

ok this is weird. I'm following the guide- and my system NEVER asked me if I wanted to partition- and it never asked me if I wanted to include the Sony Value Added applications. It just started going. I'm now restoring at 24%. Any ideas- did I miss something?

 

BTW- I'm using the Recovery Discs...

 

Edit: I just updated the article with the info below: Vaio_F Series Windows 7 64-bit Clean Install Guide Using OEM Recovery Discs.

Yes, you missed the links to kcirtaP & ajsuk F12_comments in red box, top of the article.

"To have more control I used the second entry called "Extras"". Here.

Check this esupport article:

I don't have a_F12 to try it but this esupport document says:

 

I've added more text to my previous reply including more on the partition.

Yes, it's difficult being redundant, but it's the nature of the beast here. Perhaps a sticky thread with the unification information would be a great idea? Completely separate from the owners thread?

Are you doing "Restore Complete System" or "Restore C:\"

Did you initiate the restore from VAIO Care, or did you insert your recovery discs, restart the machine and boot from disc?

 

I inserted the disc #1 and rebooted.

 

I just read JB's reply and looked at the comments mentioned here

You're process is very different from the F11, so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut.

 

I'm thinking about getting the F12 CTO but I had a couple of questions

Does the large capacity battery weigh more (is it bigger)?

And how long does it last say when

casually browsing/ word processing?

gaming?

These are my specs

* Large capacity battery
* Intel® Core™ i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
* 16.4" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
* No Fresh Start
* LED Backlit Keyboard
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
* CD/DVD player/burner
* No Engraving
* Adobe Bundle ($448 value.)
* Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)
* Gray
* Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
* Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
* 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
*

Might add the blu ray player or/and some more HDD memory

I'm an incoming college student so it will be mostly for class and homework with some casual gaming/movies on the side

Oh and any recommendations are welcome I'm trying to decide between this and a similarly configured/priced HP Envy 14 (which as of right now has lost its option for Radiance)

So any compliments/complaints from a current owner welcome

 

Hey, Joe Bleau,

What ODD enclosure are you using? eSATA powered by USB or AC or what? Sooo many to sift through online.

 

ok, so I assume I need to let this recover session finish- then re-start it again? Next time around I'll look for the 'extras' option- then hopefully that will allow me to format/tell it to keep the value add programs on the recovery partition, etc?

I'm at 75% and haven't rebooted once yet. It doesn't give you any indications as to what apps/drivers it's current installing- just a box with a progress bar. How will that change the next time I try this?

 

The extended battery is slightly larger physically, and is about a third heavier than the regular battery. With a roughly 7 pound laptop you really won't notice the difference though.

From previous user reports, casual use on the regular battery usually gets about 2 - 2.5 hours of use, and a little over 3 hours on the extended battery.

Gaming can produce wildly different results depending on the game and settings, but you should expect about 1 - 1.5 hours on the regular, about 2 on the extended. However, I doubt you will do much gaming on battery while in college anyway.

I too am a student about to head off to college, and I am very satisfied with my F. It is perfect for my needs. It has enough battery life to last through classes and I know that outlets are everywhere on campus when I need them. The laptop is also powerful enough that I can do whatever I want with it in my dorm room and am plugged in to the wall. The laptop is heavier than most students bring to college, but is no problem for me (and most students these days) because I have spent the last 4 years of my life toting 2 or 3 10lb books in my backpack with me all day.

EDIT: See pictures of the extended battery here.

EDIT 2: The same user posted " On my kitchen food scale, standard battery 11oz, high capacity battery 16.2 oz"

 

BTW- I can try to take some pics of each step in this process- once I figure out if I'm on the right track. Not sure if it's different, but my system came with Windows 7 Pro.

 

Well it sounds like you're pretty happy with it which makes me optimistic toward this laptop. And ya I saw that most people actually liked the angle the large battery creates and I could see why, I just wasn't too sure on the battery time. It sounds decent enough considering its an i7 and I won't be playing games while not connected so 3 is good enough for class. Yes I agree I'm used to the 3-5 textbook loaded backpack so 7lbs seems like a breeze. Thanks a lot

 

Samsung T260HD & T240HD Touch of Color HDCP woes - SlashGear

" We’ve received the following confirmation of HDCP from Samsung’s engineers:

'All Samsung Touch of Color Monitors and HDTV Monitors support HDCP through their HDMI and DVI connections. This is true for all Samsung LCD monitors, except for our XL30 and 305T monitors' "


The HDMI port is HDCP enabled. I would try a different cable and then troubleshoot between the source of the movie (bluray issue stemming from the laptop?) or possibly having a hardware issue with the monitor and defects in the monitor's ability to use its HDCP feature. Hopefully nothing is failing and perhaps it's just the cable...

 

Please do & PM me!!! Pro, Home etc, same recovery process because it's basically the exact same OS except for a few unlocked features that have nothing to do with the core of the OS.

I just updated the article with the custom info & screen caps, it's not called "extra" in the English OS:

Vaio_F Series Windows 7 64-bit Clean Install Guide Using OEM Recovery Discs.

 

Well- I *THINK* I did it the first time! It did a few reboots, then started loading drivers. FYI- the screen was BLACK with a white window when this process started - previously, during the entire restore process, the background was blue (like a desktop).

It completed the install, and rebooted, updated, rebooted, etc.

The forum won't let me upload pics- says they're too big. Essentially, I have hardly any programs running.

The Alps was installed and works-
Intel Control Center
Intel Rapid Storage
Intel Turbo Boost
A bunch of SQL Server entries
NVidia Drivers
Oasis2Service 1.0 from DDNi --WHAT IS THIS???
RealTek Audio
Vaio Messenger
WIDComm Bluetooth Software.

Your thoughts?

 

Maybe you missed the link in Mangosango's, my sig & in several others or never looked at post #1 on page #1 of this thread?

This said, we need a new one that includes the_F12. Melodymaster & I are working on it.

 

Then crop what is useless & re-size for web. 800 pixels wide max, 96 or 72 pixels/inch.

Some of us have slow connections.

 

I HAVE seen the links. A lot of good that does someone who starts at the discussion page and looks a the most recent posts, aka "last page", and works their way backward. I spent too many years having to "hold" peoples' hands during troubleshooting and searching to expect them to make the first logical jump. People need things drawn out for them. Less questions would arise as a result.

A sticky "compiled FAQ's and what not's". It will be the first place people look before hitting the running discussion.