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

Thank you for the pointer. $37 incl. international shipping for a replacement keyboard is not bad at all. Actually for me in case of defective keyboard, it would be cheaper & more secure to get this & DIY replace then to ship my precious for servicing under warranty.

It's also available on fleabay.com here. I have this backlit thingy on my F & never use it as I don't like the light coming out from under the keys, just the illuminated symbols would be great.

I'm not sure I would pay $37 just to get the lights but OTOH you will have a spare keyboard handy. Note that the spacebar is not illuminated so don't panic after installing.



*****

 

Quicky question...when I ship my laptop back to Sony, should I restore it to factory settings, or will they care if I just completely reformat it and leave the drive blank?

 

Reboot & press F10 for secure erase data or don't if you have naughty photos for the tech's sake.

Edit: actually in Help they say recovery discs are needed to access the Wipe and Erase software:

 

A red pixel showed up and I can't get rid of it. Might be an excuse to get a new screen which would mean real love for the lappie. Has rowewray been around to discuss how the screen he ordered from Europe holding up? Any new developments in the screen area? Would love to get one of the matte screens. (Gonna search roweray right now. Hope I have his alias right.)

 

I'll make sure I place a file called "sony techs click here xxx.jpg"

No but seriously, will they care if the drive is formatted without an OS on it?

Otherwise I'm must gonna do a factory restore from VAIO's Care program or whatever.

 

Ah, smart micro! Anybody do business with them? Does this look like the screen Melodymaster (or Derrida) thinks so highly of?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SONY-VAIO-V...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2961d902

or is it this one -

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SONY-VAIO-V...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad97746d9

 

Man, this horse is now minced meat. Puh--leeeze go to page #1 for the link to the Official Sony_VAIO_F Series Owners lounge *PART 2* and search for roweraay.

 

How am I supposed to keep track of all of this data Joe. Some of us have to work for a living whereas others get to lie around the beaches of Costa Rica and contemplate their Vaios. You could just tell me which one is the preferred screen you know.

 

To my knowledge, only him swapped his LCD on a US F so far in this forum so find his posts for feedback, exact LCD model, inverter change & links.

 

Doesn't matter, they start over anyway..

 

It's gonna be a pain in the butt to wait for the F12 since I formatted my older laptop and nothing is on it!

 

guys does anyway know if the f12 will have a backlit keyboard in the UK and does it matter, also will the GPU be updated

 

Anyone got a service/repair manual for the VPCF11? I've looked briefly and haven't come up with one.

 

That never sounds good!

 

Never heard of backups or system image?

 

I was thinking about that. My dad told me about a free software he uses called Macrium Reflect. He does image backups all the time. Maybe I will back this up to an external and restore it on my ASUS. Not everything will be functional I assume because of the drivers and whatnot. But I'll manage.

The restore should work though right, regardless of different hardware configurations? Both GPUs are NVIDIA.

 

No, nothing is wrong, I just like to have the service manuals for my stuff if possible.

 

Except for my old Epson HX20 I've never found a service manual for any laptop or motherboard I've ever encountered, and I have contacts....

 

I have one for my HP DV6700 (now my wife's) which I got off HP's website. I also have one for my Toshiba A55 which I seemed to have misplaced. I found some for the older series Vaio's but I think the F11 is a little too new.

 

I hope you can make a sort of mini howto for installing the backlit keyboard.
Maybe I will buy it this as well, but I'm afraid I just don't have the technical skills to install it.

 

If you mean using a F system image on your brand X laptop: no it will not work.

Windows Backup is included in Win 7 and one can use it for full images & for only data backups. Why use "Macrium" and whatnot?

 

My F11 arrived yesterday, and I absolutely love it.

Not sure if it's because it is a late F11, but I have not noticed any real problems with it.

The fan is NOT always on. The only time it really even started revving up was while I played the sims 3, during which time I confirmed that holding down a key will still slowly slow down the fan. As per the previous discussions about this, I'm not worried. Not entirely sure what the whine problem is/was, but I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

There are some squeeky keys, but I expect that out of new keyboards, and as most people say, it'll go away.

As for the display- I am aware that most people here prefer matte screens, but new buyers absolutely need to try both. There are advantages to both matte and glossy screens, and which one you like is a matter of preference. That being said, the display is fine. About what I expected. Looks great, with the exception of one pixel stuck on red. Can't say it bothers me too much though, so I'm going to try ignoring it.

Overall, it is working perfectly. I will of course post here again if something does come up.

For reference-
i7-720
4GB ram
320GB (7200rpm) hard drive
BD-Rom drive
1600x900 display

 

Why will it not work? I know that drivers and such will be different and most likely Windows 7 will install them...but if I restore my F series HDD to my ASUS HDD...it should work since hard drives don't contain data regarding hardware.

 

ok few problems with my uk one

First of since I changed my hard drive to a ssd when I lower the brightness of the screen to last longer on battery, I can here a high pitched sound


second problem thats come up is the leather at the bottom seems to have come unstuck, so there is so a big lump of leather now

third problem is that for some unkown reason the left hand click button of the touchpad doesnt do anything now, will have to try a windows reinstall I suppose, see if that fixes it


Also fourth problem which was my fault, is the laptop fell of my bed and a cable was plugged in the port and sort of has broke the port, got this be the cause of problem three?



Gussing return to sony job? Im assuming there want paying to fix to port? thinking of getting a mac laptop now anyway


edit: ok for some reaseon the touchpad button is now working again

 

thank you for the tip sir, will give this a shot.

 

If there's a piece broken I'm sorry to say but I don't think they're going to accept a return.

 

sorry didnt mean a return, I mean a rma to get it fixed

or is that what your on about? sounds like you mean take it back to the shop

 

Where do you think the hardware drivers are stored? Your method will be an epic fail. System image is not just personal data, it includes the hardware configuration too.

 

I was just re-reading the unification post at the beginning of part 3 and I saw the "updated Bios" post.

Just for reference...I have had none of the problems others have had. My manufacture date is 4-10-10 and the motherboard manufacturer listed in CPU-Z is Sony. The bios is listed as American Megatrends version R0260Y6, dated 2-26-2010.

Perhaps this helps someone.

Bill

 

I received my F11 yesterday. I'm really loving it so far. The design is really nice; exactly what I was hoping for. It's got a "professional" look to it that I'm really drawn to.

The screen is really nice looking, in all regards (I have the 1600x900) and I think the resolution is just about perfect for me. The keyboard is excellent, and I really like having the number pad. Also, the backlight is really an awesome feature.

I haven't noticed any problems with it yet. No squeaky keys, no "Morse code" sound, no fan problems. The speakers leave a little to be desired (but I almost exclusively use headphones anyway) and I had trouble with a Bluetooth mouse and connectivity, but no real complaints from me.

This is a great laptop so far and I can't wait to play with it even more in the coming days.

 

I did not have any of those problems either. Then the squeaky keys came. First the space bar, then the enter key, then others. It took about a week of heavy use before the squeeking began and another 2 weeks before it went away on its own. I think that the computer is simply "breaking in" as they say.

Yes, I love this machine. I become more fond of it every day.

Bill

 

That's good to know, Will, in case I notice it. Now I won't panic!

 

I know that...obviously it would come up with a few errors regarding hardware that isn't found...but the new drivers can be installed, lol.

 

Hello again
It's been almost 2 weeks since I got my Sony Vaio laptop ( VPCF11LFX)

Everything works very well except the cpu fan is kinda noisy. I read here some tips to reduce the fan noise, reset bios.. but nothing worked.

Also I have a "problem" with sony battery. I charge it to 100%. I leave the laptop unplugged and nothing plugged all night, and in the morning if I open it unplugged the battery it's at 84%. If I plug it then open the laptop, it shows 100% ( at least one time I saw that). I did the calibration, read about it here.

Also a temperature between 50-53 degrees on all cores is good ? Once I got around 40 in a colder room, here is hot like hell

 

You may decide to run your Sony image in a virtual machine, i.e. VirtualBox

This link might help:

HOWTO: manage VDIs and import native installations (View topic) • virtualbox.org

 

Windows wouldn't even boot if are you going to restore your system image to another system with different hardware.

 

Hey all. I'm going back to school come September and have finally decided to buy a laptop. I'm looking at the Sony F1190 and I'd like it to not only be a laptop but a desktop replacement. A few questions though about it. What's it's battery life like? I need at least 3-4 hours. How does it game? Would I be able to upgrade the video card the an ATI 5870? How fast/reliable is the F1190?

I'll be using the computer for three main reasons. Schooling, building websites and gaming.

The specs I'm looking at;
CPU: i7-820QM
RAM: 6GB @ 1,333mhz
Video card: 330gt (upgrading to ATI 5870)
Hard drive: 500GB @ 7,200RPM
Disk drive: Blue Ray reader

 

Asking if anyone does a lot a scanning, printing and faxing that can recommend an excellent printer to go with 64 bit system. I am not looking for print quality but speed and without jams or errors. I currently have a HP 3050 which is an old workhorse. Never jams and pages never stick together. The copy machines repair techs tell me nothing is as good as the 3050 anymore. I don't want bloatware for a driver.Printer cartridge price is an issue as well. When I changed to 64bit with my new f11, the scanning is really slowed down. Any recommendations?

 

Did you download the win7 64 bit drivers for the 3050 and install them? Your scanning should not have slowed down. Usually the scan speed will slow down the higher you go for resolution and whether it's color or not. This should work just fine with your system. Check your scan settings.

 

Ot could be lik that: before new 64bit drivers you had for example 300dpi scanning resolution. After installing new drivers they went back to the default driver scanning 600dpi so its slower now. Check your settings.

 

Unfortunately, you won't be able to upgrade the video card as it is attached to the mother board. The 330gt is not such a bad graphics card however; a little better than average.

I did an entire week of research before I bought my laptop, and at the end only the Sony F11 convinced me. An Asus was very close, but I absolutely hated the outer design of it. You won't be able to find better specs than these unless you are willing to pay a lot more--perhaps if you wait for the F12.

By the way, where are you planning to buy your laptop, and, what resolution are you looking to get?


Hey guys, I have a few questions. Since I plan to do quite a bit of watching high definition videos and gaming on my laptop, I'd like to get a chill/cooling mat for my new F11. Do you guys have any recommendations?

Also, could someone provide a link, or explain proper care for the F11's battery?

I killed my HP dv380us' battery rather quickly as it was my first laptop, I was really young, and did not know the first thing regarding proper care.

 

This is my first post to this thread, I have been lurking around here for about a month. I had all the same questions you had when looking at this laptop, I went on a conquest to gain information about this and many other machines. The difference is that I sought out the information first before taking the easy route and just asking others for the answers.

If you need 3-4 hours of battery life, the f series isnt going to cut it. It games pretty darn well, you can see videos of it in action on youtube. You cant upgrade the video card because it is soldered into the motherboard. However, the f12 is coming out soon, and many of us including myself are hoping that it will come with an upgraded GPU.

Not trying to give you attitude, but just sayin ...

 

My first post too. Felt relieved after discovering this forum as i almost got the F11 last week. And today the F12 was available for pre-order at the same price! I'm from Singapore.

The difference are:

i7-740QM
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM
640 GB HDD

Same GPU as the F11s. I will still be getting it though.

 

Hi new Sony F11 owner , is their a guide to cleaning out the cooling system or a service manual , I have searched and i cannot find one for the F11.
Thankyou.

 

Hello, I was wondering if it is possible to get the latest driver for Geforce GT 330M on the F series, NVIDIA mentioned that the current latest one is not supported on Sony VAIO notebooks.

The 13% performance increase on games are mouth watering..

The latest one is 197.16, I would like to know the driver version of other Sony F series owners. Thanks.

Can't wait until NVIDIA releases one that's supported

EDIT: Another question, why is my RAM clocked at 664 MHz instead of 1333/1066/1033 like others :/ ? I never opened BIOS or anything, and it's new from official Sony dealer

 

I just installed 197.16 myself from the Nvidia website and got the not compatible message, all you have to do to fix it is copy this file "nvac.inf" over the one in the directory the setup/installer made at "c:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\197.16\WinVista_Win7_64\International\" and then run the setup.exe from that directory.

the inf file is attached below.

 

I paid $23 on Amazon for this. Although this is personally my first laptop, I have purchased and maintained many laptops for other peole. I always recommend laptop coolers and have tried several. This is the best I have come across. The fans are both movable and removable. I positioned each one directly under the F11 intakes on the bottom of the laptop. My F11 fans barely run at all and are only noticable during benchmarking tests. The Coolermaster U2 fans are completely quiet. I can hear a soothing "air flow" sound, but there is no mechanical noise at all.

If you read earlier posts, I have recommended this several times since my purchase. I use my computer as a desktop replacement and it is "always on" 24/7. The cooler has not been turned off for the 6 weeks I have had it and it is smooth and quiet.

I suppose anyone could get a bad one, but Cooler Master is a huge name in computer cooling. I would think that their fans would be state of the art. I know I have been impressed!

NotePal U2 - Cooler Master

Bill

 

Sorry, but is the file like a compatibility mod? Or was it NVIDIA's problem for the error? I just don't want to mess up anything, as im not very good with computers and I don't wanna mess up my new Vaio

 

I dont think Nvidia support Sony notebooks , so you have to use a patched info file to get the display driver to install.

Just download and extract the "nvac.inf" file and copy it over the original as i described above and you will be fine.

Or just stick with the stock Sony drives if you are worried.

 

You can install the latest beta driver 257.15 without the need for replacing any files.
It is the first official Nvidia driver with support for some Sony Vaio models.
The driver will get out of Beta and get certified sometimes next month.
See our own driver topic for more info
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-197-16-gt-330m-10de-0a29-14.html#post6287066
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-winvista-win7-64bit-257.15-beta-all.html