Official Sony VAIO F Series i5/i7 owners thread *Part 5*

Hello, Folks

I've recently ordered Canadian F1390. Please welcome me to the club.
I guess I'll be hanging out here quite regularly from now on.

I'm a long-term user of Toshiba Tecras,
but here and now I could not resist the charms of the "Vaio F Series".
I think this is the best buy for the money around.

The only concern: how "matte" the 1900x1080 Premium display in NA/Canadian version really is?

They say it is semi-glossy, i.e. "glossy with anti-glare coating", and resembles the screens of the Z series.

Are there any people around who already have canadian/north american F1390's?

I'll have mine in a few days..

Cheers, Tichi

 

Hi Tichi,

I'm sorry I don't have time to provide input on your question. Don't know much about the matte screen anyway.

Would you do us a favor? And take a photo of your USB 3.0 ports? Dr. Lexus is arguing with SonyStyle.ca who say that the F1390 definitely does NOT have USB 3.0 when all other sources indicate that it does.

Thank so much!

 

Sure, I'll take a photo once I get the lappy.

Is there any way to measure the actual data throughput?
I do not have any USB3 devices, though...

 

Yes. You'll need a USB 3.0 storage device (hard drive or flash drive). You can then download a trial version of HD Tune (any other storage benchmarking software) and run the test to see what you get. Granted, an actual hard drive is going to max out pretty low due to its spin speed. USB 3.0 is much faster than an actual HDD can put through.

Hmmmm.... good question. Well, it definitely is faster than an HDD on USB 2.0, but I don't know how you'll be able to test for max throughput.

 

i can't believe its still a question mark weather canadian F13 has USB3.0 or not. Arent you supposed to know all the ports specs before you pay? On sonystye page (usa) it has all the pics and talks a lot about USB3.0 as super new feature.even 3 way ( sides, top, front diagam with dimensions, has right side ports labeled as 2x USB3.0. You have got to be able to know what you are buying before you pay purely off the web page you are ordering from.

ALSO > WHY WOULD CANADIAN F13s HAVE F12's MOTHERBOARD, OR BE INFERIOR IN ANY WAY TO REST OF THE WORLD'S F13s ??

It bothers me and i'm not even in Canada.

 

Welcome to the F series owners lounge Tichi! You will find lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here and I know you'll enjoy it! I've only had my F12 for two months now but I just love it and I'll be watching for your first impressions of the F13!

 

+1 )))))

Thanks! We will wait for the answer with pics from real canadian owner.

Thanks! Because sonystyle.ca wrote me that no USB 3.0 in F1390

 

Can I assume the USB 3.0 ports retro to handle non 3.0 devices?

Thanks,
-M

 

yes, it's part of the standard

 

What is the exact model number of your VAIO?

 

You shouldn't need to download them. Just install them from your recovery partition using VAIO Care. Or, if you wiped that partition, install from the recovery DVDs using VAIO Care.

Also note that you have a newer model than Joe, so the software configuration shipped with your laptop might be a little different than his. Meaning that some packages may have changed names or disappeared.

 

Atleast the Asian Fs now come with backlit keyboard. So I guess yes the european F13s should also have a backlit keyboard

 

I don't remember where it was in these threads but other owners have had the noisy key problem. Some have said that it wears away after a while and I believe someone posted how they fixed it. Maybe you can try searching the threads for this?

 

My model is VPCF12Z1E, i hope there havent disappeared. Guys have anyone experienced this with their screen, where when windows loads up, the screen is really bright, but then the brightness goes down, can anyone help me.

 

Try pressing S1 > Display > Automatic Brightness and uncheck it > Apply

 

what will that do mate, will it make my screen always bright.

 

It will prevent your system from automatically adjusting the brightness, so you can make your screen as bright as you want.

 

Will i be able to install the latest nvidia drivers , like nvidias Verde drivers , or i will be still stuck with the sony bloatware after a clean install?

 

Yes, you can install the latest nvidia driver. Just make sure to un-install your current driver first, and then install the latest. I installed version 258.96 on my F1290.

 

The NVIDIA driver is installed with the clean install, otherwise you would be stuck with an 800x600 resolution. You can download the most recent VERDE driver, uninstall the current driver, and then install its replacement.

 

does anyone know why the charger is so loose when i connect it to my laptop. it does charge but is kinda of loose.

 

I think you're alone on this one. None of us seem to have that problem. You should contact Sony tech support.

 

ok, its just the wire in the laptop where you plug in doesnt seem hard if u know what i mean, but it does charge thoough.

Can you help me with those programs im having trouble finding.

 

Haha, pwned.

 

Just received my US F13. Just booting it up now so no opinion yet, but I took a few pics. It's definitely a glossy screen as you can see. And I took pics of the ports in case anyone wanted to verify anything. Let me know if there are any probs viewing the pics as I've never posted pictures on here before.

 

Looks the same as my F12 besides the blue usb ports. Did you notice any faint whistling sounds coming from the fan port??

 

I recognized that Windows still writes a pagefile even though the mostly free 8 GB Ram, why does it do that? Surely this should be disabled? TweakUI has this option.

 

hi, thanks for pics.

is this Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)?

thanks

 

I didn't notice any fan noise yet but I should say that my windows are open and it's VERY loud where I live so I will have to wait until tonight to see how it sounds.

It is the Full HD - my specs are in my sig.

The Auto Brightness is off by default on mine so I haven't changed any display settings yet. I have to say, my 5 yr old matte Dell Inspiron 6000 has a much clearer, precise display. It's not something I'd send it back over of course but disappointing to compare them side by side. I will have to look into changing the color profile after I make the recovery disks, install my programs, and get it set up the way I want, etc. Hopefully, that will improve it.

 

You may have to change the brightness level in the power settings, even though the auto-brightness is off.. I think mine was only set to like 70% or something.

 

I looked and mine is at max brightness. I was really expecting the display to be at least as good as my old Dell. Maybe it's because I'm used to a matte screen.

Anyway, if anyone has any requests for info, let me know. And be specific about how to get it because I'm new to Windows 7 and to Vaios so it may not be obvious to me.

Going to make my recovery disks in about 15 minutes so I'll be off and on here.

 

Could you comment on the noise levels during regular/heavy use?

 

I will tonight. I can't hear anything right now because there is construction work going on outside my window. I mainly use my computer for research (usually have around 200 tabs of firefox open) and to watch TV/movies since I don't have cable. I've never played games online so would watching online video be good for judging heavy use?

 

Omaroonie - I can't easily find the Sony support page for your model. The UK/EU site is so different from the US site. Can you provide the link for the page for your model?

Pagefile is a default thing in Windows. I need mine because I have ONE game that demands for it.

To disable: Start Menu > right click Computer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced tab > Performance Section > Settings > Advanced tab > Virtual Memory section > Change > Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" > select No Paging File > SET > OK

Are you using FF4 Beta? I'm not a FF fanboy or anything, but it appears to have a super awesome tab management system.

 

I have not been but I might try it now since I've heard good things about it. I only had 5GB of disk space left on my Dell so I couldn't download any new programs.

 

Wow, that could not have been good for productivity.

 

i'm cool with glossy as it is much easyer to clean and its better protected from sharp objects.

i'm just concerned that it might have bad viewing angles because of it.

any comments on that?

thanks

 

I just got my two F13's as well.

I already made the recovery discs and installed the 8gb of ram and the 500gb momentus XT drive. I'm in the process of doing a clean install right now from the recovery discs.

 

I find, with it on my lap, that the best viewing angle is with the screen open as far as it goes. If I pull the screen forward to a more upright angle, it gets washed out. The side viewing angle, however, seems pretty decent.

 

is there a way to leave your internet on, because when i put my laptop lid down, the internet goes off and i lose stuff that im downloading.

 

Start Menu > Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what closing the lid does > You can decide what happens you you close the lid while plugged in or on batter.

You'll want to choose "do nothing" as it's most likely set to "sleep" currently.

 

thanks alot mate, regarding those programs on the previous page, i cant find them on vaio care, does that mean they dont exist for the F12.

 

No, it's just means that they're not in the Recovery Partition and/or are not necessary programs to have.

For example, my F11 comes with VAIO Care 5 and only gets updated for VAIO Care 5. I wanted VAIO Care 6, so I had to upgrade VAIO Event Service and downloaded VC6 from an F12 support page. It works perfectly fine.

You don't need the peripherals manager unless your VAIO is hooking up to different peripherals. Even then, Win7 is capable of managing that for you.

 

thats true, but i want the other programs like help and support and imagic effect.

 

Probably not compared to gaming, but anything you can add will be appreciated

 

You could run furmark

FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net

Its a stability testing tool.

 

cool thanks. I'm new to glossy too, and i have amazing dell 8600 1920x1200 15.4" now that is flawless.

as long as side angles are decent. I'm sort of excited about glossy though.

any word on that whining noise everyone is talking of, in your own opinion - coming from big Dell.

 

I got my F1390x laptop and it is wonderful and i love it so much .
I just need some help i want to do a clean install but i can't get the drivers of my vaio so can any one post it here for me .
and thanks very much .​

 

Unfortunately I wont be getting my choice of laptop in the F13 due to a falling out with a Sony_reseller who "lost" (clearly a driver stole it) the F12_I ordered, after waiting a while and contacting them through a hard process that fact was found out. I was refunded but cheated by them as it would have been financed and the account limit was reduced below the price of an F_series, the situation is now that I will not deal with that company again. To order something and wait for it, have it "lost" then get punished for their mistake by not being able to reorder a new one? Go figure. Not worth following up with any fair trading people just pretty laughable.

So now as a student I'm stuck with Dell being the only financing option, therefore an Alienware_m17x r2 being the only real choice they offer that is comparable ish (much better GPU) but god the chassis is beyond unprofessional and just downright gawdy! I thought my current 4 year old Alienware_was pushing it, but wow I'm wrong! So more likely than not that'll be the route I take, the Alienware_forums here could do with a little organisation lol..

I'll check in now and then on the F_owners lounge, have some great posters here, and damn throwing away all the knowledge I acquired on the F_series I really wanted one! Good luck all .

 

anyone got suggestions on how to limit the whistling noise, it does get annoying at times. Will Sony do anything.