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

Guys, I am considering buying the new F13. How is the fan noise on this one? I like my laptops quiet. Thanks in advance.

 

Does anybody know if there is a difference with the f12 and the f11. 1600x900 res. Or the f12 and f13 screen same res.

 

Well, aside from the screen real estate, and the fact that blu ray movies will play in full HD, I'm sure there are some more technical benefits to the HD screen. As it is the 1600x900 is a great improvement over the 1368x760 (or whatever the res is). The HD is equally as nice an improvement.

 

Well, I don't have any personal experience to tell you but someone posted this thread: Fan noise

So, that's one person not happy with it but I personally would expect the fan to be louder than normal on this type of machine. I haven't heard it though to know what that actually means. But if you like quiet, I don't think a quad core laptop of this size with a single fan is going to make you happy.

 

The guide you wanted is here.

 

Quiet is relative, a laptop with an i7 and a single fan should make the user know it will be relatively loud, if they mean quiet by i7 standards then that's different. The F_series spins it's fan in such a way to try try and maintain temperatures well, so it will spin up a lot under load and may even be too loud for you on idle. From all my experiences with the F_series it isn't loud for me compared to the laptops of it's size I'm used to, improving airflow with a laptop cooler like the Notepal U2 or propping up the back of the laptop will reduce the work the fan has to do, and a clean install will remove some of the background processes that can cause the fan to spin up while idle. Hope that advice helps but do bare in mind as problems go temperature>noise and an i7 runs hot, but it has been said a few pages ago that with the new mobo the F13 runs a little cooler possibly, therefore less fan noise. Most users are ok with it, if you really want a very quiet laptop then it's probably not right for you, but see for yourself.

 

The matte 1080p premium screen is now out of my friend's laptop.

I find it is hard to believe that LQ164M1LA4A is able to encompass 95% of adobe RGB coverage. The myth about 100% Color Gamut is busted.

 

I did not issue the ban to JoeB but have read up about the situation. Once banned it is standard i believe that you cannot access your PM inbox. Also, discussing about someone when they are not here to answer for themselves and they might not want their personal information broadcast either is not a position that this forum really likes to take.

I can say though as this will continue to come up and that as JoeB has publically stated himself he was banned for 1 week but for ignoring multiple warnings. His ban has been made permanent by the lead moderators because of actions directly taken once banned that have not been detailed in the link. Hopefully, this thread can return to discussing notebooks.

 

That screen is glossy apparently and is from the FW_series. Links below,
LQ164M1LA4A Sharp 16.4" Full-HD (Glossy) (2 CCFL backlight) LCD Screens, (New) most screens $345 to $455
Sharp HD 16.4 Inch 2 CCFL Lq164m1la4a for_Sony_VGN-FW
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/464372-official-sony-vaio-f-series-owners-lounge-part-2-a-352.html#post6174495
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/278446-official-vaio-fw-series-owners-thread-282.html#post4463204

It's the glossy 2 CCFL lamp_FW series screen.

 

Its definitely loud at full load. At idle its not really loud so much as it is just very variable. My desktop PC makes a way louder wooshing noise but the fan speed is constant so its a loud wooshing noise that you can tune out to. The F series fan is harder to tune out to because its going faster, then slower, then faster again all the time, even if it is relatively quiet.

 

You will find two different versions of LQ164M1LA4A( Ebay Global /Alibaba).
Both matte and glossy screen are still available online.

 

Where.. I searched both and did a pretty thorough google search for both "LQ164M1LA4A" and "LQ164M1LA4A matte" all I found were glossy screens, many stating the FW_series as the laptop it's from. So yea, unless there was a picture of the laptop and the model number behind the panel proving that's definitely the model number, I'd be hard pressed believing it is. Not to sound harsh, as you took the time to post but still...

 

Mango, im really happy with the F12 so far, brilliant laptop. Mate please dont tell me to get F13, it hasnt got major updates that warrant me to update, plus i aint got pay couple of hundred extra. The GPU dont bother me and usb 3.0 also doesnt matter to me. I think the GPU in f12 is still gd even though the one in f13 is bit better. In regards to the fan noise its expected to be loud if its heavily used, im using it it normally and the fan noise is quiet for i7, so far the fan noise is really good, might get cooler in the future. I am also loving the leather palm rest looks sexy and feels good as well.

BTW, i have to send the F12 back for new one due to there being a dent under the screen.

 

I thought about selling up and getting an F13 but as soon as I saw the F13 prices, I figured I got a good deal on the F12 (I paid £300 less than the equivalent specification costs now and I got Windows 7 Professional).

What the hell right? Its all gonna be obsolete in a couple of months when Sandy Bridge makes itself heard anyway. Then 6 months from then its going to be Ivy Bridge. We can expect another round of GPU refreshes and Light Peak looks set to make USB 3.0 obsolete before it even becomes mainstream. This right here is the computer industry. You either buy now and get busy doing what you need to do or you keep waiting forever for the next big thing knowing full well that the next big thing happens every 3 months these days.

 

As Rachel said, stay on-topic in this thread please. Joe B is gone permanently -- as helpful as he was, we can't have someone repeatedly ignoring basic forum rules and offending members.

The issue is now in the past, let's put it behind us and move on.

 

Sorry to hear about that . I was going to suggest to check whether the lock was in place, but it sounds like you have already done that. I know this is a really makeshift fix, but until you get your new mbp, you should try taping the battery in place so that it doesn't wiggle around. Atleast you can use the laptop until you get something new.

I doubt that Sony will reimburse you (they will probably only offer to fix it for you). One thing I may recommend is calling the support line at a later hour (If you are in the US sometime after 5pm or so should do), and you will get re-routed to the Philippines hotline, which I found to be much more helpful. Personally, I've had a good experience with Sony support. Anyhow, I sincerely doubt that you will get a refund for your computer (if anything, they might give you points or something towards another Sony product). Actually, maybe if you're really good at smooth talking, maybe you can convince the person to give you a refund . But I doubt that they will.

-------
This is on a biiiiig tangent so you can ignore this (I've bolded the info that I think you might be interested in):

Its weird, many people say that Sony support is terrible, but I've had a pretty good experience with Sony support - they've replaced my keyboard once for free (even after I had popped all of the keys off to try and fix the keyboard myself) and now they're sending me a new hard drive for free. Can't argue with that.

Support is a mixed can of worms though. I suppose it depends largely on what representative you get, whether you have a warranty or not, what day of the week you make your call etc. From what I hear, Toshiba has pretty good support.

Here is a good article about support hotlines (its about the ASUS support line, but its pretty much applicable to any support system): 10 Secrets To Getting Better Tech Support From Asus - The Consumerist

One word of warning about Apple support though: Buy AppleCare!. Without it, you are pretty much helpless if anything happens to your mac. And even under warranty, Apple is very fastidious about making sure that whatever is wrong with your laptop is absolutely not your fault. For instance, taking apart your mac will result in a void of the warranty (its hard to do anyway, so I guess thats not a huge problem). Spilled a drink on your keyboard? Apple has special paper they put under the keyboard to make sure that indicates whether that happens. When I had my keyboard replaced, it very well could've been because I had spilled a drink on my keyboard (a liquid could've shorted out the circuit that controls the keyboard matrix), but they did it no questions asked anyway (repaired within 24 hours). Personally, I haven't had to work with Apple support, but many of my friends with the last generation of macbook pros have had some issues with them.

Anyhow, I really am sorry to hear about your problem (nothing more annoying than dishing out money for a new computer an having it constantly die on you) and I hope you atleast get it fixed. The mbp is an awesome computer should you choose to go that route (I am eyeballing the macbook air right now, but I've heard rumors about an 11" version of it coming out in the future, so fingers crossed ). Good luck!

 

We have the same mobo chipset with vpcf13 can we upgrade cpu and gpu?

 

You can change CPU anytime you want, it's chipset-dependent. Unfortunately, changing GPU can't be done, you would have to change whole mobo.

 

guys everyone has their opinions, by reading what people have said its a brilliant laptop witb obvious few weaknesses like ALL laptops, but imo the f series is one of best all round performance laptops on the market. Im really happy so far apart from the damage, which will allow me to get a brand new one.

 

Pity that Joe could not comment on omaroo finally getting his F12 (but I believe omaroo was on his ignore list anyways....)...

Anyways - I will be waiting for the F15 before I need to upgrade my F12

 

I've a F11, it came with a 5400 RPM 500 GB HDD, I changed it for a WD 320 GB 7200 RPM and my boot time reduced from 2.15 to 1.30 minutes. So saying that the difference is almost neglectable is incorrect. For me it made my laptop a lot faster, not only booting is faster but also the start-up of programs is faster.

 

jasweb great post, i aint got upgrade for a long time until something MAJOR. That wont be for a LONG time, this high end awesome laptop will keep me happy and ecstaic for long time anyway alongside my great PC.

 

Not all hdds are born equal which is why Scorpio Black is faster than pretty much all the other single hdds, including other 7200rpm drives from last year. See notebookreview's comparison of the Scorpio Blue and Black and you'll notice that even the 5400rpm Blue is miles faster than the Toshiba hdd and not much behind the Black.

It has less to do with how fast the platter spins than the whole design. Then theres installation issues. If you fresh installed on a new drive you are going to see an improvement in boot times and app loading on the same drive for instance. Especially when its before you start adding to the list of startup services and processes.

 

Hey, even after more than 5 months of heavy use, my old Indillinx Barefoot controlled Crucial M225 256GB SSD boots completely in under 33 seconds.

 

Hi stevievg - hope all is well and you are enjoying your f13 - how is it? Now that you've had it for a few days how are you finding the fan noise - under stress, medium load and idle?

Thanks

 

Does anyone have any idea what this program does?

 

The first comment isn't true - I just got several "known problem" parts in a 3 year old MacBook replaced out of warranty for free (and I did NOT buy AppleCare for that machine). Aside from my first machine, I've never purchased AppleCare on any of my Macs and oddly enough, I had the worst problems dealing with Apple on that first one xD Oh, and the MacBook was fixed overnight (ready 8am the next morning), can you say that about Sony? I don't think so.

That said, AppleCare doesn't cover accidents or theft (it's not insurance, it's just an extended defect warranty). Thus, if you spill a drink on the machine it's not covered unless you go buy accident insurance from someone else.

It would be pretty stupid to expect any manufacturer (Sony included) to fix your computer if you spill something in it, unless you buy accident coverage from them. [Or in the case of Asus, it comes with the machine in some cases.]

To date I've had 8 macs in my household (2 PowerMac G4s, a PowerMac G5, an iMac G4, a regular iMac, 2 MacBooks and a PowerBook G4) and they've all been just as good, if not better than the 2 Sonys I've owned (one of the first Vaio towers and the F series).

While the case from my PCV-70 is long gone, the motherboard/cpu/ram/power supply still work pretty darn good 13 years later. I randomly plug it into my TV these days to play old games.

Kinda sad that Sony killed off the Vaio chime sometime in the late 90s (I think lol). It sounded a lot cooler than the Apple chime.

 

Has anyone used the VAIO Gate software yet? Any opinions on it? I just went ot the F13 support page and installed it onto my F11. Seems kinda nice. I like that I can't accidentally make the launcher drop down and have it get in the way of things.

Sony eSupport - VPCF1390X - Software Updates & Drivers

 

It distracted me when I first got my computer so I turned it off. I guess I never knew what it really did. I just turned it back on to fool with it for the next couple of days to see what it does.

 

Perhaps, but IMO with any big purchase I would buy the corresponding warranty. So when I say buy AppleCare! What I mean is, make sure you don't screw yourself by not buying the warranty - I didn't mean to pick out Apple as a single entity (as in, I didn't intend to say "you don't have to buy Sony's warranty, but you have to buy applecare!!"). Maybe I came across as too apple-negative; I really don't have anything against macs (really, the imacs in my computer lab just saved me 9 months of precious data - if anything I LOVE them right now).

Also, its not like Sony support is really, really terrible (unlike AT&T). Again, in my experience, in under 24 hours Sony actually sent a tech to my house to replace my broken keyboard and now they're shipping me a brand new hard drive for free? All of this - no questions asked, just by calling them and explaining my situation (and of course sounding really panicked ). If any company did that for me, I would be extremely happy with their efforts. I guess you just have to get lucky or know how to deal with the support system .

Good! I'm glad - I never intended to suggest that Apple products were somehow inferior or of poor quality - they make good products. My ipod video (the old 5G that came out in October '05!) is still running strong after 5 years of heavy use, and my sister's equally old macbook works after going through hell and back (its been dropped out of a bus and been abused in more ways than I can count and it still works fine).

Yes!! Actually, I think it was only recently removed because my z1 (from 2003, I think?) had the chime (I think its V-A-I-O being tapped out on a phone or something). Anyway, I was disappointed that it wasn't on my F when I turned it on. Boooo. Actually, maybe its a good thing its gone because I used to feel like such a bag turning it on in a quiet library. *silence* then *VAIO LOGO SOUND!!!* Haha I would get death glares from the people around me.

*EDIT*

Oh, that looks interesting. Rocketdock and xWindowsDock are also good launcher programs. Launchy is also a very useful keystroke launcher (you hit a predefined hotkey and type in the name of a program or shortcut and it automatically find the shortcut as you're typing). If you really want to play admin and customize your computer you could go for an alternate shell like Litestep or Windowblinds, but thats usually a little extreme for most folks.

Bah ok I've written to much. Back to work...

 

It's kinda nice. I like to access things in as few clicks as possible, but don't want other things in the way and cluttering. I tried RocketDock and wasn't impressed. Not to say it's not good, just most of those things don't do much for me. VAIO Gate seems nice cuz it's out of the way, so not easy to activate. You have to click the green and either wait for it to drop down or give a quick little "tug" on the arrow and it drops down. That will free up my taskbar a bit.

I'm slowly becoming more and more ok with my RAM being used. LOL. Finally installed PMB (picture motion browser). So far, I like it a lot. I've got over 100 rolls of film to scan in and it will be nice to be able to tag and sort them and also have them linked directly to PS3 to open in one click.

You're right, those other ideas are too exreme for me. I guess if I had a business and a personal use, it would be awesome.

 

I might try putting all my desktop icons in it and see how it looks and feels. For me it will be all or nothing. I've used Rocketdock in the past and it seems similar.

http://www.sony.ie/hub/vaio-software

 

I'll agree with everything you said mango

As for Vaio Gate, haven't used it yet. Random thought on that note though: Before VAIO gate, there was VAIO space!

Although Mango, maybe the chime changed - the one on my old Vaio has more than 4 notes (IIRC, it's more like 6 notes, and they sound nothing like a phone tone) lol.

 

:smile:

Heheh, if you will allow a bit of teasing, you spoke the Queen's English before getting the F12, now it's all misspellings and atrocious grammar. Givin' the noggin a rest and abandoning the world as she is now that you can dive into VAIO-Land??.

Anyway, why did you wait? we all TOLD you it was a good laptop..

 

That model sold on Sony's website new for $1569, so $800 is a great price.

The HD display on the F11 was not without its issues. Do check for bleeding/imbalance with the backlighting and make sure there are no stuck pixels. There's also the possibility of a sqeaky fan or some kind of fan noise.

Visit The F series owners thread #3 of our continuing discussion. It has many posts about the F11. You won't find much about the F11 in the 5th thread cuz it's all about the new models, not the ones that are 6months old. hahaha. It's just impossible to keep up with technology.

p.s. - get a good laptop cooler, like the one mentioned at the end of my signature. The VAIO does a fantastic job in keeping cool, hence the fan noise. A cooler, like the U2 can really help reduce the fan's workload.

 

Completely agreed, but The faster boot time is measured with an exact copy of the system from the old HDD and not of an fresh install.

 

Look for posts from a member Joe Bleau. I think he had your model, or very close to it. He's got a bazillion posts, but is no longer part of the forum. He spoke very highly of the machine.

Pretty much, depsite whatever shortcomings, you won't find any of us here who would tell you not to get it. If it's a genuine good deal and there have been no problems with your friend's VAIO, I'd jump at it.

 

Dear all,

I trust all is well.

I was just wondering if there were any F13 owners out there who could comment on the fan Noise. I know its still quite new but I see a few people have got theres?

Any help would be much appreciated

Many thanks

 

My F11 is fantastic. If you look for my posts you will see how I feel about it and why.

A quick synopsis if you don't want to read...I bought seveal for our church. I liked them so much I bought my own to replace a desktop. I never liked ANY laptop until this one. The keyboard is one of the main reasons I bought the F11. My computer has an SSD and in June was benchmarked as the 2nd highest scoring Core i7 laptop on a certain benchmarking website...out of several hundred listed. I bought all of the hardware upgrades except BlueRay because the Blueray disk was noisy at the time, and I have never wanted it...I watch disks on my entertainment system, not my computer. Buy all of the memory you can. My HD screen is PERFECT! (although not all are equal to mine).

Joe is gone. Search for Melody Master, Mangosango or me. You will get a good feel for the F11.

 

Hey, my bad. I didn't know it would search that way. Willscary gave a better reply. So.... what he said.

 

I think this was never issued before: Does the F12Z1E European premium 1080p screen have the double lamp technique?
The advertisements were relatively restrained, saying only: "Newest Vaio Display Technology", instead of "Double Lamp X-Black Adobe RGB 100%" this and that. So I wonder which of these features the F12 screen actually has.
Also, I read something about that the manufacturing partner of Sony changed during the model, and the screen specs changed thus?

 

To those people who have the U2/U3 cooler - does it fold down to be transported? I am thinking of buying a U3, but I want to make sure I can fit it on my backpack to take on the plane.

 

My U2, which is smaller than the U3 does not "fold down". It is designed, however, for the fans to be removed and the laptop to fit into the groove on the underside so it can act as a laptop protecter. The VAIO is the perfect snug fit and it does travel well, in that regard.

 

On the first point the EU premium matte screen is X-Black, dual CCFL, "Adobe 100%", 1920x1080 (16:9) and matte finish.

On the second the US glossy 1080p screen on the F11_F12 were all Sharps AFAIK so I'd assume the matte screen is either from Sharp or Sony. That is if Sony still make any panels in that size anymore, information on the matte screen is sparse. I doubt the specs of the screen changed during the model run but I could be wrong. Anyway no matter all the matte screens have been praised so don't worry!

 

Anyone have an idea on this?

 

Can you link to the program again, please? I don't remember what you posted originally.

 

It's called VAIO Window Organizer. It's in my downloaded programs. Recall my computer came with a fresh install.

I read someplace else the VAIO event service was removed by someone and their Assist and S1 buttons failed to work. If anyone can shed light on the VAIO DVD menu data or setting utility series as well. Just looking into all the VAIO software and determining what is needed ( by me) and what is not.

 

Okie dokie. Here goes:

VAIO Windows Organizer - allows you to set your S1 button to "organize windows". Pressing S1 will then TILE your windows so you can see them all. Pressing again moves them back to original configuration. Uses about 1.5MB of RAM in the background. I don't really need it, so I did a system restore to remove it after I tried it out for you. Windows+Tab makes me happy enough

VAIO Event Service - is an absolute must have. It enables your Fn keys. So brightness and volume can onle be adjusted from the keyboard w/ VES installed. It also allows your ASSIST, S1, and VAIO buttons to launch their respective programs. So, VES is necessary for day to day function.

Setting Utility Series - this is the content (meat and bones) of the VAIO Control Center. Pressing S1 defaults to VCC, if it's installed. VCC then needs SUS installed or you have little to no options once VCC is open.

I'm going to speculate that VAIO DVD Menu... applies to the VAIO Media stuff that I have no interest in. You're on your own for that one.

I recently installed PMB (picture motion browser) and some of its related components as I have about 200 rolls of film I want to scan in, now that I have the storage for it. I'm liking it. It runs fast, animates well, and I can tag/label the photos and then quicky sort them by those labels. Was able to add a link to CS3. So, with a photo in view, I can press the CS3 icon and it opens up with the image inside ready for editing.

p.s. - VAIO Messenger? no one knows what it does. It's effectively useless to me. I never include it with my clean installs.

 

Just uninstalled VAIO Windows Organizer and VAIO DVD Menu. Thanks for the info and going the extra mile with a system restore!

 

Oooo even better! I think I'm going to go for the U3 (iirc the vaio hangs off of the edge of the U2 by a little bit and I'm OC enough for that to bug me haha). You can position the fans where you want them, correct? I was going to go for an nzxt or zalman, but as cool as they are they didn't seem very portable.