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

Standard. Supposedly, you get up to an hour more with the extended. Here's what Sony says below, but mine only got a little less than 1.5 hours browsing the web with brightness at 50%. Maybe because I was using wireless? I don't know....

* Estimated Battery Life with Standard Battery (included)
* Default Settings: Up to 2.5 hours
* Max. Brightness: Up to 2 hours
* DVD Playback: Up to 1.5 hours

* Estimated Battery Life with Large Capacity Battery (sold separately)
* Default Settings: Up to 3.5 hours
* Max. Brightness: Up to 3 hours

 

I have F13 with i7-840 and on a full charge I have 2h and 30+ min for normal work and surfing, with the standard battery.

 

That's strange that with the 840 processor you get more battery life out of it. Is your profile set to Power Saver or just Balanced?

 

this is my f13 info,,core i7,,6g ram,,640 hd,,gt 425,,(1600*900)HD,,6 cell battery..

f13 review...every thing very good,,i hardly hear the fan all the day,,i just hear it while gaming,,but the laptop never become hot or warm its cool all the time!!..

the screen is good,,not very good,but not so bad like many users say,,its not so glossy and no big reflaction,,its just good!

battery takes 2 houres (browsing,copy and setup programs)in the pwer saver mode...

i just have (((((2)))) problems in this laptop,,1.the software is slower then my old laptop!!(when i copy,setup and open many files)and the start up takes((more than 2 minutes)!!
2.charging the battary takes 3.30 houres to full charge and thats soo lot!!!

any body have solutions for my problems i will appriciate that,,should i setup the windows again using the recovery???

thank u and(srry for my bad english))

 

hi there,
i got the F13 for Europe with i7 740, GT425, 4gb, 500gb7200 Hitachi, BR-RE Pioneer, no BL-keyboard, FullHD Premium display. I've got the F11 and the F12 bevor. All with the whing problem.

The F13 has also the whining problem but not so loud like the other. I am very happy with this nb but i got one problem. Wen the display is on max brithness theres no feep sound but wen the display dimms, i got a high pitch noise. what is that ?

regards,
V.

 

Besides performance another value is better battery life when you drop an SSD into your Vaio.

 

It's balanced mode. Maybe I was reading a few long documents so the activity was low. Normally I'm plugged. I will keep my eye on it next time and see if the numbers persist.

 

Your purchase included a 5400 RPM HDD which is on the slowest end of what is available on the market. A faster hard drive would greatly decrease the time it takes to open your programs. With my SSD, Word and Excel open in a split second, Adobe Photoshop takes about 4 seconds first time and about 2 seconds the next. You can get a small capacity SSD for approx $100 these days and you should consider. Also, SuperFetch in Win7 is adapting to your program usage and will decrease boot/load times over time by allocating RAM. And you do have 6GB of RAM which is a good thing. Concerning startup go to msconfig/ startup (use autoruns/ login it's better http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx) and disable Adobe, Java etc. upon startup. Go to Services and change things to manual- for the services you do not need.This guide really helps: http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm Also get rid of the Vaio non essentials. And sure, a clean install will speed things up. As for the battery question I do not know.

Tidbit: Microsoft offering Age of Empires III for 10¢ http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-CA/Games/AgeofEmpiresIII/ Somebody loan me a dime? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2veg14PKzxI

 

i am facing a new problem with my laptop.
after i recovered it using my recovery partition i noticed that when i start it up and it try to connect to a wireless coneection my laptop freezes ?
sometimes that happens and other times it doesn't and i don't know the reason ?

 

Problem is only with a wireless connection right? Make sure of this first. I would then go into device manager, network adapters, Atheros adapter, uninstall. Restart your computer and Windows will find it again. This may help. For some reason it doesn't come back, get the driver from your Sony esupport site. You also might play with SmartWi. I think it's the driver but others may think differently.

 

Which laptop would you buy if you have enough time?

 

For those of you considering swapping out your drive to an SSD prices are dropping.

Intel slashes prices on solid-state drives for holidays; adds 120GB option | ZDNet

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers...for-just-9999/4283?tag=content;selector-blogs

 

I have a problem with "YouruninstallerPRO".

I have an broken entry of "alps pointing device for vaio". I fixed it with deleting all the entries and when i re-open the program, it appears again.

What can i do? Pls help me..!!

 

Well I can't say specifically since my time machine is broken. But I would have other options in a few months for a few reasons. Sandy Bridge laptops should be coming out around then. This will mean not only those new laptops will be available but that existing technology laptops will be coming down in price.

My budget for a laptop was under $1500 including shipping, tax, everything. Because of where I live there is 10% tax on any computer I buy. On my Vaio, this prevented me from getting a Blu-ray player or more memory, etc. The config I have was the max I could get under $1500 when I bought it. My budget had no lee-way since I have huge doctor bills to pay off due to ongoing health problems. So, I didn't even look at more expensive laptops which I have heard good things about. Some of these laptops will be within my price range in a few months time.

Also, since I mostly like the F but my main gripe is the screen, there is likely to be an F14 out by then. (No, I have no information about this - it's just very likely in my opinion). I would've been willing to send back my F13 and wait (if I had been able to) on the next version to come out and see if there was enough of an improvement for me. I'm actually not very picky and not looking for perfection in a screen - I just want it not to be painful to use, like my current one is.

So, the possibilities are Sandy bridge laptops, existing laptops that would no longer be out of my price range, new laptops utilizing existing technology that manufactures would likely be offering at mid-range prices, or a new version of the Vaio F. Since I am a patient person, I would have no problem waiting till spring and seeing what my options were then. Worst case scenario I could still have gotten an F13 then, likely at lower price and with higher specs. But can't change my circumstances so I'll make due with what I have.

Btw, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from buying an F. I do think my screen is worse than most other people's from their descriptions. Most people are either happy with it or at least find it acceptable. A few of us got a raw deal it seems.

 

Intel® Core™ i7 Mobile Processor - Technical Documents

If anyone is curious there are technical docs which refer to our cpus the Intel core I7s.

I wanted to investigate the thermal protector of the corei7 and it appears to be pretty smart technology protecting these cpus in its sequence of action before a all cpu execution stop.

According to the data sheet the thermal trip mechanism the last line of defense before catastrophic failure of the cpu can reach a temp of 130 degrees c before the internal sensors open the trip pin of the core i7 mobile.

That is a pretty remarkable temp to rise too(I mean INsane) IMO to prevent destruction of the cpu. Anyways Its a good pdf read and the thermal section is in bookmark 6.8 if anyone is curious.

 

sorry for long reply, just had personal issues. Basically its a 1.10 gb 720p file at is 42 minutes long, pixels do seem weird at times. Quality is still really good, the darkness spots do happen at times.

 

Screen is most important part of the laptop for me. I am not a gamer but I spent a lof of time with laptop. Dell XPS 15 has a nice RGB screen but new design is horrible. I can't decide between MacBook Pro and Vaio F. I think that the better way is wait until next generation of F serie from Sony and update from Apple.

But I feel that in the new F serie (F14xx) display will be the same old Premium 1080p with the horrible angles and CCFL backlight.

 

That title "slashes" is so misleading. I paid $200 for my G2 almost 3 months ago, down from $220. Hardly fits the definition of slashing. LOL

 

If it's 1.1GB at 720p resolution and 42 minutes long, then it's not a good quality video. I've got a full quality blu ray rip that's 10GB, 1080p, and 50 minutes long. I've got DVD rips that are 5 or 6 times the size you've got for your 720p.

You're HD movies are way too compressed for you to get the quality you want. Try downloading a larger file or renting a blu ray movie so you can have something to compare to.

The movie examples you've given are not really HD in quality.

 

thanks fishon!

yes the hard is realy slow i plan to change it soon...

but how much time does it take when u charge your battery(full charge)???it takes 4 houres in my laptop now!,,my old one was 2 houres! i dont know if thats normal in f series or not....and wat about the battery care function?should i make it 80% and when im using the laptop without the adapter i make it 100%??,,,,,and the fan fast and noise changes so fast thats strange!,,sometimes the fan run fast without using any application ??
and wat about the power option in vaio control center??can i use the laptop on the silent mode all the time or i shouldnt do this(silent mode make me dont hear the fan)?

 

anseio i download 720p in full blu ray and each episode is 1.36gb and full season is over 36gb. Im just saying seems pixely but still really good.

 

1.36GB for 40 minutes is a good filesize if the person who did the compression/encoding did a good job.

---

What do you mean by "pixely"?

On most modern media players, the resizing algorithms are written such that the image isn't pixelated but rather blurred when resized.

This is why I asked whether the compression quality was poor or not, because compression artifacts can look "blocky" or "pixelated".

I will give you some examples of what I am thinking of:

Non-Pixely (non-lossy default FRAPS format)


Pixely (lossy compression. Encoded in virtualdub with x264 @ ratefactor 41.0 - very low quality)

 

Macbook pro definitely has a better screen.

In terms of color reproduction and accuracy I THINK I'm right in saying that both screens are pretty similar (after calibrating), but the mbp has a wider viewing angle and more even backlighting. The CCFL lamps in the F-Series have good white-balance though, so again the colors will be accurate after calibrating (unlike some lower-quality WLEDs, which give off a yellow-ish hue).

That said, the mbp is much more expensive for similar internal hardware. The sony is cheaper, but the screen isn't as nice out-of-the-box and the battery life in comparison with the mbp is laughable.

Both laptops are nice though, so it's up to you. The sony is better as a primarily non-mobile workstation (work at the desk and occasionally move around). The macbook pro is a better choice if you travel and work a lot (much better for long plane rides).

 

Hey guys. I'd just like to say first off that this thread has been absolutely awesome; really one of the most helpful resources I've found. So I bought a Vaio F13 CE here in Japan, and so I thought I'd share some of my impressions

Pros:

✓ KEYBOARD. This is literally the best keyboard I have ever typed on EVER. So awesome. Godlike keyboard. Back-lit = +++

✓ SCREEN. This premium grade screen is SO GOOD, especially after applying one of the colour profiles that I found here. (Thanks for those by the way) Matte = +++

✓ USB 3.0. Feels good to be on the cutting edge. 2 ports even.

✓ Dedicated media buttons. Since I've lived with laptops that don't have these buttons (one laptop in the past that had Fn activated media buttons), this is incredibly useful for me, especially since I use my laptop to play music quite often.

✓ Dedicated wireless switch. Seems like kind of a minor detail, but when desperate for battery power it helps to have a dedicated wireless switch to turn off the unnecessary battery sucking wireless connectivity without having to wait for the system to boot up.

✓ Sturdy build. This is one of the sturdiest laptops I have ever used. Very little give overall.

✓ Leather palm rest. Enough said.

✓ Japan only: FeliCa port. This is one of the coolest features of my Vaio! Amazing. FeliCa is a technology developed by Sony, and it's used here in Japan as the de facto electronic money system. It's basically a contactless RFID system, and the most prominent use of FeliCa is in our subway payment systems. Anyway, the Vaio F's here include a contact surface that can read FeliCa cards and you can do a lot of things with it, like logging into Windows just by touching your laptop with a FeliCa card, online shopping with your electronic money, and logging into websites just by a touch! Cool tech.

Cons:

Ⓧ TRACKPAD. The trackpad surface and buttons isn't the bad part, it's the MULTITOUCH SUPPORT. So bad. Why on earth did Sony use Alps?! And at least it supports some multitouch (although the side flick seems sketchy) but WHY NOT MULTITOUCH TWO-FINGER SCROLL?! Instead we get the ridiculous spiral scroll. SO useless. I even tried a workaround by trying TwoFingerScroll, a software that attempts to emulate two finger scrolling (obviously), but even that doesn't work. ASDFSDLKALASF

Ⓧ Speakers. Actually, I didn't find the speakers to be that bad, but you still get distortions at the extremes of the sound range.

Ⓧ Japan only: Driver support. The driver support of the Japanese Sony website is absolutely awful. NO drivers provided on the website. Good thing I backed up the original drivers that came with the laptop before I did a clean install... Or I would have wasted a massive amount of time restoring. I also had to resort to the US website for the various Vaio software (like the one that enables the Assist, S1, and VAIO keys) because the Japanese website DOES NOT provide them. If they do provide the drivers and software, I haven't been able to find them so far.

Ⓧ USB port placement + number. The USB ports on the right side totally get in the way of your mouse... Plus I can't help but feel that 3 ports are too little. 4 would have been nice.

I actually don't find the fan irritating or noticeable; a laptop that I previously owned - a Gateway - had a fan that generated double the noise the Vaio's does... And the Gateway had 1/3 the specs... LOL

Overall the pros outweigh the cons by a large margin, making this laptop an awesome purchase.

 

my fan sound and speed change every second when i play games or just browsing on the power saver mode..is that normal or issue??? (on balanced,power saver and performance modes)

 

What is the file type that you downloaded? .mkv .m2ts .avi what?

 

Well, I would say that if the fan speed never changes, that would be a much greater issue...

Joking aside, if the "fan speed change" you are talking about is a constant up down of the speed, then I believe that is normal for the F Series... I've seen that topic come up many times in this and past threads. I, however, have not experienced such a thing on my machine. (or don't notice it)

 

Hi i have a sony vaio f-series laptop 1390x and it worked normally ally the time but recently while it works normally it freezes without previous warning or anything ?
i can't know what's wrong or how i can fix that
Please help me to get to the reason
Notice that when that happen my laptop fan speed increase and it becomes noticeable ?

 

thx pentiumxp,,but the fan chang its speed and sound every second when i dont use the computer,,,now im just typing on the balanced mode,,the fan is not noise,,but i can hear it change its speed every second...is that normal also or should i reset the BIOS?????

 

Perform a system restore with a previous date and time when things were normal. Did you download anything in the recent past? Even a Windows update could cause something like this. Also try a different browser to determine if it is not browser related.

 

i did a recovery process 2 weeks ago and it worked fine and 4 days ago that started to happen without downloading anything that affect my laptop ?
and about the browser can it be a reason for that ?

 

I would not go about doing a reset of the BIOS. Not sure if you new computer came with the newer BIOS setting version R0280Y6 but go to your esupport website and see. If not, well then go ahead and update. My fan does fluctuate as well and based on what you are saying it sounds normal. Once every hundred plus times or so my fan seems to really run high and will not shift back to a more moderate level. When this happens I just restart computer, and all is well. Remember, this is a laptop that can do some heavy lifting and does stay cool. Sony maybe went a bit too far with the fan control but it's what we have. I think you will get used to it and your sensitivity towards this issue will diminish.

 

What i don't like is that it freezes i got used to the fan issue but when it freezes the fan speed increases to fast .
where i can find that bios information ?
i went to esupport and all found is drivers only

 

Operating systems, browsers and their addons, drivers, plugins, anit virus, java, adobe, all can cause your computer to freeze. I would also clean out all cache, temp files etc with CCleaner, run once in Safe Mode, make sure your memory usage is normal, see if new stuff has added itself to your startups. Run Malwarbytes and/or other anti virus scanner. Even remove and reinstall a browser if you have to. Time to check under the hood.

Edit: If you fan increases to high speed when your computer freezes, I'd say that's a good thing. If you do not see a BIOS update file you have the latest.

 

On an unrelated note, I have a quick question.

I read a bunch of posts and websites on this, but they all seemed to be old and so I'm not sure if the information is still valid... I'm just wondering if it's alright to mix and match RAM brands? The brand that my Vaio is using is some random brand that you can't purchase so I'm gonna have to purchase a differing brand. As long as the RAM bought is DDR3-1333 I'm assuming it's not going to be a problem...

 

medo r u from egypt?

 

yea from cairo
Why ?

 

Yes. For absolute best performance, I would recommend matching brands, but as long as the type of memory is the same (DDR3-1333) you will be good to go .

 

r u from nasr city??

 

i asked sony support they told me to reset the BIOS then i reinstall th Sony® Notebook Utilities...but i dnt want to reset the BIOS! this is my third day using the laptop!,,i can deal with this,,but im afraid if this decrease the fan life

View Document

Sony eSupport - VPCF136FM - Software Updates & Drivers

thats wat they sent to me

i also have a good option here..its in vaio control center..power options..i can make it silent mode and i will not hear the fan!,,,but i think its wrong to use this option all the time!

 

Matching brands, matching clocks and matching latencies are relevant for choosing paired RAM sticks

 

^ listen to these words of wisdom

 

If you do not know the latency in your memory (might be displayed on the stick), if I remember correctly this will show it. Will just default to the slowest latency between the two and you are just wasting your money getting otherwise.

CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Everest might show latency as well.

 

Hi! I bought a Sony VAIO F Serie in March. At first my computer worked fine. Then, I updated the BIOS (recommended by Sony) and after that, the fan is working all time at 100%. It's very annoying.
I live in Argentina and took the laptop to an official service, but they haven't found what the problem is and how to solve it.
Any idea? What can I do?
Thanks!

 

ihi aleromero01 i just reseted my fu* BIOS now the fan is louder and it still change its speed and sound every second!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : S : S

(thats happen on the power saver mode and i dont open,use any aplication)

 

Allow them to repair or replace. Post results.

 

Will somebody explain this a little better because i have tried all methods and have not got the 425m hack to work...maybe a youtube video?something please?i want to update to get the new 3d to tv deal to do stereoscopic with my vaio f series

 

Much thanks; yeah I figured latency would be important. I've got matching clocks and latencies but the brands are different... The ones my Vaio has right now are a really odd brand. Anyway I'll see how it goes once the RAM stick arrives.

Yeah CPUID definitely shows latency. Real useful program. ✔

 

Sorry, no video and no further instructions. I, myself, do not have the 425M, so was not able to get a step by step of how to install the driver. I just did the modification to make the VAIO F compatible. The only resource you have is from the posts when the mod was uploaded and from the two who got it successfully installed, but not without its issues.

Good luck!

 

You can use this silent setting, but you have to watch the temperature of your harddrive, because there is less airflow.
For me with an i5 (less heat) it is okay on the balanced power settings, but my hardrive gets too warm at performance power settings.