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

Sounds just fine.

 

is it as brilliant as has been said, because the sound through my earphones is quiet even at max volume, that could means its the laptop.

 

holly when i use ear buds i cant put it more than 3/4 volume or its way too loud and i listen to music pretty loud not going to lie.

 

Has anyone tried digital headphones/speakers with their F? I've never used it on any PC, so was wondering how much better it sounds compared to analog. Is it worth it?

 

@ paingiver - I haven't, but I think the sound should be pretty similar to the analog out (minus any minor noise in the electrical signal that the sound card picks up from the cpu or hard drive activity).

If you are really picky about your sound, you will probably want a really nice set of headphones/speakers and your own DAC/amp.

For general purpose use, the DAC and headphone jack in the F-series is just fine.

Headroom offers a nice portable amp for ~$150 (on sale for $130 now: Headroom Total Bithead - Headphone Amplifier | HeadRoom Audio. You won't notice THAT much of a difference with an amp like this if you just ipod earbuds or any other cheap pair of headphones, but if you have a nice pair (like a good set of AKG's or Ety's etc).

It's a given that stuff will sound "better" if you have better audio equipment. The sound on the F-series is fine (the speakers are passable, but imo the quality of the signal for headphones etc is fine).

EDIT: The F's speakers get ridiculously loud omaroo, not sure why yours is so quiet... maybe the speakers burned out? heh

 

ok so when playing hon or sc2, my fan is at abotu 6000 rpm and temperatues usually 85-95. is this ok?

 

I've got my F13 hooked up to a couple of Roland digital 2.1 speakers via the optical out and they sound great!

 

I can't remember the fan rpm off of the top of my head, but your temperatures seem ok (a little bit high, but not too bad - is it warm where you are or are you playing on a carpeted or cloth surface? That may be why).

 

its summer but its only about 25 degrees inside and i was playing on a hard table

 

Elevate the rear of your VAIO on the end of a book or something, to let some air flow underneath and see how that affects your temps.

 

Anyone here with a EU/Asia F13 ? Can u please tell me how you find the overall screen quality ? New reviews seem to suggest that the F13 displays are quite worse than F11/F12 screens.
If the screen isn't great Ill get the Z
Please

 

i do and it really doesnt do much

 

Is there any news of an F13 refresh/ F14 coming out soon? Sorry I havent been following proceedings in this forum for a few months in case this has been discussed already.

 

Not sure about Asia but in North America is coming with the glossy screen and it's very good. Probably the best I have seen and I had a few laptops before.
Initially I was disappointed that it didn't have the mate European screen but now I like it more. Yes, it has a little bit of glaring if you have a light source behind u but the colors and definition are excellent. Since i got it tried to find a 24' monitor to match the laptop and no luck

 

Thanks. Nice to hear that you are enjoying the screen
Maybe the F13 refresh brought better panels to US but unfortunately EU/Asia models the opposite seems to be the case

Very inconsistent illumination apparently.

 

so mango do u suggest me getting better earphones as well as an amp to experience really loud sound. The sound is that loud especially when watching movies.

 

Would you say that (as an average Joe), I would notice a real difference between my old Creative analog 2.1 speakers and a set like yours. In other words, is it worth the expense?

 

avmaxfan, the EU F12 Model has really good screen, suprised its not the same with f13.

 

I'm really mad with Sony.

My VAIO VPC-F11KFX/B was working fine, no problems at all.

Today the Vaio Update Tool requested that I shoud install some updates. I reviewed them and found that one was related to BIOS and overheating.

Since the summer is starting in Brazil I decided to go for it. Made a quick backup of my files. And ran the update with the notebook connected to the AC adapter.

Followed all of the steps without any problem. Last screen prompted to click OK and shutdown the computer. Fine.

Shutdown and for my surprise DEAD as as BRICK.

No lights, no nothing. Hit the power and not even a led blinking.

Tried to make several things such as removing the battery, memory, HDD, CMOS clear, etc.

But NADA (nothing).

Any tips for this problem ? Or I will have to find a friend and ship the Vaio to US for repair ? Its still on warranty since its only 5 months since I bought it at Frys Dallas.

[]s

Max

 

it seems a bit high compared to my results. usually when playing hon or sc2 my temps are around 70ish

 

i know this is going to sound stupid, but my laptop always creek when i move it or when i push the screen back and fourth, as well as my arrow keys which creek alot. Why is this. Anyone have this issue, looks like it needs oil to fixed the creeks lol.

 

I know. F12 EU/Asia screens was amongst the best screens on any laptop.
Maybe Sony changed the panel supplier for F13 models ?

 

Well, my experience with the F13 EU screen is that in the beginning I was troubled by uneven lighting, but that straightened itself out. It seemed to be more a case of the screen having to settle.

 

The Vaio has huge feet so you really aren't going to gain a lot by elevating the machine.

 

Hybrid sleep means it sets a save state (eg, hibernates) but instead of shutting the machine off it just goes to sleep. If you pull the battery while it's sleeping or the battery dies or something, you can start the machine up and it'll restore from the save state.

Problem is, with a traditional hard drive it takes a long time to set that save state, compared to just sleeping the machine instantly.

Also, Sony was incredibly .. I mean REALLY cheap making our laptops, so the switch doesn't "know" when you open the machine, only when you close it. No matter what, you'll have to push a key to wake it from sleep (or the power button).

If they cheaped out on something like that, it's not hard to think about what else they probably cheaped out on.

 

I think the switch does detect your lid opening. For instance, if you turn off the "sleep when lid closes" feature and you close the lid, the screen backlight turns off. When you open the laptop, the backlight turns back on. I imagine that the same method of detecting whether the screen is open/closed can be used for sleep mode. IMHO it's simply sony's own tradition to not have the laptop come back from sleep when you open the lid. I like it, as it actually requires input from the user (aside from simply opening the lid) before powering on (my previous Z1 did this, and even older sony laptops I used to disassemble, repair, and recycle did the same).

As such, I'm pretty sure it was a purposeful choice to require user input before waking from sleep, and not, as you state, a "cheap" switch. But as you also say, the feature is not present (for whatever reason). I actually prefer having to press a key before the computer wakes from sleep, but I can also see how people would want the computer to wake automatically as well.

Also, unrelated but MASS EFFECT 3!!!!
YouTube - Mass Effect 3 Reveal Trailer - HD 720p

 

Well it happens. Messing with your bios is dangerous - I think you should use your warranty to get it fixed. I THINK there may be a way to re-flash your bios with a USB or floppy disk, but I don't know if this is true (maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment on this).

EDIT: Nevermind. Ha I should read more thoroughly. I guess you're out of luck if your machine doesn't even power on.. . Yeah I would call sony_and complain that one of their recommended updates bricked your computer.

 

does your fan go into jet engine mode when u play these like mine does?

 

Yeah "jet engine mode" is normal and is one reason why I can play all day long (even with a bit of overclocking!)and still be in the seventies. Mind you, its winter here in the UK and my flat isn't the warmest!

 

Well, I've been a long time lurker here. I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a CTO F1390 from SonyStyle.ca yesterday. There was a coupon for $300 off, so I couldn't resist. I've been following this thread for over a month and am aware of all the issues but, for the price range, I just couldn't find anything that really was better and also looked nice. It seems like every laptop in this price range has issues, it's kind of like a "pick your poison" decision. Will post my updates when the new machine arrives (eta Dec. 21, 2010).

* NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M GPU (1GB VRAM)
* Standard Capacity Battery
* 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
* Adobe Bundle(Free - $448 value)
* No Fresh Start
* 16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) Full HD
* Intel® Core™ Quad i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz)
* Blu-ray Disc™ Read and Write Drive
* Black
* Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333

$1449 - $300. Not bad...

 

i can assure you if you heard how loud my fan can gets you would not think thats normal , its ridiculous NO LAPTOP can possibly be sold like this

 

That's a sweet deal
Here the F is for more than twice as much

 

EmsteR I can see you have complained about the fan noise since your first post. Sorry to hear this is effecting your enjoyment so much. This is a warning to others. Sony has probably gone to an extreme in making sure this laptop stays cool- absolutely no problems with excessive heat. Now in my mind heat is one of the most concerning issues a laptop could have, and while I do not 'like' fan noise, to me the tradeoff is a good one. After you think through this consideration the obvious question is what else is out there that could do the job better. You can choose from Alienware, HP Envy, Toshiba Qosmio, Asus G73, Dell Studio 17 or XPS, Lenovo and even a Sony Z. When making my decision each of these other choices resulted in a lack of a certain feature or resulted in less money in my pocket. Before anyone buys a Sony F, you should understand this is an economically priced performance laptop. Everyone should look and listen to one before they buy. The vertical viewing angle is limited and there will be a sound of a fan in the background, easily kicking into high even when many feel it is not needed. When people comment within the thread there is no way of knowing if their fan noise is worse than anyone else. I would purchase again with no hesitation. For those considering, get up close and personal before you buy.

 

can anyone please anwser my question, as my arrow keys are creeking alot.

 

Well, they're not meant to creak at all, erm, unless you apply too much pressure! Like when getting carried away in a driving game and you tend to press hard, especially on tight corners or braking! If they creak under normal (light pressure) use, then maybe you've cracked something underneath.

Does it happen all the time, even when just typing or only when/if you play games or whatever?

 

No, i dont play that many games that makes me press the keys hard, i just use them normally, its more my up arrow key which is creaking the most, but still working, its kinda of annoying, as well as my whole laptop creeking when i move the screen or even the laptop.

 

Is there anyone who could help me about this please? I'm running crazy and I'm now searching for how I could get the CPU slower (which is totally ridiculous)...

 

Here is a detailed link to undervolting: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/235824-undervolting-guide.html and no I have not done this. Use Real Temp - CPU temperature monitoring and disable turbo mode. Battery power will throttle the CPU. Get a good quality laptop cooler.

 

Just installed the latest IRST driver 10.1.0.1008 replacing 10.0.0.1046

intel drivers pour Raid/Sata/Ata/Ahci

Very snappy. This wouldn't hurt you either jef.zapata.

 

WOW, I was just going to post about the new driver in both here and the SSD thread. I've been beaten to it in both places. Just installed it myself.

 

Mine did too. It went away after a while, but if it bugs you I would call sony_and raise hell!

 

Is the BIOS - R1120Y6 for all the F series.

 

R0280Y6 for my VPCF115FM/B US

 

mine is the f12, so i assume thats for the f12 as it was on the esupport page.

 

I'm certain this is a stupid question that I should know the answer to, but is this only useful for systems with SSD?

 

Thanks for the answer, undervolting is interesting, but I see that these will be handled by Windows and I'm an Ubuntu user...but if the heat and fan problem goes away, I will stay in Windows without any problem...

I will have a look at a laptop cooler, and I have tried to disable turbo mode which do nothing, maybe I missed something?

My best is to have to unlock the BIOS able to change CPU/voltage setting there, but Vaio BIOS contains nothing usefull unless boot option!

 

Stupid only if you do not ask. Driver is for our Intel inside. After you install check Device Manager>IDE ATA ATAPI controllers>Intel(R) 5 Series 6 Prot SATA ACHI controller>Driver and you should see the updated driver version 10.1.0.1008.

 

Fishon that driver you posted is it for all F series models.

 

Good for both i5 and i7.

 

I'll try it out tonight. It won't let me rep you right now so just saying thank you here.