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

Speaking of wide spread, I kept a list of who reported/mentioned/… this “grey bar/line on the bottom of the display” problem, so I thought I share it (I did some quick search to add the links).

So far this problem was ‘reported’ on 10 EU model notebooks:
- on VPCF11Z1E/BI by alpha1010 (visible on youtube video starting at 0:40)
- on VPCF11? by orfeas16speedy (in the comments of the above mentioned youtube video)
- on VPCF12 by omaroo
- on VPCF12Z1E by terhox (not repaired by Sony: product within specification)
- on VPCF12Z1E by dan smith
- on VPCF12Z1E/BI by ZPerf (the notebook had another problem which was not fixed by Sony repair -> notebook was returned)
- on VPCF13Z1E/B by Shiddo (LCD was replaced by Sony. The new one shows the same problem)
- on VPCF13Z1E by ioamere (if I understood right, he mentions that he has the same problems as Shiddo)
- on VPCF13X5E (CTO) by ZPerf (LCD was replaced by Sony. The new one shows the same problem. Escalated the problem -> product within specification)
- on VPCF13Z1E/B by juso

There is a similar problem on Toshiba Qosmio X500’s TruBrite display, which is also considered normal (a 'limitation of the technology') and not a display fault:
Toshiba Support Forums: Dark line at the bottom of screen - Does it effect ALL Qosmio X500 ? ( link reported by terhox )

Sony's official response:

Solution: Contrary to what Sony states, this problem is due to the faulty LCD display (manufacturing problems?, lack of quality control?, or just plain cost cutting? …). Some people have it, but many people don’t – that’s quite a selective ‘technological limitation’ don’t you think? Because Sony will not repair it, the only solution is to return the notebook while you can, and buy another one! Keep repeating this till you receive a good one (or go with another model/mark). Don’t make the same mistake as some of us did and hope that Sony will repair it!

 

If you mean to switch back from a color profile you added to the default one, then reverse the process described by slrosenfeld: Instructions for setting up the screen and installing the profile.
Depending on what you want to achieve, you can restore the Sony profile as described in the above link, or you can completely disable by removing the profile(s) from the list mentioned in step 10, and uncheck the "Use Windows Calibration" mentioned in step 11.

 

Very nice indeed
Thanks.

 

zperf, before I say anything, I just want to thank you for all your help, at the moment I am really stressed with uni and now this problem. So are you guys suggesting I should take a normal screenshot as well as one and paste it in "paint" and to send it to Sony themselves, or have I misunderstood.

By the way my model is VPCF12Z1E.

 

What ever happend to Joe Bleau?

 

I think you are misunderstood.
If you put a gum on display and then make a screenshot by button PrtScr and paste it in paint you will see... a MIRACLE! Gum dissapeard!
Now seriously: take a photo camera in your hands. Make a photo of all screen (including bottom part where is a model number VPCF12Z1E).
And sent A PHOTO of it. In JPG format. Also if you still have time to sent laptop back - do it and forget about sony f. If it happens to me once I will go buy another brand and thats all. Service support which says that gray line is not a malfunction is not a service

 

James thanks, but please dont try to be sarcastic and try to stress me even more. Well I cant send it back, and to be fair there is not one brand out there that I would get apart from Sony, so that is out of the question.

 

My model is same as dan smith, it is VPCF12Z1E.

It's really strange that newer F13 models also have this problem. Where is quality control here?

 

Hi everybody!

I just wanted to let you know that after six months of looking for what it could be a good laptop for me and a short adventure with a Lenovo T510, I just bought myself a Sony Vaio VPC-F13M1E/H from a local store. I was looking for something else but they had it on a shelf powered up and running so I took a closer look and then I said 'why not?'. I've been testing it for two days now and I can say I like this thing. The keyboard is awesome and the overall build quality seems very good. Also it runs pretty cool and it is quiet. The screen is a FHD glossy type display and it is a good screen but I would have preferred a matte screen instead.

I have a few questions regarding the reliability of this F series. The computer seems solidly built but maybe more experienced users could tell me if there are any weaknesses which I should keep in mind. For instance, I noticed that the power connector position is not very firm in its slot, it has some movement. Also, what can you tell me about the hinges? Their design looks cool but are they durable? So if you know about any problems this computer might have, please let me know (before it's too late, hehe). Of course, if you have any questions about this particular model please ask and I'll try to answer.

Oh... one more question... any idea about what I should do to force the cpu (i5 560M - max. 3200Mhz) running at full speed? I tested it with prime95 and with deep rybka 4 64bit and of course I set everything to high performance and I also tweaked the advanced settings (cpu min. 100%, max.100%), but the highest value I saw was 3059Mhz when it idles. If I start a HD movie or rybka, it goes down to 2926Mhz. The bios settings are untouched. I am very happy with the performance of the cpu and of the system in general but I would like to see at least once this cpu running at full speed. Any ideas?

 

What about the f13 premium displays on the US models? Are the 1080p screens worse than the 1600x900 non-premium displays on these models as well??

Just ordered another F with the premium display, hopefully i wont be disappointed...

 

dan smith - James D was not being sarcastic. He was giving you a funny, practical example of the differences between the shots you've been asked to take. If... for instance... the problem with the screen is backlighting related, then taking a screen capture and pasting into paint (not full screen) will NOT show the grey line at the bottom. That's why you also have to take a picture with a camera to show how the lighting is the problem. If the problem is software related, then the line will show up when you paste into Paint.

I'm curious as to why you'd want to keep the CPU running at 100% at all times. This is was TurboBoost is for. It allows the CPU to push hard when it needs to, but not when it doesn't need to.

There are registry tweaks you can do that alllow you to alter more processor states in power settings. Search for the JJB Tweak. It was intended to improve SSD performance, but does so by altering processor performance.

From what I understand with TurboBoost, an individual core can boost up to its max, but if multiple cores are maxed, they do so at a lower frequency. Again, with the design of the processor and with TurboBoost, you should have to worry about keeping it maxed out at all times. It seems superfluous. Unless... I understand you wrong.

 

Hey guys, im looking for a portable laptop charger that does NOT need to be plugged into a wall socket to charge the laptop.

Basically, i REALLY NEED something similar to this just preferably more compact.

PowerSource Mobile 100 | Portable Battery Charger | Duracell


Can somebody please help me out here and point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks for your reply. I somehow understood that TurboBoost can boost both cores to a higher frequency(edit: wait... maybe you're right; so one core goes to max but both cores a little lower - maybe that's the case...). Anyway, I didn't say that I wanted to keep the cpu running at 100% at all times. 2900Mhz is plenty fast but I just wanted to see it reaching its maximum speed at least ONCE. I would like to see that it can do 3200Mhz - its advertised maximum speed. So far the highest speed measured by cpuz waz 3059Mhz for very short periods and it usually sits around 2926Mhz.

 

95 degrees playing hon, if i gave sony a call what would they prob do?

 

I think the idea was to take a screenshot and paste it into paint and then post that picture here. If the grey line is still in the screenshot then it could be a software issue, but if it is not in the screenshot then it most definitely a hardware issue.

 

anseio already hit the nail on the head but I will also answer-

The power connector does have some play in it and this is normal for them. The hinges make a creaking noise when using them and this is normal too. I have had my laptop for 1 year and 2 days and I haven't had an issue with the power connector or the hinges though I unplug and close the laptop each day.

The only way the CPU can run at it's maximum speed is if it is only using 1 CPU Core so if the program you are using is taking advantage of more than one core then you are better off anyway than using one core maxed. I don't see any reason for needing to max the cores when playing an HD movie as it is not necessary and all it adds is heat to your laptop. I would suggest using just balanced for the most part and not force your laptop to run maxed all the time when it is not needed. You will certainly gain a lot of heat by running maxed out and get a lot more fan noise. I do have an i7 cpu, but I can play HD video or blu-rays just fine even when at the slowest speed of 931mhz so I don't see the need to force high performance. For the most part balanced is the best option as it allows the cpu speed to drop to it's minimum and go up to it's maximum and also anywhere in between. To see the cpu maxed out on one core you probably are only going to see that with a benchmark program that lets you select to use single core such as Cinebench.

 

Thank you very much for clearing things up. I admit that the cpu has no problem playing a HD movie even at a lower speed but maybe I want to do something else like playing chess or some game. In fact I was just curious to see if it can stay at 3200Mhz for some time in order to make sure it's not a throttling issue. Right now I'm testing this system and I just want to see what it can do.
I will try to use rybka (a chess engine, for those of you who don't know...) on a single core. Maybe it'll run full speed.

One more question... Last night I charged the battery for the first time (100%) then I unplugged the AC cord and let the system run on battery until it had only 50% life left. Then I shut down the computer and after I started it again an hour ago, I noticed that the battery was at 15%. Is that normal?

 

You can download a benchmarking program to stress test the CPU, like Lavalys Everyst or AIDA 64. It will max out all of your cores for as long as the test is running. I do not think that it will max out a singe core at the 3.2 that you want it to though.

Look at it his way... up until the Sandy Bridge processors launched this month, the i5 and i7 cores were the most powerful on the mobile market. Good luck in trying to overload it.

 

About CPU people told you about 2 cores that unable to show you max turboboost on both. About one core I suggest you to download intel program sidebar which shows you turboboost. Intel turbo boost technology monitor

About battery. I just use save battery mode without charging higher than 50 % but sometimes when I take the power wire off i can see that battery actually changed from 50% to about 30 %.

 

Welcome dan smith! I’m glad I could help.

In order to prove to Sony that what you see is not a software problem, regli suggested to take in the same time a full-screen capture (with PrtScn) and also a photo of the display with a digital camera. The screen capture will show what all software generated and sent to your video card’s memory. The photo will show what you actually seeing on your display. The two should be the same. If they are different this will show to Sony that the problem is not software related, which ‘qualifies’ your notebook for servicing. After that it’s Sony’s responsibility to check which is the faulty component causing this problem - in this case the LCD (backlight or/and panel or/and coating).

So to summarize it up:
- With ‘PrtScn’ you take a full-screen capture. ‘PrtScn’ will place this image in the clipboard. Open MS’s Paint, paste the image and save it as a .PNG file (.PNG is lossless compressed).
- With the digital camera take the photo of the display. Download you photo (.JPG) from the digital camera to your PC.
- Check if everything went well and the images shows what you expect.
- Send both image files to Sony.

 

Thank you dan smith and terhox. I updated my previous post!

 

I have a US F115FM. My computers core temperature are always north of 60C. The CPU is idle and the fan is not at 100% but is noisy and never turns off. Room temperature is about 22C now but will only get hotter in the coming months, to about 35C.

I have HWInfo installed, and on it i saw that the 4 cores are always running at full speed i.e. with turboboost. When i first got the system i remember that the core speed bars would remain green(between 900mhz and 1.6ghz ) and at low speed unless the system was working on something. But now the cores are always running at 2.2 ghz+ . Im guessing this is why the system is running hot. Does anyone here have any theories as to why this is happening ?

Looking forward to your replies. Thanks a lot.

Samarth

 

http://tinyurl.com/2eaw7ze

 

Very nice looking setup! I've been using Winamp for a very very long time. Just do not choose the optional junk upon installation. Foobar is another good consideration. You are using the same wallpaper I have on another computer. We have similar tastes. http://wallbase.net/wallpaper/439300

 

The more I hear and read about this laptop's heat/fan issues, the more I'm dissuaded from buying it. And I was this close to buying it.

 

Its too bad these intel clarksfield chips are so crappy for heat and battery life. I really wish i waited for one of the newer sandy bridge models before plunking down so much cash for an F Vaio...

 

Thanks! I tried Foobar for all of 5 minutes. Too much customization needed "out of the box", and I don't have the patience to learn that much just to play a song. So, it's Media Monkey for library mgmt and Winamp for the pleasure of listening.

Yes, thanks to you and your good taste I now have some serene wallpapers.

Correction - the VIAO F does not have heat issues. It's remarkably cool. It has fan noise issues in keeping it that cool. For the record... my F, as described in my signature, does not have fan noise issues.... ever.

 

Hey, would the following external laptop charger work with the F13 model?

External battery charger (standalone) for Sony VAIO VPC-F, VGN-S, VGN-Y, VGN-B, Laptop Keyboard, Laptop Fan, LCD Inverter, LCD Hinges, External Laptop Battery Charger


Someone please help me out here as ive been going crazy trying to find a practical way to extend my battery life, and im now thinking of buying a second battery and using this device.

 

High capacity battery gives you about 50% more. from 70$ (thirdparty from ebay) to over 240 or smth.

 

zperf, I will do as you have suggested and lime other users as well. But do you really believe Sony will get rid of the grey line, have you still got that issue with your laptop.

 

I just emailed my set of pics to Sony. I keep u posted, what they say. They really answer fast, so I can't anyway complain their willingness to help.

But if I can forgot that gray line problem, I like very much of my Vaio screen. It is joy to use because lack of reflections. Contrast is very high and screen really suits for photo manipulation, Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro work. I also like high resolution and crisp text.

 

Would strongly suggest going to the nearest retail store and seeing for yourself. Just know other laptops have heating issues, just look at the other threads. I would take some fan noise over heat any day. I respect but do not understand some of you guys. Not willing to put up with a little fan noise but will buy something else with less features or spend more money. I haven't been in the market for a year. What other laptop is comparable, what features are you giving up and at what price? What else are you considering?

 

terhox, hope to hear what they say, to be honest the F12 EU screen is really good, great quality. But the amount of money I paid, I wish that grey line was not there, mind you I can ignore it. I fear there might swap the premium matte screen with the glossy screen, which I would not want, but no one with a glossy screen has experienced that grey line issue though.

 

Pic or it did not happen

Will take you 30 seconds to do a PrtSc, Paste in Paint, Save, Upload, Share link....

Do you perhaps "know" omaroo......

 

I had no heat issues so far. Temperature is very well kept low when under high CPU/GPU load as many people wrote about it on this forum, unfortunately the ‘price’ for this is the noisy fan. On the other end, in idle or low CPU/GPU load, my F13 is running quite cool. Cooler then my Dell Latitude D820 with Core 2 Duo T7200. Both running Windows 7 and mainly similar applications: Total Commander, Google Chrome with several web pages open, SkyPE, antivirus, …, with less than 4% CPU usage. On the F13 I have the factory installed Windows and I’m also running x-Rite calibration software in plus. Both are running since more than 3 hours now. The F13’s temperature is varying between 41..47 degree Celsius, while the D820 is varying between 51..53 degree Celsius. The room temperature is set to 22 degree Celsius. The fan on F13 is quieter than the fan on D820, but the rotation speed is not constant, whereas on the D820 is constant. I’m cleaning the fan regularly on the D820, and it was cleaned less than a month ago. The varying fan at this level is not bothering me, and from the fan noise point of view, so far I’m quite happy with this notebook!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that my Power plan is 'High performance' on both notebooks.

 

I just converted some music (.flac) to 256kbps VBR files (934MB when done) in just a few minutes. My CPU was pushed to well over 50% for most of it and I'm not at home (so, no lappy cooler). My CPU temps were only 62c during all of this. Granted, i'm in a colder climate, but it performed very well.

 

I still have the problem. I don’t know if they will get rid of it or not, but I’m really hoping that they do! As anseio sad, if more people will report it and complain about it, then we have a better chance. Based on my experience with Sony servicing and what they told me, I believe that if they accept to service the notebook, then it will be up to the service shop in your region whether they will change the display or not. And if they change it, then there is a high chance to get a good one.

 

Im going to set the bigger battery for it. My point here is that even with that its not enough. I need 2 batteries for everyday for enough time. I want to know if that external charger will work so i can charge both batteries at the same time without the hassle of switching them within the laptop itself.

Update: Just checked and the standard battery model number does match the one here http://mlcomp.com/external-laptop-battery-charger-vaio-vpcf-vgns-vgny-vgnb-p-2511.html

I doubt it will be able to charge the bigger battery, but at least it can charge the standard one. I would suggest getting it for anyone looking for a convenient way to extend their battery life of this awesome laptop.

 

I wish you luck terhox!

I also like this display (except the gray bar problem). From what I know, this is the only matte screen with AdobeRGB coverage available in Europe in the consumer notebook segment. For me the glossy screen is not an option, they tires my eyes too fast, and after an hour of text reading, even on reduced brightness, on a HP dv5 glossy screen, my eyes are red.

 

Intel commercial (view until the end) and monitor check. I know some of you will appreciate this. Make sure to view in full screen 1080.

YouTube - Visual Dreams (Intel Collaboration Song) _ MusicVideo

Sony F and Intel inside.

 

Many of you no doubt record a lot of audio with your F and this is a great informative piece explaining different audio formats.

HTG Explains: What Are the Differences Between All Those Audio Formats? - How-To Geek

 

Working on replacing my library with FLAC. Given that space may become an issue, I may backup the FLAC on an external and keep 320kpbs on my internal HDD. Can't wait for the Hitachi 750GB 7200 RPM to come out. Or, should I settle with 5400RPM 1TB? Will I care about the speed difference? The extra space is appealing.

 

Just wondering, why is it that the US/CA version of the FHD F13 gets such an inferior panel compared to the EU/Asia 1080p screens? I cannot believe this news as i just ordered one with the 1080p panel...

And do the FHD panels on the EU/Asia models have a glossy or matte screen?

 

For those who are looking to upgrade their nVidia Drivers: The new version (266.58) has just come out of the Beta phase, and will now also support the GT 425M in Sony Vaio Notebooks.

Installing as we speak.

 

I am sure that it will be able)

 

Just let everyone know, I have now sent the screenshot as well as the photograph attached to a Sony technician. Just waiting for a reply now.

On another note, I have found another issue, it only started a week ago, but when my laptop is turned on and it is on the desktop, a noise comes out of the laptop, its like a really fuzzy noise. I dont think it is the whistling noise that many are experienced. But it is very annoying. I am losing my patience now, every time I end finding a flaw.

 

Under release notes it states driver supports 300 series, however, under supported products the 300 series is not listed. Attempted anyway and got the 'driver not supported' message. I have the GT 330M.

 

And I think it definitely is THAT noise. YouTube - SONY Vaio F Series high-pitched noise

 

New VAIO Owner here.

Got this model here:
Sony VAIO 16.4" Intel Core i7 740QM Laptop (VPCF132FXB) - Black : 16" Laptops - Future Shop (might be Canada only link - unsure)

The vpcf132fxb

From what I have read, I am somewhat disappointed that I have a 310M instead of a 330M, but I suppose it will work. I tested some ripped 720p files - experience has been less than satisfactory, but it could be worse.

I can't complain too much, the laptop was free - however, I wish I had the upgraded GPU. Will try some games later today and see how it performs.

Otherwise, loving my new VAIO!

EDIT: I didn't manage to read more than 150 of the 200 and some pages in this thread since I got my laptop, but I was wondering if anyone had issues with the Power connector on the F13 models? It seems really flimsy and cheap (the 'socket' end). Power cord moves around quite a bit if pushed gently - is this a feature or a fault?
Read a couple pages back - got my answer.

 

When I look at the supported products page the 330 and 310 are listed there. Are you sure you downloaded the correct driver? NVIDIA DRIVERS 266.58 WHQL

Edit: BTW, for those with GT 425, the upgrade went fine for me. Surprisingly, I didn't even have to reboot! They must have redone the installation. I love not having to reboot for an install/upgrade.