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

Yes, turning off auto brightness is a good advice, but i still miss my (very) old lcd asus monitor.

 

We all miss it

 

Yesterday I started to do more tests. During the first test I observed that my battery is charging, even if the notebook is plugged in all the time. I know that the battery will lose charge when not used, but why is still charging after more than two hours of notebook usage? Not to mention that the battery should charge even if the notebook is not powered on, so it should be fully charged!

I started to analyze this issue, and while I was unplugging and re-plugging the power connector I observed something else. If the power cable from the ‘L’ shaped power plug goes upwards, the CPU turbo boost throttles more. When the cable goes down (to back or to front), I obtained higher CPU multipliers. The plug is quite loose. Actually I dare say that it is the first time when I see a plug with this freedom of movement.

In the light of these new information, I rerun the tests, with Vaio Battery Care set to 50% (previously was not enabled) and with the power plug’s cable directed down. In this case the battery is not charging.


Running only the AIDA64’s “CPU Stress” test, I obtained the max CPU multiplier (14x), which remained constant during the whole test even if the CPU Power displayed by AIDA64 varied between 40W and 47W.

I run the “CPU & FPU & Cache & Mem Stress” test (first four checkboxes in AIDA64). The CPU multipliers reported by i7 Turbo are between 13.762x and 13.998x. During the test the CPU Power displayed by AIDA64 varied between 32.58W and 55.18W, with most of the values between 44W and 48W. I wonder how accurate is this CPU Power measurement ?



Testing with “prime95” lead to smaller CPU multipliers with roughly 0.25x, which is still ok. I’m happy with the results obtained (CPU multipliers, temperatures).

Conclusion: the system is capable of running with the ~max CPU multipliers under heavy load, but there are some power related issues, I think, mainly due to the bad quality power plug.

 

hey can anyone help me out,

i have a VPCF11LFXB and it keeps on blue screening on me. i've already reformat the notebook twice and installed all the latest drivers before and after the formats. it gets real annoying any help would be appreciated, below this the error report:


Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 7f
BCP1: 0000000000000008
BCP2: 0000000080050031
BCP3: 00000000000006F8
BCP4: FFFFF8000343EEC0
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1
Bucket ID: X64_0x7f_8
Server information: 4abf3ed0-28b9-4b74-9050-1a8a890b2504

 

The blue screen itself should have an error on it, near the very top. That's important information. When does your BSOD happen? Have you gone into the Sony Recovery Center and run diagnostics?

 

I used the Power saver plan with VAIO’s “Silent Mode” thermal control strategy when videoconferencing on SkyPE during night. Otherwise, on High Performance plan, with constant 14% CPU usage, the fan started to drive my interlocutor nuts . I guess SkyPE’s “Automatically adjust microphone settings” doesn’t work well with constantly changing fan noise.

I don’t have the above problem with voice only conference, or video-conference done during the day, when there is a considerable background noise (read: the kid ). On the second though, the video-conferences done during the day, were done using the webcam with the microphone further away from the notebook, so … .

 

BCCode: 7f <- UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP (STOP 0x0000007f)
BCP1: 0000000000000008 <- Double Fault

There can be many reasons, but the most frequent ones are the high stack usage and kernel driver faults. Usually are caused by third party drivers, like device drivers (ex: Video card drivers, …), or antivirus drivers (ex: Norton Antivirus BSOD, …), or firewall drivers (ex: ZoneAlarm BSOD, …). If you Google it up, there are quite many.

Which driver (.sys) file is displayed as causing it ?

If you don’t have a name, try NirSoft’s BlueScreenView, and check which drivers are marked as part of the call stack.

 

Did you follow James D’s recommendation ? Do you still have the BSOD ? If yes, you should post the error details, like fnasians did (see below), with the rest of the information from the BSOD (driver name, …).

 

I don’t know the 1600x900 "Vaio Display", so I can’t comment on it. The screen is one of the most important part of the notebook for me. This is not just because the type of work I want to do on the notebook, it is also important because in the end it is the notebook component what I’m watching most of the time, not to mention the health of my eyes.

Displays can be compared in many different ways. And my European Premium display (disregarding the fault it has) is superior in many ways to my other notebook screens I owned or I own, but from text reading point of view I find it much more tiring! ( I want to mention that I disabled “Auto brightness”, I set the brightness to around 80-90 cd/m^2, I calibrated the display, I enabled and adjusted the MS ClearType text, and I zoom in all applications where I read long time, so it’s not the font size ).

ninopg, I would like to know why do you find “quite uncomfortable even to read text” ? What are the aspects/criteria which are bothering you ?

I would like to know other people’s point of view on this subject too. How do you find your F1x’s display for reading text ? Please do not post if you are not staying in the front of the display and using the notebook to read long times (more than 3 hours) (ex: reading a book, … long forum threads ). Thanks in advance!

 

do i just dl the program to see which driver file is causing the bsod

edit: the program says its caused by ntoskrnl.exe (driver) and ntoskrnl.exe+70740 (address), same for both crashes

i didn't note the error that the top, stupid me. as forthe bsod, it happens either when im listening to music or just basic computing. and nope i haven't run sony recovery center yet since i just got back from class, i'll try that and see what happens.

edit: just crashed again, was trying to edit this post

 

Yes, you just run it.
For some of the functionality it requires MS Debugging Tools for Windows, but I think for this should be ok without it.

BlueScreenView works only if Windows is configured to save minidump files during BSOD crashes!
See this article how to check or setup the minidump creation:
How to configure Windows to create MiniDump files on BSOD

 

No other drivers are marked?
Please post a screenshot of the application (BlueScreenView) with the BSOD selected.

 

screen shot token, i also included the .dmp files too since i don't know what i'm dealing with, thanks for the help

 

hey guys!
I've just reinstalled my windows and it seems that I cannot use my Function Hotkeys :|
what service to I have to install and from where in order to make these keys work and appear on the screen when I press them ?

Thanks!

 

I took a quick look into your dump files. Unfortunately there is not enough information (stack back trace) to tell which driver is causing this BSOD. The stack back trace what I see it is typical for the case when the operating systems runs out of kernel stack space.

Known applications causing this kind of BSODs on x64 are: Zone Alarm, Symantec Antivirus, Norton Antivirus, AVG, Kaspersky Antivirus.
Also some network adapter drivers can cause the same problem.

You can try first to uninstall AVG from your system!

If doesn’t help, I can only recommend to do a fresh install, update to the latest drivers and do not install any firewall, antivirus, … . Use your notebook for a while and see if you have BSODs. If not, install only one application (firewall, antivirus, … at a time and use your notebook to see if you get the BSOD. Do this till you find which application installs the driver which is causing it.

I hope this helps!

 

install sony firmware Bla-Bla Parser Devise Driver. Then open Device Manager. Right button on That Firmware extension Bla-bla. refresh drivers. Search manually in drive C.
After that install shared library if it wasn't installed before. After that reboot and install Sony notebook Control Center (uninstall it before driver install if it already exists)

 

thanks for the help, i'll try uninstalling avg as you suggested and keep you updated if bsod occurs again.

edit: just tried unistalling avg and it froze my notebook, which suggests that avg could be the problem. guess i'll reformat back to oem settings. would you recommend comodo internet security suite as a replace for avg and zonealarm, i feel insecure without them.

 

Correction:
You need to install VAIO Event Service for the Fn keys to work, VAIO Care for the ASSIST key and VAIO Control Center for the S1 key.

Though Sony Shared Library is a "required program", I have been working without it since July and have had no issues whatsoever.

 

Correction:
After drivers and shared library You need to install only Original - Sony® Notebook Utilities which includes everything you need for properly working all buttons and auto-brightness + Vaio Care as very good software

 

I've been working fine without that one too.

 

hey!
thanks guys, it worked with the Fn keys but how do I configure the VAIO button ? now it's just muting on and off
and one more thing: how can I reinstall that application for the pad, the one that when I pull from the corners the image goes larger or smaller or I can rotate it if using two fingers with one pivoting ?

Thx!

 

Oh yeah, i need help with f3 f4 volume buttons it's not working please help...

 

That's the only thing it does if you don't use PMB or some multimedia suite of SONY.

 

Please reference the posts on the previous page re: VAIO Event Service.

 

How was the microphone further away if you just have the webcam mounted on top of the screen?

By the way, i just picked up 2 webcams. The Microsoft lifecam studio 1080p and the Logitech C910. So far the MS one is giving me much better color accuracy, and the low light performance on it absolutely destroys the C910.

Im surprised at the terrible performance of the C910 in low light conditions. For $120 i expected alot more...

Although the Logitech one does have more fluid motion compared to the MS lifecam studio.

 

I have three quick questions for all you VAIO F13 owners:
1. How is the quality of the screen?
2. How is the quailty of the keyboard?
3. This one's not so quick: is this laptop suitable for audio recording & mixig? How's it with latency, dropouts etc.? The laptop only has one HDD, should I buy another external HDD and connect it via eSATA to gain on speed when recording or is one HDD enough, what do you think?
+ Bonus question: is it really so annoyingly LOUD as I've read on the web?

THANK YOU!

 

1. Nice view but someone says not so brightness and contrast is not enough. Angles not bad. thick and heavy, afraid what will be after often opening/closing notebook, but laptop overall is thin.
2. Great.
3. Bad sound. VERY BAD SOUND.
Buy ssd
buy cooler stand. and it will not be so loud/

Suggest you to buy HP dv7 with Sandy bridge

 

I don’t have experience with Comodo. Please find here a link with antivirus comparison, test and benchmarks:
Antivirus Performance Test 11: Application Launch

People on this forum also recommended the Microsoft Security Essentials.
The firewall on Windows 7 is a huge leap forward compared to Windows XP’s firewall. So if you don’t need easy full control, it should be enough to protect your PC from most of intrusions.

 

ReD2847, for the video-conferences done during the day the webcam was mounted on a bookshelf, much higher and to the right from my notebook, as far as the webcam’s USB cable allowed it. So it was quite far from the notebook’s fan. I quoted my posts below.

 

1. Which screen you will buy ? Premium or Non Premium ? Do you buy it from Europe (EU Premium vs. non EU Premium) ?
2. The best keyboard in the consumer line notebooks. Beats many notebook keyboards in the professional line too!
Better than this would to be able to choose if you want it with or without numpad (with the touchpad positioned accordingly) .
3. Concerning latency, search this thread, this was already addressed. If I remember well, the conclusion was that you can keep it low with some tuning.
I assume that you will not use the built in speakers, and instead you will connect your notebook to external digital amplifier or use headphones, in which case the quality is very good.
As with any data demanding applications, use an internal SSD for OS and a second HDD for data (external on eSATA or replace the optical drive).

The fan is loud if you use the CPU/GPU heavily. So if your applications are demanding even for a quad core CPU and you are recording in a small room with microphone, than this might not work out for you (depends on your microphone’s sensitivity, directivity, noise filtering and acceptable quality). Also if you are not using headphone this might bother you.

 

I will buy it in Europe (in Slovenia to be exact). It's a premium screen I think.

Internal SSD for the OS? But this laptop has a 500GB internal HDD, not a SSD. It's the F13S0E/B model. Would an external eSATA drive be as fast as a second SATA drive?

About the fan... Is is really so annoying? Changing speeds? Or is it bearable? I mean, for such an expensive laptop it should be quiet, right?

Thank you very much for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

There is an option in vaio control center to set "thermal control" to "quiet" which should help with the fan noise.


And if you plan on leaving it unplugged often, the battery life sucks so look for something else. (unless you do what i do, i take 2 batteries with me by charging one of them externally).

 

Hey where is that option? Settings? Have a look on the screenshot please, looks like i'm missing something, settings never show up for anything i choose, also i installed everything but still volume/brightness keys not working, helpplease

 

1. VCC-Power Management-Power Options-Silent
2. The Settings in the screenshot don't show up for anyone - nothing is wrong with that.
3. Go through the recent posts on the subject or search for the numerous older posts. You may have to uninstall and then re-install the necessary components if you did not follow things correctly the first time.

 

Yes, on the F13S0E/B you have the FHD Vaio EU Premium Display. From my knowledge this display is the only matte display available in the consumer line notebooks (please, someone correct me if I’m wrong). The premium screen quality is very good for a consumer notebook screen, even if some of us has a faulty LCD panel (gray, transparent band on the bottom of the screen). But do not compare it with the latest external monitors or other IPS, PVA, … monitors. Read the review on notebookcheck:
Review S o n y V a i o VPC-F13Z1E/B Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

You didn’t mentioned in your question which model you will buy, nor that if it is a preconfigured or user configured model. So, yes, in this model the internal HDD is not an SSD, but you can change it afterwards to an SSD as many people did. Or just keep this one if works well with the applications you are using.

eSATA is just a different connector. It is controlled by the same SATA Controller, so you will have the same speed.

About the fan, this is a very subjective matter. For some people it doesn’t matter, others just get used to it, for others it is annoying in certain conditions, so they try to tune the notebook, use a notebook cooler pad, … to avoid those situations, and there were people for whom this is not acceptable and they cannot live with it so they returned the notebooks. Also depends from notebook to notebook, based on how well the thermal paste was applied, the cooling system was mounted, … but most of these are fixed by a repair. The opinions are split on this matter, and you can read about it in this entire thread. In the end, you should go and listen to one in a shop, at a friend, … or even try to find videos on youtube, … and make your own opinion about it. Or if you can’t, than buy it from a place where you can return it if you don’t like it.

‘Expensive’ is relative. I mean for example, if you want to buy a notebook with the same configuration from the professional line, you should easily add 1500 euro or more! Also if you catch a sale at Sony, you can get the notebook with this configuration at a very good price. And don’t forget that with the quad core power you need cooling on any notebook, so there will be fan noise on heavy load on all notebooks from any manufacturer with this type of CPU. The only difference is how quiet is in idle, or low load, and if the fan constantly varying or not.

I hope this helps!

 

Ok guys now this is making me angry, so many problems with this f series. As u might know after bios update we have few advanced options in bios: intel virtual...bla bla bla something enable/desable, and support c3/c6. The second one is for noise from the fan, if you desable it then whistle will go away and it looks it's gone from my machine, but even if 1st option enabled my vaio i7 proc is only reach 1.86 GHz max, so this is now makes me really angry, i have to enable them both to have i7 full boost enabled but i will have whistle, omg, what to do then now? Anyone know?

 

Zperf, got to say even with grey line the matte screen is still really good. Anyway I was hoping someone can help, by laptop takes a while to get to the windows screen, I have done a clean install. I have compared it to the dell XPS, which with lower specs loads quicker. What is going on.

 

heya. I've read from a few people that the premium screen is essentially matte, is that true? I do a lot of digital plein air painting, where matte is paramount- anyone have any experience with digital painting on the premium screen in a public setting?

 

All F series owners in EU, do you know if i buy us version backlit keyboard, will it actually work on my f12s1e? Swith button etc, any ideas?

 

Yeah well, enough is enough. My F12s1e will be returned to where it's came from, all because of this crazy whistle driving me mad i attached the mp3 file, just listen to it..

 

Got same situation as you, I cant return it but have sent it for repair. This whistling sound is very very annoying.

 

eSata is external SATA but I saw that speed of hard drive connected to eSata was around 20-30 Mbps the same as through USB 2.0. Perhaps port allows fast speed but controllers or smth else in external case for HDD limits it and it was marketing step for saling more external hard drives.

I have 2 OS on my VAIO and 1 is fine with fan letting it to work always even on little speed so I can hear it but its not loud so I usually don't hear changing speed. But on other Windows (both Win 7 but 2-nd is someones rebuild of Win 7) let the fan to not working and every 3 seconds it blows and then stops, then again changes speed I hope/believe that somewhere is options which are set different in both OS.

About expensive or not... You can somewhere buy 5000$ more expensive - there is no conscience in some sellers but it doesn't mean that someone pay attention on this high price at all when makes a difference between middle range and higher range prices. He only looks at normal prices not extravagant ones.

How option Virtual bla-bla can influence on boost of processor? It is made for supporting XP mode in Win 7 so perhaps it stops whistling but are sure about boost?

I found that when you are in dark room at night watching video or working on the computer and you don't have enough brightness you can turn on Num LK and light detector will reach more light from NmLk optical cable or led and it will be much brighter. Noticed yesterday

 

Yeah i know my mistake there, basically i thought wrong lol, but sony is really really stupid with their fixes, you can find this on their website, the said disable c3/c6 if you have fan noise, but they never said it disables turbo boost, what's the point to have i7 proc then? It's just goimg crazy, my fist sony laptop and i still have that is fz21s, they repaired display ones after 2 month i bought laptop, after 1.5 year they replaced motherboard, omg, sony is just making me angry, i can't afford alienware mx17x but if i could i would never buy sony again

 

Thats what i'm thinking return or not, company where i bought it 5 days ago got no stock, i believe i bought last one lol, so if i return i will stock with my old fz21s for now till the company gets new models which will be more expensive but gt 425m should be better then gt 330m, so i got no idea send it for repair and may be they will never repair it, or if they never repaired(3 times maximum) as i understand i should get knew laptop, since sony stop making f12s series, i believe i should get f13 then, but will it be the top Z one, so i have to decide play games with sony or return...

 

The choice of enclosures matters here. I have a $30 enclosure AND I have a 2TB Cavalry external HDD. Both test at max speeds for the RPM of the drive. All three of my internal drives (Seagate 7200.4, Hitachi 7K500, and Intel X25-M) have been benchmarked in this enclosure and not a single one has experienced bottlenecking due to the SATA bridge inside.

eSATA was not a gimick to sell more drives while boasting high data speeds and not delivering on them. I average 70-90Mbps when moving files back and forth via my eSATA port. My SSD was getting rates well over 100.

 

That is insane sound. But there is a solution on the youtube: YouTube - SONY Vaio F Series high-pitched noise

At least I think it's for this matter, maybe I'm wrong...

 

Well sorry but yes you are wrong, i disable mic already anyway coz i'm using creative usb 5.1 sound card.. Also yes c3/c6 disable - not 100%, but sometimes this sound is happening anyway, but what a joke disable i7 740qm turbo boost to reduce that whistle which actually still will be there but not that often.. It driving me nuts, as i love everything about this laptop except this crap

 

You can disable one core and it will work much more quiet but the same situation about "I bought I7 proc for working fast". Still it is not so big power fall disabling 1 core than disabling turboboost as not everu thing can use 4 cores.

Send it back and by another brand. You all people say that you are shocked that so expensive and branded laptop is so bad, but you stil buy it again at again! Magic! Thats why sony still makes such laptops.

I was talking about marketing about eSata ports in external HDD's. There may be slow hard drive inside which may not even use more than USB 2.0 gives, but they put a mark "eSata inside!" and sell more. (of cource I understand that someone needs eSata to save USB port in notebook free for another device but still all producers write that their ext HDD are blazing fast only because they have eSata connection. The same marketing step as HD Display mark when it has only 738p).