Official Sony VAIO F Series i5/i7 owners thread *part 4*

It is time for a new F series thread.

This popular budget priced performance laptop has been discussed at a very high volume since January 2010. Due to this high volume, three previous threads have been closed out prior to this one. They can be found here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/448894-official-sony-vaio-f-series-owners-lounge.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/464372-official-sony-vaio-f-series-owners-lounge-part-2-a.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/487213-official-sony-vaio-f-series-i5-i7-owners-thread-part-3-a.html

As the Sony Vaio F series has been so popular, several quick guides have been assembled by some very good-hearted members here. You can find a general F11 unification post here:

F11 Unification Post: Issues, Fixes, Tweaks, Reviews

 

***reserved For Melody Master's Use***

 

I am about to order my CTO Sony Vaio F12 Laptop and i need some help please

The laptop will be with the following specifications :

Intel® Core™ i7-840QM processor (1.86GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.20GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
500GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm
8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
CD/DVD player/burner
16.4" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)
NVIDIA® GeForce® 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)
LED Backlit Keyboard

And my questions are :

1- What are the main differences between F11 and F12 ?
2-I have the oppurtunity to order the laptop from Canada or Saudi Arabia , from where do you advise me to order it ?
3- What are the troubles that still remain from F11 in F12 and what are the fixed ones in F12 ?
4- If I want to buy the laptop online through sony style , can i order it from the united kingdom sony style site then the factory ship it to me here in Egypt ?
There is no official dealer here in Egypt :'(

And thank you very much for your support .

 

- For warranty repairs, it's better to send it where you bought it but there is also an international warranty included if you register. This said there could be more parts B/O if serviced abroad or some problems like Australia users who bought their F in USA to save some $ but Sony_Australia won't service them, telling them to send to USA as mentioned in previous threads. Same for a Brazilian user. Since there is no Sony_Center in Egypt according to you (check to make sure), maybe it would be different in your case.

- The Premium matte 1080p display found in EU, Asia, etc is much superior to the North American 1080p glossy. See post above yours & follow links.

- Get the newer_F12 unless you can find a significant discount on an_F11.

4- That's a question for Sony_Style, good luck figuring the bottom line price w/ all the different specs/exchange rates you must figure out.

 

If one is looking for better utilization of their ExpressCard slot this may be of interest:

ExpressCard University: ExpressCard Modules

ExpressCard Where to Buy Page

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/05/09/creative.x.fi.notebook/

 

Alrighty did a little looking for you and found some things firstly as far as dealers go there is a list here that states there are 3 Sony authorised resellers in Egypt Sony stores in the middle east. So if you're willing to get the model with specs as shown here Sony Vaio F12 which is available for the middle east and has the EU premium 100% RGB screen. If this acceptable I'd definately take one from a reseller in Egypt as your support will be through them and a whole lot easier, also from what I noticed the differences would be 640GB 5400rpm HDD which you could change yourself to a 7200rpm drive or an SSD if you wanted a higher speed and no backlit keyboard. Hope this helps I think it'd be the best way to go, just call up the stores and see what they can tell you.

Edit: I agree with Joe get the F12 unless you can get a great deal on the F11, a great deal is of course relative to you

 

Long time no seen.
I have a problem, when plugged into the stereosystem through the headphone jacket (not optical) I get a morsecod/system noise but only when the poweradapter is also plugged in.

Summery: Weird noise when power adapter is plugged in through the stereosystem.

I have tested the latest drivers from Sony (6.0.1.6045) and Realtek (6.0.1.6167).

Any idea?

EDIT 1:Made some sound tests with and without AC power adapter.
http://cid-d4103db7a17aceb1.office.live.com/browse.aspx/Public/Sony/Vaio/Noise test?uc=2


EDIT 2 : I am glad, the noise is gone with another power adapter (Kensington Universal Adapter 70W), it is silent. I will be at my friend tomorrow so I will test it on his system. Same result with other power outlets in my home.


EDIT 3: The noise increases when the Screen is dimmend. I have the latest graphic drivers.


EDIT 4: Was at Sony Centrum and the issue could not be reproduced.

2 of 3 stereos is showing noise from the Vaio, no one of them is on grounded plug, but the vaio is on a grounded plug.

0 of 2 intendant Speakers is showing noise, not grounded.

With sticky tape the issue is solved: Tape over the grounded parts of the plug and it is good.















@anseio: I found the Login background and thanks for the tip.

http://public.bay.livefilestore.com...Cj5-k_QaMuHbb2OpQpiPIgw/backgroundDefault.jpg

 

If the F12 is as suggested by Melody here Page 380 Thread 3 and just a fixit then having a refresh so soon would make sense as for sony it's the first actual refresh. Considering the F12 is so, so similar to the F11 bar a few things this does make a lot of sense. So then having the F13 released relatively soon should make a lot of sense.

On the other hand the refresh could just happen within a normal cycle somewhere around Christmas time. Again it's all speculation and until Sony does something there isn't much we'd know and the Canada page could mean anything. There isn't much point talking about the refresh or the laptop until more is known unless Melody or someone else knew more, otherwise it's just taking up posts in the thread and causing another thread closure... Being said I'm guilty of doing this right now

 

Searching the site linked to by DeWinte, found this page that says that there are 8 Vaio_Accredited Service Center in Egypt. But will they service under warranty if bought outside the country as I mentioned above?

I know that Nikon USA will not service my lens if bought on the gray market for example. Same for Canon USA who will not even accept my US bought & now broken HD video-camera if shipped from Costa Rica. I need to ship it to a US friend that relays it to them & vice versa. Quite annoying.

 

I'm also using MS SE. In addition to that I also have PC Tools Threat Fire on
guard looking for spyware. It's also free and has a very good reputation from
the leading German PC magazin c't.

 

Good find there, I would say the safest method is buying the models available in the middle east and Africa as far as servicing but if you desperately wanted specs that were available elsewhere then I would try calling the services in your area on the site linked by Joe and ask if they would service under international warranty. Doesn't hurt to ask both the sony sellers a few questions about the F12 and the service centers anyway.

 

Updated the post
Sound issue - noise with some tests

 

Hi there, listened to the sounds and it could be a few things but I think it'll be a process of elimination to find it. Firstly it could be the laptop, so you'd have to try various troubleshooting steps such as sound drivers and devices etc. Secondly it could be electrical interference to do with devices that are on the same electical circuit as the socket your adapter is in, for this try using it in different plugs or preferable at work or some other location to see if the sound is still there. Lastly to my knowledge it could be a ground loop issue which could be solved in various ways.

I haven't got much time at the moment nor do I really remember the problem but I went through this issue with a friend and it ended up being a problem with the wiring in his house. Try searching some of the things I've stated and also searching your issue generally and maybe you'll find some help. Judging that you've only just found the issue you don't use the headphone socket too much so shouldn't annoy you too much till you find a fix.

 

+1 Like DeWinte wrote as quoted below. The backlight is the start of the image representation, it says nothing of what is in FRONT OF IT! My $50 Nokia has a B&W LED backlit screen. So what?

There are good CCFL screens & bad ones, exactly the same as with white LED LCD's but most rgbLED are quite good as they are more expensive & usually manufacturers won't put cr@p in front of a rgbLED backlit technology.

A concrete example between 2 laptops in the same class:

From this HP_Envy 17 product page using white LED:

FYI 72% color gamut = sRGB color space. The Envy_HD @ only 45% is even less.

The VAIO_F Series 1080p matte Premium found in Asia, EU, etc but not in North America (sRGB glossy only) is using wide gamut dual CCFL backlight technology, from this Sony_product page:

So which one is better?

*****

F Custom Monitor Profiles?

Check: the F owner's created monitor profiles roundup.

*****

 

HI all,

I have a F12290S purchased through sonystyle.ca (shipped from the US). I've noticed a few things thus far with one concerning me greatly. I've had the laptop for less than a month now and I seem to be experiencing something a bit odd with the LCD pivots. with the LCD open I can slightly rock the LCD back and forth about 1cm before the friction of the pivots kicks in fully making it harder to rotate/pivot. When the friction "kicks in" it feels "normal" and the resistance to move the LCD is what I would think of as expected. The 1cm of so of "less friction" does not seem normal. The LCD is not loose and it does not flop back and forth, but there is quite a bit of difference in the initial friction and force needed to move the LCD. I'm not sure I am explaining myself well enough or not but does anyone else out there have this experience with their F12?

Thanks for any responses

 

Any feedback about your F12 besides the hinges?



My F11_acts like yours, never paid attention to it in 5 months. It's a big screen, I expect some flex but it's not flopping around.

 

I will find a solution, the issue is ONLY NOTICEABLE when then HEADPHONE JACK is connected to a LINE IN.

EDIT: So it should be the weiring?

 

Hey currently out but quickly, before thinking it's any one thing definitely look and test the laptop thoroughly also try using a different power adapter to rule both of those out. Then to rule out your wiring test out the adapter in a friends house or at work. If it is there with a different adapter, any socket you're plugged into and the laptop has no faults associated with this issue then it should be a grounding loop problem which I would send it to Sony. From what I remember there is a lot on the net about this as it's common but for various reasons. I hope for you it's something simple with the laptop. There is a lot out there about headphone noise so I'd suggest those sources as I doubt an F specific thread will offer much compared to the information already out there, there are some threads on this forum if I remember. Good luck will check back tomorrow.

__________

xgumbyx, I think this occurs with most laptops especially larger ones it's just some give before the hinges kick in. I'd guess it's to do with not wearing down the hinges by avoiding frequent movement allowing some give. For example when you move with the laptop and it's open the screen may wobble slightly with your movements but that is better than stressing the hinges, think of earthquake proof buildings that allow some movement with the ground. Sounds completely normal.

 

I expect flex also, but this isnt "flex" it is two distinct levels of friction when moving the lcd back end forth. It is only noticeable when moving the LCD of course, but could in the future lead to less friction in that initial movement which would lead to floppiness.

My F12 suffers from all the usual issues, a few squeaky keys and some noise from the speakers. For the spacebar and backspace key squeaking I took a drop of vegetable oil and rubbed it into my thumb and forefinger and then took the metal support bars from the keys and also rubbed them between my thumb and forefinger transfering a tiny bit of oil onto them. Placed the bars back onto the keyboard and snapped the keys back into place and nothing but click click click noises when I type, works perfect and doesn't add any extra resistance to the keys like adding the tape/plastic/whatever shim would. For the audio, I only hear it when nothing else is playing and even then not all the time so I just mute the system when it starts to annoy me.

I have the US 1080p LCD as it was my only option. I am happy with it. I am sure the EU/UK model would be better, I am wondering if they charge more than the US upgrade costs.

 

Does/has anyone changed their boot to use 8 cores? I recall some discussion in the past where some believe there is no benefit. Went to msconfig/boot/advanced options and chose 8 cores. Any input on this?

 

I am glad, the noise is gone with another power adapter (Kensington Universal Adapter 70W), it is silent. I will be at my friend tomorrow so I will test it on his system. Same result with other power outlets in my home.

Will will at any new knowledge or discovery update my original post so people can find the answer easier. A link can be found in my signature.

I have tried it to, I always gets my 8 cores but not all my memory. Evan I set it to 8192MB I only get 7,23GB.

 

Sounds good then it may either be a faulty adapter that you have with the F or it's because the F adapter is delivering 120W. I'm inclined to say that the adapter is defective. If you live near a Sony style and can go in easily then I'd suggest you go in and test for the issue with one of their adapters. Just explain it to them and I'm sure they'll let you try. If the problem isn't there with the new F series adapter then you're in the right place to exchange or buy a new one and solve your problem . An early congrats.

 

Sigh if I wasn't out I'd find a link for you anyway changing the msconfig file for that has no effect on boot times as it autodetects cores during boot and setting to a number below 8 will restrict the cores you have upon boot. If you use the number 4 you'll have 2 physical and 2 virtual cores running therefore only half your CPU. Using the figure 8 does nothing as you'd get 8 from the auto detect also. It affects your computer after boot up and should be left as default. I can't quite remember what it's for I just remember it only being able to cap the cores your computer uses. I'd suggest changing msconfig back. If I remember I'll have a look for some links on the matter if not hopefully you do .

 

I just got my 4 USB port Express Card 34. I'm going to love it.

Can you send me the image? I don't remember it and might want to make it my login page as well, though I see that page for about 2 seconds.

I do use that setting, but decided to run some tests so we can know for real. First, I'm using an Intel X25-M 80GB SSD for my boot drive and am using the freeware BootTimer to measure the startup time.

First, in msconfig, I checked the box for Cores and selected 1. The boot time was 86 seconds. What to expect on one core though, right?

Next, I set the dropdown back to 1, then unchecked the box (this is the original configuration). Timed it. Checked Cores and selected 8. Timed it. The numbers were really close, so I alternated back and forth over 4 boot times.

Unchecked = 13.026 & 12.760 seconds
8 Cores = 14.180 & 12.776

So, I think that with the box unchecked, the system does actually go for as many cores as it can. I no longer see the importance of changing this setting.

 

@Joe Bleau: Got my replacement PoeSATA cable today. I shopped for one that looked different than the one that sucked. This one is much sturdier in the ports. Doesn't disconnect at the slightest wobble.

For those interested, this is the cable that fits well into the eSATA ports on my VAIO and external HDD enclosure:
Power Over eSATA Cable

This is the one that was really wobbly in both ports and would disconnect the drive at even the slightest nudge, causing me to have to uninstall and reboot before it would recognize the eSATA connection again:
Amazon.com: Power Over eSATA Cable: Electronics

Though they both look the same in the photos, the latter one actually did not arrive with the USB wire running up the side. It was a single, thick, flat cable and highly inflexible. Whereas the better cable has about 2mm sticking out from both ports, the crappy cable was about 4mm of connecter showing that would not slide into the port. It's in my trash, I can measure them when I get home, if anyone cares.

 

What do you mean you only get 7.23GB! Where are you reading this? Is this figure before or after windows has taken what it needs?

 

So I did a clean install based on Joe Bleaus guide, and man has this thing been flying! I'm running 72 processes, 36% memory out of 4 GB's of RAM, with VLC open, chrome open, utorrent open, skype, and steam open. The fan has been running quieter, and less, and bootup is noticeably faster. This clean install is great!

 

That's funny as following your 2 links they are both sold by Micro SATA Cables. Maybe you could exchange the bad one? Does the good one has a model #? How long is it? What is the brand & model of your enclosure? Did you benchmark it?

 

Nothing to do with the Vaio F series...but I had one of the most awesome days in my life today.

May God bless you all the way my family and I have been blessed today!!!

 

OMG, you're right. The item I ordered from Amazon was actually sold by ONBENE and I think it looks different. When I get home, I'll dig it out of my garbage and get a photo.

Sorry, no can do on the exchange. It's kinds really broken now. It chose to give me problems on a REALLY BAD day. HAHAHAHAHA.

Update:
The part numbers on both cables are the exact same. They are both about 19" long. The new one is as photographed before. The bad one is here:


The difference is the bad one is a simple ribbon, whereas the good one has a groove, I assume, to delineate the eSATA and USB portions of the cable. I was wrong, connectors on both cables are identical, but the bad cable wobbles with easy and the good one will wiggle, but very firmly. The good cable tolerates moving the drive, whereas the bad cable did not.

Anyway, it wasn't easy to find an eSATAp enclosure. I wanted a black one, but had no luck in my US search. So, I've got a StarTech enclosure. I have not benchmarked it. What ones would you like to have done?

 

Well, CHEERS right back at you. Am glad you've had a day worthy of announcing it to the rest of the world.

 

DISCLAIMER: I'm sharing my experience and not necessarily endorsing any or all of the recommended changes made by people who write guides on SSD optimization.
Hardware: INTEL X25-M 80GB SSD

So, I'd played around with various settings in Windows to optimize the use and prolong the life of my SSD. Here is the website that I used as my guide for what to change and how: Windows 7 SSD Performance Optimization. Most of the sites I found all contain the same information as this one does.

Up front, I made all of the recommended changes and did show an improvement in boot time, considerably. Many of the changes are controversial - debate both for and against. I'm not getting into that, but rather am providing my hands on experience with some of the settings in particular:

#1 - Install Chipset Drivers:

I've already benchmarked extensively Intel's various chipsets and this site agrees that the newest Intel chipsets have great performance on RAID systems, but on AHCI they offer no better performance than the default windows drivers.​

#3 - Disable Drive Indexing:

I actively disagree with this setting option. The theory is that the indexing causes more "writes" to the SSD. And, since the SSD is superfast, an indexing program, intended for HDD's, won't speed anything up when searching.

I tend to launch programs by pressing my Windows button and typing the beginning of what I'm looking for. On my HDD, this was perfect in all ways for my needs. With the SSD, I noticed that I couldn't get results for autoruns.exe, process explorer, HD Tune, and most other standalone programs. I even went so far as to make a folder: C:\Tools so I would know exactly where they were and that they should appear in searches. They never did.

It was only when I turned Indexing back on and rebuilt the index that EVERYTHING comes up in the search almost instantaneously. BIG THUMBS UP for drive indexing. Disabling it may theoretically prolong SSD life, but it hinders user interface significantly (IMO).​

#5 - Turn Off Windows Write-Cache Buffer Flushing:

I only mention this one because I'm using the Intel X25, disabling write-cache significantly decreased SSD performace. Shy away from this change if on Intel. If anyone else wants to give a try on their drive and report back, that's cool.​

#10 - Disable Windows Search and Superfetch (Services.msc):

Drive Indexing, as mentioned in #3, will not work if Windows Search is disabled. I have no comment on Superfetch.​

Just wanted to share some of the recommended settings that I think are bad (not controversial, like the page file) to change as they do not increase performance as hypothesized.

 

What IM client do you guys use? I've been using Pidgin for FB Chat and AIM, but it keeps booting me out of games. I tried trillian, but the UI is terrible. any other suggestions?

 

i'm planning to get a F series laptop, but not sure if i should wait for the F13.

i've called sony customer yesterday, and they say they have no information about the F13.
they only know that it will be coming out at the end of Sept.

does anybody know anything about the F13?
will it have usb 3.0? longer battery life? or even different colours other than black/ gray only.

should i wait? please provide me some suggestions

Thanks a lot!

 

My F12 came today - have been using it for about an hour. Blazingly fast compared to my last laptop (a Macbook - that was my first and last ever Mac (hated it) - spent most of my time on it running Vista via Bootcamp...) Goodbye Mac! So nice to have a right click, a backspace and a real delete key once again! Favorite features of the F12 so far (other than simply having a full PC keyboard once again):

1. Obviously the screen - 1920x1080 & it's gorgeous!

2. The lighted keyboard - what a great feature - no more having to pull the screen partway down over my hands at night so I can use the screen's illumination to see the keyboard (at the expense of being able to see the screen...)

3. Pinching/unpinching the trackpad to adjust screen font size - solves the squinting problem while getting used to fonts displayed in 1920x1080...

Just doing a little playing/browsing tonight. Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll make the restore/backup DVDs. I don't plan on doing a fresh install though. I'd rather play with the various supplied software and make my own determination what might be useful and what would not be. Then, over time, I'll just gradually manually uninstall via the Control Panel those things I decide that I don't want.

And, I do plan on upgrading W7 from Home Premium to Ultimate - need the language pack support that only comes w/Ultimate. Hope to be able to do it via an upgrade, not a complete re-install. Need to see if I can use the complete Ultimate package (which I'll have access to) to do an upgrade instead of a compete install, rather than buying a separate upgrade key. But that can wait a few days - no rush.

Time to bask a bit longer in the glow of the screen and illuminated keyboard. Then call it a night...

 

Glad you're loving it. Wish I could have afforded the full HD screen, but mine was on sale for a fantastic price and the jump to full HD would have been almost $600. Ouch!

Anyway, I'd like to offer you a different perspective on clean installing. It's great to explore the programs and see what you do and do not like. The issue that can arrise with uninstalling is that it's not uncommon for various items to be left behind, somethings things that may be running the background. I had initially tried the selective uninstall method and had made good improvements in RAM usage, but it wasn't until I clean installed that I realized just how much stuff was really lingering. I've added in all the things I like and can add more in at any time.

So, rather than remove a few things from the pile while allowing what falls through your fingers to stay. You can figure out what you like, create a clean slate (make a system image of this), then ADD what you like onto it via VAIO Care. It'll be cleaner this way.

Good luck and have fun in whatever you choose to do with it.

 

Hi again,

I have previously created recovery discs when I got my f11. As part of Vaio care, having done a clean install, it prompted me to do this as is routine.

It now came up with an error message when I tried to do this:

Recovery Media is not included with your computer. Then when I clicked Next,

Vaio Care:no optical drive found.

My BD drive is playing movies fine.

My system is meant to be a clean install preserving the recovery partition which I performed using the recovery partition. Any suggestions most appreciated.

My concern is my recovery partition may have got wiped.

 

I bougt the external enclosure from DElink and it came with the exact same cable. Mine is doing just fine. So I think you had a bad one and it isn't a design fault but just a production fault.

 

Thanks again for an useless answer. Did you actually spend some time to read my message ? I dont need color profiles, I need a

**** Color profile loader software from user ***


Also thanks for deleting my post with description of software Ive lost to help other in figuring what app it was. Didnt even bother it to save it and paste it into the PM.

 

Here you go

http://public.bay.livefilestore.com...pi0-zh7Mb3X1UzuA/backgroundDefault.jpg?psid=1

 

Welcome to the world of technology. The moment you buy a computer, a better one comes out. I guarantee that if you wait for the F13, the F14 will come out about 6 months later.

Right now, no one has any real information on the F13. We have seen a placeholder page for the F13 on sony.ca, but we really don't know much about it. Rumors say that USB 3.0 will be included though.

If Sony continues its pattern, you should expect to see an official release in mid-October, with the laptops beginning to arrive at customers' front doors in November.

So should you wait or just the the F12 now? Depends on when you need the laptop. Also be aware that the price of the F13 could be significantly higher or lower than that of the F12.

 

I cannot believe this has reached 4 threads already. Holy sh!t.

 

That's great! Thanks for the feedback.

 

Whoa man, I don't have the power to delete posts. And as I backup my computer, I also backup my posts in case the NBR server looses it when posting or if I want to refer to it later. So here is your OP & my reply from my Notepad:

The article I linked to includes instructions on how to install one of the about 17 profiles included in the article.

Why would you need a "profile loader" on top of what is already included in Win 7?

If my replies are useless to you then I won't reply to your questions anymore.

 

Hi All
Just getting used to my VPCF 12X5E with win7 Pro 8GB ram BluRay burner( No sticker!) i7-740, 500GB 7200, 41.6cm LCD 1920x1080
One oddity I came across this afternoon whilst trying to add on my Dell 2408WFP monitor using an HDMI cable was that the sound cut out whenever the cable was attached - did not matter if I had one or both screens in use - I have not updated the drivers for the Dell but will this help?
All ideas gratefuly received

 

Ah, yes, that one. Many thanks. I will use it.

 

I have had an absolutely miserable experience with Sony Support - can anyone tell me where I might find the Media Management software? Apparently if you opt for Fresh Start and then later want to download something, Sony has no way to accommodate you. Pretty absurd IYAM.

 

Club VAIO
More than 250 VAIO wallpapers

Club VAIO: VAIO Wallpapers

 

Well HDMI transmits sound as well as video so I guess the default option is to disable the sound on the laptop when doing this. Hopefully there is a setting somewhere to select local playback as well. Have you checked all the sound options?