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

Yeah, that's the cooler. Those of us who have it swear by it.

Oh, those poor, poor guys. Well, not too poor, since they won the World Cup, but at the cost of bad fashion? LMAO j/k

 

I would not hire you to review a car, you would probably not comment on anything else besides the cup holders & the knobs of the radio.

This thread works on give & take. Don't you remember when your were researching for a laptop & looking for feedback?

About the hinges, it's a big screen, don't grab only 1 corner to open & close or grab where the camera is in the center.

 

Lol?
Okay thanks dude.
One more thing, I used to have realtemp to observe my tempuratures.
But, I downloaded the program you recommended me because it shows more stats. Anyways, before my volume button will only work if im running realtemp in the background, now It willl only work if CPUID is running. What the hell is up with that, do you know how to solve this?

 

OMG! Your F is broken!

Or you don't have one as there is no volume button.

 

lol Joe, the vast majority of car magazine reviews are based on stupid stuff such as cupholders and the knobs on the radio.

I have a Chrysler 300C, and when that car was reviewed there were 3 reasons why car magazines generally disliked it, I mean forget the power or the unusual handling characteristics of the huge car, or the unique awesome exterior. No, they berated it for the really important stuff:
* The interior was too hard
* They couldn't see around the 'massive' blind spots
* The cruise control stalk was in an odd position.

No joke. At least Jeremy Clarkson went and called the brakes on the car rubbish after trying to race it against an M5 and a Jaguar on a beach lol

 

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 9

 

How To Disable Google’s Personalization Of Search Results

 

Posted previously, but you guys were getting real into a browser convo haha. How can I adjust the resolution or display of the screen properly so the picture looks better? The picture currently looks light and dull. I'm use to a bright vibrant screen

 

You need to look into color calibration. It's a must with the 1920x1080 displays on the VAIO F. I think Joe Bleau might have a link in his profile. You'll get a lot of results by doing a search for Color Calibration in the first 3 threads. An even better search would be for the Unification Post (might be on page 1 of thread 3). That post has TONS of info and color calibration is part of it.

Good luck and report back if you can get your display to look the way you want.

 

Replied to you previously, maybe you missed it? http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...7-owners-thread-part-4-a-100.html#post6713356

 

Somewhat off-thread but I jst got norton ghost to do an image of my win xp desktop at home as well as work. Windows xp backup needed a floppy drive which I don't have. Norton ghost 14 doesn't support win7 but it's not like I need it to.

 

What? My Fn+F3 and F4 buttons only work if I have CPUID/realtemp running in the background. Btw I do have a volume button because I use a wireless keyboard.

 

If anyone's interested, I've discovered that the Nvidia HD audio driver, when installed alongside the realtek HD audio driver (which may or may not be the problem), causes high DPC latency, which was causing unreliable audio playback for me. If anyone is experiencing similar problems (I had the occasional brief stall when playing audio), uninstall the Nvidia audio driver.

You should only have this driver on your system if you've been updating your Nvidia graphics driver to the latest version on their website, I think.

 

So uhh, are you guys all living with the c-states whining sound? Its pretty head wrecking when it idles though it disappears again when it goes into really deep sleep.

 

Hi all my friend gave me an extra battery for my F12 brand new. Now both my batteries are calibrated with the help from joes guide.

What should I do with the extra battery? Do I store it in my closet with a 40% charge? I am using the other battery on my notebook with an 80% charge due to Sony battery care software. I would have stored both away but I heard that it is a dumb idea to do so even if I use the A/C adapter a lot.

Also I ordered the black vaio by it looks gray. I saw pics online and it looks pitch black. Is the USA version of black different compared to other regions?

 

sheebp, the F uses the Realtek HD audio driver, the NVIDIA audio driver is normally active only if you have a display connected via HDMI.

You can disable unneeded processes, drivers and Logon (startup) programs with the free, small & portable (meaning no install needed) Windows Sysinternals Autoruns. Just > Start > search: Create a Restore Point to be on the safe side before tweaking anything.

While you are there download also the free, portable & powerful tool called Process Explorer which works in tandem with Autoruns to gather info about a process or driver besides being able to run alone.

So I ran Autoruns and Process Explorer. Using the binoculars on Autoruns, I searched with nvidia until I found the NVIDIA HDMI audio driver. By right clicking on it, I searched it in Process Explorer which gave me this:



With Autoruns, there is no need to uninstall the NVIDIA audio driver, you can disable/enable at will stuff for testing purposes. So if you don't use HDMI, you can disable it & the day you do use HDMI, just re-enable it.

Which brings me to 2 unneeded Realtek programs which installed when I downloaded the most recent Realtek HD Audio Driver pack from their site (Win 7 64-bit, current version: R2.52 2010-09-06). I disabled those 2 programs months ago w/o any adverse effect on my F. Nvidia (RAID & SATA drivers above w/ red arrows for example), Realtek & others are now using unified driver packs that are compatible with several hardware configurations & sometimes they install stuff that works on other machines but NOT on the F. Those just add useless processes & clutter.

Realtek HD Audio Manager is useless for us, as we already have an audio manager in Control Panel > Sound or by right-clicking the speaker icon near the clock. Via those, we can also enable & apply sound effects so Realtek Audio Background Audio Manager is also useless. Try it, disable both in Autoruns, reboot for good measure & maybe it will solve your latency problem besides removing 2 useless processes.





BTW, in which program did you experience playback latency? Does it do the same w/ other programs? Did you disable all sound effects which also may cause latency? Willscary also reported that some background processes kicking in/out may cause latency peaks as he observed while using DPC Latency Checker (read the entire page, especially the bottom: Background information: Why drop-outs occur) which I do not have even with the NVIDIA HDMI Audio Driver enabled w/o any device connected via HDMI. I ran the DPC Latency Checker utility for 5 minutes on my Vaio_F:

 

Thanks for pointing that out Joe, although I don't think the autoruns app is necessary is it? You can just go manage services and weed things out there I suppose.

 

That's correct but Autoruns is an msconfig on steroids, try it. It's much faster & easier for preventing processes to startup then Task Manger > Processes > Properties and easier to undo the changes. You can also save configurations & then compare them & it will highlight the changes you made. Also the right-clicking to search the drivers or programs on the web or in Process Explorer is really awesome. They are tiny & do not add ANY background processes because they are portable.

After uninstalling Google Chrome, it left some cr@p behind including annoying auto updating programs in the background eating up resources & internet bandwidth and calling the mother ship & Autoruns came in handy to spot & delete Google's cr@p. Same for iTunes, I searched for_Apple to spot Bonjour, etc. Every time you install a new program, most of them want to add cr@p in Startup (Autoruns Logon tab), call home all the time & add an icon on the taskbar. It's a constant fight to keep your system clean & lean.



Process Explorer can be used instead of Task Manger > Processes with a lot of extra features like process trees, performance graphs, additional info, etc, etc.

*****

 

Just a pointer as it may solve the HDMI audio latency problem reported above by sheebp: NVIDIA 260.63 Beta (International, all languages, Win 7 64-bit). Edit: I installed it on my F & ran some benchmarks: VAIO_F Series NVIDIA 260.63 Beta - REPORT

Read the notes, this is interesting for example:

Our resident Vaio_F Series gaming expert Mangosango recommended this in an other thread:

 

Have people solved the slower than normal SSD random 4K write speeds on the F11? I haven't had time to follow this thread in ages. Thanks

You guys do know that it was Spain that won the World Cup right?

 

Well that took a while to be spotted by somebody. Living in Costa Rica it was impossible to miss. Spain is on an amazing roll currently dominating football, MotoGP, F1, Nadal in tennis, etc.

 

Hey guys, how long does it take your computer to charge the standard battery? Mine is at 95% 3 hours later (sleeping and charging for the most part).

I'm wondering if something's wrong, because my other laptop with a 5000mah battery finished charging ages ago lol.

 

Sleep consumes power. Try turning off or Hibernate instead. Next time I discharge to 3% I will check how long it takes to charge but don't forget that the F's battery is bigger w/ 5740mAh and is you other laptop also sleeping or is it turned off? Everything is relative.

 

The other machine is sleeping, I almost never turn off/hibernate my machines lol.

 

Then there are other variables like real (depends if the batteries are calibrated or not) % of the battery discharged, intensive use of laptop that reduces charging rate, battery wear, etc, etc.

Anyway, use your Everest > Power Management or BatteryBar or SIW 2010 or whatever to observe the discharge/charging rate. I did that to maximize the battery life by disabling unneeded stuff, Aero eye candy, solid desktop background, Bluetooth mouse, etc. For example:



Average repartition of a laptop's power usage according to this Windows 7 Energy Efficiency article:



Naturally it's relative to the model of notebook & your actual usage.

*****

 

I wouldn't know the difference.

Don't shoot me!!!

 

there was a world cup?

 

Joe (or anyone else), could you just do me a favor, run your stock battery down (if you have one), and then charge it up to max and see how long it takes?

That would be the easiest way to figure that out.

 

Why not check & post your charging rate instead? Batteries have a limited amount of discharge/charge cycles. Mine takes anywhere between 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the variables mentioned above.

 

Hi guys,

I just noticed that the prices that are being quoted for the F13's at a few Dutch sites don't seem to be higher than the F12 prices. I just hope this is going to stay that way.

 

Never seen this before- thank you.

 

I have a new problem. Adjusting the screen brightness does not work after a few hours of operation (I think, only after this). FN + F5 or Fn + F6 does not change anything. Stops at the first bar. The only thing that helps is a reboot of the system. But this is not a solution to the problem.

 

Do you have your auto-brightness enabled? If so, I think those buttons won't work.

 

I have auto-brightness enabled and in normal situation I can adjust auto level. It stop working suddenly after few hours.
Even if I disable auto-brightness, keys still don't change anything.

 

I installed the new NVIDIA 260.63 Beta (International, all languages, Win 7 64-bit) and ran the same tests as I did on all NVIDIA drivers installed on my F VPCF115FM, GT 330M, i7-720QM: Furmark & Cinebench 11.5 64-bit. It does not tell the whole story, especially about gaming performance but I thought it might be interesting for some. As usual, all other programs were closed & the anti virus was disabled for all tests.

First was Furmark Stability test for 10 minutes immediatly followed by Furmark Stability test (GPU running @ 99%) + Everest v5.50 CPU stability test (CPU @ 100%) simultaneously for 10 minutes. Note that Furmark was not set @ full screen so I could see the other windows but still was running the GPU @ 99%. BTW Everest is the only utility that I found so far that shows the actual fan speed.

The Vaio F passed with flying colors, the temperatures never reaching above 80C which is relatively cool when compared to other i7 laptops like the Envy_17 for example, with 90c+ or the Macbook_Pro 17 reaching temperatures above 100c!



Some Nvidia drivers showed some gains compared to the OEM video driver in Furmark but not anymore compared to recent versions.



Now what is troubling is that in Cinebench 11.5, there is a slow down in OpenGL & especially with the single core benchmark which was crawling and took more that 10 minutes to complete. For good measure, I re-ran the OpenGL test 3 times & the Single Core 2 times and the tests results were always identical. I will post this in Nvidia's Official NVIDIA 260.63 Beta Driver Feedback Thread & report if I get an explanation or tweak suggestion.

 

Is anybody using a bluetooth mouse? I'm shying away from the Razer Orochi due to complaints in an earlier thread. I'd prefer one with side buttons, hence not the official Sony one. Been toying with the idea of a Apple Magic Mouse, especially painted to liven up my desktop a bit.

 

YouTube - Fallout 3 on Sony Vaio F Series (Nvidia 330M)

 

I use a Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 since I got my F12 a month ago and like it a lot. I am not familiar with the Razer Orochi so I can't speak to that but I am pleased with mine and haven't had any issues at all. I also like the fact that it doesn't occupy any ports.

 

Will the Apple Magic Mouse be fully compatible?

 

Sony Vaio 3D Laptop with 3D 240Hz LCD display due Spring 2011

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/09/01/ifa-2010-sonys-first-3d-laptop-breaks-cover-in-berlin/

IFA 2010: Sony Vaio 3D Laptop - I4U News

http://www.gizmag.com/sony-3d-240fps-laptop-due-in-2011/16217/

 

If you don't no what to offer me for xmas: Logitech G700. Kid loving it on Youtube.



- "every single button on the device is fully programmable to be a macro, keyboard key or Windows function"

- 5700dpi laser sensor

- Also works as a corded mouse w/o battery or while charging the standard AA via the mini-USB data/charging cord. No cradle like the MX Revolution or mine for example which can't be used while charging.

I would have preferred a full size Bluetooth which I have but it's not asymmetric (it means it's not really comfortable for neither right or left handed ) so the hand gets cramped after a while & there is no thumb rest like the Logitechs Revolution, Performance MX (Youtube comparing both here) or the new G700. So now I'd rather sacrifice a USB port than ergonomics after using it for a month. From this post, my Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 vs Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 (size similar to 5000 model). Cradle photo from this Microsoft Laser 8000 review.



*****

 

I'm using the Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 OEM.
That's the black one and it looks great with the black F11.

No problems, no disconnects, works great.
I just wished it wasn't build like a cheap toy.

 

I understand wanting to save a little bit of space on the road but why use a small mouse @ home?

From this post, Microsoft 5000 Bluetooth mouse vs Vaio_VGPBMS33 Bluetooth:



*****

 

It's the only bluetooth mouse I know of that has a side button and works without any problems with my VAIO_F11.
And it is a lot cheaper as the VAIO mouse; 30 Euros vs 90 Euros.
So I can wear out 2

I'm told that size does not matter
You get used to it.

Unfortunately the "large" Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 is nowhere to be found in The Netherlands all sites link to the "small" Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000.

 

All of our F11s have been accessorized with a Logitech Performance MX USB mouse. Everyone loves them, but my big hands are a touch uncomfortable (large thumb) using the MX due to the thumb grip area.

For years I have used a Logitech MX 610. It is full size and works flawlessly. the only drawback is the large (4.5 CM) dongle that sticks out of the F11's USB port.

My wife uses a Logitech VX Nano, which is a small notebook mouse. It is perfect in every way (nano sized dongle, perfect tracking, long battery life) except one...it is entirely too small for my hands.

My kids have a Logitech Anywhere mouse. If my mouse (and the Performance MX) are full sized mice and the Nano is a 1/2 sized mouse, then the anywhere mouse would be a 3/4 size mouse. The anywhere mouse does not track quite as well, but feels much better, though not perfect, in my hand.

Last week, after deliberating on a Performance MX, I decided to try the new Logitech M705 mouse. It arrived yesterday. If the Anywhere mouse is 3/4 size, then the M705 is 7/8 size. It is smaller than the full size, but larger than the other mice in the house. It is very comfortable and I like that it only has the basic buttons. It is supposed to have a 3 year battery life (we shall see!) and I like everything about it...except...the tracking is a little different. Horizontal tracking is quick (after adjusting all settings), but vertical tracking seems to be slower for some reason, meaning that I have to move my hand more than I like. I have adjusted to where I now like it in this respect, but the new setting now makes small adjustments touchy. I have now been playing with the pointer acceleration settings to try to tame this. I am close, but not yet perfect.

Also, the scroll of this mouse is good, but not the same as my MX 610. I will need to get used to it after years of flawless service from the 610...they are just not the same.

The Performance MX has all the bells and whistles and is rechargeable. The M705 is slightly smaller but more comfortable in my hand. It is a bit more basic, but costs 1/2 the price. It takes some adjusting via the software in order to make it perform the way I like. Overall, I think I will like this mouse.

 

Great mouse review Willscary, +1 rep for your review! I never thought I had small hands but possibly smaller than yours as I the Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 seems the perfect size for me and when I tried other full size mice they all seemed large. It has more features than any other mouse I've had, it's comfortable and the tracking is great. Plus, as stated before, I especially like the fact that it is bluetooth and doesn't use one of the USB ports. I hate having lots of things sticking out of the sides of my notebook.

Edit: The forum wouldn't let me give you +1 rep?

 

You have to give 5 reps to other people before giving rep to the same person again.

Share the love!

 

If you don't mind using a wired mouse, you could always get one of these





Every button and surface of the mouse can be tweaked and customized to your own hand

I'm thinking of picking one up

 

Thanks a lot......now I know!

 

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