Official Sony Vaio CW Core 2 Duo Series Owner's Thread

I'm not a real gamer but like to have some extra for the future... who knows?

Is it worth to pay 50 euros more (~$75) to have GT230M with 512Mo of dedicated memory instead of 256 Mo ?

I like the white color (and in a dark room it should be a plus given that the keyboard hasn't backlit) but I wonder how it manages with dirt. Does the keyboard gets the dirt becoming gray over time (for those who have mac book or other white laptops) ?

nalooti

EDIT: another question not necessarily related to the CW but since I'm buying this laptop...
Is it possible to use the CW's screen as a console screen of another PC ? Put it another way, does it support video input whether HDMI, DVI or VGA?
I need this function to monitor sometimes my HTPC. Usually, I connect remotely to my HTPC via VNC but soen't like the latency of VNC.

thanks

 

If you're not a gamer then whats the point? 210M can easily deal with all non gaming tasks and only needs half energy the 230M needs. Longer battery life.

Er, no, but someone correct me if I'm wrong pls.
Check manual http://www.docs.sony.com/release/VPCCW10_series.pdf

[EDIT]
about VT, not related with above
Took my own advice and checked manual:

"Using Intel® VT
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT) allows you to use hardware virtualization software for enhancing your computer's
performance.
!
Intel VT may not be available depending on the CPU installed on your computer.
For information on virtualization and how to use hardware virtualization software, contact the software publisher."

 

YES it's definitely worth it:
the G210 and GT230 m don't belong to the same product range of graphic card. As a consequence, the gap between those cards is quite large.

check http://www.notebookcheck.net/Newsentry.153+M5b1b5e51cf2.0.html
& their benchmark for more info

No there are no video input.
VNC is in fact quite slow you should try other softwares like TightVNC

 

The video conferencing image probably gets resized before being sent off anyway. WIth a lower res, the image quality will be better than when they try to squeeze too many megapixels in.

Non HD TV is lower res than 640x480 and it works fine!

 

Thanks for testing. Those are great results for a 14" laptop. I'm really excited about this thing... I've always wished someone made a smaller gaming laptop, and Sony finally has.

 

I don't get it. What VT has to do with my question ?

 

I haven't seen enough of these test results done for other laptops, can you give me some idea how this compares to other Small and Light newer laptops out there, such as the DM3, Studio 14z, and the UL80vt? Or for that matter, as compared to other "true" gaming laptops out there? Such as on page 2 of Charles review of the UL80vt, it shows the 3DMark06 score as 3461 for the UL80. Is this the same corresponding score where the CW got a 5837? If that is so does that mean that the CW is almost doubling the UL80vt's score!

 

Not related at all, there was discussion about VT in this thread, sorry for confusing you

 

Check this list:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Dell 14z has GF9400 rated at 108th place
HP DM3 has ATI HD 3200 rated at 130th place.
UL80 has NV 210M rated at 80th BUT it also has ULV CPU (read - slow), which makes it crap for gaming. CPU test is part of 3Dmark and that's exactly why UL80 had such a low result.

NV 230M is provisionally rated at 41st place - they haven't benchmarked it yet but it's same architecture (slower clock) as 240 just which is rated 37th and my 230M is just 200 3Dmark points slower (see #205), so 41st place looks about correct.

To give you better idea, GF7950 GTX is 38th, 8700M GT SLI is 40th, 9650M GT 49th, ATI HD 4650 33rd. 230M is in the middle of those.

It is simply THE fastest 14" laptop at the market at the moment, period.I'm sure that others will follow soon, Sony was just first to release small factor laptop using new generation of GPU, but certainly not the last! I'm still waiting for first 13/14" with 240M (VAIO Z anyone?)

 

BIG QUESTION...
if i format and delete all partitions , INSTANT WEB work ?

where is INSTANT WEB system , hd or another place ( flash memory ... ) ?

 

For the CW owners, just come questions?

What kind of battery life are you guys getting on your standard capacity battery? For those with Large capacity Batteries, what's your guys battery life like? During Idle? Under Load?
Also include the conditions (Watching movies, using office, using photoshop, gaming etc, What hardware is on, whats running in background, etc.)

Are you able to do switchable graphics? Are you able to switch between discrete and integrated graphics?

Does it come with a recovery disc or a recovery partition on the harddrive?
(Please state if it is the BB model or the CTO model.)

 

Product home page:
http://www.splashtop.com/how_splashtop_works.php

"Splashtop is preinstalled on the hard drive or in the on-board Flash memory of new PCs and motherboards by their manufacturers. Splashtop is a software-only solution that requires no additional hardware. A small component of Splashtop is embedded in the BIOS of the PC – that’s the part that runs as soon as you press the power button."

 

GDDR3

I checked out the webcam in stores today and it was really clear, compared to over laptops, i dont think having a higher MP is always better, i think instead of going for higher MP's like 2.0, if Sony still has a 1.3MP which has been out for a few yrs now, maybe they have a better quality camera.

Sony says 4hr(standard) and 6hr(large) users have noted that they get around 2.5-3.5 depending on what their doing, and Sony usually exagerrates as bit or they turn everything off and everything on the lowest setting to get such results. but i think you will get min 2.5 hrs for most of the activities you have noted, it would get great if we could get more in depth results from our owners

The Graphics are not switchable, only a few computers have such feature, such as SXPS13, SONY SZ, and Z series. CW only dedicated Graphics.

All Sony laptops comes with a hidden Recovery Partition by pressing F8 i think. None of the CW's at all come with any type of recovery CDs but when you turn on the laptop it will ask you to make recovery DVDs which uses around 3 DVDs has users have noted.

i will yes, even if your not a gamer its always better to be future proof, but i would go for the 230M since its drastically better than the GT210 and its worth the extra $50.

 

then sony CW splashtop need HD or FLASH ???

 

Thank you for answering my previous question on keyboard size; I am glad that it is a standard sized keyboard!

My next question: can the bluetooth that this laptop comes with be turned off?

 

splashtop is on HD

 

Yes, there is separate software control. Switch on front of the laptop turns both bluetooth and wifi on, and there is a simple app in windows where you can switch on/off both wifi and BT separately. Pops up every time you flick the switch.

 

yes, it can be turned off

 

Thanks for the help. Do you own a CW also? what are your specs? Whats your battery life?

Yes it would be helpful to get a more in depth review from other owners also.
I was really hoping for the graphics to be switchable, as I wont need it when I am doing simple tasks, but the GPU will be very useful for when I do my photo editing.

Does this graphics offer hybrid mode?

I know this laptop does pretty good in the performance department, I'm just concerned about its endurance now!

 

Maybe even more, since it has CUDA.
@ 23W peak and ~12W idle 230M isn't exactly very power demanding. I think around 10W peak is standard for cards with performance like GMA4500, used as the low power option is switchable solutions.210M faster than "performance" cards used in switchable graphics (GF9300?) and as energy efficient (12W peak) as "endurance" ones. If you're after performance AND endurance it may be the way to go.

 

Hey guys! Thanks for all the amazing info. I just wanted to know, does the CW come with the driver CDs and Windows CDs? Also, no one ever mentioned the 5400rpm hard drive.... what do you think of the speed of it? Does it seem slow-ish or just right and you don't see a difference...since all the other companies offer 7200rpm. I really want to get this laptop....but these numbers worry me! Someone please advise...

 

Thank you!

 

The difference between a 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm hardrive is minimal until you start reading/writing a lot of data. While the 7200 is likely a bit faster, it is also slightly more power hungry and more apt to failure. While I do think that there should have been an option for one online I don't think its all that big of a deal.

After a week of use, using internet/word/excel at about 60-75% brightness with power saving profile, I consistently seem to be getting about 3h15-3h30 of battery life with the p7450 and 230m. Usually I don't run it down all the way but based on rate of battery decline thats where I put it. One thing to note is that it seems the system automatically will estimate battery life at 2h30 when you scroll over the power icon but the estimate decreases slower than real time (ie after an hour it will say there is 1h50 minutes left or something rather than 1h30).

 

AFAIK, ASUS N81Vp is the fastest with its Mobility Radeon 4650 which is a tad better than the GT230M though not by a large margin. 240M is basically a higher clocked 230M, which makes me think you can overclock the 230M and flash it at around 240M levels.

 

Is this with the standard battery?

Also do you think the T6600 (2.2 GHZ) will have a similar battery life?

I just did some research and the P7450 has a Thermal Design Power of 25 watts and the T6600 has a thermal design power of 35 watts. I don't know if that will make a huge difference.

 

They both run at pretty much the same power levels when idle.

 

Ok, so I can expect 3-3.5 hours of battery life out of the laptop on average with a standard battery, is this correct? Other people were saying 2.5 hours so I just want to make sure.

 

No, I dont own a CW, i just gathered info from what i read and what others have written on this thread hopefully i will be getting my CW in December, and hopefully there will be some kind of deals, but if there will be a refresh in Feb or so ill wait, cuz i was digging through the manual and i found out that the CW was suppose to or will have a fingerprint reader, which i really want, and hopefully by Dec-Feb we will find out about CW from diff user experiences, so im waiting, but if i could i would get it right now.
I will be looking to get a CTO model with P8700, 4GB RAM, 320GB or 500GB(maybe they might add 7200RPM HDD's in the next refresh) and im hoping the $200 coupon will still be available by dec or maybe another deal so i can get the 2yr ADH warranty and in SEXY RED/BLACK colour

on Notebookcheck its written that this graphics card does support hybrid graphics but its not available in the CW, coming from Sony SZ this feature will be greatly missed.

Well, even if this laptop doesnt offer hybrid graphics i think there are options that you can disable to get a bit of extra battery life. IM NOT SURE but im guess that the DVD drive can be turned off/disabled, along with other features what will help with battery life but please dont take my word for it until someone can confirm it.

the CW comes with no CD/whatsoever, as mentioned several times before in this thread, When you Start the Machine a message will pop-up asking you to creat recovery DVDS which will bring it back into original factory state with Os, drivers, and all bloatware installed.There is also a recovery partition that is hidden and has exact the same stuff the recovery CDs have, it recovers your system to original factory state. please dont get offended but i would like to note to every one, please try to search for what your looking for or thoroughly look through the thread to make sure your question hasnt already been answered.Thank You

AFAIK, T series takes up more power than the P series and i think it makes a good amount of difference and the P processor is worth it. maybe it might not take as much power since its the same power consumption when the CPU is idle.but im guessing that you wont get that full 3.5hr mark, mayber you might but you will have to ask someone who has the T6600 CPU and see how long the battery lasts. just my 2 cents

 

Yes, with non-intensive use and using the power saving mode.

 

Alright thanks, I'm fine with squeezing battery life, On my last laptop I went to power saving mode at the lowest brightness possible in order to squeeze 100 minutes out of it. It was a 15.4" ASUS F3K laptop if anybody is wondering.

 

does anyone have the problem when you click the start buttom and the mouse just flickers and click 30+ times at the exact same place.....

 

Yesterday, I decided to chat with Sony Supporter to ask about VT, she said that we could enable VT by using BIOS Update Utility. Here is the conversation:

 

I've finally had a chance to load up GTA4 and run a few benchmarks. I ran these with all system defaults and whatever as-shipped processes running, plus my security suite (Bitdefender).

Resolution: 1366 x 768
Texture quality: Medium (will not allow high due to lack of GPU ram)
Render quality: High
Avg FPS: 24.23

Resolution: 1366 x 768
Texture quality: Medium
Render quality: Medium
Avg FPS: 24.51

Resolution: 1024 x 768
Texture quality: Medium
Render quality: Medium
Avg FPS: 24.88

I was hoping for better frame rate, but I need to optimize still. There was noticeable lag when the on-screen action picked up. If anyone has recommendations for performance improvements, let me know and I will test and post the results.

The speaker sound quality is poor and is very low, in my opinion.

I was planning on posting more pics, but I have the white model that seems to be the most prevalent in retail stores, so I'll refrain unless someone has a specific request. here's one below I took earlier for those that need to see to believe. To clarify: I did not need to update the BIOS to enable VT. It was merely set to 'disabled' by default.

 

Wait did those number come from the 230m or 210m? I thought the 210 was the one in the white bestbuy model, which would make those numbers pretty impressive. Those number are what I would expect from the 230 m offhand.

Edit: Yes omen, thats on standard battery, no undervolting/not shutting off all other programs like AV background/no other tweaks.

 

yep, seems like the one he is using is the 210M

 

Those numbers are with the 230M. I have a CTO system (P8700/230M/4gb/W7 Pro). Frankly, I was expecting better, like closer to 30 FPS. It's certainly playable though.

 

I'm not surprised at all about GTA 4. Its terribly ported and a CPU killer, which is not a strong suit of this line. Toms hardware max fps on overclocked a i7 4ghz and 5870 was 64 at 1680x1050 and thats due to a CPU bottleneck. Its just not meant to be with that game.

 

hi!

but your CW hardisk is in SATA2 or SATA1 mode ?

thanks

 

Hi guys, sorry to interrupt but does anybody have a problem with CPU on Sony Vaio cw13fx (2.2 GHz, T6600)? I wouldn't blame it on Sony or Microsoft (Windows 7) at this point but there is something very strange going on with that computer. I got it a week ago for several reasons and one was a light editing (since advertised as gaming notebook)... but my processor is on 30-40% even when most of the applications are closed... with adobe sc4 in the background it peaks 80% on average and I am usually afraid to even touch cursor on the time line -gets to 100%. It just doesn't work. I also have to wait for a very long time to boot the computer even though I cleaned whatever I could from the start menu . I had an HP dv9500t previous this one for 2 years and did several documentary films on it with a slightly lower configuration. I can't figure it out...

 

Hi mimvid, I do not have a Vaio CW yet but perhaps I could help you. Did your high CPU usage % and slowness (such as the boot time) occur right from the moment when you got your computer or did it start to happen very recently? Also, you mentioned that you cleaned whatever you could from the start menu; does this mean that you uninstalled applications which start at start-up?

 

I am hoping that Sony will have a black friday special for this laptop.

I guess 2.5 to 2.5 hours is not bad also, thinking of getting the one with the extended battery.

 

Mimvid, you might have some bloatware apps running around in the background. Try uninstalling those, or do a clean install of Windows 7.

 

You got me here, I missed that ASUS otherwise I would have bought it some time ago!
According to various benchmarks and reviews Radeon 4650 is noticeably faster then 230M in higher resolutions&details. Downside is it uses 15W more and heats a lot. (edit: not according to this N81V review http://www.legitreviews.com/article/935/1/)

I'm still waiting to see first small factor laptops with Nvidia 250M, which is quoted @ 28W peak power usage (some 14W idle), is way faster than ATI 4650/4670 (38W) and produced in 40nm process, so should be relatively small and fit anything from 13" up.

 

Yeah, I was also considering that ASUS but its lacklustre battery life and hard to press touchpad made me to reconsider. It shifted my attention to the CW, since I'll be typing on my next laptop a lot and I wanted a good keyboard to do the job-and some side gaming as well with decent battery life.

The GTS 250M's strong point is its performance-per-watt. GDDR5 memory in that card would put it at 9800M GT levels, whereas GDDR3 at 9800M GS. I think manufacturers are a bit wary of putting an enthusiast class GPU in a 14" form factor due to heat concerns. I think with further shrinks in the manufacturing process and less TDP required for more powerful GPU's then we may see decent GPUs in smaller laptops. GTS 250M is currently available in 15"+ laptops from Acer, Toshiba & MSI.

 

I don't think 250M 28W quoted by notebookcheck is correct. 260M is 38W and it is exactly same architecture/die. 28W must be a typo
Asked them to verify, this information is not given by Nvidia on their www.

 

Post #262 says that the Splashtop software solution is on the Hard Drive, which is part of what makes the "One-Touch Web Access" button function. My question is will doing a clean install of Win 7 cause the Splashtop instant Web button to quite working because of needed software on the hard drive being erased? If the clean install breaks the QuickWeb, is there a download option so it can be reinstalled? I went to the Splashtop.com website and didn't see a download available. I also went to Sony's Support site and also couldn't find an available download for Splashtop. I assume doing a System Restore would reinstall whats needed, but would also bring back all the bloatware with it.

 

From notebookcheck's GTS 260m description page " The power consumption of the mobile graphics card (GTS 260M) is with 37 Watt TDP is significantly higher than the GTS 250M one. (27 Watt). "

May be due to this low TDP of GTS 250M, manufacturers like msi choose to add this graphics processor in their new i7 range lappies ( MSI GT 640), to bring down overall power consumption, there by reducing heat and extending battery life.

 

if you delete original windows 7 partition , you delete splashtop

 

I'm having that model ship to me today so i'll likely have the answer for you in the afternoon. I was planning on removing most of the bloatware though so I might not have the same problems you do.

 

Being a new owner of a CW (and a very happy one so far), I'd be interested in knowing what everyone regards as "bloatware" vs essential apps that are worth keeping.

I've already activated the McAfee internet security, find that it works very well actually. Have tried to delete the Norton Online back-up trial version but still have the icon on Vaio Gate, would like to get rid of that?

Any other bloatware keep/avoid suggestions? Vaio Media Gallery looks OK but Windows Media Centre appears to do all of the same.....