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
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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.
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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." -
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
VNC is in fact quite slow you should try other softwares like TightVNC -
Non HD TV is lower res than 640x480 and it works fine! -
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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?)
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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.) -
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." -
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.
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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? -
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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! -
@ 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...
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Thank you! -
Senor Mortgage Notebook Evangelist
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). -
Howitzer225 Death Company Dreadnought
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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. -
Howitzer225 Death Company Dreadnought
They both run at pretty much the same power levels when idle.
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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 lifebut please dont take my word for it until someone can confirm it.
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Howitzer225 Death Company Dreadnought
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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.....
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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:
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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.Attached Files:
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Senor Mortgage Notebook Evangelist
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
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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.
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Senor Mortgage Notebook Evangelist
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.
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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...
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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?
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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. -
Howitzer225 Death Company Dreadnought
Mimvid, you might have some bloatware apps running around in the background. Try uninstalling those, or do a clean install of Windows 7.
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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. -
Howitzer225 Death Company Dreadnought
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. -
Asked them to verify, this information is not given by Nvidia on their www. -
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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. -
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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.....
Official Sony Vaio CW Core 2 Duo Series Owner's Thread
Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony Owners' Lounge Forum' started by RayStar, Oct 22, 2009.