Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

No, Sony added a new pre-configured model. Just yesterday, I believe.

Here it is at P1:

http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/mer...Product_Code=VGNFW190EEH&Category_Code=SONYFW

 

Oh, no on the tax.

 

Good news, my order status just changed to SHIPPED.

 

Great balls of fire!! He did it!!

What a steal.

 

And you thought I was bluffin'...

Seriously. I saved $291 vs. buying it from SonyStyle.

 

congrats, are you going to swap the hdd for a larger one @ 7200.

 

Nah. Not right away, anyway. I only have 80gb now, so 200gb is plenty for me. But I'll see how it performs once I have it.

 

Glad I could help

 

Well I've had my VGN-FW139E for a couple of weeks now. Got it at BB

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8907061&type=product&id=1213046783513.

BB had a nice sale for $999.

BB had a $69.99 special to upgrade to Vista Ultimate. That has been an interesting challenge.

Some people just say replace the license key. Others say to do the upgrade. I went ahead and tried the upgrade. So far the things I've seen to have lost are the customized Sony help settings and the customized settings in Windows Media Center.

I tried reapplying all the software and drivers but did not fix these issues. Of course Sony says that since Ultimate is not the OS I ordered the laptop with they do not support it. They told me that they are still working out driver and software issues with Vista Ultimate. I really haven't seen any problems except for the two issues previously mentioned. I did find a nice write-up on restoring the help software from my original backup disks. Has anyone else tried this?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/archive/index.php/t-139800.html

 

Soundsgood, when you get your FW, can you check out the new sony vaio software that was shown or talked about in berline, thanks.

 

Sure. I'm curious about that too.

 

which new software are you referring to?

 

Guys :

While watching dvds and blu ray movies on your FW, do you have "Hardware Acceleration" enabled in your player software? I remember having mine enabled in the flagship model AR61ZU and it wouldnt handle it. You had to disable it.

Anyone?

 

Yeah, it's enabled by default and runs great.

 

would you also know what are the pros and cons of having it enabled or not?

 

Ok guys, I've finished installing 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate on my FW. I've used mostly the 32-bit drivers and some of the beta 64-bit drivers, all from the Sony Vaio support and the Intel 5100 WiFi link and the Alps 64-bit Touchpad driver. Almost everything (except for the media keys of course) seems to work except these issues:

- Touchpad scrolling. I've found Alps Touchpad drivers (v7.100) specifically for 64-bit Vista and it installed successfully but when I try to run the Apoint application, nothing happens. Any ideas?

- In the device manager, I've got an Unknown device listed. What could it be? It's not the optical drive, webcam or media card reader because I've already installed the drivers for those.

 

Bluetooth?

 

sorry i have a question. i just got my fw. what should i remove for the bloat ware? im not sure what do get rid of and what to keep i thought it mite help to post here..thanks

 

Thanks Phil, it seems it really is the Bluetooth adapter. Do you know of any 64-bit Vista compatible drivers (I've only tried the 32-bit drivers from the Vaio Europe support site) for the Broadcom adapter?

Also, I've managed to solve the scrolling problem, yay! It was enough to go to the Device Manager and update drivers automatically for the "mouse" and it converts to the touchpad. After that you restart the system and then turn on scrolling in the mouse options in Control Panel.

 

One thing about the FW that has bothered me since day one is the touchpad buttons. As previously mentioned by SoundsGood, they are noisy. Worse is that they are not wide enough and are often hard to find when groping with your finger. Now even worse is that the right hand button has become wobbly and loose and is utterly annoying...it half clicks which does nothing and you have to make sure you mash it to get a full click. Do you know what I'm talking here? The left button is solid and doesn't have this issue at all. None of my other laptops have this problem (although I have seen this issue with cheap mice). I think this is a defect in workmanship. It just drives me nuts that I might be forced to send this back for repair so soon. Does anyone else have this problem? Should I just return the whole thing to Sonystyle for refund and order another one?

 

Both buttons are solid on mine... I'd probably send it back and get a new one since there is no restocking fee. I wonder if you might lose your free battery however.

 

Mine are noisy too, but rock solid, so I agree with Sueveed that this is a defect.

 

False alarm. A few blasts of compressed air fixed it...looks like it was a "defect in sticky fingers". Dang. That was weird. But I'm a happy camper again!! Yipppeeee!!

 

Phew!

 

So, I finally took the plunge and decided on the FW140-D. It cost me $999.99 (sale) + $20 printer (promo) + tax = about $1120.00

I'm just burning the recovery discs now. It tells me it takes about 65 minutes to do so. Is that normal?

First impressions:
- the screen is shiny and rich (eco screen)
- cd/dvd tray a bit wobbly and loose (something I should be concerned about?)
- touchpad buttons are indeed loud but firm
- battery is small (physical size-wise) compared to my Toshiba's battery which takes up like half of the space.
- very light and portable for its size

I will have more details later on after the recovery discs are done burning.

 

Congrats! But weren't you getting the Z instead? or am I getting my Wolves confused?

 

Thanks! Doesn't seem like I'll regret my purchase since it's a solid machine.

I was considering the Z too but multiple factors just contributed to me getting the FW instead:
- the Z is not yet available in Canada. Who knows when it will be coming out. They don't even have the SR on display.
- I could not justify the Z's almost double price
- paranoid about the nVidia card in the Z, I thought I would play it safe with the ATI
- the FW was on sale at Best Buy for $999.99 + $20 for a printer for a total price of about $1120.00 with tax.

Not too shabby.

 

Gotcha. Well very good, I'm sure you'll love it!

 

TetonWolf, do you have any more info about the free batteries Sony is supposed to send those of us who got the wrong one? Were they going to ship this week?

They haven't called or emailed me about it.

 

Does anybody know if you can turn off the trackpad easily and quickly on the FW? I found in the sony shop that when typing your hand can brush the trackpad and scroll the page up and down when you are using it, does anybody else find this a problem?

On my HP dv2000 there is a handy off/on button which the FW does not have! so is there an easy solution to rather going in to the control panel all the time to change settings! I thought that the sony FW was supposed to be a great machine for typing on with its spaced keyboard ect, so any ideas?

 

Can anyone with the factory installed RAM run CPU-Z and tell me the RAM specs? Thanks

 

There ya go, mate:

 

CPU-Z 1.45 report file

Processor(s)

Number of processors 1
Number of cores 2 per processor
Number of threads 2 per processor
Name Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo
Code Name Penryn
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz
Package Socket P (478)
Family/Model/Stepping 6.7.6
Extended Family/Model 6.17
Core Stepping M0
Technology 45 nm
Core Speed 2260.6 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 8.5 x 266.0 MHz
Rated Bus speed 1063.8 MHz
Stock frequency 2266 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, EM64T
L1 Data cache (per processor) 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache (per processor) 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache (per processor) 3072 KBytes, 12-way set associative, 64-byte line size

Chipset & Memory

Northbridge Intel GL40/GM45/GS45/PM45 rev. 07
Southbridge Intel ID2919 rev. 03
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type
Memory Size 3072 MBytes

System

System Manufacturer Sony Corporation
System Name VGN-FW139E
System S/N 28276131-3011913
Mainboard Vendor Sony Corporation
Mainboard Model VAIO
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version R0250Y0
BIOS Date 06/05/2008

Memory SPD

Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 2048 MBytes, Samsung
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Qimonda

Software

Windows Version Microsoft Windows Vista (6.0) Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1 (Build 6001)
DirectX Version 10.0

 

Almost all of my media and Fn buttons are now working! I'm not exactly sure how, but now the mute, caps lock, pause and stop Fn keys, as well as the volume, play/pause, stop, previous and next track buttons are functional. The notification does not appear on the screen but they do work. Basically now all that is not working are the brightness, external display and sleep Fn keys and S1 and AV Mode buttons, but EVERYTHING else works on 64-bit Vista! I'm really digging the upgrade.

Only one thing remains to fix: I'm on a quest to find the Bluetooth drivers that would work on a 64-bit OS, so if anyone can help, I'd appreciate it.

 

I think they'll just show up...not sure we will get emails. I'll call them again on Tuesday or Wednesday to see what the story is.

 

Well, the problem came back worse than ever...apparently the cold compressed air temporarily stiffened up the rubber membrane under the button...now it's loose again. Looks like I'll be sending it in for repair (I don't want it replaced as everything else is perfect). It has simply become impossible to live with as the right button is the only one I use.

 

Bummer. Sorry to hear about that.

Wonder what happened?

 

Try these drivers (2nd one down) and let us know (they work on Dell's Broadcom Bluetooth):

http://www.anycom.com/products/blue...?id=102&partno=CC3036&tab=support&tab=support

 

Cheap touchpad. I wish I could say that Sony is using the highest quality components here but I'm afraid they have sucumbed to the temptation to use cheap parts in order to compete and simultaneously maintain their margins....and leave the best quality for their more characteristically expensive notebooks like the Z.

 

The buttons on my FW are slightly loose too but I don't see it as a major problem. However, video playback is kind of jerky. I mean, it plays smoothly and from time to time, it jerks. Anyone know what's up?

 

Hey everyone,

I have had my FW for a couple of days now and I love it. I tried to do a clean install of Vista but I ran into trouble with the Catalyst program. It is not available on the recovery disc that I can see.

What is the Catalyst program and do I really need it?

It would really be helpful if others had an idea of what software programs are really needed and which are not. Anyone?

I followed the FZ clean vista install instructions but many of the files are different from the FZ. Any help?

Thanks!

I have the FW190 CTO.

 

Something is wrong there. The Timing Table indicates 5-6-6-18 @400 MHz but the actual timing is 6-6-6-18. What is going on?

 

I'm gonna give it a few more days and see if I can get used to it. I'm beginning to think that as you break in the touchpad, the buttons loosen up. I really prefer the soft-push buttons that are ridged and raised well above the pad.

My Blu-ray playback is smooth as silk. Hit Ctl-Alt-Del, select Task Manager and look at Process tab and sort by CPU to see if anything is eating up your CPU.

 

must say my touchpad is doing fine. I've been playin hd videos since i got it, i notice no problems.

Try using a different player like media player classic or updating your current players.

 

Mine shows the same CPUZ timing 6-6-6-18...both SIMs are Qimoda. SiSandra Lite shows 5-6-6-18 though. I suspect an issue with CPUZ. BTW, SiSandra memory bandwidth is 5.4 GB/s which is really impressive.

 

It's really unnoticeable and it doesn't matter if the video is HD or not but it is kind of annoying when it happens, even if it is subtle. I also, don't have anything running in the background, like absolutely nothing.

The latest Media Player Classic is what I've been using, with the Combined Community Codec Pack.

 

Mhmmn thats what i use. Don't know why yours is having issues. Maybe the performance level your running the fw on?

 

Try K-lite codec pack, according to most of the people over in the software forum it's better than CCP.

If that does not solve it, try the standalone version of VLC (works without installing).

 

Same here. The buttons will likely be my least favorite thing about this laptop. Luckily I use a Bluetooth mouse most of the time.