Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

yes i was in best buy today and was looking at the fw139e/h, almost bought it, but what stopped me was the echo screen, everybody seems to favor the hi color. is it worth the extra money?

 

Amazon has the 198 for $1819 which doesn't seem too bad. It comes with the Hi-Color Screen. Of course, could also just order one from Sony, but Amazon seems pretty close to exactly what I would order anyhow. As for the FW, my question on it is regarding the speakers. I saw one review that ripped Sony for having inferior speakers in the FW. I wanted to know what people's experience with the FW speakers has been. Of course, it's a laptop so it's not realistic to expect perfection, but in this price range they should be reasonable. I also know the FW has the bluetooth you can stream into your home stereo system, but the purpose of a laptop is portability and I am not going to carry my home stereo on the road. So, please let me know what you think.

 

Oops, I think you made a mistake, you should definitely return that one and get the first one. No wait, the second one.

 

Trovador, that's pretty close to what I want to get. The only difference being I am using this machine for multimedia and also for day trading, and not much at all for games, so I want the bigger hard drive even if its slower (320 gb). I still am wondering also about the speakers on the FW and wanted to get some feedback from owners. The last thing, I want to be able to send it back if received even with 1 dead pixel. I hate dead pixels. With Asus, that's what I am use to. But Asus is really a gamers platform so for me, that's paying for something I don't use. But the Blue Ray Read/Write, a speedy machine, and a roomy hard drive, that's a must, so that is the FW. Also, it seems to be the ideal compromise between size and portability. So, I think we are on the right track with the FW, for sure.

 

Those are definitely great specs! I was just making fun of wizo because he's having a hard time sticking to one notebook. This one appears to be a winner.

From what I've read (I still don't have my FW, should be here next Saturday), the speakers are not outstanding, good at best. Dead pixels are a possibility on any notebook you buy, good luck.

 

I installed the latest 3D mark and ran it.

Took forever to load and when it ran I got about .025 frames per second before the program crashed and burned.

 

Ahh man please dont mess with me about the decision b.c this one is final.

I could have basically chosen any other laptop but since i have messed around and seen what the others had I really like the design and overall look and feel of this FW series. I used my laptop last week when I was painting a living room and for music the laptop did great.
The problem with the the other ones I had was buyers remorse. I think I needed to def. have the hicolor screen and ATI card. The atheros card in the 139 really was not worth a dime and I am sure that later on it will work for N draft but no chance right now.
The 170 was a better unit with more ram, 64 bit, wireless card and hard-drive but for the money the 139 seemed almost as good.

The 190 I just custom ordered has the best of both those two computers with the upgrades I really wanted. Faster hard-drive, hicolor screen and faster processor. I thought that for extra room if I need it I can use an external. I added the warranty plan and with the free shipping and $100 off the computer I actually paid less than the 170 j/w and best buy warranty.

So at the end of the day I got a better unit even though I could have gotten a Saga or a Alien ware laptop for the same price.

Thanks for all the help regarding specs and what unit to get

 

Nah, audio isn't that horrible...certainly not great but pretty much normal for laptops. One design feature that hurts is that the speakers fire up instead of at you. I would have figured Sony would have spent a few more bucks on the sound for a big multimedia Blu-ray notebook like this.

 

Wizo,
where did you get the $100.00 off deal at, didn't see anything on sonystyle site, thx

 

okay here is question for FW owners, at present bestbuy has FW140E on sale for $899. What do you think of the screen of laptop sold at Bestbuy compared with Hi-Color screen sold by Sonystyle.com ? Is there any difference in resolution between two screen the one at bestbuy has 1600x900. The price of equally configured machine with Hi-color on Sonystyle is nearly $400 more. Should I get it from Sonystyle and spend more just for Hi-color screen.

 

the resolution is the same on both screens. The eco is a good screen but the hi-colour is a great screen .
it depends on what you'll be using it for, i'm watching blu rays on my FW so i was all for the hi-colour, but if you are just doing school and music on it don’t bother upgrading for that price.

But if you have the money to shell out high colour all the way

 

If I'm watching Blu-ray I will get a 1080P panel. This laptop would not be acceptable.

 

The HiColor screen is better.

Nope. Resolution is the same.

Are you located in the United States?

 

Hey, are you guys keeping "Windows Live OneCare" or removing it?

 

Also what about the Microsoft Visual C app? Remove it or not and thanks?

Gary

 

Can I buy the FW11J model (comes with the HD3650) from the United States?
They only sell in Europe. Maybe there is a reseller that can ship to the U.S.?

 

I have a friend who bought the same vaio fw 140D as me.
The problem is that her computer spent almost 2-3 hours under the first configuration process (when you first configure vista).
Is that normal?

My fw spent 5-10 minutes at most with all the initial process.

If that can help answer the question, I used the US and english canadian setup of vista, she used the canadian (french). Can that explain the difference or would she better exchange her computer?

 

For those of you wanting some nice compact speakers to replace the asthmatic like speakers on the FW; I highly recommend picking the Creative Inspire T10. I just picked up a pair and my jaw is on the floor. These rock. And for $59.99CAD you can't go wrong.

 

Removed that crap. It's only a trial version anyway.

Check out AVG Free for virus protection.

 

You should remove the onecare! It really wrecked havoc with my Norton 360 as well.

 

Thanks... it's really been starting to bug me.

 

I'm gonna dump it and get Kaspersky Security. Also, I completely turned off Sony's dog-of-a-media-server and am back to using Media Player....it's way faster and serves out your actual media folder structure...not a bunch of useless pseudo-folders organized by date.

 

Do not remove Visual C Redistributable...you'll break lotsa stuff.

 

okay guys after researching things around i finally bought FW140E/H from local bestbuy for $799 (after $100 internet signup saving). What are the things I should look forward to with this laptop in terms of setup. One thing that bugs me is buttons on thumpad are too small. Apart from that other thing i noyed is it comes with 32 bit version of vista instead of 64bit version. Is there a way to upgrade it using retail version or you are stuck with oem only.

 

Just a warning, tweaking Vista, I disabled Windows Search Service through MSConfig and it breaks my sound drivers. When I placed check back in service and restarted sound was back. Strange I think but I have been through about 3 reinstalls of vista trying to figure this out. I hope it helps someone out there and watch out for some tweaks - they may backfire.

Gary

 

@Tetonwolf,

Can you explain exactly what you did to turn off Sony media center or whatever the app is. Would appreciate it.

Gary

 

Here's a nice short review that recently came out:
http://laptopsroom.blogspot.com/2008/08/sony-vaio-fw-series-vgn-fw198u-review.html

 

is there a difference between the fw190 and the fw139 sold at bestbuy?

of course, besides customization...

 

This is interesting, though not having the HiColor screen makes it a bit less appealing.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...80824&lp=6&type=product&cp=1&id=1211587728389

 

I uninstalled OneCare this morning. I'm pretty happy with Avast, by the way.

I was thinking the same thing. I tried using it with my PS3 but ran into problems. How did you turn it off?

 

Did the vaio fw finally fit in this sleeve?

 

Hey guys, remember the problem I was having with heat, where the right side of the FW's pamlrest was getting very warm?

Well, now that that Media thing has stopped looking for media files, and after uninstalling Windows OneCare, the hard drive seems to have cooled down a bit. New HD Tune numbers:


Idle: 39 c / 102 f

After running HD Tune: 42 c / 107 f

If the temperature stays like this I might just keep this hard drive. The main reason for wanting to replace it was due to a hot palmrest, but now it's not bad at all.

 

First part of my post did not get in so editing.

Will have multiple partitions to separate programs from data and am wondering what a reasonable C drive size would be. I have gotten my C driuve down to 14 GB after unisntalling a lot of stuff and now have now have 275 GB free. I was thinking about 30-35 GB for C with Office 2003, Acrobat 8 Pro, Frontpage 2003, Photoshop Elements 6 and some other programs I figure that would be enough - twice as large of a partition as my old XP install.

Also, have left all the Sony programs but would like to get rid of some of them. What can be thrown out and what can be kept of these prgrams and thanks.

Gary

 

Okay I cleaned up my Vista installation now and it runs much smoother. But it seems that I removed the program that makes the function keys and volume buttons work. Which program is that so I can install it again?

 

Yes, like a glove...it even fits perfectly with the extended battery. Plus the inside lining is not neoprene...it's soft and smooth like micofiber so it won't snag on your notebook. It's almost as if it was designed for it. By the way, it's made by Case Logic -- not Belkin, my boo boo.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198JJYU

 

Teton, speaking of the extended battery... which do you prefer (and why), the extended battery or the standard one?

 

The battery life is too wide of a range on the Sony website to determine which one is better. Obviously, the extended battery will be better, but by how much? If it is only 1 hour more, I cannot justify spending $100 more.

 

Well, it's a different size and it sticks out the bottom... so it's not "obviously better" to me. I'd rather hear from those that actually own both batteries.

 

I would rather get two of the regular batteries, one for backup

 

As far as I see, almost all people who posted in this thread are in favor of HiColor screen to such that they are finding the Eco almost repulsive.

OK, I got the point. The screen is going to be HiColor.

What about the processor? P8400 or P8600 vs. T9400? Because T9400 seems to be a great improvement.

Of course you will say if you got the money go for T9400 but I would like to know whether you have a similar tough stance as in Eco vs. Hicolor situation in regards to processor. Would you say there is no way you would go something under T9400? Or would you say 8400 & 8600 will also work.

I am asking this because I only see two models that have HiColor in the U.S., one is VGN-FW198U sold by amazon.com which includes T9400 processor and is the top of the line model and thus very expensive, and the other is VGN-FW190EEH sold by newegg which includes P8600 processor. (There is also this VGN-FW190EBH sold on sonystyle but it is controversial whether this laptop has a Eco or HiColor processor, as the "feautres" and "specifications" sections on the website says differently. Nonetheless, this model is also expensive for me)

Nonetheless, do you consider T9400 or higher a "must" for an FW laptop purchase?

Thanks!

PS. BTW, please let me know if there is another pre-configured model(s) that come with Hi-Color.

 

Nope. In fact I don't want a 'T' processor since they tend to run hotter and kill the battery faster.

 

hey guys i was just wondering, i just bought the fw140d today for school and dunno what, if anything, i should upgrade (drivers-wise) or if its all preloaded with the best stuff (prolly not since its bestbuy-bought) thanks for all the help, cheers to everyone vaio's are awesome!

 

Really i thought that it was running at 25 not 35_aka not hotter?

I think you might not really see the performance unless you have it matched with a faster HD as well?--But the T9400 has to give you better perfromance all around, right...?

 

the T processors use 35W of power, thus generate more heat while the P processors use 25W of power, thus generate less heat.

 

What is the best choice for the hard drive? OR should I just get the cheapest one and then replace it with something like the 320GB 7200RPM (Western Digital Scorpio) that you guys were talking about before.

About the processors - it's too bad they don't have an option for the P9500. They have the P8400 and P8600. Why didn't they include the P9500 2.53Ghz?That would have made more sense. I'm sure more people would have gotten the P9500 instead of the T9400, because it consumes less power (25W vs. 35W) and generates less heat.

Its the same exact thing with the graphics card. They include the HD3470, when there are a lot of people that would have gotten the HD3650. The HD3650 is available in Europe but not in the U.S. This doesn't make sense. Is there a practical reason/explanation for this?

 

So would it better to reconfigure my laptop tom. or as soon as possible if I can to get the 320 @ 5400. I was sold by the tech-(Yeah I know its more), but to get the the T9400 and the 200 @7200 HD. I mean would'nt it make more sense that it would be the quickest- Or will the heat destroy this thing?
Please help I am freaking out about this.

 

A P9500 2.53 Ghz. processor and a 320GB 7200RPM harddrive would have been great...

Neverthless, out of the options available, I guess I'm going with either of the following configurations (processor+hard drive):
1. P8600 2.4Ghz. + 200GB 7200RPM
2. T9400 2.53Ghz.+320GB 5400 RPM
I'm still trying to decide. I like the second option better though.

 

Hi, I am new in the forum

Yesterday I bought the VGN-FW11S in redcoon ((

I would like to install the windows xp and I have been searching for it drivers in google and in this forum but I havent found them... Do you know where I could find a compilation of them?

Thanks

 

Would you not want to mix and match those two>?
I mean the T9400 2.53ghz with the 200GB 7200RPM>? Or would that make it run too hot, kill performance and end life quickly?

Also would upgrading ram to a DDR3 option from say OCZ tech. be a viable option to have the computer run at more quicker speeds. I also read in the hardware forum there are ways to lower the temps from your computer by "undervolting"> Would that be a viable option on these Fw series computers?

 

I like the extended battery because it props up the notebook and leaves ventilation underneath. However, I also like the standard battery because it is lighter (I don't have it yet...still waiting).