Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

Hell yeah! I can't wait!

 

Wow! Thats awesome! I guess I better go spread the word at Swedish forums then

 

I received my VGN-FW190EEH on Friday afternoon and have been playing with it without any sleep. I am very happy that I did not go with Z series.

But I have 3 questions for you guys:

1) My InterVideo WinDVD does not work. I don't know what caused this. I don't think that I deleted any necessary file while cleaning up the bloatware. I guess one of the old program I installed caused this. You may say "how come?", let me explain with an example: A very similar thing happened to Internet Explorer. It did not open. Later on I found by chance that when one of my old XP software (iFinger) is open, regardless of whether it is opened in compatibility mode or by administrator, the Internet Explorer does not open. Anyhow, may be a similar program causes a problem for the WinDVD. Though I must admit there is a big difference for WinDVD-- it opens, but cannot play DVDs. It gives the following error: " WinDVD MFC Application has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available." There are some solutions I found in some forums which did not work.

So, has anyone else encountered this problem and how did you solve it?

2) This may be a weird question so please excuse me.

I don't know how I can explain this but in my Toshiba laptop there is a button on the lid that you can slide and then release the button which really helps you to open the lid.

In this laptop there is no such button + when the is lid closed, it is flush to the keyboard-- there is no gap or whatsoever to hold and open the lid conveniently. There is a little piece that barely protrudes from the top surface of the lid just above the motion eye webcam which seems to be serving a purpose when opening the lid. Well, I was extremely uncomfortable when I opened the lid from by holding from that piece because every time I tried it was inevitable to touch, even worse with the pressure you apply, to the webcam. Apart from this, I did not like opening the lid by way of holding the top part of the lid (the part that webcam is located) because, I don't know whether it goes the same for your laptops but the only part I have found flimsy in this laptop is this part.

Anyhow, if you have any special techniques I will really appreciate if you can share. Right now opening the lid is a pain in the *** for me!


3) I could not output my laptop's screen to my 1080P HDTV via HDMI because Sony's software offered me to choose 720p because 1080 option was grayed out and not selectable. I did not expect this. What is the reason for that? Do/did you have the same problem??

BTW, Hicolor is insane!

Thanks,

mg428

PS. I've just found out that the button i tried to explain above is called "catch". So what I meant above is that FW does not have a catch.

http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/flipping-your-laptop-lid/153173

 

Can any owner of a FW11 confirm whether or not the SD/MMC and MemoryStick readers are two separate Windows devices with two separate drive letters?

I seem to recollect two different card reader icons in Explorer, one for SD/MMC and one for MemoryStick, but after I've made a clean 64-bit Vista install (with manual driver installations) all I have is an SD/MMC drive visible by Explorer and Disk Manager and no sight of any MemoryStick device...

In the Device Manager, under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers I have:

* Ricoh Memory Stick Controller
* Ricoh SD Host Controller


But, under Disk drives apart from the HDD I have only this:

* Ricoh SD/MMC Disk Device

There should also be something similar to "Ricoh Memory Stick Disk Device" here, am I right?


OTOH, under the category Portable Devices I have this:

* R5C822


The above device identifies as a Ricoh card reader device in Google searches, so I'm thinking that maybe this device should be the missing "Ricoh Memory Stick Disk Device" under Disk drives that I've mentioned and that it's wrongly identified by Vista, am I right? If so, does anyone know of any working Vista 64-bit drivers for this MemoryStick device?

 

I have a FW190EEH which has 2 separate drives.

 

^^ Ok thanks, that's what I thought, the same should apply for the FW11. So, anyone that's managed to install the Memory Stick reader in 64-bit Vista? If so, what drivers did you use? Apart from this device, everything else installed just fine on 64-bit Vista...

 

Question. My FW says it comes "pre-loaded" with Spider-Man 3 and other TV shows. Anyone knows where they are?, I want to delete them, but I haven't been able to find them, even with visible hidden folders and files. :blush:

 

I've been having a lot of problems when browsing the internet where the computer just clicks and goes backwards.

I was able to fix it by loading the latest Synaptic driver here:

http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm

Just posting in case anyone has had the same issue.

 

Dude if this is true, I can even give you a BJ! I am driving crazy due to this touch pad!

BTW, which particulars problem you had and did this driver solved all of them?

 

You guys might have it configured for an specific function by tapping on the upper left corner, maybe. You can disable those functions if you want. At least on my FW the touchpad is Alps not Synaptics. Oh well.

 

I just installed it. Yes it works and smoothed my navigating experience, but...

Vertical and horizontal scrolling does not work. Also "tap to click" function of Synaptics, which allows users to assign different function to different parts of the touch pad, cannot be enabled. I can live with the latter, but unfortunately, due to former problem (unusable vertical & horizontal scrolling) I will have to uninstall the program, despite the touch pad is much more smoother with Synaptics.

Nonetheless, dbaps, I want to hear from you before I uninstall. May be yours is working perfectly OK??

 

I agree with the shortcomings. Still for me it is well worth it. This issue was driving me crazy!

http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2005/11/15/fixing-my-alps-touchpad-with-the-synaptics-driver/

 

I am trying by best to solve the shortcomings. I will update you shortly.

Edit: It does not work. Absence of vertical scroll is unbearable for me. I think I don't have the ALPS problems you have. Also there is a chance the driver will be updated.

 

hi, I have a vaio fe11s (t2400 processor) where I put 2gb ram and 250hdd

Now I'm looking for an upgrade, and I found fw series...

speaking of size and weight, battery life e cpu performances, do you think there is a huge difference between them (fw with t9400) to justify the upgrade?

I need better performances for photo-video editing and HDmovie playback. and if possible better battery life

another little question, I read that fw series has poor speakers performances... how it is compared to the speakers in vaio fe series?

 

Please someone help me, i have been searching, but could not find alot about upgrading the new FW series. is it possible??

 

The Sony FW series uses ALPS touchpads, not Synaptics touchpads. Though Windows will accept the Synaptics drivers for the touchpad, this will only give you basic touchpad features (move pointer, right/left-click) so I don't see the point of installing the wrong drivers. As for disabling annoying and unexpected touchpad behaviour, if you disable tapping in the ALPS touchpad properties, this should stop...

 

Disabling tapping in ALPS did not fix my mysterious issue of the browser pages going backwards w/o me touching the pad or any key. It was very frustrating. Until someone comes up with a fix for this I'm staying away from the ALPS driver.

 

I think that has more to do with your browser settings than the touchpad settings. There may be a feature that's inactivated because the browser can't communicate properly with the touchpad because the wrong drivers are installed. If I recall correctly, Firefox 2 has a "mouse gesture" feature that can provoke unexpected touchpad/mouse behaviour and I think that at least old versions of Opera also have such a feature...

 

I bought the FW11ZU last week in the UK that came with 32-bit Vista Ultimate. I'm generally happy with this laptop although some hiccups did occur:

1. I downloaded DreamScenes from window update but none of them worked. Worst off, whenever I click on a DreamScene, it'd freezes windows explorer and makes it not responding. I had to end the task every time in order for the VAIO to work again. Anyone has the same issue? Although I probably would never use the moving background, but still I want to make sure they work. I am hoping it’s not hardware related.

2. On the left side of the notebook, I can hear very high pitched sound continuously. You have to hear it in a very quiet room though. It might not be as loud as the fan, but the high pitch sometimes is very annoying just like ringing in the ears. The sound is definitely not from hard drive.

3. One day I found that on the left side of the screen, there is a vertical line. The line persists regardless of switching among backgrounds and reboots so I’m sure the line was faulty pixels. However, the line disappeared that night. I was so relieved and I hope this line will never occur again.

I know it might be too early, but I don't find any support and tutorials from SONY about upgrading hard drive on this model. The hard drive is the bottle neck on FW11ZU and I think eventually I'll replace it with a large SSD when its price comes down. Anyone has the same ambitious?

 

DreamScenes work without a problem on my FW11M with a clean Vista Ultimate 64-bit install. Do you have a 32-bit or 64-bit Vista Ultimate? Actually, there are some really nice DreamScene themes, I think once you get used to it you'll have a hard time reverting to static desktop images

 

I think all FW11ZU come with 32-bit vista ultimate. I really hope it's not just me.

 

Now do you see what I mean?

 

****, im going to have to sell my FW with eco screen and get a Hi Color, I can't take it anymore, haha...

 

well i got my FW and.....life sucks

got it off ebay, I think it was hot...if you know what I mean

guy shipped it wrapped in a piece of paper and threw it in a box. the jack on the left side is all wobbly and about to come off, theres a dead pixel, and theres a scuff on the top. filed a claim with paypal and will send it back tomorrow. god this sucks, cuz its such a nice laptop!

runs a bit hotter than i was hoping though, but not more than expected. runs fast, LOVE the keyboard and can't go back now, just love this keyboard.

the eco screen is good, about as good as any other laptop on them market. the contrast-ratio is pitiful but when you break it all down, for what I paid its fine. id like to have hi-color, but only if i didnt have to pay a premium for it.

wish me luck on my next FW...

 

Maybe you can find a good price on ebay.

 

only hi-color on ebay is 2k

 

with your past experience. i dont think you should get your next fw on ebay. checkout newegg, i got the same fw that soundsgood has for $1200(it is now $1300 or so) and it came with hi-color!

 

the jack on the left side? where you plug the power into? if thats what youre talking about, mine is a little loose too. is it supposed to be like that?

anyway, i have a question. i've had my fw160d for a month or so, and would like to sell it to get one with a hi-color. how much do you think i could sell it for on ebay?

 

id say between 800-1000

i bought mine as "used, in mint" BIN for 800, others ive seen go for 900-1000, and i saw one go for 850

wanna sell me yours?

 

i was supposed to get the hicolor from newegg for $1150 but they had problems with my amex (or should i say, amex were retards cant kept rejecting the order for no reason) and the order was eventually cancelled. im going to call them again tomorrow to see if they will honor the sale price since it was ordered on time and it was all amex's fault (they even admitted to it)

arghhhh

its 1399 at newegg now anyone know of a cheaper place? school starts tomorrow, im ****ed

 

800-1000 cdn? even though with tax, they sell for 1550? (at sony store at least)

 

canadian? i was speaking USD

if you're in canada you might do a little better, but the american prices would hurt your return. canada is really overpriced compared to the US...

 

so it would be better selling it in canada then?

since im in the UK for the next month or so, i may even try and sell it over here... apparently laptops are hugely overpriced here. thing with that is though, id have to get a laptop shipped over here from the US.

should i try listing it on ebay canada and UK?

 

id check what FW's are going for on the UK site first

canada and US are interchangeable though, most listings show up as north american regardless. someone might bid more on yours if they are canadian and want to avoid PST/GST, it'll also take away from your US buyers who want to avoid duty.....so its a two way street. the US ebay market is the range i've told you, though.




side note, after using this FW for a bit I have got to comment on the absolutely crappy speakers this thing has in it. I did a side-by-side with my POS Compaq v6000 and the Compaq blew it away. the speakers are tinny, bassless, nad not something I would ever use for entertainment.

 

I would like to Know if your computer also do it

Blu ray drive sound



The computer bluray drive makes a sound when you power on the computer (the sound is similar after you close the tray,without any disc while you have the computer on)

And it makes this sound again just after the line of loading vista is going left and right

I dont remember this second sound on previus vaios I owned
Is it normal?
Have you this similar sound two times?


I have fw11j from Spain

Thank you a lot your answers

 

I meant it is incredibly good to the extent that if you turn on the brightness all the way, your eyes can be blind

 

I had the same problems with my AMEX for the very same laptop (VGN-FW190EEH) that I purchased from newegg.

If I were you I would not blame only AMEX. Newegg is over-meticulous about this verification process. Note that they are asking stupidly for your "shipping phone" number, then expect that number to match with the number you provided to your CC company. This is ridiculous because no CC company would have a "shipping telephone" number in their records. They would have one or more of the following: Day phone, evening phone, home phone, cell phone, business phone, after hours phone.

So I guess this caused a problem in my case and I called both newegg and AMEX and changed all my phone numbers to one phone number. I got them changed to my home phone number. This time, I received an e-mail from the verifications department of newegg stating that they tried to reach me from the number I provided to them, which also matches with the number on my bank account, to complete the verification process, because they generally call their customers who shop from them for the first time. The thing is that I do not use my home phone number during the weekdays and there is no way I can answer to that phone during the week. So I had to call both newegg and AMEX again and changed all phone numbers this time to my cell phone. And finally they called me and released the order.

Shortly, if I were you I would only provide one phone number to both newegg and AMEX and that would be my cell phone number.

 

Wait a second. That is not a fault of the ALPS driver or something. There is a setting in the ALPS settings called "Web Assistant". If that is enabled, then when you slide your finger rightwards on the touchpad it will function as "forward" and when you slide your finger leftwards it will function as "backward".

I like this feature but the thing is it does not work with Firefox. It works with IE arbitrarily-- sometimes it works sometimes not; sometimes it only functions as backward but not as forward or vice versa.

All in all, ALPS is a crappy lousy touchpad!

 

Hi guys!
Where I can find the latest ATI driver for 3470?
With native driver I found a lot of problems playing my favourite IL-2 aviasim.
So, I configured and installed the latest 8.8 driver with ATI Mobility Modder. No artefacts in IL-2, but! After ~10 of playing in any game driver (atikmdag) stops responding and just kicks me from the game. Stress-tests (S&M, Super Pi, so on) show clearly that problem in not in overheat. Any suggestions?

PS. Maybe anybody knows what is inside our FW? Who already disassembled it? Except memory & HDD, of course ))

 

yeah, very similar problem with me.

in my case, my billing address is in canada and shipping in NY; so I called AMEX to make my billing and shipping the same address.

seemed easy enough, right? well after several rejections and several calls to amex over and over, even though they told me they were updating my info it seemed every new rep had no idea about this address and no info had been changed at all.

insanity.

 

Guys I would need to ask my rather weird question again. This time it will be short.

Since there is no catch on the lid to release the screen, I am having difficulty each time I try to open the lid. I was wondering whether you have a particular technique or something to open the lid?

 

I grab the part of the lid that sticks out with my my thumb nail and with another finger, while the other hand keeps the lower half of the laptop in place. Now that I've got the hang of it, I can do it quickly and gently. I was having the same difficulties in the beginning though. Hope it helps.

 

anyone can tell me something about my questions?!

 

Maybe if you use it in a dimly lit room -- in which case you can always turn it down. But if you use it in a very bright sunny area (like I do) the extra brightness of the screen is much appreciated. As is the better colors/contrast/etc...

 

any hicolors out there for under 1200?

 

I was checking out the FW offerings on the Best Buy website, and for their FW170J/W they state that it has 64bit Vista (see link below). Is this an error, or is Sony beginning to ship FW's with 64bit OS?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892898&type=product&id=1211587728389

 

You mean the part just above the webcam and on the top part of the lid, right? I am asking this because that thing only barely sticks out, and I just wanted to make sure whether I understood you correctly.

 

If I have sound as if I did not like the Hicolor screen, that is absolutely incorrect! I am very happy with it!

 

Yeah, exactly. I know it's hard to actually hold on to that, but it gets easier with time. I would prefer if the mechanism was done to be used with more ease because I too am having a hard time opening the lid, compared to the older notebooks.

 

its really that hard for you guys??