Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

Are the 3 hidden screws marked with red ! mark on your photo? How do you expose the hidden screws?

 

Yeah, 3 screws and latch. When tried to open casing found that something went wrong, and found them

 

Guys do you know what the purpose of the light on the power brick is? I especially want to know why it continues lid for a certain time after unplugging the power cord from the wall outlet?

At first, considering the relatively large power brick of FW, I thought that may be the power brick includes a mini UPS (Uninterrupted Power Service) hardware. Though I was mistaken because when I unplugged the power cord while the battery was removed the laptop shut down immediately.

 

That is easy, the larger is power brick, less heat it produses. There are condensers inside, enough power to give your laptop 0,5 second of life - huge amount of time, laptop needs just 15ms to switch between battery and 110V. Enough power for that stupid light comparing to the whole laptop

 

it is probably still on because there's still enough juice in it to introduce you to jesus

Raps, how hard is it to access the speakers, do you have to take the whole thing apart, and when you say hidden screws and latch, how are they hidden, how do you find them?

You know this should be a seperate post stuck to the top of the forum cause it's very helpful

 

Well you are funny guys but I was serious. Power outage may not happen in the U.S. but it occurs occasionally in Europe. In the event of power outage, it would have been very nice if the power brick could provide juice for 30 seconds allowing the users save their work in case the battery is removed or unavailable.

 

mg428 - well, Sonystyle will help you. Call them Who knows, maybe they'll make power brick specially for you. Probably, it'll weight more than 4 lbs.

Mr Banana Pants - I forgot about speakers when changed thermal interface. Really, I have no idea how to reach speakers. When you look at HDD, you will see latch. When you take out DVD, you'll also see 3 srcews without additional movements

 

Is the battery used when the battery is full and while the laptop is plugged to the wall outlet?

I am asking this because I want to use my battery as long as possible and as far as I know constantly leaving the battery on the laptop adversely affects the lifespan of the battery. In fact my previous Toshiba laptop's battery performance substantially decreased in a very short time due to this fact.

However, this time with my Sony FW, I think that such an adverse effect may not happen because I have just noticed that when the battery is fully charged the orange charging light stops lighting. This made me think that may be FW laptops stops using power from the battery when plugged to the wall.

Am I correct? Do you know whether the battery is used while the laptop is plugged to the wall outlet?

 

I have the same question, my tosh's battery won't even last 5 mintues now, but i rarely brought it out, almost always plugged in, should i not have the battery in?

 

So as a Toshiba owner you may understand me better. In my Toshiba laptop the charging indicator light is orange while charging and it turns to blue when the battery is full.

My Sony FW, however, has a charging indicator light that lights in orange while charging and it stops lighting when the battery is full. And this made me think that may be the laptop completely stops using power from the battery while it is connected to the wall outlet. If this is correct, then this is great, because in this case leaving the battery on will not detriment the lifespan of the battery.

 

don't know if you noticed, but a few pages back some posters were talking about battery saver settings. Don't know about an answer to your question, but at least the battery saver option should give you some peice of mind.

Also, all rechargable batteries naturally lose charge over time (as well all know), so I imagine that the battery is topped off each time the notebook is powered up, or maybe even getting a constant trickle charge.

 

Thank you for your comment.

In fact I know about the power saver settings. Here my question is different: Is the battery used when it is on and while the laptop is connected to the wall outlet? Is it used barely or substantially to the extent that it can detriment the lifespan of the battery? Or is it not used at all?

 

A new model "VGN-FW292 Graphic Splash" is posted on Sony Style US site. The CTO options include ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM. It also has 64-bit Vista, 320G(7200rpm) hard drive, and up to 8G ram. But the screen only has ECO, no hi-color. Does anyone know why Sony doesn't provide hi-color option on this model?

 

That really pisses me off too. I was holding out a bit longer for a white FW and the HD3650 graphics card but now they aren't offering it with the Hicolor screen and they force you to buy one of those hideous looking covers. Hopefully Sony will upgrade the CTO Titanium/White model in the next month. Otherwise I will likely be considering the upcoming HP 16" HDX.

 

the fw launched not too long ago, i'm sure there will be more options and versions in the future, unfortunately it's the waiting that's so unbearable.

 

I need to know what's ok to uninstall, like what is bloatware, not sure what some of it is, a lot of vaio stuff
i'm using rev uninstaller and it shows all these language packs for catalyst, i can uninstall those

 

Well **** and hell,

after waiting 3 months to buy a laptop and hundreds of hours searching for one that would suit me, I finally settled on a FW 190CTO. After a additional month and repeated failures to aquire a better GFX card in the model and being told that there were no plans in the future to put in a better GFX card in the FW, I finally went ahead and spent $2500 bucks on the best options avalible. 2 days after the **** thing ships, I read THIS news:

Yesterday, 12:05 PM
Good news: FW US now comes with Radeon 3650, 512MB VRAM!
Sony finally listen to their customers. They now offer FW with Radeon 3650. Previously, FW US models only come with Radeon 3470.

Bugger hell, is Sony TRYING to get themselves gunned down?

Seriously, couldn't they have put out some warning at all?

I guess the question now becomes how much a replacement Mobo with updated GFX card will cost.

 

If you really want it, return your notebook for a refund. Sony Style has 30 day money back guarantee. Just remember that the new model with Radeon 3650 does not have XBrite Hi-Color Screen, which is a big turn off in my opinion and which is why I am going to wait one more month until they release the same config with Hi-Color.

 

Well, now I would, but I want to see if I can simply get the MoBo swapped out (as GFX card has been glued in *shakes his head) and a new one with the new card put in it's place.

Also, while it's on the US website, there is no mention of it on the Canadian website (though all laptops are put together in Florida I believe).

 

Has anyone used Linux on the FW series? If so, what distros and how well did it work? I'd like to install Ubuntu, but it doesn't seem like many people have been successful.

 

I doubt Sony would swap the mobo for you. You may be able to purchase the mobo but that would be very expensive and very difficult to do it yourself. If you don't mind ECO screen, I would say just return it. Don't even open the package. Just tell them you want FW292 and return the package unopened.

 

Has anyone tried runing virtual machines on their FW? I have tried both VPC 2007 SP1, and Vmware, however both have trouble detecting the processor, (both programs say the prrocessor is only 32 bit).

Also VMware says

"

You have configured this virtual machine to use a 64-bit guest operating system. However, this host's CPU is not capable of running 64-bit virtual machines or this virtual machine has 64-bit support disabled.
For more detailed information, see http://www.vmware.com/info?id=152

"

however theres nothing in the bios, any suggestions guys?

 

*shakes his fist at Sony*

Annnd options for pre-ordering the AW just come out. *sigh* It's bigger and two pounds heavier, but other than that, it's about 7000 less than what I paid for my FW, and all the system compontents I wanted.

Not as pretty though, lol.

 

bobo99, I am running Virtual PC 2007 without any problems. I have a FW160E.

Is your OS 64bit? Have you installed Virtual PC x64 or x32?

 

i'm runnung 64vista business and did install vpc64bit :s

see signature for computer

 

I've played around with an FW in PCworld in the UK, and looked into the battery settings/power settings, and I could not see a 'battery saver' option?

I want an FW11ZU, but don't know if it's my best option. I have several concerns:

1. battery saver questions
2. 300GB 4200rpm drive being offered in the UK
3. reports of poor quality palm rest that gets worn quickly
4. reports that there are not enough rubber stops around the screen, which scratch the inside edge of the laptop when it's shut, particularly in the middle
5. High UK price!
6. 1 year guarantee - Sony products seem to have a reputation for failing just after the warranty runs out
7. my wife will kill me if I buy another laptop...

 

That's my biggest concern too.I need absolutely a 500GB 5400rpm drive.

Can you change the harddisk on the FW without losing the warranty?
Are there any stickers?
I think that the harddisk compartment is user accessible.Can somebody confirm that too please?

 

I'm running VMware workstation on my FW139E. I ran VMware Converter to virtualize my old XP machine. I'm still waiting to find out if the 4GB memory chips will work. If they do, I may reinstall using 64-bit Vista.

VMware runs great. Running VPN on the VMware XP image to get into work.

 

**********************************************
You know it actually makes some sense to me. How many software packages need more than 4GB and Hi-Color and 64-bit? I think most high-color enthusiasts are probably not interested in 64-bit with 5-8GB of memory. How many games take advantage of 64-bit, added memory? Maybe in a year or two...

I wanted the added memory for virtual machines. Don't need hi-color there either. Remember the resolution isn't different anyway. Now give me 1080P with the horsepower to run games at that pixel rate and watch Blu-ray? Maybe...

 

Hi-Color is a matter of personal preference. Most people prefer vibrant looking Hi=Color screen than pale ECO screen.

64bit is good because if you have 4GB RAM installed, you will be able to use all of it. If you only have 32bit, roughly 25% of your RAM is wasted. 25% is a significant percentage. Now, whether your application and OS will actually use all 4GB is another discussion but it is nice to now to know that they are there when you need it.

 

Anyone else having the following issue with Media Player Classic on their Sony Vaio FW? When I maximize the window and choose "minimal" mode (i.e. press "1") the window doesn't cover the whole screen anymore but leaves out annoying lines on the right vertical and lower horizontal end of the screen (like this: _|). This has never happened to me before on any other computer and while installing the latest Catalyst drivers has made these lines a lot thinner they are still there and pretty darn annoying.

Interestingly, this does not happen when I choose "compact" mode (i.e. press "2") or when I'm in regular full-screen mode (Alt-Return or double-click) To replicate this, simply maximize the MPC window when playing a video, press "1" for minimal mode and double-click to switch between minimal and standard full-screen mode, you will see these lines appear and dissappear. The reason why I really want this "minimal" mode to work is that unlike regular full-screen mode it doesn't go away when you switch application for a moment and then go back to MPC, it's also easier to switch between minimal and standard mode than between full-screen and standard mode. If someone knows a possible solution to this issue, please tell

 

I've had the same exact problem from the very beginning with Media Player Classic and I asked on this forum with no response back, so I decided to find out myself.

I am using:
- Media Player Classic 6.4.9.0
- Combined Community Codec Pack

Unlike you, the border problem persists no matter what view mode I choose and even though it is much smaller after updating to the modded desktop drivers, it's still there and quite annoying.

To solve it, I did this:
- Media Player Classic > View > Options > Playback > Output
- change the "DirectShow Video" to "VMR7 (renderless)" and "VMR7/9 (renderless) & DirectX 7/9" settings to "Use texture surfaces and render video in 3D".
- Restart MPC

 

i have a problem with going into full screen mode on my vaio fw 190. with videos such as youtube and podcasts that i watch, whenever i click "go to full screen" i just get a black screen. is it because no sites support the resolution? is there a way to fix this?

 

this is how I fixed mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkecbl6gKck

 

Anyone know if sony canada will introduce the 3650 to the FW anytime soon? I have a contact email for someone from sony canada, they are a public relations manager.

 

wow that was really easy lol. thanks for the help.

 

the annoying part of the FW282s is that they dont offer the hicolor screen with it. But I'm glad that they decided to release 3650s in the US after HP and others are releasing 16" laptops with 9600.

hopefully the hicolor option, or an led option like that on the AW will be out soon.

 

They will. See this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=301225

 

This didn't fix the issue for me, but thanks for the tip anyway. I'll keep fiddling with the settings, maybe I'll get lucky...

 

Does anyone know if there is an actual hardware difference on the FW170 model to support 64-bit Vista that FW139, 140, and 190 do not have?

 

dont think so, you should be able to run 64bit fine on the older FWs. 64 bit has some performance upgrades and allows you to use more RAM.

 

Hi guys, i just bought the fw-140d which came with:

250gb HDD
3GB RAM
ATI 3470/256mb
p8400 core2 duo
standard battery
no blu-ray (i have a PS3 )

and now i have a few questions:

1.) How do i find out if the screen is hi-color?
2.) When i run games (battlefield 2142), i have two black bars on the right & left sides. How do i get rid of them?
3.) Will i be able to put it in a 15.4" laptop bag? Because i can fit it in a 15.4" sleeve.
4.) Does keeping the battery inside and plugged in to an outlet at the same time while using it harmful to the battery (i've heard rumors) ?
5.) Is Norton 360 a good virus scanner for it (lol)?
6.) Is moving the laptop gently while a disc is inside harmful to the disc?
7.) What settings can this run bioshock and crysis at if at all?
8.) Also while playing BF2142 on high settings i noticed a lag was that the internet connection or can this set-up not run BF2142 on high settings? (i will experiment with this tomorrow)

Thanks to whoever can answer them

 

Looks like Sony is getting ready to build the new FWs. I just checked out Sony Style and the estimated ship date for the new FW models is 9/30

 

I just got my FW139E from best buy tonight, and loaded Hardware Monitor, was wondering if anyone knows of a program to monitor the Ati GPU temps? As HM doesn't even acknowledge the chip being there, I tried the AMD GPU CLOCK TOOL mentioned here but when I try to run it it says "Failed No Devices Found" Any help would be appreciated!!!

 

Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition recognizes the following hardware sensors on the FW:

CPU Temperature
CPU Core #1 Temperature
CPU Core #2 Temperature
GPU Temperature
Internal HDD temperature
CPU Core Voltage

I think that's more or less all there is

 

I have a large problem with my 190CTO.

When the battery dies, ie when its left unplugged for a full day and night and I go to use the computer I cannot get it started at all. I plug it in first, wait at least a few minutes and then try pressing the power button on the side. NOTHING happens. I have a green light on the powercord adapter which shows its plugged in the wall correctly, I have a orange idicator on the computer with the battery sign light on as well.
I tried a few times unplugging and plugging it back in to the wall. After trying a few more times I gave up. 30 mins latter I tried again and it turned on right away???? This is not the first time I had this issue.

Anyone have any help on this I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Warren

 

just ordered a VGNFW292 - estimated shipping date 9/30

total = $1,149.99

I have an extra 2gb ram stick, so I picked the lowest available. I picked the "Colorful" cover since it is the best on there - I wish they offered plain grey like before.

 

congrats on your new FWs.

@ahsan 101

It may fit in some 15.4 in bags, look at the dimensions the bag is able to hold and compare that to the dimensions of your FW.
Yea norton does a good job and is pretty well updated. it may slow down your comp's performance a bit.
Check the specs on the model, it should say XBrite-Eco or XBrite-HiColor for the screen technology.
the black bars are from the resolution your playing the game vs the 1600*900 resolution on the screen. If there option to play your game in 1600*900, try that, that may cause lower frame rates.
Crysis should be fine in low settings.

 

Hi guys,

I plan to purchase a FW series but I have a few questions.

I want to install Arch Linux on it. Does anyone have experience of using Arch or any other Linux distro on an FW series?

I wish that Sony started giving out nVidia cards because ATI support in Linux is simply pathetic.

To use the HDMI output, what software drivers are required or is it only a hardware output? If I cannot use this then getting any laptop with HDMI + ATI cards doesnt make sense since I won't be able to use it in Linux.

Sony, installs a bunch of software that is tied into the Windows installtion. Does the OEM Windows installation work even when you remove the unnecessary software? I ask because one of my friend had a Vaio and she removed some software and then Windows kept giving her error messages and asked her to re-install that software. Everything worked, but it was annoying to have that error pop up everytime you reboot.


Thanks for your replies

 

Sorry for re-asking this question but I believe people missed it because of the news of the upcoming FW laptops. I will appreciate if you can share your knowledge regarding my query. Thanks!