Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

Yes I'd like to know this as well. Can someone please answer the above poster's question??

 

I finally solved it

In my case to get rid of the annoying lines I just had to set DirectShow Video to "Overlay Mixer", what I had missed earlier when experimenting with the DirectShow Video settings was to reload the video for the new settings to take effect...

EDIT: The borders still persist before you actually start a video, not a big deal though, but I've tried to get rid of that too by creating a 1ms black screen video that autostarts with MPC...

 

To follow-up on this question, does anyone else have the following issue with Youtube videos:

When going into full-screen mode, the video is stretched only vertically leaving big vertical bars to the left and right, like this: || LCD ||

I've tried turning off hardware acceleration but that didn't fix the issue. I'm pretty sure the horizontal bars are because Youtube/Flash player is stretching a 4:3 ratio video on a widescreen ratio screen while keeping the 4:3 aspect ratio, but to fill the screen it should override the aspect ratio. So, I know why it happens, just don't know how and where to fix it

 

What does the S1 and AV Mode buttons supposed to do? They dont seem to do anything when I press them.

 

S1 should bring up a dolby sound manager box.
AV should bring up a (useless for me) tool bar across the top of the screen that has quick launch icons for things like webcam, media player, etc.

Follow up question- does anyone know how to change the function of these buttons to something more usefull to myself? A one button mute would be nice.

 

A mute button is exactly what I use my S1 button for. Works great.

Just hold down the S1 button for a few seconds, and a box will pop up. Now just choose your desired function, and you're done.

 

What key do I press to load the Bios on startup and thanks.

Gary

 

F2 opens the BIOS setup
F10 launches the Sony Recovery utility
F11 rewrites the MBR

 

Thanks a lot for that.

Gary

 

Is it possible to assign Sleep or Hibernate to S1? fn+whatever key is too far to stretch my fingers using one hand

 

Select "Launch Application" in the S1 button settings and enter the following:

For Sleep:

Application: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
Option: powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

For Hibernate:

Application: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
Option: powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate

I myself entered this for locking the user account (same as Windows key + L):

Application: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
Option: user32.dll,LockWorkStation

 

question, has there been any reviews online regarding units shipping with the ATI 3650? probably some european sites? I am curious what kind of results the video card has in the FW.

 

Laptop HDMI Connection To TV, How to Use My Home Theater Rather then TV Speakers,

Hi Gurus... I have some prob that have been bugging me for quite some time.

I just bought a New Sony Vaio FW 13GU which is similiar to the US's FW 198 UH model.

I Want to connect it to my Plasma TV to watch movies.

My Hardware Specs.
Toshiba Plasma TV with only 1 HDMI port
Pioneer home Theater Sys with only 1 HDMI port.

Originally, the Home Theater is connected to Plasma using HDMI so when i Watch DVD sound will come from Home Theater and Vid from TV.

Now Cause only have 1 HDMI port, so i connect it from my laptop to my Plasma Instead, So sound and vid all from Plasma.

I try to use Analog White and Red cable to connect from Plasma to Pioneer DVD player that controls the Home Theater, but sound still come from TV.

So i straight output sound from my laptop to my Player.

The prob is this, when i'm not connected to TV using HDMI, sound come from Home Theater,

But once I connect HDMI from laptop to TV with the sound output of laptop to Home Theater, the sound will switch back to Plasma.

Anyway to get over this prob?

I want to connect my laptop (play blu ray movie), video on Plasma but audio from Home Theater...

Suggestions??

THanks...

 

I was wondering, is the Sony high color screen an 8-bit screen?

 

Anyone have experience using a NON-Sony AC Adapter with your FW?

If so, could you please help me with this post.

Thanks!

 

Just thought I'd say that I am still loving my Sony Vaio FW11E. Don't mind the Eco Screen because it still looks lovely. Everything seems to load fast and smoothly so I do not regret the purchase at all.

 

Are you actually getting sound from the laptop using just the HDMI cable or are you running an auxiliary audio cable to the plasma TV from the laptop? If you're running an auxiliary audio cable, the solution is simple. Just switch the auxiliary cable to the audio inputs of your home theater thingy and mute the sound from the plasma.

You'll need one of those splitter cable things that change sound from a 3.5mm jack to the RCA cables.

The lesson here is next time get stuff with more HDMI ports. My TV has 4.

 

I found the link to order the AW from the US Sony website.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...ategoryId=16154&XID=O:vaio aw:dg_vinb_gglsrch

I guess it's not FW related except that if you really wanted to spec out the FW, maybe getting the AW is worth it.

A note of caution though. The AW uses an nVidia graphics card and nVidia notebook graphics have a failure rate of 10 to 20 percent.

Google "nvidia graphics failure" and you'll know what I mean. So if you're going to get an nVidia card, make sure you get like some sort of extended service plan because it can get incredibly costly to replace a glued on graphics card that fails if you have to swap out the entire mainboard just to fix nVidia's mistake. :-D

That said though, when they're not failing, nVidia cards ARE faster. :-D

 

Wouldn't the new nvidia cards have new materials that would tend not to fail? Regardless, the AW although nice, still have a weak card for its size (I mean the higher end AW card).

 

You make a good point. Such a large notebook deserves a better graphics card. It would be nice if Sony offered dual 9600 GT DDR3 graphics card as an option. We'll just have to weight and see.

I'm sure they'll come up with a better graphics card. Just look at the FW series. When it first came out, the HD3470 was the only option. Now they have the HD3650 as well.

Same thing with the AW series. Now they have a 9600 GT. Who knows? Maybe in the next couple of weeks, they will add a 9800 GT.

Patience is all that's needed.

 

nVidia is actually using old material to make the cards. The only thing that is different is the DESIGN of the chips. They're all still using strained silicon, but that's not the problem.

The problem is what they used to solder the chip to the actual things that connect it to the board if that makes any sense.

Remember when those xBox 360s got the 3 red rings of death? Same problem. High lead materials that fail under high temperatures.

nVidia has been aware of the problem for at least 12 months now. They just decided not to fix it at all.

It's like that one part in Fight Club where they explain how it was cheaper to let people burn to death in cars and pay the families of the dead people than it was to fix the problem that caused cars to burst into flames.

Same idea. It was cheaper to keep the problem under wraps. Not exactly sure how this got out. nVidia is actually getting sued for like 1.8 billion dollars or something because they concealed the problem. Technically they're legally required to disclose these things to share holders, but this is he Bush era. Illegal is the new legal!

Fun stuff really.

Seriously. If you're going to go nVidia in a notebook graphics card, make sure that it's like an MXM slot thing so that the card can be replaced instead of the whole board.

Personally I don't mind the 15 pcent failure rate. I mean nVidia cards ARE still way faster. I have nVidia cards in my desktop. Not switching to ATi anytime soon. Might switch to Intel's Larabee maybe, but not ATi. Not yet anyway.

And one more thing... If you buy an nVidia video card laptop, you might be in for a future class action lawsuit payout or something. Probably like 50 bucks or 75 bucks back in the future maybe. It's like an extra Christmas present in the future. :-D

http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/08/09/10/1554215.shtml

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/31/hp-pays-half-nvidia-problems

 

again I don't know, I would have assumed nvidia done some changes or fixes to at least cover their own behinds. I was under the impression the solver was changed to a different material?

I'll get the FW with the ati for now, I don't game heavily but want a decent card at least in the unit.

as for the analogy, I don't think that would happen now a days in the real world, the cars would be recalled since the damaging effects on a brand are too expensive down the road than recalling x number of cars.

 

About to order a Sony vaio fw laptop
bit low on cash so have to go with eco and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD can someone please tell me if this card is any good

 

yeah any smart company would do the recall as soon as they learn the problem because of the damage to the brand name. but no one said nvidia was a smart company.

maybe they did fix the problem. but you have to ask yourself, if it were so darn easy to fix, why did nvidia choose to screw their customers over for one whole year?

if anything, fixing the problem so quickly looks worst on nvidia because it implies that fixing the problem only involved changing a barrel of solvent or something.

anyways though. none of this is sony's fault. the fw still looks real nice.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-4500MHD-GMA-X4500MHD.9883.0.html

It's not very good. If you only ever plan on using the laptop for watching DVDs and stuff the integrated graphics card will be enough, but if you ever plan on playing any games on your laptop, you'll want to get the 3650 on the FW-290. It's really important to get that upgrade since all the graphics on the FW seem to be soldered onto the mainboard so no future upgrade of the video cards will ever be possible. It's the most important upgrade. Hope this helps.

 

it's an evil conspiracy by ati, who have implanted robotic CEO's and execs at nvidia!

 

I agree about the Eco screen being good enough. In a not too bright/dark environment, with no external light sources reflecting off the glossy surface and with a little adjustment of the screen position every now and then, there is really no need to pay the extra bucks IMO for the HiColor screen...

 

Reminds me of the early Canon camcorders failing because of the capacitors leaking. Fun times...

 

Can anyone help me with playing downloaded HD content through Avivo? If I download an .mkv/.wmv/.ts/etc. file (HD content, 720p or 1080p), I'd like to play it using the Radeon 3470 Avivo HD accelerator so my CPU gets less load. What program can I use to do that and with what settings?? Thanks!!

 

Have you tried VLC? http://www.videolan.org/

I used it to play an HD MKV file and was shocked to see how cool the CPU was running - averaging around 45C and never above 47C or so. This was on a FW170 with same GPU.

 

TetonWolf, after doing this I have the problem that I get an error message when Vista boots up. I get a message

'AML has encountered a problem and needs to close....'

any thoughts on this?

 

Hm. Seems like that may not be it, after re-enabling the Photo Color Setting I still get the same error.

Sorry for the parts in Dutch, but I'm using a Dutch Vista. Does anybody know how to fix this? An error everytime I startup Vista gets quite annoying

-after searching on google i found this-
It's for the AV Mode launcher. When I press the "AV Mode" button on the FW, I get the same error. Do I have to reïnstall something to get it working again?

 

By using msconfig, I found out it is for the Vaio Launcher. I just disabled it cause I don't think I will be using it. Vista now boots a lot faster too!

 

I just wish the FW series would have a built in tv tuner

 

Well, you can always buy an ExpressCard TV tuner...

 

So, is it possible to replace my ATI Radeon 3470 on my FW 190 laptop with a higher end graphics hard from ATI or GeForce? I keep seeing a lot of conflicting information, with some saying that i won't ever be able to replace my graphics card at all.

 

I think the only way you could do that is by transplanting a new FW's motherboard with that graphics card into your FW. Though it would be extremely hard and costly I believe. Aside from that, its pretty much impossible.

 

Just a bit of info: Sony has removed the option of purchasing the Fw 292 or 190 or 290 with the Nvidia graphics card

And I am getting a Fw soon but can't decide if paying the extra $300 for the T9400 (....cause I'm really into photo editing in photoshop)

 

Does anyone know what a good backpack is for the FW? One that fits, looks nice and is not too expensive?

 

Was Nvidia ever an option?

I went with the base processor, and it manages along in photoshop just fine. I'd be much happier with another $300 toy, than I would be with marginal speed increase while editing.

 

I can't really help you with that, but what I do know is that the CPU load can also be optimized on the software side. By changing video settings as well as the media player used, you can probably find a way to decrease CPU load somewhat. I have for instance found that Media Player Classic is a little less demanding with regard to CPU load than most other media players, for instance VLC Media Player...

 

i got the targus black and yellow 17 inch laptop back pack from bestbuy.com for 50 bucks plus shipping, and say the same one in store for 80 bucks, which still isn't too bad. there is tons of room for books and stuff, it just might look a little weird if you are a smaller person. (i'm 5'10" and it doesn't look too big on me)

 

Rowan, you probably uninstalled VAIO Event Service. Uninstalling that will render your hotkeys and shortcut buttons useless. You can go to the sony support website and reinstall it from there which is what i did.

 

I'm going to order this, what's your opinion?

Is the 2.8ghz going to drain the battery a 'lot' faster than 2.5ghz?

FW190CTO
2.8 T9600 (2.8GHz)
4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)
320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-HiColor™
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
Standard Battery

$2099cdn about $1990usd.

 

I would drop 4GB and 320GB HD and upgrade them myself. You can get 320 GB 7200 RPM HD and 4GB CAS 5 RAM for less money than Sony charge you. Don't worry about the warranty. Just in case your notebook needs repair, just put the original component back in.

 

Well, I've ordered my FW. I'm getting it for my 18th (tomorrow, woohoo!) from my parents, but it's due sometime next week. I'm getting it in white with the 2.4GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 256MB graphics card, BluRay combo drive and all the other thingies. I'm thinking I see how I go with it and if there's anything I don't like I'll just upgrade things sometime later. It's gonna be pretty mad compared what I'm using at the old PC I'm using at the moment cause it sucks hole.
I'm ordering it in though Harvey Norman and I'm using my gorgeous smile to make them through in heaps of cheap stuff and freebies, like Microsoft Office, a surge protector, Security software, a mouse, TV tuner, case, and maybe some games and a controller, etc. And I'm off to university next year so I'm reckoning I'll buy more and more stuff with the oodles of money I'll be rolling in to pimp my room to the max. HD monitor, 2.1 or even 5.1 speaker system, popcorn machine, it'll be genius.

 

I just got my FW290CTO in today. Haven't had too much time to play around with it yet (work sucks!) but I'll definitely let you know what kind of results I'm getting with the 3650 after I have a chance to play around with it a bit. On a side note, the higher resolution definitely does make things really small, I think I'll be ok since I have pretty good eyesight but it's certainly something to think about if you have trouble reading high resolution screens.

 

How hard is it to change hard drives on the FW? I plan on buying a FW very soon, but the upgrade to the 7200rpm HD is $100, and for $100 I can get a 250GB-320GB 7200rpm HD from Newegg, and have two. Since I'm going to format and install XP right away anyway I don't mind changing the HD as long as it's not very hard.

Am I better off upgrading to the stock 7200rpm HD or leaving the default HD and buying a new HD and installing it myself?

 

ah nice, thanks. looking forward to any information. btw can you post a desktop image of the FW in the 1920x1080 resolution and perhaps something smaller 1600x900? I am curious how the scaling will look.

 

I received my CTO FW a week ago and I love it. I went with Dove White and XBRITE Hi-Color. I also got a matching white BT Vaio mouse.

My only **GRIPE** is the location of USB ports (front right). Whenever I connect a USB device, my right (mouse) hand keeps touching the USB cable.

USB ports should be at rear-right as in my Vaio SZ.

It's so annoying that I'm thinking about buying a PCMCIA USB card so that I can have USB ports on the left!