Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

, I mean Sox fan Doug, how much did you originally purchase it for and what was the final cost again?

 

Tony, stop being a Soprano and be more like the Tiger. I am not a Sony hater by any means. I am looking to purchase a Sony...I agree with you I'd rather have Sony over all the other brands but I find that they like to overprice their PC's and TV's. Yeah, the pricing now on FW is fair.

 

My original price (pre tax) was $1449.99. My adjusted price (also pre tax) is $1149.99. And I have a pretty loaded model... only missing the highest end processor and blu ray burner, though I do have the blu ray reader.

 

That is pretty spec'd out piece you got there! Doug, I just tried pricing it out and I came up with $1199. What am I missing?

Also, since you got the 4GB RAM, have you looked into whether or not if you can stick a 2x4GB for total of 8GB RAM? They give you the option for $500 but...


$1199.99
and as low as $ 36.00 /month**

Estimated Ship Date 12/11/2008
how is this estimated?



Add to Wishlist

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz)
[Regular price $150]
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
Titanium Gray
4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)
[Regular price $100]
320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
[Regular price $150]
Blu-ray Disc™ Read Only Drive
[Regular price $150]
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™)
No Fresh Start™
Video Standard
QuickBooks Simple Start
Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial

 

I do have questions regarding portability/durability of this unit. I really like the FW model and going to be lugging this thing around everyday with me to/from work. Do you think that this is feasible or should I look toward different model? I have previously lugged around Toshiba Satellite 15.4 in., I believe 8 pounder and thought that was a lug!

does anyone lug their FW around everyday? do you regret not buying a lighter/smaller unit?

 

Just like you, for 5 years I lugged around to school a Toshiba Satellite tank, which was a pain in the . I thought the FW would pose a problem but so far, it hasn't. It's light, durable and like the Toshiba, I carry it with me every day to school. I use it to take notes and a 50% charge lasts me one whole class (which is an hour and 2o mins). The only problem was finding a bag suitable for it but that has been solved too (though, not after scratching my white FW once. )

I don't regret buying the FW at all. The Z may have been more suited for school stuff but considering it was double the price, the FW has never ceased to surprise me (in a good way of course).

 

Cool, thanks...appreciate the response! Yeah I already have a gymbag that I usually lug around and my worries are that I will regret not buying a smaller notebook in the long term.

which bag did you purchase?

 

Ah, I made a mistake. When I placed the order for my Vaio, they didn't have a discount on memory. So I ordered it with 2gb of RAM, and ordered 4gb from Newegg to install myself. With the current discount on RAM, that would account for your $50 difference. The rest of my specs were listed correctly.

I also lug my FW around with me (I travel Monday-Friday for my job). The size and weight aren't too bad at all... but I do have some concerns about the durability of the laptop. The two barrels (one for power adapter, one for power button) seem to be very flimsy, and I'm sure it is just a matter of time before one of them breaks off while I'm removing the notebook from it's sleeve.

 

It's a Danier leather laptop bag. I tried searching it on the Internet but I couldn't find anything, even on the official website. I actually had another Danier leather messenger bag before but the laptop didn't fit in the main laptop compartment and I used another larger one (which wasn't meant for the laptop) and that's how I scratched the FW.

Then I replaced it with the one I have currently. If you're really interested, I could take some pictures of it.

 

If you could, that would be great! I think others would be interested in seeing it as well....

 

Same in my case.Under the screen it says VGN-FW200 though the box says fw245j/h.

One thing if anyone cud confirm.I was told by the best buy person that FW245J/H came can also write Blue ray disc.
Is this true??????????//

can we return the Laptop and avail full refund since the screen is showing a different model as compared to what is given on the box or the site??????
Please help !!!!!!!!!!!!!111

 

You can always go back to BB and claim that, but unlike futureshop in canada, I think best buy does have a restocking fee on certain products.

I don't think the screen will show the model 245 since technically the 245 is a 200 series laptop, and the 180, 170, were 100 series versions.

I think the only ones from the FW that say something else are the CTO models, mine for example says FW-290C.

Perhaps when returning it, mention you were told it could burn blu ray discs but it can't.

 

I bought the FW245J from BestBuy.com on Black Friday and got it yesterday. I noticed that it says FW200 on the lower-right of the screen. Did they send me the wrong computer? Where on the laptop can I find the REAL model number?

 

I had asked those BB guys whether it can burn blu ray discs or not and they said yes and tht 2 with confidence.
Even the specs say that "Full write support for new generation blue ray disc".

yah BB guys here in Middletown also have restocking fee of 15%.
Any way I can prevent the restocking fee.

 

If you are going to buy a laptop that costs more than what you paid for your current laptop than in that case Bestbuy will not charge you restocking fees. I've done that couple of times in past.

 

Ok well here is the thing, check the laptop to see if there is blu ray writing support, probably some program or something. if there is not then take it back to BB and show them no blu ray writing feature on this laptop, therefore the sales person lied and you want your money back or you will contact the better business bureau for false advertising, and mention that if they refund your money and no restocking fee, you will not go back to BBB, otherwise as to speak to the manager, he will usually oblige and give you the money back and no restocking fee, if he says a fee is needed, then just say the same thing, going to BBB and will complain about false advertising.

 

So yesterday I was able to chat with a CSR on sonystyle's website about the price difference between the current FW promo and the black friday one. She said she'd try a price accomodation and a cancellation request. I don't know in what order, but I'm hoping sh did the price adjustment first, that way I don't have to wait and reconfigure a new one. I've not gotten an email about it yet, although I've read that other people got refunds on their differences already. Should I wait a couple more days or try calling?

 

IS the blu ray thing a burner or a reader on the VGN285DH???? pm me if i dont reply.

 

Within last 30 days, I had placed 4 vaio fw orders from sonystyle.com, just want to share my experience:
1st 290CTO, shipped on 6th day after order, but it died 2 days after arrival. A screw fell out of the machine and screen goes blank . Tech support recommended to RMA instead of repair. So went through RMA, quite smooth and got full refund to credit card 7 days after sent back via prepaid fedex .

Meanwhile, saw a clearance 290 for same price as 1st one but much more loaded, so ordered that as a replacement it was shipped 2nd day. That one is doing good so far .

On black friday, saw another clearance 290 and ordered it. It was estimated to ship on last monday. I tried to call in yesterday due to the special deals going on, but after on hold for an hour, they couldn't tell if it's gonna ship and had to ask another dept and give them 24 hours for answer .

Today got an email saying: We are currently unable to advise you of an estimated ship date, so my order was canceled. I order another 290CTO today, it's cheaper than the black friday one but of course less powerful and missed yesterday's extra $100 off. It's estimated to ship on 12/11.

Other thought: really felt how many people were shopping lately, everywhere was hard to talk to customer service through phone. Few weeks back you could talk to a Sony person immediately, but on Tuesday, can't even get into hold queue.

PS: discover card's cash back e-certificate is like a coupon, can't be used together with sony's default percent off or $ off deals. Also, evreward is a good place to get some cash back for your order.

 

Yeah, you sure can. And it will almost certainly be cheaper by about 20,000 percent. And I'm not joking on that. Literally 20,000 percent. It's like an inside joke in the computer industry to charge insane prices for ram upgrades.

BTW, what makes it 8 gigs max is probably the chipset. In this case, the PM45 or the GM45 north bridge. As long as you're running Vista 64 bits, you'll be able to install 8 gigs of ram on your own. I think it's like 4 screws or something. Easiest thing to do. At least it should be.

You can install 8 gigs of ram with Vista 32 bits, but you'll only see 3 gigs of ram so... Yeah just use the 64 bit operating system.

 

I have seen a post in this forum stating that the hinge area was fragile. Someone even posted a picture of a broken switch button (where the green led light is).

 

I am sure that this has been asked (I did search but couldn't find anything) but do the fw's suffer from the same battery draining problems that the sr and Z do?

 

virtualization is usually something you can set in the BIOS. does the sony vaio fw BIOS just not have an option to turn virtualization back on? man, does someone have to write a user created BIOS or something.

all the hardware is capable for virtualization. the processor and the chipset are all good to go.

and the new P8400 and up processors should have the right steppings so that those horrible virtualization errata aren't a problem.

anyone want to go into the BIOS and look for a VT switch?

 

What's the best program to remove all of the crap from the registry after uninstalling all of the bloatware programs? I know I saw a few recommendations in this thread somewhere, but I can't seem to find them among the 1,800+ posts right now. Thanks in advance.

BTW - I'm loving my new FW290 so far!!

 

ccleaner should do the job!
http://www.ccleaner.com/

 

Don't think so. It's supposed to be a stray wire that causes the problem. If you don't have the problem right after you get the computer, you probably won't have the problem later on.

You'll know if you have the problem because the laptop will get so hot that it comes close to catching on fire or something.

 

are you saying that Z's and SR's with the battery drain problem get so hot that they would catch on fire?

 

Thanks for answering my question, I'm looking forward to getting my laptop.

 

Please help me in driver for XP like HotKeys, Webcam and etc.

 

Can anyone give me some feedback regarding the Blue Ray ROM (not writer). Is it loud (someone mentioned something about that earlier); does it write regular DVDs slower than a standard DVD RW? Thanks.

 

I'm still waiting for my price adjustment on my FW290CTO. The rep said it would take 1-2 days to get results, but when I checked back with the chat function, I ended up getting connected to the exact same rep (kinda fishy...), and she told me that it's still pending. The fact that it's taking more than 2 days is making me nervous. But I've read here that others got their price adjustments, so odds are I should get mine, especially since the laptop just came today and I'm well within the 30-day return period.

 

I haven't burned anything yet, but I can state that my Blu-Ray read only drive is VERY loud when I watch Blu-Ray movies. It is quite distracting while watching a movie using the speakers. Luckily the speakers can get quite loud without distortion.

I haven't put any other optical media in the drive yet, so I don't know if it is equally loud on DVDs and CDs.

 

Hi,

I am trying to remove all the AOL junk that Sony installed. Any suggestions? I tried to do it in remove software but some components are still showing up ...

Thank you.

 

Thanks Sox; I think yours was the post I had read several pages back. If you have the opportunity, could you test a standard DVD or even CD to see if the noise is still there? I don't really need the Blue Ray (read only) but since it is a free upgrade I'd like to get it if there are no reasons not to. Anyone else have feed back on the performance of their Blue Ray?

 

After being frustrated when I tried to order a HP HDX 16t and the coupon the support gave me didn't work, I decided to go with Vaio. Just ordered a FW290-CTO with the following specs:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz)
4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™)
Blu-ray Disc™ Read and Write Drive

the total before tax was $1299.99

I received an e-mail confirming that my order was placed, let's see if they keep up with the estimated shipping time.

 

Something I've been searching for but I cannot find...

Does Sony give you the option to add a second hard drive like other brands do? Even if it means using the bay for the optical drive.

 

Hey, I noticed on the Best Buy description it says the FW245J does have "full write support" but I noticed on Click To Disc and Roxio that there is no option to burn onto Blu Rays. Hmmm...

 

I posted this on a seperate thread also but figured I could get some feedback here also. I may try to take it back if its messed up and just get a better one from sony. I would like the better screen, bluetooth and a slightly faster processor.

I just got a new Vaio-FW 245J/HC form Best Buy on BF. I reformated the 64bit it came with loaded with the stuff I dont need with a copy of 32 bit Black Vista I downloaded(dont know the rules on posting about this). Ive reformated my computer many many times with different versions of XP(Not Vista though). I downloaded all the drivers for 32 bit from Sony and extracted them and copied to a disc and installed.

Computer was working beautifully was connected and downloading at 700kb/s and wireless was great at my house. Had some time to kill after work so I took it to Panera Bread. I connected to their service no problem, but after 20 min or so my internet cuts out and it wont find a network and it says my adapter is on but the light is off. I restart and move to a different part of the restaurant. It connects and its working fine then after 15-20 minutes the same thing happens. At this point I need to be somewhere so I shut it down and take off.

I get home last night at turn it on and the wireless light is off on the front again but the computer says its on and cant find a network but my PS3 is connected to my network and so is my desktop thats right next to me. I restarted and still the light wont come on and it wont find a network. Everything was working flawlessly, but this is the only issue Ive had.
Any Ideas?

 

I haven't received my fw yet so I can't check the bios. Usually that is where you'd enable virtualization. But Sony is notorious for locking the bios on their computers, so I doubt you'd be able to change any processor settings.

Can any FW owners please verify if ANY bios settings can be changed on the FW?

 

Would like opinion on the FW290-CTO. Is it worth it to go for the T9400 vs. the P8600? I didn't think so but wanted to know what others thought? Mostly, I will be doing video editing and multimedia, some light gaming. Also, I know the slow 500gb drive is not worth it, but the 320gb I thought should be fine? Also, anybody with experience with the accidental damage warranty? Having had a MacBook that got wrecked from kids spilling milk on it, and AppleCare not covering anything, the accidental damage policy, although expensive, probably could really pay off for me. Please give me your thought. Thanks.

 

I don't suggest getting this one since you can get lower priced system which is capable of doing the stuff you mentioned. Reason you would like to get this model are:

1. Hi Def Movies
2. Average Gaming
3. As a Blu Ray player to stick to your HDTV
4. Portability compared to a 17" with features 1,2, and 3.

 

You know that's a really good question. I'm really curious what the difference would be between the 3 megs of cache or the the 6 megs of cache with the T9400. I have a E8400, which is pretty much one of the T9400 with a faster clock. It's pretty nice for everything.

I personally got the P8400 to save the money. I was going to wait for the T series of the processors to get really cheap retail and just replace the processor myself a year down the road. They should get pretty cheap in a year I think. And it's a socket P slot so it should be pretty easy to just pop a new processor in.

*Shrug*

Parts upgrades on a laptop are just really expensive so I don't know.

 

It's 8 GB Max not because of a chipset limitation, but because only 4GB RAM modules for notebooks exist right now.

And the FW only has 2 RAM slots.

 

Is that why? I just always thought that there was some sort of northbridge limitation or something since some desktop motherboards have a 2 Gig max memory or 4 Gig max memory limit.

But anyways though... Buy 8 gigs of laptop memory as a set is pretty expensive apparently. Not worth it really. Just get 4 gigs whoever asked the original question.

 

I just bought my FW today! I was able to configure it with everything I wanted on it for under $1000, gotta love this sagging economy. I just hope the price doesnt drop further on it, haha. Does sony have some sort of price guarantee to protect against those sorts of situations? Has anyone bought the warranty with it btw?

* LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™
* 250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm] [Regular price $50]
* Standard Battery
* WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
* ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz) [Regular price $100]
* Blu-ray Disc™ Read Only Drive [Regular price $150]
* Titanium Gray
* Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
* 4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2) [Regular price $100]

 

greetings,
this is my post and i have a quick question. I have a FW170. I am wondering if my vaio can be able to output 5.1 digital sound signal via HDMI to an AV Recevier.

Thanks
Eric

 

Hello everyone. I just purchased a Sony VAIO FW-VGN248J.
I got this for $945 at Frye's Electronics in Burbank, CA. Pretty good deal I think???


So far so good, just have a couple initial issues:

1) Any way I can improve the sound? It sounds slightly tinny. I understood though, that this particular computer wasn't known for it's great speakers. Any help useful. I already amped up all the stuff like bass and surround sound on the S1 button.

2) Next - How can I make my screen brighter (it's already at the max for screen brightness) it seems like it could be a little brighter.. not sure.

Perhaps I just have to adjust to a new computer I recently had an HPdv5000, that was about 2 years old.

Does anyone else have any tips for me. Thank you,


Amy

 

For screen brightness and settings you could use the ATI Catalyst control Panel (found in the application tray, or right click on desktop).

I would also suggest the Adobe Gamma wizard (Control Panel), although it does not deal specifically with brightness, it did improve contrast on my Eco XBrite LCD.

 

Considering I'm having a very difficult time finding any info on this I assume you cannot add a second internal hard disk to the FW. Can anyone confirm?

 

THANK You very much. I tried the first one; that helped tweak a bit with the contrast and brightness, didn't see that before.

Don't think I have Adobe Gamma. There is something about this monitor brightness I am just finding it hard to get used to!!!

I have a horrible time with buyers remorse and returning items. I just really do want to enjoy this computer.

Thanks,
Amy