Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

Nice, my ship date is today and it still says processing.

 

don't think so, unless the entire motherboard is replaced with the new ati card.

 

how much would that cost?

 

If you get to that point you might as well get a new notebook.

 

I just bought this one. Would an upgrade to the p8600 be a wise choice? How much would that cost?

 

Mate, you've just bought a new notebook, settle down with it, you can upgrade your RAM and your HD, that's it.

 

Sorry for taking so long to reply. It's exam season around here and I was busy studying for all these exams. I uploaded some pictures of the bag I use for my FW:


Front. It has two small compartments. In one, I keep my graphic calculator and in the other, the FW charger.


Back. One tight zipper compartment. No binders fit in, only paper.


All compartments open. There's the main one where the FW fits in with a maximum of two textbooks and the secondary one which fully opens, where pens, pencils, papers and miscellaneous objects fit in.


Top view showing how the FW fits in with the two books.


Books taken out, showing only the laptop just so you have an idea how big the compartment is and how snug it fits in.

The laptop is always placed with the lid on the outside so if the books or binders do scratch the laptop, it's the underside and not the white cover getting scratched, though I haven't noticed any major ones.

 

hey guys just ordered a sony fw a couple days back!

there are the specs :
Microsoft® Works
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™
No Fresh Start™
250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
Video Standard
Engraving
Standard Battery
QuickBooks Simple Start
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53GHz)
None
Blu-ray Disc™ Read Only Drive
Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
Black
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)

Total price :1300 USD (tax included )

 

I just did a clean install of Vista 64. It's weird. You know how you can create new partitions using the Vista install DVD? Well, doing so on the VAIO FW, I got a Disk 0 Partition 2 as the first partition I can create.

I looked in the Computer Management part of Administrative stuff in Vista once it was installed and I didn't find Partition 0 or Partition 1. I hope there isn't some sort of secret spying partition or something.

Anyways here is the important part. Everything installs fine. I had a non-service pack 1 Vista DVD, and everything worked fine. Make sure you download a copy of service pack 1 and put it on an ipod or something. That way you won't have to keep downloading that.

Getting the AV MODE buttons to work took a little bit of experimenting.

You only need four things from the sony support website:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNFW290J


Original - Intel® Chipset Driver 8.7.0.1007
Original - Sony® Shared Library 5.1.00.07110
Original - Sony® Notebook Utilities 1.0
Original - Sony® Firmware Extension Parser 8.0.1.6087

The Intel Chipset Drivers are really important to getting the AV buttons working. Doesn't work without it apparently.

I didn't install those things in that order by the way. In fact I installed the shared library multiple times trying to get the AV buttons to work.

The Chipset Drivers turned out to be key.

I haven't installed the other stuff yet. I'll let you know how it works. But anyways, my Vista install is now pretty clean.

 

hi joltin, thanks for the answer. That actually confirms what i read from sony esupport FAQ. Well, I don't need to waste more time to figure out how to tweak my AV receiver in order to get 5.1 sound from the Vaio... i should have asked before I bought the receiver...

 

Let me know if you do get that email. I'm supposed to get some sort of an email about that too.

And thanks to whoever mentioned the LF-V30. :-D

Oh and I figured out that the Recovery Discs are capable of installing the Vaio Recovery Center.

They're actually pretty robust recovery discs. They have some sort of Vista basic operating system on it.

And I went into the VAIO FW BIOS. LOL! There is nothing it there. The only thing you can change is like the boot order. It would be funny if it were so gosh darn tragic. I guess overclocking is out of the question huh.

I have to talk to my BIOS buddies and see how they write their own BIOS and stuff. Probably not a good idea to overclock a laptop anyways.

 

Need an advice. Which antivirus is the best, which one are you using for your FWs?

 

This is what i bought on the 5th of december.

Customization Details

* Microsoft® Works
* LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-ECO™)
* No Fresh Start™
* 250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
* Video Standard
* No Engraving
* Standard Battery
* QuickBooks Simple Start
* WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
* ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz) [Regular price $150]
* None
* Blu-ray Disc™ Read Only Drive [Regular price $150]
* Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
* White
* Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
* 4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)

im upset with my cheap self because i didnt shell out the extra $100 to get the XBRITE-FullHD...

either way, i got this setup for $1090 shipped..it should be arriving tomorrow

 

you guys got an LF-V30 for free???? Im jealous.... I just ordered my vaio FW about a week back... Any chance you think they'll throw in a free laptop bag if i ask/beg hard enough?

 

I talked to the sales reps online yesterday and they told me that if you had bought your FW this week and didnt get a free LF-V30 then they will be sending you a discount code for it by monday to get a free one from their site. What she didnt say was how theyre going to go about doing this and whether this applies to those who bought their laptop's last week and want to "price match" their offers

 

My notebook was estimated to ship on 12/15 and it shipped yesterday! Woopie ;D

 

Well that's not fair....still waiting here. Estimated ship date was yesterday.

 

I use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 10, not to be confused with the bloatware they release under the Norton Antivirus name.

 

Gotcha, thought that was what you were saying...great idea if it works and if you know how to do it...I really don't feel like taking my computer apart to connect the homemade HDD but....I may...we'll see.

Great idea though cuz i know some of those external hard drives are a pain, with softwares, etc....

hey if you had to recommend a external HD, what would you recommend? In terms of the "easiest" one to use and reliability of course...but I want something that is very easy to transfer with good solid software. Can you recommend top three in the order of preference? Thanks.

 

that sounds better! How easy is it to use and transfer? it doesn't have the 7200rpm though!

 

got it, thank you sir!

 

Man, I can't read your attachment on my screen!!! I wish...

 

while we are on the subject, i stopped at sony store yesterday to examine the FW for the first time at the sony store.

My opinion is that i originally wanted to get the cheapo screen with basic graphics card but after SEEING the 1080P screen, I've changed my mind. my wallet says to go the el cheapo route, but after going into store and seeing and testing it out, Im getting the 1080P with BD ROM or RW depends on what kind of deals they have...YOU CAN DEF. TELL THE DIFF. BETWEEN A NON 1080P VS. 1080P SCREEN. I read on these threads people say you can't but I beg to differ! The pictures and websites are MUCH MUCH MUCH CRISPER, DARKER, AND SHARPER THAN the non 1080p. Also you can see the haze/smoke/fogginess on the NON 1080p screen. it is crap compared to 1080P so I will not consider another laptop w/o 1080p screen.

Also, the sales guy said that sony will have a "sale" day after christmas...he said he was pretty sure that online will as well but he said for fact he knows that in store, they have great sale confirmed so Im holding off until after christmas...There is nothing to lose and lot to gain by waiting til day after christmas in my opinion.

 

after you use the code, share it!

 

Im pretty sure that I think everyone on here already has a computer, just looking to replace/upgrade....

 

So it seems that Sony is having some quality control Issues.

I am on my forth 285D laptop, and luckily futureshop has a good return policy and exchange laptops for dead pixels.

i received my forth one today, and no wonder people have broken barrels.

this is my original one but it had dead pixels. 3 of them



and this is my new one which is going back ASAP.




THIS is horrible quality control, my first one and this one have been the same!!

this one is just horrible cause u can't open the screen up nicely, and u can hear the barrel slide up and down grinding on it.\


QUALITY control not at the finest.

 

No problem, thanks for posting....while i do like it, i already have a bag like that which I carry the Toshiba TANK around in it and I don't like it too much...Im looking for something bit more lighter/sleeker for the Vaio. Thanks for sharing!

 

Do it before the new year. Sony plans on raising prices in 2009. Not sure who/what it is going to affect yet.

 

Guys,

what is your recommendation between 250GB 5400RPM HDD vs. 320GB 7200RPM HDD?

Im assuming that 320GB is faster and consumes more power? which would you choose and why?

 

WHAT? who does that? I don't think so....where did you hear this? Are you just assuming?

Laptop prices usually goes down and stays down as they come up with new models...they don't go down, then go back up....I have my doubts about sony jacking up the prices again....

 

Didn't you already order your laptop? I got the 250GB 5400RPM HDD. OMG, it's uber slow. Get the 7200RPM. I got the 5400RPM one cuz it was FREE. :-D One thing that's great with the 5400RPM drive though is that it's whisper quiet. You can't hear anything but the BD-ROM drive. Seriously, the VAIO doesn't even sound like it's on when it's on, which is pretty cool.

 

Really depends on your everyday work but IMO get the 7200RPM because your disk performance will be your bottle neck.

 

It's more than likely going to affect the newer models. It was posted on Engadget yesterday. There isn't enough detail to know what it will affect but if someone is waiting for the next model I would expect a price jump greater than normal.

I guess Sony what's to combat a sagging world economy by jacking up prices. Doesn't really make sense to me.

 

If you're going to get a new laptop anyway, might as well get it during the Christmas season.

It's better for the economy. It pads the sales numbers for the companies during the Christmas season. Helps keep Fedex and UPS busy too.

Great Depression 2 isn't going to end until someone starts spending on their credit card.

And the deals for the VAIO FW on Sonystyle.com right now are just too darn good to pass away.

Intel's laptop Nehalems aren't due until the next Christmas season and Microsoft's Window 7 isn't due until the same time either. And Windows 7 uses the same kernel as Windows Vista so it's basically Vista with a little bit more bells and whistles.

There is no reason not to get a new laptop right now if you NEED a new laptop. If you got one that works, then save your money for the coming Great Depression 2. :-D

 

NOPE>>>>I am researching da fock out of it because I won't buy another for probably 4 or 5 yrs. Im gonna dot the i's and cross the t's. Precisely because your case....i don't wanna order it and regret getting the 5400 rpm in lieu of 7200 rpm HDD...see maybe you shoulda done the same! I am not about impulse buying...it has to make sense for me and when i was asking questions about it, it did not make sense for me that's why I've not pulled the trigger yet....thought about it plenty of time but not yet...Sorry!

and also waiting for the lowest cheapest possible price. I am now getting closer though..most likely after X mas but we'll see...

 

yeah, i was leaning that way

 

im assuming that newer fw models will be about the same or $100 more...they're not going to jack it $300-500 like they have been, it is only my opinion

 

autumn, first of all, DAM you are like a used car sales manj/k......like to put the sales peer pressure on, don't cha?

Get real autumn...I mean I really appreciate all of your input but I could give flying you know what about the economy, fedex, ups, "padding" x mas numbers...pleasssse...that's obama and the other people's job, not mine...Im only worried about me and my family's well being, NOBODY else's...I watch the news, read the news, know what is going on but I could care less what happens to anybody else, really as long as I am taken care of. Really, if there ever was a time to be selfish, its now, not when the economy is good.

 

Guys i got the FW with a 2.4 GHZ processor, how much of a difference would it be with the 2.53 one?

would it be noticeable really?

 

no noticeable difference unless you are doing cpu intensive tasks, the p8600 is plenty enough for the average user. I still haven't been able to max out mine in ableton.

 

I always wondered if the double cache in the 2.53 CPU made any noticeable difference. That's the only reason why I'd think of getting the 2.53 over the 2.4 one.

 

I bought the 2.53 proc because I looks to be that "sweet spot" in terms of pricing....at least in my mind.

 

I would question whether or not it's noticeable but as far as actual percentages are concerned having 100% more cache on the proc is significant. It still depends on what you do with it. Average everyday work won't see any difference.

 

Not actually. The double cache will only make you gain about 5% of processing.

PS: I'm a computer engineer

 

How can you determine that without knowing what threads are actually occurring? Performance would be measured by the actual task.

 

Well unless you're going to use your computer for artificial intelligence programming and testing on a daily basis (in witch case you'd probably buy a desktop) then every other program, game, and even Windows itself is full of loops in the code (for and while structures). In that case the size of the cache is irrelevant as the processor predicts further instructions witch avoids the swapping of data and/or instructions from the cache.

(Taken from Tanenbaum's Structured Computer Organization book)

 

WELLLL HELLLLLOOOOOO THEEEEERRRRREEEEEE!!! where have you been...stick around, would ya? What laptop do you own/want?

 

LOL, you only know that you should get the 7200rpm because I got the 5400rpm and found out that it was slow.

someone had to try it out and find out for sure.

but seriously though the 5400 is very quiet. very nice for late night computing.

 

yeah, that sounds about right. that's the numbers that people have been reporting in their benchmarking on the internet.

there are some specialized applications that can run entirely in the cache that would benefit greatly from have 6 megs of cache though.

pretty useless on a laptop that won't be doing much except watching movies and surfing the internet.

Save the 200 bucks and buy a PSP 3000 or something.