Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

Ok, ok. I had to go shopping too!!

Anyway, vertical angles are as good as LED-backlit Mac Air so that is very good.

No, I have not seen anything like the link you pointed to. The only hint of uneven backlighting is with the Vaio orange desktop wallpaper where upper and lower right hand corners seem a little dark, like vignetting with a wide angle lens at f2.8...however, I think the Vista sidebar may have something to do with it so I'm not sure I'm seeing anything cuz I don't see it on the left side. Right now with browser maximized I see no uneven backlighting or strange streaking or anything of the sort. It just looks bright and crisp and very white where it should be white. Fact is in real world use, the screen is outstanding. Like I said it easily beats the Macbook Air LED-backlit and the probably the Dell m1330 too.

I will not be asking for or ordering a standard battery. The large capacity battery is the way to go...it's not very heavy and notebook sleeve that I bought fits like a glove even with large battery.

No, my Macbook Air LED is not blacker...it has worse contrast and black levels than HiColor. So I was wrong in that initial statement that LED-backlit would always have better black levels.

As for backlighting issue, I just closed my desktop sidebar and the problem went away. So IGNORE. I have therefore not seen the problem...and I am not going to go hunting for it unless it hits me in the face.

Blu-ray burner is Matsu****a (which I believe makes Panasonic).

 

No issue with portability. I'd say it's 7 lbs. which is lighter than what it is replacing (a 15.4" HP dv4000).

No creaking at all. My HP creaks like crazy.

I started current session at 100% battery. It's now 71% and says I have 3 hrs. left. All I've done is browse but screen is max brightness. So I figure I'll get 3.5 hrs total before it shuts down.

I'll be running 3DMark06. I do most of my gaming on PS3. I've got some old stuff like FEAR and HL2.

I'll look for a tool to tell me what kind of VRAM I have. I'll get back to you.

 

Figure 3 days to Chicago from San Diego.

 

I ran PC Wizard and it says the memory on the vid card is GDDR3.

TetonWolf, if you press the bottom of the laptop where the blu-ray drive is do you notice any flex? I get quite a bit of flex there but otherwise the laptop is very solid.

 

i have a quick question, why does US have different models than Canada? i as just looking at the US website and they have an awesome model on their forover $1700, i think WAY better than what i'm getting for 1699.99... so my question is will Canada get any of these models??

 

Too bad. That means I will not be getting the blu-ray burner.

Everything else sounds great, though. Congrats again!

 

Can you explain?

 

I've read on various forums to avoid using Matsh!ta/Matsush!ta/Panasonic drives. Therefore, I'd rather wait, then buy an external Blu-ray burner at some point (like when BD write speeds are faster and blank discs are cheaper).

 

That's wonderful news about GDDR3. At least Sony didn't go the cheap route.

As for flex near the optical drive, yeah, I can feel the flex you're talking about. Not much to worry about though...open the drive and you'll see the metal case of the drive enclosure is right there so the thing isn't going to collapse from picking up the laptop on the sides and grasping that area. It could be a little sturdier but this thing is not a Toshiba tank (thank heavens).

 

I have a TDK 50GB rewritable blank coming on Monday and I'll hammer on it to see how it writes. Maybe this drive will surprise? I'm not one to dismiss something just because a few other folks had bad experiences. Heck, we'd still be using an an abacus if we did that.

 

Nice! But I'm not just concerned with plain ol' burning. See, I use AnyDVD to backup my son's DVDs. Apparently AnyDVD plays nice with every drive out there -- except for Matsu* drives. Go figure.

 

do you have a link to these forums?

 

Here's a few links...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=178479

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=41562

http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=4707

 

Dang, you mean I can't copy DVDs from Blockbuster anymore? Well, guess that's what I have a pair of DVD burners on my desktop for, heh, heh.

 

What? You have external burners ???

Hmmm, I seem to recall someone mentioning how massively inconvenient they can be...


EDIT: I just realized you must mean your desktop computer... not your actual desktop. Got it.

 

Configured this FW below. What do I need to do to get the lower price and how much lower could I expect for this build and thanks. Also, are there any adjustments you think I should make on this like the 250 GB HDD instead of 320 GB? Thanks for all.

Customization Details
Video Standard
Intel® Core 2™ Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470 with 256MB vRAM
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-HiColor™
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
QuickBooks Simple Start
250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
Blu-ray Disc™ Read Only Drive
Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
Extended Battery
Photo Standard
Microsoft® Works
Titanium Gray
No Engraving
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
3 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GB+1GB)
Temporarily out of stock. Estimated ship date: 08/19/2008.

$1,549.99

3 Year Express Ship Service Plan with ADH
DSES3SLPEAP20 Remove

$349.99

Total $1899.99


Gary

 

I'd suggest getting rid of the blueray.

 

I'd suggest keeping the Blu-ray. The FW is designed for Blu-ray.

Also, I suggest either getting the 320GB because it's faster or go with the minimum drive and then upgrade it yourself to a Western Digital or Hiitachi 320GB 7200rpm drive (but only if you are comfortable doing that).

 

I checked out the FW @ best buy and was shocked by how terrible the ECO LCD is...i've never seen colors so washed out in my life.

I'm still considering the FW (with the HICOLOR)...could somone please reassure me that the HICOLOR is leagues above the ECO?

 

Yeah, the FW Eco screen is just sad. The HiColor has GOT to be better. I just wish I could see it in person.

Wanna see a nice screen? Check out the Z thread and look at some of the pics that were just posted.

 

Trust me guys. I've seen both. The HiColor is in another universe. I am completely spoiled. I can't even look at my iPhone screen now!! Believe me when I say I don't think I've seen another screen that compares.

But I agree the Z is probably in even another universe...I just haven't seen it yet!!

EDIT: Ok, I just looked at those new Z screenshots. Sorry, but FW HiColor is as good in my estimation. Maybe side-by-side would tell more but I just don't see it right now. And I can read the FW screen.

 

Teton, I'm on an iPhone now so I can't copy / paste the URL... But check out latest posts in the Z owners thread. Impressive pictures of an impressive screen. If it's screen wasn't so small, I'd be sold. As it is I'm tempted!

 

Ok, just did. See edit to my previous post. Also, I'm going to attempt photo of FW Hicolor with my 5D and 24-105L lens and post on my website. I'll need some time to get it right.

 

Beautiful.

Tripod or IS?

 

TetonWolf, have you decided on a brightness level you like on the screen? I have it set to -25 right now in the catalyst control center and I like it a lot at this setting.

 

Good hear that it's GDDR3. The 256 MB of vRAM might not be a waste after all.

Also, it seems like I will have to get a CTO FW just for the screen even though I've tried very hard to ignore it and get a preconfigured one.

 

Up to now I've been just using full brightness. I'm trying -25 now and it is pretty comfortable in a dim room. I can see why you like it. But you lose shadow detail in photos. -10 or -15 maybe is a better compromise.

 

same here....I almost bypassed spending 2Gs on a CTO and I was seriously considering just getting the $1000 model @ best buy, but I took 1 look at that ECO display and I ran away

 

hmm that is a shame, maybe I will either just get the dvd burner or just blu ray player, hmm why would sony use such bad drives, it makes no sense.

 

That was exactly my plan. Get the cheapest model from BB since I thought it would be sufficient for me and I didn't think the screen would make much difference but clearly, they are worlds apart.

 

I'm liking -25 a lot now too...particularly at night. But how do you keep the power management from setting brightness when coming out of sleep which overrides what was set in ATI Catalyst Control Panel?

 

I couldn't get anything decent. I've got an interference pattern messing up my photos. No sense in posting something that won't do justice to the display. Sorry.

 

No problem. Thanks for trying...

 

I've had it set to high performance mode... haven't noticed it doing that.

 

Awesome. 3D benchmarks, please do. that's all I wanna see before I let my finger go crazy clicking on options for a CTO. If it performs at least like my current 8600M GS I'll be sold

EDIT: even if it doesn't i'll be sold, but still wanna know

 

Sorry to disappoint you but the 8600M GS is vastly superior.

 

I thought they were quite similar.

HD3470 gets 2598 in 3d Mark 06 http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=278888
8600M GS gets around 2500-2700 http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

But instead of comparing synthetic benchmarks like 3d mark I would try to compare in game benchmarks. Much more reliable.

 

I ran 3D Mark 06 on my FW11ZU yesterday (T9400, 4GB, HD3650) and it got 3890 3d marks. That's way better than the 3432 they get on www.notebookcheck.net

 

I'm curious about the benchmarks because I suspect most of the ones we've seen in different websites such as notebookcheck were using HD3470s with GDDR2. I'd like to see if GDDR3 raises performance significantly or not.

PhilFlow is right, in-game benchmarks are all that counts in the end. Maybe the 128 bit bus of the 8600M GS makes the difference there. Or, since different system configurations affect 3D benchmarks too, maybe the Centrino 2 platform of the FW helps to even things out a little bit for the HD3470.

It's a shame the HD3650 isn't available in the US. By the way, I was checking out the uk sonystyle store and the screen on the FW11ZU is listed as WXGA++ Widescreen X-black LCD. What is that? is X-black the european name for the HiColor or the ECO screens?

 

X-black is the name of the LCD screen. The ECO screen is called X-Black and the HiColor screen is called X-Black dual lamp. That's all.

 

Ooops, D'OH! I was reading the Z thread before replying to that so I thought I was still replying in the Z thread and I was comparing it to the 9300M GS (which got a score of 1958 on notebookreview). But even then, according to Notebookcheck, the 8600M GS got 2484 in 3dmarks06 and the HD3470 only 1933, weird that notebookreview got 2,598 for the HD3470.

 

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 would be very nice to get these benchmarks before tomorrow, as I am passing by the new showroom for Sony at terminal 5 ( Heathrow London) as I am now either going for the Sony or will wait for the Mac refresh

 

That score actually came from the NBR review.

 

As to opposed to what? You did link to the FW review and I actually read it a few times before to soak in as much information about the FW as possible.

 

Ah right I misread what you said.

I think the powerful T9400 CPU of the FW also contributes to the high 3d mark score.

 

Ah yes, totally forgot about the CPU. I don't suppose Sony reps will let me install a game on one of their display FWs to see how it runs, hehe. :laugh:

 

Am I the only one having fan noise issues with the FW? My fan is running constantly at pretty high speed and it's a little bothersome. Right now I'm just browsing the web and the fan is bothersome. I checked the CPU core temp and it's only 30C right now so I don't get it.

The laptop feels cool to the touch on the bottom and the exhaust air is only lukewarm.

 

I am considering two laptops to purchase ;

HP Dv5t
Sony FW

Apart from other things I would like to play some decent games on the laptop..without them getting uber hot.. I know HP has some heating issues.. but they are offering a better configuration in a little high price i.e. nvidia card with 512 MB memory.
Can anyone please recommend which one will be a better purchase..
Thanks

 

I am about in same boat but throw the Dell XPS m1530 into the mix instead of the HP. I saw the FW today at SonyStyle store in Manhattan. What a great looking portable big beautiful screen and wonderful keyboard. Don't know if build quality is as good as the Dell XP but maybe someone who has seen both can comment. Hope to make my mind up soon.

Gary

 

well guys, i'm sorry to say...

i will probably NOT be getting the fw

i really want it, don't get me wrong. but i think i've been looking at all the extras. Blu-Ray, wide Screen, X-Brite technology, Sleek design.... and i haven't been looking at what i really need. i took a trip to futureshop and bestbuy today, and was told to get nothing but the Macbook Pro. i wish i could get both, but the whole reason i'm getting a new laptop is to get one good for college, and im sure the fw will be good, but the Macbook Pro will be better. i am very disappointed, i was REALLY looking forward to the Sony Vaio FW, but it just seems the Macbook Pro will be a better choice. i am still going to look at it again this weekend, just to make a final decision. so i'll still let you know my opinion on the eco screen.