Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

Hi guys
I just got my hands on my new Vaio FW235.

I confront with this problem
I tried to conect the laptop to my LCD TV ( Samsung 37R81) via HDMI cable...but i didn`t get full screen on my LCD. I selected various resolution on my laptop, but..at resolution 1600x900 the image on the LCDTV is not on full screen.

Any iddea ?

Thanks.

 

Is that 2nd monitor set up to (1) show what is on the LCD screen/desktop or (2) extend the desktop?

If its (1) then the output resolutions are identical and your TV will display 1600x900 with a black border if you have zooming off.

 

And how did i have to set to have full desktop size on the TV.
I try both and i didn`t get full desktop size on the TV.I get black borders ( varticaly and horizontally)

 

i have the same problem before when using the drivers provided by windows update. try installing the drivers that came with the sony fw.

 

I had the same problem and I found the solution in the ATI Catalyst.

Connect your TV, then go to the ATI Control Center. On the left side under Graphics Settings, you SHOULD see your TV right after Displays Manager or Display Options. Under those settings, you should see a slider that lets you overscale or underscale the image to fit the whole screen. In your case, you should overscale it and do it until the image fills the whole screen. Press OK and the settings should be saved.

Forgot to mention, this only worked for me when the HDMI settings were set to 720p. My TV is 768p and even when I selected the option, it still had the black border all around and the over/under scale option was greyed out.

Also, make sure you have the latest drivers installed.

 

I dont have ATI video card.
It came with Intel Graphics 4500HD.
I didnt install any driver...it came with Vista preinstalled.Also, i checked on vaio esupport and find out that the drivers are the latest version.

No succes till now...

 

is there any side by side pictures of the 1080p dual lamp vs the 1600x900 ECO screen?

also while your watching a movie (on vlc?) are the blacks deep, and the colours rich of the 1080p 1920x1080?

as on my dell, while playing movies i get diagonal lines and horizontal lines on the screen which are noticeable in black areas more.
so its going back and a vaio is coming

 

Thanks immel! I've ordered the P8600, and now I'm sure it was worth the extra $100.

 

My touchpad sometimes, maybe like once every hour or so, stops responding for like 10 seconds, or it responds but in a weird way, like by clicking instead of moving around, sometimes messing up whatever I'm doing on the screen.

So I went out and tried to find some drivers that don't suck.
I've found these from DELL's site, they're Alps so scrolling works, although not all of the options work (circular scrolling doesn't seem to work for me, neither horizontal) but vertical does.

And I can't say this for sure, but I believe the touchpad is more responsive now.
So here's the link: http://ftp.us.dell.com/input/DELL_TOUCHPAD----POINTING-ST_A08_R202447.exe

Works on Vista x64, probably 32 bit and XP too.

 

Blacks are deep (though don't expect Pioneer Kuro level of blacks) and colors really have that pop effect which makes you feel good thinking you own an amazing display.

The problem on your Dell is something I've read Lenovo users are experiencing as well with their Y530 LED displays. I wonder if Dell and Lenovo used the same supplier and it's a common problem or if this is a new glitch on newer (and probably cheaper) models of LED displays.

 

Can anybody please tell me where I can find a laptop skin for my Sony Vaio vgn-fw350j/b series? A see through laptop skin would be preferable and I need a lid protector laptop skin for this model? Or maybe you guys know of a place where I can get a laptop skin for the sony vaio fw series itself. That would be a good place to start. I just bought this laptop and my lid cover is black but it is not shiny. Looks good but I want to keep my black lid new looking. Ok please reply asap thanks

 

You want a laptop sleeve or a cover lid? I think it's kinda difficult to find a suitable lid cover, you should try one for 17 inchers.

 

hi everybody, proud owner of a brand new vaio fw 21e
im just curious to know, has anybody here updated their graphics drivers since purchasing it. I have the radeon hd3740 mobility card in mine, but whenever i try updating the drivers from ati's website it doesnt seem to install. I contacted sony and they said i should only download updates from the sony official website.

can somebody help me out here please..having outdated drivers causes some issues when im playing some games

 

I just installed XP-32 on a FW285D. It would not work with the Sata drivers on a USB floppy. I slipstreamd the sata/chipset/display/wireless drivers using nlite. The rest of the story is as follows:

Intel mobile 4 ICH9 chipset and SATA drivers:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/fil...XP+Professional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go!
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...&OSFullName=Windows* XP Professional&lang=eng

ATI Mobility HD 3650:
http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php

Intel WiFi 5100/5400:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17156

Marvell Yukon Ethernet:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&dlc=en&cc=my&lang=en&os=228&product=3795191


BlueTooth driver:
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDO...UETOOTH DRIVER BROADCOM 5.1S1Q208 _ 5.1.0.ZIP

Ricoh SD driver:
http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/data/7117/documents/Cardreader_RICOH_R5C8xx_v3.51_XP_Vista.zip

Camera:
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/BZ1/DRIVERS/8 CAMERA DRIVER RICOH 6..215Q _ 6.103.215.ZIP

Pointer:
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/FZ19/DRIVERS/12_POINTING.ZIP

Modem Driver:
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/BX4/DRIVERS/4_MODEM.ZIP

Notebook Controller:
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/FZ19/DRIVERS/8_SONYNC.ZIP

UDF 2.5 drivers:
http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=15597
http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe....action=search&teddProduct=657&selShortMod=475

Audio drivers were found with the hardware wizard, internet search.

For anyone that wants to install osx, iDeneb 1.3 will install and there are patches to get the audio and the Yukon Marvell to work, but not the Wireless or ATI display.

Ubuntu Desktop 8.10 installs with no required modifications.

 

Can anybody help me pleeze? Does anybody here have a laptop skin lid cover for their sony vaio? ANYBODY? I know you guys don't walk around with your nice sony vaio's unprotected like that? Come one? Does anybody here have a laptop skin 17 inch for their vaio?

 

little help about decideing which FW35V to get.

iv come down to :

option 1 for £805 with free bluetooth laser rechargeable mouse:
# Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo 2.40 GHz
# 320 GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
# 4 GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
# DVD disc drive
# 16.4" LCD, 1920x1080 + webcam
# ATI MobilityRadeonHD3470 256MB
# Vista® Home Premium - (32 bit)

or option 2 for £860 with free bluetooth laser rechargeable mouse:
# Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo 2.40 GHz
# 320 GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
# 4 GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
# DVD disc drive
# 16.4" LCD, 1920x1080 + webcam
# ATI MobilityRadeonHD3650 512MB
# Vista® Home Premium - (64 bit)

is it worth the extra £55 for 64bit and ATI 3650 if i dont play games at all?
i only go on the internet, do school work and watch movies.

i know without 64bit il only use about 3.5gb of ram.

 

well if you don't game then it is not worth it-possibly I'd say an aftersale value would be higher but I guess you'd not be looking to get rid of it anywhere soon.
What I would make sure of though is to get the HiColor screen-or wxga++ as they call it in europe s it's worth every penny. If you have such option, you may want to downgrade the HDD and get a new one with 7k2 speed instead

 

does anyone have a good solution to the badly placed usb ports on the sony fw, i am trying to find a good dock or a networked usb hub, but i am having troubles, help would be appreciated

 

the "16.4" LCD, 1920x1080 + webcam" that im definitly going to pick is wxga++. and the 1600x900 version is also Hicolor but i dont want it.

so its not worth spending the extra£55 for 64bit and the ATI 3650 if im not going to play games?

 

well I just got my sony vaio fw series but besides asking you guys for a suitable laptop skin to fit this thing, can you guys tell me how do I use the web cam on my sony vaio fw 350j/b?

 

go to Start=>Programs=>Arc soft webcam companion2
that's presuming you all fw's have same soft for the webcam tho

 

Well, the 64bit system makes sense if it is preinstalled with all correct drivers, very few programs may not run on the 64bit but apart from that it allows for more than 3gb RAM and the overall speed should be higher than that of the 32bit os. I can see you already have the 512MB gpu on you dell so you know yourself if you need it again. On the other hand £55 is not bad considering that you prob won't change tha laptop for next few years.

 

please can somebody give me feedback, my original post:

hi everybody, proud owner of a brand new vaio fw 21e
im just curious to know, has anybody here updated their graphics drivers since purchasing it. I have the radeon hd3740 mobility card in mine, but whenever i try updating the drivers from ati's website it doesnt seem to install. I contacted sony and they said i should only download updates from the sony official website.

can somebody help me out here please..having outdated drivers causes some issues when im playing some games

 

You shouldn't have any troubles if you install the updated drivers from Sony.

 

can u please direct me to them, the ones they gave me are dated from 12/07/2008....
surely these arent the latest

 

The updated ATI driver that I installed is dated 02/10/2009 and available from the Sony support page. Note that I don't know if your machine is compatible with this model, please double check before updating your system.

 

No its not compatible, u have 64 bit and i have 32 bit...
but thanks for ur help

 

I'm trying to decide on a suitable laptop & need help

Sony VAIO VGN-FW373J/B
specs:
Portable multimedia powerhouse in black with extra-wide 16.4-inch screen, Dolby Sound Room audio, and HDMI output
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 dual-core processor (with Centrino 2 technology), 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM (8 GB max), and Blu-ray read/write drive (plus DVD/CD burner)
Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth (with stereo A2DP), Gigabit Ethernet, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics (2280 MB total)
Connectivity: 3 USB, 1 FireWire, ExpressCard/34 slot, Memory Stick/SD card readers, HDMI A/V out, VGA monitor output
Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit) and Sony multimedia software

then there's a different model number;
Sony VAIO VGN-FW373J/H
specs:
Portable multimedia powerhouse in titanium gray with extra-wide 16.4-inch screen, Dolby Sound Room audio, and HDMI output
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 dual-core processor (with Centrino 2 technology), 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM (8 GB max), and Blu-ray read/write drive (plus DVD/CD burner)
Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth (with stereo A2DP), Gigabit Ethernet, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics (2280 MB total)
Connectivity: 3 USB, 1 FireWire, ExpressCard/34 slot, Memory Stick/SD card readers, HDMI A/V out, VGA monitor output
Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit) and Sony multimedia software

I can't discern a difference between the two. Is there?

& Sony VAIO VGN-FW285J/H
specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor (2.26GHz)
Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
16.4-Inch widescreen display (1920 x 1080) with XBRITE-Full HD LCD technology
4GB of pre-installed RAM and a roomy 320GB Serial ATA hard drive
Blu-ray Disc Support - BD ROM


The 285 has a higher screen resolution but some have
said the fonts are small.I do a lot of reading online & that could
be a problem. There is almost no indication of how good the
sound wil be on the 285.

Will there be A WiFi connect problem w/ any of these units?

any help would be great


...

 

I don't like the cpu on the last one, if only for the fact that it hasn't got 6MB cache-if the price diff isn't too high I'd defo go for the centrino2; The screen is great tho-just double check if it is Hi-screen/wxga++ for best experience, I can't see any main difference in the first two either-may come down to some small details i.e webcam/fingerprint reader? What're the prices?
Also, pls check the speed of HDD and RAM as they might be the key differences.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117857


good lawd, i can has blu ray on dis?


ceral?


what is the downside to this series? anything worth noting?

is the screen like bbqomg jebus knock your sisters mouth out effin amazing jawsome?

am i going to shat bricks?

and will windows xp pro be tough to put on it? im still just not able to take vista, even with some salt

 

Will the ATI 3470 play any 1080p blu ray content that i try to play?

as i am decideing weather to gegt the 3650 or not. i never play pc games and never will, but i do watch HD and full HD content sometimes.

 

The 373J/B is $1265 & the 373J/H is $1285;
they both run at 7200

The 285J/B is $1346; also runs at 7200.

Probably the only way to resolve the text/font concern is
to see them displayed.
Any more input please continue


tx


...

 

Well the difference between the J/B and J/H is:
B = black
H = titanium

You can go to the sony site and read the specs sheet for the diff between 285j and 373j.

 

Great!(couldn't find that to salve my soul);& couldn't find
any info on the sony site about either
of them.Will try again.
On editThey only have specs for the 290 series onsite. That's not much help


Thanks

 

Note that the FW373J does not have Blu-ray burning capability, only DVD according to the specs from Sony. It is true that the font size may be small with the 1920x1080 screen depending on the web page. The font size for this forum looks fine at 120 dpi resolution.

 

I actually caught that difference. What are you using? 1920x1080?

 

So the one I linked does NOT have blu ray even tho egg says it does?

nm i misread you, you said burn lolz


nm

can it burn dvds at least? :O

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by FW3
Note that the FW373J does not have Blu-ray burning capability, only DVD according to the specs from Sony. It is true that the font size may be small with the 1920x1080 screen depending on the web page. The font size for this forum looks fine at 120 dpi resolution.

apparently







apparently

 

keke

just ordered mine, along with a new mouse pad, and mx5500 duo :O

now time to sell my saitek II, and mx518 :O

 

Does the SD card reader on the FW support SDHC? I have looked on the Sony site and here in the forums without a definitive answer.

Thanks.

 

3470 is just as good as 3650 in term of Blu-ray capability. The AVIVO HD features of the 2 cards are identical. I have 3470 and I don't have any problem as far as BD concerned.

 

I have a 8GB microSDHC in an SD adapter that works fine in the FW290

 

Hi guys, i just got my sony vaio FW 250JH two days ago. From the very start of using my pc, When i boot it up, shows me the welcome screen of vista, and then, suddenly the screen goes black and only I can see is the arrow of the mouse. Then, i have to wait a considerable time to finally get into the desktop.

Also, when in running whichever program, application or just browsing the web, the screen makes something like a "blink", gets black for a second and then goes good again.

Does anybody know anything about this problem? and how could I resolve it?

Thanks in advance!

 

I've been running into a problem with the TMM (external monitor detection) task for a while and I haven't found any solution.

The only thing left to do is if someone would be kind enough to send me 2 files needed for this task and since I have a Vaio FW, it would only make sense if someone with the same laptop could send them to me:

1. Open Task Scheduler > TS Library > Microsoft > Windows > MobilePC. There should be a task called TMM there. Right click on it and click on Export. It should be saved as TMM.xml (default saving settings)

2. Open Windows Explorer > Windows > System32 > Tasks > Microsoft > Windows > MobilePC. Once again, there should be a file named TMM there. Simply make a copy of it.

 

Thanks. Ok, another possibly very dumb question. The CTO info on the Sony site state DVD-RW, "BD-ROM", and "BD Read and Write". Does the BD-ROM option still write DVDs? I don't care about writing BD, but must have DVD write ability...but I would still like BD playback.

Thanks.

 

good news people, the updated ati graphic drivers have been released (finally), well at least for the FW21E model...

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons

 

Hey everybody, just ordered my vaio FW31ZJ (new european model) its due to arrive friday, can't wait! But after reading through 300 pages () i hope these newer models don't have such crappy hinges as some of you experienced on your vaio's. I'll just have to wait and see. cya

 

Did you notice any difference? i.e. games running more smoothly or as per the website is it all down to video playback only? btw-thanks for letting us know!

 

btw-did anyone notice how fast the wi-fi is on the fw? I mean-it downloads the above drivers @ between 60-120 kb/sec. prob not impressive anyway but about 2-3 times as fast as on my old hp dv2000(!) what's your experiences on that matter?

 

Called all the stores wanting to see the
font size for the 1920x1080 & nobody has them
ayee.In fact they didn't even stock the FW series.
So - do I just take a jump & see when it gets here?



....