Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

i'll be quick. i have a sony vaio vgn-fw140e computer. it came with the standard 3GB of ram consisting of 2 ram modules, one is samsung the other one i never heard before. the standard modules ran at 400mhz even tho it was written 666 on them. i bought 2 crucial ram modules (2x2GB, 800mhz ram speed) and installed them and to my surprise, after checking the cpu-z memory tab, these 2 new modules still ran at 400mhz? what's the catch? why don't they run at 800, they're paired as well, both modules are identical. thanks.

 

What are the latest sony fw models?
Where can i overview them? I want to buy, but there is some difference between the us and my country.

 

What you see in CPU-z is the I/O bus clock (which is 400MHz). Your memory is DDR2-800, which means that is a double data rate SDRAM running at 200MHz memory clock speed and at 400MHz I/O bus clock speed with 800 Million data transfers per second. The peak transfer rate is 6400 MB/s, so the module is named PC2-6400.

Apart from the extra 1GB memory (which you will be able to use only if you are running a 64-bit OS) and possibly the better timings of the Crucial RAM compared to the Samsung/Qimonda combo, you now have your identical pair of memory molules running in dual channel (which means that you have a 5% to 15% gain when doing memory intensive operations).

 

Does the online Sony Store offer an education discount? How do i use it? And will it work with their current coupon code (SPRING) for 200 dollars off?

 

You will need to register on (and be eligible for) the Sony Style Campus Online Store:

https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wc...551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&XID=F:sscampus:ss

You will get 7% off VAIO laptops and 10% off accessories. You will also get 10% off VAIO outlet prices.

The following individuals are eligible to make purchases through the Sony Style Campus Store and receive discounts:

- All faculty and staff members from an accredited college or university in the United States.
- All students currently attending or accepted into an accredited college or university in the United States.
- All parents and legal guardians purchasing on behalf of their child who is a student currently attending or accepted into an accredited college or university in the United States.

Sony's Education Program cannot be combined with any other purchase program available through Sony Style.

 

Thanks for the post. Is there one available on the Canadian site though?

 

Guys what is the average FPS that you guys who play games on it get?

I am playing the Sims 3 and when the settings are maxed out its like 12 FPS, is that normal?

 

I haven't managed to find one advertised for Canada, but I am looking into this as well. I could really use the discount!

That said, there are some people on this board that have said they had luck getting a student discount in Canada by phoning Sony or visiting a Sony Store and negotiating. It's worth a shot. Post back if you find anything, and I will too!

 

Deal! Although if none of us finds one, they have a coupon code promotion going on for the FW that i already mentioned.

 

Yeah, the only problem with that coupon is that it is likely only valid for the FW390. I'll be purchasing the 490 for the ATI HD 4650.

I'm still hoping for the student discount. Hell, I'd even take free shipping and/or save the taxes!

 

Hmm, true. I hope it carry's over, i also want the 4650. Double the stream processors at the same price and power draw = awesomeness.

 

Hey, I'm new here and I was thinking of getting the current FW series for college next year. I've just heard about the talk on the new 4XXX series ATI cards. Should I wait for the release? Will it raise the current price by a lot? Thanks.

EDIT: I just went on Sonystyle and built myself a FW for about 1.7k and my budget is 2k. I just want to know if the new 4XXX series would break my limit.

 

The new 4xxx series card shouldn't increase the price. Over time, the price of computer goes down. My FW190 with HD 3450 is more expensive than similarly configured FW390 with HD 3650.

 

So it should be worth the wait?

 

I would wait if I were you. FW4xx have been in Europe and Japan markets for about a week. I would expect to see them in the US market within days.

 

Im considering an FW as it has everything I need for a reasonable price here in Japan but my only problem is the bottom.

Could somebody post a pic of the bottom with the 4650 card? I am looking for the alignment (I am guessing all current FWs use the same underside maybe difference between integrated and dedicated graphics) Thanks

 

Yeah, as I've mentioned before the 4650 has 320 stream processors, which is double that of the 3650. That doesnt mean it will be double the performance, but it will be a quite sizeable jump.

 

Wouldn't it also mean the card will get considerably hotter, especially during intense gaming? One of the great things about the FW is how cool it runs.

 

The power draw's should be similar. The 3650 packs 378 million transistors on a 55 nm process, while the 4650 has 514 million transistors also produced on a 55 nm process.

The heat output of those additional transistors should be made up for with newer memory/other components in the 4650, so i would say their heat output/power draw would be roughly the same.

And all that aside, the 4650 has platform-independent intelligent power management. So yeah, i would say the 4650 is well worth the wait.

 

I'm also curious about this. If someone could take a quick picture of the bottom of the FW, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

It's nice that this laptop is getting the 4650. I'm probably going to buy a Dell Studio XPS 16...but if Dell doesn't upgrade from the 3670 to the 4670 in the next few weeks and the VAIO FW upgrades to the 4650 I might just have to go with the VAIO. The Sony looks like a very nice laptop, I just wish that buying a larger capacity battery was cheaper and it had a second headphone jack

In case I do decide to go for the Sony FW, what do you guys think of the keyboard? While it looks really cool, I played with it for a minute or two in Best Buy and I feel like it was slower than other laptop keyboards - is this common with most people or is it something that you get used to quickly?

Thanks guys! Enjoy your VAIO FW's, they are sweet laptops

 

OMG.

I just want the new 4650 sooo much but I HAVE to buy my laptop in the next few days.
If Sony does not update the site, I will have to go for other options.

I want the FW. Sony, please help me and HURRY UP!!!

 

This laptop has the best keyboard I've ever used (no exaggeration there). Normally, I wouldn't really care about typing but I actually love typing on the FW's keyboard. It feels so smooth and right, hard to explain.

 

Radiation (maybe it is heat , maybe not) penetrates a table or desk and makes my thighs get so uncomfortable within an increasingly short time that I have to stop using the machine. Does anyone else get this?

 

Hi there,

Just looking at one of the new model FW's which were released here in Australia this week. As it only comes with Vista I have a question or 2.

Is it possible to obtain drivers for XP from any of the other worldwide sony sites that may wirk with my model?

If not I an thinking of running an XP virtual machine in VMWare to get around this issue as some of my work applications will not run on Vista yet.

Has anyone else been down this path with vmware and if so how did it turn out.

I am hoping that I get some answers overnight as I need to place the order in the morning as I need a new laptop for work.

The model from the sony Australian website is VGN-FW47GYH.

Specs below.....


Operating System
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate 64-bit (English Version) with Service Pack 1
Language Pack Hong Kong Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Thai


Architecture
Processor Technology Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology
Processor Name Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80 GHz)*1*2
Network Connection Intel® WiFi Link 5100
Chipset Mobile Intel® PM45 Express Chipset
Processor System Bus 1066 MHz
Memory Bus 800 MHz
Cache Memory 6 MB


Main Memory
Pre-installed/Max 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM*3*4
SO-DIMM Slots 2 SO-DIMM slots (The pre-installed memory module uses two)


Hard Disk Drive
Hard Disk Drive 500 GB*5 (Serial ATA, 5400 rpm)


Optical Disc Drive
Drive Blu-ray Disc™ Drive
Maximum Reading Speed BD-ROM: 4x/BD-R: 4x (SL), 2x (DL)/BD-RE: 2x (SL), 2x (DL)/DVD+R: 8x (SL), 6x (DL)/DVD-R: 8x (SL), 6x (DL)/DVD+RW: 6x/ DVD-RW: 6x/DVD-ROM: 8x/ DVD-RAM: 5x/CD-ROM: 24x/CD-R: 24x/CD-RW: 24x
Maximum Writing Speed BD-R: 4x(SL), 2x (DL)/BD-RE: 2x(SL), 2x (DL)/DVD+R: 8x (SL), 4x (DL) /DVD-R: 8x (SL), 4x (DL)/DVD+RW: 6x/DVD-RW: 6x/DVD-RAM: 5x/CD-R: 24x/CD-RW: 16x


Graphics
Graphics Accelerator ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 Graphics
Dedicated Video Memory 1 GB


Display
Type 16.4" wide (Full HD: 1920 x 1080) TFT colour display (Clear Bright LCD [Rich Colour])


Interface
USB High Speed USB 2.0 x 3
i.LINK(IEEE 1394) 4 pin (S400) x 1
Network (RJ-45)Connector 10Base-T/100Base-TX / 1000Base-T x 1
Display Output Connector Analogue RGB, mini D-sub 15 pin x 1
Headphone Stereo mini jack x 1
Microphone Stereo mini jack x 1
HDMI In/Out Connector Output x 1
Modem V.92 and V.90 Compliant x 1
Memory Stick Slot Memory Stick (Standard/Duo Size compatible, MagicGate compatible, Memory Stick PRO compatible, High-speed data transfer compatible)*6
SD Memory Card Slot SD Memory Card*7 (SDHC compatible, MMC compatible)
PC Card Slot ExpressCard™/34 x 1
DC IN x 1


Wireless Connection
Wireless LAN Type Integrated Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11a/b/g/Draft n*8
Wireless LAN Data Rate maximum 11Mbps (802.11b)/54 Mbps (802.11a/g) 300 Mbps (Draft 802.11n)*9
Wireless LAN Frequency 5 GHz (802.11a/Draft n), 2.4 GHz (802.11b/g/Draft n)
Bluetooth Bluetooth standard Ver. 2.1+EDR


Camera
Front Side Camera Effective pixels: 1280 x 1024


Audio
Sound Chip Intel® High Definition Audio compatible , 3D audio (Direct Sound 3D support)
Speaker Built-in stereo speakers
Microphone Built-in monaural microphone


Keyboard/Input Device
Keyboard Approx. 19 mm key pitch/2 mm keystroke , 86keys
Touchpad Intelligent Touchpad


Battery Life*10
Bundled Battery VGP-BPS13/S Lithium-ion battery: up to 2 hours of use
Optional Long Battery VGP-BPL13 Lithium-ion battery: up to 4 hours of use


Size
Dimensions (WxHxD) 384 x 29.0 -37.0 x 261 mm
Weight 3.2 kg (including the supplied battery)


Included Software
AV Entertainment Windows® Media center SP1
Video Edit/Playback VAIO Movie Story, Adobe® Premiere® Elements® 7, VAIO Edit Components, WinDVD BD for VAIO
BD/DVD Creation Click to Disc*11, Click to Disc Editor*11
Music VAIO MusicBox, SonicStage Mastering Studio
Still Image/Photo PMB (Picture Motion Browser), Windows® Photo Gallery, Adobe® Photoshop® Elements® 7
Home Network VAIO Media plus
Word Processor / Spreadsheet 60-Day Trial Version of Microsoft® Office Professional 2007*12
Tool Roxio Easy Media Creator, Adobe® Reader® 9, McAfee PC SecurityCenter 30-day Free Trial*13
Utilities VAIO Control Center, VAIO Presentation Support, VAIO Launcher, WebCam Companion, Magic-i™ Visual Effects
Support VAIO Recovery Center, VAIO Update, VAIO Data Restore Tool


Supplied Accessories
AC Adaptor AC Adaptor (VGP-AC19V36)
Battery Lithium-ion battery (VGP-BPS13/S)*14

Thanks so much for anyone who can help with this issue as I would much rather this laptop than my other options.

Cheers

Richard

 

Weird, I've never experienced this and I usually keep my laptop on my lap. Are you saying you keep your laptop on the desk and your legs become uncomfortable underneath the desk?

 

The VAIO FW was never released with Windows XP - all generations (1 to 4) have been released with Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit). Sony does not officially offer drivers or support for Windows XP for VAIO FW laptops.

There is a thread here about doing clean install of Windows XP on an FW - it looks like it is possible and everything will work fine with the exception of the function keys and the av keys.

If you are planning on running 64-bit virtual client, you will need to first enable VT in your BIOS (which is disabled by Sony at the factory). There is another thread here on how to use a patch developed by Levitcki to enable the VT in the BIOS for Montevina based VAIOS (you need to make sure that the BIOS of your new generation FW is still the American Megatrends BIOS, for which the patch was developed).

The above is done at your own risk. Good luck.

 

Whats the process of enabling VT on a Vaio like?

 

The FW 190 in the States supports XP fully, with drivers available on the esupport site ( http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNFW190) and I have seen support files for some of the FW2 and FW3 series models on European sites, and other sites in the world.

If you hunt around Sony sites for your exact model, you may find them. Apparently, Sony contracts for different operating systems for different models in each country. Fun, right?

Good luck!

Of course, once Windows 7 comes out fully, XP software is supposed to function as well. That might be another reason to wait a bit because it's possible, even likely, that Sony will have some series which are built to handle Win 7 and will likely contain upgrade certificates, as well.

Just look at the plethora of model numbers projected for the FW4 series at the esupport site in the U.S.: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-find.pl?mdl=VGNFW400

 

i was also going to buy a dell studio xps 16, but just saw the sony fw series... wow! the prize is even better. the same weight and size, but even bigger screen. but i really want ati 4xxx series gpu if it's here soo soon (for sxps16, its also coming).
a "few" question, i would appreciate if someone would answer them
-i heard different types of fw laptops but on sony style, theres only a single fw laptop, without naming the type (i think its fw390).. its just THE FW laptop. weird. is there only one model available at a time from FW series, which is always THE actually fw series on sony style?
-fullhd for $100.. does it worth it? (for sxps16 it would be $250 though its really awesome rgbled)
-display: normal or WLED? (or RGBLED - i don't think so)
-how sure is it, that 4600 series gpu's are coming? and probably when? are they coming for the fw390, or it will be a new model (fw490?)?
-is sony's warranty international? i live in europe, but would buy the laptop in the us.. i know dell has if i choose above 3 years warranty, how's it going by sony?
-i know its a vaio topic.. but what what would u choose: sxps 16 or vaio fw? (perhaps else?)

 

There's only FW390 on the US site because you can customize the laptop however you want and choose the components you want. There are however 2 pre-configured models here too:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=8198552921644564390&parentCategoryId=16154

...though I would not bother with the VGN-FW355J/H since it has an old CPU and not the latest Intel tech.

Many people say the FullHD is worth it. It depends on the resolution you want, FullHD is like the name implies Full 1080p HD at 1980x1080 and has dual lamp display, while the normal screen at 1600x900 has only one lamp and people claim is not as good (though, I have an FW with that screen and the colours are vibrant and fine)

I don't know about the screen but it is definitely not RGBLED (only the AW has that option)

The ATI Mobility HD4650 IS DEFINITELY coming to the FW. It is already available in certain European countries (but you have to wait for the FW490 refresh in the States or buy now from somewhere in Europe). There is no difference in the build quality between the FW390 and FW490, it looks the same on outside. The 490 is just the summer refresh with updated internal technology.

I'm not certain but I believe it is localized and not international (I could be very wrong though)

I would definitely take the FW over the Dell. Hell, I chose the FW over the Dell back when the FW model was fresh and didn't have the powerful ATI card. The FW runs cool, has an awesome screen, excellent keyboard, and it is an overall well-built laptop (and I have one of the early models!)

 

Strongly considering a FW series if they upgrade the video card. I'm also considering a current model off the sonystyle outlet. Can anyone tell me how their outlet works? Like how often they add and remove models? Dell does theirs every hour. Do they have the same warranty as a new one? Can you get extended warranties or accident warranties? Do they ever have the VGN-FW398Y/H model with the SSD drives? Thanks for any and all replies.

 

Does someone knows what the program 'Sony Marketing Tools' is? Can it safely be deleted? Thanks a lot!

 

thanks for your answers, m8!
the funny thing is, i live in europe, the only reason i want to buy from the us is the prize. electronic things are here much more expensive.
unfortunately, you're right, it's warranty is localized, and there's no way to make it valid in my country.. so if a choose this, i would only have warranty for a few months while i'll be in the us, and then if anything goes wrong, i would have to pay for it, badly. i don't know if i can stand this risk.. maybe i should rather go for the dell. how durable is the FW? are there people here who own FW for a long time? what are ur experiences? does it heat up while gaming?
having no warranty sounds really risky..

 

I currently have a 7 day old XPS 16, but the heat drives me absolutely nuts and I'm thinking about returning it. Sadly, I didn't see the Vaio FW until just now, well after I spend months looking at my purchasing options.

Anyways, I'm currently configured with 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3 (1000mhz) RAM, a 7200rpm 250GB HD, and a Radeon HD 3670.

I paid just over 1900 CAD for this model, and it runs excitingly fast (although Vista boot to desktop is disappointing), and from what I can tell a almost similiar configuration (save for the slower DDR2 ram, how much slower is it anyways?) costs me as around 1300 USD.

Now I know USD > CAD isn't favorable, but I'm willing to go up to 1700 US so it's nearing the same price of my XPS 16 config.

What upgrades would best assure I get equal or better performance than the Dell. Should I go with more ram (I hear that I should either go with 4 or 8GB, 6 isn't a worthwhile upgrade) or a better CPU?

Also, how much slower is the 3650 as opposed to the XPS's 3670? Also, coming from from a computer with terrible heat issues, can I be assured that there will be no uncomfortable heat rising from the keyboard/trackpad/palm wrests? Underneath doesn't bother me, but the top is important. Anyone got any temperature readings they want to share?

Thanks for the info!

 

I have FW140E and am about to load the RC canidate of Windows 7 and when I created my system restore discs and on the second one when it gets to 99% it brings up a java runtime error yet says it makes it to 100% does this happen to anyone else?

 

The FW is solid and very sturdy. No creaking or things like that. I've owned the FW since it was first available in Canada (last August). I actually have one of the early models that doesn't have the Intel wireless card but the Atheros one. The laptop runs very cool and when doing some long gaming sessions, the fan will kick in and temperatures can reach 60 degrees internally but it's not very loud, especially if you have speakers or headphones on. However, the outside of the laptop only gets slightly warmish, especially the right side where I believe the hard-drive is located but again, this only happens under very heavy usage.

The only problems I can think of right now are:
1. on the left side of the screen, between the bezel and the screen, I had major light leakage, like a streak of light from top to bottom (I posted a screenshot a while back). I noticed this recently (so I don't know if this was from the beginning or happened over time) and last month, I took it to a Sony repair center and they changed the screen under warranty.

2. Many people report that the left hinge barrel is loose or attached weakly and could very well come off. Usually people have just used superglue to stick it back into place because Sony considers this cosmetic damage and not covered by warranty but I'm sure if you fight, they will change it. Personally, I never experienced this, the hinge on my FW seems very sturdy and I doubt it will come off any time soon, though the power plug is a bit loose.

Personally, I think you won't be disappointed by the FW and if you read a few other posts around here, you'll see people are generally happy with their FW. I honestly think you should find a Sony reseller in Europe or wait a bit more and save up.

You can configure the FW to the exact specifications of your Dell (save for the graphics card) but the new Mobility HD4560 should come to the new FW490 refresh this summer (It is already available in Europe).

Like I said to scorpeeon, the FW runs very cool. The major thing that turned me off from Dell was their horrible cooling systems. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Only the right palm rest gets slightly warm, especially under heavy hard-drive usage since that's where it is located but nothing alarming.

Are you located in Canada or the US?

EDIT: I had the Hardware Monitor running for a few hours and here are the results. No intense gaming, just surfing the Internet and listening to music:



EDIT2: Image updated to include temperatures after playing a quick round of UT2K4.

 

I'm located in Canada.

I just went to the Sony Store to check out the FW. A little disappointed with the in person look, infinitely less pretty than my Dell XPS 16. And the models they had on display were either really beaten up, or the FW is poorly built. The screen border near the webcam was coming off the screen about a 1/4 inch. That's pretty crap. And the palm rests seem to be pretty squishy. The Keyboard on the other hand was solid and nice to type on.

One thing that I noticed while I was there, some of the buttons have French and English on them. Now what kind of damn idiot designs a Canadian keyboard to have 2 languages just for that stupidly minute part of the population that speaks french.

The keys are already jumbled with extra stuff enough (all completely unnecessary in my opinion) and extra writing on them really takes away from the visual aesthetic.

 

Your ignorance is astounding.

 

To each his own I guess. I don't personally like Dell laptops and to me, the FW looks infinitely better than any Dell laptop, especially the white FW with the white keyboard but it is ultimately your choice.

And some of the buttons have French characters because Canada has two official languages. I admit, it looks bad on the black keyboard but it's not as bad on the white one.

If the Dell laptop is what suits you better, then keep it. Check out the Dell XPS forum to read all about the problems you have with the laptop, especially heating problems. People having to prop up their laptop to allow more airflow on a brand new laptop? HA, I don't think so.

 

I hated the keyboard also. But if you order the CTO version the keyboard is all English. That is what I did.

 

it sounds cool that fw has no any heating issue, according to many posts, sxps could have, it gets uncomfortable warm while playing in most cases. there are also people claiming its because of the bad air moving and if you buy a 9-cell battery which raises the bottom of the laptop a bit, it's absolutely ok, even after playing.

i think, light leaking issues are usually because of the normal LCD lightening technology, i think WLED displays give almost perfect light distribution, and there should be no light leaking at all, it also consumes less. so, sxps16 seems better in display, but worse in heating up, which could be a greater problem..
sadly, there's just no way that i found a normal reseller here. it's not just that, that it costs much more here. in my country, there's no any option at all if i want an fw laptop, i can't customize anything. also, they're selling only old models (like FW21E.. i don't think so, that it's a new model in the us )
is there any information when the new 4650 models are coming? i also heared somewhere that fw490 only comes in july, which would be really late for me)

so, basically i could choose an sxps16 with 3 years warranty or a vaio fw with 1-2 month warranty, for a pretty much cheaper price, but it's really risky..
i still don't know what to do, now i just wait if anyone of them will get the HD4600.. the only problem is, i should really choose in a week or so..

 

I do like the Dell better, but the heating problems are not something I am about to look past anytime soon. This laptop, combined with insanely warm office temperatures (no AC here) make for a thoroughly unenjoyably experience.

I want the power and the aesthetics, but also the practicality. The FW seems like a tradeoff in terms of looks, but the XPS is a tradeoff in terms of practicality (in a much bigger way than the looks of hte FW).

@rgilld: so the customized online order comes with a standard english keyboard?

@scorpeeon: there are alot of people who claim to cope with the heating issues (issues, ie: personal, no hardware "problems") by various methods. I have mine lifted about an inch off my desk for extra airflow underneath and it still is unbelievably hot. It's an absolutely awesome machine, but I honestly couldn't recommend it to other people. It's a teeth grinding dissapointment.

 

Eeeek, you think you're trading off aesthetics by going with the FW?

Hotter components usually also means faster degradation and since I keep my laptop on almost 24 hours and I never usually shut it down, I wonder how long that Dell will last.

 

Have you ever seen the Dell and the Sony FW side-by-side?

In my opinion, the screen is a deal-breaker -- I haven't yet seen a Dell laptop screen, CCFL or LED, that didn't have a slight (and sometimes very) blue tinge to its whites. And yes, people have posted reviews right on the Dell U.S. Websites about trying to calibrate the display to get true colors, to no avail.

 

I have the RGB LED and aside from Reds being overly bright, I have done no adjustments and everything is beautiful. Granted, things look drastically different (which poses problems for print) but its still a wonderful display. The edge to edge glass is also nice.

@Wolf04: obviously its very subjective, but trying to argue that the FW is anywhere near as good looking as the XPS 16 (which out of the box eaaasily rivals MacBooks) is not going to fly.

That said, it's not like the FW is ugly, infact its well above average and thats waht caught my eye in the first place.

 

I think it's more like saying that the XPS is better than the FW on a Sony forum is not gonna fly.

 

Lol

Although the Sony VAIO FW is very, very good looking, I'd go with the Dell in terms on looks. Normally I would say Sony has more style but Dell has done a pretty good job with the XPS and Studio XPS lines !!!

Now all it comes down to is which company is going to put an ATI 46xx series card into their laptop first.

 

Well I am now a happy (at least I hope so as I have not yet tried all my apps on Vista) FW owner. This is the band new model released here in Australia this week.

Core 2 2.8 gig
6 gig ram
500 gig 5400 HD
ATI 4650 1 gig VRam
Blu-ray burner
Full HD 1080

So far so good. Havent used it as yet as I am still creating the recovery disks, but I am sure that it will be a joy once I have removed all the garbage I dont want or need and installed all of my normal apps.

Will let you know how it progresses

Cheers

Richard

 

Yes the customized online orders from sonystyle.ca come with a standard english keyboard. No French!

I have a comment on the heat issue. I changed my harddrive to 7200rpm. I do feel a little heat as a result to the right of the touchpad especially when the harddrive is running at full throttle. But it is not as nearly as bad as my acer laptop.