Official VAIO FW Series Owners Thread

When I play/pause my music using the hotkey on top, sometimes it plays/pauses the song, but other times when I press it, the song restarts instead of pausing. Anybody know why?

If it makes a difference, I'm using Winamp to play my music and my desktop which also has a keyboard with music controls on it doesn't have this problem.

 

Thank you for very valuable information.

 

I would like to know that too.

 

the large capacity adds about 1lb to the laptop and it sticks out.

 

It sticks "down", so to speak, and raises up the back of the laptop from the surface of the tabletop/laptray -- which helps a bit in cooling the bottom of the unit.

 

Hi, I'm looking into buying a Vaio VGN-FW490, but I'm a little nervous about the build quality. I've got a PCG-GRS700 from 2003, and one of the RAM slots stopped functioning after a few years, probably because of bad solder joints. Does anyone know if Sony's soldering has improved at all?

 

why can't Sony add the digital tv tuner offered in the AW series to the FWs?

 

So it's been 24 hours... no dice. I called customer support again and i actually received the same guy and he just repeated the same thing. I just sent a pretty pissed off e-mail to Sony including the fact it's 3 days over the ETA, the three calls i've made to support have not helped me whatsoever and I need this laptop before i get to college. I said i only have a week and a half before i move out even though i have three just to pressure them a bit more, so we'll see where this gets me.

 

I've been in contact with Sony, and long story short they screwed up horribly. The warehouse had some technical difficulties that completely screwed up their system and the records they had. My order isn't going to ship for a while...I have time, though, since I don't leave for college until Aug. 30, so I can be patient. But you need to stay on their asses. Follow up every day to get an update.

Is it 3 days after the ship date, or has it shipped, and it's just late arriving? If it's 3 days after the estimated ship date, then call and ask for some compensation so that they'll update your shipping to overnight. That should help.

 

Jesus looks like we ordered at a terrible time haha. I'm not in any pressure either, i leave the 30th as well. It's 3 days late to ship so yes, next time i talk to a rep i'm going to demand some kind of compensation. It's just terribly annoying because i was hoping to have it by early next week and run through house cleaning things like clean installing windows 7, troubleshoot drivers, transferring files, etc. before i have to worry about other things for college. Did they tell you how much of a delay things will actually be?

 

@ jwhite & ciggerfruit:

When did you guys order the laptop? my order has a Fedex tracking # already.

 

We ordered it on July 23rd/24th. When did you order yours? And what were the specs you chose for your CTO? Maybe you picked options that avoid the screwed up warehouse.

 

That is strange, I ordered mine the 23rd and I still haven't received any confirmation of shipping. I suppose I'll e-mail support and ask what is going on considering I should have gotten confirmation of shipment 3 days ago... (components being FullHD, 1GB Radeon 4650, P8700, and 7200rpm 320GB HDD).

 

Huh interesting you ordered the almost exact same system as i did. If you got a blu-ray read only player and 4gigs of memory then you're gonna be in the same boat as me (even though it's looking like that already). Keep us updated on any information sony gets to ya.

 

Just thought I'd chime in here. I did not order a FW, but AW. I only customized Blu-ray playback and 4GB of memory. Ordered 2 days ago. It shipped today.

 

I sent an email asking Sony why my shipping date went from 8/12 to 8/18 and this is what they told me

"In regard to your inquiry, this laptop was delayed up to 08/18/09 because the component ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD4650 graphics card with 1GB vRAM-great for games and movies is out of stock and will be available in the middle of the next week,this is the reason why the order shipping date was modified."

They sent me that on 8/5. Not sure if this is the cause for your problems but I just wanted you to know.

 

I placed the order on July 31st. Estimated arrival on August 11/12
Components: FullHD, 1GB Radeon 4650, P8700, and 5400rpm 320GB HDD, 4gb memory, blu-ray read.

So what happened to you guys? Something happened after it was shipped or before? do you guys have a tracking number?

 

There's a bunch of problems that are contributing to this. Some people are getting lucky, and their orders have made it through the system. Then there are some of us that got screwed.

The funny thing is, I ordered my sister's computer on the same account a week later, and everything went fine. So this is a problem with when the computer was ordered, I think. If my computer doesn't ship by next week, I'm going to demand some other compensation in addition to the overnight shipping, because then it's just getting ridiculous. A week late? Fine. But three weeks after my order date? Hell, four weeks if I don't get it next week?

Suffice it to say, I'm gonna avoid dealing with Sony for a very very long time...especially since I had to push for ten minutes on the phone for the guy to finally connect me to somebody who could give me an actual update on my computer (which, by the way, hasn't even been built).

 

By the way, does it worth to get read and write Blu-Ray drive?

 

Sony support responded saying my order was in " the final stages of the shipping process" I hope that means it is being shipped and already built. I also had blu-ray reader but I forgot about it because it was a free add-on when I ordered.

 

No need to pine over that feature any more. Avermedia just started shipping their AVerTV Express Mini (H968U). It's an ExpressCard/34 ATSC tuner for the north american market.

I've been waiting for this since they announced it in December for my VGN-FW290 CTO. The tuner works/integrates very nicely under Win7 Beta RC1's Media Center. I'll toss up a review with pics when I have more time. Just trying to decide if I'm allowed to do it in this thread or if the mods will kick it out into the Accessories Forum.

Since it sits flush inside the slot, I can leave it intact and worryfree. I split my rooftop OTA antenna into this and it receives all the same HD channels as the household HDTVs. The clip-on high-gain antenna would be a last resort and only if you have a line-of-sight signal to your local broadcast tower.

Most of the major online vendors have it. I got mine through Amazon

 

You can still always use VLC or MPC to play those DVDs/Blurays. Instead of messing with region settings.

 

Hey all, a bit new here, but have lurked for awhile now. I thought maybe I could drop a small review to some of the questions I've seen posted.

I bought my Vaio FW490 in July, no problems with shipping. Comes with a generous 30 day return, no questions asked.

My specs quick overview
1600x900 ECO
2.66ghz
ATI Radeon 4650 1gb
4gb Ram
320 7200rpm HDD

Screen and Installed Software:
If you are considering the ECO screen, just get the HD I found it to be a pleasure to view on with great clarity. But the nagging feeling of never having the HD screen wouldn't go away. Also the contrast is very high it seems, provides a washed out quality, there are no true blacks. More of a gray. Be forewarned when buying this, it comes LOADED with bloat. I started off by removing it, but I just decided to clean install windows 7 RC instead. ALSO be forewarned, your media keys WILL NOT WORK except for the volume if you install windows 7. They have not released the drivers to support them yet. Tech support told me they'd be released in October. Minor nuisance for me, I don't use them, the performance gain was fantastic though, the unit was instantly faster when not boggled with bloat.

Graphics Card and heat:
The card is fine for gaming, I could play Left 4 Dead on native resolution (1600x900) 16x Antistropic 8x MSAA everything set to max. There are a few hiccups during this but otherwise still very playable for me. It scored a 6000 on pcmark06 but was able to OC it to just over 7000. After doing that the game played flawlessly. (Caution OCing can void your warranty and burn out the insides!) At the hottest temp the card hit 72*c usually idling around 40*c when not under load. This thing never seemed to get hot, merely warm, it handles heat very well. I would not say a cooling pad is needed.

Weight and Build Quality:
If you are thinking the 16.4" might be a bit heavy you'll be pleasantly surprised, I found the weight to be wonderfully distributed, light, and sturdy. The screen doesn't wobble at all and it doesn't take two hands to pry open the screen. The build quality is absolutely amazing, it's a very classy unassuming notebook to have.

Overall experience:
The Sony Style team has been exceptional. I ordered it with no qualms, arrived when the report said it would. I must have contacted them over 10x just pinging questions off them. They have a 24/hr tech support through livechat on their site. I got on the phone with them twice, both times got someone with a foreign accent, but had a grasp on English. (which is all I ask)

Windows Performance Score (After windows 7 AND reinstalling latest drivers)
Processor: 6.3
Ram: 6.3
Graphics: 5.9
Gaming Graphics: 5.7 (after installing Directx10 and 9.7 driver)
Primary Hard disk: 5.9


In the end I decided to RMA it, I was thoroughly impressed, Sony has earned a fan, but for the price of $1122.26 I felt like I could do a little better gaming wise, I'd like it to be a little more future proof. I would recommend this laptop hands down for anyone, it was just great to have, my only gripe was the card is just TOO midrange for me. (Which isn't even really a complaint)

 

First off thanks for the review, it qualms many of my fears. However, I wonder if the graphics card will be able to handle the games I play (primarily strategy and RPG), I'll have to see but I imagine it can handle games like Age of Empires III, Anno 1701, Titan Quest or Empire TW? From what I've read it would be adequate for most current games, but I'm used to a desktop 4670 which can handle those games quite easily.

 

Can anyone tell me how well the FullHD performs when it comes to gaming? I should be getting the 2.53ghz dual core with 4gb of ram (and obviously the 1gb 4650).

What resolution do you use? How is image quality and such? I understand that one must reduce resolution because games can't run well in fullhd 1080p.

I should be playing Guild Wars, CoD4, Anno 1701, The Witcher, and Fallout 3.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hysellgray's posting reminded me that, come to think of it, almost everyone is saying that the American FW490 Eco screen is washed out and gray -- while people are saying that they either like the Best Buy FW 480 Eco screen or that they can adjust the settings to make it just fine.

Evidence seems to be accumulating that the Eco on the FW 490 is a lesser quality screen than the Eco on the EPEAT-compliant FW 480. Hmmm....

 

when i went to fry's today they didnt have the fw465 but they did ahve the fw468. the salesperson said that the fw465 was discontinued but i googled the fw468 and couldnt find anything on it

 

Yah that's how they responded to my e-mail too. And they won't even upgrade my shipping! I'm really ticked off at sony right now. They could at least give the courtesy to inform the user of a delay without having to be prodded. I'm reaching the point where i don't even feel like following my order up, if it's actually going to come then i'll just let it be. Pity too, they make great products.

 

No updates on Fedex ever since they shipped mine on August 6th.

@ ciggerfruit: what's your order status on Sony's website? mine's SHIPPED.

 

I don't think mine's even been built yet. It still says Processing for the order status. And yah, if your laptop is being sent from california, depending on where you live, i'd say you'd get another shipping update sometime tomorrow. My kensington lock shipped from California and it reached my state (PA) after three days and that's all the way across the country.

 

I just purchased a FW490 and for some reason I'm getting really choppy audio. I can't really explain it but it's fine for when music plays but when there's multiple sounds going at once (for example in a game) it gets really skippy. I tried installing the updated drivers from the Realtek website but it didn't change anything. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

I'm strongly considering getting one of these to replace my HP DV9700T.

The configuration I want comes out to $1200 USD, or about $1800 NZD. In New Zealand, Sony charges about $4000+ for the same thing.

I could get my friend in the US to ship it, do you think there will be any issues with support?

I was thinking of the following:

* No additional Photo Editing Software
* 16.4" widescreen with XBRITE-FullHD™ LCD technology (1920x1080)
* Quickbooks Simple Start 2009
* 320GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm] (Reg. price $60.00)
* No Fresh Start
* Microsoft® Works
* Large Capacity Battery
* Norton Internet Security (30 Day Trial)
* WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
* ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD4650 graphics card with 1GB vRAM-great for games and movies
* No Engraving
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz) (Reg. price $100.00)
* No additional Video Editing Software
* CD/DVD playback/burning
* Black
* Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
* 4GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2) (Reg. price $20.00)

The P8700 looks just about right on the price/performance. I'll probably wait until Windows 7 comes out, and see what the prices are doing at that time.

Would there be any discounts to look for? Do they verify claims for student discounts at all?

 

I remember coming across an article that said you can't play HD gaming at 1080p because the card simply can't handle so much load. And truthfully, if you're trying to take it out of native resolution I don't think it'll look very good, probably kind of blobular. And it will shorten your battery life by a considerable amount according to the tech support from the website I talk to. That's why I decided on ECO. The HD screen is just beyond the card, IMO.

 

Yea I experienced uneven backlighting, it was far from ugly, I wouldn't even call it a problem. I still found the screen to be of considerable quality.

 

All FW ECO screens use a single lamp display that produce average contrast and brightness levels.

People reporting different quality is because people have different opinions. What looks good to someone can look bad to someone else.

If you want a higher quality screen you'll need to pay more for a XBrite Full HD screen with two lamps. Refer to Notebookjournal.de for accurate measurements.

 

I just found out that both FW490JFT and FW490JEB are listed by SONY as EPEAT™ Silver but these models aren't on the EPEAT website.

Has anyone ordered any of these models. If so, what monitor ID does it have?

 

Please provide the link to where Sony is listing that any of its FW490 models IN THE STATES are EPEAT compliant. I do believe that all Sony models may now currently be Energy Star certified -- but that's an energy rating and not a materials rating. Energy Star is necessary but not sufficient for EPEAT certification. The only Sony page in the States on these issues ( http://www.sony.com/vaioeco) refers only to Energy Star 4.0. We're now at Energy Star 5.0, BTW.

Moreover, please recall that a large number of Sony's spec sheets have had errors. Only EPEAT can be trusted for the list of what it has certified: www.epeat.net

These are all and the only FW4s listed at EPEAT:

Sony VGN-FW460J/H Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW460J/B Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW460J/T Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW465J/H Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW465J/B Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW465J/T Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW480J/T Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW485J/H Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW485J/B Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW485J/T Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW495J/H Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW495J/B Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active
Sony VGN-FW495J/T Notebooks Silver 20 5.0 Flat Panel 16.4 in 7/31/2009 Active

 

hey guys i have perfected my vaio fw xp installation! a staggering 900 increase in 3dmark 06 from windows 7 build 7600! and briteness works! check out the thread i made for the guide

 

On my FW my screen is warmer at the bottom than the top. It gets quite warm on the bottom part of the screen bezel, where it says SONY, is this normal?

 

@ Derrida: you can go to the FW shop page and select the ready to ship models. Then click on specifications.

VGN-FW490JEB

VGN-FW490JFT

In both Environmental Information

* ENERGY STAR® : 5.0
* EPEAT™ : Silver
* ROHS® : Compliant

Does that mean that VGN-FW490 CTO is as well? Besides I can't model VGN-FW495J on SONY's website

 

In my posting above, I listed the models which EPEAT says are compliant. ONLY EPEAT CAN DECLARE A MODEL COMPLIANT. Sony, in its link which I provided on its environmental efforts ( www.sony.com/vaioeco), also sends the reader directly to the EPEAT site: www.epeat.net.

This clearly appears to be an error on the redesigned Sony Style site. NONE OF THE FW490 SERIES, including the CTO, NONE ARE EPEAT COMPLIANT ACCORDING TO EPEAT.

Remember the FW computer which Newegg and SonyStyle were selling which had a different (smaller, slower) hard drive from the one on the specs? Comments at Newegg describe frustration about that and Newegg corrected its spec list.

Or look at some of the pre-configured FW4 model specs at esupport -- they sometimes say FullHD on the specs when the model only comes in Eco (I posted on that). Remember how long Sony Style's Website said that the FW4's were shipping with cards other than the ATI HD4650 only a few weeks ago?

I would NOT believe the Sony Website in this matter. All such Websites with frequent turnover contain errors and such errors are part of the problem on all marketing Websites, yet most manufacturers (including Dell, BTW) make it clear that they are not responsible for errors on their Websites. Indeed, Website management is often out-sourced rather than done in-house.

Yes, EPEAT itself might have an error on its site, but again, Sony's official policy at www.sony.com/vaioeco is to consult EPEAT, not Sony's site -- perhaps precisely to "cover" the situation where errors on the Sony sites have occurred/are occurring.

If you want, contact EPEAT directly for confirmation that its own site is accurate. However, I'd bet EPEAT's site is indeed correct for two reasons: First, the postings are very recent and second, Sony would be pressuring EPEAT for accuracy on the site in view of Sony's policy sending customers to EPEAT for the list.

Good luck!

 

but I've never seen this model though: VGN-FW495J

 

can someone please post this file here so i can try to get a XP install on the FW

C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\VAIO Event Service\VESconfig.ini

 

It's available here, for example: http://www.jr.com/sony/pe/SON_VGNFW495JB/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...TC-Froogle-_-Notebooks-_-Sony+VAIO-_-34117934
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=211238915&listingid=45151263
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VAIO-VGN-FW495J-B-Widescreen/dp/B002ENQMEO

In general, the pre-configured models are variations with tweaks that appear in the authorized retail and online market. Lately, Sony Style has been offering a few pre-configs in addition to the CTO. In general, the pre-config is a better deal (depending on the venue, of course) and the availability of coupons, etc.

BTW I located those retail vendors above by a simple Google search, so putting other EPEAT models into a search engine should give you lots of options.

Good luck!

 

so the laptops SONY ships to retail stores like Best Buy, Newegg, J&R are "usually" EPEAT compliant... but what SONY sells online aren't

 

That's what it's looking like -- and it supports the theory that different suppliers/factories are involved with parts of different origin.

While I'd like to believe that Sony simply hasn't yet submitted these models to EPEAT for review and analysis, that doesn't fit in with the fact that the EPEAT site shows much of the FW1 line in the States was compliant but not a single model of the FW2 or FW3 lines is listed as compliant. And the performance differences that are noted in the forum (heat differences, fan differences, and yes, screen differences with the abandoning of HiColor and the invention of the less-bright FullHD) concerning the refreshes subsequent to the mostly-compliant FW1 line fit in with this, at least anecdotally.

Also, Sony seems to have more preconfigured models of the American FW4 line than it had out there in the FW2 or FW3 refresh lines -- at least from my quick searches online. This leads one to suspect that there were shifts of production and of product marketing strategy in play, as well, leading Sony to concentrate its Sony Style and CTO models and expand its retail model choices.

Lastly, Sony's own admission at that www.sony.com/vaioeco site that only "select models of the FW Series" are compliant with environmental programs fits right in with this theory.

 

I think you're smart

 

Can anyone help please?. I'm have Vista ultimate I like to install however, I wanted to know can I install this and then download all the drivers and have a working FW41 without all the needless junk installed when I got it?.

 

I have a quick question: if I clean install Windows Vista once I get my FW, and remove all the bloat ware, will I still be able to play Blu-Ray discs without a hitch?

 

Run the app that burns the set of BACKUP RESTORATION DVDs (3 discs) before wiping the drive.

The same set of discs also lets you install components piecemeal.

The app that comes factory-installed is WinDVD BD. This is the program that plays Blu-Ray movies. Without it, the hardware BD drive will only list the files on a movie disc.

Being on Win7 now, WinDVD is the only thing I've not been able to install, so no Blu-Ray playback for me YET. Win7 natively plays back DVD movies. Adobe Encore successfully burns my high def footage to recordable Blu-Ray with the drive, so given the productivity gained, I'm willing to wait out the day WinDVD becomes Windows7-compliant.