Sony CW i3/i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

A possible answer to the Sony Vaio CW battery draining problem (and you're not going to like it):

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/02/m...wind/#comments

 

Man....got a response from Bing..

What a load of BS
I can't believe it didn't go through and I am SOL.

 

dang. i was happy to get 5% when i emailed them. that atleast paid for the tax.

 

Reading engadget is the solution? That link dumps you to the main page. And you're right. I like Gizmodo better.

 

he had the link right its just engadget that dumps you to the main. If you scroll down you will find a link that states:

"We've already seen some evidence that suggests Windows 7 puts a particularly hard drain on at least some laptop and netbook batteries, and it looks like Microsoft has now heard enough complaints itself to open an investigation into the matter. Details are otherwise a bit light, but Microsoft is apparently looking into the issue in collaboration with its hardware partners, and says that the problem is likely related to the computers' BIOS, which Windows 7 relies on to determine if the battery needs to be replaced. Needless to say, there isn't much in the way of solutions in the meantime, and Microsoft isn't offering any indication as to when one might be forthcoming."

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=456362

I made a thread about this earlier today.

 

is it just me or does the battery on this thing seem a little wiggly? Mine seems to shift slightly, not enough to cause any a problems but it does not seem as solidly connected as my other laptops

 

Actually I prefer it to be a windows 7 problem than a specific Vaio problem...higher likelihood something will be done to fix it.

 

i used speedfan to check the temperature, and I found that it is reporting wrong temperatures. I then checked with hw monitor and everest. They are both reporting 39-40C for both the cores.
So, SPEEDFAN is reporting wrong CPU temperatures: 19-20 C is way too low.
But the GPU temperature is consistent amongst Speedfan, HWMonitor and Everest.

 

The battery is wiggly, I bought mine a couple of days ago and took it back to the store yesterday. The sales guy made me go through 15 odd cw series machines' on display and all had varying degrees of the 'wiggle'. I have stuck a couple of post its and the wiggle has disappeared.It's a possible design flaw but I don't think ( and hope!) it's not a serious issue.

 

LMAO you guys are the pickest bunch I have ever read.

I just got my CW27FX

The laptop is BEAUTIFUL !!!!! WOW!!!
The screen is amazing!! Ignore all those who say the angles suck because they are no worse than my Inspiron 1520 and even with a 20 degree change in height there is close to no difference at all.

Its LIGHT too! Very light....well compared to my 15.4 before.
Lid is VERY fingerprint hungry so keep a microfiber cloth with you at all times.

I am very very happy with this laptop and will be posting pictures once I clean wipe and install Fresh Windows 7.

 

Just realized I have no DVD's, but I saw that there is a hidden partition that pops up when you open the Recovery application and it looks like a CD image so I just copied all the files and I will make an ISO out of it. FYI to anybody who wants it in the future.

Soon as Windows is reinstalled I plan to get Battlefield Bad Company 2 installed and test this baby out!

 

I don't think it is a problem as I've been carting it around a bit with no issues. However it is a bit disconcerting.

 

i'm trying to figure out how to make the recovery dvds its supposed to be two. i think i started backing up the whole system by accident because it went through 2 dvds and wanted more, so i cancelled.

is this 2 dvds thing the system repair disk??

 

Its just basically the Windows disk. The backup CD creation is in Sony Vaio Care -> Recovery and something....

 

ohh okay thanks... i was in the completely wrong area

 

Regarding the battery, Im seeing weird stuff go on too on my VPCCW27FX. It seems when you put it in sleep and eventually hibernate the battery indicator drops significantly BUT if you notice it will stick on that % for like a good 30 or so minutes and then start showing the normal gradual discharge % decrease. For example, I closed my notebook at 62%. A few hours later I opened it , it dropped to 46% and stayed on 46% for almost 30 minutes and then started decreasing. It will last the evening with normal internet use though, which is good enough for me. I plug it in when I play games so it works for me (btw Star Trek Online is running great on it if anyone cares to know

I came across that win7 issue as well when googling. Is there anyone NOT having a battery issue btw ? Id be curious to know. I hope its a win7 thing as well, may just be a hotfix hopefully..

even with the battery issue I freakin love this notebook !!

 

I went to the Sony site and I am trying to install the motherboard driver "SATA AHCI Controller 6 Port Setup" and it gives me an "I/O Error Corrupt" message each time.

Any ideas?

 

Regarding the recovery disk, in Vaio Care go into recovery, then Create Recovery disk. I would use 1 dual layer to keep it on 1 disk. What it will do is make an image copy of the hidden 8.6gb recovery partition to your system C: drive and then burn the image to a DVD which will be bootable to winpe preboot to reinstall windows. I tested the DVD out afterwards and it does boot up fine. I also made an image backup of the DVD and made another backup copy (Im paranoid).

You only need the DVD if you lose your drive or wipe all partitions. If you want to reinstall the OS just follow the recovery steps and it will guide you through booting back to the hidden partition to reinstall Windows 7.

 

Are there any sites with the P55 express chipset drivers yet?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=450641&page=4

check out the second post on that page, i geuss the dell drivers works. what does the sata driver do?

 

Cool thanks that worked.

Which program makes the FN keys work?

 

Wow this laptop is a BEAST!!

I am playing Battlefield Bad Company 2
@ 1280x800 resolution
Detail: Medium
Textures: Medium
Shadows: Medium
Effects: Medium
AA: 1x (no off option?)
AF: 1x (same as above)
HBOA: Off
Vsync: Off

Using fraps --
FPS Low: 27
FPS Average: 39
FPS High: 61

It is more than playable on a 32 player server. I tried putting Detail and Textures on high, but the average drops to about 26 and slows down in big fights. I think once I overclock the GT 330M it'll handle it.

FYI though I am hitting 70c CPU and 60C GPU....Anybody elses CPU hitting those temperatures?

I think I will definitely apply some Arctic Silver 5 before I overclock.

Time to go to bed..Up too late playin

 

wow really that's great news!!! ? i wasn't thinking this game would run well on this notebook.

 

WOW Ps2cho that is awsome!
Thanks for letting us know

If it's not to much to ask:
Could you please try a lower resolution and all settings on high?

I am still waiting for my CW27FX :/

 

Quick question:

Does the CW27 have a ethernet/CAT5 port for wired Internet?

I was looking at Newegg's pictures and there is not connection, but Best Buy's description says " Built-in 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T Fast Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)"

Thanks!

PS - Nevermind; it's in the back, I believe I spotted it!

 

Can anyone inform me a bit on the battery life of the CW2S1E with an i3 and 1366x768 screen? Wish i could take the higher resolution screen but we don't have it where i live.. I have searched this thread but i can't seem to get a good answer i found one for the i5 1600 resolution screen that said about 3 hours of websurfing. But the model i want has different hardware, will that make a big difference?

 

I pre orderd my laptop but we still don't have the screen here yet. So I say give it a week or 2.

abotu battery on the Sony site it seems to be the same...

 

I watched episodes on Hulu the other night for 1 hr 40 min over wireless and had 15% left when I was finished.

I would guess 4 hours+ with wireless off, 3 hours of normal surfing, 2 hours with heavy downloading.

The battery drain while off or sleeping is an uncertain issue at the moment. Mine went from 46% to 15% while being completely turned off for a day and a half.

 

anyone know how to overclock the 330GT on the CW? any software or techinque?

 

Im moderately interested in STO because Ive always been a huge fan but have been concerned after reading conflicting beta user experiences.

Whats your opinion on STO so far?

Thanks

 

I have an F series with the same gpu. I'm using Nvidia system tools. It's super simple and provides you with sliders to adjust the clocks.

 

is it nvidia control panel?

 

It's a separate download (just google nvidia system tools). It will integrate into the Nvidia control panel.

 

Question to the people who have OCed their 330GT.

Do the clocks all still drop down to about nothing when your not using any graphics? or does it always stay at the OCed settings? Thanks

 

If you're using Nvidia tools (the only one I'm familiar with), you can create profiles so that it only oc's with games.

 

I know that you gut it resolved from the link above.

But man, it was a pain in the @$$ to get any kind of support from Sony on that driver. I kept telling them that the file they have on their servers are corrupted. They kept telling me to just try and re-download it again, even after I told them that I've done that almost 10 times already. They're totally clueless.

That was the biggest problem in doing the clean install on the CW. I ended up checking dell's website for a driver on one of their new i5 lappys and voila, it worked. Everything was easy after that.

 

Well, there's definitely issues. I havent seen them as much as my buddy but I think its still beta although its officially released. And dont get me going about steam. Avoid steam if possible when getting the game, trust me read the forums. I really do think STO has potential though. The space battles are smooth and interface seems to be well thought out for an mmog but I can only compare to SW Galaxies. That game got pretty deep and I welcomed it until they started simplifying the game and thats when I dropped out. I didnt go for lifetime but I gambled with a year subscription so we'll see.

I think you can try for 30 days but you may want to wait a month till they sort the bugs out and the # of users dies down. That's the other thing, theyre having issues keeping everyone on because of the overwhelming response..

 

Kewl thanks for the response also glad to hear it runs ok on the CW.

 

I tested 1024x768 and it looks it can run Textures and Details on high just about, but problem is you lose the widescreen and get black bars top and bottom. 1280x800 is a perfect resolution to fill everything in.

Later tonight I'm gonna look into overclocking

Anybody know which program gets the FN Keys functional yet?

And and FYI the speakers kinda suck, but what do you expect. They don't compare to my Inspiron's as they were loud as hell! They are fine for every day use though.

 

That is laughable. It's one thing to enjoy your display. That is fine. I don't behoove that.

Don't exagerrate to prove your point. I've owned/own a ridiculous amount of notebooks (yes it's my weakness) and for panels within the last five years, it's easily in the bottom run as far as angles.

Weren't you the guy that said only high end lcd's and CRT's would have decent viewing angles?

Come on now.

 

The most recent version I've been able to find is 6.05 dated 11/19/2009. Is this the version you are using or is there a later version...Nvidia's website has been no help in figuring it out.

 

I couldn't find the battery thread cknobman.

I notice you post here so I'll ask you.

Did you ever get it resolved? I was one of those that had the battery drain while completely off. In any event, it seems to have fixed itself for me.

 

@ kevhuynh : I'm with you on that. The CW screen is the worst VAIO screen I've ever seen and almost owned, until I cancelled and got the SR590 instead. My recently retired V505 which I got in Nov. 2003, had a way better screen than the CW.

 

The big battery drain topic is here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=299109

Are you sure the issue is solved? I hate to rain on your parade, but the drain only occurs when the notebook is unplugged, perhaps that made the difference?

 

My battery problem was only with sleep mode not while the unit is powered off. I tested my unit powered off and unplugged and experienced no battery drain.

I dont think this is necessarily an issue with the CW though. There are more and more reports coming in that it is a Windows 7 problem and now Microsoft has now officially stated it is looking into issue. Check out this article at Toms Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Microsoft-Windows-7-Battery-Problems,9579.html

 

Well I did my own little battery test and what happened to me is that it went into sleep mode okay but did not go into hibernation over time. I was running around the office and when I got back to the machine I heard the fan running for no apparent reason and the lid was closed and it should have been sleeping/hibernating not running something in the background. When I lifted the lid the machine was completely unresponsive and I had to shut it off (hold the power button down for a few seconds) and reboot. Upon reboot it said it had 6% power left (and only about an hour prior it was at 80%) and so I shut it down as I don't have the power brick at work.

I'm not sure what was running in the background sucking power and locking up the machine but I guess I've got some investigating to do as to why it did not go into hibernation mode.

edit: forgot to mention but it was connected to Ethernet at the time and wifi/BT was on as well.

 

I just got my VPCCW26FX from UPS several hours ago and so far I love it. I can see the "grainy" screen issue people are complaining about but it is no different than any other laptop screen I have ever used when looked at very close. Granted my experience is probably not as broad as a lot of the users here but for everyday use I don't think it will be a problem. Looking at my work laptop right next to it (older Latitude D620) the Dell is WAY more grainy. The Sony screen is super bright and super sharp; I think it looks great! It's in a different universe than the EEE PC I am upgrading from.

I also wasn't sure about the glossy screen but from what I can tell unless the image you are looking at is very dark and the room you are in very light there is no reflection issue. I had never used a glossy screen before but it seems fine.

As for the battery issue, this has been brought up before but I wonder if it is not a problem of the battery actually draining but the PC reading the level incorrectly. When UPS arrived I immediately took the laptop out of the packaging and turned it on (of course) without plugging it in. It read 11% battery level (18 min remaining)...for about the next 50 minutes. Only then did it hit 10% and complain about needing to be plugged in. Has anyone whose battery level read really low after coming out of sleep simply kept using it anyway and verified that it was actually about to die?

 

look, I've got perfectly functional eyes and have no issues with the panel. I've seen some that are better for viewing angles and some that are worse. What I'm tired of are the rather poorly worded reviews of:

"IT SUKS...worst panel ever invented" sort of unhelpful responses. In previous posts I mentioned that this panel is reasonable on horizontal angles and not so great on vertical but when looked at as intended (straight on) it looks fine to me and better than many others I've seen (and who cares how many I've looked at...I can look at this one and it is fine to ME). I've also pointed out that LCD preference is HIGHLY subjective and that if this is a major concern for people deciding to buy a CW they should check it out for themselves in person rather than rely on anyone else's comments (and I've said this repeatedly as well). My joke about the pogo stick has to do with folks who have what I consider unrealistic expectations of laptop screens and LCDs in general. A notebook screen/LCD is not intended to be used from extreme angles (its a friggin design flaw/limitation in LCDs in general, that is why so many people like plasma TVs) and to expect it to do so is ridiculous. Sure if you get one that lets you do that then great, go have a cookie, but there is a reason its a notebook/laptop and not an extremeviewingangletop for goodness sake...

As for my comment on CRTs and high-end LCDs...well I am perfectly justified in saying it. CRTs do not have viewing angle issues due to their inherent design and there are super high end LCDs which have true color reproduction and outstanding viewing angles and they are expensive. This is fact, not BS. Yeah you can get lucky with a cheap panel, but they don't provide interchangeable panels for notebooks so you are stuck with what you get.

People need to do their research and in the case of this panel there are a lot of polarizing comments in this thread (hence my "ad nauseum" comment) and if people still can't make up their mind my opinion still is valid: check out the panel in person if it is the major factor in your decision to buy the CW.

 

Hello owners,
2 questions, How is the build quality of this laptop? I saw some pictures and I wasnt convinced..
The other one, which is the default adapter that comes with the laptop 90watt? 120?
thanks