Sony CW i3/i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

It feels solid; there is no noticeable flex to the wrist rest or edges. As some have mentioned the battery is a little loose in its slot but that has been fixed by shimming with a square of paper or the like.

The adapter has a rated output of 4.7A @19.5V DC so just over 91W (that is output so given inefficiency in the transformer it likely draws higher than that on the input side). However, I have it plugged into a power meter right now and even though it is charging it is only drawing 21W. I am at 92% charge and as I understand it LiIon charges slowly at the end so I can't tell you presently what the max draw is when charging but it is certainly higher than 21W.

 

I've ordered a customised cw that should be coming next week and have been avidly following the discussion here for over a week. I've read either on this thread, or the old cw thread before they were split, that switchable graphics aren't supported at the moment.

Could someone tell me what chipset the cw uses? Is it the PM55 or the HM55? If it's the HM then there may still be hope of a bios update allowing us to use the IGP packaged in the i3/5's

 

Hi,

I bought a Vaio S and the fan would come on very frequently (every 15 seconds) even when just browsing a webpage. It bothers me and I will take it back. The CW is bigger, maybe it handles things better. Is the fan noise a problem with the CW?

Many thanks

 

Okay, I'm going out on limb here vis a vis the picky fan people but this is the least fan intensive laptop I've ever used. Super quiet at most times and while running Prey (hey, its what I had handy) or 3DMark06 it spins up, but it is really quiet. Very impressed with the fan performance on this laptop.

 

I agree... the CW i5 runs pretty cool and quiet.

 

I had the same issue happened to me as well twice within a few hours last week. It occurred after I installed nero and did my first dvd rip. It finished the rip but it got into the same unresponsive state you mentioned when I came back to the notebook after a 1/2 hour or so. I powered off, rebooted and let it sit and it happened again. I removed nero and havent seen the issue since, and that was about a week ago. Pretty strange. Maybe something is running in the background in your tray causing issues. Have you installed any software thats hardware dependent like nero recently ?

 

I did indeed install nero recently as well. I'll have to run msconfig and see what is loading because nothing from nero is sitting in the tray...I did deliberately not install nero smartstart as I've had problems with that before.

 

Thanks to the people who let me know about the fan. I listened to the S and CW again in Bestbuy and could hear the CW was much quieter. This settles it for me. The S was really annoying that way.

Thanks again for helping me out.

 

Unfortunately, it's the PM55

 

nothing from nero at startup so I wonder what is going on...

 

I did a stripped down install as well with just burn rom and showtime and I still had this issue. I dont think its in the tray whatever the nero process is, it may be a service. I would uninstall it and monitor the notebook over the next few days and see what happens.

Curious to see if it goes away. How often does the issue occur ?

 

Couple pics..

 

I've had it happen twice, the first seemed like a fluke. I checked the process list and nothing from nero appears to be running. I'd hate to have to get rid of nero since I need it for DVD shrink

 

Thanks! It's about time someone posted a few pics, great looking laptop, I'd love to see more. It makes me pretty sad that I haven't been able to order mine yet.

P.S. Is that a jerker I see? I'm so jealous right now...

 

I know, I use DVD shrink too but I just rip it to an ISO and have Roxio rip it to DVD. Works fine, just an extra step for now. Im gonna a wait a few more weeks to make sure and try nero again but maybe another rev..

 

lmfao on the pogo stick comment btw

 

New Member here.

Just got my new CW from the Sony Style Store.
I got the limited pink edition.





Has anyone tried playing 1080p HD from youtube?
Whenever I play it full screen, the video goes black and it doesn't want to go full screen and I couldn't pause the player.
Is there something wrong with the graphics card driver? Anyone else experiencing this problem?

 

Stock 3dmark2006 with Temperatures.

 

Nice!!!!! Can't wait to see that vid of BF2! Thanks again!

 

has anyone done any demanding tests like furmark + prime95?
Because I am quite concerned with some throttling issues that the new i5/i7 laptops are having, specially because they are provided with a not sufficient ac adapter. Some Asus and Dell laptops are having this problem... So I just wanted to know if anyone did those tests and If they noticed any decline on the cpu multiplier or any stutter and freezes while doing them..

Thanks

 

Has any one with the battery issue tried to Disable Wake-On-Lan from the BIOS if it is in there? It is known to do such problems on other laptops.

 

Does anyone know why the HD is constantly being hit? It is like a ticking clock, about once per second. Very annoying. That has to hit the power when running on batteries.

As to the screen, it looks great to me, but the vertical viewing angle is fairly limited. It only becomes an issue when I am up standing and walk over to the desk to look at something on the laptop. Seated it is perfectly fine.

I have the i3 with the 310m nvidia graphics. I like the thought of the new one with the i5 and 330m and keep considering swapping, but I keep reminding myself that I bought this for business with an occasional game in downtimes or hulu vid in bed - it is a 14" screen after all. It played LOTRO just fine on medium settings though as a test.

QUESTIONS:
First, has anyone tried setting the battery to max life (less charge) and also setting it to the most power efficient? If so, thoughts?

Second, which VAIO programs can be removed without any ill effects. I really do not like the Messenger in particular, even with it set to off. Any that affect performance by running in the background? And also, what are the Windows Live components?

On a side note, I do find it odd that I have the Intel TurboBoost driver - teases!

 

Also, do you think we need some form of screen protector with this design? If so, what are you using?

 

I ran super pi for 32m digits and didn't notice any significant chance between the first run and the last. However I wasn't monitoring the multiplier and it only ran for about 20 minutes.

 

I am going to post more pictures tonight.

P.S. What is a jerker? lol

 

First time poster. Just got my CW today (i5, Jet Black). She's a beauty. With all the battery talk going on, I checked it right away when I first started it up and was at 56%. I'm charging it up now at work. I usually either have it on to use (plugged in), or shut down when not in use.

The screen looks great to me. Very clear and crisp. And the machine is very quiet. I'm coming from a 6 year old PCG-K35 Vaio, so it doesn't take much to be an upgrade for me. If I run into any issues, I'm sure I'll be posting them here. Right now I'm just trying to navigate my way around Win 7, as I've always been on XP.

 

My daughter had the same unresponsive problem. She was watching a video online, had it paused for a few minutes, then clicked on the play icon...immediately the screen went dark (though not completely black as if totally off), the fan or hd started making a louder noise as if something was working pretty hard, it would not respond to pressing any key, including the power button. I finally pressed and held the power button and it rebooted.

Noteworthy is: We have not installed Nero, she had the unit plugged in with battery fully charged. If I recall, the power button was solid amber during the ordeal. She was using our wireless connection-not Ethernet.

I would really like to know if this is a potential long-term problem (my 14 day Best Buy return period is up tomorrow.) Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Well I finally bit the bullet and decided on the CW27 over the Lenovo Y550P, and don't have time enough to wait for the upcoming ASUS with the i5 (K52JR-A1).

Ordered it yesterday, shipped today via UPS Express, don't know when to expect delivery yet.

Hoping for no problems!

 

Any of you Sony refresh CW owners having 2nd regrets about buying it?

FYI - no one has confirmed that the Asus K52JR-A1 will even come to the US yet.... First the N61 i5 gets pulled. Now this....

 

no regrets, I'm really happy with mine.

 

I don't regret buying mine either. I really wanna try bc2 on it, since ps2cho (sp?) says it runs well.

 

I really don't like the screen but everything about this notebook is just great. I just bought the 3 yr square trade a few days ago for like $90.

 

do you really think its worth it to buy extended warranties...mind you the price you paid is pretty cheap.

BTW, I just checked squaretrade and they wanted $129 for three years based on the instaquote I got.

 

I really like this machine. No problem with screen and the high resolution.

Shipping from BestBuy was very quick. Ordered on Sunday. Shipped on Monday and received on Tuesday. And it was standard shipping. very happy with the turnaround time. unfortunately, it also came in the plastic bag and the sony box was ripped slightly, but the machine seems fine. cross my finger.

 

lol $900 is cheap?

 

Received my CW i5 from Best Buy two days ago. I am very pleased with this computer after my recent bad experience with an Asus N81. I can actually install software on this computer and the system doesn't corrupt. My experience with Sony's has always been pretty good, though. This CW is just the right size and it is a powerhouse. The 330M plays every game and graphics app I have thrown at it with fairly high settings and without overclocking. The screen is very nice, not as good as my old Sony SZ, but pretty good. It is bright and has good color when using the NVidia Control Panel. Not very good vertical viewing angles, but that is no big deal for me. Horizontal viewing angles are pretty good. Battery life is better than my old SZ - which was not very good even when it was new. I usually use it plugged in however. Overall, it performs as I would expect it to perform. Quite a nice change from the Asus N81. Everything runs fast and flawless. The only thing I don't like is the glossy top and wrist rests. They are definitely fingerprint magnets and that takes away some of the classiness of the computer. It is a nice design overall though, and it never gets very hot. Really worth the price, if not more, that Best Buy was selling it for.

 

Anyone know if you can toggle lock the Pg Up/Dwn/Home/End keys?

I use these instead of the arrows for everything other than games.

 

no, $900 is not cheap but I've just never found the value in extended warranties and was curious how you got a quote $40 cheaper than I did...after all cheaper is better.

 

I've found that the white version does not seem to show the fingerprints all that much. Do you have the black model?

 

Even with the battery drain issue still unresolved?

It also looks like the chipset that the Sony Vaio CW uses will prevent an easy flash bios fix, right?

 

none here i love the thing

i must be either really lucky or not picky enough because 99% of the things people have been complaining about have not been a problem for me!!

 

Here is a video of BFBC2. Excuse the poor person playing...not used to using small laptop mice

The server was a tad laggy, that is not fps lag you see. Everything is smooth and playable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cobaP3WrbN0

 

I am currently doing a full load CPU and GPU test to obtain highest temperatures using Prime95 and RTHDRIBL for the GPU. I will then replace the TIM to Arctic Silver 5 and retest to see how much difference it made.

 

Well today I've been testing it and it seems to be behaving though on hibernate it does consume more power than other laptops I've had. I did an informal test today:

Unplugged with full charge and went to work. Started CW and did a little surfing and then let it sit for a while (did not time this). Closed the lid and it went into hibernate.

A few hours later opened it up and brought it out of hibernation...77%. Surfed a bit more and it stayed at 77% for about 30 minutes. Closed the lid again.

After lunch fired it up (this was about 1.5 hrs later) and it was at 65%. A couple of minutes of surfing and closed the lid.

After about 1 hour for some reason I heard the DVD drive turn on (there was no DVD in it) and the wifi light lit up (lid was closed) and I could heard the CPU fan running at a low level. Lifted the lid and nothing happened (waited a minute or so). Pushed the power button and it came out of hibernation again and still read 65% and the intel matrix storage driver had a message about something being attached to the machine (see below)...closed that, let the program fire up and then immediately closed it.

I have no idea why the drive fired up and yesterday when it did this I ignored it but when I checked the machine about three hours later I noticed the CPU fan going and could not bring it out of hibernation. I held the power button down to power cycle it and when I rebooted it was at 6%. When this happened the whole discussion about nero came up (check previous posts) but I have no evidence of any nero-related process running in the background though certain components of nero (not smartstart) are installed on my machine but nothing from nero is listed in the process tree under task manager.

Okay, now I am lifting the lid and coming out of hibernation again...wait for it...(5:01 pm PST)...for some reason I get a message saying something was attached and the intel matrix storage driver is sitting in my tray and wants my acknowledgment to start..okay fine (nothing was plugged in BTW...maybe this is the source of the battery issues). Only thing listed by intel matrix storage driver (isn't this for RAID BTW) is the harddrive. Power level: 18%

So yes, there seems to be power issues that hopefully will get resolved (probably by us), but since this is used as my backup machine at home and is generally attached to power it is not a big hindrance to me but can be a cause for concern and should be addressed. For my intended use, I'm pretty satisfied.

Does anyone know if it is okay do uninstall the matrix storage driver??

 

more on the matrix driver...may not be needed according to this as we do not have eSATA plugs:

http://communities.intel.com/thread/9489

 

It sounds like Windows 7 just isn't as great out of the gates as we were hoping for. I may just reinstall Windows XP for whatever laptop I get....

 

I used a coupon. they come up once in a while.

btw, my m1330 motherboard has been replaced 3 times and lcd screen once.

for $90, if the motherboard on this crap out, they either fix it or give my $900 back as far as i know.

 

Thanks ps2cho! I am really impressed with how well the laptop handled BC BF2!

Granted it's still in beta and probably is still undergoing some sort of optimization process. But I'm really glad to see that the Sony handled it well!

Thanks again for posting the video. If you get a chance, you may want to install Fraps and record what frame rates you're getting while playing the game (it'll show a yellow number in the upper left or right corner of your screen).

 

More pictures:



















About to do full load test...Of course I must give the paste a few days to cure properly so take results with a grain of salt.

 

And.....here is how to replace the TIM and access all the wonderful hardware on the CW27FX























I HIGHLY suggest you do as I have shown and make a diagram of which screws go where. TRUST ME if you get the wrong length screw you can make a dent on the keypad and ruin the beauty of this laptop. Keep your screws and diagram OUT OF THE WAY. You hit it with your arm or your dog comes along and you are DONE FOR.

It was VERY easy. Basically remove all the screws on the back and lift the panel off. It really is as simple as that.

About to load test, but remember the new paste has a curing period so I will test again in 3-4 days.