Sony CW i3/i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

ps2cho, what temps do u see for your cpu while playing games?i feel like mine are getting too high

 

Oh yeah please share your i5 CPU temps! I haven't seen any thus far.

Thanks!

 

Here is my 3dmark2006:



Prime95 I saw 74c...but in real life applications, no program stresses as much as prime95 does so its only a stability or burn in application in reality. This was prior to my application of new TIM and bending the heatsink mechanism to add some pressure. I'll give an updated temperature tomorrow. It has had a few days to cure now so should be good to test.

 

Thanks for those results. The idle temperatures look great across the board. I'm a little concerned about the max CPU temps though...that's actually a lot higher than any CPUs I've had over the last couple years.

 

I got my CW since a few days now... Should I remove the intel i5, windows 7, nvidia stickers?

 

i tried installing Mac OS X on the cw 26........got it installed too but cant boot into it cos d partiton cannot b set as active........it already has 3 primary partitions made(1 is d recovery other is system and third is d C: drive)..........so another primary partiton isnt allowed i guess.....ne1s got ne idea how to get outta dis and actually put a running hackintosh on it CW

 

lol...sure.........if u wana dat is.....ders no harm in doing so..........

 

i series cpu's run higher temps then the old core2duo's. 70*C isn't to bad for a max temp on an i series. My i7 desktop cpu has a max temp around 73*C when I stress it.

Although I don't know if the mobile versions are different, but I think it would fall in line fairly close.

 

i had a Sony Vaio VPCCW26FG, Intel Core i5 520M, 4 GB DDR3@1066MHz, NVIDIA GT330m, 500GB@5400rpm, 1600x900 res screen
for 3 days i play with this beast, overall the performance is amazing, the only issues is just the battery life,
- day 1 from fully charge last for about 2 hours
- day 2 from full charge last for about 3 hours
- day 3 from full charge last for about 2.5 hours
*note : With almost the same application eg, wifi on, surfing, office, mp3 application,
- day 4 "My Jetblack didn't found any harddisk..................s**t , can't bootup at all, went to the bios and yes no HDD found
and then i went to my local store, ask them wether i can replace it with the new one, they told me "yes u can" but the only problem is the color choice (only white & orange available)
At the moment i'm waiting for my new Jetblack

Thats it my short story with JetBlack

 

I'd try getting my drive set to be in GPT because right now it's in MBR and os x runs much much better on GPT.. that could be it.

I think you could do this with GParted.

Lol I know I can do it.. I'm just wondering if I should or not... I'm not sure.. what about you guys did you remove these stickers?

 

I never remove stickers for in case I want to sell the notebook, I mean do the stickers really bother you that much?

I remove unnecessary excess stickers like those that advertise features, those obviously meant for the showcase.

But the OS, Graphic Card, and CPU stickers I leave for if I want to sell the notebook online to somebody or even in person, it assures them what was in the original package.

 

Oh that makes sense.. see I wanted to hear such reasons not to remove the sticker.. I'm still considering doing so tho..it would make the machine much cleaner..

 

Can someone please post HWmonitor temps of their system? The CPU/GPU/HDD please... while just doing some light browsing and stuff. Thanks! Rep will be given!

 

im seeing 40 and 40 for gpu and cpu. (watching a dvd) and 36 and 36 just browsing

im concerned because i was palying bc2 and the cpu got to a max of 77c that can't be good

 

I saw similar numbers myself when playing for extended periods.

I looked up the therm specs and it looks like 105c is maximum junction temp.

Normal idle looks like 35-50c depending on power mode.

I tested idle temps and it was right on so I assume we should be ok on 80c extended play.

BTW this is the first machine I have had where the cpu was running hotter than the gpu when playing games.

 

I removed the stickers from my wife's CW.... and I will remove the stickers from my CW.

 

same here, can u link to that information please? oh and also i raised the computer a little with 4 bottle caps, i think it helped. probably just needed to draw more air through the inlet at the bottom

 

Don't worry too much about the CPU temperatures...CPU's are like tanks and will run 80c+ all day every day for years and years.

Heck, in my current desktop, my Q6600 has been running at 1.51v 3.6GHz 79c load for over 16months straight now. That is a LOT of voltage to throw at a processor for extended amounts of time. These laptops are running stock voltage. Don't worry about it

If you want to, do as I did and apply some Arctic Silver 5 and bend the metal on the heatsink to increase pressure.

I considered lapping it, but the copper is actually pretty thin so I left it alone because it may in fact negatively impact performance.

 

Should I go for white color? I mean will it not look dirty after sometime?

 

Anyone got HDD temps? Thanks.

 

Not sure if it will get dirty because mine is still new but.. the white model looks great. I just which this model had backlit keyboard.

 

If the chassis is made out of plastic and not metal, then yeah the white model will look dirty overtime.

 

I personally wouldn't - I've had some issues removing the stickers that come on new laptops in the past.

 

shadab, im one of the most unhygenic person in the universe but my cw still looks cool now. get a microfibre cloth beside you everytime.

 

is the cw 100% compatible with hard drives sata 2 or only with sata 150?
i am asking because i want to put a ssd sata 2 in this laptop and i don't know if that will work very well or will work limited!!!!
please someone can help me...
thanks bye.

 

I'm currently looking for a new laptop and the CW series looks very nice. How is everyone getting the 1600x900 screens?

 

Most of us in the USA are getting it through the bestbuy.com USA site. It is not available in the store.

For $950 you get Sony CW core i5 520m with 16000x900 and blu Ray DVD/CD burner.

For $900 you lose blu Ray. It's quite a bargin at bestbuy.com.

I know newegg and other sites are selling them for $1130 so bestbu.com has the best deal. Better than the Sony official store.

 

I see no reason why an SSD wouldn't be compatible with this notebook. But I'll let you know for sure as soon as I pop in my SSD on Wednesday

 

Hopefully they bring it to Canada shortly. I'd really like to get this over the Lenovo T410.

 

General specs / includes idle

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei5/mobile/techdocs.htm

Maximum temp here. Our package is one of the two bottom links (slbna or slbnb). Not sure which one is ours but the specs are identical.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ProcFam=3223

 

Thanks...as someone else posted. They have looked in the VAIO control center but can't find where to change those special keys.

Yeah, I will just remove all the bloatware and not even bother with a clean install. Seems like some are having problems with things not working properly after.

Is there a list of bloatware that is safe to remove and what is not safe to remove (i.e. Sony stuff that makes certain things work)??

And what does everyone have their power settings at? I have seen the thread about battery drain in some CW's. I typically remove the battery and just use it plugged in. But for those rare times when on battery I would want to maximize it as much as possible.

Thanks

 

Hey there,

I'm a proud owner of a new CW21SE that I have bought two days ago here in Germany. Being limited to the i3 Version, I had no other choice as I was in rush of a new laptop. So I have some question which I couldnt find out on the Sony Website.

1) Does Sony Socket their CPU or fully adapt them on the mainboard?
- if so - am I able to upgrade the CPU to a i5 on my own?
2) Does Sony use MXM for their GPU?
3) Is it possible to remove the DVD drive to add another SSD drive?

 

thankyou i will wait. for more information about ssd in this notebook.

 

For the critical on the screen of the CW27FX, the professional review here appears to think it is good:

http://www.expertlaptopreview.com/?p=470#more-470

 

Very nice. I absolutely HATE the 1366x768 screen so I'm hoping the higher res screen will be a significant improvement.

 

The screen is definitely nice to look at. After using it for a while, the viewing angles seem very tolerable, unlike what others posted around here.

Everything just seems to pop with color and clarity. The thing I like best is seeing more on the screen + not having huge icons on the desktop.

 

Not sure what the hcdp compliant means in terms of Nvidia optimus usability. But I found this:

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3737&p=3

We don't know much about Optimus. But it seems like no extra hardware is needed. As long as it has an Nvidia GPU and IGP (i3, i5, i7). Then it should work. It seems to me that if they are planning to have 50 some laptops out with Optimus by summer. Then some of the current laptops being sold should be capable with a bios update or something.

Wishful thinking...We should all send Sony a message saying we want this enabled on our CW's (if possible).

I just want my CW26 to get here (today sometime)!

 

I just did a clean install on my own CW and everything is working fine, just like my wife's CW. All function buttons work properly. The VAIO button is now a Volume On/OFF button. The Assist button is inactive (I dont have VAIO Care installed).

As for power settings, I configured the battery to charge up to 50% using VAIO Control Center since the laptop will always be plugged in. I am leaving the battery attached to act as a UPS.

 

Ok, I just got my CW. There was 75 processes running upon initial startup and setup. I have removed norton and a few other things. I also ran the PC Decrapifier program. It removed a few more things. And brought the processes down to 61 after a reboot.

As for doing a clean install, I have done many over the years of both Windows and Linux. So I know how to do them. Its that I just don't want to ruin a brand new computer and have things not work properly.

Is this the thread you used...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=450641

Obviously using the i3/i5 series instructions. And is that download link for the Win7 ISO 32bit or 64bit?

Thanks

 

Hello,

I'll be getting my VPCCW21FX tomorrow. I have some general questions:

1) I noticed that the "WEB" button on some models is now replaced by an "ASSIST" button. Is there any way to re-configure the "ASSIST" button to have the functionality of the now missing "WEB" button?

2) One primary reason why I went with the i3 processor and the 310M graphics was I thought it would not drain the battery as fast as the i5 and the 330M graphics. Am I correct in assuming that the battery life will be significantly better with the i3?

I can return my i3 as long as I don't open the box. . . .I wish it was easier to return laptops once opened if you don't like them. . . .

Thanks

NM

 

I have 55 or 56 processes right now after the clean install... that includes Avira running in the background.

It's not just processes though, the registry also gets convoluted with all the previous installs. Revo or decrapifier sometimes miss removing stuff from the registry.

As for the link you provided, the second post of that thread is my directions that XGX2007 copy and pasted for better access for other people. I did the initial legwork on my wife's CW i5 last month. The link is to the 64-bit version.

I still dont see how you could ruin a new computer though by doing a clean install. Just dont delete the restore partition when doing the clean install and you can always bring your computer back to how it came from Sony. But I was so confident on this that I didn't even bother creating restore disks and I deleted that restore partition to get that 8gbs of space back.

 

1. As far as I can tell, you cant reconfigure that "Assist button". VAIO Control Center does not provide any section for changing the special buttons (at least not on my clean install).

2. Having the lower processor speed of the i3 would automatically give it a little bit more battery life. How much more, i dont know.

 

Has any found a way to overclock the i3?

 

Well, here's my 2 cents after having it for 6 days now - I HATE SHINY PLASTIC! This thing gets dirty in microseconds, and I'm really tired of cleaning it all the time, especially the area around the touchpad. I have a Dell D630 work laptop, and I don't remember last time I wiped it down - still looks fine. The CW is like a dirt magnet, and on top of it, looks like it scratches really easily too - I already have few minor scratches, even though I baby this thing.

Just had to vent, thank you for listening

Polbit

 

I agree about the scratches.

I am currently using a plush microfiber towel to wipe off the prints every night

 

they did not go on about the price as tested, merely reiterated the $799 starting price, but I have to say I am less than impressed and much happier that I got the CW. Feel free to comment, but you are crushing their scores with your overclock (heck even in its underclocked OOTB state) and the PC Mark Vantage score is an embarrassment if you ask me (look at the SZ scores as a rough comparison to our CW)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/23/alienware-m11x-review/

 

lol 3dmark06= 5500

The CW is hands down a better choice. The only thing that laptop has on the CW is battery life. That is pretty much it.

 

I will never understand why you would want such a GPU in that tiny little laptop. So pointless.

 

and don't forget that is only with the crap integrated graphics (ooooh Crysis on low settings at 1.2 FPS)

I guess saving 0.7 lbs will matter to some, but seriously, why didn't they dump an i3 into that thing at least?

 

I read a few pages back where the i5 1600x900 white was in stock at Best Buy, but I've been checking and it says "sold out online". Only one available is the indigo color - the one color I don't care for.

Looks like I will have to pay more money for it. Since Sony doesn't seem to have this option online, any where else besides newegg to get this one?

Never ordered from newegg. I heard good things, but anything I should consider when dealing with them?

TIA

edit: never mind, just checked newegg and they are now sold out too... 2 days makes a lot of difference.... grrrrr