Sony CW i3/i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

same with mine, when the Harddisk crash, they replace it with the new one,
and now my battery can run more than 3 hours,
cheers for all the CW user

 

This morning I hooked up to an external LCD and ran 3dm06 @ 1280x1024 on my CW26.

I fubared the screenshot but I ran roughly 7,500 with a core clock of 650 and memory @ 1066 using EVGA Precision Tune and Forceware 188.67.

Not bad for (what I consider) a mid-range portable and attractive laptop!

 

Not really sure about OC'ing

Right now i have it set at 625-815-1370


how do I know how much further i can overclock? can I go much further? not sure

 

625 maxes out my core clock. If I go any higher I get noticeable artifacts or straight up lockups. My memory can do 1090 all day long though, no issues at all there. I think it can go a decent bit higher even, 1090 is just the max EVGA Precision lets me go.


Anyway, thought id let you all know I very much get the same battery drain issue everyone else does. I turn the computer off at 100% and boot it up a day later at 89%. That is....very annoying, to say the absolute least.

 

Well the idea is you push it up little at a time to see if it's stable/not artifacting in games. I can bench at 660 core but I backed it down to 650 due to a crash; lowered temperature helps with this too ~ I may go in and replace the stock thermal paste with something else in the future.

If you watch GPU-Z you can see that the card downclocks itself automatically when not gaming or benchmarking. I keep my cw in "balanced" power mode though, this may not happen in "performance" all the time mode... haven't tested that yet.

 

Know where I can find a Large capacity battery for the CW instead of paying $250 for the one on sonystyle? lol

just did a battery test and the beginning of the test I was on skype and youtube for around 20 minutes or so with brightness from full to mid.

during the middle i changed brightness to low and managed to get just around the 2 hour mark for battery life. i had a memory stick in and a usb device and I forgot those can drain battery life too. So maybe ill try another test next with all of the devices out, no skype or youtube, just internet surfing with low brightness

 

Awwwww.. So close to 8000 hahahaha.

 

Can anyone think of a reason not to switch from my CW26FX to the new Sony Z series (other than the obvious cost difference). Am I giving anything up other than 2.5 lbs, a small amount of screen size and a chunk of change? The Z seems to have very similar specs that are a little better (1TB instead of 512MB of 330 GPU RAM and SSD). The smaller size and much lighter frame are very appealing to me. I almost forgot the backlit keyboard and integrated graphics for longer battery life, oh and the fingerprint reader. Please someone stop me I think I need a 3 step program for my notebook addiction.

 

I've had two Sony SZ's from 06 with a fingerprint reader. Suffice it to say, I disabled both of them. Completely useless.

You're paying a premium for the materials and looks too. The screen on the is supposedly top notch from reviews I've read in that part of the map.

 

Does anyone know if the CW has a built in IR blaster so i can use a windows media center remote from a previous machine with it? my old acer had one.

Also, is there another way to disable bluetooth other than disabling it in the device manager? I do not have the sony wifi utility installed.

 

There is no IR on the CW series.

 

just found out. i hibernate it at around 80% and when i wake it up 6-8 hours later it shows only 9% left and its at critical mode. i dun care about it and played music for another 1 hour (to fill up my time in the train) and when i reached home it still states 9% left. i think its the bios problem cause the machine to calculate the battery life wrongly.

 

Interesting observation. Keep us informed of any more instances like this!

 

That's interesting. I loved the fingerprint reader I had on my SZ a few years back. Maybe it works better for some than others.

 

I noticed this too when on a 3 hr car drive, my 20% battery lasted 3 hrs and was at 15% when i got home.... rather strange, no?

I'll be looking into this farther when my new CW comes (last one died)

 

I had a few questions and concerns before i possibly buy this laptop:

1) I have been following this thread for awhile and it seems that there are many defects on these laptops... does that concern anyone? I always thought Sony was top of the line in build quality...

2) Would any of you recommend this laptop? I start grad school in august and need a pc (no mac). I have been looking at similar laptops, but they all seem to fall short somewhere (ie. no blu ray, 900p resolution, etc). This best buy deal seems to be the best price for all of these specs.

 

I'll have my hands on the CW that I ordered for my wife in a few days. They initially gave me a shipping date of 3/23, but got it out yesterday.

 

Read the threads in the Sony Owners Forum regarding battery drain problems and no fixes yet from Sony....

 

There arent that many defects with this laptop. The only major issue is with the battery drain and no major breakthroughs on that front yet.....

As far as the rest of things are concerned, this laptop is jst too good to resist at this price. The specs you get are worth the money, design is much better than many other notebooks out there, the screen is high res and the graphics card packs in a punch too.

You start grad school as you said so am guessing you might want to game a bit too and this one is the perfect balance between mobility and power machine. If you get to plug it in at your grad school then battery shouldnt be that big an issue for you. Take your call.

Cheers...

 

After Sony replaced my motherboard a couple of days ago, I had a surprise concerning battery life. I use the Battery Care function and have it set to max out at 80%. I put the CW into hibernation at 80% and 8 hours later took it out of hibernation and it was still at 80%. That is a new experience for me on any laptop. I hope that is a good sign and it will continue like that. Hibernation works considerably better with Windows 7 than previous systems, in my experience anyway.

 

this is probably the most versatile in terms of weight, size, power, battery life and affordable laptop you can buy at this time.

 

I have the VPCCW27FX (1600x900, i5 520M, Nvidia 330M, bluray).

The 330M in these things is criminally underclocked (especially the RAM). After a few weeks of real world testing I've settled on 639 core, 1472 shader & 1090 memory. As discussed earlier the memory could probably do more but that is the max in EVGA Precision.

Overall I've been pleasantly surprised by this model's gaming chops. In most games I don't feel like I'm compromising the experience too much using it. Overclocking is a must though. You can really feel the difference when running a game at stock GPU clocks on this thing.

 

If time is no object, get the Asus N82. More powerful CPU (i7), GPU (Nvidia GT 335M), same weight (5.17 lbs), and longer battery life (4-5 hrs with Optimus seamless graphics switching between the GT 335M card and the integrated graphics). Screen is 14 inches with 1366x768 resolution (not bad considering it's on a 14 inch screen). Should be out at end of April latest in the US.

If money is no object, get the HP Envy 15 2nd Generation. Powerful, battery efficient CPU (i5), very powerful GPU (ATI HD 5830), very light (5.17 lbs), very thin (1 inch thick), 15.6 inch screen with 1920x1080 resolution. Cost about $1250 with a $300 HP coupon (limited time offer). Does not come with an internal optical drive, but that's no longer the dealbreaker it once was.

The Sony Vaio CW is not bad for its package and cost. It's a jack of all trades and master of none. It's battery drain problem is a dealbreaker in my opinion. No 14 inch laptop should get 3 hrs or less on a full charge.

 

That would be terrible if the only fix to the Sony battery drain problem was replacing the entire motherboard.

I used to think it might be the BIOS, but if so, why hasn't Sony fixed it already and issued a BIOS patch upgrade?

It's not like trying to find an acceleration problem in a Toyota Prius, is it?

 

I'd love the N82 i not for the resolution. I'm giving the ENVY SERIOUS consideration.

 

But the Envy doesn't have heat issue ? If I use it on my laps, it will be unconfortable after 45 min (working and/or gaming) ??

 

Yes, but you must make sure you get the 2nd generation Envy 15. It's the one with the powerful ATI HD 5830 GPU. It's the one with 3 internal fans and reworked internals to promote better air flow.

The i5 CPU spec Envy 15 runs cool to the touch. The i7 runs warm, but not blistering hot, not to mention shorter battery life (1.75 hrs vs 3 hrs on average).

 

misread something

 

I have had my CW27FX for over a month now and I just love it. It's a 10x better laptop than my old Dell Inspiron 1520.

Like has been stated over and over, the major flaw is just the fingerprint magnet of a wristpad. I solved that by putting the Invisible Shield on it. No more fingerprints! Solved!

 

does the trackpad on the CW support multitouch gestures such as 2 finger scrolling and pinch to zoom? If so how do you enable it?

 

-duto, it should be on default or go to vaio control panel.

if to compare with n82, envy 15 and blah......(even vaio Z) i must say CW have an enormously big advantage. HEAT. i nvr gone over 60 no matter how i push it. well.....i think they installed a refrigerator inside it. XD

 

You obviously have never used the Envy 15 2nd Generation with i5 spec yet.

 

Just to clarify, this overclock only functions on wall power? On battery power, it reverts back to stock?

 

Yes, it reverts back to normal clocks on plugging it off the Mains....

 

Ha! I think I'm going to leave it at this OC level for daily use. Core clock and shader clock makes a huge difference!

This is at default resolution hooked up to an external monitor BTW.

 

Just as a follow-up, the repair guy replaced the motherboard, and then a week later, the sound stopped working again. I think that it was a connection from the motherboard to the speakers. I gave up on that computer and returned it. I am very disappointed with Sony's quality control.

Now, I am waiting for my new Lenovo Ideapad Y460, which has even better specs than the CW, for anyone who is looking for alternatives.

 

I wonder really what u do with your laptops, since 3 out of 4 in your signature are either dead or defective...

 

I'm just really unlucky. The ASUS was defective in that the hard drive made really loud ticking noises soon after I got it and consequently gave me a blue screen, and you know what happened with the CW. The CR was my fault, however; I dropped it, and the screen broke. Rather than paying for a repair, I decided to get a new laptop with Windows 7.

 

Ok, head over to the Y460 boards. Prepare to fry your eggs on the Y460, which will probably run very hot.

If I had to choose between the Sony Vaio CW and the Lenovo Y460, I'd buy the Vaio CW.

Of course, I'd get the HP Envy 15 2nd Gen or the Asus N82 over the Vaio CW.

 

I disagree. The heat test mentioned in the forums was done over a long period of time with intensive gaming. What else can you expect from such a powerful laptop?

Don't make me regret my purchase...

 

Play a intense graphic game on the Envy 2nd gen for an hour, and u can fry anything on it. Looking at heats, there is no way you can compare it to the CW.

 

Alright guys not totally sure on this but um Cw with i7 and gt330 m graphics? lol look at it I didnt get the chance because my internet is slow but maybe it is true http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sony-vaio-cw-series/4014-3121_7-33959717.html?tag=psum;shop

 

Its 1366x768, hmm....

 

Thats really up to you and how you configure your power settings. I personally rarely run on battery and when I do I'm not looking to play any games. So my clock drop through the floor when on battery (well below stock).

 

Guys, lets ask admins to put an article on homepage regarding the drain issue-maybe it will draw some attention?

 

Clocked to 600/1090/1320
I got 8033
Pretty good. I think it's worth overclocking if it gives you a 25% boost on a mid range GFX card because you WILL notice a difference while gaming.



What do you think is the max safe temp for the 330m?

 

Anyone got a way to have more than 3 primary partitions on the Hard drive apart form removing the recovery partition? I tried putting the recovery partition offline but it doent let me put it offline......

 

Im looking at the Y460 on lenovos site right now. Pretty decent config very comparable to the CW.

Here is what I noticed:

Proc: same
Video Card: Lenovo ati 5650 > cw nvidia 330m
Screen: CW 1600x900 > lenovo 1366x768
Price: CW $950 > Lenovo $1050

So given those it is kinda pick your poison. It really sucks lenovo took such a great graphics card and wasted all that power on a low res screen.

Personally the ideapad line has never been known for outstanding quality unlike the thinkpad line (im not saying sony's quality is the best either but I think it is a small notch above the idea pad).

I still give a small edge to the cw given the increased cost of the lenovo.

 

Does anyone know when the 1600x900 screen will be available in the UK? it says configuration not available.

Is there a particular reason why Sony will only let you have the Nvidia 330M 512mb along with the 1600x900 screen? for the 1366x768 you only get the Nvidia 310M 256mb.

 

Mine is a 1366x768, and it has the GT 330M.