Sony CW i3/i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

hey im pretty new here and im interested in buying a refreshed CW model. A bit off topic but did anybody encounter probelms with their new CW? Especially battery discharges that are apperntly haunting vaio laptops.

Also did anybody receive their gt 330m CWS? hows is the performance of the gfx?

thanks in advance.

 

The 7200 vs 5400 difference as far as battery use is negligible. Like seriously...next to nothing.

CPU/GPU/Screen/Wireless/Bluetooth are the big culprits. You're fine.

 

Would swapping in an SSD make much of a difference in terms of battery life?

 

To anyone with a refresh CW, is the integrated GPU on the new core i3/i5 usable? or have sony disabled it... if thats even possible?

And whats with sony removing the WEB button and replacing it with an ASSIST button instead... i'd have no use for an assist button

 

Why can't I access the GT330M one? All I can find is the GT210...

 

No benchmarks for GT330M yet?

Would you guys say it should outperform my 8600M GT I have right now? By how much you think as well? This laptop gets me ~3200 points in 3dmark2006.

 

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/14/macbook-air-ssd-vs-hdd-battery-life-revisted/

This is on a mac but it does provide some insight.

The short answer is yes. Whether it's worth it is up to you.

 

If it performs at least as good as the 230M, it'll hit about 6000K or so in 2006. It'll be a huge improvement. Different league of performance.

 

Can a recovery disk fit on to a single layer DVD-R or will it require 2 DVD-R's or 1 DL DVD-R

 

I did this. Its 5%. Don't forget to sign up for their reward zone program to net another $20 back for the purchase in additional to whatever CC rewards program you may have.

 

Also qualified for the BB credit card, 18 months no interest...sooo tempting! Maybe I will give it a day or two and see if Newegg lowers price...

 

Sony chat agent said that switchable graphics is not enabled. I'm hoping its just a matter of getting the right hack. Maybe borrow a driver from the Z series or something. The intel GPU is still there.

 

I got mine in the mail today - it was packed in a box almost twice the size with no packing material. I went staight to the store to return it, now I cant decide if I should order another. Might continue looking around for an I5 in my area.

 

exactly what i was thinking, its just about waiting for the right hack to come out, since we know members here were able to get the VT hack to work, so it will be fun to see this come out

abit off-topic, but i wish the red was more elegant like the current Z series Red, its so beautiful and dark and deep, oh well, a boy can dream cant he

EDIT: i really really dislike the fact that the new CW dont come with the Intel WIFI chips, i mean, what gives? most problems people had were the ones WITH the atheros card.

EDIT:#2, i was thinking if someone could post up pics of the speakers on the CW and its connectors and all that then hopefully someone(maybe even me) could come up with a speaker mod. being a SZ owner and a huge fan of it, i think it has one of the best speakers ever, and its not that difficult to find replacement/spares online, so either SZ or the Z series(havent really had a chance to have a 1st hand experience with them but heard they are brilliant. so since Z and SZ are around same size maybe we could fit them in, but as i said we need to see what we are working with. Just need to see how big they are, what size, what connector and if soldering is needed.so plz do post internal pics if possible...anyone?

 

Hey just as a heads up. Found out the reason why BB is selling the VPCCW26FX so cheap. I bought my in-store with the help of one of the associates and took a look at my receipt. Apparently in their systems they have this model listed with an i5-430m even though the website lists it as having an i5-520m which is why its at below the MSRP. The model from them still has the 520m in it but if I were anyone looking at this model, I'd jump on it before they figure it out.

 

That's absolutely unacceptable. UPS handles their packages like soccer balls to begin with...

I ordered mine two days ago. I'll be receiving it on the 25th and will be delivered to me at work. I'm getting a little anxious now.

If I see that they did a poor job at packing my little lappy, will the brick and mortar store take it back for a refund? I'll take pictures as I unpack it for evidence of packaging stupidity.

EDIT: Didn't mean to sound as if I ignored the post. Peacebone - what happened? Did you get a full refund and all?

 

aw sad to hear

guess i'll be paying a bit more if i do get one in the next month or two

 

the new CW with GT 330M and 1600x900 screen is available even in india , the surprising thing is that they have not increased the price, its the same as previous model with gt230m checkout the links

http://www.sony.co.in/product/vpccw26fg

http://www.sony.co.in/product/Compa...=hp_en_IN_i&models=VPCCW26FG&models=VPCCW16FG

 

im on the same boat as you. maybe you could order online and then ask if you can pick it up at the store/

 

Hello all, am new to the forum and I've ordered the UK version of the CW,
Core i5 520, 4Gig, GT330, 1600x900,BDROM in black..., product ID is VPCCW2X5E.

 

The laptops aren't available for pick up in the Best Buy store so that won't be an option.

 

LOL suckers. Good thing I ordered mine before they figured this out!!

 

The only problem is on SonyStyle US site, you can't configure it to have nVidia 330m video and no 1600x900 resolution screen. That is where bestbuy package is better unfortunately.

 

Dang, why does everywhere else in the world gets it first before US.

 

If you can wait a few weeks I wouldn't be surprised to see that change. I wonder if they are limiting online orders early on just so they can guarantee they have stock for BB. Normally I wouldn't even consider BB, especially for a computer with all the shovelware they like to load their computers up with.

 

Just ordered my VPCCW27FX/B (black, blu-ray, i5-520m, gt330). Been going back and forth on buying the CW for a few months, but the new i5s plus the great bestbuy price finally pushed me into action.

Now you've got me nervous that they're gonna send me a model with an i5-430m even though the web site still stays i5-520m!

 

Speculating that its a contractual/supply issue with BB? I know they had i3's out BEFORE they were officially released. I wouldn't be surprised to find out they had special supply deals.

 

I just picked up my bestbuy order from my local ups distribution center. Laptop arrived in a much bigger box than the actual laptop box. Laptop box was surrounded by air filled plastic bags so no part of the actual laptop box was touching the outer box. Not the perfect packing but enough for me to feel well enough not to worry about it.

As I read the mention of bestbuy systems thinking the processor was an corei5-430m upon opening I immediately inspected the Sony box and the Sony label on the box lists the processor as a Core i5-520m model, nvidia 330m, 500gb hd, 4gb ram, etc etc same config as listed on bestbuy website.

Since I have to finish working today I havent opened up the box to play with it yet but once I do this evening I will post back to let everyone know how it goes.

So far so good, package delivered safely and looked secure, and specs matched what I ordered.

 

My i5 Jet Black CW will arrive on Monday from Best Buy and yesterday I posted my 3 month old gaming desktop pc on ebay for a good starting price.

 

Glad to hear. I guess that someone working in the warehouse had a lapse in good judgement or packed the laptop in a hurry forgetting to fill it with packing material. I'll be looking forward to seeing your post later!

 

i just received my package from best buy and yea it was only filled with air bags. At work, so will be opening it after i get to my hotel.

BTW, do i really need to make recovery discs after the first start or can i do it later on?

 

The Pink VPCCW22FX/P I bought for my Nieces just came today.

I love everything about it Played Mirror's Edge on the Highest settings with no problems , only thing I can see that I would change is the Wireless button is too easy to move when you're carrying your laptop around.

 

Ifanyone is wondering how to compare their CPU or GPU they can go the the following websites;

For processors- http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

For GPU's - http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

This site has been a tremendous help in choosing what to buy. The Sony deal at BB is hands-down the deal to get. At $949 the Cpu and Gpu should be able to last most people a long time rather than buying the bare minimum now and in a year lose mony on selling it and upgrading.

I just sold my Lenovo netbook and am ordering one of these. I considered the new rash of 11.6" netbooks but the video capability and the battery life was not what I could get for $400 more in this Sony. In my estimation I am getting 3-4 times the machine for extra cost.

I do not think it is a mistake as they would have realized it by now. It is only on the website and not in stores so when they sell the amount they contracted for the new batch may have the higher price of $1119 like everybody else.

Enjoy your new toys!!!

 

Does this laptop get hot? my hp gets super hot for my wrists =(

 

whats the problem with the wifi card here?

 

I think it's a good idea to do it ASAP, in case something goes wrong. Set it to verify the discs too

 

Does anybody know how long it takes to make the recovery discs?

 

Not at all, very cool in my experience even when gaming.

 

When did you order and what shipping type did you use might I ask?

 

I ordered it on January 20 with UPS ground shipping.

 

Got my Sony from Bestbuy.com today!!! in only 2 days.....its sweet, alittle bigger overall than expected when you hear 14" screen, should be a perfect combo of size and portability... anyways heres a few quick specs for you all..

Windows Experience Index scores
Processor: 6.7
Ram: 5.9
Graphics: 6.4
Gaming: 6.4
Disk: 5.8

as you can see the 5400rpm hard disk is the holdback but its so close to the memory which is already DDR3 1066.

CPUZ


SuperPI 1M = 16.67 secs which is great, my AMD Athlon x4 OC'd to 3.6Ghz is at 22 secs

More later....

 

I think it took me about 45 min. Burning 10gb and verifying takes a long time.

 

guys, just started my new cw from BB, and am not able to figure out how to make the recovery discs. can anybody help me here?

 

did you put it on 2 DVD-R or 1 DL DVD-R

 

Hi Y'all! I decided against the "super duper" configuration on line purchase from SonyStyle and just decided to get the $799.00 model at Best Buy.

For just doing everyday things, i thought this would more than suffice, plus, i'm not a very patient person and i just could not see myself waiting until 2/09/10 for them to build it! I have to say i am soooooooooooo in love with this model. Its funny, because i had the NW (can't remember model) in November until the screen went "Fffffsssst" during an update and would never reboot again (yet strangely enuf the "one touch web" worked fine) and i can't remember it being NEARLY as nice as this one, and it cost $100.00 bucks more. The design of this model is soooooooooooo super clean, crisp, i love the "opalescence" (know that's mispelled and every single thing about it blows that NW model away.

I'll post the WEI for anyone who is into that- If its already here i apologize, i haven't read thru all these posts but i will

(Overall Score is 4.9)

Processor: Calculations Per Second: 6.2
RAM: Memory Operations Per Second: 5.9
Graphics: Desktop Performance For Aero: 4.9
Gaming: 3D Performance 6.0
Primary Hard Disk: Disk Transfer Rate 5.8

If you are one like me who relies on that score, then that is all that need be stated about this laptop.

But if you base your decision on other factors, like design (excellent) weight (lighter than the HP dm3 to me, i think even tho this is almost a lb heavier, the fact that its bigger distributes the weight better so it feels lighter.) Has a CD/DVD Drive which lets face it, it MAY be becoming obsolete, but it isn't YET, and i am super glad this has one.

It is soooooooooooo quiet too, which is a HUGE thing to me. I wonder if its because its only 5200 HD, which in my opinion i'd MUCH rather have a slower one if i have to listen to "whirring all day long" - not sure if thats why some are noisier but it may be)

Lightening fast does not BEGIN to describe this computer, i don't game or use any other kind of memory-hog programs i've been reading about everyone worries about, but STILL i know a blazing fast computer when i am on one!

Well, there you have it, i am in UTTER AMAZEMENT what $800.00 can buy you. If you were to pay 30-40 percent less (say 4 or 5 hundred for the most basic or basics) you would pay 1/2 to 2/3 the price and yet receive 10 times the performance, looks, quality, and value. Purchasing this laptop, is a "no-brainer" even for a dummbunny like me

 

I used 3 single layer discs. Only a couple hundred megabytes were on the last one

 

How do I get my battery indicator to give me a more accurate reading? For instance last time I shut my laptop down, the indicator was somewhere between 40-50%.

Next time I turned my laptop on, the battery indicator read 21% remaining. However, that was like 30-45 minutes ago, and it still reads 21% now.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHLfYPG2mUE

Here is the unboxing video I tried to make today but it was too much going on in my house so I just rushed through it.

 

Update:

Since I have arrived home with the laptop I have unpacked it and begun to go through the initial series of setup tasks to get it running the way I like. Currently I am making recovery disks. Once I get some solid time in I will try and post a thorough review.

Here is what I can tell you so far:
After unpacking laptop was flawless with no loose or damaged components.
Screen is absolutely beautiful!!!!! Very bright and not a single dead/malfunctioning pixel on it.
Laptop runs very cool so far (I havent played games yet) and I have not noticed any warm areas around the palm rest or keyboard.
Norton Antivirus is installed and annoying as hell after recovery disks are done this will be removed immediately.
Laptop is very quiet had to put my hand next to the vent just to make sure it was spinning.
Touchpad very precise and accurate and has not gotten in the way when I have tried to type.
Keyboard has decent feedback and no flex. I like the Sony S and F series keyboards better but this one is by no means not good.

Anyways more to come just wanted to pop in while I had time and give an update.

Off to complete setup of my new lappy!!!! So far so good!!!!

 

the $949 Best Buy CW config is now available online only!

Too bad if I decided to get that one since my friend is returning to Australia from the US in the next 48hrs.