Sony CW i3/i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

That's awesome rmac585 ! So can you confirm if theres definitely an nVidia 330m 512mb video card in there ? Your desktop res is 1600x900 ? Hows the heat n noise btw ? And how about battery life ? Is the screen decent ? Sorry about the tons of questions but you are prolly among the first to have one..

Im sure its fast

 

Anyone having Bluetooth Issues? Mine would not load and then when i d/'ed the driver from Sony site it said: This d/l is for Vista and Win 7 ONLY and closed. um, i AM running Windows 7. ????

 

what is the usual price difference between the 2 and what's the GHz? - i don't even see a i520m on Passmark.

 

is there anyway to get the 330 graphics card with the i3 processor in black? or the i5 /330 gpu in black w/o blu ray for $900?

newegg has the i3/330gpu in white for $900 no where has it in black?

 

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

Here is my unboxing of the VPCCW22FX/P that I bought for My Nieces

I played Mirror's Edge with the highest settings before my Niece came and took it away from me.

The VPCCW22FX/P is a pretty pink beast and it doesn't even get warm when playing games. My Dell laptop that I got last year is warm right now and all I've been doing is browsing the internet and recorded this video . but then again it's been on all day.

 

http://www.jr.com/sony/pe/SON_VPCCW22FXB/

you better get it while you can the other color VPCCW22FXB are sold out besides the blue.

 

the suspense is killing me.. For those who just got theirs, can someone actually verify that its an i5-520m cpu ? And also does it have the 330m video card with 1600x900 resolution ? Saying its on the box is one thing, seeing it post or checking device manager is the true test

please do tell, Ive got my bbuy car in hand and sony VPCCW27FX in cart but anxiously waiting

 

Now that I think about it I don't remember seeing the bluetooth icon on my niece's laptop when I was testing it out. can someone tell us what's going on with the Bluetooth on these laptops?

 

yes i have vpccw27fx from BB. CPU-Z shows i5 M520 2.4ghz with nvidia gt 330m

 

thanks! i think i'm gonna go with the bb deal 950 for i5 + bluray

 

jeffs471, thanks for the verification man. Appreciate it. Ordering mine now

 

Yeah, I plan on swapping out the drive for a 500 GB 7200 RPM.

That should fix things.

 

It's always been online only as far as I'm aware.

 

Yeah that $950 BB deal is just too good.

$50 bucks more gets you a better cpu, a higher res screen and a blue ray player.

 

Hi guys, it has been quite some time since I posted on the forum...

My ASUS C90S completely died and was ripped apart for pieces, most of which ended up going to friends. I'm left with my eee 1000h and my gaming rig. I'm thinking about ordering the previously mentioned CW27FX at best buy after tax returns (I hope it stays in stock that long!). The other option would be a nice macro lens for my DSLR, but that's another story for another forum.

Do any of you have experience with any of the CW's running Visual Studio 2008 and the Adobe CS4 suite? If so, do they run smoothly? I wouldn't expect them to be as fast as they are on my rig, but I'd imagine they run at a pretty good clip with an i3 or i5 and DDR3 memory. Most of my time on the laptop would be spent with those types of applications and the usual web browsing and music.

Thanks!

 

Depending on the rig you have I think you would be pleasantly surprised. The i5 is a fast processor, but more importantly the 330GT is a very fast GPU. It isn't going to blow away any of the last 2 gens of desktop cards, but it is very capable, and from what some people are saying about there gaming experience it is a very interesting card.

 

I built my rig last Feb. so I don't expect a 950 dollar laptop to keep up. It's got a Q9550 @ 3.6 GHz, a GTX 280, and 8 GB DDR2 1066. So it sounds like those programs would run smoothly then. Maybe I'll give the netbook to my parents.

I can't believe how much cheaper laptops are now compared to when I got my C90S. I spent nearly twice as much as what the CW costs, and the CW would obliterate it hands down. Gotta love technology!

I am fairly certain this is what I'll end up getting with my money. I'll see what others have to say about CS4 and VS2008 though.

 

haha, you have a very nice desktop. I'm running a Intel E4400 + Nvidia 8600GT with 2GB ram, so the CW would be a quite bit faster then my desktop.

I know waht you mean. I bought a P100 Toshiba a few years ago for $3000. It was fast, but massively heavy and the CW would eat it and weigh half. Love technology!

 

I am running visual studio 2008 on my cw. It runs very smooth, but I have upgraded the cpu to an p9700 and hdd to an ssd. I ran visual studio with my old processor too (p7450), and it wasn't any problem, just longer build time but not laggy in any means.
What really makes a big performance difference in these notebooks is making a fresh install of windows 7 without all the ***** Sony have installed from factory.
With an i3 or i5 visual studio and photo shop should work fine.

 

Is there any particular reason I have to use Sony's drivers? They're always behind in regards to the driver version. I have this notebook:

https://www.sonystyle.fr/SonyStyle/Ordinateurs-portables-VAIO/Serie-CW-14/VPCCW1X5001B.FR5

Also, I don't see any CWs on the French or UK sites with a GT330m.

 

Just got my 14 inch Vaio CW Core i5 (520M) 4GB from bestbuy.com delivered yesterday also.

I can confirm that that everything listed on the best buy page is true.

1.1600x900 resolution. Sharp and Bright (also I think HP's LED's are a little bright) but it's sitll a very sharp resolution.

2. It does have Nvdia 330M graphics chip 512MB

3. The machine does not run hot (that's a good thing).

4. It runs quiet (that's why I will stick with the factory installed 5400 rpm hard drive over a 7200 hard drive)

My "windows experience" is 5.9
Processor: 6.8
Memory (RAM) 5.9
Graphics 6.4 (that's with the 330M chip). I saw on review site that the 310M chip only gives it a 4.9 rating
Gaming Graphics: 6.4
Primary Hard disk: 5.9

As you can see, both the Memory and Primary hard disk are giving you 5.9 rating so it's doubtful if you install a 7200 rpm hard drive that it will improve performance (for the average user).

I've just reinstalled all of my essential applications.

But from the 2 hours I've played with this machines one thing I can say is:

This laptop rocks. It's fast. Just the right size for me. It's not too small and not too big. It's a little thicker than I wanted but I knew that before I purchased it. Sony replaced the "internet hot button" with an "assist" button which is lame.

Other than that, get this machine from best buy. At roughly $950 plus tax from Best Buy.com (not available at stores), it's probably the biggest bang for the buck, especially since you are getting a Sony, which warrants a little bit of a price premium but Sony's really got a winner with this laptop.

The volume could be louder on this laptop but I can live with it.

I'll answer more questions if you guys/gals have any. I've just got it yesterday.

 

Ditto to everything you said down to a tee.

Got mine yesterday (white version from bb with no blueray) and spent the entire night playing with it and getting it set up just the way I want it.

This laptop is sweet and I can only recommend buying before best buy ups the price to match everyone else!!

 

What BR software is installed? Is it PoweDVD? Do BR's play without having to update to a full, paid version of the software?

 

Actually you can pick it up at the store. You just have to goto the store and order it. Can't do it online from home. That's what I just did so that I could get free shipping. Only down side is you have to wait over a week till the next saturday bc it comes in their friday night truck.

Questions:
1.Does this CW have a backlit keyboard?

2.I have never owned a sony laptop before was it worth getting the 3 year warranty/accidental damage for $329? Guess I could always accidentally drop it at 2.5 years...

3.Should I have instead waited(saved) a month and bought the envy 15 which I can get with company discount for $1209, but I would upgrade the processor to the 520m and the screen to 1080p also maybe the slim battery ends up being around $1550....

Thanks

 

What about battery life? Does it have the option of switching the graphic card?

 

I'm getting a little concerned now, now that I'm reading all your posts. I'm getting the CW CTO from Sony Style on Tuesday with the 310m and now I'm wondering if the graphics card is really that bad. I don't play many PC games, only stuff like The Sims 3 and WOW since I mainly play on the PS3. Is it really that bad or will I be okay for the casual gamer?

 

It comes with Corel WinDVD BD software for Blu Ray playback.

It comes with a strip down version of Roxio Creator 10 for DVD/CD burning (it's always asking if you want to upgrade)

To answer the other poster's question.

It does not have backlit keyboard. It doesn't come with switching graphics. (hey can't have it all...afterall it's $950 at bestbuy; I don't know of many laptops for this price range that would have all of those options).

I haven't tested the battery life yet.

It's up to you whether you want to do the extended warranty. I did not do an extended warranty. I just use the built in AMEX warranty protection. I've used Visa's free extended warranty for my previous gateway laptop (it saved me $450 to replace motherboard after 13 months). These credit card free warranty are very easy to use. Just save your receipts.

Again it's up to you whether you want to spend extra money on the 15 inch envy 1080p laptop.

 

The 310m should be able to handle WoW. Probably not on max detail at the highest resolution as I'm using an XPS 13 with the 9500M which gets about the same scores. I play at 1280x800 with everything either at half or at max (shadows and texture detail is definitely at half). Dalaran is a bit laggy but to be fair...depending on the number of people in town Dalaran will be laggy on the fastest cpu/gpu out there. Having several hundred players with there thousands of gear combinations, movements and spell castings in one area is going to slow down the vast, vast majority of systems.

 

Oh boy. I just played with a CW at BB. Granted it was a lower end model but I'm 99.9% certain they share the same chassis. Man, the build quality on this is some serious hot garbage. I want to like it so much but shoot, it feels like a toy. I guess it shouldn't matter but shoot. Damn Sony, I'd have paid an extra hundred bucks for better materials. This things feels like a Fisher Price.

 

Are the materials different than the F series?

 

really? i though it felt solid. i mean its no mbp but it didnt have any flex or anyting that i noticed

 

There wasn't any flex but the plastics used felt really cheap. I mean REALLY cheap.

It's $950 though for everything. AT the moment there isn't a 14.1" laptop with a 1600x900 screen. With it's feature set, there isn't really a competitor. Damn, this is tough. I'm looking at the Envy now as well .

 

Can you run 3dmark2006 and check GPUz to see if the 330m is ddr2/ddr3/gddr3?

 

ditto again to all specs, you can click on the CPUZ banner on my other post and it'll show you the card and what the GPU is running at ...among other details

I watched 3 Blurays last night without a hitch or update, although there is an update available via VAIO update for the coral player. I watched 2 on my HD tv via HDMI cable.... looks fantastic. I watched on on the laptop itself, you can hear a quite disk drive noise as your watching but you forget about it pretty quick but it is there... atleast on mine... another things you'll need headphones if your trying to watch a movie anywhere but a quite room, these speakers SUCK... volume wise. The movie looks great on the laptop too but if you've got a 1080p with 120hz or smoothmotion then you wont be using the laptop screen.

also yea very low heat even during the movie, and the "display off" button is perfect when you use your laptop as a player....(but i'd rather be able to just close the laptop)

1. NO...
2. Only you can answer that, i got SONY for a reason! Quality. But if you have a history of dropping things or not being to careful with stuff or have kids, the accidental may be worth the money. In my experience its been the video card or motherboard that fail over time and those can be replaced for less than 329. But like others have said just use a credit card that will extend it.
3. If money is not an issue, go for the best so you dont regret it or think what if. 1080 screen only if its going to be your primary movie player, but with HDMI out i'd rather watch it on a 50" screen.


also forgot to add this to the initial post about running cooler.
It does run cooler than most laptops which i believe is the BIGGEST benefit from the new Intel® Turbo Boost Technology because it doesnt just speed it up when you need it but it slows it down when you dont. It seems to idle at 1.197Ghz x9 multiplier and then the multiplier changes to speed up the processor to what you need, ive only got it to 20x which is 2.66Ghz and thats running SuperPi and a bluray and a couple of web browsers... but task manager shows it still only needs 32% of the CPU and 2G of memory to do all that!!! wow so maybe when i get my video editing stuff on here it'll go to the rated 2.9Ghz.

 

Wierd is that I don't see the i5-540 offered on BB website. I do see the i5-520 only.

I am interested in the blue or Red color or maybe a good black.
with i5-540 or i7-620
with 6GB RAM
with 7200 RPM drive or SSD if possible
with at least nvidia 330m video
with at least 1600 x 900 resolution under 15.4" screen
with Blu-Ray
under 6 lbs

all of that for under $2000.00 with tax.

hard to find one that fit the mold.

 

I was sold on the Envy 15 due to the great graphics, aluminum/composite chasis, and extremely low price (my config was ony $1200 after coupons) UNTIL I started reading about how many people have problems with the Envy. Apparently they dont have great reliability as you would think. Dong a quick search on laptop reliability will show you HP is dead last by a mile in quality and reliability. Sony ranks close to top along with Asus and Apple. After reading all the horror stories from people with Envy 15's that was the nail in the coffin or an HP laptop.

Sure the Sony CW may have more plastics but it is a nice machine especially considering the config and price. I love mine so far.

 

I preordered an Envy back in November. It was a huge deal through Microsoft Live... something like $500 off. As more information came out, I cancelled, despite the awesome deal.
Here is what I didn't like about the Envy:
Screen doesn't tilt back much
Not a glass screen, which you'd expect for that price
Ugly pattern on the surface
Brownish pinkish color
Screen is too high res
16" laptops are much bigger than the CW

 

I can see your concern with the CW as it is made of alot of plastics but I think your over eggagerating a little bit. The body and keyboard have no flex on them and the plam rest is sturdy and dosnt sqeek(unlike many Asus models). Other things to consider are how great the touchpad and touchpad buttons are. Both are top notch, easy to use, and far surpass anything you will find on a HP, Asus, some toshibas, or Acer. My 1600x900 screen is much crisper and brighter than the vanilla one you see at the best buy store.

Sure its not build like a MBP or an Envy but I am in no way dissapointed especially seeing how many people have problems with their Envy's. A aluminum/composite frame dosnt mean squat if your laptop is not reliable in the guts.

 

BB has the i7 Toshiba Satellite for under $900?!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...lack/9705203.p?id=1218154377801&skuId=9705203

 

I have the BB i5 520 model. It is great so far. I'm trying to do a fresh windows install but the Intel SATA driver fails to install. Has anyone else attempted a fresh install?

 

hello i would like to ask do bestbuy ship to anywhere like canada uk or uea or other countries ?

is there any other website where i can find cw with 330m with good price which it ships to uk canada uae or other countries thanks for ur help

 

the refreshed CW's have better battery life when compared to older models as mentioned on the sony website, i think they are using different battery on the new models, just checkout the battery life section in the following link comparing both the models:

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

 

I'm planning to do a fresh install with my copy of Windows and I would like to know if I can make a backup copy of the blu-ray software that comes with the CW i5?

 

Thanks for the heads up about the Envy, I just love the size/power and that slim battery option, but also never liked the HP/Compaq brand.

The other benefit about the Best Buy 3 year protection plan is that they will replace your battery once. Don't new Sony batteries run anywhere from $150-200?

Last question: haha
Bluetooth mouse or RF mouse? Anyone know will using bluetooth over a RF mouse drain the computer battery a lot more?
Thanks

 

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


Here is a video of My Niece Playing New Super Mario Bros Wii on The Sony Vaio VPCCW22FX/P laptop that I bought for her & her Sister.

just had to test that intel Core i3 & Nvidia GeForce GT 330M out.

I don't need a new laptop yet but seeing how cool this Vaio CW stays even when playing games made me want to go out and get a new Vaio with a Core i5 and GT 330M - 360M or whatever the higher end GPU's are.

I think Intel & Nvidia is onto something with these cool running CPU's & GPU's.

a few years ago who whould have thought that we would be able to play Crysis on a little pink laptop lol. (no Homo)

 

Hi.
how often should we clean the internal compoments of the laptop?
Thanks for your answers.

 

cool just ordered the i5 model! can't wait till it arrives

 

you can try this site, it has the drivers.... but im not sure if its the full corel player, looks like just an update
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VPCCW27FX&LOC=3

They also have instructions for the clean install.
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?template_id=1&info_id=507

I plan on doing a clean install as well in a few days too.

Eban44 yea the batteries are 199, so 1 battery replacement is a nice touch!

 

what is your actual model #?

 

VPCCW27FX is my model. It's the bestbuy.com $950 model with blu Ray rom /DVD/cd burner.