Sony VAIO F 3D series owners lounge

Nice collection . Would love some 2D Avatar Bluray shots

 

Okay, that's the kind of answer I was expecting to get. I'll take a look into those when I get a little more involved in the use of this camera. Thanks for the tip.

 

3D showdow
Vaio F217 takes on Sony Bravia NX710 LED 3D HDTV.

So I finally spent some time evaluating 3D on the F21, and I must say I am largely very impressed.
Very good 3D quality together with a great screen make it a fantastic performer. To be frank I did not have huge expectations from it but I am glad to say it was way above anything I expected. P.S. I could do a direct comparo between the two as I viewed the same content on both.

Laptop VS HDTV

Depth: I will say both the F21 and NX710 are almost on par as far as 3D depth is concerned once you take the screen sizes out of the equation. For a 16 inch "laptop" F21 3D depth is nothing short of mind boggling.

3D "POP": As far as pop goes, F21 has slightly less than the NX710 but then its mainly due to the size difference between the two. But the fact that F21 comes so much close to the NX710 in terms of pop effects is just brilliant.

3D Overall PQ: I know its being kinda repetitive but this is how it is, F21 is damn close to the NX710 in every single department except blacks and shadow detail. The colors are awesome, details are pin sharp, separation between objects is very good, and the picture is very bright too. In fact I will go on to say that the "dimming" in 3D mode on this laptop is less than my NX710!!!.

Overall 3D rating ( This is relative to TVs, monitors and not laptops)
NX710: 7.5/10
F21: 7/10

P.S. I am really picky about everything really, hence the "low" scores. But the fact that there is just 0.5 point difference between the two tells you how good the F21 is.
I completely agree with a few reviews and eehpeehthreeh that this laptop is TRUE HDTV quality. Its first and foremost a "portable" 3D Bravia than a Vaio laptop. I really mean it. There is no laptop screen that even comes close to the one in the F21.

 

I wonder if the Playstation 3D display will be the same as the laptop's 3D display?

PlayStation 3D Display Bundle | PS398078 | Sony USA

I'm tempted on getting it.

I took a few pics of my display. I haven't popped in Avatar just yet. I'll do that later.

 

WOW! Wonderful pictures Really shows off the amazing colors on the F. Btw what do you think of Rio 3D ? Worth the money ? I was thinking of buying Rio BD 3D.

 

Rio 3D BD is totally worth it! It's only at Best Buy right now. Other stores won't get it until the end of the month.

I'll post some Avatar pics tomorrow. There is a bunch of updates I need to do on my laptop.

 

Nice!

What did you think of Avatar 3D ?

 

FYI: For any Blu-ray 3D aficianodo regarding the proprietary Corel WinDVD sotfware/player that is necessary for complete vpxf2190x laptop functionality/support.

Corel WinDVD needs another update for a couple of recent Blu-ray disc releases from the last two weeks (8/2/11 & 8/9/11) to correct issues on one of the 3D movie discs and the lack of playability for the other 3D Blu-ray.

See: Corel WinDVD update is needed Sony eSupport thread for details.

*Sony Technical support has also been notified by me and they indicate they are working on it.

Paul

 

It's a totally different viewing experience. There is a scene where bugs are flying around. It seems as if they are flying in front of the screen.

The best way to get Avatar 3D is to buy one of their Blu ray players. Don't go for the 3D glasses bundle. And avoid getting it at ebay.

 

It'll be nice if they can bring back the invidia driver update.

 

Out of all the 3D movies you have seen on the F, which one you liked most in terms of overall 3D experienc ?

 

Hi everyone. Ever since I bought my F series, I couldn't figure out what software and in what order should I install so that I can then gain access to the different options of my Vaio, like turning on/off keyboard backlight, Dolby Digital options and many more. Can anyone please enlighten me?

 

Anyone here has seen a better screen than the F21 3D ? I'm really curious to know if there could be possibly be anything better . I really doubt though, as I would compare the F 3D screen with HDTVs and not laptops lol. Maybe tablets (IPAD 2??? )

IMPORTANT:
Does anyone here have spyder3Elite calibration kit ? If yes would you be kind enough to share your calibrated profiles with us to make the already out of the world screen even more beautiful?
Thanks in advance!!!

 

iPad has a good screen but definitely NOT better than your F 3D. Its colors is so under saturated, its very underwhelming actually, especially when you put it next to a MacBook Pro screen.


HP Elitebooks w/ 1920x1200 IPS DreamColor displays may most likely be better, but I havent seen it personally so i dont have authority to say. But the mere fact that it costs at least $2000+, is definitely saying something.

 

^^
I believed the Dreamcolor to be superior too but after some research I found it perhaps might not be the case.

1) F 3D has superior viewing angles to the Elitebook Dreamcolor
2) The dreamcolor screen has various issues like the slow response rate, calibration issues and a few other problems.

So what I feel now is the Dreamcolor may be just as good overall but not better. The F 3D does not have any issues either -
* It has one of the fastest response times of any notebook screen ( I know its not well known but I found out about this after Googling a lot)
* It has the best viewing angles of ANY laptop even higher than HP Dreamcolor IPS
* Screen uniformity is excellent with no bleeding or clouding
* It achieves DeltaE value of 2.1 which means it displays colors more true to life than any other laptop in fact this is identical to the DeltaE score of most high end LED/Plasma HDTVs. ( though I am not sure what is the DeltaE value of Hp Dreamcolor) and reaches 1 after calibration which is perfect.

But the difference between an average notebook screen and the F 3D screen is so vast, its almost unbelievable!!! I know I'm being a bit too evangelical about the F screen but I seriously cannot help it, I am in love with its screen

Sony needs to be lauded for providing such a high quality screen to the consumers at a decent price. I know the pricing is not decent in general but when you consider the fact that for 1600$ you are getting a better screen than laptops costing multiple times more it is certainly great value.

 

lol. that's quite a research. you must have noticed.. since our laptop has a 1080p display.. the 125% defaul zoom on windows 7, as well as in Internet Explorer, a lot of websites, i think 90% becomes blurred as a result of the 125% zoom. Its not a big issue but, still an issue. i find it annoying actually. I know the simple solution is to make it 100%, but the texts are too small for me.

Anyways, my next laptop would probably still be a VAIO. I wish the screen is as good or even better than the current F 3D one, though i wish they make it glossy I'm sorry but to be honest glossy screen displays a brighter, sharper & more vivid picture. That's why 95% of HDTVs are glossy

 

^^That applies to all 1080p displays and not just the F 3D. And personally I find the default 100% to be perfectly legible.

Yes, I am sure the next Vaio multimedia flagship will have a better screen, Sony has always had great screens, rather best in the business screens in its multimedia line up. I have been following Vaios since 2007 so I am not sure about prior models but then the AR had a brilliant screen which was hailed as the best notebook screen of its time, then came the AW with RGB LED, FW with RGB LED. Last year the F1 (except USA) had a gorgeous 100% Adobe RGB screen which again, was fantastic and this year the F 3D .

And somehow I do not agree with you on the glossy part. I hate glossy screens on a notebook. But yes you are right glossy screens do provide a "better" sharper picture.

 

I like watching the computer animated films in 3D. That's why I picked up Rio and Ice Age 3.

 

Are you saying that on all 1080p displays the default which is 125% is found to be perfectly legible or setting the NON-Default choice of 100% is found to be perfectly legible?

Paul

 

Hi i have got this laptop and reading some posts it explains a lag on firefox. But my question is for Nero 10 nero Vision users. When since i got this laptop it gives a error burning blu ray, i was told to update drivers, which i have done but still fails on nero vision blu ray burning, anybody had this, got a solution or no solution yet

 

All of the laptops I have seen so far w/ 1080p displays have a default setting of 125% zoom on Windows 7 display option. You can adjust it though. The 100% zoom is not for me. Texts are too small to read IMO. The consequence about the 125% zoom though is when you surf the web, most web pages appear blurred or less sharp than they are supposed to be, some websites are pretty bad actually, some are decent. Some icons appear blurred too, (e.g. Yahoo Messenger, uTorrent etc.)

But hey, just like avmaxfan, you might find the 100% zoom readable. It depends on the person.

 

Interesting stuff. I'm currently considering getting either the F3D or the F22 2D, but was wondering which had the better screen (or whether the screens were similar, if so). Do the US versions of both laptops (F3D and F22) have 100% Adobe RGB?

 

If you don't mind the price I suggest you go for the F 3D configuration. It has better viewing angles than the F 2D, actually it's like IPS viewing angles. I've seen and compared it myself at Sony Style. In regards to Adobe compliance however, I'm not sure if it's 100%

 

Go for the F 3D. It has a better screen. It is advertised as 100% NTSC color gamut screen. Actual AdobeRGB coverage is around 90%. The F22 2D does not even cover the sRGB color space completely.

 

Hi guys i have a question to find out if my blu ray part of combo drive in vaio f3D needs replacing. Also the driver fireware is upto date along with nvidia new update

Lets say i have 3 blu ray software to burn blu ray and the results does it indicate a blu ray drive issue depending on the way software burns blu ray

A-Shampoo Burning Studio 10 - Burns Picture Great, Sound none

Nero 10 Vision - At end of the burn a write and burn error meaning it not burned, apart from the odd rare time

Roxio 10 - Worked great for first hour then cant burn at all

Xilisoft - The Only one to work with no issues apart from 2 burns when i added music in background,

Is it possable for a combo drive to still burn blu ray for some software occasionally, even if faulty, like xilisoft is a small burning package. But dvd work on all perfect. I used same dvd on blu ray types for 9 months, problems 2 weeks ago.
2 hours ago - 4 days left to answer.

Additional Details
Just to add tried burning hd footage to ashampoo burning studio and the result is A Shampoo keeps creashing on Burn and tried nero vision again same burn error and blu ray drive drivers are upto date and no more available

 

Very interesting points, thanks! While indeed the F 3D does indeed have better IPS-like viewing angles (remarkable for a laptop) and RGB coverage, what struck me about the F22 is that it has a better contrast ratio that seems to favor it for videos and Blu-Ray playback. Which would you think is better for overall video/movie playback?

 

lol. it's beyond ironic why the F 2D has a higher contrast ratio than the F 3D. Believe me, the first thing that got my attention about my F 2D was how black the blacks were, as if I was looking at my previous monitor, the Dell Ultrasharp U2111h (IPS, 1080p panel). I was overwhelmed about the color saturation too, since my eyes got used to my previous Acer TimelineX y display.

By the way, I was able to compare side-by-side both models, and I saw the F 3D was able to produce deeper colors than the 2D one.

 

True! . A movie is not all about blacks is it? And trust me, F 3D black levels are in no way inferior to the best of the best laptop screens. And more importantly the uniformity is perfect so there is no light bleed in pitch black scenes.
And I would disagree that the F 2D is better suited to movies, just take a bluray movie with you (some reference title like Avatar or Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, 2012 etc) and play it on both 2D and 3D F. You will realize the difference. And I am sure you will like the visuals on the F 3D better than the 2D model.


@ F3D owners

Common guys wake up from hibernation lol. I know you guys are all enjoying your F 3D but do take a break and download the calibrated ICC profile from notebookcheck website HERE. Scroll down to "Display" and below the display measurements you will see a link that says ICC File (X-Rite i1Display 2). Right click on it and save file on desktop. Then follow the procedure listed HERE

Note: This ICC profile is meant only for the F 3D with screen ID AUO0908.

Post your impressions here after you're done

 

Sorry, but I do like hibernating.

Seriously, though, I'll try it out sometime in the next couple of days.

 

Do normal CDs/DVDs burn successfully ?


@F 3D Owners

Anyone here still have the "brightness decreasing when switching to 120hz refresh rate" issue ?

And if you haven't already, check this site out. Its great fun "in 3D"!

http://www.3dvisionlive.com/

Youtube 3D works as well now, just choose HTML5 Stereo View (Including Nvidia 3D vision).

P.S. You will need the latest Nvidia Verde 280.26 WHQL drivers to be able to access 3DVisionLive and Youtube3D.

 

Should the screen-dimming issue somehow go away?

 

What is your Nvidia 3D Vision Driver version ? According to the release note of the GeForce/ION Driver v270.61 Update 4/15/2011:

The new WHQL driver also fixes a number of key 3D Vision bugs:
Fixed problem with monitor brightness decreasing when 2D refresh rate is changed to 100/110/120Hz from another mode..

It was a driver issue, so if you have the latest driver then the issue should no longer be present.

Also there is a new driver dated 9th August 2011 for Nvidia GT540M, that includes the Youtube 3D update as well.

Download the latest driver from HERE. The brightness issue should be solved.

 

I've only really looked at the one driver update Sony put out (still running it). Is this going to be one of those drivers that the unit will say isn't supported, in typical Vaio fashion?

I've almost become accustomed to the softer brightness of the 120Hz, to be honest. I went back to 60Hz briefly just to remind myself how bright it was.

 

^^
It does work . Download it ASAP. The latest one 280.26, as a bonus you can access hundreds of photos and videos on 3DVisionLive and youtube3D after you download it
And yes the Sony update is the older driver, which is why you have the brightness bug.

 

Okay, sweet. I'll definitely check that and the color profile thing later on after work this morning.

 

@ avmaxfan
Thanks for providing a link to that Nvidia driver update. I wasn't sure if I was able to use that driver. I've been waiting for Sony Esupport and they are taking to long. I clicked the "Supported products" tab and found this at the bottom.

I'm going to install this driver right away!! Thanks for posting that link.

 

Yes, I second that statement. Just going from past experiences, Nvidia's site is the last place I would have gone to check for a driver update. Much appreciated!

 

Why's that? That'd be the first place I'd go..

 

From my previous Vaios, all the official, from Nvidia's site drivers were not compatible with the units. I'd have to install what I think was referred to as "forceware" from a website that made special drivers for these incompatible laptops.

 

Gotcha.. haven't owned a laptop for a little while - built my own desktop. Now looking to get into another laptop..

 

Yes that's right. Even today with the exception of the Vaio F series models, for all other Vaio models you cannot use the AMD/Nvidia official Drivers. Vaio C,S,Z,Y,E are incompatible with GPU vendor drivers.

@Vaio97
Which particular notebooks have caught your attention ?

 

The 2d Sony Vaio F (either "signature" White, or black), HP Envy 17, Asus G53/G73/G74 flavor or a lower-end Sager flavor (with the 95% NTSC color gamut screen). To be honest, when I'm ready to order, probably what ever is the best value. I see the Asus flavors have a M-I-R attached, and that's attractive, and so is the Sony laptop with PS3 for $100.

Not sure I can muster up the extra cash for the 3d Sony variety. Would like it, but would probably be more interested in the Sony 3d 24" TV bundle, and use the 24" 3d TV for anything 3d. But I'm a sucker for quality screens.

I still have to go through some of the Asus threads, Sager threads and the HP Envy threads before I can really narrow down my search. But as of now, that's what's got my interest.

 

I've installed the Nvidia driver and the screen is as "dim" as ever. Perhaps this indeed has something to do with the black frame insertion some of us theorized a while back.

And I'll need to play with the color profile thing a little more. So far I didn't notice too much of a difference.

 

That's wierd. And no I doubt it has anything to do with BFI as it was a driver issue with ALL Nvidia 3D vision laptops/monitors. And the reason you did not notice anything drastically different with the color profile is that the default colors on the F 3D are almost perfect. The calibrated profile just makes it perfect or 5% improvement in all. And it will not be very noticeable at all.

 

I figured as much with the color calibration, wondering to myself (truthfully!) how much more could I expect from the screen.

I tried going through all the refresh rates again (59, 60, 75, 96, 100, 119, 120), and the brightness progressively lessens the higher the rate.

 

Will dig more into this issue and post if i find something useful.

 

Same problem here.


My IE9 is very slow. And the screen flickered when I tried restarting it.

I'm going back to my previous driver. Good thing I made a system image before installing the latest driver.

 

Did IE9 slow down after the driver update? Mine is still working as it was before.

 

I can't post a direct link using my smart phone. But you need to test IE9 at Microsoft's test drive page. Just type in "IE9 speed test" in google and it should be the 1st choice. Once there, click on " more choices" under speed demos. Look for "speed reading." My results was 6 seconds with Sony's updated nvidia driver.