Sony VAIO F 3D series owners lounge

I'll try it again with this new driver. I remember we had done Speed Reading with Sony's driver but I can't recall what my time was.

 

Okay, it was on page 40 when we were all discussing Speed Reading with the then-new driver and getting 6 second scores. I've tried the benchmark again and now get a 7 second result. As an extra, the Paintball test we ran is now scoring 11.2 seconds for me, down from 11.3 before.

 

I kept all my settings at default. When I added Sony's new driver, I noticed a gain of speed to IE9. After installing this driver from Nvidia, IE9 is super slow. I'm not sure what went wrong.

Is there a setting you changed in the Nvidia driver? I already know about the GPU setting in IE9.

 

Nope, I've kept everything as it was in Nvidia and am using hardware acceleration in IE9. Strange...

 

Did you uninstall the old Nvidia driver, then install the new one? Or did you simply installed the new driver on top of the old one?


I installed on top of the old. The instructions didn't say anything about uninstalling the old one 1st. That's what I had to do with ATI's driver on my other laptop.

 

Yeah, same here, just installed the new one on top of the old.

 

Though there is no harm in doing that, it is recommended you completely erase the old drivers first and then install the new one.

 

Agreed. Even in custom built desktops, it's recommended to go into the "options" before installing, to do a "clean install" and only install what you need - ie. not everyone needs 3d, or other options.

Takes a little longer, but is regarded as a safer option when installing drivers.

 

ok. I tried again. But this time I removed the old driver first.

I went into "custom" instead of "express." I checked "clean install."

My IE9 is fast again. But my screen still dims a bit at 120Hz. Hmmmmm......

 

Is it only on 120Hz that the dimming occurs now? Mine still dims somewhat on everything in between this and 59Hz.

 

Well, my IE9 is slow again. There's no picture with WinDVD. And the screen flickers when I shut down or restart the laptop. As for the dimming, anything above 75Hz dims a bit.

I'm going back to my Sony Nvidia driver.

 

I'll need to try WinDVD again with this new driver sometime; haven't had/made the time to do so yet.

 

Isn't the dimming partly caused by the Black Frame Insertion? The faster the refresh rate, the less time the bright frames will be on the screen... This means the pixels have less time to open up and your eyes have less time to actually see it.

At 60/75Hz however I can stilll see the blinking of the black frame insertion... Not that it's really a problem anyway, the screen is bright enough @120Hz for me anway.

 

The dimming doesn't bother me. Having my IE9 slow down does. I'm not going to mess with the Nvidia driver unless Sony puts out a new one. The one from the official Nvidia site is buggy.

 

Maybe it's just me, but the previous releases by Sony bugged my IE9 and WLM, now with this official update(is it now officially supported by the Verde program? before I get errors that my laptop is not meeting the requirements) I don't have that anymore.

Just for the record: I did do a clean install in the advanced options of the installer

P.S. You should be using Chrome anyway, way better than IE9 (A)

 

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The mystery surrounding the F 3D screen is now over!!

Just found out what kind of a screen the F 3D is, and no it is NOT IPS as we were thinking and nor is it VA.

What is it then ?
Its an OCB LCD , a technology developed by Toshiba Mobile Display. OCB panels have wide viewing angles even more than IPS and "fastest motion response" . It is basically close to a CRT screen performance wise.

You can read more about OCB LCD here

Technology : OCB | Toshiba Mobile Display

 

So this is essentially a step above IPS, right? It is a wonder why the quality of the display isn't more advertised.

 

Yes its a superior technology compared to IPS. And also IPS has some major weaknesses with regards to motion response as well as contrast.
OCB LCD could be said to be comparable to OLED as far as overall performance numbers go. Again, I am talking about the potential of the technology and not the particular screen used in the F series.

The F 3D is the first and only laptop in the world to have an OCB LCD screen. Model of the screen is B160HW02 made by AU Optronics.

 

Interesting. I need to read up on that.

 

Well now its clear why the F 3D screen is that good, OCB LCD is used in professional broadcast equipment!!! nuff said!

EDIT

OMG I feel so bad!!!!!! There has just been a SHARP fall in F 3D prices in my country. I won't get any refund of course and its kinda okay but I fear if a new refreshed model is the reason behind this price decline ????????? Damn
Has there been a similar price decrease elsewhere too ?

 

I don't get the point in why you "found" out the screen type? It's already been on numerous websites that it actually is a Toshiba OCB. And maybe it's just me(I come from a VAIO F12Z1E) but I don't think the screen is that special, not bad either but also not miles ahead

Anyway, did any of you try overclocking the GT540M so far? I can get it to 830/1660 and 1000MHz mem speed compared to the stock 672/1344 and 900MHz mem speed and the temperatures stay around 60 degrees. Problem is, if I go higher and the screen switches(from 2 to 3D for example) the laptop might just hang without any warning, I guess this might have something to do with the power supply of the laptop just not able to deliver enough power... There is no artifact to be seen...

 

Which websites ???????? And why din't u share this when we were all discussing what panel is used in the F 3D some pages back ?

 

The cheapest 3D CTO in the U.S. is $1,669, which I think is still about in line with what it was before. Configuring it to my unit's specs puts it at $2,269 which is a little under $50 what I paid during the preorder phase.

 

Yes I talked to Sony about it and they said they reduced the price to increase sales of the model. Nothing to do with a model refresh or anything.
1100$ off!!!!!!!

 

Wow, you weren't kidding. That is a pretty big markdown.

 

Now this might seem like pretty obvious at first glance, but I thought I'd still ask anyway, is there any way whatsoever to use the Sony F3D's exemplary screen as a display unit (HDMI-in) for other things like a Blu-Ray player or the PS3? I know there's nothing built into the device, but is there possibly an external method i.e. a dock or converter or anything, really? There's just so many awesome 3D games on the PS3 coming out, and I also have a region-free Blu-Ray player that I'd like too use with it too.

 

Sadly NO

 

So, I was making use of my warranty on my VAIO Z series and they offered me the F series 3D at a discounted price... Looks like ill be getting an F series Really looking forward to the beautiful display you guys are talking about...

 

To be honest, I was a little let down by the Z2's display when I saw it in person at the Sony store here. I've been pretty spoiled by this one, I guess.

 

Hi there - First post... I searched this thread and didn't see any answers so I hope I have this posted in the correct area

I have an f2190x for work...

I am confused as to why Sony won't update the video card drivers. There was a new GT 540M driver was available from NVIDIA in June. Is there any way to bypass Sony's lockdown on the drivers that I can add to this PC?

Also after looking at the BIOS I was surprised at the lack of information in there. For instance my SSD drive is running in ATA mode and there is no option, at least that I can see in the BIOS to switch it to the AHCI controller that is listed in device manager.

I called their support line and they weren't clear on why I would want to be on the AHCI controller, but indicated that they would send this to their engineers for a response.

 

^^
There is no driver lockdown in the F series. Go ahead and download the latest Nvidia driver (August 2011)

 

Congratulations! May I ask what price were you offered and what config ?

 

After downloading and attempting to install the new driver for the gt 540M v. 280.26, (had previously tried 275.33 and received an error indicating I had to use Sony's driver) I was able to install the latest driver boy do I feel silly...

So now that that issue is licked (or was itever an issue?? )... does anyone have any idea how to install my SSD drive using AHCI instead of ATA?

 

I am getting the ready to ship one from the sonystyle.ca site: VPCF215FDBI | VAIO® F Series 3D HD Laptop | Sony Canada

And I am getting it for 1200 plus tax. Plus I get to keep my old laptop... Pretty good deal if you ask me...

Also, I am now wondering abt the bilingual keyboard... cause I really hate the vertical enter keys and I think im going to end up with it along with a lot of pink on the keyboard... anyone have the canadian ready to ship one? (I am pretty sure the CTO ones come with english only keyboards...

Also, is there anything about clean Win7 installs? Everytime I try and search I get 0 results, no matter what I type in...

 

What specifically do you want to ask about clean install ? Do it as you would on any other PC, once done install the Sony drivers and utilities and you should be done.

 

I know man! But its still as good as a TN panel can look. And still one of the best displays in the market.
But I know, when you have the F 3D any other display will look disappointing lol especially when you view them off angle.

 

Well with my Z series it was a specific order and process in order to get all the buttons to work along with the graphics switch. I assume it will be easier cause the graphics switching is more integrated. But otherwise there is no specific order or anything to follow in order to keep all the features and everything??

thanks.

 

I know I had a Z13 too, but I never performed a clean install. Just removed whatever I felt was unnecessary. Same with the F 3D.

I guess there shouldn't be much of an issue with the F 3D as there are no special buttons or hybrid graphics. It only has 3D, Assist and the VAIO button.

 

Hmmm... hopefully it is that straight forward... I'll look into it when I get my laptop next week sometime...

 

Maybe I'll have to look at it again. It was on a table a little over waist height, so maybe it was the angle. But yeah, it looked... Bad.

 

^
Yes you will have to look at it straight on, only then can you appreciate the quality.

Its also kinda freaky u know, if Sony stops using OCB panels in its future models its gonna be very difficult adjusting to horrible TN viewing angles.
I will replace my F217 in 2013, hopefully I won't have to do with a TN screen then.

 

How do you install these drivers though? AFAIK you don't actually get a CD or a recovery disc with the laptop (a shame, because it should be included with each laptop I feel, but very companies do it these days), so I presume you have to go on the website?

 

^
Sony support website

 

Yea sony support site is pretty decent has all the drivers there...

 

Hey guys, I'll be leaving my country going to Korea and I need a good surge protector for my F3D laptop. One that is maximum $50. Can you please help me out with some suggestions? I heard the ones from APC are very good. What do you think?

 

Really need help from someone who knows.

What do I need to do to configure my VAIO F 3D laptop to play a "UTube" 3D trailer, from my Firefox browser, where I can view it like I do when playing Blu-ray 3D's?

Example: Link = 3D TV Toy Story 3 3D Trailer in Stereoscopic 3D 1080p TRU3D.

Thanks & appreciation for any pertinent advice.

Paul

 

From what I know you just go to the YouTube 3d site and you get all the 3d videos...
Watch 3D Videos on YouTube - YouTube

And just select the HTML5 stereo view option

 

^
True. Though make sure you have the latest Nvidia Driver for stereo 3D to work.

 

Hello. I'm happy to join the club here... my dilema is the soundcard driver.

My Vaio F21Z1E does not give the option for a 'what you hear' or 'stereo mix' equivilant record setting. Tried 'show disabled devices' in the record options, but it doesn't display anything extra.
I've tried the latest driver from the Realtek site, but no luck. Has anyone found a fix? This is an essential feature for me. I'd be greatful for some help on this one.

 

F series 2D/3D refresh coming soon.
i7 2720QM replaced with i7 2760QM
i7 2820QM replaced with i7 2860QM
i7 2630QM replaced with i7 2670QM

New model number F23X for both 2D and 3D models. In asia as earlier only 1 3D model - VPCF237HG with i7 2860QM. F236 2D model with 2760QM.