My Vaio F2 video review

Hope people here enjoy it and/or find it informative!

My F2390X video review

 

Video reviews rock... thanks for this.

 

OMG 15 mins long!!!! Awesome!!

Let me watch it first, then I'll post my feedback lol

 

Brace yourself...it's the worst camera work in history

 

Faaaaaaar from it

The camera work was pretty decent, tons better than most "shaky video" reviews. Some problems with the focussing but overall there wasn't much to complain about.

Coming to the review itself, very well done indeed!!! . You covered almost every aspect and it really did seem like a "proper" review. So kudos for that.

I agree with almost all the points you made in the review except for the trackpad bit, I find the trackpad among the better ones in the market and the rocker button design does not bother me at all.

But I do have 2 complaints though

1) The choice of video to show off the screen
2) The choice of music to show off the speakers

 

LOL

Yeah, neither was a great pick. I wanted to do the Avengers 1080p trailer (which doesn't look "good," but definitely looks "awesome"...there's a difference), but it was broken on iTunes. And I really am excited for the new Sherlock Holmes, but the trailer is all earth tones. This had bright colors and good detail, even if the movie looks godawful.

As for the music, didn't really think it through at all, nor am I even really in love with that track. In retrospect, I'd do...um...the Raiders March from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

 

Should have used Justin Bieber.

 

^
+1

Justin Bieber would have been perfect haha

P.S. What camera did you use btw ?

 

I like Bieber slowed down at 800%. It's actually a little awesome.

Justin Bieber 800% Slower - YouTube

Camera was a PowerShot SD1100 IS.

By the way, you mentioned you like your trackpad. Are there any settings you changed to improve the effectiveness of the two-finger scroll and the like? I was wondering if it was like the webcam and speakers, where it was really good AFTER you change the godawful default settings.

 

^
There are settings that can be changed but I haven't made any changes personally and I do not use two finger scroll lol
IMO the touchpad is a whole lot better than other Vaio machines like the YB/YA, C/S/E and the previous year F series.

I'll be making a video review too on my F 3D once I get my new Sony Alpha . I'd maybe play Band of Brothers Bluray or Baraka Bluray. Any other suggestions ?

Oh and for Audio - Justin Bieber never say never haha

 

As someone who LOVED Band of Brothers, I'm not sure it's something that shows off a good screen with a 60-second clip. So much of it is muted earth tones. You're not going to see a lot of vibrant, warm colors that show off the breadth of what the screen is capable of. Just my opinion.

Hadn't heard of Baraka, and looked it up and it looks...different.

I know this is ignorant, but what's a Sony Alpha?

 

I downloaded some Google Code app to enable 2-finger scrolling.

Once there are better native drivers for the Synaptics... I'll use it (don't know why Sony disables that stuff on their drivers).

 

IT is!!!
Alpha is Sony's range of DSLR(t) cameras.

 

Hey Mitlov, I just recently purchased the F2390X as well. What are some good programs that I should install? Any helpful threads I should read to maximize the productivity of my laptop? This is my first Sony laptop so I'm not sure if it's like Acer where they have certain tools to lower fan speed, etc etc. I'm really excited and my laptop should arrive by next week Thursday. I'm trying to consume as much information as possible so I maximize the use of this very awesome laptop. Thanks for the response and the video review. It's only made me a lot more confidant in my purchase.

 

Engadget just reviewed the F23, and they had experiences pretty similar to mine, though they like the trackpad more than I do and the speakers less than I do.

Sony VAIO F Series review (late 2011) -- Engadget

 

As far as configuring the speakers, did you just simply turn on the Dolby Home Theater? I don't find that it helped all that much and hoping there is another setting somewhere.

I don't listen that much through the speakers, I typically use my headphones, but don't always want to have to put them on if I am just listening to samples. It would be nice to have a little better sound.

 

Yes, I opened Dolby Home Theater, turned it on (make sure the IO symbol in the top left of the window is glowing), and set it to the music option (as opposed to films or games). I think that results in pretty good sound for a laptop. I still use headphones or external speakers for serious gaming, but I have no problem watching a TV show in bed (including Glee, which is all about the music) with the onboard sound.

Without that IO glowing in the Dolby window, it sounds like the built-in speaker of my iPod Touch. Seriously.

You can also check your audio settings in the VAIO Control Center's "sounds" submenu. Make sure it's on Dolby Home Theater instead of S-FORCE Surround sound or "do not use sound effects," and then click on "advanced" to make sure it's set to music instead of movies or gaming.

 

Yeah... I have all of those set. It's still pretty bad. There is simply no bass or mid-bass whatsoever. It is about as bad as I have heard on a laptop and I got three sitting here in front of me. Sony really dropped the ball on this part of the laptop.

I have now also realized a red push in the screen color that I have not been able to adjust out. It doesn't quite have the pop that my Dell XPS has.

I like the keyboard being on all the time, but wish there was someway to adjust the brightness of it. The top row leaks very bright light at the bottom of the keys. Actually all of them leak bright light, but because of the angle, I see the lights on the top row the most.

My Backspace key also does not response well... sometimes I have to tap it 3 or 4 times to make it response. It might be a faulty keyboard for that, not sure yet.

My initial excitement has somewhat lost its luster.

I really want to like this laptop, but not sure it is going to ultimately work for me to be my perfect laptop... if there ever will be such a thing. Maybe I am must being too picky, but maybe I can be too picky... if I want, huh?

 

Wait, are you comparing the sound to a Dell XPS? Because the XPS basically has an industry-leading laptop sound system. I don't mean this as a criticism, but I think the XPS totally spoiled you when it comes to sound quality. I will admit it's pretty lacking in bass, but if you're more into Adele and Tori Amos than Linkin Park or Jay-Z, that's not a deal-breaker. I personally think the sound quality is good, even if bass is lacking.

As for the backspace key sticking, I've never had anything like that. I think it's a defect in your keyboard, not how all of them are.

Someone who knows more about photography and video editing will have to address the "red push" issue...I don't know what that means. The screen looks really, really good to me, but I don't have a professionally trained eye for those sorts of things.

Honestly, given that you're already having buyer's remorse, I'd return it and get a new XPS 15 (a very close competitor, with an equally awesome screen, more obtrusive fan noise, but class-leading audio). No matter how much I tell you I think the sound is good, that's not going to make you like your machine any more.

 

It is not really a matter of being spoiled so much as accurate sound. I prefer more than just 800Hz - 2kHz. I am comparing it to an older HP laptop as well. Sony just plain skimped on these speakers and/or the sound design... there is absolutely nothing "good" about them. I would never to this to Adele's voice... it would ruin her. lol I did download an older Realtek driver that has the EQ, which was able to help some, but the volume is still extremely low and shallow.

This ain't buyer's remorse... just stating some observations and facts. If I want an XPS, I can keep the one I already have.

If you look at an XPS screen like I have, it will spoil you.

No doubt the XPS fan will annoy you though.

 

If you don't mind me asking, why do you own both an XPS 15 and a Vaio F? Seems a bit repetitive.

 

XPS 17 ... Here ... like I said, I am pretty picky.