Vaio VPCF226FM - Anyone Have It?

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased the Sony Vaio VPCF226FM from my local Best Buy. So far, this computer has been nothing short of incredible. Are there any other owners out there who care to share their review? Are there any serious problems with this laptop I should be aware of?

 

I don't know the specs for this laptop and cannot find this model on the Best Buy website. Is this laptop the 3D F series if so there is an owners thread for this laptop in the owners' lounge.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...5653-sony-vaio-f-3d-series-owners-lounge.html

 

As Rachel said, you'll probably find some pretty close impressions in the F21 thread. From just the specs on the CTO F22s on Sonystyle, I can't imagine the guts are too different from what we get in the 3D model.

 

Here it is.

The Sony - VAIO Laptop / Intel® Core™ i7 Processor / 16.4" Display / 8GB Memory / 750GB Hard Drive - Black
Model: VPCF226FM/B | SKU: 2794192

I've had it for about a week now. As far as I can tell, it's the F series 3D with the gimmicky 3D stuff taken out. I got it as a replacement for my now defunct overheating HP Envy 15 1050NR that I'd gotten two years ago. Once you get i7-cores and 1920-1080 in a laptop, you can't go back, can you?

I can't say I've put it through its paces yet, I only use statistical packages like R and SPSS and good old LaTeX, no games yet. In terms of what I've done so far, it is blazing fast, just like the Envy was, but without any heating problems -- it runs really cool.

Specs:
- Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM Processor @ 2.0GHz (turbos to 2.9GHz)
- 16.4" Display, 1920 x 1080 res, tilts back about 130 degrees.
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M GPU with dedicated Video Memory of 1 GB -- should crunch through most games without even sweating
- a decent 8GB Memory -- DDR3 SDRAM (1333 MHz)
- 750GB Hard Drive, sadly only at 5400 rpm -- would have really liked an SSD instead.
- Blue-Ray disk drive -- a bit noisy when I used it to install MS Office.
- color Matte: Black
- about an inch below the keyboard (which is brightly(!) backlit and has a numpad) there's a comfy wrist-rest, raised about 3/4 mm, about the same height as the keys. I was reluctant at first, but a week later I find that this does make tying easier and more comfortable.

Some issues:
- the touchpad (located left-of-center, on the raised wristpad described above) is not making me happy. It is a bit finicky, and there's no easy way to turn it on/off.
- the color balance on the monitor seems slightly cold or perhaps blue-shifted. But then again, the Envy 15's display was simply gorgeous, so keep in mind that that's my baseline for comparison.
- the battery charger brick is pretty bulky and heavy.
- Sony preloaded software - can be a bit of a hassle, but at least there's a central location where you can uninstall it all from.
- battery life seems limited to about 2 hours or so.

Hope this helps!

Aferim

 

Does the computer have 10-key in the keyboard? Best Buy has not posted pictures yet.

 

@ aferim

How is the fan noise during normal use? I have an VPC115FM (last year's F series from Best Buy) whose fan is always running and the noise is very noticeable even during light use.

Have the issues from last year's F series been resolved in the newer model?

 

@archizaalmeida

Yup, it's to the right of the regular keyboard. The keyboard (and entire chassis) is identical to the F-series 3d, with the 3D button replaced by a WEB button.
See the F-series 3d image below (to lazy to photograph and post an image myself):


@ddebon1
As I said above, I don't do computer games, so it is regular office use - 30 or so chrome tabs across a few windows on the two monitors, statistics apps crunching away in the background, 10-20 Foxit pdf readers, LaTeX and/or MS Office are always open.
At the office, I use it with an added secondary external computer monitor and external keyboard and mouse while in the office, so that will double the video card workload. In that context, I cannot hear it at all over the air conditioning .
While at home, I never hear it. Or rather was never consciously struck by the thought that it was audible, but my previous machine whirred like my grandma's coffee-grinder, so perhaps I'm just inured.

I mean, the thing has a massive i7 quad core and a 1 gig dedicated graphics card inside. I almost want it to be noisy, just like a Ferrari has to purr. So considering what's inside, I say it's pretty quiet.

Cheers,
Aferim

 

Any word yet on how it plays recent games? 3d Mark scores?

 

I'm actually looking at getting it myself, How is the screen is it bright and crisp like the XPS 15 from Dell?

AnandTech - Dell XPS 15 L502x: Now with Sandy Bridge

How is the contrast, as well as the blacks and whites etc?

Can you post a few if you have time?
This is a few reviews I see though some are for the old model
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/sony-vaio-f-3d.aspx]Sony VAIO F 3D Laptop Review (New)
Notebook Reviews - Laptop Reviews and Netbook News (Old)
Can you post a mini review and some pics?
My question is about the screen is it quality and BRIGHT also how is the craftsmanship on the unit?
Thanks so much

 

Hi,
Can you run the freeware program "System Information for Windows" "Freeware" and tell me the panel brightness and manufacture? I want to compare it to the Dell XPS Thanks

 

Guys please continue further discussions in the F 22 Owners Lounge

 

If anyone finds out how to turn off the numlock I'd be very grateful.

BTW Fn + F1 turns off the touchpad.

Thanks

 

Just bought mine last thursday. LOVING it, but has anyone else had any performance issues running games? Almost every one that i run, on an detail settings, I get random frame drops. At first, it seems fine, and then I'll get them every minute or so. It doesnt seem to be an issue with the computer's specs, but I haven't been able to figure it out.

 

^^ Posting this in the F22 owners lounge might be of help

 

I did as well.