Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

[p.laver]

Hey guys, I got the standard def video files looking pretty good with some color calibrations. Thanks for the advice.

Is anyone else having problems with the fingerprint reader on the AW190? When I turn on my laptop the finger print reader doesn't work and I get the "Please connect the finger print device" at start up. After logging in using my backup password, my USB mouse wont work and I keep getting the "USB Device not Recognized" error in the tray even with nothing plugged into any USB ports. And just in case you are wondering, I did not downgrade to XP or upgrade to the Windows7 Beta.

I had the same problem, fingerprint reader, bluetooth, USB ports would only work with memory sticks and not other devices ie Mobile Phone. I carried-out a system restore that didn't work so I then carried out a complete power down, this included removing the battery for at least 30mins. Refitted the battery and power cord, booted up the machine and everything worked. My laptop has been working correctly for over a week now.

[robf23]

you have to set the brightness in the power options/power plan section/control panel. that's the only way the brightness value doesn't change when you reload/reboot. it should be set to the first notch from the bottom/left to get 120 luminance.

Thanks for that... I just found that out from Sony support. They are going to look into the screen flicker problem as well and report back, in 2 days. (kudos for solving one problem, but missing the Dell approach already...)

Seems a bit daft to have a card setting, and a button setting for brightness and for power to overide both...

Hope they can solve the flicker, it's lovely apart from that... going to be a wrestle to see if I have to live with that.

What pics do people want to see?

[Cheek]

the back of the screen?

my aw xu/q is glossy black, but the slightly different model in the shop was matte black...

Yeah, I'm interested in the difference. Is the (cheaper) matte black like the older Macbook?

http://www.cnet.co.uk/i/c/nws/MacBoo...BookBlack1.jpg

Did anybody try Windows 7 on the AW?

[robf23]

Yeah, I'm interested in the difference. Is the (cheaper) matte black like the older Macbook?

http://www.cnet.co.uk/i/c/nws/MacBoo...BookBlack1.jpg

Did anybody try Windows 7 on the AW?

all i can think of is that its like a nice matt black... as opposed to a real old style plasticy matt...

in fact the glossy is a bit of a pain, every time you pick the thing up you leave a fingerprint... but it's nice as well.

[p.laver]

Slight change of topice but still concening the AW11, I've just starting editing my holiday video's shot in AVCHD or m2ts file format. Can anyone here recommend a good editor with intragreated blu-ray burner software.

[Vaio4Life]

all i can think of is that its like a nice matt black... as opposed to a real old style plasticy matt...

in fact the glossy is a bit of a pain, every time you pick the thing up you leave a fingerprint... but it's nice as well.

I would agree with this, the old macbook was v v v fingerprinty and no it is not like that...the glossy piano black finish (more expensive AWs) is kind of more like the old macbooks...its the same as the samsung black lcd Tvs and some sony bravia lcds. Personally I do like that finish more but on something I'm going to be touching a fair amount ... the Matte black is more fingerprint resistant I think both have a polished chrome vaio logo you can literally see your face in. The matte finish also matches the "interior" keyboard/screen surround/touch pad area and buttons very nicely.

[robf23]

I would agree with this, the old macbook was v v v fingerprinty and no it is not like that...the glossy piano black finish (more expensive AWs) is kind of more like the old macbooks...its the same as the samsung black lcd Tvs and some sony bravia lcds. Personally I do like that finish more but on something I'm going to be touching a fair amount ... the Matte black is more fingerprint resistant I think both have a polished chrome vaio logo you can literally see your face in. The matte finish also matches the "interior" keyboard/screen surround/touch pad area and buttons very nicely.

yep, i'd say that was spot on

[hhgilbert]

Just thought I'd tell everyone that you can order the bracket and SATA cable for the second hdd bay from sony parts. $83 for the cable and $43 bracket. oh and you have to order the screws as well. I was able to install the cable myself. you have to take the entire bottom cover off the unit and be careful of all the ports on the left side of the machine. you could really mess things up if you're not extra careful. If I had known ahead of time I would have paid the $ up front to have it factory installed...

[nons_]

what's the model number for those things, or do you mind linking directly there? thanks

[andrei_oGu]

Please can somebody tell me if I can do RAID if my unit came with a bios what doesn't have the option. I have two HDDs but no bios config. My model number is the european AW11Z/B. It is the black matt model.