Official Sony VAIO F Series i5/i7 owners thread *Part 3*

[patrick0t]

Ok so I managed to do, what I think, a semi-clean install using OEMs on an F12. There are some notable differences on the end product compared to Joe Bleu's.

14.5g of my hdd was being used, as opposed 18.6. This could be because I have not updated windows yet?

I used vaio care to get many apps and drivers up(I only inserted the discs once)

My performance has hardly increased. The number programs I had and the process on average have decreased but my memory being used is still the same, it sits at about .9 to 1.2g.

**some small problems that I'm sure I can fix is
-Assist, S1, and vaio, FN buttons do nothing
-trackpad not working


I'll post screens shortly, if not tomorrow asap.

[DouglasK]

Hi all
Great thread and very helpful for someone like me in the UK about to buy a CTO F12 Windows 7 pro 64 bit, 8GB ram, i7-740QM, BR writer.
My dilemma is about whether to go the HDD or SSD route - price difference in the UK between a 640GB HDD and 256GB SSD is nearly $1000. I've seen reference to guides about exchanging the HDD for an SSD and using the HDD via eSATA but cannot find the guide itself - please will someone point me in the right direction. Also does the SSD supplied by Sony have TRIM? The hard disc size is to some extent academic because whatever size it is I'll require external drives - is the better option an HDD or USB drive? Also although USB 3.0 is not available on this model what is the best way of getting the best speed from external drives please?
Finally I was surprised to hear that Sony, at least in the UK, provides no onsite support and everything is return to Ireland with a minimum turnaround of a week. What are peoples experiences of the need for support and of RTB service?
Many thanks
Douglas

[drama89]

Ok so I managed to do, what I think, a semi-clean install using OEMs on an F12. There are some notable differences on the end product compared to Joe Bleu's.

14.5g of my hdd was being used, as opposed 18.6. This could be because I have not updated windows yet?

I used vaio care to get many apps and drivers up(I only inserted the discs once)

My performance has hardly increased. The number programs I had and the process on average have decreased but my memory being used is still the same, it sits at about .9 to 1.2g.

**some small problems that I'm sure I can fix is
-Assist, S1, and vaio, FN buttons do nothing
-trackpad not working


I'll post screens shortly, if not tomorrow asap.

How about the fans? RPM, noise...?This is the main reason that I'm not 100% sure to buy Sony VAIO F.

[GeorgesF]

Hey guys don't know if anyone can help me, i bought my F11JFX/B from sony style (ready To ship model). Ive been using since april and i find it to be really great, there is just one wrong thing that is annoying me, dunno if it can be fixed... if the pc is turned of, and unplugged, the the computer consumes battery:S like if i turn it off at night, unplug it, and then turn it one in the morning, the battery will be at 75%, even though the computer was OFF the whole night.... this is quite annoying cause now i cant leave my battery in my VAIO, i have to remove it every time im not using it:S
oh and another thing, if anyone can direct me to a link to see how to use to optical out feature cause the manual wasn't very helpful....
THX

[Willscary]

The XPS 9000 probably has an i7 920, there's no way the i7 in our laptop is faster than the i7 920. At best, it's about as fast as an i5 (720?). The desktop GT330 is also a different card (the 330m we have is a die shrunk 240m, which is a die shrunk 9600m, which is a faster 8600m).

I dunno if you have the 6gb model or a faster 8gb model, but I have a feeling the 4+2gb and the 5400rpm HD in the VPCF115FM rob the machine of performance and make it a lot slower than it should be.

Just saying

Back to where I was now, and why I said what I said: When you start playing games on the F series, the fans kick in and the palm rest gets pretty warm, ironically hottest where your right hand would probably sit. Even though it is one of the coolest laptops I've ever owned, it still manages to make me break a sweat on a hot day if I'm playing games.

A desktop is self-contained and not underneath your keyboard/mouse, so you don't have to worry about that. You can also get an IPS LCD for a desktop with much better color reproduction and viewing angles, so that is a plus too.

And then there's the GPU choices, faster disk drives (and more options in that front).. I dunno..

I've got nothing against the laptop since I own one, and it happens to be the fastest machine I own too (by far), but.. yea.

I'm sorry...I MEANT that the XPS 9000 had a Core i7 920 processor. Both machines have identical CRucial SSDs also. I stand by my statement...for normal, light computing and everyday use such as surfing, email, etc, the F11 is faster.

If you look at the processors, under light loads, the 820QM SHOULD be faster than the 920. My F11 with 820QM has turbo boost up to 3.06GHz in a single core and 2.8GHz with two cores running. Turbo boost with 3 and 4 cores running is the same...2.0GHz. The 920 has little turbo boost and unless overclocked, it is slower with a single core in use (2.93GHz) and with 2 cores in use (2.66GHz).

In heavy benchmarking, the desktop wins hands down due to 4 cores at 2.66GHz compared to 4 cores at between 1.73-2GHz for the F11. Cache is the same size, SSDs are the same speed and the F11 has 8GB of dual channel 1333 memory while the XPS has 12GB of tri-channel 1066 memory. I do not dispute the desktop's superiority when photo editing batches of multiple RAW files. But I have seen side by side that the F11 is faster at lesser computing jobs such as manipulation of a single Office document.

Perhaps the F11s motherboard is more efficient thatn the mobo in the Dell. I don't know. But I do know what I have observed from hands on experience with both.

Also, if you look back to prior posts, you will find that my F11 has benchmarked 2067 points in Performance Test 7.0. This number ranks my machine #1 for all 820 QM machines (or at least it still was a few days ago) and ranks it above many 920 QM extreme laptops. If I go to their database and look at processing averages for each processor, my machine performs just below the desktop 920 in overall processor speed. The F11 can be superb. I can only imagine how the new Core i7 840 QM can improve on my numbers.

All of the machines I work with are stock speeds with no overclocking.

[sheebp]

Hi all
Great thread and very helpful for someone like me in the UK about to buy a CTO F12 Windows 7 pro 64 bit, 8GB ram, i7-740QM, BR writer.
My dilemma is about whether to go the HDD or SSD route - price difference in the UK between a 640GB HDD and 256GB SSD is nearly $1000. I've seen reference to guides about exchanging the HDD for an SSD and using the HDD via eSATA but cannot find the guide itself - please will someone point me in the right direction. Also does the SSD supplied by Sony have TRIM? The hard disc size is to some extent academic because whatever size it is I'll require external drives - is the better option an HDD or USB drive? Also although USB 3.0 is not available on this model what is the best way of getting the best speed from external drives please?
Finally I was surprised to hear that Sony, at least in the UK, provides no onsite support and everything is return to Ireland with a minimum turnaround of a week. What are peoples experiences of the need for support and of RTB service?
Many thanks
Douglas

Sony_will usually repair on the UK mainland. Delivery and collection by courier tends to be reliable, but you could lose your laptop for up to a couple of weeks if there's a serious fault. Always ring Sony. Email support is diabolical.

[billybest]

The VPCF1290S (Canadian model) doesn't have a chipset driver on Sony's website. The VPCF1290X (US model) does. Do I go on without it after reformatting?

[CyberStorm]

Hi all
Great thread and very helpful for someone like me in the UK about to buy a CTO F12 Windows 7 pro 64 bit, 8GB ram, i7-740QM, BR writer.
My dilemma is about whether to go the HDD or SSD route - price difference in the UK between a 640GB HDD and 256GB SSD is nearly $1000. I've seen reference to guides about exchanging the HDD for an SSD and using the HDD via eSATA but cannot find the guide itself - please will someone point me in the right direction. Also does the SSD supplied by Sony have TRIM? The hard disc size is to some extent academic because whatever size it is I'll require external drives - is the better option an HDD or USB drive? Also although USB 3.0 is not available on this model what is the best way of getting the best speed from external drives please?
Finally I was surprised to hear that Sony, at least in the UK, provides no onsite support and everything is return to Ireland with a minimum turnaround of a week. What are peoples experiences of the need for support and of RTB service?
Many thanks
Douglas

If you want an SSD, then I'd get the cheapest HDD that comes with F12 and buy an SSD elsewhere online, one you know supports TRIM and I will bet be much cheaper.

[Impulse14]

Thank's a lot Joe, that's what i thought but i was not sure if it's something that people have to do nowadays for some reason XD But one more question all the bloatware you mention/feel like in your guide i can still just uninstall all that through the software removal tool in control panel right? Dont have to do a recovery?

Douglas - as Cyber said it's more efficient to stick with the standard HDD that comes with the laptop, and find your SSD somewhere else - websites/stores have better deals on them.

To those who were mentioning F12 ship dates - i ordered mine on the 30th suppose to ship the 13th O_o

[Dernfara]

If you want an SSD, then I'd get the cheapest HDD that comes with F12 and buy an SSD elsewhere online, one you know supports TRIM and I will bet be much cheaper.

I'd agree - and that is what I've done. I've gone for a 256GB Crucial C300 which I found cheaper than the earlier M225 model. Reviews are very positive so far. Cheapest retailer I found in the UK was Micro Direct.

Just waiting for my F12 to arrive now.