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

[omaroo]

viper i dont mind not having a backlit keyboard, but i will try to get one in the future. Viper how much did it cost you mate.

[unknown_id]

Just a few hours ago I downloaded and installed the newest BETA drivers from the Nvidia site (version 258.96) and I have had no problems.

Hey, any advantage to upgrading? I don't play any games etc. I'm still on the official version

Thanks

[Nuggstein]

This happened on my F11...but now it's happening on my F12.

I had OC'd to what someone else did 730/915/1515 ... everything played great...now it locks up.

I was just playing Portal and it locked up...and if I restart the game, it plays @ 2D clock speeds...so I have to reboot.

So I reverted back to default clock speeds...played Portal...and it didn't lock up for a while...then it locked up again! What do I do? It's not even overclocked and it's locking up...and this is brand new...but this also happened on my F11...is there a way to prevent this from happening? ?

[Lucky_jl]

Which software do you use to read F12 temps ?
Thanks

[nightwish5331]

For those of you complaining about the brightness issues...

Just open up "Vaio Control Settings" and disable "automatic brightness" ... then you can change the brightness to whatever you wish wherever you are.......

buddy if u disable the ambient light sensor u make the backlit keyboard disable too!!

[MelodyMaster]

buddy if u disable the ambient light sensor u make the backlit keyboard disable too!!

No it doesn't.

[True_Sultan]

Hey guys was wondering if the Sony VIAO F series is a good deal? Any known problems so far? I need one for university and my dad really likes it. He saw it at a Canadian best buy for aprox. 1500 dollars. I think it is a base model or something. Well this is what I want to do:

Hey guys, enough fooling around. Time to make a decision. It's my first laptop and I might replace it by the end of my bachelors in aerospace.

1) What is your budget?

600-3000

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

14 inch to 17 inch.

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

I really don't have an preference on brands, I've used Dell, Hp and Sony so I don't know =)

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistrubited?
(For more details, please scroll to the glossary section at the bottom)

I'd like it new please =)

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

I'm wanting a laptop for a multipurpose reason. Be it entertainment, school, research (either school or independent) or gaming (as i might not take my PS3). So this is what I'm planning to do:

What I know I will be doing is 3D modeling, simulation, physics simulation, HE Physics (might take a double major), Quantum Mechanics, Data crunching, Algorithms, Programming (both High and Low Level), image/video analysis, conversion of natural algorithms (Image, Audio, Video into pure data), research/analysis maybe on the unknown/unseen/beyond (hard to explain ), being able to customize and create specialized functions, hacking/cracking/modifying, etc. Now i don't want any flame wars, but i wanted to do my own research, even though i know for a fact we might have to use the supercomputers and such for projects in university. So i believe some nice people here told me that just get a powerful cpu and gpu to handle your personal research but don't depend on it or something like that. Some people say that I'm going overboard and power hungry and that any lappy will suite my need. will it?

btw these are the computing reasources from my college:

ABAQUS ADAMS Software
Adobe Acrobat ANSYS ASPEN HYSYS
ASTOS AUTOMATED DESIGN Backups and Creating CD-ROMS
C/C++ Carleton Site License Software CES4
Course NewsGroups Course Web Pages E-Mail
Femap FORTRAN Gas Turbine 9
GESOP Internet Securiety Lab Access
LABVIEW LINUX Loftsman
LS-DYNA MAPLE MATHCAD
Mathematica MATLAB MSC SOFTWARE
MS OFFICE Nastran, Patran, ... Printing
PTC Pro Engineer Rapid Prototyping Scanner
STK Tecplot Technical Support

Also i talked to some students and they did useAutoCAD, 3DS max and stuff as well.

EDIT* If u people don't believe me this is the site: Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University - Canada's Capital University
7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

Yes portability is a plus, to class, back to home, on my journey's, labs, etc.

8) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games or types of games?

I won't be taking a console so it may as well serve me for mainstream games like BFBC2, COD, Crysis, UT, RPG, MMORPG, RTS, etc.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

4hrs would be nice or more =) i can settle for 2 hrs btw if gaming im not gonna use the battery pack, battery pack is for when no power outlet is around.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Yes I'd like to see it, but online buy is okay

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Windows 7, may run RHEL or Ubuntu

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. If you are unsure of what to purchase, we would highly recommend you check some notebook screens before you buy to see what you like.

Around 16:10 so around 1080p to 1200p or higher. FHD

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
(For more details, please scroll to the glossary section at the bottom)

If anti-glare helps me in CAD, computation, research and gaming then sure.

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

No looking for performance and usability, though looks are a plus.

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?

Buying it this month or next.

Notebook Components

16) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 500GB? Do you want a SSD drive?

I think 500GB is enough, but 300 is decent, and no need of SSD, though SSD would be nice.

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?

Yes, to read/write media disc. The standard is fine but if its a good deal I'll go with a Blue ray =)

[Willscary]

Hey, any advantage to upgrading? I don't play any games etc. I'm still on the official version

Thanks

My Furmark score is 68% higher with the newest Beta drivers than it was with original drivers installed.

Stability seems good so far. I have overclocked original drivers for testing purpuses and also overclocked the newest full drivers once. This newest Beta driver set does not include overclocking and I have not downloaded any other programs to allow this.

I am not a gamer either. I simply want the fastest base performance I can get that is 100% stable.

So far, yes...I am happy with the 258.96 Beta driver set.

[Impulse14]

Anyone know if it's worth the trouble to send in my comp and get a new screen b/c of lightbleed? It's not bothering me that much gunna test it a bit more, but it has occured to me whether or not it's worth the effort

[Chris(GER)]

Yes I did. I got a backlight keyboard off of ebay and after 1 hour of work I got my first glimpse of how a F11 EU version was supposed to look like in the first place...
The backlight keyboard completely changes the way in which the laptop looks like and how other people perceive it.

Viper could you described the steps involved in replacing the keyboard? I know from Joe how to open the case but I would be happy to know more how to proceed.