I have tried a slew of overclocking programs including rivatuner and ati tool, to try to underclock my gpu for better battery life. They usually give errors about a unsigned driver installing but I boot with signed driver checking disabled. Has anyone been successful over/underclocking the gpu on a fw490?
I just ran PCPitstop on my FW490 (running Vista Home Premium 64 bit), and the Driver recommendations report listed two drivers which they suggest changing:
1) Realtek High Definition Audio current driver is 6.0.1.5759 , to proposed driver 6.0.1.5888.
2) Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller current driver is 10.53.2.3 to proposed driver 10.70.6.3.
The recommended drivers do not appear on the Sony eSupport site for my specific model (VGN-FW490CJ).
Should I leave well enough alone, or is Sony not posting the most current drivers for my Vaio.
I am in the process of deciding which laptop PC to purchase. I had decided on a Dell Studio XPS 16, but then received a suggestion on this site that a vaio FW series could fit my needs.
I dropped in on a Sony Style store and they have the FW378 DH in stock. I also called the online Sony store and they suggested the FW490.
The differences in the two PC's were: 1) the processors: The FW378 came with a P8600 at 2.40GHZ, and the FW490 with the P8800 at 2.66GHZ
I want to order myself a FW490 but the problem is I have to go study in London soon and the warranty wont cover outside the us. This is really problematic and possibly force me to go back to buy dell. but I was just wondering about the possible option I can do. Would it be possible to buy a warranty in the UK?
I have an FW490, and noticed when looking at the device manager that under Portable Devices that there was a problem. There is a warning beside something called "R5C592". When I checked under properties it says Device type: Portable Device, Manufacturer: Ricoh, Location: on UMBus Enumerator.
Under device status it says: "Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19) Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available."
I checked for solutions and couldn't find anything. My PC seems to be running fine. Is it possible that it could be that I used a USB key that is causing this problem?
I notice a significant difference in volume levels on my FW490. When listening to music via iTunes, or to Sirius online, the levels are adequate. However when I watch a dvd (Bluray or regular), even after turning the speaker volume as high as it will go, the volume is very weak. Is this normal? Headphone volume is fine btw. Is there a setting that boost volume when playing dvd's? Otherwise I will be buying notebook speakers.
I currently have the SXPS 16 but am thinking about returning it and ordering the FW490 instead. I'm actually on my second SXPS and both computers just run way too hot when in normal room temperature.
On my current machine I also have a few stuck pixels on the bottom of the screen that you can really only see against black backgrounds.
I ordered a FW490 CTO w/ P8700, 4650 1GB, 4GB RAM, Vista 64, etc. Anyways, I was a little disappointed with how well it ran Americas Army 3. I downloaded and ran GPUZ, and I got some interesting results... It says that my 4650 uses GDDR3 memory, which is apparently the best setup for the card, but it also reports that my clock speed is 450 MHz, and my memory clock speed is 600 MHz. From everything I have gathered, that is below what most 4650 Mobilitys are at... what gives? What are the speeds of everyone elses 4650?
life of the battery on my new Vaio FW490. The battery on my previous laptop (an IBM Thinkpad circa 2004), was always connected to the laptop, and almost always plugged in. I rarely used the battery. After a couple of years, I noticed that the battery could barely hold a charge for more than 15 minutes.
Is it a good idea to regularly run the laptop off the battery? Is keeping the laptop plugged in for long periods of time OK? What should I do to ensure that my battery lasts.
I have a Vaio FW490. I took it with me on vacation. When I realized that the LCD TV in the place I am staying had an HDMI connection, and that there was no blu ray player, I decided to connect my laptop to the TV via the HDMI. I had no problem with the video, once I discovered that I needed to shut off the laptop display. The sound was fine for all of the various previews on the Blu ray dvd. But once it started playing the movie, which was in DTS 5.1 audio, there was no sound. It played sound when I chose the directors comments, but I was unable to get any sound when the dts track was chosen. This occurred with 2 blu ray movies. I checked my sound settings while the hdmi was connected and it showed "digital audio HDMI (ATI HDMI audio) as the default device.
Is it just not possible to play a blu ray dvd from my laptop to a TV via hdmi only? Do I need a separate audio connection?
I may be over-reacting here, but I just realized that I can access the Internet from my VAIO FW490 via Bluetooth tethering using my LG Vu.
No special tools or software needed, except the Broadcom Bluetooth Driver from Sony eSupport. It's really quite handy if you plan to take your laptop on the road.
Here is a simple guide. http://fw490.blogspot.com/2009/10/ev...bluetooth.html
I was about to Order FW490 from sonyStyle but while i'm searching about it i found this forum and the upcoming FW590
this is my customization.:
Code: * 16.4" widescreen with XBRITE-FullHD™ LCD technology (1920x1080) * 250GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm] *will be replaced by Vertex SSD which already have. * Large Capacity Battery * WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology * ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD4650 graphics card with 1GB vRAM-great for games and movies * Engraving * Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz) * CD/DVD playback/burning * Chocolate Brown * Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit * 4GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2) and this will cost me $1,139.62
now as i read here maybe at 10/20 or 10/27, SonyStyle will but FW590 online!, but don't know will be for Ready or just "Coming Soon"?
Do you think FW590 deserve the waiting and i should cancel the idea of buying this? I hope the FW590 is same price and the FW490, and also i get tired of thinking about the LCD in the FW590 will be LED or not which is like FW490?
I just recieved my Sony Vaio FW490 today. After uninstalling the trial version of Office 2007 (student version), windows refuses to boot normally. I tried several system resores without success.
Although it said that the restore worked properly, I kept rebooting to repair windows or vaio restore center or something like that. I finally called Sony tech support, and they walked me through restoring the C drive to its original state option
I was asking about the difference between XBRITE-ECO and XBRITE-FullHD. To my surprise, the rep told me the XBRITE-FullHD is LED backlit (which I think it's not true). I ask her to confirm that and she came back with the same answer.
I am about to order a Sony Vaio FW490, and I would like to know how much of a difference visually that these 2 screens are. I know that the FullHD obviously looks better, but how much better exactly? And is it worth the extra $100 or so?
I have yet to see a FullHD screen at the Best Buy near me so it is difficult for me to compare the two. I have also heard that the FullHD screen is not adequate for gaming. Is this true? I am not a hardcore gamer by any means, but I did plan on playing some of my new games like Street Fighter 4 occasionally. In addition, a 1920x1080 resolution does seem quite large for a 16.4" screen. Can anybody provide some sort of screenshot of the FullHD screen?
I bought Sony FW490 with full hd screen (1920x1080) but after hearing so much about wonderful RGB LED display on Dell, I got one from Dell outlet and now I can compare them both side by side and send one back. To my surprise Sony's screen is a tad brighter,
white color is white and red is very accurate too, on Dell screen is dimmer (on full brightness) red is more brownish and white is yellow-greenish.
I was reading this forum for a few months and almost everybody says that RGB screen is very bright, that one can use it on half brightness, but that is not the case with my SXPS16.
I saw this on the Sony site and wondered if anyone has this or knows of a bag similar? I would like to find one that is as slim as a carrying sleeve but with handles
I've been looking at the VGN-FW460J/T at Fry's Electronics and I would to know if this is a good notebook? I really don't care about the new i7's that are coming out, because I planning to get one sometime next year when they reach at a least 2.0GHz and at an affordable cost.
I am thinking about buying the Sony FW with 1080p. I was wondering if it is possible to hook up the FW to my PS3 via HDMI and play my PS3 games at 1080p on it
