low volume speakers on a fe21m

[raheller]

Hi there,
I recently bought a vaio fe21m and I'm overall very happy with my laptop, I've just got one little issue...
I find the volume of the built in speaker(s) very low... the sound of most movie and mp3 files are far from loud. I know laptop speakers are never ideal but with some downloaded movies and even the free hitch/spiderman/s.w.at. dvd that came with the laptop the volume is really unacceptably low... I live in the city centre and when I have my windows open, I can't understand a word... does anyone else experience this problem? is it common for sony vaios? I've had an HP before and despite the 'tinny' quality, the volume was never a problem... could there perhaps be a problem with software or drivers? or should I consider returning the laptop?
please let me know, any help would be very much appreciated!
Robbert

btw, I have of course set all the settings to the loudest!;-)

[xandr]

I do have the same notebook: FE21M and i have noticed that the volume is indeed not loud. But i don't live in the city center. So it doesn't bother me too much. Maybe you can connect your vaio with a set of speakers!

good luck!

[raheller]

thanks very much for your quick reply,
I know I can use speakers but I'm just trying to find out if anyone thinks the soundlevel with 'official' dvd's and files is quite low in comparison to other brands... or if I should just return my vaio (as I don't think I should have any faults with a product on this price level).
thanks again

[rajivmaureen]

i bought a vaio fe21b laptop and am experiencing the same problem..the volume is just very very low even at the maximunm level...not really the standard that i expected from sony and that too a a mutimedia laptop.......then now i have a new problem...there is a sharp noise when i use any thing like a sound file or a song...had to send it back to the vaio people ...

i had a toshiba laptop beofre this and the sound was of very very much higher quality..
not satisified with the sony laptop reagrding the sound

[dansimm]

i bought a vaio fe21b laptop and am experiencing the same problem..the volume is just very very low even at the maximunm level...not really the standard that i expected from sony and that too a a mutimedia laptop.......then now i have a new problem...there is a sharp noise when i use any thing like a sound file or a song...had to send it back  to the vaio people ...

i had a toshiba laptop beofre this and the sound was of very very much higher quality..
not satisified with the sony laptop reagrding the sound

Same with me, i had a toshiba satellite pro a10 before and the sound was fantastic!
Kind of dissapointed with the 21b speakers seeing as it's meant to have all this fancy "high definition sound".

what i do is turn the sound right up, and use VLC (VIDEO LAN).
Use this instead of media player as it does everything media player does, it plays every sort of codec out there, and its very fast.
Using VLC you can have louder sound. Theres a volume bar at the top which can go higher than Windows media player and all that.

Good bit of software.
Plus its free!

[rajivmaureen]

i had to send the laptop back for repair..as when i used it at max volume it started emmiting a sharp high pitched noise..

did not expect this quality from SONY......i think toshiba is a much higher quality brand....

[KyriakosP]

On my laptop the answer is in the bios... it has speaker level and the default rate is 4/8.. i put it on 8/8 and now it's ok

[galimh]

Hi Guys,

I have the same sound problems with my FE21H.
Sorry to sound stupid, Kyrialkosp, but would you expain the bios solution please?

[KyriakosP]

Hi Guys,

I have the same sound problems with my FE21H.
Sorry to sound stupid, Kyrialkosp, but would you expain the bios solution please?

when you boot the pc and the vaio logo animates you press F2 to enter the bios setup.. in the Advance tab is the speaker volume (4/8) you press enter and change the value to 8/8... my laptop is an AR-11b and the bios is a phoenix one..

[Blencogo]

If you have Sony Notebook Setup in your Control Panel, you can change the BIOS volume by going to Initial Setting and moving the Volume Slider to Maximum.