Same problem here and the sony help / technical support has been pretty shoddy.

Never going to buy sony again, spend all this money on a laptop just for it to be barely usable. Real shame, Not even sure if my warrant is still valid, how would I check?

Up, did anybody find a fix for this?

Hi guys,

I've had this heat problem with the funny blowing noise for over a year. I got so tired of it, that I decided to fix it myself. Let me tell you that I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff, but I did fix it! How? Removing the dust that was inside the ventilator.

Here is how I did it...

- First I removed the battery and power cable.

- I opened up the laptop. It didn't open that when I took all the screws out, but eventually it worked. The ventilator was directly visible.

- I blocked the ventilator, so that it couldn't move around (otherwise it could get broken).

- I used an air compressor and blew the dust out from the left back side of the laptop (next to to the power plug opening). The dust flew up from the ventilator.

- Then I blew the dust out from the inside of the ventilator.

- I put everything back together and got the screws back.

- My laptop said thank you for letting me breathe again .

It was this easy. I just couln't keep this information from you. I hope this is useful to a lot of people.

And to other Vaio F Series users who read DJEnrique's post, be warned - the moment you open up your unit any warranty becomes null and void.

I have found a way to significantly reduce the fan noise on my VPC-F11S1E/B, but it is not very practical for most users:

1. Install Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop (64-bit).

2. Install all updates: sudo apt-get update, then sudo apt-get upgrade

3. Install the CPU frequency setting app: sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq

4. Restart the computer.

5. Use the CPU frequency app to set the CPU frequency to 0.93GHz (top panel, can't miss it).

6. Turn off all but 2 CPU cores: echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/online

If you have been running hot for a while, then there will not be an immediate reduction in fan noise. However, after 5 or so minutes, you should see (hear) a reduction of at least 50%. On my VPC-F11S1E/B, it's actually usable after performing the above steps. Running on 2 cores at 0.93GHz means everything will run slower, but since I'm not gaming, it's acceptable for me. I do notice the difference when compiling C++ code though (it takes much longer). My system monitor shows the active CPU cores are not under any strain during normal operation (emails, YouTube, browsing etc):

I now have a core i7 laptop I paid over £1,000 for that is running slower than a dual-core Atom netbook.

Sony will be picking up my Vaio on Friday to examine it.

I have completely changed my mind about Sony .

I was contacted by Sony, both by phone and SMS, to tell me my VPC-F11S1E would be returned between 12 noon and 1pm. It was returned 12 noon, almost on the dot.

I returned from the office and immediately fired up the unit.

It is now COMPLETELY SILENT!!!

The repair details state that my mainboard has been swapped for a new one:

1. Part No. SV-A1759308B M930 Thermal Module

2. Part No. SV-A1765409B M930 MB ASSY PM55

It's so silent now that my ears are ringing from the silence. I can't believe I was using a hair dryer for about 2 years. I wish Sony had actioned the support call I made 18 or so months ago about this issue. For the entire time I've owned this laptop, I've been warning people against buying Sony because of the noise. I've lost count of the number of times I took my F Series to a meeting and tried to keep it off because of the noise. In such meetings, whenever I had to turn it on, people would naturally comment on the noise (very embarrassing).

WOW! Just felt the bottom of the unit after running it for about an hour now, and it's soooooo much cooler! It used to be hot to the touch - so much so that it would burn my fingers (too hot to touch). Now it's just "warm".

Thank you Sony!!!!