Official NEW SVZ Z series Owners Lounge

That's a really nice case but I'm after the genuine one because it looks sleek and more professional when walking into business meetings.

 

I have managed to duplicate others (Justing6 & MikjoA) results in using a PE4Lv2.1b to attach a external GPU to my 1311EGXX. It is almost but not quite a plug and play installation. I am using a GeForce 660ti 3GB DDR5 mounted in the PE4L adapter. DRAMATIC improvement in video quality!! Went from 1600 marks in 3DMark11 to 7600. Went from WEI of 6.9 to 7.5...now limited by the processor not the video performance. What a difference! I will not cover this in detail but you will need 1) to cut a hole in your bottom plate to allow the mPCIE connector to be inserted. You WILL have to remove the onboard WIFI/BT module so you lose both those functions. I solved this my going to an external USB 3.0 wifi adapter which I needed anyway to take advantage of my new faster AC router. 2) and this should be obvious: the PE4L adapter/cable...purchased on ebay. 3) ATX desktop power supply appropriate to the power consumption of your external card. Mine is a an EVGA 600B with 49amps on the 12v rail. 4) an SWX switch board or a paper clip to jump the appropriate pins on the moboard connector of the power supply to turn it on.

Keep in mind that the Z will not POST with the egpu attached. You have to boot into windows with the power supply turned off or the PE4L disconnected. Then put the machine to sleep, then connect/power up the eGPU and wake the machine up. At that point you should see the external GPU in device manager. Now load the drivers for it. I used the 320.18 drivers for my 660ti since the newest ones (355.60) caused a persistent driver error in windows. I recommend only loading the driver itself and PHYSX for the same reason. It's an NVVIDIA thing. Finally shutdown NOT restart the computer...if you use restart the machine will hang in the POST sequence with a black screen. Not serious...just a pain. Go through the process of sleeping the lappy and reattaching the eGPU. The display SHOULD be on the laptop at this time. Check to see if the external card is listed in device manager with no errors or flags showing. Mine was. Now, last step...connect the external card to your EXTERNAL display (no...I don't believe the eGPU can be used to accelerate the INTERNAL display) and disable in device manager the internal HD4000 graphics adapter and your video output should shift automatically to your external monitor through the eGPU. You should now be ready to load the game of your choice and enjoy some really excellent graphics performance!

I tried this using the EXP GDC Beast purchased from Bangood. No luck. Never did get it to even see the eGPU at all. I won't say it CAN'T work with this product...but I couldn't find a way. When the PE4L arrived it was (virtually) no problem.

This is known to work for my machine (SVZ) and the VPCZ2. There are several threads on this if you google the above user names you will find most of them. DO YOUR HOMEWORK...THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! Questions welcome IF they don't start with "Will this work on my <insert name of your NON Z series computer>? I can't and WON'T even try to answer those. But if you have a Z and are willing to remove the case bottom and do some light surgery and have about $250 or so to put into it I'll be happy to try to help in the effort.

I figure this has extended the life of this amazing little machine by at least a year or two. It's lack of satisfactory video performance for real gaming was my only complaint.

 

I've also managed to get a EVGA GTX970 SSC working as well. DSDT patch/override required to fix error 12....likely because of the larger 256 bit memory bus. Getting about a 30% increase in 3Dmarks with the 970 over the 660ti.

 

While not as exciting as an egpu upgrade, I did recently upgrade my 256gb drive to 512gb. Very happy about the extra space and seemingly better performance.

 

Yeah...the 512's are finally getting to a decent price point on eBay...and the upgrade is a cinch! Have fun with all that extra space.

 

To all those worried about touchpad problems on upgrade to windows 10. New drivers via windows update have fixed all issues.

 

Tried Windows 10 again. Mine still locks up the touchpad on a sleep, also tried updating the drivers with Authentec versions, no fix.

But as I'm almost never using it without mouse attached, and now know about this known issue, I'll stick to Win10 for now.

 

I tried to install Win 10 on my VPCZ21 to test before trying on my SVZ. the upgrade worked pretty smoothly. In the beginning the PMD worked nicely and all monitors were recognized. Now only the PMD video is working and the two monitors connected to it, or if I deactivate the AMD card, then the Intel works and the laptop and and external monitor connected to the latptop function. Any ideas? I need all 3 external monitors with my PMD.
Also I get the problem where the laptop's screen brightness gets deactivated and have to go to device manager to activate the monitor again.
I will not try Win 10 on my SVZ before these issues get solved.

 

I've searched for the answer to this question but I'm not exactly sure the information I found is accurate. I have a SVZ131190X that I purchased without a Power Media Dock. I read somewhere that if the laptop is purchased without the dock, it doesn't have the proper connectivity features to use the dock in the future. Am I able to buy a PMD on eBay and use it without trouble, or is my laptop missing the connectivity for it?

Looking inside my USB port, it seems that it has some sort of optical interface...

Thank you.

 

All SVZ's purchased with or without a PMD will work with a PMD.

 

Qwaarjet is right! The optical interface for Lightpeak which is what connects the PMD hardware to the mobo is integrated into the usb3 port closest to the power connector. The fibreoptic cables then run to their own interface card which connects to the mobo directly and has little or nothing to do with usb3 connectivity...well ok...it's POSSIBLE the usb ports on the pmd connect through the actual usb3 port (which is attached to a completely separate daughter board than the Lightpeak one) but I don't think so. Either way plug in a PMD to your Z and it should just work as long as you have (or download) appropriate drivers from the Sony website. You will NOT find a specific driver package for the Lightpeak/PMD...after you load the chipset/mobo/Intel Management Engine/Sony Firmware Extension Parser/Sony Shared Library the PMD should work if I understand the architecture correctly. Of course if you are still on a Sony OEM install of Win7 loading drivers is unnecessary as they will all be there already! If you are using a clean install or an upgraded OS (win8/8.1/10) then loading drivers (IN THE CORRECT ORDER) is a must.

 

Some thoughts on The Life and Times of the SVZ:

Even now there are few if any laptops out there that can compete with the weight, CPU power, hard drive capacity, and razor thin profile of our machines. The new Vaio Canvas seems to come closest...the 4770HQ cpu is a generation newer and at least nominally more powerful than our 3612QM's but it's not a revolutionary difference if the ratings at places like Notebookcheck are to be believed. HD capacity up to 1TB on the Canvas (and soon to be on the Surface Book as well). Ok that's quite an improvement...but I have added a 256GB SDXC card and a 178GB Memory stick (using an CR-5400 adapter to mount a 128GB and a 64GB Micro SD's in in the other card slot. Only 64GB short of 1TB right now! Total cost for all that extra (yes somewhat slower) capacity about $200. AND yes we are restricted to only 8GB of system memory...new machines will take up to 16GB. I have yet to run into system memory limits...and with SSD's as blisteringly fast as ours (I don't think even the Gen4 units outperform our RAID units by much) virtual memory quickly fills any needed gaps as long as the drive(s) are not full.

As for our OS...I know many of you have upgraded to Win8.1 or even Win10. I ran Win8.1 for a while and could find no real advantage to it so I'm back on Win7 Ultimate. As far as I can tell and my research tends to support this...your view may differ...8.1's biggest advantage, UEFI Secure Boot is already covered by Bitlocker which prevents the SSD's from being removed and booted in another machine or just read out directly and the Sony Fast BIOS Startup doesn't allow a startup from any other source than your own installed SSD's....it won't even allow you to access the BIOS setup if it's active! Let's see WIN8.1 or 10 do better...my reading indicates they can't. NOW when DIRECTX 12 comes into common use...then if you are a gamer like I am...WIN10 will have a powerful hook to get me to upgrade my OS...but that's likely 6-12 months away.

THE ONE GLARING INADEQUACY of the SVZ is the video processing. The HD 4000 is nice for movies, browsing and workaday tasks...but hopelessly inadequate for gaming. And since the PMD was not upgraded when the SVZ rolled out even the very elegant and innovative Lightpeak connected dock leaves us totally wanting for video muscle. The AMD chip in the PMD never made any sense to me. Even though you can overclock the crap out of it...it's still a class 3 chip at best and the only thing it outperforms is the HD4000. I've solved this by adding an EGPU through the mPCIE slot. What a difference! With my GTX 970 fired up I'm playing modern games at ULTRA settings in 1080p (admittedly on an external monitor...haven't found a way to accelerate the onboard display with the EGPU...haven't tried too hard though) and even playing some at extreme settings in 4K. Yup...4-K! Considering this is a 3 year old machine using a mPCIE slot for a purpose Sony never intended that's pretty cool. Let's see a Canvas or even the Surface Book do that! And neither of those has a Thunderbolt port so no EGPU for them. The only competition is the Alienware 13 WITH the optional Graphics Amplifier to hold a current gen desktop card like my GTX 970. Very cool lappy with that configuration but remember that it weighs DOUBLE what the SVZ does...4.5 vs 2.2 pounds and it's twice as thick. Add a AC1200 wireless dongle (not elegant through the USB3 port but MUCH better throughput if you have a modern router) and a Bluetooth dongle to restore the functions lost when I ripped out the OEM wireless card to make room for the egpu and PRESTO!

Throwin' these ideas out there for those who may be trying to decide whether to ditch the Z or upgrade and modernize it. It amazes me that Sony came up with such a forward looking machine that it can hold it's own with any current machine...if you have one of the high spec I7/large SSD models...which OBTW are selling for less than $1000 on ebay right now. Why oh why did they not AT LEAST put the Nvidia 640MLE (the dGPU from the SVS series) in the PMD in 2012??? Oh well water under the bridge. Questions/comments always welcome. See ya'...

 

Argh the SSD on my SVZ laptop has failed, one of the two 128 GB drives doesn't show the specific model anymore and displays as 1 GB in the RAID software and BIOS. Anyone know of a good place to source a replacement?

Also if someone upgraded from 256 to 512 and wants to sell the 256 drive feel free to PM me.

 

Upgraded my 256gb to 512gb (put the 256gb in my wife's Z2 after her 128gb started failing)I bought mine from here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191145190045?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I offered $220 which they accepted. Shipment was extremely fast despite coming from China.

 

Thanks for the pointer, I'd prefer a 256 GB if possible as I don't use the laptop anymore and just looking to replace the drive as cheaply as possible so I can sell it. Unfortunately they don't seem to have any 256 GB for sale at the moment on eBay but I'll drop them a line.

 

Has anyone managed to install drivers newer than Catalyst 14.4 for the Power Media Dock?

 

I've got one...sent you a PM

 

I'm changing the Hinges on my SVZ-13 and I can't seem to take them off the LED side. There are no screws there. Are they glued on? Do I pry them off and glue the new ones on with epoxy or something?

 

Hi, and first, of course, so many thanks for the big work and time spent on creating this utility and updating this thread !
I'm considering buying a QHD, 32 inch display to work with my Vaio Z1311A4E. (probably the Philips BDM3270) It's quite an investment, so I'd love to know beforehand if there are a couple of specs that make a model not mentioned in this tread more or less likely to withstand the CRU operation.

Also, it's not clear to me whether the fix works when the display is used in a multiple display environment (extended displays with the laptop's LCD).

Many thanks.

 

For anyone with concerns about Windows 10 and the SVZ13 in combination with the PMD, please read below.

-PMD, working including 3D games: tested with a few 3D Steam/Origin games and also Dolphin Emulator.
-PMD overclocking, working: in Windows 7, I found that my PMD was stable to overclocking using Trixx software with 100% fan speed, 855 MHz clock and 1125 MHz memory, giving a 3-5 fps boost in most games (i.e. making barely playable 25fps games playable at ~30fps). However, the old version of Trixx gave a hard crash in Windows 10, while the new version did not work. I have moved to EVGA PrecisionX 4.2.1 for overclocking (newer versions do not support Radeon GPUs, so avoid those). 3D benchmarks in Passmark Performance Test V8 are as good as I had in Windows 7 (3D scores in the range of ~980-1000 on my i5, SVZ1311C5E). I have noticed in the graphics test and some games that there seems to be less screen tearing in Windows 10 than I had in Windows 7. I have tested the overclock with numerous 3D Steam/Origin games and also Dolphin Emulator. I may try and push the overclock a little harder in Windows 10 if this new driver is indeed more stable/runs cooler than I had in Windows 7. If I see any signifant performance gains, I will report back.

Summary of successes (where I know others have reported problems):
-PMD hardware undock button, working.
-Touchpad, seems to be working (but I use a mouse most of the time anyway).
-Assist/web/vaio touch-senstive buttons, working.
-Vaio control center (including battery care and fan speed preferences functions), working.
-Finger print reader working (need to set up a Windows 10 PIN and fingerprint login in Windows 10, I installed but did not use the Authentec software to record fingerprints).
-Fn + touchpad on/off / mute / brightness / volume / external screen/projector controls working
-No other problems to report.

The main things that I needed to do were:
-Uninstall all Win 7 "vaio/sony" software soon after getting Windows 10 running, particularly relating to power management (I got a very annoying battery error until I uninstalled the old version). I would recommend uninstalling all Sony applications BEFORE upgrading to Windows 10 given my experience.
-I installed Leshcat Unifl driver 15.11 beta in Windows 7 before upgrading to Windows 10. I reinstalled the Leshcat driver again in Windows 10, though I am not sure that that the reinstall was needed. Note that the current Leshcat driver disables the ulps (ultra low power state) mode so an impact on battery life can be expected. I expect that future drivers/updates to windows will fix this.
-I installed other Windows 8/8.1 drivers/Sony vaio care/update/control center from https://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SVZ1311C5E (avoiding graphics drivers/drivers of things that were already working).

For completeness, I have listed the filenames of all the Sony-provided installation files that I tried/used; there are a few that are not needed/wrong versions, but I cannot remember which. I remember that either the VaioCare or Vaio Control Center installations stated a "Newly (sic.) version was already installed" when it was not, so I tried other versions of the software from other laptop model download pages until it worked (the filename will be listed below). Some apps were automatically updated during or soon after installation and I let those automatic updates go ahead.

-AUAOTH-00266716-0042.exe
-AUDFPD-00264020-0042.exe
-AUDFPD-80275394-0082.exe
-SOAVCC-80271939-0082.EXE
-SOAVUD-80278339-0080.exe
-SOASSL-00270315-0082.EXE
-SOAVPM-P0320418-0102.EXE
-EP0000310299.exe
-EP0000318068.exe
-EP0000307234.zip
-Authentec__Fingerprint__Driver.zip
-Sony_Firmware_Extension_Parser_Device_Driver_8.0.1.2.zip (I did not not get this from the specific Sony support page for my laptop, and required manual "update drivers" for outstanding yellow exclamation marks in Device manager). Although I could install vaio control center without this, it seems to be needed for the touch buttons and full functions such as battery care/fan control options to appear in the control center. Some functions in vaio control center only appeared after a restart. Looking back in retrospect, SODOTH-00264792-0042.exe from the actual support page for my laptop model might have worked, but I haven't checked it.

Version numbers:
Synaptics 19.0.15.2
Vaio Care 8.4.0.14286
Vaio control center 6.0.1.08290
Vaio data restore 1.9.0.13190
Vaio smart network 3.14.1.07010 (I am unable to install this once installed, but I think I prefer the nice built in toggles in Win 10!)
AuthenTec TrueSuite 5.2.0.675
AuthenTex WinBio Fingerprint software 3.2.1.1030

Overclock:
-EVGA_PrecisionX_Setup_421.zip

I hope that this helps people thinking about upgrading to Windows 10, but based on the above, this is clearly most suited to people who don't mind a bit of (un)installing drivers/software and a bit a trial and error. It took me 3-4 days to get to a state where all of the features I use and value are in working order. Had I failed to achieve this, then I would have been returning to Windows 7. As things stand I will be happily sticking with Windows 10 until I see a new laptop that presents a substantial enough of an upgrade from my trusty slice of carbon fibre goodness.

 

@orionz The AMD chip in the PMD can be comfortably overclocked (see above). Indeed when overclocked it outperforms the GeForce GT 640M LE that you mentioned (Passmark score of just shy of 1000 vs 784 for the GT 640M LE). I have also been considering the eGPU solution you have in place, though the GPU isn't the limiting factor for the Dolphin games that my laptop struggles with the most (I have a PS4 for newer games). I wish that I had opted for the i7 vs the i5 now, but I hadn't bargained on this laptop lasting as long as it has with such strong performance, or even that I would have been able to think about playing games on it!

 

Thanks for all the WIN 10 tips...I am about to give it a try myself...good to know that you have been able to overcome all the problems with the Sony proprietary drivers...and how you did it! Yours is the most detailed analysis of that problem that I have seen.

And yes the AMD chip in the PMD really can be overclocked a whole lot...I was getting numbers similar to yours before going the egpu route. It's a bit of a kludge...but the performance gains are nothing short of amazing. Your experience may differ somewhat as you will be cpu bound sooner with your I5 than I am with my I7.

I have the 640MLE in an SVS that I own and you're right in it's native config it's about the same as the AMD but...it too can be overclocked with a BIOS mod (and ONLY with the BIOS mod) that gives back all the performance Sony locked away (hence the LE designation) to get better battery numbers in the SVS series. It also carries an extra GB of video memory...though the effect of that is arguable.

Sony made a LOT of compromises in these babies to make them "better" spec wise...which in many cases crippled otherwise amazing machines! Glad some others are out there on the bleeding edge keeping these machines fresh! Nothing out there yet that really compares!

 

Do you guys think it's silly to get the SVZ1311C5E (i7 3612QM) for around 860 USD now?

 

A lot depends on what you're going to do with it but if you read my post on the previous page it will give you a pretty good idea of the strengths (many) and weaknesses ( a few) of these great little machines.

I would say the 3612QM/8GB RAM configuration is a must. I would also say that the 256GB SSD is highly recommended but if you get the 128 the upgrade is fairly low cost 125USD on ebay. I would say that 860 USD is about right for the 3612/8GB/256GB configuration. A 13chxxi which has the 512GB ssd sold yesterday for $990.

Also...what kind of condition is it in? does the screen have blemishes? Changing a screen is NOT for the faint of heart! Has it been dropped? Damage to one of the corners of the screen or lower case is a sure sign of this. It's not a deal breaker as these machines are overbuilt by Sony...but I sure wouldn't pay $860 for a machine with damage. Does it come with a Power Media Dock? If you want to play any kind of games you will need one. The HD4000 is not worth much in that area anymore. It also adds a bunch of extra ports you might find useful.

My thoughts for what they are worth!

 

Thanks for the reply.

I got a Vaio Z11 right now, I think that's the name anyway. Late 2010, I'm thinking. I love the laptop, really, the display is amazing, so is the keyboard and the size generally, obviously. But I feel like the i5 M460 is falling behind a bit, since it can struggle with YouTube videos at times and such. Not to mention the intelgrated gpu is dreadful (can't even do a game like HL1) so I have to rely on the nVidia 330m for alot of things, which I switch to with dynamic drivers that are dated 2011 or something - lol. It's my understanding that the HD4000 should do better in that area? I'm thinking old games such as Half-Life etc and more simple indie games like Rimworld.

I also do video-editing sometimes, rendering and all that. Gaming is not really much of a thing these days for me, I got a desktop that can do most. The occasional nostalgic video game is mainly my thing, not the latest titles. For example, I recently begun playing Oblivion.

It is with a 512GB SSD. Bought in Aug 2012 and used for 11 months but since then unused, allegedly. Listed as "used by looks like new". Seller says Vaio CP reports battery state as "excellent", and it comes with the sheet battery.

The article didn't state anything about PMD but I asked about it and the person said I could have it for "free" (the 860 usd was without the PMD) but the idiot had tried to disassemble the PMD plug in order to attempt using it in another laptop (????) but he thinks with some "tape or glue" it should be made to work again, although I've no idea.

This is how it looks:


Also, I'm located in Nothern Europe, I got a feeling that things are more expensive here (when it comes to price comparisons), sellers says he spent ca. 3600 usd on it back in 2012.

 

Sorry I didn't reply earlier.

I have to say that it LOOKS like it was only used for a few months...from what I see it LOOKS almost new! The PMD condition is a not a problem unless you are really tight for money. They are about 100USD on ebay. EXCELLENT battery state is a good start. But I have two rated EXCELLENT...one last one hour...one lasts almost TWO hours. What that tells you is that the battery is NOT dead. Not much else. 512GB hard drive is a HUGE plus. Based on cosmetic condition of the machine...which I believe tells you a lot about these machines...it will likely be good for a couple of years.

This machine will make your Z11 look sloooowwwww. I say buy it. It's your call...but since you asked my advice...

 

Moving to Windows 10
Could someone help before I take the plunge.
I have a VPCZ21 as a back-up machine and I installed Win10. The problems come with the PMD. It only sees the one external montitor connected to the HDMI of the laptop with the Intel card. If I deactivate the Intel Card through the Device Manager then the HDMI and VGA monitors connected to the PMD work. But I cannot have both video cards and the 3 external monitors function at the same time.
Most other problems are more or less ok.
Is the SVZ working better than the VPCZ2 with Win 10?
I am stilll not convinced of the utility to upgrade, your opinions are welcome

 

So I bought it.. Indeed very fast! I'm not very impressed with the keyboard compared to my old Z.. not so much touchpad either.. I'll probably adjust. Screen is still great but colors seem more green-ish than the Z.. Might be a matter of habit as well... (Anyone got any tips regarding color calibration or?)..

The PMD the machine came with is sadly f*cked. The person who had it threw it in "for free" (because I mentioned if he had it) but he had opened the plug itself and cut the cables to the power plug in an attempt to use the USB 3.0-lightpeak-plug in another computer where the powerplug was in the way. Tried to solder the powercables together again but it was futile. Then I tried supplying the PMD with power and plugging it into the laptop running on battery but nothing happened... so yeah, if anyone got a PMD with bluray for sale, lemme know . I also have a problem with the speakers, making a small hiss or squal at times, depending on being muted or unmuted. Using the latest realtek drivers helped but not completely... bit of a bummer..

I'd still like to think my money weren't all poorly spent, atleast the machine is fast compared to my old dual core.. and it's sooo light and pretty

 

Congrats on the purchase. The keyboard on the SVZ's & Z2's has a very shallow travel compared to the Z1's because they are so thin. So many of the compromises Sony made in the Z2/Z3 were to produce a laptop that weighed no more than a tablet...I still amaze tablet owners with how light this thing is! I think you will get used to the different feel. The tpad is notorious...and not in a good way. Some have tried different drivers than the Sony OEM ones. I use the Sony drivers and live with it. I have always found the screens in these machines to be pretty true to color. Most others do too. Color can be adjusted thru the Intel control panel accessed by right clicking on an unused part of the desktop. Then click VIDEO to access color controls.

PMD's can be purchased on Ebay for about $120 to $150...if you want the bluray reader look for a PRZ20B. The PRZ20C has only the cd/dvd burner. OR buy the C model and swap out the drive it's not really hard if you don't mind working with a bunch of tiny screws. By the way the PMD for the VPCZ2 and SVZ are identical so don't worry about which one you buy. Here is a link to a C model on Ebay right now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-VPCZ2-...9dd18d9&pid=100033&rk=1&rkt=4&sd=262191687579

I'd offer him $100...but that's just me!

 

I think I've gotten ok used to the touchpad. Not so much the keyboard, but I'll adjust I guess. Same with screen, maybe. Otherwise I can try some color calibration. The brightness of screen isnt as good as my old Z either but I knew that going in. In short, I like everything despite the CPU, SSD on my old Z better but I guess it's a worthy sacrifice for the performance boost.

Also, the PMD works. It was messy, I couldn't solder the power plug back onto the cables so if I wanna use the PMD I need to plug in the laptop in its own PSU and the PMD into its own PSU as well. Makes the whole thing a bit less portable lol but I guess it's better than spending money on a new one lol, they're hard to come by in my region. On the plus side I guess I don't need a the big PSU for the PMD.. Just a small one for each device

Orionz, what do you do with GPU drivers? Just using the stock ones from sony (2012)? Ive messed around with them a bit, I think I can only settle on Sony Intel GPU driver and then I updated to AMD 14.4 on the PMD. Seems to work ok.

 

Hello, any SVZ owners who have successfully upgraded WiFi to 802.11ac? If so, which card? Is there a wlan BIOS whitelist to worry about?

Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk

 

What battery life are you guys seeing without the sheet? Coming from an old VPCZ, altho with a 9 cell battery, that had a battery life of 6 hours if not even more, sometimes (and it has 22% wear!) - the SVZ isn't doing too great... and I take, or can take, a lot of power saving measures such as keeping the cpu clock very low etc.

I started a battery eater test, on idle with wifi off and min brightness. It's not done but the estimate seems somewhat accurate according to my experiences:



The battery has 13% wear.

The Notebookcheck review of this laptop model says they got 7½ hours or so, in the same environment.

 

Sure is a shame nobody ever got around to make a BIOS hack for this laptop. Honestly, all I wanna take care of is the cpu whine which is making me descend into madness

 

My GPU drivers are a kludge because I'm using a eGPU as well as the Intel and the AMD. I'm running the latest Intel drivers for the HD 4000. I'm using the Catalyst UnifL 14.4 drivers for the AMD chip...see this link:

http://leshcatlabs.net/2014/05/11/leshcats-catalyst-14-4-whql-unifl-v1-3/

And then I'm using the latest NVIDIA drivers for my GTX980ti.

I didn't find that drivers made much of a difference to my performance. I was on the stock Sony unified drivers for a long time...but revamped all that when I went to the eGPU.

Glad you got the PMD to work...I was afraid your seller might have managed to cut the fiberoptic cables embedded in the USB section of the plug.

I don't know what to tell you about the cpu whine...never had that. But I HAVE had to clean the cpu fans on every machine I've owned. The cpu fans are critical because of their small size and the amount of heat to be dissipated. I also had to replace the thermal interface compound on the gpu and cpu on one machine where it had hardened into the consistency of concrete! Cleaning the fans is pretty easy...just remove the bottom plate. Repasting the chips is much more difficult as you have to completely pull the motherboard to do it. The mobo has got a million tiny connections to be removed and reconnected.

Your battery life sounds about right...there's not a lot of battery there...it's another thing Sony did to produce a 2.2 pound machine (the surface pro is 2 pounds) so we've got a laptop that's the same weight as a tablet aand sporting a quad core chip. I can get one full length movie from Netflix or from a file on the SSD out of mine...that's it. And that's using my best battery with 16.4% wear.

Yes it's a shame that Pyro never had a chance to hack our BIOS like he did for the Z2. A Z3 hack was talked about a lot but never materialized.

All in all...it's pretty amazing to still be using a machine that was sold almost 4 years ago that's in a weight class with a TABLET and that still has the power to do almost anything you can ask of it. Most lappy's from 2012 are flower pots. I'm waiting/hoping that the new (non-Sony) VAIO's will catch up. I'd love to see one with Skylake and Thunderbolt!

Hope some of that helps...

 

I have not done this personally. BUT I have seen one on Ebay that was advertised to have that mod. There is no whitelist that I know of. And changing the card is easy....just remove the bottom plate and it's right in front of you. Only two antenna leads tho...

 

In my Dell xps 15 9530 I just swapped out the ac7260 for an ac7265 because I had so much trouble with it. So I want to stay away from the mini pcie version of ac7260. Looking at alternatives I found bcm4352(=Dell DW1550) and some ralink half mini pcie. I think I am going to go with the bcm4352 to replace the stock Intel 6235. I will let you know how it goes.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

I use the AC7260 in my SVZ, never had any problems with the update. Solid card, although from what I've read certain driver versions caused issues, but I never have experienced any of them.

 

--snip--

 

Hi I just installed a DW1550 802.11AC card in my svz. Works great with broadcom drivers from station-drivers.com. Bluetooth also fine. I love seeing 866Mbit/s when close to my router. The end effect is that I will get full internet bandwidth in most rooms in my house.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Does Vaio Smart Network work ok with the AC7260 in your SVZ? Did you have to tape any of the pins 20 or 51?

My DW1550 aka BCM4352 does not work well with Vaio Smart Network, when I turn off just WLAN, nothing happens. If I turn off all wireless all goes to hell: WWAN, WLAN and bluetooth turn off as expected. But when reenabling wireless, only WWAN and bluetooth come back on. WLAN will not come back on. Even from the Windows mobility center I cannot turn it back on. I actually have to remove the battery to regain Wifi functionality in this scenario. I could live with knowing that I cannot turn off all wireless but I cannot sell the laptop like this if I want to at some point.

@Qwaarjet: if you could confirm that the AC7260 works with Vaio Smart Network the way the stock N-6235 did, it would be very helpful and I will also install that card. Thank you.

 

Are there any companies that will currently sell parts or complete repair for a Z3? I have a broken right hinge and bottom case that requires repair. I suppose I can do the repair if I had the parts. Sony's authorized repair center will not repair this as Sony is now out of the repair business. Any direction here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

OK, I'd love to hear some nice feedback on this subject.

I still got my old VPCZ13m9e, and I like the laptop very much - especially the display. So I thought; are the SVZ1311C5E and VPCZ13M9E displays interchangeable? I found @ngvuanh 's post saying so:

Does this mean that, if I can get these things disassembled and all that, I can swap the displays and it'll work? The colors/whitebalance, brightness and resolution of the VPCZ display are vastly superior. 1600x900 simply works better for me.


and if I got that far, I was thinking I might as well fix the capacitor whine problem I got with my SVZ. Known problem with c-states, and all that... I found this picture of the motherboard from a 2011 Vaio Z (i5) which might be different.. but could the capacitor highlighted red likely be the one connected to the cpu which makes noise at times? If so, I've learned that covering it with some correct epoxy glue could silence the noise.

 

I've done this repair on several of the Z's I've owned. I use a quick setting metal reinforced epoxy glue (trade name Liquid Metal) to stabilize the brass barrel that the screw threads into. Usually works brilliantly as long as the screw is not over tightened when being installed...and if you never ever open the laptop without all the screws installed! IF the screw in the hinge is loose or is the only one holding the hinge when the lappy is opened...it's guaranteed to break the glue and or whatever is left of the plastic column the barrel is set into. Access is easy after you remove the bottom cover. PM me if you want me to try it on yours. Usually a 10 minute job but you would have to be comfortable sending me you machine. I also have a spare bottom plate. Lemme kno....

 

I suspect it will work. Some Z2's came with the 1660x900 panel and I wouldn't be surprised if some Z3's had them too...although here in the states I think they all had the 1080p panel. Long story made short...you're gonna have to try and find out! IF the large multiconnector that connects the screen to the mobo works I think all else will work. That connector will be the determining factor.

I have done a screen change on a Z2...replaced it with an identical panel. Getting the screen out and back in is detail work. Lots of it. You should not have to disassemble the mobo BUT disassembling the top cover that holds the screen is NOT for the faint of heart. I can provide written advice but no way I'm gonna take one of mine apart to make a how to video. Sorry!

 

Thanks for the reply. I've since learned that Mikjoa - who made a post in 2011 describing the exact same dislike for the SVZ monitor - did indeed do a switch from his VPCZ to SVZ. He told me that the bezel holding the screen is very flexible so instead of taking apart the top part of the bezel, which he found different, he could slide the display out and slide in the other one by lifting the sides of the bezel, as I understand it.

I understand why you don't wanna make a tutorial on how to. I wish just one person had done that through all these years, though

 

Bezel IS fragile. I could slide out...but sliding IN is harder. I ended up removing bezel...it's held in place by two screws at the bottom and snaps around the periphery. Snapping it back in place is straightforward. But popping it OUT if not done VERY carefully results in a broken bezel.

 

That is quite a risk. I'm contemplating asking if someone who is experienced with changing laptop displays could do it, but I wonder if the SVZ is fragile enough for any other person to likely f*ck it up as well. Maybe if I could do it without popping it out around the top area, the risk would be minimized? Is there any tool good for popping out the plastic in general?

 

LOL! How much would you charge!

 

I found a used Vaio Z2 and replaced the screen mount and bottom case without much of a problem. There is some slight pixel depression marks on the screen that hopefully will correct itself. If not, I found a SVZ131190x (same as my laptop) from a sale ad in Indiana that was very inexpensive. The motherboard on that unit had failed. I had a buddy pick that one up and now have a full compliment of replacement parts if, and when, needed. I am looking to keep my Vaio Z3 running for the next few years as changing out business laptops is a pain. Even though I have a Dell XPS 13 9343, it is loaded with Windows 10 Pro. I am not a fan due to the loss of XP mode. I have Win7Pro on my Vaio and it has XP mode installed and it is a true 8 core system.