Official NEW SVZ Z series Owners Lounge

Thanks to everyone who tested if the Z supports higher resolutions than 1920*1200 via HDMI. However, the Dell U3011 monitor is limited to 1920*1200 input via HDMI, even though it's supposedly version 1.3 (1.3 supports up to 2560*1600 with a high speed/cat 2 cable). I'm still thinking the Z3 might support higher resolutions via its HDMI port, is anyone able to test it with a HDMI to dual channel DVI adapter?

Thanks also to those who tested if it supports more than one screen - the ridiculous thing here is that the DEFAULT behavior of Windows 7 is to support more than one external monitor. This is a limit that Sony have applied to the laptop themselves. For whatever obscure reason.

 

Interesting that my results are fairly different.

PassMark Rating: 2734.9

CPU Mark: 8075.8
CPU - Integer Math: 2240.5
CPU - Floating Point Math: 4228.7
CPU - Find Prime Numbers: 1022.8
CPU - SSE: 34.6
CPU - Compression: 9731.8
CPU - Encryption: 26.5
CPU - Physics: 460.9
CPU - String Sorting: 5255.7

2D Graphics Mark: 736.4
Graphics 2D - Solid Vectors: 6.2
Graphics 2D - Transparent Vectors: 5.9
Graphics 2D - Complex Vectors: 130.5
Graphics 2D - Fonts and Text: 189.3
Graphics 2D - Windows Interface: 94.3
Graphics 2D - Image Filters: 387.8
Graphics 2D - Image Rendering: 627.5

3D Graphics Mark: 488.6
Graphics 3D - Simple: 503.6
Graphics 3D - Medium: 148.5
Graphics 3D - Complex: 51.4
Graphics 3D - DirectX 10: 7.4

Memory Mark: 2083.9
Memory - Allocate Small Block: 6069.0
Memory - Read Cached: 2499.9
Memory - Read Uncached: 2441.4
Memory - Write: 2343.7
Memory - Large RAM: 5084.0

Disk Mark: 7109.5
Disk - Sequential Read: 927.5
Disk - Sequential Write: 424.7
Disk - Random Seek + RW: 613.6
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System Summary
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Windows 7 (64-bit)
Intel Core i7-3612QM @ 2.10GHz
8089 MB RAM
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
238GB HDD


System Information
System Name: BRIAN-VAIO
Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit)
Motherboard Manufacturer: Sony Corporation
Motherboard Model: VAIO
Motherboard Version: N/A
BIOS Manufacturer: Insyde Corp.
BIOS Version: R0091C6
BIOS Release Date: 05/07/2012

CPU Information
Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
Type: Intel Core i7-3612QM @ 2.10GHz
Number of CPU's: 1
Cores per CPU: 4
Hyperthreading: Enabled
Measured Speed: 2095.9 MHz
Multiplier: 21X
L1 Instruction Cache: 4 x 32 KB
L1 Data Cache: 4 x 32 KB
L2 Cache Size: 4 x 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB

Memory Information
Total Physical Memory: 8089 MB RAM
Available Physical Memory: 6133 MB RAM
Slot 1: 4096MB
Slot 2: 4096MB
Virtual Memory: C:\pagefile.sys (8089 MB)

Disk Information
Drive Letter (Number): C (Physical drive 0)
Model Number: Unknown
Disk Size (Free space): 209.6 GBytes (103.2 GBytes)
Disk Cluster Size: 4 KBytes
File System: NTFS

Video Adapters
Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Chip Type: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
DAC Type: Internal
Memory: 2112MB
Video BIOS: Intel Video BIOS
Driver Provider: Intel Corporation
Driver Version: 8.15.10.2696
Driver Date: 3-19-2012
Monitor 1: 1920x1080x32 60Hz (Primary monitor)

 

Guys, whats your boot time?

 

30 seconds to load all the programs (12) in notification area and for Chrome to start, and 3 seconds to wake from sleep with Rapid Wake on.

The machine is 5 days old, so not sure if boot time will increase over time, but finally a Windows machine with faster boot up and wake time than a macbook.

 

Did you manage to get a quote for this?

Interested in the base model Z, but only if I can upgrade the ram to 8gb after market...

 

30 sec? Are you sure? My 3 years old SSD loads Win 7 in 17 sec. And its only SATA II with something like 220/180mb/sec rates.

I expected to see something like 10 sec

 

You can't. 10char

 

With all the start-up programs loaded (12 of them), takes 30 sec. That is fast enough for me, beside I found the quick wake time much more useful.

You could disable BIOS load screen to save 5 sec, I'm also logging with fingerprint reader so there is another 2 to 5 sec delay.

 

from power button to login screen for me it's 11 seconds. It's not a clean install or fresh start option either. So could probably be better.

 

That`s more like it should be. Clean install would give sub 10 sec which is amazing.

 

Amazing

 

I just found there is an area of indentation in my keyboard. it covers 3 keys wide and 5 keys down between F8 to F11. It seems to be a cosmetic issues, I only found out since the F10 key start to lean on one side.

It is difficult since the keyboard is very shallow, but you can make out the indentation when looking down laptop eyes level with the keyboard.

Does anybody else noticed similar issuers?

 

The battery usage on this machine is terrible while streaming Netflix movies. I have the quad-core version.

I started watching a Netflix movie with the battery indicator at 96%. I put the computer in the power saving mode, and by the end of the 90 mins. movie, I was down to 15%.

I also own a z21, and on that machine, Netflix was always laggy ... I would have to put the machine in the performance mode in battery power to get rid of "laggyness" (this is without the PMD). Also on the older machine the fans would spin up and become very loud on Netflix.

On a positive note, this machine is much cooler that he older one, as judged by fan performance, and the integrated graphics are much better.

I wonder if any of you are observing similar runtimes on Netflix ?

 

17 seconds to useable desktop with fingerprint reader.

 

I'd say that's more Netflix's fault, or Flash Player or whatever they're using.
Streaming a movie just shouldn't tax CPU/gpu that much.
Just saying, Netflix.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to take that into account.

 

Bought in the UK online from Sony's store last week, lucky enough to get the processor upgrade for free.

Getting i7QM, 8Gb, 256Gb, 1080p, Carbon Black.

(While I don't need it I note you can get WWAN which I saw someone here complaining wasn't available? Maybe that's just state side.)

Received an email on Friday night saying the build was complete and it would now be shipped to a European forwarding centre.

Upgrading from an Acer 3935 which I'd put a 256Gb SSD and 8Gb RAM into, but with only an (overworked) dual core P8600 processor I'm looking at an ~5x increase in processing power, not to mention hi-res display, HD4000, USB 3.0 etc

I do mostly Software Project Management work (and a lot of travel), but more often than not some software development too, which requires some decent performance - I'll be running a dev virtual machine on this, hence Quad Core will allow me to dedicate cores to the dev machine. I would have loved another 4-8Gb of RAM, but I'll take what I can get for now! Suits my needs perfectly for mobility and performance (which ultrabooks just can't do).

Needless to say I'm quite excited about my new toy - hopefully this week!

Oh and a funny/scary story for you guys, I wandered into the Sony Store on Tottenham Court Road the other day to get a hands on for what I had just invested in - they only had the entry level Z2 (last year's i5 Sandy Bridge model) on display and get this - the price tag: £2200

High street robbery, buyer beware.

 

Did anyone notice an irregular intermittent electrical buzzing noise coming from the machine?

I only noticed it as I was examining the keyboard closely, I don't think its the fan. The machine works fine without any problems, I've also ran diagnosis tools in Vaio Care and the machine passed every test.

 

This reminds me of Dell 13 XPS ultrabook problem discussed widely in Dell forum here....

 

Thanks for the quick reply, going to head over there to found out.

 

Do a search there. This guy had Dell come out twice, replaced half of the laptop and still had this issue.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...ook-review-owners-thread-159.html#post8530312

 

Thanks very much for the link, I'll mention it to the warranty department tomorrow when I book the machine in to have the keyboard fixed.

The repair should take 5 days, if the problem still there, I'll ask for a replacement as the machine will still be within the 30 days return/replacement time frame.

 

It is possible to output 2560x1440 and 2560x1600 from SVZ to those Dells by using bog standard HDMI -> DVI adapter - with one limit: 35 Hz.

All you need to do is to install the patched .inf file - see ComputerCowboy's post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...ithout-vidock-works-but-i-need-some-help.html

I am running my SVZ on Dell 2711 and Dell 3011 without problems.

It does not matter whether you use built-in HDMI port or PMD HDMI port for output - just connect it to the monitor's DVI input with the adapter, and install the above mentioned .inf file(s).

 

Does it alternate in frequency also - almost a high C note and then jumps to a high G note and then pulses and then drops back to C when idle ? And also appears to originate close to the left side near the fans? Stays at the G frequency when cpu active.
Think I have the same. Hadnt realised it was the unit as my flat screen monitors also make a slight very highpitched wine until I read your comment and then tested the unit with everything else switched off.

 

Stevez830, if you use Bitlocker with Windows Ultimate and enable TPM, can you use the fingerprint at bios/power on instead of a password?
Will windows login ask you to authenticate a second time to login ? ThankS

 

Hi
The BIOS/Power on password is controlled by the TPM device itself. When you set up the TPM (via Bitlocker) it creates a 48 bit key that is held in the TPM module and also copied to a USB stick and/or printed for safe keeping. When the unit powers on its checks the Bios and other things such as the hard driveid, motherboard id etc (I think there are 12 tests) and if all are the same as the last recorded it then starts up windows and decrypts the hard disk and you get the normal login which can either be password or fingerprint reader (can switch between each as required). If the TPM check fails then it will ask for the usb stick to be inserted and will read that or if not available you can type in the 48 bit key. The intention of the TPM is to do all the security work behind the scenes and only decrypt the disk and get to the normal windows sign on if everything checks out. So the only purpose of the windows login/fingerprint reader login is to provide windows access level security.
Hope this helps

 

My Vaio Z arrived today. Have to say it's a really impressive machine, so light and thin.

Now it's time to get my hands dirty: checking out all pre-installed software and settings, making recovering media, figuring out a clean installation path and installing Windows 8 from scratch, ... no time for sleep now.

But I didn't get any noise cancelling earbuds with it. Is this not for Belgian customers? Only the laptop and adapter were included, no extras.

 

How thin is it ?

 

The buzzing noise sounds like low volume dial-up modem, it is loudest around the letter G. Sony UK support is upgrading its system yesterday and today, so I was not able to request a repair. I'll post their finding once I get the machine back, as I don't believe this is normal since this is not an interference or charging issue.

 

I'm in the UK, no ear buds was included in my box either, I don't really mind as I prefer my own earphones anyway.

Same as my finger, slightly thinker than the macbook air.

 

I got mine last friday and like yours there were no earbuds in the box. I'm from the Netherlands btw. But they didn't say anything about them on the Dutch sony store and in the specs either, so i wasn't expecting them anyway.

I'm thinking about doing a clean install in a few days (don't know if i'll install Win 7 or 8 yet), when i'm free for a couple of days. I haven't really looked into the necessary drivers and bios settings (UEFI and stuff) needed for a clean install. I'm looking forward to your findings on installing Win8 on the Z. Including making a backup (creating of a Recovery Media).

 

I've installed Win 8 on my Z, UEFI and all, Intel 4000 HD beta drivers.
All working quite well, but it eats battery like crazy: after half a day on stand by and 1 hour if use, I'm down to 38% battery, which doesn't seem right. CPU load is 0% or 1% at idle, fan nice and quiet.
Any one got any ideas?

 

I also got mine last Friday (hello!), been lurking here for the last few months.

Having a bit of an issue loading the RAID drivers for a clean install. Only the Marvell ones appear on the search and it doesn't say they're compatible.

Running off the recovery discs (verified after burning) it says there's no recovery partition or disc (although it's there). Corrupted recover partition? I'd like to get rid of it anyway.

Mine also makes a noise when the SSD access LED comes on. I'm UK based.

 

Not sure if this helps but I noticed there are two sets of RAID drivers available for download here;
Sony : SVZ1311C5E updates | Download updates for SVZ1311C5E
(Sony UK - Pre-installed Drivers and Utilities -> Windows 7)

I think the one you're looking for is called Intel® Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller

It says the Marvell ones are for the docking station only apparently (?)

Good luck, and let me know, I'll be doing a clean build when mine arrives too.

 

When did you run into difficulties? I just deleted all partitions, booted in uefi mode and the raid 0 array was discovered without any problems by Win 8's setup....

 

Can someone please post photos of the premium glossy carbon lid. Does it look similar to the glossy carbon lid as the Z2? Thanks.

 

I'm sticking with Win 7- it asks for a RAID driver in order to change the partitions (or a CD/DVD driver if booting from the Win 7 disk).

The intel driver is an .exe rather than a .dll so it doesn't seem to see it when you point the windows installation to it.

Did you use fdisk to wipe it?

 

Here's one- I didn't actually expect it to be glossy, the man on the phone said it was matte

 

No, just deleted partitions with DISKPART.
I'm happy with transfer rates though (see pic).

 

I am freaking out here guys, I just ordered the i7 with 256 gb, it's coming in tomorrow but with all your posts you have me crazy worried because I bought this laptop for the battery life!!!!!

How is it possible that all the reviews of this laptop showed so much better battery life than you are all getting? This is scary. I don't want to have to return it nor do I want to get the sheet battery, I spent so much time selling myself on this laptop because of the phenomenal battery life!

 

I asked this question in the main Sony forum, but I figured that I would have a better chance getting an answer here. Is there a noticeable difference between the Intel HD 4000 graphic performance and the radeon GPU in the dock? I saw the gaming review on mobiletechreview without the dock. Would the graphic performance be better with the dock?

Thanks

 

I'm getting 4 to 4.5 hr battery life without the slice battery on the quad core Z3. Using BatteryBar Pro, the machine is using around 10Wh on WIFI with 60% screen brightness doing general office tasks and web browsing.

With the slice battery, it seems I can get over 10 hrs, although I have not used the machine for that long in one go.

If you really need to use the machine for more than 5 hrs the slice battery is a good choice, it weight about the same as the charger and is much more versatile.

 

Why such low write rate?

 

I confirm that two monitors cannot be connected without a PMD.

 

I'm not sure if Intel Rapid Storage is working properly for me....

 

What are you expecting to do on battery and how long for? I set mine to power saving mode and have just returned from a full day of meetings taking notes on it checking emails updating times sheets etc so about 6 hours actual use time and even had one guy in the meeting comment at 5pm "how the heck this laptop kept going for so long". Still had 20% left and no I do not have the sheet battery and did not take the power adaptor as I wanted the unit amongst other things for its lightness, power and long life on battery as I walk 3 miles from the station and then 3 miles back again. So dont want weight at all. Took the adaptor the first time I used as was not not sure how long it would really last but havent again. First couple of times battery life was shorter but after a few charge cycles it is excellent.
Obviously everyones demands on the unit will be different but the long battery life can only be achieved on these devices on power saving mode and certainly meets my expectations. Note - I also have the I7 with 256GB btw

 

Hello there so what did Sony say about that pimple under the memory slot. I just recieved my unit today and unfortunately there is also a bump like yours. I'm gonna call them tommorow.

On the other note, I got the 1080p display... Is it normal to have pinkish tint when viewing from an angle?

 

If the dimples not there now, it will be in the future. It will either bend inward or outward. I have yet to own a Z21 22 or now Z3 that has not done this. Just a weak spot in the design.

 

Hi? I've recently purchased new SVZ. But from where I live (Korea) I don't get a chance to have my SVZ with "Fresh Start" option. So I wonder, is it possible to purchase "recovery disk with fresh start option for SVZ"? Mine came with Windows 7 64-bit professional, but there's no option to setup my Z in fresh start status" when I run recovery tool. Can I purchase one directly from Sony USA? If anyone has any knowledge on it, please help me out where I can purchase it from.

Thanks!

 

this interests those people who are clean-installing Windows on their hard drivers or SSDs and, hence, lose their pre-installed Adobe applications (Acrobar, Photoshop, Premier) and the Blu-ray playback software (PowerDVD). i have managed to recover those applications from the recovery partition on the factory-shipped hard drive so one can use them later on after clean-installing Windows. i have posted a step-by-step guide here. i hope you find it useful.