Official Sony VAIO TT Series Owners Thread

Does anybody know what type (manufacturer, dimension and connection type) is a 128 GB SSD disc in Vaio TT?

 

Here's an article comparing the performance of vista 32 and 64: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2280808,00.asp

To be honest, I don't think you'd see much of a difference in day to day use. From this article & others I've read, my impression is that 64 bit provides a benefit for heavy-duty computational tasks, but not much of a difference otherwise -- & will you be really using your TT for heavy duty computing?

 

In a similar vein, trying out Windows 7 Beta - I found that the 32bit is a lot quicker than the 64bit on my TT. Yes its a beta, but the 64bit version seemed very 'sluggish' if you could call it that in a technical term.

Do we think this could be a similar result for Vista or leave it, because Windows 7 is still in Beta?!

I have switched back to Vista though until Windows 7 gets released - nothing really gained for the short term with Windows 7 that I didnt have after a clean Vista install and a few very minor tweaks - that, and overall system stability. Windows 7 GUI in particular still has a fair few annoying 'beta version' bugs that need ironing out before I will use it as my main OS

(Runs well on the TT though - 32bit version that is, and I had everything, including function keys working )

 

On Adobe web page about Photoshop CS4 system requirements it stands:
"1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)"

Is it possible Photoshop CS4 cannot be installed for example on Vaio TT 128 GB SSD? It is flash-based storage device.

 

They might be referring to being installed onto a thumb drive (like you can do with other apps)?

Tried calling Adobe for clarification?

 

Just called to Adobe. You are right, it have nothing to do with system SSD/Flash disc. They mean external flash drives like pen drive.
Thank you.

 

somebody tried the Windows 7 7048 64b on TT ?
I don't know if all will works properly ...

 

Can the optical disk be swapped out with a BlueRay drive at a later time?
Also where is the best place to buy a LG battery? THNXS

 

I got my new TT

It is TT21XN/B, Carbon Black, 1.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD. It feel little bit sturdier compared to my TZ11.

 

Congrats!! I'm jealous of the SSD!

 

It is my first computer with SSD disc. At the moment I am really impressed how fast applications are starting. Startup time of Vista is fast too, even I still not make clean install.

At the moment I saw only one minus compared to my TZ. White balance of screen in TT is much warmer compared to TZ. In TZ white is white but on TT is like Kodak photo, white is little bit to much reddish and oranges. It is clearly visible when I put two computers side by side. I was trying Color Mode Settings in Vaio Control Center, switching between 'Standard', 'TV', 'DVD/BD' and 'Do not apply color mode' and it is completely no difference between this settings. So, not found solution.

 

I noticed the same trend with my Z; alot of red push. Maybe you can find a friend with a color calibrator (eyeone, spyder, etc) and have them run it for you. The change will be dramatic.

Interestingly however, my girlfriend's FW with the fullHD display had a nearly perfect calibration. Before and after were indistinguishable, while on the Z they were Dramatic.

 

I heard about Spyder calibrator. I am interested which parameters this calibrator regulates. If I will know I will try do it manually before I found person who own it.

 

@ark1: I have the spyder2express. Here are pictures of before and after calibration. The original screen is more bluish. The calibrated screen is more warm. Can't really tell you what it has done, except that it is based on Gamma 2.2.

Before Calibration:




After calibration"

 

What it does is it measures the color intensity of slides which it displays on the screen, as well as grayscale gamma, and it creates a color correction map (.icm profile) which it loads into windows at start-up.

There is no way to do this manually.

 

Can anyone confirm or deny if the TT (Mine has the U9300 1.2Ghz CPU) can run a VM?

I need to know before I go wiping off Vista in favour of Ubuntu as I will need to run an XP virtual machine for MS Visual Studio - (which does not work at all under wine )

Thats the deal clincher for me going to Ubuntu on this thing - as long as I can run a VM (probably going to use VM Ware server as I prefer it's interface and I like the VM Tools as well)

Thanks!

 

On mine TZ11MN with 2 GB RAM and Vista Busines Virtual PC was working very well. I run in it Ubuntu and XP. I think VMware will running even better. Not trying on TT - yet but I think all should be OK.
Correct me: Do You going to install Ubuntu on TT as your main OS? If you need MS Visual Studio why you switch to Ubuntu? Maby dual boot is good choice for You? I was trying on TZ with Vista this:
Run Ubuntu as VM in Virtual PC. In Ubuntu starting Netbeans IDE and speed was not impressive so I think Visual Studio - a massive software - will have similar problem in XP VM under Ubuntu.

 

Hey guys and girls,

I have read about a possible TT refresh in the new year from this thread. Now that March has arrived, is there any news regarding release dates as well as specs?

At the moment Sony New Zealand is offering a free, yes, completely free PS3 console 40GB with purchase of a TT model (with or without blu-ray). It makes me think a refresh is just around the corner.

 

Ahh silly me. After going to Sony Japan's website I see there are quite a few new TT models.

TT91 - with three variants. The only major difference compared to the current models is the larger hard drives (250GB) and SSDs (256GB).

So I guess there is no point waiting for a refresh. You can easily upgrade the hard drives yourself and save the 25-30% price increase of these new models.

 

Nah I wont be switching to Ubuntu - I will be going back - I have always used Ubuntu as a preferred OS over Windows ever since Warty came out.

I can't really think it will be too much of a drama, I had VM machines running just fine on an older single core Pentium M @ 1.4Ghz so dual cores should perform a little better (in theory!)

I think Visual Studio should run fine - done a bit of research at Uni - failing Visual Studio I can run just the MS C++ IDE variant anyways, so a lot lighter! As long as I can compile and run C++ on our lab computer running Visual Studio at Uni I will be happy.

Think I will just have to take the plunge - I can always restore Vista if it doesnt work for me lol

 

Don't forget the 1.6GHz SU9600 processor is due out next month.

 

Withnail

Would the 1.6GHz be in the TT though? On Sony Japan's site 1.4GHz is the max.

 

I think there was a spec sheet floating around somewhere (maybe on Amazon?) confirming that the 1.6ghz will be in the next TT refresh. Do a search of this forum and/or this thread & you'll probably find it.

 

Oh yes I found it. Well, at the moment the TT series prices haven't gone up here in New Zealand. I would imagine an increase of around US$500-$600 for the new series with 1.6GHz processor. Not worth it, might as well buy the 1.4GHz now. The 0.2GHz wouldn't make a major difference to the naked eye, right?

 

Yes it will.

There is already an American model listed with the new 1.6ghz processor, the SU9600. It is called the TT280N/B and is on Amazon.com for pre-ordering.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VGN-TT280N-11-1-Inch-Processor-Business/dp/B001O0DQ6K

It should be a matter of time before it shows up on SonyStyle Japan and other countries later on.

 

So this begs the question, in real world terms, is the 0.2GHz extra going to make a significant difference?

Say loading Photoshop. Faster by 5 seconds or are we talking about 20 seconds faster, etc?

 

Well, 1.6 / 1.4 = 14% faster. So a CPU-intensive task that takes 30 secs. on the 1.4 would take 26 seconds on the 1.6. Probably not very noticeable.

As for loading stuff like Photoshop, the bottleneck is the hard drive, not the CPU, so you'd see even less of a difference. You'd see a far greater difference going from a hard drive to an SSD than you would going from 1.4->1.6 ghz cpu.

 

Thanks MrT-Man,

I suppose I should get the 1.6GHz TT and later replace the HDD with SSD when those good things become cheaper.

 

Why not save the money and find a 1.4 or 1.2GHz TT and use the money towards the SSD?

 

I agree and I'm sure you can always overclock the CPU to 1.6ghz with little to no problem whereas you cannot overclock a hard drive. I know people have overclocked a 1.06ghz processor in the Vaio TZ to 1.33ghz with little issue.

 

Opps sorry I should've said 1.4GHz... typo!

Is it relatively safe to overclock the TT? Any overheating issues? What software would you use?

 

Why overclock a TT? This is not a screaming power machine here - my TT190/1.4 has handled everything I have thrown at it quite well, and I doubt squeezing an extra few percent out of my CPU would make a noticable difference except to eat up what is currently excellent battery life.

I know some of the pleasure is just seeing how much one can squeeze from a set-up, but beyond the challenge I'd just live with what it is. That said, if the 1.6 had been available, I probably would have grabbed that instead of the 1.4

 

Just out of curiosity, comparing speed, how much slower percentage wise is a TT 1.4GHz vs a Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz in the Z?

 

Z vs TT review from November: Link

Z review with a few TT benchmarks: Link

 

Yes, but in real live this difference are not so visible. Put in shop Z and TT side by side and start same application on both. You can't see to much difference. Of course differences are starting visible when trying play modern games or encoding video.

 

Cool good to know. I don't intend to encode any videos on the TT

 

Yeah, it's been said before & I'll say it again -- I have the 1.2ghz processor & it's perfectly fine for anything other than gaming, multimedia editing etc. And the 1.6ghz would be 30% better than that. I had a tough time deciding between the Z & the TT initially, and I've been extremely happy with my TT.

 

I going to make clean install of my new TT. I went to Sony web page and there is not drivers and utilites originally installed on my computer. Where to find drivers and utils? Of course I have made recovery DVD but to make completely clean install it is not enought.

 

noob here and let me reassure you guys i did try search before i post this possible repost. i have search youtube, google, this website you name it. i still haven't found enough to answer my questions. little info i just sold my macbook 13" and i want to get a small computer but no netbooks those are for kids (j/k to the p owners). im looking at getting the tt and actually ordered one with the 128 ssd drive yesterday but after i read some people saying that ssd drives blow i quickly canceled my order to do some more research before i drop $$$600 on a hard drive. money isnt really an issue to a point i have plenty of plastic to buy stuff. So my main problem is which is better hdd or ssd. i keep seeing things on youtube that show comps with ssd running alot faster then hdd and i know all the benefits like battery life no moving parts simple things like that. i just dont know about how it performs in vaios or in the tt that i would like to buy asap. i have never used ssd before. people say ssd crashes or slows down when multitasking anyone with the new tt's experience this? what type of ssd are in the tt serious slc mls scandisk good kind bad kind anyone?? also they say every time you write on ssd they get smaller and smaller how drastic is that?? i like to do fresh starts on my computers quite often, so would an ssd not be a good choice for me? please help me tt owners or sony owners that have used ssd drives before, that know if the ssd or hdd is better from first hand experience. so i can order my computer already!!
stevo101 is online now Add to stevo101's Reputation Report Post Edit/Delete Message

 

Didn't you just start a dedicated thread to this?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=362530

 

no.........
yes!! i just need answers is there a rule where someone cant do this!?!? i just need some feedback is all. its like no one has done reviews on the tt and the performance of the ssd i need people with vaio tts that have ssd drives to let me know whats good so i post tell i get my answer!!

 

I have TT21 with 128 GB SSD and at the moment never buy another notebook with regular HD. Maby in future when problem with SSD will come I will change my opinion. On forum was user |SONY| who have two Vaio's with SSD disc since abut two years and without problem.
I think problem with squizing capacity of SSD becouse errors in cells was more evident in early models of SSD (I hope ).

 

I upgraded my TT with a 128GB Samsung SLC SSD, and couldn't be happier. It's rock solid and has excellent, reliable performance, which is more than I could say for two MLC drives I've tried. If you do the upgrade yourself, be warned: it's a major procedure. Also, finding a non-stock SSD that fits the VAIO TT is challenging. Mine was a brand new system pull from a Lenovo X300.

 

thank you for the replys good news for the ssd then it sounds like, im not going to be doing it my self you got the ones that came from sony right? i is the one that sony puts in the computers the mlc or the slc?

 

It's standard etiquette on nearly every forum I'm on - don't crosspost a million times.

 

Mine is Samsung 128 GB MLC
Yes, it was put by Sony.
It is only available SSD option in my country. Specyfication guarante 10 000 cycles per cell so I hope it will be without errors in next two years typica usuage.

 

I love my TT more every day. Does anyone here have the large battery and can tell me how many hours you get with it. Also I am looking for a pic with the large battery.

 

Has anyone noticed a lower read speed on his SSD or HDD with newest BIOS? I could get consistent HD Tach SSD read speed of 75-80MB/s and 0.3ms access time with R0204M4 but R1061M4 only gives 60-65MB/s and 0.7ms access, CPU utilization seems higher as well. Incidently running on outlet betters those values as if some kind of power save features lowered consumption on the disk and decreases performance when running on batteries. I don't get any difference in performance with R0204M4 BIOS whether on batteries or outlet power. Wonder if anyone noticed it and if it's same for HDD?

Needless to say I went back to R0204M4 BIOS

 

I have made some calculation about durability of Samsung SSD 128 GB MLC disc. Specification say durability 10.000 cycles per cell. If one cell will be writen every ten seconds will be dead in 1.25 days.
6 times * 60min * 24 hours = 8.640 cycles compared to durability 10.000

In SLC disc durability is between 1-5 millions, typically 2.000.000
6 times * 60min * 24 hours = 8.640 cycles compared to durability 2.000.000 it gives 231 days.

Whatever I think it will be not so bad. I read in some blog: if disc have in specyfication 128 GB size in real it is 128 + ~16 = ~144 GB. This extra 16 GB is used for disc controller to fill the gaps of damaged cells. So in some time disc will have 128 GB even same cells will be damaged but after that time capacity of disc will by decreased. Of course I mean only about writing operation, reading have no influence on durability of SSD disc.
Now we have most important question. How often Vista is writing logs and other data in disc in the background? If typical usuage MLC disc in notebook will be about 2 years (typical notebook life time) it will be OK, but if it will be 6 month it will be not so good.

Does anybody know if connection in Vaio TT is typical micro SATA? If yes after some time when price of SLC disc will going down we can replace our MLC disc with SLC. Another way is replace every 1 year MLC disc. I found on few web shops Samsung 128 GB MLC (same as in my Vaio) with street price 300 USD. If micro SATA is marked standard we can replace disc for other brand with bigger number of cycles.

Sorry for my English

 

Sorry, I don't have a photo of my large battery handy, but the capacity is 50% larger, and hence the battery life is 150% that of the standard battery. I used the laptop the entire 13-hour flight from US-Tokyo, and still had battery life to spare.