Official Sony VAIO TT Series Owners Thread

I'm running Vista, with XP in VMWare, for a couple of XP-things I need to be able to do, and it seems to work well. But I guess if you need to use XP like 80% of the time, that might not be the best solution.

Re the Sony apps, I can't imagine they aren't installable from the recovery discs somehow (but i havent specifically given this a try).

 

I have both and I agree with you. The TT is sooooo much faster than the P. The battery life is close to 6 hours on the regular battery.

 

Is it possible to install xp as dual boot? I image it can, since I have dual boot with xp and linux on my desktop.

 

This model ships with a LOT of problems. I dont know if Sony is also now outsourcing its computer building processes, like they are doing with their support, but I literally had to send back two of them before i got one that worked properly. The first one had a non responsive touchpad. The second one had a CD drive that sounded like a motorcycle when it ran. I currently have $9,000 in laptop charges because Sony wont credit you and ship you a new one. You have to mail back each one and wait 1-2 weeks for a credit, and buy a new one in the meantime. Fingers crossed that I get $6,000 back.

I wanted to ask you guys - Vaios always come with this "Intel Pro Wireless Adaptor" thing that sits in the bottom right tray. Its completely duplicitous with the windows wireless manager that also sits in the bottom right tray. Why do they install something separate, and is there any benefit to using the ugly goofy looking Intel version over the windows default?

Secondly, can I safely uninstall the intel one or will that kill my wireless functionality completely?

Thanks

 

Also curious what the "Infineon" and "QUALCOMM" directories are for on the hard drive. Why dont they put these into "Program Files" instead of muddying up the root? Can I move them or delete the programs associated?

Lastly, my third try at the tt290 has resulted in yet another touchpad that isn't as sensitive as past Vaios - specifically the TZ model. I have to tap once, twice, sometimes three times before it registers a tap to press an "ok" button or close a window.

Love it.

 

I was told by someone at the SonyStyle store that, if I get a TT with a regular HDD that I cannot subsequently upgrade to a SSD.

Is that true? My brother who is an electrical engineer and who has been writing software for 30 years (and plays with this type of thing a bit) says that, unless Sony has done something special in it's engineering, that isn't true. That the store person may be talking about policy and what Sony themselves are willing to do.

Can anyone tell me definitively if there is any technical reason why, in a while when the cost of reasonably sized SSD drives comes down, that I can swap out a HDD for an SSD?

I really appreciate the benefit of your expertise, as I'm about to spend a lot of money on this and don't want to overspend for no real advantage.

Thanks!

 

There's no technical reason preventing you from upgrading to an SSD. Either the salesperson didn't know what they were talking about, or they meant that there's no official way to upgrade after the fact (which there isn't).

 

The 1.8 HDD can of course be replaced with an SSD. However, there are only two SSD drives that can fit, the Intel X-18 and SOME of the Samsung drives. The TT uses a uSATA adapter, which isn't used by most 1.8" SSDs. Also, the actual task of replacing the SSD, while possible, is not easy (although I have lots of experience ripping apart notebooks, the TT was notably more difficult than most). The TT's hard drive is not designed to be user replaceable. For all these reasons, it may actually be better to buy the Sony-installed one. The Samsung uSATA drives are not sold to the public (I bought mine on eBay taken from a new Lenovo X300), and the Intel drives are certainly not cheap (although the 80GB model will be geting cheaper by the end of this month).

 

Let me see if I get this.... The TT uses a 1.8 HDD, not a 2.5. The drive is also pretty buried in the machine. The SSD 1.8 drive used in the Sony TT uses a uSATA adaptor, not typical in current SSDs.

So let me ask this. Do you think that, in a year or so, more 1.8" SSDs would be available using the uSATA adaptor, or will that continue to be a Sony thing? If I'm not too afraid of the disassembly-reassembly, would it be reasonable to get the 250GB HDD now and then later, when the prices come down and the sizes go up, replace it?

I currently have an "S" series Vaio, which my brother and I have twice carefully disassembled and replaced the hard drive on. I know that is a larger machine, but the drive is buried under the keyboard and tucked under a few other cables, etc. Is that the level of difficulty you're describing, or really over the top disassembly....?

 

Well, the Intel and Samsung SSDs are really the best on the market. Most of the small computers that use 1.8" size SSDs are netbooks, and they have the cheaper and slower ZIF connector (netbooks are clearly more common than the high-end TT or X200/300, and hence it's much easier to get ZIF disks). As for buying the disk and hoping to use it in another future laptop, that's not so certain. One major issue is that the 1.8" uSATA disks use less voltage than the 2.5" SATA ones. I actually have an uSATA-SATA adapter for my Samsung SLC 1.8" disk (it's a Lenovo part number I picked up just to have around), but the disk doesn't just work with the two machines I've tried it with. By the way, if someone here can confirm the cross-compatibility between the uSATA and SATA drives, feel free to correct me.

As long as you've had some experience completely disassembling a laptop before, this one should be fine. You'll have to remove one of the rubber feet and pry apart some delicate and sharp pieces being VERY careful not to break anything. I've taken apart the TT numerous times, and succeeded in ripping the keyboard connector cable (it's necessary to wiggle the keyboard some to pry apart the casing). Thankfully, I could purchase just the ribbon cable for ￥2000 instead of the entire keyboard assembly!

Generally, if you don't need some special storage size, speed, or reliability, I'd recommend just buying the SSD preinstalled in the TT. Sony uses high quality SSDs and you'll save the hassle of sourcing a drive, installing it, and making sure it's compatible. I'm saying this from a corporate technician standpoint. But, don't get me wrong...it's definitely possible to replace the hard drive, so if you get an unusually good deal on the X18-M or find one of the Samsung's on eBay, you could go that route.

 

OK. Last question. How much real difference to performance would the SSD make to me at this stage on the TT, considering the fact that my usage is basically normal office-type activities with some light graphics. I don't do heavy duty database, graphic or video work. I do use the optical drive as a DVD player on long-haul flights, but that's processing, not hard drive.

All opinions openly solicited!

 

And back to my questions above. Thanks!

 

neverwana you can unistall the intel pro set wirless software. That comes as standard on a lot of Vaio's but is safe to remove it and use Vista's in built software.

You could also have a go at trying different touchpad software. I used HP Alps touchpad for my TX for XP and it was better than the software that Sony provided.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&cc=sg&dlc=en&product=3641274&os=2093&lang=en
If you don't like it you can go and download your correct driver from Sony esupport website. The above software might allow you more options to customise your trackpad that you may prefer.

 

I use a Dell ALP driver which allows me to do multi-gesture, but the horizontal scroll does not work, the vertical scroll does works very nicely (I can scroll up or down doing a circular motion with my figure). Does the HP driver give the multi-gesture options?

 

I've only used in it XP not Vista so I've not tried the newer software. It is worth giving it a go though.

 

Thanks everyone. I am getting very sick of clicking 3 times just to execute a link. (i had to click the "edit" link twice just now to edit this post because the first time, nothing happened). The "TT" is a "LEMON" as far as I am concerned, and I am an expert becuase I've now tested out three of them. There has been something wrong with every one on multiple levels.

I am trying to limit my complaining but there is more. I know for a fact this is happening on other computers, because it happened on both of the other two I tried out: the sound files are not playing fully. Those sounds you hear when you plug in a peripheral? You only hear the 2nd half of it. I am hearing the 2nd half of all sound files on this stupid thing. TZ model had no such problems.

The monitor is not as bright as the former TZ model, its predecessor, and has "matte" finish which helps with glare but reduces brightness and clarity. The color scheme for Windows XP is completely different as well. All the windows have a yellow hue instead of a blue-gray hue like on the TZ sitting right next to it on my desk here.

But alas I must upgrade my laptop, and so I am stuck with this. The speed is impressive and hopefully my productivity will improve because of it. Assuming it doesnt go down from all the triple clicking of the pad. I hope when it comes time to sell this piece of crap that the new owner doesn't come after me for the same problems.

-N-

 

Looks like that is for Vista and I am on XP. It is also showing as being for a Compaq Presario. Is there a version for XP that will work on my Vaio?

-N-

 

The SSD upgrade, in my opinion, is the best upgrade you can do (once you have enough memory, etc.). You'll have much faster OS loading/shutdown, programs load instantly, the battery life will improve slightly, the laptop will be more rugged in case you drop it (no moving parts), and it will become a bit lighter. I see you're in NY (I used to live there!), so you can find the one I bought right here. This is a great deal. If you don't need more than 64GB, it's probably the best one you can buy (it uses the more reliable SLC memory). If you need more room then it's going to get expensive. For your usage (office apps and a bit of graphics editing), 64GB should be just fine unless you have tons of documents or 10+GB of images.

For battery life's sake, you might consider ripping your DVDs to your disk before going on a trip. This will also mean you don't have to carry around your DVDs. There are a number of programs which will do this for you in one step.

I'm actually thinking of putting two SSDs in my laptop (I have both the Samsung and Intel ones here). My TT model is an Owner Made one without any optical drive. Instead, there's room for both a 1.8" and 2.5" drive. I currently have the 64GB as my OS drive and a WD 500GB drive for storing the data.

 

I've honestly had no problems with mine. Were you running XP on all three? Maybe Sony provided driver support for XP as an afterthought, & so that's what's causing problems?

At any rate, it sounds like you're so profoundly dissatisfied with the TT that you might be better off just returning it (or selling it, if it's too late to return) and going for something else altogether.

I've been exceptionally happy with mine, but I don't dispute that I might be lucky, or that you might be unlucky, and/or that our expectations and requirements might differ...

 

I was slightly miffed/disgruntled with mine there for a while, but its definately no lemon, sure it has build quality issues, but in my case its purely cosmetic.

Its a BEAST of a notebook, amazing power in such a small machine as well.

If the touchpad is such an issue can you not use a mouse? Especially if you are using it long term? The only time I use the trackpad is when on an aircraft as its a pain in the glutes to stuff around with a mouse in cattle class only to have to put it away an hour and a half later all the time..hehe

 

I'm thinking about purchasing one of these but after reading about screen issues I'm kind of turned down away from it. I'm very very picky when it comes to screen quality/issues.

As you can tell from my Sig that I'm an Apple Fanboy but I do love and appreciate other notebooks from other manufacturers and I dont mind using windows XP.

I owned the sony vaio TZ 2 years ago and it was a fine notebook can the same be said for the TT?

Also only reason I dont own a macbook pro is due to the screen flickering issues that its plagued with and the 13" macbooks have some inferior displays.

I bought this samsung nc10 netbooks and I'm very very impressed with its hardware and the screen is quite nice but of course not as nice as the Sony Vaio TZ with its xblack screen.

I remember I absolutely LOVED the TZ's screen, can the same be said for the TT's screen as well?

Also if the issues are too apparent on the TTs I might buy a TZ again since its so damn cheap now.

 

This should work. I use this one. Go to the control panel after you install it to configure it as you like. There is also no branding on it, i.e nothing that says HP.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericSoftwareDownloadIndex?lc=en&cc=us&softwareitem=ob-16536-1

This is to the post above.
About the TT screen it is meant to be better than the TZ display and better than the Z display. It does have better colour reproduction.
http://www.sonyinsider.com/2009/01/06/color-reproduction-difference-between-vaio-tz-and-vaio-tt/
Some people claim the TT display to be matte but i'm not to sure on that. I thought it was a hybrid like the Z.

 

I was looking at configuring a TT but noticed that you cannot install a 2.5" sata hdd in?

If so then I will look else where.

 

Yeah mine isnt really a true 'matte' nor is it uber glossy like you see on Dell's or Asus notebooks. As for image quality it is fantastic! I don't have any issues with the panel itself, just the bezel build.

The display has to be one of the best I have ever used on a notebook, extremely vivid and bright - makes the Vostro 1310 screen and my work HP screen look very washy and dull and no where near as crisp.

I had never heard any complaints about the image quality on the screen before or after I bought it. Horses for courses though.

 

Maybe the op never adjusted the ambient light sensor which can make it dim and dull?

 

Or maybe he's good at looming over the machine, blocking the light from the sensor (next to the webcam I believe)

 

Geeky, yes obviously ive thought of the fact that I could use a mouse. That's a given. But its not an option for me, as I am frequently annoyed trying to find additional solid surfaces for my mouse, which rarely works without a mouse pad (especially the optical ones). I probably dont need to go into all the details about why a mouse is a P.I.T.A (glutes). And should i really have to resort to a mouse after dishing out $3,000 ? Nah ...

Basic Logic class dismissed.

The screen *is* matte, whether its a hybrid isnt relevant. Keep in mind people, you all come from different previous experiences. I come from a TZ model which has a *very* glossy screen so yes, this screen seems *matte*.

And the color rendering is more accurate? I dont know if thats the case. In fact im almost sure its not. Its extremely "yellowish" whereas the TZ and every Windows XP Ive ever installed is more "bluish". In fact I own and run and have designed a huge web site which now looks utterly different on the TT than it does on any other computer. The hue is noticeably different.

If you want i can upload this video to youtube showing the comparison.

As for brightness, I can sit outside in California sun with my TZ and i can not with the TT. Maybe its just due to the different finish on the screen.

 

There are 2 types of led backlighting, ones with the yellowish tint and others with the blue push. I think there is nothing wrong with the yellow push its just a different tone compared to the TZ that you were used to.

I'm into surefire flashlights as well and the same can be said about the two types of led flashlights. If your lucky in the led flashlight world, you would receive the yellow push led lights. If you were unlucky you would get the blue push led flashlights.

I actually prefer the yellow push, I notice generally with led backlighting with the yellow push brings out and produce more vivid colors as to the blue which looks more close to being washed out.

 

Sorry but if there are workarounds to an issue, and it seems logical, well its worth offering them up as some people might not have thought of them - so I really don't need any 'logic' lessons thanks, just trying to help/opinions (everyone has got one ) after all.

All of the TT users in this thread who are trying to offer assistance have spent the same amount of cash - some of us probably more given the Aussie dollar exchange rate in my case.

But when it comes to problem solving, if it means the difference between being very annoyed and frustrated all the time and ranting about it, and buying a LASER mouse than works on any surface (ie no mousepad) I would be happier, like I said I tolerate the mousepad on flights as there is no where to use a mouse...but, horses for courses and at the end of the day I am a happy TT user all things considered

Moving along....

Apart from the touchpad and sound issues (and your concerns over Sony 'allowing' 4G of system memory onto a unit that has an XP downgrade therefore running on a 32bit OS - same as 32bit Vista and many other manufacturers then..not really Sony's 'fault' - a lot of people are fully aware of 32 bit operating system memory addressing limitations...) have you actually had any POSITIVE experiences? You seem to keep getting the factory lemon's thats all, and whilst sympathetic to your pleas, I just don't want other Vaio TT prospective customers to think this is a majority opinion and base their purchases on your comments when there are plenty of us in here with quite the opposite experiences overall, and very few issues out on the internet as a whole with this model. (Its been out for over 6 months now)

A Dell XPS 1330 this is not lol (Their issues started appearing pretty much straight away!)

You might have read my posts about build quality and how much it annoyed me, but its AMAZING what a pin head of Loctite can do for you...no more issues, regardless of the fact I shouldn't of had to do that given my cash outlay (we all pretty much spent the same amount remember) but it was far easier than letting it get to me in the end.

Guess being an engineer helps me to be a bit more practical with my approach to problems....

Sorry for your own personal experiences and issues, they are obviously big issues to yourself, not so big for others, glad it wasnt mine, and I hope you find a better laptop out there to use instead

 

Actually you do, because you're still not getting the point. Telling me to "just use a mouse" when I am reporting a software/hardware/driver problem with a very expensive laptop Touchpad, is not considered helpful advice. Not only is it painfully obvious, it fails to address the problem. Its me who decides what I consider an acceptable solution, based on my needs. I need my Touchpad to work. Your sarcastic comments about my lifestyle above are duly noted. Try to remember that some of us use our laptops on our laps, in chairs. Optical mouses don't work well on a *lot* of surfaces. Do I even want to carry one around all day? That is for me to decide based on my needs. Not you. Most importantly is something called "The Principle of it". This is a concept where someone pays a lot of money and expects basic functionality of the item to work. As for me complaining a lot, thanks once again. Ive spent $10,000 now and waited 5 weeks for three different TT models to come in and out of my home, all three broken in some way. So yes I am seeking resolution on some problems.

The huge problem with this is that web designs, and even personal photos look completely different when you change the hue from Blue to Yellow. I can easily cause the same effect using Photoshop and yes, it does change the dynamic of the image completely. Im mostly shocked that they'd go from a very blue hue, to a very yellow hue on the same basic Vaio (TZ ---> TT). I paid $10,000+ for artists and designers to design a web site for me based on various shades of blue. On this computer it looks like various shades of flat-gray. Had I seen it like this originally I never would have approved it. So i can only assume this display is not the accurate display. More likely the TZ renders things *too* blue, washing out yellows, and the TT renders things *too* yellow, washing out all blues. Hope they figure out a happy medium eventually.

Just for fun, Im going to upload a video of the comparison with TT and TZ side by side. You'll see what I mean.

Stay tuned.

 

All I can say is that every monitor needs to be properly calibrated. I noticed warmer push displays are easier and generally have better colors after a proper calibration compared to monitors with the blue push.

As for the "using an external mouse," I agree that is not the answer. Especially when a Vaio TT is an ultraportable and using an external mouse completely defeats its main purpose.

 

I am afraid to do any calibration. Keeping in mind that I run web site communities for a living, I have to be very concerned about what the 'average user' sees. The average user wont have any idea how to calibrate their monitor. They use what is shipped. So i have to leave my machine uncalibrated too. Im not sure what design companies do. There are so many issues related to accurate display rendering...

In any case here is my comparison. As you can see, the "uncalibrated" TZ is significantly different than the "uncalibrated" TT. I am not quite sure why there are two backlight types in the first place, given how different the end result is. An industry standard is in order.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZavJfDUruPc&fmt=18

(sorry about the video quality, that's due to youtube compression)

-N-

 

That makes no sense at all. You rely on a completely random colour setting to simulate the average user's experience?

If you want to be supremely concerned about what the average user sees, what you have to do buy several example of some of the leading notebooks / desktop monitors for the type of users you're likely to be hosting for...

... or, you calibrate so that you establish a consistent baseline that you can work with.

Basic Logic class fail

 

If calibrating your displays is a huge factor in your line of work, I DONT recommend any notebook monitors to do the job since they are all inferior TN panels.

If you need that much of an accurate colors for print work or if you need the websites to be a certain accurate measure of colors, I suggest an H-IPS or an S-IPS 8-bit external displays offered by Eizos or NEC.

Otherwise if you just need "sufficient" enough calibrations, anyone can do it with any spyder2 or other calibrators on any displays (notebook or external displays) out there.

 

Did you look at my video? I dont think I am being too picky. I think it clearly establishes that the differences are huge. Not minor.

I know how to calibrate. What I said was: "I need to see things as the average user sees them" since I run a web site for 2 million users. What I said was: "most people dont know how to calibrate their monitors". So when I view my site I need to see it uncalibrated too. Im just bummed that there are such huge differences in uncalibrated LCD's.

-N-

 

*edit

arguing on the internet is like the *snip*...you know the rest

(yes I was going to be facetious but thought better of it)

 

I watched that youtube clip and the debate between matte and glossy goes on. Colour reproduction will differ on a glossy/matte/hybrid display. That in itself does not make a screen bad but just different. I would like someone with a good matte display to view that page and know what they see.

 

Just wayched that video. There is no way that my TT is that yellow. I think it might be affected by the ambient light sensor. Also, the TZ (IIRC) is not that blue either. I suggest the video camera's colour reproduction is not that accurate.

 

To me the TT's screen looked more accurate than the TZ's screen.

The TZ was too overly blue. My H-IPS panel 24" Cinema (calibrated) display looks closer to the TT's warmer temperature as to the TZ's extreme blue push.

 

If I get the TT but want to use AT&T and not Verizon for Broadband, can I replace the card they have in the TT, or do I have to use the expansion slot.

Please feel free to explain this to me in idiot-proof language because I am not a real techie and I've never used broadband before.

Thanks!

 

I called Sony sales department to try and find this out days ago. The salesman got mad because it wasn't a pre-sales question that would result in a sale for him and wouldn't talk, I was flabbergasted to say the least. I have read some posts that say it is a sim card, others say it is a pci card. If someone could shed some light on the truth that would be appreciated.

 

Well I finally got an answer from SONY sales. The person told me that whatever they use (I don't know the technical term) is "soddered to the motherboard". Based on the type of technology generally used to provide broadband, does this make sense? Or is it a canned sales answer? The person seemed to know what they were talking about, but...

 

I actually use the AT&T service with the TT but I just assumed I had to buy the USB aircard thing ... so that's what I use.

Regarding the YouTube Clip I posted:
The video camera really isn't off in color. I made very sure to set the camera to as accurate as possible between my personal view and what I saw on the display. Besides, if the camera were set too yellow, the blue TZ would not look very blue. It looks extremely blue. And the TT looks extremely yellow. You have to sit them side by side to notice the difference. And the question remains, why is there such an insanely huge difference between models that are supposed to be successors of eachother?

Regarding the Sony Vaio TT Model Touchpad Problems:
Finally an update from someone on this. You guys should all try the "Paint" test he suggests: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4809312&postcount=21

-N-

 

If the touchpad on the TT has a hardware issue then this means the TT model sucks overall as the keyboard and touchpad is the main parts used most of the time.

Especially a wonky touchpad means the machine is pretty much crippled.

 

So there have been two reported issues in here regarding the touchpad 'problem' with several others in here who have not had ANY issues with the touchpad - how does that make a whole line of laptop rubbish?


As others have stated, there are PLENTY of happy TT users out there, you are just not going to see as many posts from them complaining...

 

Maybe we should do a poll on this issue to settle it once and for all... asking TT users whether they've had touchpad problems.

I'd create the poll, but I can't bring myself to make yet another TT touchpad thread!

 

Hello,

I have just installed Windows 7 RC 1 (build 7100) on my TT11LN. It is the first time I install Windows 7 on a PC.

It works fine (including HDD protection). But the light sensor doesn't work at all (but I my opinion we need a special Intel X4500HD graphic driver for that)

 

I agree that a few people can’t speak for the consensus but that doesn’t seem to deter the fact that there is a quality issue with some of the installed alps touchpad’s on the TT’s. I can’t bring myself to believe that these people who claim there is a problem have nothing better to do than to make up stories. Seems to be some truth, I can also understand the sentiment from the ones who have a TT towards the ones who are addressing the TT as “sucks”. I purchased a custom VGA-TT290 from Sony Style two days ago before reading about the touchpad issue and my order is in a “processing” state. I hope the touchpad functions normally, if it doesn’t, I’ll definitely want to support the movement on getting it resolved.

Aftermarket upgrades: On order from NewEgg

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory (ordered the TT with 2 gig of PC3-6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104103

OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227395

 

Just to make sure you're aware -- you can't use the 2.5" drive in your TT unless you ordered it without an optical drive (because the main drive is a 1.8").

Even then, it's unclear to me if the non-optical config comes with the internal connector & mounting bracket you need or whether those are special parts you have to try to order.

 

I tried to find out this information but everything leads me to believe that the 2.5" HDD would not work even with the no optical drive option.

So far I've seen no optical drive option (they at least include the dvd drive AFAIK).

Unless someone can prove that you can properly add and mount a 2.5" hdd in the place of the empty optical drive.