Official Sony VAIO TT Series Owners Thread

Interesting, thanks for the notice. My initial research that prompted the idea came from Crucial's website while looking for PC-8500 memory. When I typed in the Vaio TT for model and specifications, the Crucial compatible upgrades also showed a 32GB Crucial Internal 2.5 Solid State drive option. At that point I found my way back to NewEgg with the thought that 2.5 SSD drives would be an option. This could just be that the "available options" is incorrectly suggesting 2.5 drives for the TT. I'll include the link below so you can see what I mean. Either way, if it does not work I can return it for a 1.8, or just decide to use it in my workstation.

BTW: My configuration for the VGA-TT290 is the 120GB SATA drive (was going to repalce with the SSD)along with the CD\DVD optical drive option.

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=F731BDBBA5CA7304

 

Version x86 or x64 ?

 

Go to the sonystyle.com website -- you can configure an SSD with an HD and no optical drive as an option. I'm 90% sure the HD in this scenario is a 2.5". It has a 320gb drive as an option and I dont think that there are 1.8" 320gb drives.

I realize this might not help you -- it sounds like what you want is to be able to order a TT without the 2.5" drive there, but with the necessary bracket and connector in place to be able to add it yourself, and as I said I don't know if you can do that with the U.S. CTO models (or whatever country you're in). But I'm just saying that the TT can take a 2.5" drive.

 

The 320GB HD option is only available on the TT190, not the TT290 that STBvaio said they ordered. This is the model that comes with the optical drive and only offers a 250GB HDD as an option. As I read the SonyStyle site, the TT190 is the one that comes with the possibility of two hard drives and no optical. This implies that on the TT190, for your two drives, one of them goes where the optical drive would in the TT290. Perhaps this is 2.5" on the TT190. But that would seem to mean that, on the TT290, the spot for the hard drive, whether HDD or SSD, is 1.8.

If STBvaio is planning to remove the optical drive on their TT290 and replace it with a 2.5 SSD there is no guarantee that the needed connectors, etc are there to accommodate it, as the TT290 does not offer the option to leave out or replace the optical drive. If they plan to upgrade the hard drive, I think they're stuck with 1.8.

 

Agreed, that's what I said! (not in the post you quoted but in the one right before that) ;-)

 

Hello.
On my vaio tt sometimes there are small diagonal strips, as nose (on LCD display)
This is normal for this model or bug?

 

Just installed windows 7 rc1. Very happy. The only thing thats not working is the light sensor but I can live with that. Windows 7 is very snappy.

 

light sensor work with Intel Graphics driver for sony notebook version 7.15.10.1537. Download this driver from sony support, for example: http://support.vaio.sony.ru/downloads/info/info.asp?site=voe_ru_RU_cons&url=Vaio/Original/Graphics Driver Intel_08Q3SNTCTA_7.15.10.1537a.zip&ip=Preinstalled_Drivers.htm
This is driver for x86 OS, on Windows 7 good work. (in Properties, before install, select compatible Vista SP1)
For x64 OS see: http://www.vaio-link.com/os/vista/64bit/ for your model.
Also, install Event Service, Shared Library, Control Panel, Power Management and Utility Series.
I have installed Windows 7 RC 7100 x64 and light sensor, SD Host Controller and other hardware good work. (I disable digital signature for x64: bcdedit -set loadoptions "DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS")

 

Hi everyone,

I have had my TT for a month now and love it. I've always been caught up in overclocking computers and getting the latest and greatest due to gaming, but my first netbook broke me of the habit and this laptop has shown me that I don't always need a workhorse to get stuff done.

I've been reading this thread for quite a while and this thead help me decide between the TT and the X302 (which I'll probably get if work okays the expense). You guys have been a great source of information and help.

So I'm posting for the first time here to ask about the SSD upgrades. I have one with a slow old 5400 rpm HDD and wanted to know how people are opening them up (not that I plan to do it anytime soon, but it'd be nice to know the option is available).

Are there any guides? I haven't been able to fnd it--I guess my Google Fu is still weak.

Thanks in advance and keep up the great conversation on a great notebook!

 

Thank you...I tried this driver but when I install it says "not compatible" and then exits the install. I am not sure how to do this " (in Properties, before install, select compatible Vista SP1)" as per your instructions.

 

Ok
1. Go to driver folder
2. Click on "Setup.exe" right key mouse, select "Properties":

3. On the window setup properties select page "Compatibility"
4. Select "Run this program in compatibility mode for" and select Windows Vista Service Pack 1:

5. Click OK, run Setup.exe.

 

See this page: http://kunkoku.livedoor.biz/archives/51534770.html
if you no read/speak japan language, translate this page with google

 

Thanks a million Ant_Firefly!

By happy chance, I can read Japanese and the bits of kanji I don't know I can just ask the fiancée--she loves it when there's something I don't know.

The guide is rather simple and the pictures are excellent. I should go write up a translation in case others want to read something clearer. I tried it through google translator and it translates "take it apart" as "rose."

Thanks, once again Ant_Firefly!

Now I just need to wait till I see an SSD worth buying.

 

A translation would be greatly appreciated! I plan on sticking a SSD in mine in another few months, once the prices come down further...

 

This reply's a bit late, but I want to say that I have the non-optical drive version (with a 250GB 2.5" disk) and it arrived prewired for both a 1.8" Micro-SATA drive and a regular 2.5" SATA disk drive. I'm currently using a 500GB 2.5" disk for my data and a Samsung 1.8" 64GB SLC SSD for the OS. This is an excellent configuration option for those of you who don't need an optical drive with you at all times (though I can't guarantee Sony will ship all TTs prewired for both drives).

 

Says my blu ray player needs an update to play this disc.

http://blu-raydisc.com/forbestresults

was worthless. I have the VGM-TT180N. Any suggestions

Thanks

 

Hey I just bought a brand new TT, and looking to get a fashionable case to carry it around in.

I was going to go with a Tumi, but their cases are surprisingly fugly, so now I'm checking out the ones on SonyStyle.com

Specifically this one:


But at $150.00 and no vendors nearby who could provide me with a first hand look at the thing, I'm hesitant to buy it unless someone could vouch for the quality of the bag/ materials for me.

 

I have this one, altho mine does not have the strip down the middle. Yes, it is leather, and it is light and very stylish, and cost a bundle. I got it half price from my sales guy as a bundle to my TT.

 

Your picture shows the Z case, the TT while similar is a little different, size is smaller of course and latch is different. It's VGP-CKTZ2 and fit the TZ and TT as well. This is the one I have and I'm very happy with it, very stylish and protects the TT very well. You can find a review here http://www.pocketables.net/2007/09/review-sony-v-1.html you can find it a an acceptable price

 

Some nice pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whetzky/show/with/3075413131/

 

Have you tried going here:

Firmware:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNTT180N&upd_id=4089&os_id=29

InterVideo WinDVD Update (most likely what you need):

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNTT180N&upd_id=4486&os_id=29

The support page for Sony and your model:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGN-TT180N&region_id=1

Did the vaio update not pick it up?

 

any way to activate the visualization setting of the CPU to use XP mode on Windows7?

 

More TT pics:

http://b2b.sony.com/assets/VAIO_Fall2008/TT_Series/local/index.html

 

I am a vgntt190 owner. I purchased from Sonystyle a model with 3GB RAM, 64gSSD and 250gHDD -- no optical. I purchased the XP downgrade option. Here are my experiences to date.

- I have regrets over paying Sony the extra money for their storage options. The Samsung SSD is s-l-o-w. I put an Intel X25-M in one of my other notebooks and XP boots *incredibly* fast. The Sony Samsung is nothing to speak of. I don't think it's any faster than a good hard drive. Save your money, don't pay Sony for what they want for the Samsung. Put an Intel in yourself and you'll be glad you did. I just have to repeat -- the Intel drive is INCREDIBLY fast; the Samsung is a POS. You can get an 80G, X25-M Intel drive from Amazon for $324USD. I think i paid an extra $600 for this Samsung POS.

- Since Sony doesn't tell you on their website *all* of the limitations when you downgrade to XP, i'll give you a big one. YOU LOOSE YOUR HDMI FUNCTIONALITY. That's right, though you can get an image sent to your external monitor (TV), SOUND DOESN'T WORK !!!!!!! Rendering that feature USELESS. USELESS. Sony doesn't tell you that on their website. You find that one out when you call tech support.

- The earphones that are included with the computer are great. Only, try plugging in a *different* set you may have. Here you will find that the sound keeps coming out of your computer AND your headphones, seemingly an unintended feature. Maybe that only happens with XP. Maybe i have a defective unit in that respect.

- Something else Sony doesn't tell you clearly. That 300mbps wireless card in your cool new unit? You only get 72mbps when you use XP. That's a bummer if you've rushed right out to upgrade your home wireless with the newer models only to find out that with your hot new $3000 Sony you won't be able to use much more than the 54mbps that your old wireless router had.

- THE MOUSEPAD SUCKS. I totally agree with the earlier poster who had issues. I experience the same issues. This is the biggest POS mouse pad that i've ever had the pleasure of using. Yes i tried using the Dell Alps driver -- didn't really help much.

- All i can say my fellow VAIO friends is that i hope that Windows 7 cures all this crap. I paid $3000 and i am NOT a happy camper. My last VAIO was the TR3AP1 and i was happy as a lark with that model. I've been waiting to ugrade, skipping the TX and the TZ mistakenly believing that the TT was going to be one cool box. It only LOOKS cool.

- I have the super-sized battery option. You would think that for $3000 it would fit the unit like a glove. It doesn't. It rattles...it doesn't fit snug with the body. Hate to say it but it is SHODDY WORKMANSHIP. Can you imagine? The damn thing rattles!!!!! Yes, it is a Sony battery that came installed with the unit from SonyStyle.com !!!! Can't believe they let it out of their shop like that.

- I complained about the slow XP boot times with the Samsung to Sony support and believe it or not they told me that if i did a 'fresh install' of XP that it would be faster than the XP downgrade that i paid them $50 for. I haven't tried that one yet. I'm double-thinking buying yet another copy of XP with W7 right around the corner. Our luck though, what do you bet Sony will NOT give us any other OS to get all our features from this unit other than Vista.

I hope this review helps those of you out who have yet to decide if or how to purchase this unit. Feel free to ask any other questions.

 

And I was leaning towards the TT.Thanks for the info.

 

I don't know how fast xp is, but my Vista business boots up in 1.5 minutes. My newly installed W7 RC boots up in 1.0 minutes (with no applications installed yet). So, I suggest going back to Vista and get rid of those sony bloatware. Or download W7 RC and install it. So, far I am happy with it, and there are a lot of happy campers. It is fast waking up from sleep (Vista is slow). I particularly like its file manager, making it easy to find the file I want. If you are interested in W7 RC, follow this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=345656

 

I think that the conclusion is that the TT maybe doesn't work so great under XP. I'm using my TT with Vista and I've been pretty happy with it.

If you need XP all the time, then maybe the TT isn't the laptop to get.. but if you only need XP every now and then, it works really great under VMWare (when you're running it virtually, XP uses the VMWare drivers instead of the Sony ones... maybe it works better as a result).

 

Does anyone know the part number and/or a place to order rubber feet? I'm missing the one that is hiding a screw.
Thanks!

 

agreed x2

We have several of these in the office that i support and it seems to be an excellent machine. Yes they are all running vista which probably is better option on these machines.

I am amazed at the die hards out there that still insist on running XP even though it's a creaky vulnerable old OS. I guess if you had a program that simply would not run under vista but even then i would just use Vm ware to fix that.

It reminds me of the Mac OS 9 to OSX switch. We had users that clung to OS 9 long after OSX was a better stable more powerful OS. The majority of those users considered themselves mac gods but found out they weren't when it came to OSX

 

Hardly.

Just Google "Microsoft+Admits+Vista+Failure" and then say that.

Die hard? -No. Just needing a better reason to dump XP -- Vista ain't it.

 

I'm old enough to remember when XP came out and there was a vocal contingent that was talking about never giving up on Windows 9x.

On a decently powered machine (anything in the last couple of years) its a solid OS. It's got it's share of annoying flaws and is a bit of a resource hog on older machines but that's been true of every OS that microsoft ever produced.

Anyway, to each his own. My experience with the TT's have been quite positive and just wanted to provide an alternative view to the trashing you gave it.

And Windows 7 does look very promising (plus you get your XP mode)

 

Agree desertlap, aside from a relatively minor build quality issue my TT experience has been positive as well - you just dont get as many people posting on the internet when something is good - its usually to voice a displease about something!

I have never tried the XP downgrade that came with mine, but I am running XP on my Vostro 1310 and it runs a lot better than Vista Business, but I prefer to sit on the fence with regards to the whole Xp vs Vista debate. Each to their own

I am happy to wait for Windows 7 now and forget about running Vista altogether as I am getting awesome performance on my Vostro 1310 with that (I triple boot XP, Win7 and Xubuntu on it)

/start shameless plug

If people want fast boot times on their TT, run Ubuntu Jaunty - my TT boots in under 40 seconds now (and yes, everything works, including wireless and the Fn keys!)

/end shamless plug lol

 

I still have a few machines running Windows 98

I remember how hard it was to get me to move from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Then again, I remember hating GUI--the very idea of having to make my right hand leave the keyboard for a mouse!--so much that I stuck to DOS and Unix until I was dragged kicking and screaming because I couldn't play a bunch of games without moving up.

I didn't love VISTA, the UAC was a dull thorn in my side, but it wasn't bad and had a few neat features. On the other hand, I am thoroughly loving Windows 7. I just wish there was a Win 7 driver for the TT's GMA 4500.

 

Waxing nostalgia aside, I almost forgot why I hopped on.

I wanted to give a status update on anyone that wanted a translated copy of the guide.

Progress on translating the guide is at 15%.

I thought I would have made more progress on it, but I caught a flu (no, not of the porcine variety) and passed it onto my fiancee. Needless to say, it's clogged up some of my time.

This experience has reminded me that reading it for myself is one thing, but translating it into English is a chore. I also forgot there are two parts to the guide so I will post it as 2 seperate parts and upload a word doc with both of them combined.

 

Thanks for your translation efforts, very much appreciated!

 

There is no problem with drivers for Vaio TT for Windows 7. Which driver You wish to have?

 

@arek1:
I do have a minor problem with win7. I have a MS bluetooth wireless notebook presenter mouse 8000. It is not working properly as in Vista. It is either the mouse driver or the Broadcom bluetooth stack. I tried to install the orginal BT driver, but it says for Vista only. The Broadcom BT updated driver did install properly, but my mouse does not scroll up and down smoothly like in Vista. If I stick in the MS BT radio that comes with the mouse, it works ok.

 

@TZ300:
Wow... I am using same mouse like You
My MS WNPM8000 not working correctly too but I have no problem installing original Broadcom BT software (from Sony site). If I install MS Inteli Mouse 6 software the most important left additional button (default for Back in web browser) not working, switching to presenter mode working but without screen popoup. Scroll weel working OK(like in Vista), but it is not possible adjusting it's parameters like speed in control panel, exactly I can adjust but after pressing OK or apply settings are not saved. So I uninstall MS InteliMouse software and using it like regular mouse but connected via built in BT in my TT (not using original MS mouse transmitter). Now I can adjust scroll wheel speed in Control Panel, of course left additional button (for Back in web browser not working too).
What You mean "I tried to install the orginal BT driver, but it says for Vista only" - which driver? Maby You mean MS InteliMouse software. If yes I have had it installed. Before install start it displayed warning it is not for this OS but installed without problem. Unfortunately like I wrote it was not working OK.

P.S. Do You have on screen information when press CapsLock or NumLock? I have not but volume, mute, eject and S1 working OK with on screen information.

 

Good to hear we use the same mouse. I have it working to 90% of satifaction. I adjusted the scroll speed to max. (using firefox). The back button does not work, so I programmed the keystroke Alt+back arrow to the back button. I am using the BRDBLT-00166578-US driver setup Version 6.2.0.5800. Also, I am using mouse driver IP32ENG6.3.0.191.0. After I adjusted the speed, it will stay. Vertical scrolling is not as smooth as in Vista, but it is bearable, I have to swing the wheel to get it started. (This is with the TT BT radio, not the ms mouse plugin radio).

I do not have screen display of caps or numlock, in fact I am not sure if it is in Vista.

 

@TZ300:
On my system most settings set in MS InteliMouse software not stay.
My Broadcom BT driver is 6.2.0.4600 (but I am using some European version it is newest). What I am mostly missing is Back functionality in additional left button but it was not working even when a have had installed MS InteliMouse software 6.3.

For sure I have had in Vista on screen display when using caps or numlock.

I have another problem. When I start my system have message from UPEK Protector Suite QL: "Fingerprint reader not connected. Connect it to USB". But it is only message, my fingerprint reader working OK. Do You have same symptoms?

 

Problem with Back button in mouse SOLVED !!!

I forgot to install VAIO Event Service -4.2.1.12090 update from Vaio support page. Same version is on Your US site. Now my back button working very well. Later I will try install MS InteliMouse maby now settings will be saved, and maby when will switch between mouse and presenter mode on screen display will show. (Please not mix it with caps and numlock on screen display problem ).
So mouse is working

PS. From 19.05.2009 in Europe we have new BIOS: M4 -R2020M4a - installed it but nothing new. They wrote: "This update improves the handling of the Hard Disk password."

 

It is for example here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGN-TT250N/B&region_id=1
It is in Mouse part. I don't know why it is not available for TT180

Try install Sony Shared Library in Vista compatibility mode.

 

Thanks. I am downloading the mouse BT driver. How do I install shared library in Compatibility mode?

 

Click left mouse button when over downloaded SOAVES-00170652-US.EXE file. Click Properties, click Compatibility tab. Now choose 'Run program in compatibility mode' and select Vista. Click OK. Now double click SOAVES-00170652-US.EXE and start normal instalation. Now it should working.

 

Thanks. installed shared library with your instructions. Makes no difference to my vertical scroll. I cannot use the mouse BT driver which is for TT250 and mine is TT180.

 

Why You think you can't use it? Do You try it and was some problem or just think You can't?

 

I thought it might be different equipment. I'll give it a try.

 

OK. Tried to install the BT mouse driver for TT250N. It installed for a little while, and then error says previous version has not been installed. I clicked ok, but it continue to install something. When it is done, my mouse scrolls a lot smoother But, it does not scroll smooth in IE8

I tried to find the previous version, and it is buried in Notebook utilities (like my model). Tried to run it, but it says not for my model.

Anyway, I'll keep it this way and leave it alone.
Back button does not work (works for IE8), so I programmed it to use Alt+left arrow.

 

In comment to this driver on my page is write:
"What does it fix?
Some special external mouse buttons (such as Back and Forward) may not function." all page here: http://support.vaio.sony.pl/downloa.../Updates/EP0000170652.exe&ip=EP0000170652.htm
In my case it working OK.

 

Just to let you guys know, a new BIOS update was release on the 20th. It seems to add the ability to have a hard drive password.