Official Sony VAIO TT Series Owners Thread

So, I was forced to format and re-install windows 7 during the weekend. So, I decided to do a 64bit install. It all went well, and I thought I installed the Vaio drivers and software correctly, but I still am not able to adjust brightness, via the hardware keys. Nor am I able to adjust battery care functions. Any ideas?

 

@rachel
Did you do CPU upgrade in your vaio? If yes- did you do reballing?
thanks

 

Hi qweq3, no i didn't. I think if i really wanted to do that i would buy a second TT and get that done.

 

I asked because I've found your post where you wrote that vaiorefurbs did reballing for you.

Today I bought Vaio TT with 1,4ghz core 2 duo, but maybe I will buy another one with 1,6ghz

Vaio TT is still my favourite netbook. New Macbook Air gets much better screen, touchpad, keyboard (and it's backlit), CPU and GPU, but still there is no card reader, modem or docking station port (and offcourse optical drive).

Sad thing is that Vaio TT blu-ray don't read DVD-DL, I use them a lot, so probably I won't do Blu-ray upgrade.

 

Yes, vaiorefurbs has done reballing for me but this was for a older gen U7XX laptop. When i tried to see if he could if he could do reballing for this gen cpu for another ulv laptop he said that he didn't have the tools needed. He said he could do it if i bought a new cpu and they could do it that way. This was a while ago and he might have obtained the tools needed by now. May be email them if you're interested.

 

Anyone using Windows 8 Consumers Preview? I am interested since I an still using Vista Business.
I just downloaded it and installed it on my TT. Took more than 2 hrs to download, and maybe another hour to install (these timings are approximate as I did not really time it). A few things does not work:

The mouse pad works but cannot scroll. Tries to installed an ALPs driver which is what I use on Vista.

Vaio Functions keys do not work.

Finger print scanner does not work, but I do not use it.

Anyone testing windows 8 has any solutions?

 

Hello Everyone,

I am an owner of a Sony Vaio TT46GG. Just recently I dropped my laptop and the corner of of the keyboard panel chipped off .... does anyone know where i can find replacement parts where I can replace the upper keyboard panel ? or is it not worth fixing?

also this question has been probably answer countless time but i was wondering if anyone can tell me what is the best SSD for battery life i can upgrade to? also when i swap the HDD for SSD ... is there an adapter i need to buy or is it a direct swap?
I've been looking at this SSD
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-SSDN...TA9U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332738537&sr=8-1


Thanks everyone and good to see other TT owners

 

Need to repair DC-IN jack. Are there any description how to remove/replace it?

 

May be ebay for cheaper parts or sparepartswarehouse or servicesales.sel.sony.com

The Samsung MZUPA2560/0D1 i believe is a G3 Samsung drive. It is a balanced performer and should have low power consumption. No, you do not need to buy another adapter for the model that you own to do this upgrade.
This thread might be worth a look as well, the front page lists different micro sata drives available.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...age/541361-msata-1-8-sata-ssds-available.html

 

Agree with Rachel, but the SSD-list is somehow arbitrary. I know from own experience that Intel-drives really do not use much power, both under working conditions and in standby mode, but OCZ really is an energy consuming device. So I do not trust all these yes's in the table.

 

--> USB Configuration
USB Port0 = Port 1 (next to audio)
USB Port1 = ?
USB Port2 = Port 2
USB Port3 = ?
USB Port4 = ?
USB Port5 = ?
USB Port6 = Fingerprint Sensor
USB Port7 = Cam
USB Port8 = WWAN
USB Port9 = ?
USB Port10 = ?
USB Port11 = Bluetooth

PCI Express Root Port 1 = ?
PCI Express Root Port 2 = ?
PCI Express Root Port 3 = ?
PCI Express Root Port 4 = ?
PCI Express Root Port 5 = ?
PCI Express Root Port 6 = ? (pre-deactivated)

(VGN-TT11VN/X / Advanced BIOS R2020M4)

Weird that disabling the PCIe ports seems to have no effect.
I'm still wondering how to disable WLAN and the TPM module

 

Hello, this is my first post here... i have a vaio TT36GD asian version. i'm interested in doing this mod :
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...upgrade-crappy-slow-hdd-rocking-fast-ssd.html

about this upgrade to using 2 SSD,can someone confirm me whether i can use this type of SSD or not? i'm noob in this computer stuff...



thanks

 

Not currently on my TT. I run the consumer preview on a work Dell E6310. Which works ok. Windows 8 is basically windows 7 with a new metro style gui. Try to install the windows 7 drivers, 64 bit drivers for the x64 version and 32 bit for the x86 version. Windows 7 versions of the Sony apps should work.

 

If it has a uSata (microsata) connector, it will work. I saw from the picture that the drive you show (Samsung) can tranfer data at a speed of 3 gbit/sec. This is a bit faster than the TT36GD can handle, so it automatically will slow down this speed.

 

It will be difficult to get the "Vaio Functions Keys" to work as they are a very special Sony thing. But maybe Sony soon will follow the W8 OS.

 

I own that drive. It's the Samsung 470 PM810. I'm using 2009 Sony drivers and there might be newer drivers out there that might boost the performance, but they most likely need modding to get it to work properly.
I cannot upload the pictures here as there seems to be some problem. I would be interested in seeing a Crystal disk benchmark of an Intel 320 1.8 drive.
I'm pleased with the drive though. I'll try and find some place to upload the CDM tomorrow and edit it in. Imagecave went down with all the pictures i uploaded to here. The latest PM830 seems quite a bit more power hungry than the PM810 so it doesn't seem like the best choice if power consumption is important to you.

It feels a bit more snappier than my previous G2 Samsung drive PM800/PBJJ2

 

I think the Windows 7 Sony software should work as windows 8 is based on Windows 7. I'm going to install the Release preview of Win8 which is going to be released at the beginning of June on my TT.

 

Much has changed on the SSD front since 2010. But here a CrystalDiskmark of my Intel X18M (uSata, 1.8") that according to the CrystalDiskInfo has a 100% Good Health Status after more than 2 years of activity in my Sony Vaio VGN-TT36GD. Moreover the energy consumption of this drive is very low (max 150mW).

http://tinyurl.com/6qg6vgy

 

Just wondering if anyone can offer their opinion on this. I have the opportunity to purchase a 2nd hand Vaio TT for around €450. 1.2ghz su9300, 4gb ram, 80gb Intel x18 Gen 1, Sony docking station, Windows 7. Do you guys feel it is worth it at that price. I'm usually a mac head but my primary on-the-road laptops are a Vaio TZ with crappy Toshiba 4200rpm hdd, 2gb ram,, a 1.33 Vaio P 1st gen and a 1.6ghz Vaio P 2nd gen bought recently.

Anyone know of the relative built quality of the TT versus the TZ, better/worse and if there will be a noticeable performance increase from the TT with its SSD (bit worried about no TRIM) and also if fan noise is generally known to be more or less the same as the TZ. Primary uses are heavy browsing on opera (50+ tabs), Word/Evernote and very heavy email use with Thunderbird over around 12 accounts. Battery life is very important to me.

Also anyone know if its possible to put a 2nd hdd alongside the ssd without removing the dvd drive. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

I'm not sure about comparing the TZ to the TT in terms of durability. I think that the placement of the express card screw could possibly lead to it getting a fine crack in that area, anyway, that's really minor.

I own the SU9600 model but have used a laptop with a similar processor and i found it ok for general tasking. I didn't push it further to comment. With the 4200rpm that your TZ has got, you will notice a real improvement in the TT's performance for sure.

My Sony TT fell and one corner seemed to take most of the impact. It fell about 3-4ft onto wooden fall and survived it. I think one of the silver trims popped of which was easy to put back. The bezel around the display was damaged and needing replacing. I could have lived with it but found it unsightly. I had some issues for a while with the finger print reader board and i replaced that later, but the motherboard and screen the main functioning of the laptop was still operative. A small crack just below the trackpad happened recently, but really the palmrests could be weakened because of the fall.

I'm not sure really though if the carbon fibre really gives the TT increased durability though. I say this as well after purchasing a couple of cheap 11.6 laptops for family members a while ago.

I'm sticking with my TT for now as my ultraportable as for an ultraportable it's still perfect for my needs. The TT has a very good display, but i'm not sure how the newer for example 11.6 Sony fairs against it. If you value may be the built in drive that is one selling point for you. If not, i would say consider other options. You could have a laptop with a more powerful processor.

It is possible to use two drives as is and not in RAID but i'm not too sure definitive wise how stable that is. I tried it and had issues. Also, i'm not so sure about mixing different drives in RAID either stability wise because i tried that also and had issues. If you are using both of the same drives and put them in RAID i see no potential issues other than a single drive is said to be a bit more reliable.
I got a single 256GB and i'm more than pleased with that. I did try RAID for a while and benchmarked my drive and didn't really see the type of performance gain i was expecting. In some areas the single drive outperformed the RAID configuration. It though didn't appear to decrease my battery life.

 

Indeed with a 4200rpm HDD it will be slow ....I think both the TT and TZ are a very well built piece of equipment..As for screen comparison look Sony Vaio TT and TZ comparison of Display - YouTube... http://en.akihabaranews.com/20569/legacy-unused/pc/vaio-tt-vs-vaio-t-the-fight (used this link for picture purpose only)

Adding a SSD to the TZ will make it run very snappy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpO2K0ZXPpc&feature=related...I get a boot time of 25sec..and it is very quiet CPU fan control set up > 1 ..even on high performance you can barely notice the fan running ...I get a batt life of 5 hrs set up to 80./. charge (after 3 years my batt degraded 20./.)

Of course the TT has a better Graphic Card/CPU and Ram can be upgraded to 8GB...

 

You also asked about the TT and if it has fan issues. It doesn't have fan issues. There are different settings in the vaio control panel, silent mode, balanced and performance mode. In performance mode working doing something a bit more intensive i have heard the fan come on i think once or twice. I though use balanced mode and have never heard the fan and i've owned this laptop since October 2009. It also has very good battery life. With the right settings over wifi i can pull in about 10hrs with the standard battery.

About the display. The Sony TT has an 8 bit LED display and the Sony TZ has a 6bit. The Sony TT display is duraview and more matte like. It can take some time to get used to the Sony TT display because it's an 8 bit panel. I like it. Some people have a preference for either matte or glossy displays. I prefer matte displays so yeh it's a plus for me. The Sony TZ is glossy, but not super glossy, mirror like type. I have seen a TZ also.

My niece has a P7230 with a U7600, W7, 2GB, SSD and it has a GS945. The TT i have just feels overall faster in general tasks.

 

^ Yes the TZ screen is kinda glossy not that much though...whenever I am outdoors what I do is crank up the brightness and it takes care of the problem..or another option is to angle the screen...

 

Has any one tried Windows 8 on Vaio TT?

I did. Most drivers did not work.

 

1st off thanks to all for their opinions and advice. I took the plunge on the TT. Black 1.2ghz, 80gb x18m 1st gen SSD, 4gb ram, sony docking station, unlocked 3g. Almost perfect condition, almost.

Does anyone know where I can buy a foot........for the TT. Its missing the front left most rubber foot. I know Conics in the US sell them but looking for an Ireland/UK source if possible. Sony Ireland are rip-off merchants and I've spent more money waiting in their tech queue at premium rates than a foot would cost. Also anyone had issues with the DVD drive chrome coming off and any ideas how to fix it without breaking it. Ruins the lines.

Battery is a standard bps14 (20% wear) rather than an bpl14 which I must get. Reckon I can get 5hrs at a push. Rachel I'm amazed at your 12hrs, how the hell . I've read your setup remarks but still cant get close. Anyone any opinions on 3rd party batteries, I'm wary. Also anyone know if there is a way to use the latest x4500 Intel drivers without losing the ambient light sensor facility which I loved on my 2nd gen P.

I'll keep tweaking with my new obsession for the week, my 1st 3 days off for a full year, bliss

One thing I'd say as an aside if anyone is looking to replicate OSX spaces and expose try the new beta of dexcontrol from dexpot. DexControl | Virtual desktops simplified

Fast even on a TT, free and just works (could use a bit of settings menu simplification though)

Thanks again all.

 

I'm glad that you're pleased with your TT Jurisprudence. You say that you've read my setup remarks so probably know how i get that indicated at the start. There is quite a bit of discussion on the power settings and how i obtained that from posts 1704 to 1713. I posted a screenshot to show that i was idiling around 4.X watts over wifi. May be you've read that already. Another forum user couldn't get under 10 w and then dropped to under 5w. My battery had no wear and was at 100%. My Samsung 470 doesn't seem to have affected my battery life either. I have noticed that battery life is slightly better as well with a single ram module.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...al-sony-vaio-tt-series-owners-thread-171.html

I think replacing the silver trim is what i would do and i have done that actually, but for different reasons. Not everyone though will want to dismantle their TT.
I've seen the feet being sold on ebay from time to time. I just bought some not that long ago from Sony service sales in the US and got a friend to ship them over to me.

Edited to add
I uploaded the parts needed for the feet, may be you will find it being sold in the EU apart from Ebay.

 

Rachel thanks for the advice and link, thats awesome, as usual . Continued my tinkering and reckon I can keep a good 5hrs use on the degraded bls14. Will grab a bpl14 from ebay once a good deal shows up. Gonna also remove the silver dvd bezel and glue it back into alignment.

On Win 7 now with 4gb ram. I tried to use Dataram Ramdisk to create a 1gb cache for Opera to use above the 2.93gb usable limit but for whatever reason it refused to use it even when directed to the locations in opera:config. Gave up and tried to enable PAE to address the full 4gb with a patch from the net but got a BSOD which recovered itself without apparent damage. Anyone know if PAE on win 32 bit on the TT is a no go. May have to go up to 64 bit win 7 but concerned about driver issues, are there any. Hoping to utilize everything the TT has to offer and hopefully 64 bit will perform better than 32.

As an aside I put Win 8 RP on my TZ. My TT with x18m SSD on 7 boots in approx 35 secs with services optimized. The TZ with a 4200rpm hdd....20 seconds with no optimization. Cant wait till its released.

PS: I'm not being intentionally lazy not searching this thread. When I try to search I get an error no matter what I type. Sorry

 

On win 8 RP, did all function keys work? Did the ALP mouse pad work properly, i.e. gesture scrolling?

On my TT, functions keys do not work, mouse pad gesture works for a while, and then locks up until I reboot.

 

With W7 64bit everything works, Sony has provided full driver support for W7 64bit. I am using it and have no issues.
Sony : VAIO VGN-TT4 drivers | Download drivers and updates for VGN-TT4

Edited to add:

For those with the Option 382 card, i would advise though that you read on installing WWAN which you will find in the first post of this thread.

 

Thanks Rahel for the link. I download all the W7 drivers from your link. Installed them. There is still one error in the devices list "Unkown device" and the driver identified it as "Intel(R) ICH9M-E LPC Interface Controller - 2917". According to my search, this should work with the TPM infinion driver, but it still does not work. The blue function keys do not work (the F5-F6 for screen brightness). The reject key does not open the dvd drive. So, I am missing something. Any ideas.

edit: I tried to run the TPM setup, but it gives an error.

 

Hi TZ300, I just did a bare install of Win 8 RP. I haven't had a chance yet to try and get the drivers installed. I'll give it a try later in the week. Just as a tip (probably been said countless times before but anyways) I'm using the Fujitsu ALPS driver on Win 7 which makes the touchpad responsiveness far superior to that of the Sony one. You may want to try that on 8. It is version 7.109.411.103, just google it.

Rachel thanks again. May go up to Win 7 64 this week. Is there a performance difference with 64 versus 32 in your opinion in terms of responsiveness, battery life and memory usage. Also would you recommend going to 8gb from 4gb. I can get 8gb Hynix for €28 and possibly sell the 4gb for €15. In Irish currency (we've left the Euro, don't tell the Germans) thats less than 3 beers.

Anyone recommend a screen protector for the TT, preferably anti-glare. I've used Powersupport on ipads and they've been incredible but they don't do anything for non-apple products. Trying to avoid the rainbow effect many of the cheap ebay types produce. I've already scratched the screen with a little nick but I know I'll end up doing it again.

Also anyone know how to oil the hinge on the TT screen. The joint is creaking like its owner Cheers guys.

 

Hi Jurisprudence. Thanks for the info. With Rachel's help, most of the drivers are now working. (I use the W7 drivers in Rachel's link a few post above). The ALPs driver is now working properly and can do gestures. My remaining problems are the function keys (which I use to dim/brighten the screen), and the eject button of the DVD drive is not working. Also, in the devices manager, there is one device that is not recognized. I suspect that is the function keys. If you have a chance, please try out and let me know. Thanks.

 

Hi TZ300. I'll try and get the drivers loaded by tomorrow evening (GMT). What kinda of boot times are you getting? BTW I've added a few programs to my windows laptops which may be helpful, especially in the tweaking/monitoring phrase.

Try 'Process Lasso", it can throttle processes and programs which get out of hand and provides much more info on app usage than taskmanager. 'Battery Care' lets you have as many power profiles as you want from the tray icon unlike 7 & 8 and can display % & time remaining. The time remaining updates much faster than windows so gives you a better idea whats hitting your system battery that second. Lastly NetSpeedMonitor sits in the taskbar and monitors traffic obviously. Just a thought for Win 8 to check for bugs and seeing whats calling home. All free BTW.

 

The start time of WIN8 varies:
1. Real cold boot (overnight cold)- 1:08
2. Restart 0:51
3. Shutdown, and start again 0:22 sec.

I have dual boot /vista/win8 and harddisk lock. After entering the harddisk lock password to the win8 screen where they time, date, battery, and wireless icons are shown (including moving the mouse pointer to choose win8 in dual boot screen). I do not understand these time differences.

I tried again, taking the battery out for 1 min. the time is now from when I see the Vaio splash screen to the time when the time, date battery, etc., including typing in the password. Time is 28.7 sec. Typing the password is about 8 seconds. retarting time using the same method is about 51 sec.

So, it seems to boot very fast, not needing SSD. Restarting takes longer than cold start.

 

Is it still worth to put a $200 SSD on this laptop or get a new laptop like a macbook air?

I"ve been debating this for a while now, still can't come up with an answer for my self

 

Honestly thats not a whole lot of information for anyone to answer your question. What do you do with the laptop & what size SSD did you want to get? You can find an 80gb intel x18 SSD for 70 dollars these days on ebay.

 

I'll be mostly using it for school. for SSD size i'm actually looking at 128s, but those are still around $200. I don't mind a 80gb one, as I don't store much on my laptop anyways. I just want a quick start up and snapping laptop so I can open programs faster. Since the TT's gaming capability is extremely limited I don't expect to game on it. But if I were to get the macbook air, I can at most play Diablo 3 on it.

 

Hey, TBH unless your flush with cash I'd say stay with the TT if it currently suits your needs. In terms of boot times with my intel X18m Gen 1 I'm getting about 35 second boot and 4 second return from sleep. Also bear in mind my above post regards windows 8 (don't mind the I-hate-metro idiots, its only an extra interface in addition to the original Windows desktop) on my Vaio TZ with a 4200rpm HDD getting a boot of 20 seconds, so theres life in the old Vaio's yet.

I'm going to be using the TT and my Vaio P2 (Atom 1.6ghz 128ssd) for court work and they're perfect for my needs and I don't say that lightly. In this environment when you need access to something you either have it that second or things get real nasty real quick. I'd love a Macbook air but the expense and lack of a removable battery are killers for me. Beautiful kit if you have the money though.

A lot will depend on the programs you are using. Do you have any specific programs you need to use. For browsing I use Opera (12 just out of beta in the last few days). 30 tabs open at 10% cpu (although I think thats even higher than it normally is so could be an incompatible plugin). It opens in 3 seconds and thats even with the web cache turned off.

General Q to all, probably stupid but can the TT handle a 64gb SDXC. Presume not but they are so cheap these days.

 

I have win8 RP installed. The only issue is 1 missing driver which gives the message "base system device". Device hardware id is "PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_0592&SUBSYS_9047104D&REV_11". Anyone know/have the correct driver for this?


Function keys and eject work. I installed all the missing drivers and sony programs. Only program which doesn't work is "smart network"

 

Hi everyone,

I'm completely new to this forum and I'm thinking to upgrade my TT36GD (Asian model) with a SSD....(similar to this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...upgrade-crappy-slow-hdd-rocking-fast-ssd.html ...but not decided if I just with go one ot two SSD)

I have been following this thread for a while...but still got a couple of questions...

1.) if i replace my old hdd (which is the 1.8 toshiba)...is there enough room for an 2.5 inch SSD without the casing? Is that feasible...or do I have to go with the 1.8?

2.) Are there any restriction regarding capacity I currently could install without problems? 2x256gb...or 2x512gb?

@commoner89: did you go with the Samsung MZUPA256HMDR...and did you fit both inside?

@Rachel: you mentioned that you installed the Samsung 470 PM810? Is there also a 1.8 version available? or did you manage to fit the 2.5 inside?
Would the follow-up model PM830 would do as well?

Any help/insights are highly appreciated...thanks in advance for your help!

 

The MZUXXXXX 1.8 is exactly or more or less the same size as previous 1.8 Samsung SSD's that Sony used in the TT series. It shouldn't make any difference. You can read my experiences in the RAID thread about the bracket, because the holes on the newer Samsung SSD's may be slightly different and may affect how it secured in the bracket. I myself tried RAID using two G2 Samsung drives and went for a single drive in the end.

The Samsung that i upgraded to recently was a 1.8 Samsung 470.
I don't know if a followup 1.8 model is available. If it is the 830 uses a little bit more power consumption than the 470.
The Sony TT in some countries at least was offered up to a 512GB RAID SSD. I don't know about opting for a higher capacity than this.
Google Translate

 

@Rachel thx for the fast reply. I'll have a look at the Raid issue...have you been happy with the samsung g2 performance? or would you recommend something else?

 

The G2 drive was the previous Samsung drives i owned. I have since upgraded to a G3 Samsung 470 and i'm happy with the drive. I posted some benchmarks that is probably a couple of pages back now in this thread.

 

any recommendation where to get the G3 Samsung 470?

 

foxygirl, i bought mine from a seller from an auction site in Europe, not ebay. I see some that are on ebay.
This is the G3 drive.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/sansung-1...ther_Computing_Networking&hash=item53ebc80682

 

@rachel...thx again for your help and insights...really appreciate it!!!

Have another question...I talked previously about the new Samsung ssd 810 and/or830 series in the 2.5 version. Somebody mentioned that inside is a 1.8 ssd..can somebody confirm that? I couldn't find any reliable source showing the facts...If that is the case I simply would get rid of the casing...

 

foxygirl, it is the adapters that make the 1.8 and 2.5 really different, they are not the same size and they are not interchangeable without an adapter. The larger drives have a higher DC rating of 5 and it's 3.3 for the 1.8, that may not make it suitable to be used in an ultraportable. I'm not sure but look into it.
You may want to take a look at this thread. Some adapter options have been posted that may be suitable for the TT. I've not tried them though and don't know how well they will fit and transport either.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8353727-post75.html

 

Thx again rachel!!! Will have a look at the adapters...didn't consider the DC issue...anybody out there who have done sth like this or can provide additional insights?

 

Can anyone give me an opinion on the new T series, comparing it to the TT?

VAIO T Series PC | Sony | Sony Store USA

 

I don't have the new T (I just got a 2011 Z2) although i've seen it in the store. Form factor wise, it's thinner, of course. Obviously, performance wise, it should be faster. Some people have complained of the T's loud fan (my TT's fan was "mute") but you know that people will always have something to complain about a new system.

Sent from my Galaxy Note