Official Sony VPC-Z2 (VAIO Z 2011) Series Owners' Thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-speculation-news-thread-596.html#post7785669

So it's about 65W without vs. 120W with PMD.

 

Thank you LSR for finding the info and for doing the maths for me!

 

Thanks for this, you might consider a new thread in the main forum for this, we can add our own observations and experience to it. I'll be attempting a clean install in the next week or two (possibly) now that the EU utilities have become available for download. Also I'm beginning to think that Fast Boot is not really important and I would rather have that 15GB recovery partition back instead!

 

Do you really need all those extra Sony utils? Looks like junk to me, and isn't the reason behind doing a clean install to get rid of all this bloatware?

 

Seems to charge at the same rate.

 

Sure I'll do it later today.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned previously, but the recovery data can be burned to 2x DL-DVD's, 4x DVD or a motherfrikkin USB thumb drive. About time and a very welcome change.

...and BTW, the fast bios cancels the VAIO screen and shaves about 2-3 additional seconds off the boot cycle.

 

You are absolutely right, a lot of that stuff is not needed. Personally, I don't install quite a bit of that stuff.

 

What sleeve do you all use for the Z21, or would you recommend?

I picked up a 13" Be.ez LArobe sleeve. It was the only one I liked and available and seemed to give enough protection while in a normal backpack or shoulder bag. I didn't test fitted it before purchasing it, which was not a real smart thing to do, because the fit is quite bad. There's a lot of movement possible, which doesn't seem to me being a good thing. I can use the Be.ez on another 13" laptop, no loss there.

So, I'm looking for a better fitting sleeve. The main goal for my sleeve is to protect the Z21 against dirt/dust and scratches. The sleeve will go inside my old 17" laptop shoulder bag, together with some books or documents. The shoulder bag has decent shock protection.

What I'm looking for: ("Requirements")
* Protection against dust/scratches. Against shocks is also ok... of course
* Preferable without handles
* Separate (outer) pockets are a pre, but not necessary.
* Without "screaming" prints or an Apple-logo.
* Price range: ~ $50 / €40


Any suggestions?

 

Here in Japan, there are two bag companies that I really like. For my X11 I have a sleeve from Suono. It only protects against dust/scratches (no shock protection) but it's extremely lightweight. I'm looking forward to another Suono sleeve for my Z2, however Suono is a small business so it takes them some time to release new sleeves.
VAIO X ƒP[ƒX - suono -

The other brand I like is Van Nuys. They already have custom-fitted sleeves available for the Z2, and will likely have more options soon. This one protects from scratches and shock (but it's not fully sealed, so not against dust). It's also expandable to accomodate the sheet battery, and can be customized with/without an A4 document pocket.
ƒoƒ“ƒiƒCƒY^ VAIO Z21ê—pŠ®‘S–³Œ‡‚̃|ƒPƒbƒg•t‚«ƒLƒƒƒŠƒ“ƒOƒP[ƒX^‰¡Œ^ (— •\‚ÉA4ƒTƒCƒY‚ª“ü‚éƒtƒ‰ƒbƒgƒ|ƒPƒbƒg•t‚«)(Šg’£ƒoƒbƒeƒŠ[‘Ήž)^VAIO Z21ê—pŠ®‘S–³Œ‡‚̃LƒƒƒŠƒ“ƒOƒP[ƒX^‰¡Œ^(Šg’£ƒoƒbƒeƒŠ[‘Ήž)

Van Nuys cases are typically more expensive, but worth every penny. Only trouble is trying to get your hands on one if you're outside Japan.

 

Thank you Hannes! Great work!

 

I'd love to see a clean install instruction including just the necessary utilities.

 

I only installed the Sony software in step 12 and 13. The Sony Control Center misses some functions, but you can control the auto-brightness, keyboard back lights and cpu/power management. For me, that's enough .

 

Tarantula, exactly. Although, as Crystal1988 correctly points out, Ivy Bridge won't be the end of the PMD, Haswell, which unlike IB will be a new architecture, probably will end the need for a PMD. There will still be high-end graphics cards of course for game-players, engineers and others with specialized needs but I doubt you'll need them for most day-too-day business/personal uses.

 

Looks like some Sony stores received the VPCZ21SHX/X's today. I'll be picking one up shortly. The Dallas galleria store has 5, er, now 4.

 

C'mon guys.. when Haswell will be out, we'll have dGPU of 2 or 3 generation next to actual... I think that there won't be match from mid-gpu.

 

Microcenter just received two preconfig. Z2 models, respectively, $2999 and $1999 models. Only available in their Web Store. Can't believe they would get it first before SonyStyle.

 

Ehh, I'm not talking about clean install, but FIRST switch on (once your laptop arrives):
Do I need to connect PMD before FIRST switch on, or I can start it without PMD, let Windows finalize installation and THEN connect PMD?

Sorry, I'm a bit confused on this.

Cheers,
Miki

 

All you have to do is simply skip any utilites / applications that you don't want.

 

You don't have to connect the PMD. I started mine up the first time without with no difficulties whatsoever.

 

Good choice but indeed the 13" Be.ez LArobe is a bit to large for the Z21. Seeing that the Z21 is more or less the same size as a Macbook Air I would suggest you instead buy the 13" Be.ez LArobe Air sleeve.

The LArobe Air has smaller dimensions and its a snug fit for the Z21. I have to lightly press the Z21 into the sleeve. Seeing that you live in Holland (as do I), I can give you the direct url of the LArobe Air from the company I bought the sleeve from: Be-ez LArobe Macbook Air

 

Any thoughts about a sleeve for the Z21 + Extended battery? Seems like it would be a bit too big for a MacBook Air sleeve?

 

I just got an email with my invoice, and it mentioned the shipping date being today. Does anyone in Europe received a similar email after the notebook was produced? How long did it take to arrive then, or where could my notebook possibly be now (still in Japan, or already in some shipping center)?

I actually hoped it would arrive tomorrow, after I got a confirmation on last Thursday that it was produced and would be shipped on Friday, but now this email destroys my hope a bit…

 

Thanks for your input. I'll have a look at the web shop.

Good point, I almost forgot about the possible sheet battery. It will add about 8mm in thickness, so it gets a bit thicker than a MacBook pro. So yea, I guess you're right.

I've yet to decide to buy the sheet battery. First I have to see how it works out with the internal battery and it's quiet pricey.

After the email about the shipping (to their distribution center) and the final delivery was about 2 or 3 days, I think. Not too bad, but if you're waiting for your new laptop, it might feel a lot longer. It kind of did for me

 

Well then, I'm looking forward to the day when an IGP is all that's needed to power tasks for 90% (or more) of the tasks out there. For me, I don't play games on my laptops at all; as a result, I was initially considering purchasing the Z from overseas sans PMD as I didn't really need it at all. Frankly speaking, the Intel HD 3000 (and previous integrated chips) were all that's required for me - about the most graphically intensive thing I do with laptops is to play full HD video.

 

Well, Intel HD3000 can push actual games at low resolution/details without problems..
And HD encoding/decoding is not bad at all.
If a person don't use heavy graphical program/gpu computing... HD3000 it's ok.

 

For those of you that own the orochi, does the mouse wheel sometimes skip? Sometimes when I ratchet it doesnt scroll down

 

I picked up the VPCZ21 SHX/X about an hour ago.

• The SSD is 2x 256GB in RAID 0
• The I7 runs much hotter and the fan is much more active than with the I5 (who woulda thunk it?). I'd say the fan is about the same volume as with the Z1. I'm sure some people will think it is too loud and I wouldn't correct them.
• The FHD screen is gorgeous. Sony set the text size at 125% as a default
• The PMD is basically the same, but I wish I disassembled the DVD-only flavor before returning it to see the difference with the guts.

 

Finally got ahold of my Z2. It arrived last week, but I didn't get back into the country to start playing with it until now.

Overall, the concerns that people brought up almost all turned out not to be a problem for me. Build quality is amazing, screen is amazing, I like the feel of the keyboard, and the touchpad is just fine once the settings are adjusted a bit from the default.

I like the sheet battery. It does add a significant amount of bulk, but that's only because the laptop is so darn light and thin to begin with.

The laptop shows fingerprints a bit more than I'd prefer, but not nearly as bad if it were actually shiny. The touchpad on the other hand is shiny, so it shows every fingerprint. It's not a big deal.

The only thing that did not meet or exceed my expectations are the speakers. They're every bit as bad as everyone has said, maybe worse. I'd honestly say, my iPhone speaker sounds better than the Z. Still, I'm not planning on using it to watch movies or play music, not without headphones or external speakers, so it's not a big deal.

Overall, I love it, and I'd highly recommend that anyone on the fence go ahead and make the jump.

 

If you've ever wondered how USB3 fairs over USB2, this is a Lian-Li external 3.0 2.5" enclosure with a 7200 RPM drive.

First is from the 2.0 port, second from the 3.0.

 

Got my Z2 yesterday evening. First impressions are very good!

Currently i´m looking for the right settings to use the TMP fingerprint as BIOS password replacement and windows login. On my old Z21 it was possible, but i don´t find a solution yet. Can someone help me please and give a step-by-step explanation how i can do this?

 

A soft Air sleeve might work, but I think the Z2 is longer.

Z1x cases are too narrow and thick.

I think the Z2 will be much easier to cover with an Invisible shield or the like than the Z1 was. I will say that the CF bits are prone to pick up dead skin from fingerprints. It also seems prone to pressure scratches, but these seem to come out with a terrycloth wipedown.

I'm soooo happy the palm rest is aluminium again. It stays cool too, even with the i7 proc

 

since we already know that the laptop come with GOBI3000, will it be possible to have it work with verizon LTE?

thanks

 

Hating the stale yellow backlight on the keyboard. Is there any possible way to "Pimp my Z" and put in a nice white light, or something different? The stale might be the color of the translucent letters. But this has got-ta-go .... !!!

 

My new "Z" arrived a day before I expected (thanks Fedex) and 2 days before the original ship date.

Basics:

I7
1600x900
512GB SSD
8GB ram
BD-RAM in the dock
"blue" interior -- not the color I expected. I hauled out the big camera to try to take an accurate photo.

 

Yeah. Welcome to the club. Welcome to the "Tulip Purple" club. My friends are never going to let me live this one down. For some reason I feel like putting on a dress. Blue .... this is ... not.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. I can't understand the decision to go with such a dull color. A pure white backlight like the SA/SB series would have sealed the deal and made the laptop look so classy but instead we got this puss colored yellow/green that just takes away from the laptops classyness imo. I have a feeling that the Z22 is going to get rid of this color.

The messed up part about it is that the backlight is so useful, to the point where I added the feature despite hating the color.

 

I hope to be a proud member of "Tulip Purple" club. Probably explains why I received my unit so quickly. The order fulfillment people as Sony probably said "really?"

 

Can someone post a picture with and without the slice battery? I want to see how much thicker it makes it and i can't seem to find anything online or this thread that shows that or gives a measurement of just how much thicker it makes the laptop.

Thank you in advance!

 

Sony won't change it until the Z3. Unfortunately, that's the way it goes.

 

I have a Orochi bluetooth synced to my Z21 and have no issues. I did flash to the latest Orochi firmware when setting everything up with the Z, which included a clean wipe, installation of Win 7 Pro and reinstallation of Z21 drivers as desired from the ground up.

 

It's so weird, it seems impossible to capture this color accurately via a camera.

 

well, your LCD has just to be calibrated.

 

One thing that is interesting for me is getting used to the weight. The laptop is at least 1lbs lighter than my previous ones and the lightness is affecting how I'm used to holding and balancing the laptop. But in any case, I'd loaded up a usb drive with Ubuntu 11.04 (latest as of this post) and tried to boot a live image using the laptop without the PMD. After the initial selection screen in the bootloader, it proceeded to load Ubuntu, but the LCD remained bank. I know it successfully booted into Ubuntu because I heard the usual chime/whatever played once the OS is up. Next was trying it out with the PMD. This time, it didn't boot at all. I'll try again with Ubuntu 10.04 and BackTrack5.

 

I'm not sure how that helps. I've seen numerous pictures taken of the "cobalt blue" z2, on my z2, my desktop pc with dell monitor, my phone, a friend's phone, friends laptop, friend's all-in-one desktop, and a few other devices. These pictures range from ones taken with my own phone and camera to those taken by others, including ones available on sony's website and a render of what the laptop would look like in "cobalt blue".

All of them have always been off. How exactly does calibrating my lcd help? I could imagine if ALL the images I see of things had some issue or there was a systematic color shift or error. But that is not the case. The issue is with one specific colored laptop. And across multiple different devices. I'd have more luck adjusting my own eyes.

 

What's your base of this comparison?

 

Z21 drivers are very similar to the ones for the SA/SB/SC in fact the driver for each has the hardware id for the other in its INF. This means of course that it is another proprietary combo (Intel/ATI) driver.

Fun part is the GPU is labeled differently in each driver with the same hardware id strings. In the SA/SB/SC drivers it is labeled as "AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6730M" while in the Z21 drivers it is "AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6650M".

 

It will add about 8mm/0.3inch in thickness and 550grams in weight. Sheet battery specs

 

can anyone confirm that if i keep the recovery partition after clean installed will i be able to used the fastboot function?

 

This night I got the shipping confirmation email and that included even a tracking number (didn’t expect that). The tracking status says it’s already in my neighbor city, so I’ll most probably get it within the next few hours! I love shipping in Germany!