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

Yea i think I will use the white packaging until i find a quality sleeve or hear from someone else too. Its hard to find a sleeve that maintains the footprint of the Z.

I can confirm that disabling Dolby much improves the speakers. I can now call them "acceptable". If someone is looking for a quality pair of IEMs i recommend the Klipsch Image S4 or S4i.

I know someone was wondering how the Z did in gaming. I ran the sf4 benchmark and I got an A, and averaged 69fps at native res.

I've also played hl2e2 native res. All the detail settings were max, but the recommended settings gave me trilinear filtering and no antialiasing. I went with that and it played beautifully. Can't give much more detail than that im afraid.

PS im on 900p

 

as far as slim laptop and sound quality is concerned, the Thinkpad X1 has really nice sound quality, the X1 is bigger than the Z21 for sure but its the thinest Thinkpad and the better sounding one to date.

Sony advertise the Z21 with 5.1 sound dolby sound..

Lets face it the speaker sound on the Z21 is a failure, set the volume above 60-70% you will get a sound heavily distorted. Loudness wise I could not test it long enough but it sounded really thin ad not loud..

 

Did you disable the dolby? I feel like a lot of these problems are fixed when you do that. Now they just sound like normal laptop speakers.

 

I usually will upgrade as soon as a New Z series becomes available, but this time around, I'll break the pattern, and wait for the redesign. I'm still interested though in reading people's experience with this Z2.

I agree with your statements. Apple, IMO, is all about quality and craftsmanship. Sony on the otherhand is innovative with their designs and offers the latest in technology, but is slowly losing ground in the quality of their products.

 

I´ve also the problem that in the explorer the cd-drive and the two card readers are missing as icons. they are working correctly. in the options the setting to show empty devices is set - any idea?

 

The speakers are poor, granted. Am I the only one who doesn't really care?

 

Does it matter if they show up if they're not in use? As long as its working, why do you need to see them? I think it makes it look cleaner.

 

Not at all. It's the most minor issue I can think of.

 

No, it doesn´t matter at all. But i´m interested in, how this is working

 

I have a VGN-Z and absolutely love it, but not so sure about this one.

I have an opportunity to buy the new Z21 with i7, windows pro, 8GB ram, 256 ssd, and hd display for about 2200. It's a warranty replacement, so it's brand new but not sure if it will have the full 1 year on it.

 

I find the Z2 display brighter than the Z1 display.

 

After I installed the system now twice from scratch (because apparently I messed up the installation order of the graphics card, and got bluescreens), I am receiving a "incompatible battery" message, forcing me into hibernate when I click OK. The message is produced by Sony’s ISBMgr.exe.

Does anyone know what to do to fix that one? It first appeared after I installed "Vaio Location Utility", and now I can’t get rid of it (without killing ISBMgr.exe at least). Also my Vaio Control Center is missing a lot of entries.. In my previous reinstall, I had all the default options, now I only have the system information and energy saving options (though very limited)...

I already see myself reinstalling it again.. :/ I hate those Vaio tools that require a special order or they completely break..

 

^^
I had the same, very annoying, problem, also after installing the location utility. It happened to me twice though. After the second install I did a (Windows) system recovery and it was gone. I'm not going to install it again. Some Vaio control center entries are still missing, but I got the entries I wanted/needed. (Energy management, backlit keyboard and auto-brightness)

 

It’s really annoying.. Sony should’t put those “drivers” on the page if they are incompatible with the computer.. or its original, built-in, battery.. <_<

I’m formatting again now.. *sigh* I’ll never finish this in time..

 

Agreed, it is like there is one more up-adjustment available.

I thought this was due to the Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver. I always install it first, before anything else but that was on the Z1.

 

Can another z user explain me how i can set the TPM settings correctly for using fingerprint as machine password and login to windows?

On my old z i´ve this option in the Protector Suite, but on this new machine i cannot find it - also i´ve upgraded to the new version 5 of the auth suite.

 

Same issue. I requested substition since pixel problems (I also said something more in "reasons" for request XD )but now I'll try a complete reinstall in the order at page 58-59 of the thread.

 

I agree that it's minor, until you want to listen to something

 

Does anyone else have like a billion svchost.exe's running? And i find that the Z has a much longer list in task manager than my old HP G71

 

I've got 11 running on my desktop...

 

Why are there so many? Isnt there only supposed to be one?

 

No, but i have 14 currently. I imagine this is a side effect of moving all the Sony apps into the Application utility.

 

Its unsettling

Anyway, Im trying to find a good wireless travel mouse for the Z. I bought the orochi but i dont like it too much. Its too angular and the ergonomics are off. I want to try the anywhere mouse mx from logitech. Anyone have any experiences with it or know of a better one? It can be BT of USB-RF i dont really care.

Also, does anyone know where i can get a thin, rollable, but still slippery mousePAD? I bought the razer kabuto and it fits the 1st 2 needs but it feels too frictioned.

PS does anyone know how to turn on fn lock so that i dont have to hold down fn to change the vol etc.

 

Just checked that, at least the SFEF does not install that ISBMgr.exe..

 

After you register at least one finger just swipe your finger in the windows login screen and it should log you in.

 

Thank you! Works fine! And is it also possible to use my finger instead of the machine password? this option i´ve used on my old z.

 

^
I will look into it when I finish burning the recovery discs.

For whoever is interested:
The noise cancelling earphones of the Z1 works with the Z2.
I find the sound better and louder in the Z2.

 

I'm using a Logitech V470 Bluetooth Business mouse (black). I really like it and suits the Z21. Battery life is about 5 months with daily use. (2x AA)

But it looks like it's no longer available, only the blue and white V470.

 

I use the Anywhere MX together with my work laptop several hours every day, it works very well and I can recommend it.
I recently also bought the Orochi for use with my vaio (and to free up a usb port occupied by the MX receiver), but I like the anywhere mx much better so far.

 

I really, really love it, best mouse I've ever had!
Cons: it's quite heavy for a mobile product, so I only use it with just one battery inserted. But then be sure to have a spare one within reach, it's definitely a battery eater. Annoying in silent areas: Main left and right buttons are loud!

 

That's what the IEMs are for.

 

It's completely normal, stop worrying.

 

Works the same in the new one

 

Thanks for your input!. I want to try it in store to make sure I like it, but I'll probably end up getting it.

Is usb rf more reliable that bt? Sometimes I find that the orochi doesnt register my scrolls or my clicks. Im pretty sure im on the latest firmware 1.06 or something. Maybe ill try upping my frequency, but its already at 500Hz

Pity. It looks good in black but tacky in the other colors. =/

 

Could you tell me how to do it, or post a link to the how-to? I've searched for it, but couldn't find it.

 

Would someone please take a high-res picture of the front of their Z2, when closed? Something like this: http://kunkoku.com/new/bimages5/z51.jpg but in a resolution high enough that I can make a comparison to mine.

The lid of mine looks bowed and doesn't appear to be closing flush in the middle. I would rather not to return it, I just waited eagerly for it to arrive since the new Z announcement, but for a laptop this expensive, I'd prefer to return it than to deal with a $3K laptop with an irritating manufacturing defect.

 

Hows 18mp for yah? http://i.imgur.com/uyUeQ.jpg

I dont see any of the bowing u mention in mine

If you need any lighting changes let me know. I took this one in a hurry

 

Don't think that is a defect. I've had 2 Z2's and both had the bulge

 

@noap I was able to test 2 monitors on the main unit only. I have concluded that you CANNOT use botht eh VGA and HDMI port at the same time.

I connected a bravia TV to the HDMI and an old Dell to the VGA. Winows recognized all 3 displays, but using them proved problematic.

Things I COULD do:

Mirror desktop LCD and HDMI
Mirror desktop LCD and VGA
Extend desktop LCD and HDMI
Extend desktop LCD and VGA

Things i COULDNT do.

Mirror desktop on LCD, HDMI, and VGA
Extend desktop on LCD, HDMI, and VGA
Mirror desktop on HDMI and VGA ONLY (No LCD)

In conclusion: for the main unit, only 1 external display allowed. @ total displays possible, but one MUST be the laptop LCD.

On another note: Does anyone know how to make the laptop wake on lid open? Right now I have to press the power button or a key on the keyboard to wake it.

 

^ you have to go to energy saving settings, modify active settings, go to advanced settings and find things about standby/hibernation... there will be lid open option

It's sad for me now.. I've already packed my laptop cuz tomorrow TNT will come here for substitution.. my substitute will arrive probably in 2 weeks or more.

 

I dont have anything called energy saving settings. I went to power options and advanced settings and I only have options for lid close there.

 

Really? How much of a bulge? None of the pictures I've seen online look like mine does...

Yeah, don't see any bulge in yours. If you push down on the lid near the front, does it flatten at all, or is already flush? Mine has about 3mm of play before it flattens out and touches. Unless I push on it, the little rubber nubs at the top of the display aren't even touching.

 

I can push it down in the middle ever so slightly, but i think the give is from the flex of the screen or the compression of the rubber. Its nowhere near 3mm though. I dont even think its half a millimeter.

 

I think it's actually the body of the laptop itself that is slightly bent, not the screen, but it's making the screen fail to close flush. I can see a little bit of bending along the front panel, where the Memory Stick slot is.

 

How do I disable Dolby? And why Iphone headphones do not work on Z2?

 

Search for "Sound". hit properties, dolby tab, power button

 

Has anyone plugged into a 1920x1200 display yet?
This thread shows that bigger monitors are possible, but I'd like to know whether a good 24" monitor is possible without hacking.

 

Anywhere Mouse MX is a great little mouse. Just remember it's USB so you've got a little adapter sticking out the side of your computer. I forgot about it a few times on my Thinkpad and messed up the USB port.

 

Just checked mine and it closes fine.

 

Are sound quality (after disabling dolby), built in microphone and webcam good enough for Skype / videoconferencing?