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

Has anyone benchmarked the built-in SD(HC/XC)-Cardreader with a fast SDHC/-XC card (>=20 MB/s) yet?

 

no differences from the old series for the SD / MS card

 

I also pushed it a little bit farther yesterday, but not that high . Is it stable at those speeds? I'll try with mine as well later on.
Are you using Trixx for OCing?

 

Does this come with a SIM card holder for GSM networks? If so, is that limited / locked to AT&T?

 

Another question, I am about to order the a Z2 - should I go for the fresh install or not? Is there anything useful in the bloatware?

Also, until now I have been using AVG as an antivirus. Should I opt for the Norton Internet Security available with the Z2?

 

Yes * 2

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/603509-sony-vaio-z2-vivisection-2.html#post7821668

 

Anybody work out a way to remove the PMB while the machine is in hibernation or sleep?

You can still hit the undock button while it is suspended, but the machine turns on even with the lid closed and stays that way. You can simply pull the connector out, but it complains when it awakes. I'm probably being stupid, but it's a PITA

 

Eh? Why would you try it like that? If you don’t want to use the GPU of the PMD, while it is plugged in, then just undock it. I do that all the time. Plug in the PMD connector (so that it charges) and then click the undock button so the GPU turns off. Sadly this also turns off all other things in the PMD (drive, ports), but at least I don’t have to put the cable/connector in a weird position if I just want to charge it

 

sorry to ask again but I am about to place my order and wondering if should I go for a Fresh Start or not?

I read on here that many people do a fresh installation once they get the machine in order to clear the 16GB recovery partition. If so, maybe it makes little difference. Any insight appreciated.

 

yes, stable at that speed, i seem to hit a wall at 25mhz more. Haven't really tried to see if it's memory or the core though.

 

Since I uninstall all the add-ons Sony installs and don't always run a fresh build, I would have preferred to have the fresh start option, but you don't have the option on pre-configured machines.

If you can live with Win7 Pro and don't plan to clean install, I think fresh start is a good option.

Not sure of the size of the recovery partition on fresh start machines.

 

I'm stable at a bit past 900/1100, but probably the vrm throttles it or something because the score went down.

 

Thanks! That's disappointing.

 

gotcha When you get them, take some pics if you could, I'd like to see how it looks, and maybe, if you could, see what you can fit in that back pocket? I'm somewhat expecting to be able to hold the laptop+slice and then a two subject notebook in that back pocket.

 

After 1 week of use I can say I really appreciate this Z21 !

I really had doubts after reading all the posts but I'm so glad I did'nt cancel my order.

I was afraid the fan would be on constantly and that the keyboard wouldn't be great. Well I was wrong - I don't remember having had a laptop so silent !!!!! the fan never comes on (I don't do games) just office work and web. Also the keys of the keyboard are just great !!!

Only con is perhaps the trackpad... but let's be honest it's not that bad at all !

See you

 

good to know i'll be using my for the same purposes as you. high five!

 

Having used my Z21 for about 2 weeks now I agree with practically everything you've said, it's way way quieter than has been made out on this forum (perhaps because mine is the i5), and the keyboard with backlighting is a pleasure. The screen is the best of any laptop I've owned. And this laptop is so quick, especially since I was using a VAIO X with Atom processor and crappy GMA500 GPU on a daily basis before.. and the battery life is amazing, despite the power.

But yeah while the trackpad is fine, I had more accuracy when working with Photoshop and web development on my old X. I think it might be down to the texture. We can always hope for a magical driver update!

 

I've had it with the Z21's trackpad. Coming from MacBook Air's luscious touchpad, the Z21's trackpad is so gratingly annoying. In the end, in order to keep things mobile/portable, I've opted to add this into the mix, to be brought together to replace the trackpad.







The name of the "mouse" is called Swiftpoint FutureMouse.

Swiftpoint - www.futuremouse.com - YouTube

 

Kinda hard to use with the PMB attached

 

With the PMD attached the receiver goes to the PMD. And the magnetic dock holds the Swiftmouse in place, it is that light. Even with the mouse attached vertically.

Also, a 30 seconds charge gives 1 hour usage, and a full charge, 2-4 weeks.

Or, if you're using the PMD, which means it is your desktop, I assume you're at home/office. In my case, when it is desktop mode with the PMD on, I leave my Razer Mamba connected permanently to the PMD, and switch to that once the PMD is connected.

The point here is, when you're out and about, portability is paramount. So does the portability of your human interface devices.

 

you are indeed wise good sir. people ALWAYS fail to consider the accessories they will need when they get their laptop.

a 2.6lb laptop isn't very portable if its power brick weighs 4 pounds

 

I wasnt able to complete 3dmark06 at 925/1100, but 910/1100 worked. Further testing today:

3dMark06:
9205 @ 850/1000
9762 @ 900/1100
9841 @ 910/1100

 

^
Did you see any improvement in games?

 

I actually leave the PMB in the living room, attached to the big screen via HDMI, but you have a point.

They get the device to work via bluetooth yet? Persistent USB dongles don't work for me.

One of my pets, named Dongle, does work for me so it's just the USB types, but that's neither here nor there.

 

Any thoughts on the power brick? I haven't seen it mentioned so I was curious if its seemingly too large for the laptop or not? Thanks.

 

Yes it does help, but it is not stable at the highest speeds tested above (using 3dmark06) in real games (I am playing World of Tanks and SC2).
It seems to work fine at 865/1000, I will increase the speed in small steps over some time and see how far it goes. I may also increase the fan speed to reduce the gpu temp and see if that has any effect.

BTW, I am also a bit unsure about the Catalyst XGP Docking station settings when using an external monitor and playing games.
One can choose 'Allow additional displays' and 'Accelerate Notebook Displays'... If I choose 'Allow additional displays, connect an external monitor to the PMD, and close the lid/disable the notebook display, will the external display be fully accelerated for best possible game performance then?
Or is it better to select 'accelerate notebook displays' and connect the external screen to the HDMI port on the laptop?

 

That "persistent USB dongle" work to dock your mouse while not in use, and charge it as well. Bluetooth does not charge wirelessly. Personally IMO, looking at the size of the dongle, it is an elegant function of dock/charger/receiver without adding more bulk to the the whole package you'll be bringing on the go. What Bluetooth mouse has a footprint/size/volume as small as this, or charges it as well?

 

Hey, so seriously thinking about getting this laptop have a few questions;
Are the speakers really THAT bad? Like if I were to watch a movie on laptop would I get annoyed enough to stop watching? Is there any software out to enhance the sound?
Hows the trackpad on it?
How big is the power charger? Is it a brick or similar to macbook chargers?
The Z is the only slim.laptop I know that isn't ULV, its not ULV right ?
Does sony have a 100% refund return policy (I pay shipping) ?
Are there any other major flaws out ? I dont need a laptop now but id like to replace my mbp c2d, is this laptop ideal?

 

All IMOs of course.

Speaker - yes, that bad. Once I plug in my Denon headphones, the world is right again.
Trackpad - A pain in the rear, this is me coming from my MacBook Air touchpad. Now using the Swiftpoint Futuremouse.
Charger - you get two chargers. One "portable" version for usage with the laptop alone, the other is the beefier charger for the PMD/laptop combo. The "portable" version is portable and light. Not as space-saving as the MacBook Air charger but similar.
Yes, the Z isn't ULV.
Cant answer on the return policy, I'm not from the States.
For the things I'm planning to do with it, it is perfect. The MacBook Pros would get my vote for the perfect laptop for me, if it isn't Apple's defiant stubbornness with Blu-ray ODD.

 

While I wouldn't consider it to be in the same class as the Sony, Asus does make a standard voltage processor ultra thin laptop. It's the U36 I believe.

 

not even close in terms of weight

 

Finally! My Z2 arrived this morning and I've been busy doing the clean install and configuring it. Just like everyone else I have my complaints and praises but I'll keep it short.

Pro

+ Like the keyboard. Takes some getting use to but its not bad.
+ 1600x900 is more than enough IMO
+ Extremely light.

Con
-Still don't like the puss-colored keyboard backlight
-Sony needs to start moving over to some type of unibody metal material...though the laptop is nice, I see how unibody looks so much nicer.

Neutral
+/- Speakers are bad with Dolby but definitely passable (barely) with it turned off...I'm going to see how it sounds with SRS Sandbox installed this weekend.

+/- The touchpad is ok when your hands are dry but kind of annoying when they are not...It leaves a ton of fingerprints and there is a lot more friction.

+/- I don't know what hue Sony is looking at but they need to probably be more specific with the names of their colors, like car paint colors are. The black is barely black, more like a blueish black. Why couldn't it just match the inside bezel? I've also seen complaints about the "blue".

+/- I like how when you open up the laptop is slightly lifts up but I can see how the pegs will show signs of wear rather quickly.

That's all I have. I know a lot has been said about the laptop but I can see anything I can't live with. Now to look for a skin.

 

To Sony, "black" is "blue" and "blue" is "purple."

(typed from a "blue" Z2)

 

My X has similar pegs on its hinge, and even after more than a year of constant use (opening and closing the laptop dozens of times a day, placing it and sliding on various surfaces, etc), they still look completely brand new.

 

Hello,

Are there any Acronis True Image users around? Anyone managed to have
the recovery manager detect your SD-card on the Z21 ? It detects USB
drives alright but not the SD-Card. Seems to work fine on my Vaio P!

Thanks

 

Didn't say it would charge via BT and I think you got me wrong on the device. I like it, I've had one. If they make a BT flavor, I'll get another one.

Proprietary adapters suck, they can just as easily put a micro USB port on it for charging or even firmware updates. Battery lasts long enough where you only need to charge it every few days anyway and BT wouldn't change this.

As for the docking function, the device is small enough to go in a pocket, so having it hang off the side of the machine is silly. You would need to do this anyway with most sleeves and thin cases. Walking around with it hanging off the side looks slightly dorky too, but that wasn't my primary issue.

 

I checked out a Z2 with a 1080p display. It was nice but I don't understand why anyone would want a lower resolution -- I had a 900p screen next to it and it didn't compare. Too bad they're not offering WUXGA as an option on the Z, I would take it in a New York minute.

 

Yesterday received two top config machines and decided to make a clean install on one. Unfortunately, it didn't work - all the drivers work, except video and WiMAX. Forget WiMAX for now. I spent 8+ hours trying to fix this, but it seems like it's just not possible - I'm really interested whether anyone here did a clean install successfully, except the original poster of the guide.
Here are the details:
-OS: Win7 Ultimate SP1. Everything is installed with PMD attached, in sequence of the guide.
Problem:
After logon, error message from Catalyst: "no amd graphics driver is installed or the amd driver is not functioning properly". In device manager AMD Radeon HD 6650M adapter is fine, but Mobile Intel HD Graphics has exclamation mark with error: "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)".
What I tried:
-Completely removing Catalyst drivers (with Driver Sweeper and other tools)
-Installing Intel HD drivers
-Removing/Attaching PMD
-Reinstalling Windows from scratch (reformatting disk)
-Using different driver sets - combo from US site, separate from EU site, originals from Windows\Drivers from the second machine, Catalyst from ATI website (obviously, didn't work)
Honestly, I'm running out of stamina and ready to throw this laptop out of the window Any ideas what else to try?

 

^
Make sure you're not connecting the PMD before getting the drivers in place, etc?

 

I know it's not the most accurate scale of measurement but after installing the video drivers from the Intel website, my Windows Experience Index for Graphics went from 5.9 to 6.4. The Gaming graphics went from 6.3 to 6.4.

I downloaded 8.15.2361...the driver from Sony is 8.15.2341.

 

If you have PMD it's likely due to Open GL (the delta between 5.9 and 6.4)

By the way, in game you obtain a difference between 0% and 5% (if you have ONLY drivers for integrate graphics, without PMD) in open GL the difference reaches 10% in Cinebench 11.5 (always withou PMD config)

 

^^ that would be wierd, Microsoft using OpenGL

 

I know... but that's the only matter to explain such a difference of 0.5 points, which is not small. OR an error in the first installation of driver.

 

I can do this all day. My point here is, the Z21 is built for portability, and the Swiftpoint mouse shares that same philosophy as well. I'm curious, what mouse are you using that is portable and "non-dorky" to your standards? Any other mouse that requires charging will require a separate charger/cable, and if it is charged via USB, then how is it any different than the Swiftpoint mouse? Plus, other mice that charges via USB would imply using "a micro USB" cable as you mentioned earlier, which in turn, turns it into a wired mouse, which isn't portable and elegant with wires running around.

Apologies to the rest if this different opinions about how HIDs should be is somehow "hijacking" the thread. It's just that I find it ridiculous that something this portable and useful is opined as "silly and dorky". Is there a secret code of conduct within Z21 users to only portray themselves as sophisticated, right to the mice they use?

 

for mine i follow the instruction and all driver work properly

 

Do you now have the issue where the brightness level keeps snapping back to a lower level? This happened to me when I uninstalled the AMD utilities and installed the Intel original driver. I don't have the PMD so would like to use the original Intel drivers if they can work without this brightness issue.

 

I don't have the PMD.

 

The only time I had the jumping brightness was when I was using the Sony driver. When I switched to the Intel driver it went away.

 

I'm having an issue installing Vaio Update. I don't think I need it but I feel that if that isn't installing, something else might also be wrong.

When I try to install from the recovery disk it gives me an error that it couldn't be installed; If it is currently installed, to uninstall it and try again.

I've also tried downloading it from the Sony USA site and installing it. It looks like it installs. It tells me to restart and there is no sign of it installed.

 

Wow man, no need to take this personally unless you work for the company. Even then, it is an opinion. If you thought I was trying to call you out or call you a dork, that wasn't the intention. Based on my gizmo habit, it is safe to say I am both dorky and silly anyway.

Once again, I like the device.

I'll end this by saying if Swiftpoint makes a bluetooth version that charges via micro-usb, I'll buy another one.