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

In other news, I spent a few hours "dorking" around with the VAIO Control Center app on a fresh build in order to find a way to permanently enable the keyboard backlight like on the Z1.

I'm somewhat defeated at this point, so I'm pausing the research for now. If other people want to try this, let me know and I can start up a development thread where we can try stuff together.

 

You have to install Vaio Location Utility before you try to install Vaio Update.

 

Yes. Location search and event service are installed. Reinstalled both long with VAIO update and still no go.

UPDATE: I downloaded the version of VAIO Update from the Sony Japan site and it worked no problems.

 

I though that the guide clearly states that video driver should be installed with PMD attached. I tried to install _video_ drivers with it detached, but it didn't work either. Everything else I installed with attached PMD.

Ung_Kung, it seams like you are the only one who did a clean install - could you describe the process in more detail pls? Questions:
-OS version?
-When you attached/detached PMD?
-Did you have any errors from Catalyst throughout your drivers installation?
-Did your video drivers start working properly immediately after Catalyst drivers installation, or when you finished installing ALL the drivers?

 

so really no one has any idea of the size of the power brick for this machine? fancy that...

 

i follow the who step that in this thread and it work totally fine

- os ultimate x64
- yes i'm installing via DVD disk
- no
- yes work properly

 

The small one is 10.5x4.5x2.7cm - what else do you want to know?

 

I posted this earlier in the thread, as i ran into a similar issue:

Quote:
Originally Posted by quigley0
I am in the processes of installing windows and am getting an error with the ATI drivers.

According to the instructions in this thread, i boot with the PMD installed first, and installed the ATI+intel driver combo. It says it installed successfully, but, after reboot, i get the message

c:\Windows\system32\atiadlxy.dll is either not designed to run on Windows, or it contains an error.

Any thoughts. I to try again, i manually unintslled the Intel drivers, and ATI drivers, but the end result was the same.
**UPDATE** I completely wiped the Intel Drivers and ATI drivers from the system, and reapplied. This did not work either. I did this again, but, this time i did not boot with the PMD plugged in. After I loaded into windows, i plugged in the PMD, THEN installed the drivers. This *seemed* to work, but,, i need to verify more. I just ran the WEI, and I get these results:

7.1 // 7.5 // 6.8 // 6.8 // 7.9

This seems to be aligned with what people are posting on the forum for benchmarks. So, there ya go. Don't boot up with the PMD connected when installing the drivers. Boot up, then connect PMD, then install drivers.

 

I don't have the PMD, but the part here that is bolded makes sense to me; if you boot Windows with the PMB detached, then Windows sees the Intel graphics and is all like "that's fine", then when fully booted up you plug in the PMD and Windows is like "oh cool there's another GPU, nice"; it's only at this point that the hybrid drivers package can be installed correctly because Windows is aware of BOTH of the GPUs. If you boot with the PMD attached, perhaps Windows is only fully aware of the GPU in the PMD, thus leading to problems?

 

That's all thanks!

 

i think we cannot, i'm going to look into registry and report back

 

ok, no luck

btw since today is a long weekend i have plenty of time to play with my new laptop i also did a hardware calibration to my screen if anyone want ICC profile let me know i will gladly post it. (i mainly used D50/1.8) if you guys want D65/2.2 i also can do that too.

 

Finally I made video-drivers work by installing Win7 Pro SP0. Apparently, latest windows updates that were embedded into the OS image were hampering drivers installation. Now I will try installing the latest official image of Win7 Ult SP1 from MSDN, but I'm already pretty happy that the clean install is indeed possible.

 

^ it's probably best practice to install all Sony drivers/apps before heading to Windows update. I do it after installing Office (run Word once to get the optional updates in WU)

 

^ agree. Although my issue was a bit different - I used a custom OS image with all the updates until September already embedded. So the problem might have been in the image itself or in the embedded updates.

 

I just spent a fair amount of time with the gold (highest specs) version at the Sony Centre next to my place in Singapore.

My overall impression is that its nicer than the black version, but still didn't blow me away. The things I can't get away from are (1) the inexplicably small trackpad; (2) the distinct styling similarity to the S series (not a good thing, IMO); and (3) the awkwardness of using the PMD (specifically, docking/undocking process).

Had a long discussion with a Sony rep and some interesting info came up. He indicated that they had received a lot of customer feedback on the Z21, and early reviews were distinctly mixed. Specifically, he mentioned complaints about the trackpad and that the sheet battery blocks airflow and makes the machine hot. I mentioned that I much prefer the design of the old Z, and he said he had heard similar feedback from many others. I previously heard consistent comments from Sony reps in London

He actually tried to steer me away from the Z toward the S series (a surprise, I guess they don't get commission), but when I didn't show interest in the S he told me he had information that Sony was working on another version of the Z that would be released in coming months. So, he advised me to wait, unless I needed the laptop urgently (which I don't, my Samsung S9 is only a few months old).

Just curious, anyone else heard rumors of another Z version (perhaps in the same vein as the SA, SB, SC)? I have no particular reason to believe a random Sony retail rep, but you never know. Unless some changes are made I have pretty much decided not to get the Z21, so hope he's right.

 

let´s see. Don´t think my z21 is a bad machine - most of my problems are based on the bad intel/ati driver from dock. i´ll give sony a chance to fix this. had some calls today with sony europe.

sure, next month there will be better machines but this is happening to all series i think...

 

I understand the complaints about the trackpad but that's only in comparison to Macs and as of late Asus and Acer. I feel that the trackpad is the same size as all the other Japanese manufacturers. Is it any smaller than the Z1? I doesn't feel so but I don't have the specs to verify that.

I personally like the styling. It feels classy and professional. My only complaints are that is not unibody and the colors. Styling for any laptop is subjective. There is always going to be something someone doesn't like. As far as the Z looking similar to the SA/SB/SC, its been like that for the last few years. The S and Z have pretty much always looked pretty similar.

I don't have the sheet battery but I can see how it's possible. Haven't heard anything on this forum. I think the complaint is just theoretical at this point.

Based of Sony's trends, there wouldn't be another Z until this winter and it will probably be names the Z22. I don't expect there to be any major changes but I suspect there will be a quad-core Ivy bridge option and a 1tb ssd option. There may even be a better video card in the PMD.

 

the battery sheet will actually make it less hot to use on a lap (which is when you're mobile and need the extra battery), since you won't even be making direct contact with the bottom of the laptop.

 

@Tae1
Quadcore Ivybridge?
What is your source?

 

Hi, I would love to have that ICC profile.

 

That is true. It's much more comfortable using the Z21 on my lap with the sheet battery. I've noticed no heat issues with the sheet attached.

I think those arguments are based more on theory than actual performance.

 

In my opinion, no quad-core Ivy Bridge in Z2 or similar laptop. At the moment minimum TDP for quad-core is 45W and this trend it's stable. If all the ES of Ivy Bridge we can see around are not fake, on avarage, with same frequency tha gain in performance is about 5%. If Intel will continue with the same trend, will sell CPU with an higher frequency (about 200 mhz on avarage) and will mantain the same TDP list, that's what I think. Ivy Bridge maybe will be able to consume less then SB but only in idle or low power use.. in full load there will be no big differences enough to overwelm frequency gain (even here, first benchmark show how IB consumes more.. probably due to early stage of production.. but this means that we cannot expect big improvements against SB).

 

Well, based on this:

Intel defends PC, goes all-in on ULV, and speeds up Moore's Law

and Intel's general IPC advantage vs AMD, I think Intel has pure speed to spare vs AMD, and can get away with not boosting clocks as high, and purely relying on Turbo for most tasks... (if Bulldozer... bulldozes the Sandy Bridge, this may change ). I know that article really only mentions dual cores, but there is no reason this cannot move into quad cores, too!

EDIT: the above is just an unmetered hope from me

 

This is such a simple question I'm almost embarrassed to ask:

How do I connect two HDMI monitors to the PMD?

My desktop has two HDMI ports and I've never had a laptop that would drive two monitors before.

 

Haha you cant. You can connect 1 hdmi to the pmd and one to the main unit, but not both to the pmd. Maybe you could if you got a vga to hdmi thingy, but idk how well that would work

 

Oh -- use laptop and PMD HDMI plugs --- I thought there would be a simple answer. I've got my 27" and 25" both on the Z2. Looks great!

 

Could you please post a pic? TIA!

 

Sure. The one with black bars on it is because Windows sizes the wallpaper to match the laptop screen.

Monitor 1 - 1920x1200
Monitor 2 - 1920x1200
Laptop - 1600x900 (sorry 1080p fans)

 

I posted a similar thread to this in the accessories forum, but thought I'd ask here too with more specific Z2 questions. My apologies if you wind up having to read this twice...

I'm seriously considering getting a Timbuk2 classic messenger bag for my Z2. I have a couple of questions if there's anyone reading who has one...

I'm looking at the small model since it seems the closest fit to the Z2.

Ideally, I'd like to get the pure messenger bag with a sleeve (so I can take the laptop out, e.g. and stuff it into the seat pocket on a plane.) I'd be considering a sleeve case. Does anyone know how much bigger they make the laptop? It might not actually fit in the small messenger with the sleeve.

The alternative is to get the laptop version. But I'm concerned that the bag appears not to be rigid, but the laptop is locked into place. It seems possible that this could put a lot of stress on the laptop itself as the bag flexes during use. Does anyone know if this is this a problem in practice?

Thanks folks!

 

I am using a Crumpler Friday Nylons for my Z2:
Friday Nylons - Crumpler
(I've used it with my VGN-Z as well).

 

EDIT: Doublepost, delete please.

 

hi please see attached,

after last night i turn off my Z21 after reboot the ICC is not reloaded, after a while figuring it out. the intel driver software will reload factory ICC to the screen every time you reboot

please let me know what is your result

thanks

 

Sorry, I forgot to say this is just my opinion. The source is my wild imagination.

 

it is not possible to update current Z to ivy coz it is different platform they that would be Z3

 

I can confirm it works on my VPC-SC1.

Though the gains are miniscule.

 

I've been doing some testing the last few days and I've noticed that my Z13 is outperforming my Z21 when gaming. The synthetic benchmarks all show the 6650M to outperform the GT 330M, but in actual gameplay I get higher FPS with the GT 330M. This is in NBA2K11, FIFA11 and Starcraft 2 with identical settings at 1600x900. Just wondering if other people have found the same thing.

Thanks,

Y2J

 

yup, probably due to the lack of bandwidth from using lightpeak

 

Since we're on bags kinda I bought the knog dry dog pannier/messenger bag. I wanted a small waterproof bag. It should come in this week. KNOG : Bags : Dry Dog

 

i think the auto backlight keyboard switch is built into the hardware, even during post if you put your finger over the sensor the backlit keys come on.

 

anyone how to rid the recovery partition (would like the extra space) without doing a clean install?? No options show up in disk management..

 

You can try booting to a linux distro like Ubuntu or Fedora Live cd and running gparted. You might need to9 install the packages.

yum install gparted (Fedora)

apt-get install gparted (Ubuntu)

 

Is there a disassembly guide for the Z2? I created a script that swaps the Up arrow and Right Shift button and the Down arrow and the Right arrow and want to swap the buttons out. I wanted to know if I can remove the buttons without removing the keyboard...

 

You can pop the keys out from the keyboard.
I tried it a few days ago...I have a few keys that seemed a bit noisier than the others so I popped the keys out to take a look....didn't help though...

 

Just to make sure. Did you just pop them off like any other laptop keyboard? Usually I just put an ectoknife under a key and keep pushing up until they pop off. There are no special clips or anything?

 

I slid a thin piece of hard paper under the key from the bottom and just wedged it out. It is held by two small plastic clips under the button.

 

Well aside from the fact that I broke the retainer clip for the shift button (lesson learned: You shouldn't have children around when doing this type of work), I kind of like it. Here are some pictures of the before and after and the script.

To run the script you need to install Autohotkey. You can place the script in the start up folder so that it automatically runs.

Does anyone know if the Z1 and Z2 have the same retainer clips? I found a site that sells the clips for the Z but doesn't say which model.

Script:

Copy and paste this in to a test file and name it <filename>.ahk


; Swaps Page down (Fn + Down arrow) and End (Fn + Right arrow)

Pgdn::End
End: gdn

; Swaps Up arrow and Right Shift

RShift::Up
Up::RShift

; Swaps Down arrow and Right arrow

Down::Right
Right: own

 

^
Nice mod but too bad that your shift key got damaged.

Say...do you have some keys that seem noisier when pressing on them?

 

Ahh! Now everything makes sense! I was looking at my keyboard and kept wondering "Switching up-arrow with shift? And down-arrow with right-arrow? Why the hell would he do that?" – But with your keyboard layout it makes a lot sense!

With the German layout, your original Up-arrow-key is actually a Fn-key, and my shift key is on your hiragana-RO-key. So basically it looks for me like your final result looks, except that my shift-key is on the left and there is a Fn-key on the right.

Really interesting to see such a keyboard layout

 

Thanks. It sucks but I'm looking at my options to fix it. If Sony doesn't fix it, which I wouldn't know why they wouldn't, it's like a 2 cent piece, then I'll look at buying it from here

SONY Vaio Replacement Laptop Keys | Retainer Clips

if not there here

https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com/UnderMaintenance.aspx

If not there..I will have to submit to Sony demands...

As far as noisier keys, I didn't notice anything but it could be the retainer clips. That's the only think I can think of that makes noise when you press down.