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

Do you think driver issues have anything to with the *theory* that LP hinders the ingame performance while still benchmarking normal?

 

is it signed? if so pm me, if not i dont wanna override it

 

Note to Sony:

It looks like you're going to owe Nautis big time.

Think about that and profit thereby.

 

Eh? The normal LArobe Air 13"? I asked the support and they told me it wouldn't fit, so I got myself a normal LArobe 13" and that was far too big so I sent it back..

Does it fit in there with the sheet battery?

 

Re-add me to the test roster. I have a game I want to play, so I now have motivation.

Will the new package be based on the 8.89 drivers?

 

Yes, it's the normal be.ez LArobe Air 13"!

As you can see on this pic, it is a bit too wide on the sides (about 0.4 inch on every side).
Can't tell you about the sheet battery, because I don't have one.

 

• WebCam Companion software is not needed. Only install if you want to control the webcam separately. Windows already includes drivers so other apps (like Skype) can use the webcam.
• Diagnostics Software: I didn't install it, and haven't noticed any problems.
• VAIO Care is not needed. Its main function is to reinstall drivers/apps from backup media, which you don't really need if you're doing a clean install in the first place.
• VAIO Gate is not needed, unless you want to use Sony's proprietary media apps (PMB, Media sharing, etc).
• VAIO Update is not needed. It just checks Sony Support for Z2 updates, which you can do manually in a browser.
• Remote Keyboard is not needed unless you want to use your Z2 keyboard to control your PS3.
• AuthenTec software is not needed if you don't need fingerprint security functionality.
• Smart Network is not really needed, but it provides an easy way to turn individual wireless devices on/off.

It's not specifically based on region. The Intel 6230 WiFi card includes MIMO 2x2 and Bluetooth 3.0+HS. If you decide to upgrade the WiFi card to the 6250 (MIMO 2x2 + WiMAX) or 6300 (MIMO 3x3), those cards don't include Bluetooth, and so Sony will install a separate Bluetooth 2.1+EDR daughtercard (usually Broadcom). Availability of the 6230, 6250, and 6300 cards may differ by region, though.

The WWAN/3G slot in the Z2 is separate from the WiFi slot and does not affect the Bluetooth configuration.

The reason some of us were "complaining" is because if someone accidentally kicks your PMD AC adapter out of the socket, or if you have a blackout (or any other form of power loss), there's no way for you to press the Undock button in time. If that happens, Windows crashes and you lose any unsaved work you had.

Depending on your needs it might not be a huge flaw. But worrying about accidental power loss (and potential data loss) is one thing pretty much no other laptop user has to worry about -- because the point is laptops have batteries. But in the case of the Z2, the battery does not power the PMD, and Windows cannot handle cases when the PMD is unexpectedly disconnected.

 

I have to say that I am quite disappointed with Sony. I ordered a Z2 Core i7, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, BD-ROM CTO on 9/4 with an expected ship date of 9/12. My order is still in the "processing" stage, so I verified with customer service on 9/12 if it would ship out that day. I was told that this was the case, but when I called back today (still not having any tracking info) I was told that it has a new expected ship date of 9/27! Could this have something to do with the expected upgrade to the new CPUs?

 

Unless you need it now, why not cancel and reorder at the end of this month (approx.) when the Z22 comes out?

 

Cant say for certain, could be. It may also be something to do with the external nature of the PMD.

Sounds good Zoinks, I could really use the help. They are indeed Catalyst Mobility 11.9 (8.89) and Intel 2509.

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Up to this point SirRobin has been the only person to give me any real feedback on the drivers. (Cheers to SirRobin!) Hard to mod drivers without access to the hardware and only one data point though. I would love more than anything to get you guys updated drivers as it would help really determine if some of the issues are driver related or may be genuine flaws.

If I don't get more people volunteering I will just post them publicly and hope to get more feedback. I can fully understand why people do not want to test drivers that haven't installed correctly yet. And with the Z2 being such a sexy machine I don't hold it against anyone.

 

i'll be able to do some testing during the wkend, as that'll be the only time i'll have access to my dock.

 

No, CTO's are regularly delayed. The shipping estimate is just that, an estimate. Be glad you didn't get a Lenovo, the last two I ordered were delayed 4 months. Sony looks competent in comparison.

I ran the ATI installer for the Guru3d package and it updated the base package but said the driver was up to date. Methinks I recall why I prefer nVidia.

 

I'll do some testing. I'll image my system just in case.

 

Was away a couple days and turned on my Vaio Z today and it showed on the taskbar an "!" point in yellow with my Intel My Wifi Technology icon...I double clicked on it and it said "Network Adapter Not Found"...

"No Supported Intel Wireless Adapter was Found"???

It's so odd since I could have sworn I had seen this before when I was playing around with my laptop a week or so ago when I first got it and this was definitely working...I think it was disabled and I enabled it and then re-disabled it at the time since I didn't need to use it.

However, now I cannot even enable it...when I mouse over and right click on the icon for the Intel My Wifi Technology, everything is grayed out except for the option to "Open Intel My Wifi Utility."

Not sure if it was a Windows Update that screwed it up etc...but any help would be much appreciated!!! Thanks =)

 

I had to raise hell but I managed to return my Vaio Z to order the one with the real black aka Carbon black, chassis. I was so tempted to order the Vaio S and use the extra money to get the Sony S1 tablet but they said I couldn't get a different model.

The new Z arrives on the 23rd, a farcry from the 1 month it took on my first order.

 

I will do a backup of my machine today and run a test of the new driver package. May the force be with me

 

^
Good luck!

 

On the viddie packages, didn't work for me last night, but Nautis has other angles to try.

The fast reboots on the Z2 made the install/uninstall/rinse/repeat routines almost pleasant. Almost. I would have thrown the Z1 through the wall after the 3rd or 4th reboot cycle.

Boot speed is my favorite feature of the Z2. The Z1 should have done this from the get-go.

 

Did you try the latest ati/intel package from nautis? So i don´t need to test it on my machine?

 

^yes, but don't let that stop you.

 

Ok this is started to annoy me. Lots of times when i type the S key doesnt register. Its like it is stiffer or less sensitive than the other keys. It wasn't like thi when I first got it. I tried shooting compressed air under it but it didn't seems to help.

Should I pop the key and clean under it? Does anyone know how to pop the keys?

 

^
I popped a few keys out to explore why some of them feel differently.
I just slid something thin under the key from the bottom and gently popped it off.

 

Be extraordinarily careful. Somebody broke a hinge under a key already.

 

Alright thank for the advice. I'll probably try it on the "right click" button or something first.

 

Just a few minutes ago i recieved a call from sony europe. The problem with the bad intel/ati driver was reproduced and confirmed. the information was given to a higher department and in 4 - 6 months (!!!) a new driver *could* be released! This is bad, really bad. Sorry Sony, but THIS is a MEGAFAIL!

 

Where can I find Nautis' drivers?

 

Hi all,

I have purchased and installed 2 of these Z2's for my wife's business.
Unfortunately both machines have experienced random intermittemt lockups when the laptop is connected to the dock - the display freezes completely and you have to power cycle the laptop to recover.

These laptops are using the standard Sony install - I've installed no extra drivers or made any tweaks as such. The users were just using standard MS Office apps at the time, or were browsing the net or the network.

I now have the users connecting their peripherals straight to the laptop - eg mouse, keyboard, HDMI connected screen, PSU - but this negates the whole point of buying the dock.

I've had a quick read of the thread

Has anyone else come across this issue? or can suggest some fix?
Sony support so far useless.

Many thanks

 

pm him

10chars

 

they are up in the main area now

 

Doesn't really work right now though. Hopefully soon. The more people hammering away at it the better. Zoinks2k2 has already given me some good leads. New package will be up soon.

 

Take it from someone who broke their retainer clip already, it's easier to just use your fingers to pop them off. Make sure you grab the key from the left of right side and just keep pull up. When the key is lifted on the left or right, try focusing the pull on the top or bottom part of the side that's lifted. This is where the clips are attached to the keys.

 

My Bluetooth mouse stops responding after couple hours, I have to delete and reinstall it. Alternatively, if I attempt to update bt driver through Sony utility, it will fail to update but mouse will start working again, any ideas how to fix it? Thank!

 

Same thing happened to me, but I can't be sure it wasn't due to interference.

I re-installed and everything was fine. Then I looked around my desk and saw 2 phones with bluetooth enabled, a bluetooth headset, bluetooth mouse, and two IR remotes. I don't think they're supposed to play badly but you never know - I have difficulty seeing bluetooth signals and RF frequency waves

 

i've never had bluetooth dropped on me, but i usually only use a bluetooth mouse less than 1 hr at a time.

 

On my vgn-z this same mouse was paired for months with no problems.

 

I was having the same issue, only when connected to a LAN via the PMD. I finally traced the issue to heavy network activity (ie. moving files). I had also recently installed updated network card drivers from Realtek. So I uninstalled the Realtek package (to go back to the original Sony / Realtek drivers), and then turned off all the green / power saving features of the network card, and have not had a single lock up since.

 

Have you tried to update the driver with the one from Broadcom?

 

Just picked up a Z21, loving it so far, keyboard I'm getting use to/

Anything worth updating right away like drivers and for what programs?

Thanks!

 

Hit the Sony downloads site. There are a few updates. Only one I'm not using is the Gate update. The application is irritating to me.

Sony eSupport - VPCZ21SHX/X - News & Alerts

Alternatively, you can run the VAIO Update app.

You'll get used to the keyboard.

 

Hi Goldentreesang,

Just thought I'd try you with this one more time...

Is it possible for you to post the external dimensions of the 25-17 sleevecase when it is loaded up with Z and sheet battery? I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a Timbuk2 small classic messenger bag along with a sleevecase, but want to be sure it will fit. It looks like it will be very close. I live in Canada, so returning is not really an option if it doesn't work (return postage would cost as much as the product.)

Thanks a million! (And sorry you're having pain with your keyboard.)

 

I haven't seen anyone mention this one yet...

DisplayLink is finally doing a USB 3-based display connector, claiming 2560x1600 support. I'll be very interested in the reviews when this one comes out.

 

Hey sorry i got your message I've just been really busy because college just started. I will try and get that done for you.

Also, Has anyone tried partitioning the Z and installing the win8 dev preview?

 

Can someone post the files inside the VAIO Boot Manager folder? I forgot about doing it until after I reinstalled Windows.

I'm planning on doing that sometime today.

 

Haven't repartitioned as I wanted to try it in VMWare first. It's... interesting. I'm sure I'm not getting the whole experience running it in a VM (eg adding my photos and music and the like) but the Metro start screen seems like a good idea, if you're using it right (treat it like an advanced WP7-style start screen and not a desktop replacement). The Desktop element itself is already vastly improved (explorer is amazing, copy / move operations are better implemented etc). I would absolutely love to try it out on a tablet because I think MS have it nailed in this respect.

I suspect that anyone upgrading from their standard Win7 installation to Win8 will have no problems with drivers or utlities, although the PMD might cause some unexpected behaviour. I wouldn't risk even a dual-boot scenario on my main machine however...

 

Anyone have experience with their Z2 with a Microsoft Signature edition? This is when you buy your computer from the Microsoft store. They supposedly strip all the un-necessary bloatware and put their own custom image. You also get your support from Microsoft instead of Sony.

Here is a link to a Z2 at the Microsoft store.

I actually just won this off e-bay. Don't know what to expect from the "Microsoft Signature". Could they have butchered the system?

I haven't gone through all 150+ pages of this thread, so sorry if it was already discussed. Just wanted a heads up as to what I can expect.

 

I agree. I ended it putting it on my old Z and to be honest, although you might be taken back by the flashy animations and new start screen, its honestly a pain to use, especially with a mouse and keyboard. However, I'm sure the experience would be pretty amazing on a tablet. Performance isn't that much of an improvement, though boot times are maybe 2x faster. But with the Z2, I'm not sure how much faster things can be .

 

I feel Win7+Office20xx have been the most workflow productive and efficient MS products so far, partly in due to some forced changes in how we do some UI tasks by Microsoft.

Windows 8 will have a lot to do in order to truely break the extremely high accomplishment expectation bar much of us would mentally demand of the next iteration of Windows.

 

MS are, I'm sure, getting loads of usability feedback on the new UI (both telemetry and actual feedback), so I would imagine the final release of Windows 8 will be very much tweaked and improved.

Most importantly, when we see some compelling software developed for the Metro Start Menu (which is an enhanced start menu after all, with capability for running full custom built apps as a part of it), it should be worth the steep learning curve. For example, how will Adobe build Photoshop for this new UI? Perhaps a Metro app for previewing your recent project files, acting essentially as a fancy launcher for the main Photoshop app on the desktop? Will 3rd party developers create Metro apps for uTorrent using the WebUI? Will MS build a new version of Office with OneNote as a Metro app? It's a very exciting new platform on top of existing Windows apps; the Metro apps that came with the developer preview are only mild diversions with little or no value. It's going to be interesting!

 

Hello guys. New to forum and started reading the thread, it will take me some time to finish it.
Two questions, after buying VPCZ21S9E recently.
I tend to use it with the lid closed, connected to a dell IPS external monitor when using it in my office. This is the 95% of the notebook's lifetime.
Will there be an issue of overheating (because of thermal difficulty of escaping) or any other damage that could appear with this type of use?
And will you suggest buying a warranty extension (1 or 2 year for 120 and 220 euro consequently) for the laptop?
Thank you in advance for your help!

 

Personally I play it safe and leave the lid open. I put it in projector mode so the laptop display is off. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I did damage the display or an earlier laptop due to overheating while the lid was closed.