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

Easier than the Z1, IMO. Be careful of the NIC port, headphone and VGA adapter. You also need to use a spudger to get the part closest to the LCD off.

Not a walk-through, walk-through: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/603509-sony-vaio-z2-photos-teardown.html

If you don't know what a spudger is, they are the blue things in this pic. I got them from iFixIt.com

 

What??? Already? That Sucks! I just got my Z21 a couple of weeks ago and there's already a higher model? I can no longer claim I have the top of the line? Wow....that was way too fast.

 

Having the latest is a losing proposition, but if you just got your machine, exchange it.

 

^What he said

 

I can't exchange as I bought mine new from e-bay. I know it's a losing battle to have the latest in technology, but this was just too fast!

It was quite a while until the Z11 became the Z12 (if memory serves me right).

 

The Z2 has been out for a while, but I feel you. Glad it's just the gold for now. Hate it, would rather have the blurple.

A shiny nickel says the new stuff will only be marginally faster. That is unless they unbork the PMD. Likelihood of this is low. If they do, looks like I'm buying a new PMD.

 

Speaking of that, do you think that perhaps gaining access to the full bios might unlock its full potential?

 

Two questions:

1. I'm seeing diagonal lines in my screen at certian times. Never saw this on the Z1. Anybody seen this?
2. For the life of me, I can't play Bluray movies on an external screen attached to the PMB and using the ATI GPU. It is choppy during scenes with heavy motion. The Intel GPU works fine. Anyone having this problem? This problem occurs with PowerDVD and WinDVD.

 

^
Regarding those diagonal lines...I have seen them on the Z2, VPCZ1 and VGN-Z and also numerous laptops with led backlit screens from various brands.

 

Thank you for your help!!!

 

What color is the interior of the gold Z22 supposed to be? Looks like brown? Perhaps that's the same trick of light that makes the purple interior look blue in Sony's pictures.

Those interior images do not make me what that color. I'll also stick with my burple -- not that I would be trading in my new pride and joy for a new color anyway!

 

Nope, played blu-ray on tv through PMD HDMI, and everything worked as expected

It is indeed brown still beautiful

 

Shame no driver update for video.

I won't be buying the Z until there is some explanation/fix for the underperforming PMD.

For $3k I could just get a MBA + Desktop.

 

^There is a new one for the SA dated 9/23. Chances are high, IMO, that this will be rolled out across the line.

 

I wonder if Sony is at the mercy of ATI with these drivers. Do you think they have the skill set to fix these highly specific drivers without ATI's help?

 

But what are the chances that it will actually improve performance?

 

^minor detail

 

I played more BF BC 2 last night and it truly shows the potential of the PMD. I cant believe this little thing pushes the game that well.

 

Yep it looks pretty amazing XD...too bad I suck at shooter games.

 

LOL!

I do not like that game much either. It was always a dog on my Z1 and its just too much at once for me.

Now COD I can deal with. If I could get those 60-80FPS everyone else is getting with this card, I would be happy. Sony/ATI/AMD gave me the perfect lappy, but screwed me out of my gaming vice. (COD)

 

Wonder if anyone can help me with this. There was this program installed on my Z called Music Station which pretty much works like Spotify but was somehow available to me in Singapore. Signed up for the paid service but faced issues with some tracks not playing - when I contacted Omnifone, the makers of the software, I was told to uninstall and reinstall via VAIO Care. I uninstalled but lo and behold, the program is actually not available for reinstall in VAIO Care!

Told Omnifone about this and they said due to their agreement with Sony they cannot provide me with an installer. Contacted Sony SG and was then told that the software is not available in Singapore from them either! And the only solution they offered was for me to restore to factory.

This is obviously not that viable a choice so was wondering if anyone has the same software installed on their Zs? Any way to help me extract an installer for this? I'm told Hong Kong sets may have the installer in their VAIO Care.

Any help is appreciated!

 

anyone has any scree shots of the 1920x1080 desktop?

 

Start up VAIO Care.

On the left, click on "Recovery & Restore"

Click "Recovery"

In the main window click "Reinstall Applications and Drivers"

It should be there.

 

Yeah have done that - the thing is that the program is somehow NOT in the list of programs that I can reinstall, believe it or not...

 

You do know that the 1080p desktop is identical on any computer, right? You don't need one specially from a Z2.

For fun, though, here are some scree shots.

 

Word to the wise, don't put the Z2 on a leather chair or couch for any amount of time. The split rubber bumpers on the battery leave a nice divot. Dumb

 

Looking to replace my ageing TR1MP

I was about to order Z21 (256 GB 3rd version), 8MB, standard screen (lots of comments that high res is more difficult to see), when i saw mention of the
Z22

For me the real question is Are the speakers any better on the Z22? - as that would make it worth waiting for the customiseable version of the Z22, anyone know??

Thanks for your comments

 

The group consensus is that the Z1 and Z2's speakers are terrible.

 

i think you might consider more ram

 

can the lightpeak be used to run a better video card much like what i going on in the eGPU thread or are we forever limited to this crappy card?

 

Has anyone encountered their USB 3.0 port not working after coming out of standby? It doesn't always happen, maybe 20% of the time. A reboot is required to resolve.

Howard

 

About to pull the trigger on the Z2, but very confused between the full HD and the 1600 x 900 display option. Though right now Sony's site is offering a free upgrade to the HD option, I'm hesitant. Suggestions anyone?

 

Hello guys,

I need some advice I am planning to buy the new Sony Z. I currently have Alienware M15x but planning to sell it as its too big and heavy to carry around. to me only one option is open for the Z i.e. VPCZ217GG/X with spec:

Intel Core i7-2620M Processor 2.70 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.40 GHz
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
13.1 inch wide (Full HD: 1920x1080) TFT colour display (VAIO Display Premium, LED backlight, Adobe RGB 96% coverage)
8 GB (4 GB (Custom Module) x 2) DDR3 SDRAM*2 (Max)
256 GB*3 (128 GB x 2(RAID 0)*4, Serial ATA)
Power Media Dock to enhance productivity and connectivity: AMD Radeon HD 6650M, Blu-ray Disc Drive with DVD SuperMulti, and more ports.

I will be using this laptop for web browsing, doing excel and word work, listening to songs and watching HD movies. might be doing some gaming maybe once a month. I don't play games much on pc as i have Ps3 for that. but when I don't have my PS3 with me if I travel some where only then i do some gaming but not a lot.

Please can some one give me a good advice on this. will it be able to handle all these things and are there any major issues with this new Z if i perform these thing on it.


Thanks,

 

It depends on how much screen real estate means to you against your eyesight and personal preference. Personally speaking, I have the 1920x1080 becaue I do a lot of development and CAD work, and the increased resolution affords more detail without having to continually zoom in and out.

If you're long sighted you might find 1920x1080 in 13" to be tiring to use.

The lower resolution will be clearer and crisper running in its native 1600x900 than running 1920x1080 at a non-native 1600x900 (which it will do by the way). You can of course keep the 1920x1080 resolution and change Windows to use bigger fonts and icons: in fact as I remember, by default it set itself up to the "medium 125%" setting which is probably going to be more readable than messing with the resolution.

Personally I find running 1920x1080 using the "smaller" setting to be fine for me, but it is probably approaching the limit of comfort. I am slightly short sighted so it suits me.

Howard

 

VAIO Update is offering update for itself, can't install now sadly as I don'tt have power adapter..

 

Z227GG available in Hong Kong as of today.
Hmmm....should I get it just for the gen 3 SSD or should I wait for the Z237?

 

The best option is to go to a store, check the two resolutions out and decide for yourself. Nobody else is going to know which is best for you. Unlike other options, such as a choice between and i5 and i7 where most people will never notice the difference, the screen choice is something you live with all the time. My eyes are much more comfortable with the 1080p screen, plenty of other people have the exact opposite view. Check it out in person and decide for yourself.

If there's no store with both models near you, as a rough rule of thumb figure that if you're far-sighted, go for 900p, if you're near-sighted, go for 1080p.

 

So are there any new driver packages available for this new model type?

 

Doesn't seem to be listed, but I may have hit the wrong section

Driver download: Customer Service - Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Limited

Model Page: VPCZ227GG - Sonystyle.com.hk

 

Here is the support page for the new Z227GG but I don't see any downloads available.

Support for VPCZ227GG : Z Series : VAIO Notebook : Sony Asia Pacific

 

Did sony ever release a new model of the Z with a better trackpad and sound?

 

Guys, the rams are fixeonboard. Irremovable?

How is it irremovable? What won't let you change the rams?

Anyone tried to remove them?

 

I didn’t try myself, but you can probably remove them. The problem is that the modules are proprietary, so you won’t get compatible modules you could put in there.

 

What do you mean by proprietary? It that even possible?

You mean it's removable, but the Bios will not detect the new rams? Is there a way to modify this?

Thanks!

 

Well, if it's like the Vaio SA/SB/SC or one of the Macbook Airs... it will be soldered on, actually (the ICs for the RAM will be soldered on, right onto the main board). Otherwise, that's just speculation from me whether Sony did the same to the Z2.

 

not removable and you cant connect 3rd party ram to the motherboard

same with hard drive

 

Anybody know a good way of cleaning the laptop screen of little smear marks?

 

^
I just use water and soft tissue and rub gently.

 

I just received my Z2 and first impressions are great except for the annoying stickers on the palm rest... I've tried to remove them with my fingers nails and I've managed to get them and the left over adhesive off but now there are a few 'smudges' left which I can't seem to get rid of. Has anyone got an idea on how I could solve this issue? Or have I screwed up by pealing them off with my finger nails (the 'smudges' don't appear to be adhesive, maybe I've slightly damaged the metal)?

 

^ YEAH, why the hell is there that huge 'backlit keyboard' sticker on the palmrest anyway

i never bothered to remove it because i didnt want to bother with the adhesive