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

Sony would not honour it , they would come up with an excuse..

 

I'm happy to announce that we reached the first stage for ViDock for Light Peak:

Village Tronic made an Open Letter to see how many people want ViDock for new Z and want to know what kind of specification would love.
We have to reach 50 people who would buy it (or at least the module I think), and write our preferences HERE -> https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=89321949134&topic=17792

 

That link does’t work for me, but it’s not as if I’m interested in a ViDock in the first place tbh…

 

^ probably now it works

 

FOR those who have PMD (and not XD ):
How is that Light Peak port?? I mean.. if you take a look inside, what do you see?? Only metal terminal or also optic fiber? The same for the PMD connector..

 

Is someone capable of answering those questions to me?

1) How many monitors can be driven by the main unit only? In addition to that: at what resolution(s)?
2) same question including the PMD

IIRC there were just some rare guesstimations about that, no hard facts.

TIA!

 

My unit just turned up , good service.

 

This is a mistake with amazon not sony..

 

Here you go -

 

Just got mine this morning.... it is very light and you can definitely feel it compared to the VPC-Z1

Now... I'd like to do a fresh OS install - but the problem is, it looks like drivers are not yet published on Sony's support website (at least EU one)..

@edit - nevermind, I found the drivers on the U.S. website

 

Thanks for testing it!!!

The numbers indicate that it's a gen 2. The gen 3 scores around 1000 IIRC.

 

@ Tarantula, can you run GPU-Z if you have PMD, to see how is the connection of HD6650M? I'd like to know how many pci-e lanes are granted to HD6650M (and so understand how many lanes are granted to Light Peak) (under gpu load to avoid low power consumption tricks)

 

My CTO for delivery to Canada has begun production:

Exciting stuff!

 

Thanks Tarantula. A pity its not a gen3!

 

^
Those numbers are great too! I am sure the laptop is still very fast and snappy.

Here are XP drivers if anyone needs them.
Windows XP Drivers and Applications for VPCZ2 Series : Download : Sony Asia Pacific

 

Those numbers are still REALLY good. Some of us just don't have the opportunity to spec for gen 3...

 

I am so in love with my Z21 as well…

However, two things are bothering me :

1) I could swear I had the same result as Tarantula’s for Windows 7 experience, that is to say 6.8. But since I restored the whole system in order to get rid of the restoration partition, the result I get is 5.9 now with graphics and 6.3 with gaming graphics (even with the PMD connected). By the way the free space on the SSD is now 197 GB.

My config is a Core I7, 8 GB of Ram, a 256 GB SSD and a Full HD screen.

2) A slight line of wear is appearing on the inside surface of the “bar hinge” (as shown picture Z-Hinge01), just where it touches the keyboard panel when the lid is closed. I guess it’s because the keyboard panel is made of aluminium, and the lid bezel in carbon fiber...

Anyway I am a little worried because the hinge latches are not aligned as good on the left side (at the top on the picture Z-Hinge02) as it is on the left (at the bottom of the picture here).

Did you also notice this ?

 

^ 1) it's like the PMD is not used in WEI. Did you rebooted?

2) That's due to bad allignement I think, try to contact Sony, maybe sending that image.

(can you make me a favour?? Run GPU-Z with PMD plugged (in gpu full load) and tell me how is it connected.. which is the PCI-E setting and in which mode -16x or 8x or 4x and 1.0 or 2.0 - the eGPU is working. Thanks!)

 

Here is the second picture...

 

on Sony custom order page you have 3 options

1. Power Media Dock™ with AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB) graphics and CD/DVD player / burner

2. Power Media Dock™ with AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB) graphics and Blu-ray Disc™ player [add $100.00]

3. Power Media Dock™ with AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB ) graphics and Blu-ray Disc™ player / burner [add $200.00]

Anyone know if option 2 Blu-ray disc player can burn CD and DVD or it's just a normal Blu-ray Disc player?

Thank you

 

The Blu-Ray player option is also a CD/DVD Writer.

 

Just been told that my Z2 arrives on Wednesday

Are there any decent leather sleeves / cases for the Z2 yet? Ideally I am looking for a professional looking black leather sleeve which is as slim as it can be.

 

Where are you located? In the UK? Just curious because I'm waiting to hear when the first person in the US gets notification of shipment.

I got the e-mail Friday saying that my system was in production but I have no idea how long after that before I should get word that it ships.

 

Yes, I am in the UK...

Ordered on 27th July.
Emailed to say it is in production on 29th July
Emailed on 6th August to say it has been dispatched from the factory (Japan) to European warehouse.
Called today for an update and told it is being shipped from their European warehouse today for Wed delivery.

When I ordered the email said the estimated shipment was between 5th and 8th August.

 

They take a week normally, so you laptop (as mine) will be shipped between 12 and 15 (probably)

 

Wow, I guess those in the UK got slated way earlier for some reason. Getting it this week after ordering on the 27th is very good. I ordered back around July 15 already and I'm still trying to wait patiently

 

eheh, in Europe we spend more:
a base config with i5 2540M (with PMD) in US it's 2049$ .. in Italy it's 2158€ ... taking into account VAT, converting € to $ and normalizing in respect to italian VAT we see that in US it costs 2458$ and in Italy 3061$.

 

I'll try to run it tomorrow if I'm free. My apologies, I'm really busy with work these coming few days. I haven't really had the time to explore my Z2 yet.

My config is exactly the same as yours - we should be getting the exact same WEI scores.

I've not noticed this yet, but I'l be sure to look at this thoroughly over the next few days - Sony has a 7 day return policy for damaged VAIOs, so I still have till Saturday to get a replacement. Thanks for the heads up!

If you have a return policy, I would suggest you take this to a Sony Centre and have it replaced. No sense in spending such an obscene amount of money on a top class laptop only to receive one that's not impeccably produced.

 

I managed to find these 3 leather cases for the new Z -


VGP-CKZ3


VGP-CKZ4


VGP-CVZ3

All 3 cases will be released on August 13.

I must say, CVZ3 looks really awesome.

 

Same as me, I was waiting for it like crazy as some work needed to be done with it !

About the wear lines, it's mostly noticeable under direct lights, as if the grainy texture was "polished" by the keyboard plate.

 

Nice! I admit that I just can't imagine how I would use such a case. I've ordered the MBA version of the Zeroshock III so that I have something to put it in when it arrives. I definitely need something a little more robust.

 

no one ran linux yet?

 

Here are some closer pictures, that shows the line is on both sides (by the way, I wonder what those tiny red holes).

Also another one which shows more clearly the slight difference of position between the left and the right hinges.

 

Maybe they are light sensors for the display & keyboard?

 

I think that the wear was caused while assembling the laptop. Have you already contacted Sony?

 

No, I am still waiting for other owners' feedback to decide if it's necessary.

 

So I thought, maybe I'll just bag the idea of getting a Z2 and get something heavier and a little bigger with more power. If it saves a few bucks, great but my main interest was in trading some weight and a little size fore power. So I checked out the updated Envy 14, just for the heck of it.

On the positive side, an i7-2820QM option and up to 16GB RAM, I could get by with less but would like both.

On the downside, everything else. An HD 6630 graphics card and 1366x768 display (neither upgradable) and the SSD options are limited to either a 160GB or a 128GB (or smaller) with an HDD. No way, no how. And I think that the red backlit keyboard sounds creepy.

 

After some more inspection, it's clear that the hinge and the keyboard plate are touching each other when the lid is closed, so I guess the wear is caused each time I do it.

 

Can anyone tell me the exact dimensions for the Z21 with the sheet battery attached (preferably in mm)? All I can find are the normal dimensions (210x330x16.65mm).

Reason is that I’m looking for good bag that fits the Z21 well, and I think apart from the three Sony options there are no real Z21-specialized ones yet.

 

That is not true at all, you can install nVidia Optimus drivers and an external GeForce can power the internal display

 

Just ordered mine last night:


Product: US-VPCZ2190X-LBOM
Component: Internal lithium polymer battery (4000mAh)
Component: Black
Component: No Engraving
Component: Norton Internet Security™ 2011 (30 Day Trial)
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: No wireless mobile broadband
Component: Intel® Core™ i7-2620M processor (2.70GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz
Component: 8GB (4GB x2 fixed onboard) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Component: Power Media Dock™ with AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB) graphics and CD/DVD player / burner
Component: 13.1" LED backlit Full HD display (1920 x 1080)
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Component: 256GB (128GB x2) solid state drive with RAID 0

 

Or to paraphrase a recent, famous, award-winning movie...
"Tell you what, we coulda had a good life together! Real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn't want it, Sony! So what we got now is a PMD! Everything's built on that! That's all we got. You have no idea how bad it gets! You are too much for me Sony! I wish I knew how to quit you."

 

The VGP-CKZ3 was made specifically for the Z21. It's pretty neat. I'm defo getting it for mine.

 

TWO GOOD NEWS !

1) I got the same results as Tarantula with the PMD, it seems my Windows performance was lowered because it was the 1st time I had plugged the PMD.

However, the results showed here are still better than mine without the PMD :

??????????VAIO Z217 ???? - SONY ? VAIO Z??? - ePrice ???

2) The slight alignement difference between the two hinges seems to be normal, or at least common since I can see the same as mine on the pictures from the picture above, and this one from engadget.

Sony VAIO Z review (2011) - Engadget Galleries

BUT the question about the tear lines on the inside still stands, how about you people ?

 

^ what are your results??? -

EDIT: It's normal, that user has not the commercial version of PMD but he has another "prototype" with 6730M (not 6650M) which means 125 Mhz more on GPU and 100 Mhz less on GDDR3 .. since GPU clock it's a lot more important here, that's you answer.

Still, can you run GPU-Z and tell us EVERYTHING you can read in "bus interface" (for ATI card)?

 

Yeah, it’s one of the three Sony ones I mentioned. I’m however looking into other options too; after all having a bigger choice is always better, and I’m not too sure if I would actually like Sony’s leather cases (plus they are quite expensive).

So does anyone have the three sizes of a Z21 with attached sheet battery?

 

On my first attempt in a Sony Store, I got over 50% off on the VGP-CKZ3 case. I'm sure you can get it for free if you push hard.

This was obviously as a complete offer with laptop + pmd + case.

 

Hi,

is this better?

a bit wondering about the seq write results...



also w/out PMD, 5,9:


cheers,
jx

 

Yeah.. sequential write would have to reach 500MB/s.. strange..

 

Well, I guess I’m already out then, my Z21 is already on the way And I didn’t have much luck with getting discount either… :/ But well, it’s ordered, and will be here soon, so I won’t complain now!