Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

I am using z11wn. I notice that when I turn off it, with power adapter still plug in, but there is no light/led at all. others laptop i have now like acer, toshiba, they all have a light/led (green) showing the power adapter is pluging.
any one confirm why?
thx

 

They have Windows Vista Ultimate 62 bit

 

lol that's Sony Style for ya wrong specs, wrong time - all the time!

 

I can sympathize though, when one is trying to populate data at development stage, it's pretty easy to end up with one's own lorem ipsum LOL

That's not to say that Sony does not constantly publish inconsistent specification data. I am one recent victim of this, if you read my posts from a few weeks ago, I ordered the 64GB x 2 with RAID 0 SLC SSD option at full price, and the day my PC shipped they started offering 128 GB x 1 without RAID MLC SSD at discount.

The rest is history: I received the 128 GB MLC instead of the SLC drives even though I paid full price.

 

Did you reinstall Vista on yours or is it a fresh install ?
I had the random freezes sinze reinstalling Vista Ultimate x86 on my Z.
Who knows it was maybe totally unrelated to the Nvidia driver..
I have now put Vista Ultimate x64 on it and so far after 2 full days it's been rock solid apart from a BSOD when I was installing some drivers for the 3G modem.
I will report in the New Year if the machine remained stable during the festive season.

 

hey does anyone know the differance bettween the z530 and the z540 or Z590

 

Hi. I have had the same problem since buying my Z (Z11VN) 3 months ago. If I put the Vaio to sleep, about 50% of the time it would hang. Interestingly if I kept the lid open until the orange light came on it would always sleep successfully. If I closed the lid before the light went orange it would hang about 50% of the time and require a press and hold to restart.
Since removing Nod32 it now works perfectly regardless of the state of the lid.
I have already disabled all extra sony functions of the lid in the Sony utility.
I'm using Vista 32.

 

I'm working on this notebook. Basically it was working fine for a long time. Just recently it started working funky. It has the nVidia based chipset in it.

This unit also has problems with the wireless card working and dropping out.

Another issues is that if you plug the power cord in to the comuputer while it's on, it will continiousouly show that it is not plugged in. Only after rebooting it will tell you that it connected properly.

My main concern I guess is that this computer has ver weird issues.

The computer's "SYSTEM" process takes up 70-100 CPU constantly.

I've wiped the drive with the recovery partition, same thing.

I've wiped the drive with a basick OEM disk with the legal CD-KEY/license - still same thing.

I changed out the memory and the hard drive. What is left to be removed? Nothing.

 

Send it for repair to Sony. They are pretty good about turnaround time. But make sure you are seeing this problem with the factory installed software. I'd revert the system back to the way it arrived when you bought it. That way they know it may not be entirely a software issue (although it seems to be).

 

And good luck receiving your Z the same way you sent it; cosmetically of course.

 

any one knows how to check when the laptop is purchased. I bought a z11wn from my friend, but he doesn't remember exactly when he bought it. Any chance to check it by seria number etcs... I mean want to see when the warrant expires

--------^^^------- have done, found at esupport.

any way to create more partition with this. using Recovery center, can only create C and D driver, I would like to split for one more partition. I could easily do with others laptop not sony by using a boot CD, but no hope on Sony. I used the paragon, but the new driver must begin form H, not E. Please help
thx

 

You've had bad experience with San Diego? I've sent my laptop to them once, and it came back in pretty good shape.

 

Actually, Sony had me send it to Pennsylvania. And my laptop came back worn out (dents, dings and scratches). I was glad the guy who wrote up the repair order remembered my pc being in pristine condition. That's how I got a new case for it, had to resend back to Sony, but the bottom of the laptop was still scuffed up. I gave up. Make sure if you get it back not the way you sent it, report it immediately to Sony.

 

I know that you can create a smaller C drive partition using the recovery centre, I think it's one of the advanced options (I did it a week ago).
Then you can recover and use the standard vista disk management to create additional partitions as required.

 

Does anyone know when's Z690 coming?

Thanks!

 

It is expected to be announced on January 9 (CES 09)

Sony may open it for orders mid january - early february

 

Yes STAMINA mode increases battery time dramatically compared with SPEED

 

WHat are they changing?

 

Nothing much... With what we know so far, they are just minor harddrive, CPU upgrades, and lower pricing.
But they may also resolve some of the small issues the Z5x0 owners have been experiencing.

 

Hello,

I have a few questions about SONY Z540. Sorry if that was discussed before, but I couldn't clearly find the answers through search:

1. Is the HDD interface really SATA-1 (SATA150) ? I find it hard to believe but that's what SONY tech reps have told me. Can I use SATA-2 (300) SSD to replace the original one (Toshiba) ?

2. My current CPU is 2.26GHz (25w). If I want to upgrade CPU in the future, what would be the fastest CPU I could go up to? I guess at least 2.53Ghz, but what about the new quad cores with higher wattage or newer dual cores with higher frequencies? Are there any BIOS restrictions together with heat issues?

3. Will I benefit from faster DDR3 RAM(1333-1600MHz) ?

4. I've put 4GB or RAM and I can only see 3GB under 32-bit Vista. Is there any use of the remaining 1GB (reallocate to video card, create RAM-disk etc)?

5. Can I do 2560x1600 external resolution via HDMI if I get the newest 30" monitor? Somebody said Z540 had HDMI version 1.3 but I guess that doesn't help much by itself.

I greatly appreciate any thoughtful comments - SONY reps seem very unhelpful and time-wasting.

Thank you in advance!

Alex

 

Sony z690

no surpise

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=20153&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665746555

 

That link is a great find! So, they will be definitely upgrading :

-the CPUs (topping out at 2.66 GHz P9600),
-offering 64-bit OS (finally!), tho only in Vista
-black or premium carbon colors,
-256GB SSD's, in what appears to be a RAID (128GBx2), along with the 128GB RAID1 option from before and also faster HDDs (these details visible in 'more info').
-and new 'optical' options that include Blu-Ray\64bit & SuperMulti\64bit, whatever those are (separate from their options for blue-ray/DVDs optical drives).

 

Sweet (though "premium carbon" is a current offering.)

Also noticed a 400 (did they mean 500?) GB 5400 rpm drive.

Nice find... this'll be interesting, what with the z690 and Dell's Adamo / Studio XPS coming.

 

400GB drives have become available for notebooks, so it may not be a mistake.

I'm curious if the Z6xx series will get a back-lit keyboard. I think it would be an easy upgrade for Sony to do. I'm not expecting eSATA or a slot drive, but I think a lighted keyboard would be within reach.

 

Yes, by installing a different operating system (64- bit Windows or Linux). If you bought 4 GB of RAM for a 32-bits OS, you didn't do your homework before buying, and Barnum's Law applies.

 

Could anyone tell me if it is true that in the Z series, when I downgrade to windows XP, that the HDD protection software will not work?

Or is the actual HDD protection itself that will be disabled?

I read this on the sony asia website about downgrading and am very confused as I would definitely like to have HDD protection for a portable VAIO.

Please help.

 

Hello,

Can somebody help me with the questions below on Z540?

1. Is HDD interface SATA or SATA2 (SONY reps told me SATA which is hard to believe) ?

2. Can I upgrade CPU in the future from 2.26 to 2.66 GHz if it's still 25w (Intel P9600) ? Will I have any BIOS or heat issues ?

3. Will NVIDIA support 2560x1600 external resolution via HDMI ?

Please help me if you know the answer.

Thank you!

Alex

 

^The Z6 series is due out soon with 2.6ghz

 

It's easy to believe. With 5400 or 7200 rpm notebook drive, you're not going to saturate the 1.5 Gbps of SATA 1 for more than milliseconds. SATA 2 would give very little measurable benefit.
If you want speed, make sure you go for a 7200 rpm drive and not a 5400 rpm one. That difference is going to mean a heck of a lot more.

 

I saw one Z540 being offered with P9600 (link below), which made me hope that both BIOS and heat issues could be resolved. However I didn't know the CPU was soldered in VAIO... Is it really true even for VAIO Z540 CTO laptops(what I have) ?

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache...95209208+Intel+P9600&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us

 

I want to go for 128GB SSD but some SSDs (GSKILL for example) only support SATA2 and their tech support told me they would not work with SATA interface... So, is it true that my SSD options are really limited to those which clearly support SATA? I am only aware of one brand (Patriot), which would support SATA in 128GB capacity.

 

And here's Sony getting the esupport site ready for the Z690, and other Z600 series laptops:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGN-Z690P &region_id=1

 

Z690 now listed on Sony Style Canada. Let's hope this will be up on the US site soon.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=20153&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665746555

 

That's a link to a test page for the Z690 that's already been posted a couple of times before... it's still not officially up.

 

Anyone else having problems with the game crashing? I've been playing COD2 MP and the game is having two problems

1: The game just crashes
2: The screen starts showing weird lettering across it with almost a prism effect from the top right corner

 

I play Titan Quest Immortal Throne perfectly on Highest setting.

However the fans becomes noisy, maybe it working so hard?

 

I tried to downgrade to XP but found out lot of functions and hardware didn't work well with XP ,then I went back to Vista business as it is recommeded by Sony.
So, I advice you to stick to Vista.

 

Oooh... news on the spiffy new Z600 series.

Well... speaking of hard drives... I just went out and bought me a 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black to shove into my Z... be back later!

 

Any of you that have the 1600x900 wish you had gotten the 1366x768 or vice versa?

 

Oh wow... that silly little bracket.

ANYONE have any tips on how to actually pull the HDD out of the Z? I've gotten everything off (KB, screws, connectors) but that little aluminum frame holding the HDD in isn't budging... T_T

EDIT:
N/M I GOT IT. A LITTLE PRYING NEVER HURT. Almost done!
Oh, and I love my 1600x900.

EDIT 2:

I WIN, IT'S OUT, GLORIOUS DAY.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272690&page=193

 

UPDATE: w000000!!! All installed!

Installing Vista and everything as we speak... I can't wait to take my new HDD for a spin!

 

errr. y didnt u clone the HD? so u dont have to reinstall everything on the new drive?

 

I think so, I even added fans on the outside to help bring in and out air, but still get the same.

 

yeah i hope it is normal for the fans to be noisy when playing games.

 

I'm thinking about upgrading my hard drive too but I can't decide between the 320 black or 500 blue. The one thing that's preventing me from making the purchase is noise and heat. So TemjinZero, can you elaborate on heat and noise? I read on newegg that these issue are hit and miss and I just want an insight especially from another vaio z owner.

How would you go about doing the cloning and reinstalling it into your new HD? What software do you use and would an external hard drive work or do you need a dvd.

Thanks in advance to the two of you if you could help me with these things.

 

err. check out the HD forum section. u need to install acronis true image. I forgot the details.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3385292&postcount=7

 

Thank you for the link araharja but the problem is how would I connect the new HD? I don't think you can do that with a usb cord and I don't have any possible cord...well thanks again for the link to the software.

 

Hey, just a quick question.

If I get a Z5XX on Sonystyle now, will I be able to return it for a full refund after Z6XX's come out, if it's still within the 30 day period?

Thanks!

 

Yes. You pay for shipping back. KEEP all boxes, all packaging, ALL plastic wraps, ALL docs

Sonystyle.com click Return Order > print label > print RMA# and it was pretty painless. Refunded my CC in 7 days