Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

Without Blu-Ray though

 

$90 http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0296165

Honestly...do you need to watch hi-def movies on a 13" screen?

 

Erh. that's not a 9.5mm drive. Also, it doesn't burn blu rays.

I think the blu ray drive is only useful if: (i) you want to use the Z as a blu ray player (output via HDMI); or (ii) blu ray media gets much cheaper.

 

Or (iii) if you are in the habit of buying movies to watch on your laptop and you want to build up your home BD movie library.

 

Anyone want to trade their 1600x900 for my 1366x768? I have a Z570 that is literally brand new and want the higher rez.. if so shoot me an email at infamous.sneek at gmail dot com ..

 

I installed Windows 7 on my Z570 (no SSD) and it performs just as good as Vista if not better... I nuked my Vista drive the 2nd day I got it.. Running Fedora 10 and Windows 7... Love it!

 

Well I ordered the Intel X25M 160Gb SSD today - i am going to clone my 320GB 7200RPM drive tomorrow and install the intel SSD - the price was silly but I figured I could get a few years out of it before I needed to sell it. kind of link when I purchased the Raptor 36GB drive when it first came out.

More to come tomorrow.

 

Did you receive your Z the same you sent it out, besides the repairs done on it of course? Every item I sent to Sony Repair Center have always come back with a lot of scratches and scuff marks. Where did you have to send it too?

Just curious, what exactly do people use the Blu-Ray Burner/Writer for?

 

Wow. Look forward to hearing!

Are the fixings and connectors for the SSD just a direct swap for the HDD?

S

 

I sent my Z to Sony UK support.
AFAIK there haven't added any more scratches to the laptop. They've done a pretty good job of getting the screen replaced in just a morning!

 

As I said it before, I have managed to get Sony to repair the screen which was scratched and had quite a few bruises (white spots, usually around the center part of the display).
Now it's my second day with my repaired laptop and I don't know why but the new lid feels thicker (and stiffer) compared to the original one from my VGN-Z11VN.
It's hard to tell how thick it is but I'd say it's about between 4mm and 5mm.
Can I get some of you to measure their lid thickness for the first Z series ?

 

hmm. The lid is 4-5mm on my Z27.

 

Yes - the drive is the standard SATA form factor and connectors - so it is just a swap.

 

Just from my point of view, watching Blu-Ray on 13" screen is GREAT. Huge difference from DVDs. As for the second thing, I got 10 BD-RW 25 GB in slim cases for 2500 yen, it means around 28 USD. That's enough worth for me.

 

Yeah, I know! The point I was trying to make is why spends hundreds of dollars for a blu-ray drive on a notebook? I just got a desktop drive to add to my media center PC. Works great and was a hell of a lot cheaper.

 

Why i can't find Canadian Z 690 CTO page???

 

it is located under the big banner, labelled "All new Z Series" at the main canadian notebook page:
http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/HomepageView?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001

here's the direct link
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=20153&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665746555

everything has gone up 30% in price.. everything

 

If that holds true for the US model I'm gonna be very happy that I bought mine a couple weeks ago w/ discounts.

 

actually, it seems that the US model has dropped in price (if my guess is correct) but the base price is higher because they upgraded the cpu/hd

the 30% increase seems to only be for every other country but the US, such as mexico, australia, and canada.. sigh

PS: you cannot order the 690 CTO yet, it'll be officially available on sunday

 

OMG cheap.

Do share? From where?

 

Well, what you should really do to make that point is to point out that it is somewhat possible to build a whole htpc for the price of the Z's blu ray upgrade

Having said that... I don't regret getting blu ray

 

Does it possible to buy now Z 690 with DVD and replace the optical drive (~ after 1 year) by BD?
Or i must decide now BD or DVD and i have no chance to replace it later?

 

In this shop in Hiroshima around New Year. TDK, Sony's were more expensive, but I like TDK products...

 

okie. I'm going to hope real hard that those price drops propogate across the world quickly. As long term backup media storage that price is fine!

 

You can replace it, but you have to pay the repair part price, which is easily twice of the price bundled with a computer. Plus, you will have to buy the software yourself.
So, $1000 for a BluRay drive, and another $100 for a player.

 

I agree, the prices on the Z in the U.S. have seem to drop. There's an article on Sony in todays Los Angeles Times (1/30/09) and the article is on Sony's falling profit. Maybe that explains why prices on Z's and other Sony products have dropped and the diminishing quality in workmanship that many of you are experiencing with the Z.

 

The US Z 690 CTO site is down. I wonder why?

 

So it looks like the $300 off bundle is not longer active.... After all this waiting, now I'm not sure if I really want to go for the Z690. I've been eyeing the Macbook planning to dual boot it into Vista x64. Better GPU, backlit keyboard, besides that it's mostly the same. Lower res and a bit heavier.

 

Eh. Get the macbook if you want to use osX, the Z otherwise.

The 9300GS and the 9400 are roughly equivalent.

 

A bit heavier? 1 pound heavier, no dockingstation, awfull glossy screen, no WAN and no Express Card slot. But anyway cheaper.

 

And what about comparing the battery life of Sony Z vs MacBook 13"?

 

yeah, I realize the Sony has much better battery life than the Macbook. I'm still 50-50 between the two.

It'd be a much easier decision if the $300 bundle promo were still active. Right now I have a Z690 configured for $1700 (9-cell, no taxes or extended warranty included), versus $1528 for the Macbook... Both configs more or less match, besides the battery and 250GB hdd in the Mac.

I don't know...this is pretty difficult. I've been without a laptop for over a month now trying to decide and doing research. I'm getting to the point that I really need one soon.

 

I was looking closely at the Macs myself and am very glad I went for the Z instead. If you don't have some interest in OS X there are a couple compelling reasons to get the Z over any of the macs.

1) The Z's screen is in another league compared to the regular macbook and is like the next generation of the air screen. Matte so it's usable anywhere. The Z LCD exceeds all specs of all the macbooks and from everything I've seen in person and read the macbook regular just doesn't have much of a screen. Hands down the Z wins for the screen.

2) Ports and hardware connections. The Macbook has NO firewire. I couldn't believe it -- no FIREWIRE. Just think about it --- mac champions an interface that runs circles around USB and then virtually abandons it. Go figure. Express card is frosting on the cake and if you want a super speedy connection to external disks, card readers, etc an express port is the way to go and can be many times faster than a USB device.

3) Running vista 64 under bootcamp is going to be problematic if possible at all. And the other question is why the heck do you want to run the 64 bit version -- just multiplies the problems for ZERO gain -- use 32 bit with less than 8GB. Apple still supports XP in bootcamp as far as know. I don't think you're going to have much luck with a true dual boot setup -- bootcamp will probably be the only workable solution that uses all the hardware properly at a cost in battery life and device compatibility. Keep in mind all the restrictions for dual booting for sharing files between the OS's as well. My understanding is that under bootcamp OS X can see the windows partition but not the other way around.

4) Apple support seems great if you don't mention "MS" or "PC" in any positive context and don't change anything -- apple users aren't supposed to be technically savy and I think they kind of enforce this at the apple store. Don't mean to sound snotty but if you ask anything concerning Vista or XP at apple the first response is always --- "Why do you want to run or attach x?" As an example the local apple outlet runs pc-compatible accounting/inventory software under bootcamp and has constant problems -- but they blame microsoft and the pc software.

Up to you but what I found was that the older Macbook pro 15" with the matte LED screen is probably the closest in performance and screen quality to the Z. The screen of the "new" regular macbook just isn't up to snuff and I think a review on notebookcheck confirms this. I think that in mac terms the Z would be an AIR pro (or an Air that's actually usable running real applications rather than iApplets). The macbook is cheaper but it's also more like the sony sr than the z.

Doug

 

thanks for the input! I'm going to check out the Macbook in person to get a better idea. I've already played with the Z at MicroCenter and had an SZ prior so that's why I was initially leaning towards it.

 

Yeah but the base price is actually $10 cheaper than the old model (690) even without the $300 discount. What's the problem? Plus you get a faster processor and Vista 64-bit.

 

Go for the Z

Win 7 kills OS X

 

Tell us what you think. I did just that the other day and was impressed.

Oh, and the z640/z690 CTO is available in the US now for those interested.

 

Hi Jeme,

Keen to hear your first impressions!

S

 

any deal offical site for sony Z 690? 300 off ?

 

I just ordered mine. Here is a side by side comparison of my 590 (which I'm returning) and my 690

590= 2 GB Ram, 250 GB HDD@ 7200, 32-bit Vista, Blu-Ray, Sprint WWAN
$2,242

690= 4 GB Ram, 320 GB HDD@ 7200,64-bit Vista, Blu-Ray, Verizon WWAN
$2,302

On both the 590 and the 690 I got a 10% student discount AND $300 off for getting a 3yr express ship warranty and 2 neoprene cases. At first he said it was one or the other but I pointed out that they bundled them on my 590 order: "Well I'm not supposed to do this but......"
Also went from 18 mo. no interest no payments to 24 mo.

 

WOW! Good deal! I'm waiting for my 1340 to come. If I don't like it or there's something wrong with it, the Sony will be my next comp. I've got to get some deal advice from you!! I'm hoping the Dell will be OK but considering some of the problems users are reporting, it might not be.

 

Forgot to mention that both have the Blu-Ray option as well.

Yeah I was waiting for the SXPS 13" to come out b4 I got the Z. Turns out it doesn't have a Blu-Ray option, it's heavy for an "ultra-portable" and the screen isn't as nice as the 1600X900 Z. I also prefer the styling of the Z and I'm hearing heat is an issue as well. It is less expensive though.
Don't mean to rip on your computer as I'm sure it will be very nice, I'm just pointing out why I went with the Z.

 

DVD vs BluRay drive? I'm torn between the two, leaning towards DVD, but now that I could configure with BluRay and stay in budget I'm more interested in comparing/contrasting. Of course, it takes away $ I could spend on accessories - or even a new digital camera (been considering upgrading my CyberShot w/ the new T700)...

BluRay takes away ability to do DVD DL. Beyond that, does it impede on performance of CD/DVD use at all (slower speeds?), or just simply adds the ability to read/write BluRay? Sorry if this is a PITA, just hoping to get a little more info to decide which route to take there. I was *really* hoping they'd surprise us and offer a BluRay read only for just a bit extra, and I'd gladly take it. But for $500, it's still kind of an "ouch" for BluRay. (Given I've never rented, bought, watched a BluRay movie still...though I know darn well its the future.)

Also, I see mention of a 640 CTO?? I'm not seeing it. I see 690CTO, 540CTO, and 590UAB. Mistype, or am I not seeing everything?

 

Did you have to apply for a Sony Credit card for the 18 mo. payment? It's got a 24% APR tho.. Someone care to explain to me how this works?

Thanks!

 

does anyone know if there's the 300$ thing for canada?

and also.. has anyone contacted sonystyle canada before? i want to call them and see if the 690 is out yet here.. the ordering page is up, but for some reason the 2.4ghz option is not there, so i'm wondering if the page really is complete yet

 

If you don't mind the lower resolution, maybe you can also consider the Z540.

 

I think they're in the process of changing over to the Z640, maybe another day or two.

 

Yeah, so sfiorito can maybe consider the Z640 to keep the prices much lower to roughly the price of the MacBook that he/she is considering.

 

Like him, I was going back and forth between the MacBook and z690. Seems like the z690 has some followers.

And yes, I think I typoed that; the z640 should be up shortly.

 

ref SSD installation -

Cloning from HDD to SSD is pretty problematic as I found out, having recently put in a Photofast G monster V2 256gb inside mine.

Couple of vids at "mrdenki" on you tube.

There are software for generic cloning from SSD to HDD, but you run into problems like whether AHCI is supported, drivers, tweaks, etc. Lots of error messages and alot of time consumed for little reward.

A fresh install solves all these issues.

Also, opening up the Z is not straight forward - you may know about this, but a good guide can be found here -

http://74.125.79.100/translate_c?hl...0.html&usg=ALkJrhhRblBPhlahvyDzCOQ4XFK7jFteRw
and here -
http://74.125.79.100/translate_c?hl...3.html&usg=ALkJrhgmE5RQ5uECsXXW7vQZZFUpZQhdOA