Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

Actually it's 24 mo. no interest/no payment. Basically the idea is to have it paid off b4 the promotion expires. Otherwise you get hit w/ 2 years of back interest at 24% or whatever. So if I wanted to make payments on it, it would be about $100 a mo. to have it paid off in 2 yrs.

 

I am deeply interested with the VGN-Z690 and have 2 questions:

1. How do I obtained the Student discount?? I am a university student and would like to get any discount possible from sony..

2. Can I install 2x256GB SSD in this Laptop??

Thank You..

 

Don't know about #2 but #1 is easy. Just tell the rep that you want the student discount. He'll ask you what school you go to. Tell him. He'll take 10% off your order.

 

Or click on the deal link on sonystyle.com and fill out the quick questions, essentially your info + school, very simple/easy as well. It takes a couple minutes, but it will then show up so you can order online w/ the discount.

 

True that. Although you will have to talk to the rep to get the $300 promo for the warranty and accesories as it is not showing up on the site.

 

I'm getting ready to purchase a new Z690 CTO. Need some advice.

64 bit or 32 bit? Sony CTO offers the "FRESH START" only on the Vista Business which is currently only available on 32 bit and not 64 bit.

Is it worth ditching the "fresh start" and going with Vista Ultimate which is offerred in 64 bit? (btw: I'll be purchasing 4gb of ram)

Thanks for any advice.

Keith

 

In my opinion, yes. There is hardly a reason to go for 32-bit builds in operating systems in this day and age, and "fresh start" is something you could create for yourself with just a little bit of time and know-how.

$.02.

 

I am planning to get the z690, but i just wanna know is sony going to come out with new model soon since I dont want to regret after buying it. Like something after the P series.

 

the 690 just came out... yesterday, how can there be a new model?

the z was also just introduced a couple months ago

 

i meant new series, not from the same series.

 

yeah, the z just came out not too long ago, so there wont be anything replacing it for a while

 

THere are two options I cant decide upon for my new Z690. I need some help and input.

1. I have decided to try out 64 bit, I am trying to decide between home premium and vista ultimate. The only reason I am torn is because vista ultimate comes with an XP downgrade disc. 150 extra and I will have the ability to go back to XP if I hate vista. It would cost me about that much just to get a copy of XP SP3 if I went with home premium and ended up not liking it. Should I give up on XP and move on (especially with windows 7 in the wings) or is it worth it to get the XP downgrade?

2. 2.66 P9600 or 2.4 P8600? Is 250 extra dollars worth the 0.26 ghz and extra 3 mb L2 cache? My gut says its not worth it?

Any thoughts on these two decisions would be greatly appreciated. THanks.

 

1. I would say move on and stick with Vista. Windows 7 is just around the corner... plus, Vista isn't all that bad now really.

2. Hmm, definitely not worth it, not for the 0.26GHz 3MB L2 cache? Hmm, only if you need serious raw multi-tasking power.

 

As long as you have at least 2 GB RAM, and preferably more, Vista isn't that bad.

That said, if the choice is between Home Premium and Ultimate, I'd say go with Ultimate. And if you don't need the Media Center or Bitlocker features, go with Business instead. Only Business and Ultimate come with caching of network files, and if you have another PC on your lan (or a NAS storage), this is a must. Not only does it let you keep copies of documents on the network even when you're away from the network, but it also (and automatically) caches documents locally for speed.
SFC (System File Cache) can make the difference between being able to watch a video stored on the network, or having to manually copy it to a local disk first. And whether documents you've worked on open near instantaneously from local cache or having to wait several seconds while retransmitted.

It depends on what you're going to use it for. If you plan on encoding video or compiling big programming projects, having a job take 1h 40m instead of two hours can be worth it. Or if you have the system do automated backups in the background, you are less likely to notice slowdowns.

The extra cache is more important when you run multiple programs at the same time, as it reduces the risk of one CPU reading so much memory that the other CPU must start refetching from much slower RAM. If you only run one application at a time, it's unlikely to make a difference (exception: WinRAR, which will take advantage of more cache, and be noticably faster for higher compression levels).

For gaming and 3D work, neither the CPU speed nor the cache will make much of a difference. The graphics card is the bottleneck.

 

It's the keyboard removal which looks so awful, prizing it off, etc.

If you look at the Sony manual, there's a slider in the battery compartment which seems to release the keyboard - I don't think it's mentioned in that guide. Following the steps in the Sony manual it doesn't look too bad. It has been posted on the forum recently.

But what did you think of the performance when you moved to SSD?

S

 

Looking at it again, they didn't release the keyboard. IIRC the top edge comes away first, not last.

S

 

Thank you so much for your prompt and clear reply..

I really appreciate it..

 

Hi All,

Just come back from Sony shop. Tomorrow I am going to buy Z21XN. Today I was played a little with it in shop. I was surprised it screen is significantly dimmer compared to my Vaio TZ11MN. But the biggest problem is when I put hands on keyboard for writing I can feel vibrations from HD. Is it normal? There was no DVD in DVD player. Maby I should go for new TT?

 

The dim screen could be due to the auto dimming feature, and can be adjusted to brighter setting in Vail Control. As for the vibration from HD, it could be a 7200rpm HD, I don't know this one, maybe others with 7200HD can comment on this.

 

I have checked in Vaio Control. Not found settings for auto dim option. I am not sure is Vaio Z have this option like TT.
It was 250 GB 5400 rpm version.

 

Usually, the faster the drive is, the less vibrations you will feel. 7200 rpm equals 120 Hz, which is above what you would feel like a vibration, and in the audible range. You may feel slight vibrations when it spins up and down, but normally, you would avoid spinning the drive up or down more than necessary, as it seriously reduces a drive's life. So make sure you haven't chosen any options in the vaio power controls that spins down the drive too quickly.

What you normally will feel with a 7200 rpm drive is the gyroscopic effect. The laptop will have a small inertia against being moved up and down or tilted, but no such inertia about sliding sideways. The effect is so small that most people never notice it. (For 15000 rpm SCSI drives with multiple platters, the gyro effect can be quite substantial. But I digress.)

The most likely culprit here is the CD/DVD drive. Even though you don't have a CD/DVD in it, the computer doesn't know that, and spins it up to find out whether you have one. Higher quality drives have a tap on the hub that detects whether there's a CD/DVD in place without having to spin up, but not on a consumer laptop.
Why does it spin up? Who knows, but likely culprits are disk indexing programs (like Google Searchbar) or antivirus software that periodically try to access it.

Anyhow, choose a power setting that turns off the power to the CD drive when not in use, and doesn't spin down the HD.

 

Still waiting for my Z570 (bought it from NBR member)
hopefully get it before friday and upload some nice pictures with brief review
Love the look of Z, looks like Sony is finally trying to be "SONY" now
I will just keep carry mine with old SZ case, (CKS1?)
spent more than$100 for it do not want to do it again

 

I have my BD DVD drive set to 'automitic off' in the power management program. However, everytime I turn on my computer or it wakes from hibernation, it starts up, then after about 30 sec., it turns back off. Is there any way for me to completely disable it until I need it? It's a $500 option that I'd rather not pointlessly turn on and off 5 times a day.

 

does anyone know if the Z supports asynchronous dual channel for ram? meaning if i get 3gb of ram it'll still be running dual channel?

 

From what I could gather it does and if you look up the memory somewhere like Kingston it seems to confirm this. With a custom Bios I think sony could do dual channel easily for nearly any configuration with two sticks. I think it would be more likely to be idle on one channel though than with 2x2GB.
Doug

 

Yes, it will -- in symmetric mode, even (as long as the chips have the same SPD settings apart from size).

 

You could disable it in the device manager.

 

thanks for the help, Doug and Arth1!

i have one more question for everyone, can i extract the serial from windows when i receive my laptop.. and then use that serial with an "anytime upgrade" disc from microsoft for a clean install, and then install the drivers/necessary software from sony support?

 

Guys,

By default, i always keep Bluetooth off (via Smartwi utility) unless i need to use it.

However, whenever i startup the comp or come out of sleep BT automatically turns on!
The BT logo pops up in the tray and windows makes that "new hardware" sound.
Within 2 seconds BT automatically shuts itself off and the sys tray icon disappears.

Anyone else noticing this on their Z's?

Thanks!

 

Cool! Thanks for the tip. I just disabled it.

 

Has anyone been able to get the $300 warranty special bob mentioned, recently?

Thanks, Peter.

 

It's actually pretty simple but you need to make sure and get the activation key before you load Vista over the current installlation. If you find this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=293880
It details how to save/restore the activation keys.

I replaced the sony disk and loaded XP from scratch but Vista should be easier since it already includes the AHCI drivers. I'd download all the drivers before hand using the taxi utility from Sony. If you put them on an external harddisk before hand you won't have to worry about internet connections until you're finished.

Also make sure you back everything up! I'd use the external hard drive and do a straight forward copy of the whole disk --> windows backups are difficult to deal with if you are trying to locate files.

Good luck.

 

Yes and no.
You can not activate a truly clean install with the serial on the sticker, but what you can do is install the clean Windows, choose to activate it later during install, then "register by phone" once Windows is loaded, and call Microsoft, giving them both serial numbers. As long as the serials haven't been registered before, and you're polite to the MS people, they'll give you an activation code over the phone. If they ask, just say you thought you had to install from the Anytime DVD, blowing your OS away, and no, you don't have a restore DVD.

 

Are they giving you a hard time? I'll give you my rep's name and extension if you want.

 

No joy. It still comes on at start-up. If you're not following this, I'm trying to completely shut down by BD DVD drive until I want to use it. Anyone else w/ any suggestions?

 

Nope. Just ordered a Z690, all basic only added the carbon fiber finish (i have ddr3 memory and plenty of hard drives)

Total with the 3 year mail-in warranty and 2 neopane cases, $1670, Tax (7%) & shipping included.

Looks like I'm joining the VAIO family.

 

Congrats! You also got the student discount I hope. I see your defecting from Dell. Did you look at the SXPS 13? If so, what convinced you to go w/ the Z?

 

Yes you can ! It's been done and there is no need to speak to MS, on the phone or otherwise. Look for ABR (activation back up and restore), it's well documented and it works. There is a download link somewhere on this forum.

 

I'm also considering defecting from Dell. Most likely ordering the z690 tomorrow but would like to hear your reasons for not getting the studio xps 13. For me, it's b/c the z is 1.5 lbs lighter and has a matte screen. Thgouh that's coming at quite a premium.

 

Coming from someone who's owned lot's of Dell's and a Sony Z I'd suggest an LG P300 or 310 or a Lenovo x300 or x301 - I know the 301's are pricey but deals can be found and it's 'much' better than the Sony Z imo ... hope that helps...

 

How did you manage that? Friendly sales staffer?

 

It would help if you said why...

 

Weight was definately one of the deciding factors for me as well. That thing is a brick! Also, I thought it was going to come w/ a slot load Blu-Ray option and alas it did not. The 1600X900 16:9 matte screen was also a big plus for me as I will be watching alot of movies on this thing. Also wasn't a big fan of the fingerprint friendly glossy black finish and the leather.

I read where one person called customer service to complain about the heat this laptop generates and they were told this was meant to be a high end notebook, not a "laptop". It's supposed to be on a desk. O.K., later.

 

The price with the carbon fiber came to almost $1800. He then took off 10% for the student discount, added $200 for warranty, added $40 for 2 cases, then took off $300 for the warranty promotional. After adding the 7% tax, it came to $1670.

I think that it's ridiculous for a 13.3" inch laptop to have a "starting weight" of 4.85 lb. Besides that, I think that the Sony 1600x900 screen is well worth the upgrade.

Furthermore, I did not like the XPS 13 because it uses an Nvidia chipset. I learned my lesson and only stick to Intel chipsets. Much more reliable and likely more power efficient.

 

nystateofmind27, i see you also have the m1210. i own 2 m1210s, one with integrated gpu and the other with the nvidia. the integrated gpu one never got hot and the fan was very quiet. the one with the nvidia gpu got very hot to the point of actually freezing while watching a small video in wmp. i checked temperatures and it idled at above 70 degrees and was well into the 90s-100 when watching a video. i also have the extended battery and it lasts for 6 hours on the integrated, and about 2 hours on the nvidia, so i turned on battery saving mode to slow down the ram and then i used riva tuner to underclock the gpu to as low as it is allowed and also installed custom drivers.. this somewhat fixed the problem, but i am still idling at 60 degrees whereas the integrated one idles at around 40 or less (i am guessing) and the battery life is still nowhere near 6 hours. i have a feeling there is something wrong with the heatsink or contact point with the gpu on my computer. did you have a similar experience? i just want to know if it's just my laptop or if it's the same with many of the m1210s.

this is also a huge reason i chose the Z, the integrated is very appealing to me

oh, and do you think the 300$ promotional is available in canada? i really doubt it.. but i just want to check

 

Brawn, I'd love to help but unfortunately I've sold the m1210 about a year ago. Had many laptops since: m1330, and the latitude xt. I'll see if i can think of anything for you.

I know it sounds rudimentary, but you should really try to dust the laptop vents with some high pressure air duster. That alleviated overheating on some older laptops for me.

I'd bet that sony canada has a warranty deal as well.

 

For those DIYers who plan to upgrade the hard drive on their Z:

Hitachi 320gb 7200rpm: $67 shipped after $20 MIR at ZipZoomFly

I've used many of these drives and compared to a 160gb 5400rpm drive, this one actually attained better battery life.

If you didn't order it yet, it's a better deal to save the hassle and purchase the upgrade directly from Sony.

 

Hey guys

I've currently got a dell studio xps 1340 on order. ESD is 2/13/2009.

However, due to all the heat issues with it, and the glossy screen, I'm thinking of canceling and ordering a Z. However, I have a couple of quick questions.

1. Is the screen getting scratched by the keyboard a real issue?
2. Hows the heat output on this thing? Under full load, does it got hot?
3. Are there any other issues with the Z? Is it built well enough?
4. How does Ubuntu run on it?
5. Can someone post a picture of the 1600x900 display on the laptop? is text too small to read on a 13 inch screen? should I get the smaller res display?

The only thing I hate about the Z is it doesn't have a backlit keyboard, man I wish it did....oh well. I'm really liking that the screen isn't glossy, and I like the metal finish over the 1340's gloss.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or input you might have on the issue. Thanks.

 

Also interested in answers / replies.

 

On my Z sony laptop, there is about 3mm clearance between the screen and the keyboard. Since the screen does have a bit of flex, I would imagine if you put it in a school back with some books, the keyboard would press against the screen. I haven't had any issues at all with it.

One of the weirdest laptops for cooling I've ever seen. Typing on my bed right now on stamina mode, I could let it sit like this all day, and it never gets hot underneath, just a little warm.

However, on speed mode while playing left 4 dead, the fan pumps out a ton of hot air, and you can feel the heat on the bottom of it (not on the palmrests though, which is great!). I think it's really hot feeling because it's carbon fibre though, conducts heat way more effciently than plastic. Bottom line: its very cool for typing, email, etc. It's hot for games, but you'd be retarded to play games on a soft surface like a bed with any laptops anyway, so I feel it works great.

Ive heard some people say that their battery isn't completely secure in the battery bay, personally I think you have to be pretty picky to complain about it. As far as durability is concerned, here are some cool tests on sony's website (other videos are at the bottom of the page)

No idea on Ubuntu
The screen text size is extremely subjective, see this thread