Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

I don't know. Are you clumsy?

 

Not too particularly, but I've never had such a light notebook. My old one is big and durable and can get knocked around. Plus I'll be carrying it around in my backpack on the subway a lot. Will that expose it to unnecessary danger?

 

hi
ive got my z last 2 days ago and i downgraded to xp...
where can we get the softwares that came with it? like the recovery center...

 

HI!
i have a Vaio Z21-VN
i would like to change the bundle HD (320gb 7k2),but when i tried to disassemble my laptop, i blocked.
I can disassemble only the keyboard...
there is a guide to do that?
someone has already tried?


sorry 4 my english

 

You never know when an accident can happen. If it happens to a 200 dollar/pound/euro iPod Nano, it's not too bad. If it happens to a 2,000+ Z...

 

Thanks HKINGS, but unfortunately he told me the same thing as the first associate that I called that it's only an either/or deal. Can't combine. And when I mention your name or how others have receive the same discount, he said that it was only allowed for a small window frame of time. Bummer =(

 

I think it's a good idea. That way, if you have a problem and need to send it in for repair, they can't say, "Oh, you have water damage, which isn't covered in the basic 1-yr warranty."

 

Pardon me but that sounds like a bunch of Horse S**t! I would try calling back and talking to a different rep. TELL them exactly what you want, don't ASK. If they give you a hard time, I would ask to speak to their supervisor and politely explaing to them that you are about to give them +/- $2,000 of your hard earned money and all you are asking for is the same deal they have already given several others. Your choice was between them and DELL (for instance) but because of this great deal you are choosing them.
I'd really play it up, after all, you've got nothing to lose.

You tried the Carlie Knox contact I posted? Too bad if so, he seemed cool and easy to work with, didn't put up much of a fight.

 

It's possible that these reps are told when they can "sweeten" the deal and when they can't. In other words, you might have caught that particular rep when he could offer something better. It's probably a way of "baiting" others who read about it on forums/from others and respond to it. While some people will be annoyed enough not to order, they're (Sony) probably betting that most people responding need a notebook & have heard enough good things about the notebook to sway them to order, despite not getting the "best" deal. It's just a marketing ploy, good if you get it, not too bad (for most) if you don't.

 

Hey guys... sorry for the late post. The rep (Brian) I order my system from actually called me today to tell me that he couldn't give the deal he gave me to any of my friends whom i referred to him. Maybe he got too many calls? Anyays, he apologized and said he found out that the window to combine both deals ended a few hours after giving me the deal. he said my order and deal was still good, but that he couldn't offer it to anyone else since their policy JUST changed.

I personally think its a bit of BS myself, and if you can geta different rep you might have better luck.

Sorry again!

P.S. For those that had their Z690 shipped already, how long did it take after ordering on the phone? I ordered very early morning on Wednesday!

 

I ordered Tuesday and it entered the Build stage Thursday and shipped the same day. I had a completely basic configuration though, only carbon fiber lid option.

 

I ordered mine Monday, by Wed. it was in build mode, by Thrs. it had shipped and today they tried to deliver it.

 

I highly doubt Sony woould have a bait and switch deal. Maybe if Sony was a smaller seedy business. And to all readers of this post, if you DO believe they are a seedy business, why are you buying/considering buying a sony at all?

Just because a customer is spending a ton of money doesn't mean diddly squat. What matters to them is profit margin. And if there is one thing i've learned from working at best buy, its that profit margins on laptops are slim. After adding in the cost to manufacture the laptop, cost of materials, wages, utility costs, marketing etc. etc. etc. that laptop probably makes them 200 bucks (maybe).

And Sony corp just lost money. I'm all for more customer power, but when a customer like that comes into my best buy store, I purposely do NOT give them a deal. If the customer is nice about it, I DO give you a deal. If you say "oh but... dell is giving me this! Do better!'thats not customer loyalty, thats a customer hostage taking. "Give me this or else.. not "give me this because ill be back if you do.' no you won't. You're there to buy because you want a better price. When dell comes out with a product you prefer, you'll go to them next, because they'll be 50 dollars cheaper. Doesn't matter if you got great service from sony or not. It's all price, and the product you want.

Customer loyalty seems to be going the way of the horse and buggy. I know tons of people who come back to best buy, even after they have a horrible experience. They come and buy, regardless how the treatment they got in the store (And this was pre-recession that I saw this too). And then I know others who will push tooth and nail for a deal, get something, and then never return. Why would I give a deal when it doesn't seem to matter?

Ughh i need to find another job... being in sales during a recession sucks. I feel better having said that though. Yes, a lot of people are coming in store asking for deals. I always say the best price we have is what is on the shelf. A customer becomes an instant b*st*rd if you want a sale price on a laptop even lower with no accessories, service, or software with it.
/end rant
/runs from massive flames

 

i ordered the Z690 on tuesday night and it just shipped today (friday)

 

blah. not worth arguing with BB drones..

 

All I'll say is that I wasn't telling the buyer to be a jerk about it. Simply, instead of asking, "hey can you do this for me" just state "I want to order a computer, these are the specs, and these are the deals I know are available and I would like them applied" If they still balk, stroke em' a little bit. If that doesn't work, oh well, you tried.

 

I actually bought the Sony Z610 today from Best Buy. I haven't opened it yet because I'm still not sure whether I want to return my XPS 1340 from Dell. The 610 has the P8600 processor, which is inferior to the 1340's P9500, and while it has a 320 gig 7200 rpm hdd, the Dell has a solid state drive. I just don't like the 1340's weight and keyboard. I figure I might as well buy the Sony before it goes out of stock again (sure enough, I got the last one within a 200 mile radius of me).

I like the Sony's keyboard a lot (much more comfortable and I can type faster on it) and it's very light, which is important because I'll be taking this computer around every day to school and beyond. It also can get up to 6 hours of battery on the stamina mode, which is better than Dell's 3 hours. Also, Sony's power adapter seems smaller than Dell's, so the computer basically screams mobile. I'm a medical student and I don't have time to play games so I don't need a power machine but I like SSD more than HDD so that's my only regret (and downgrading to 3MB cache from 6MB kind of sucks too). Sony was quite a bit more money but I can justify paying that price since it's much better than the Dell in utility.

I don't like GE Bank so I did not continue my application with Sony--bad experiences in the past. Best Buy has a 18 month interest free promotion too so it was ok.

Do you guys have any advice??

 

By the way, does the Z come with restore CD's so I can reformat the computer right when I start it up? No point in keeping all the bloatware...also, does it have a SD card reader? I know it has memory stick but I don't know about SD...

 

Bb = Rotten Ballz!

 

Nope. It comes with a restore partition, and you have to make your own restore CDs, either with the Sony bundled program, or (if you have Business or Ultimate) with the Microsoft Backup Center.
The craptastic Sony program produced DVDs it couldn't restore from (no verification, no sir), so I would recommend using the Microsoft one. Or buy a dedicated backup program.

 

In the UK, mine came with the XP media, but not Vista media, which I always thought was odd.

Is there a way of buying the Vista media from Sony or MS for a nominal fee? Like they do with pre-installed Office?

Cheers,

S

 

How is Vista Home Premium? That's what I ordered the computer with but I can get a cheap copy of ultimate. Is it worth it for me to go through the hassle of upgrading to ultimate?

 

The 610 comes with XP downgrade so I think it should have the XP media, but I'd probably want to install Vista. It has Windows Ultimate so it should have the backup center. Basically I backup the recovery partition and it acts like an os installer?? Wouldn't it install all the bloatware that originally came with the computer though?

Also, anybody know about whether it has a SD card reader built in?

 

The Z has both an SD and memory stick reader.

 

After reading your post Z v/s 1340, you've answered your question. You had more admiration for the Z than you did the Dell. in other words, more pros on the Z than cons. Open up that Z610 and give us your impressions and review.

To All, BY THE WAY, WHO IS "BB"?

 

BB is Best Buy.

 

Can any new Z600 series owner confirm that the Battery Drain issue still exist? Or is it gone? Thanks!

 

What is the battery drain issue?

 

Alright, I've finally join the "Vaio Z Gang." Got my Z610 on Wednesday & now busy reinstalling stuff. May just post a little personal opinion on the Z once I'm done with all the backing up & reinstalling of stuff...

 

Oh, please do! Did you get it from best buy too??

 

There are a bunch of clearance priced z540 and z590's now on the sonystyle outlet website, however the specifications cannot be seen. Has anyone else noticed this or is this only on my browser?

 

I can see the specs for some, and not for others. Either way, even these clearance prices don't seem that good, especially for the older revision Z with only 1 year warranty. I think that you can get a Z690 for the same price or cheaper using the 10% education discount.

 

Do you have the battery drain problem?

 

Just to verify, the Z will work nicely through HDMI into a 1920 x 1080 monitor, right? I believe the answer is yes, but I figure some owners could easily confirm. Would hate to replace my monitor, soon after get my Z and find out otherwise. :/

 

It does. It's supposed to work at 1920x1080 and 1920x1200.

 

Even though Best Buys is out of Z610's in-store, you can still order online and pick it up at the nearest location to you within 24hrs. It must be coming from the main warehouse. A friend of mine called their toll-free number and CS told him that.

I too am curious about the drain issue on any Z6 - if it's been resolved. Also, whatever happen to the barrel-hinge possibly changing from silver to black? Sony Japan had it on their site. I thought maybe this new colored hinge would be on the Z6 and solve the problem of the current hinge's paint peeling off.

 

oh? are you sure you saw a black barrel hinge?

and come onnn, someone with the Z6, please test for battery drain

 

At this point, I still cannot tell as I've not used the battery yet. I'm doing my system re-installation while plugging into the AC without the battery attached.

 

Don't expect 6 hours on the standard battery - unless you want to use the screen at minimum brightnesss (which, frankly, is painful).

--

Just replace the hard disk with a X-25M shortly.

 

Update us with the battery whenever you can! Thanks =]

 

Got my 690 today. Creating recovery discs now. Then I'll attempt a semi-clean install to get rid of the bloatware. Hopefully no issues w/ 64-bit OS and this procedure.

I got 2 useless accesories (neoprene cases) so that I could get the $300 deal. Do you guys think I could return them w/o affecting my deal?

1 quick observation is that the hinge is not alligned very well on my new one. On the left hinge, there is a big gap on the left hand side and only a very thin one on the right and opposite that on the right hinge, also they're a little crooked. The old one (CTO also) appeared to be alligned perfectly. I heard this was one of the problems w/ the CTO model but was hoping they had it ironed it out. Guess it just depends how good your assembler is. Oh well, not a big deal for me.

 

I'm be interested to find out. I've spent the whole day attempting a semi-clean install on my Z610 "unsuccessfully" with regards to following exactly what has been posted in this forums. Let me know how it goes for you.

 

Uh oh. I had some trouble the fist time I tried it following the steps here on these forums as it didn't quite play out like they said. I eventually got it to work but I don't remember exactly how. I will keep you posted.

edit: so far so good. My system is bare now and I am re-installing the programs I want. I'll post again when I'm all done and everything is working.

 

I have a Z21WN/X which came with the 250gb Toshiba drive and I've now bought the 500gb Toshiba MK5055GSX.

I've seen the guide here of how to open the Z, and though I have removed all the screws shown I find the right hand side of the keyboard comes free but the front side, screen side and left side all remain firmly in place and I'm afraid to force anything.

Have any of you managed to get the keyboard off and do you have any further tips than what is written in that link?

I've upgraded the HDD on all my previous vaios (last was SZ4) but this one really has me stuck

 

Try this link (I'm sorry it is jp, but pictures are clear):

http://kunkoku.livedoor.biz/archives/51543336.html

 

thanks, those extra pics gave me the confidence I need to get 3 side detached now I just have the front side with the 3 detents.

so I'm just trying to figure out how best to disengage those and hopefully I'm in!

I see some pics where the whole keyboard is rotated upwards and forwards from the screen side, as though being turned upside down, but it feels like that will break those 3 front detents

I'm just being really slow and cautious with this expensive bit of kit so any final thoughts for this part appreciated

 

Try the official repair manual

 

thanks for the link

finally got in there and replaced the drive, now restoring my backup (using true image) before putting the housing all back together, then it'll be all smiles again

thanks!

 

Metsn, any chance you know where to order the RAID cable for the 2 ssd's for the Z? I tried nexttronics, but no luck until now.
I am planning to order a cheaper HD model and upgrade to 2 ssds myself.

 

Sorry to interrupt but does the Z690 use the Intel wifi 5100 or 5300?