Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

All this font size talk is strange. You shouldn't even have to mess with DPI. Here is what I have done to for easy readability on every pc I own(works on XP/Vista32):

In IE6/7- Tools > Options > Accessibility > Ignore Font Size/Style.
For XP Menus/Text/Icons/etc- Display Properties > Appearance > Advanced.
For Vista Menus/Text/Icons/etc- Personalize > Window Color and Appearance > Open classic appearance properties... > Advanced.

 

It may work for you that way. On my Z610, I just leave everything default, with the DPI at 96 but it works for me, although it should be noted that 1366x768 is "fine" with those "defaults" IMO.

However, do you know how much smaller those fonts & icons are in the 1600x900 screens if you have everything in "default" Windows configurations, including 96 DPI? It is so "small" that this may not work too well for many people, that is why a number of people with that high resolution screen want to change the DPI to the correct one, which in their case is 140.

 

Ya, true. Must be VERY small!

 

It looks like Z690 CTO is on backorder right now (SONYSTYLE).

 

hey folks,
this thread has already 666 pages!!!!
keep on rocking - best Z-thread ever!!!!

 

Are the 1600x900 and 1366x768 Vaio Z's considered High Resolution? For example, is the 1366x768 somehow crisper than a 1280x800 or is it just that you don't have to letterbox a 16:9 video?

And if you get the 1600x900, do you have the option to lower the resolution to 1366x768?

(Sorry for the basic questions but my search terms come up with millions of non-specific results!)

 

OK I just ordered the z690 through Sony. It wasn't CTO but rather, the 690YAB. I got both the $300 off and the student discount and free overnight shipping. The free overnight shipping was basically all he could do with the already $600 discounts. I was about to drive to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, or Atlanta tomorrow after the snowstorm to buy one and look at the 1600x900 screen because I didn't want to pay for shipping, but he told me he would argue with his manager for free overnight shipping. I'm hoping it turns out OK...I didn't need blu-ray, so CTO was a waste in my opinion. It comes with Verizon's WWAN, which I don't need since I have Sprint, but everything else seems pretty normal:

CPU: P9600 (2.66 ghz)
HDD: 128 GB SSD
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Vista Ultimate
Carbon Fiber lid with Shadow Design

I figure I have 30 days to try it out and if I don't like it, nothing lost, nothing gained. I was about to buy the larger battery but I wasn't sure it was worth it at this point. I hope I can get over 5 hours worth, or else I may need to return it or opt for the larger battery. I got the 2 neoprene cases instead . Do you guys think this was an OK deal? Using my Visa Signature Card, I think they match the 3 year warranty but not sure. Oh well...

 

theguac, congrats on your purchase. I'm sure you'll love it.

Please don't forget to take some pictures of your Shadow Design lid & post in in this thread. Thanks.

 

It is a good laptop & a lot of people are buying them. It'll be back in stock soon.

 

Haha I'm sure I'll love it too but I really don't think I can afford it! Impulse buys suck . I'm going to think through it this weekend since I have until Monday to cancel. I might drive to a store tomorrow to check out the 1600x900 screen too...if it ends up being too small, I will definitely need to cancel. The fan issue is also something I'm worried about. Maybe the snow will help me think about it logically--it has that soothing trait I've found .

 

As most owners probably agree, the Z has an amazing screen. It far surpasses all of the other laptops I've tested.

To make it even better, I decided to color profile my screen with a Spyder3pro colorimeter. I've uploaded the color profile (.icm) here:
http://njee.com/temp/Spyder3pro_feb21.icm

To enable this profile, download the file to somewhere where you won't delete it, go to Control Panel - Color Management, Add the profile, then set it as Default. Restart.

Although every screen may be slightly different, I believe that the difference between uncalibrated and calibrated is far bigger than the small variations between individual screens.

Feel free to post comments.

 

nystateofmind27, thanks for taking the time & effort to do that for everyone. Appreciate that.

 

How does the fan noise in the Z compare to that of a macbook, has anyone tried both

 

After spending 4 months on this thread, I finally decided to order a Z690 CTO with P9600, 320 gb 7200 rpm hdd, and premium carbon fiber a few days ago (don't feel comfortable opening a new Z for a faster harddrive).

The rep told me it was either the 10% student discount or the $300 off promotion. I just took the $300 dollar off, didn't feel like arguing with the rep.

Just check my order info today. They delayed the estimated shipping date by one more day...

Anyone know how accurate are those shipping dates with Sony's CTO laptops?

Can't wait!

Thanks!

 

It will arrive a lot faster than the estimated. You will receive very shorty. I've just got mine a week ago. No complaints so far.

 

Is the 670 even out? I thought the 690 was the only one that can be ordered on the Sony website.

Does anyone know the make and model of the SSDs in the Z series? Is it a reliable brand and fast SSD?

 

hey guys, I am looking for something that can protect my Z590 on the go? any suggestions? Thanks in advance

 

Z670 CTO? Is this in the US?

 

I think the Z-540 is being taken out. When you try to customize a Z540, it now says product is not available, please try again later. Z640 CTO maybe? I hope so!!!

 

The P8600 configurations work.

 

Right now I have Sony FW and with my poor vision, I can see the screen very well. But, need something lighter and thought about getting the Z lower res screen but am having second thoughts because I continue to face this battery drain issue even with my FW. This issue is disturbing when you have yor laptop off for severeal hours and then when you need the batter to function fully it says you now lose 10-15% or whatever rit is due to drain. This makes me look to othere alternatives than Sony for my next machine, light travel machine. How do you deal with this battery drain on your Z laptops? Does it pose much aof a problem for any of you and any way it can be overcome and thanks. Shame because Sony screens are fantastic.

Gary

 

LOL... Sorry. I meant the 690.. I typed that up pretty late last night.

Again.. sorry for the confusion.

I think there will only be 2 CTO versions of Z, 640 and 690.

Awesome! Nice to hear that. Can't wait to see the premium carbon in person!

 

Congrats on your purchase. You'll love it.

 

I just tried to configure a Z540, shipping date is "unknown". It looks like the Z640 CTO & other 6xx models are right around the corner.

 

Yeah. I think Z640 was delayed because they wanted to sellout the rest of the P8400 and P9500 and replace it with P8600/P8700 and P9600.

 

Hm, maybe I should cancel my order then and wait for the 640...bigger resolution probably too!

 

Highly unlikely, that's what the 690 is for. You ordered the best configuration right now and at a great discount, why blow it...

 

Oh sorry I meant that the resolution of the 640 would be like the z610 and not quite a small as the 690 (1600x900). I'm nervous I won't be able to see text when I'm writing documents or reading pdf's, which I do a lot on the computer. Too bad there's no Sony Store here so I can check out the resolution personally.

 

Don't be nervous...1600x900 on this screen is high but not in any way hard to read, unless you have a significant sight impediment. I have a 15.4" laptop with a 1920x1200, and even that is readable.

 

Well it's coming on Tuesday so I guess I won't have to wait for long to see haha. I'm hoping I won't need Blu-Ray in the future since mine doesn't come with that but I felt like the SSD was more important to me, and I didn't want to do both or else it would get too expensive.

Any way to add blu-ray after market? I figure it might be easier to do that than to replace the HDD...who knows.

 

I think the only time it would make you uncomfortable is if you notice how comfortable the regular resolutions are. Although some just find it unbearable as stated some time in this thread, I think it takes a slightly greater deal of concentration to read the text in the sense that you may not get the 'casual glance' readability like the regular resolutions. I think you can adjust it too anyhow, just takes some work.

 

What is the difference between The 690CTO and 640CTO?

Also, for those considering Blu-Ray, or had wanted it, other than the obvious "READ" feature for watching Blu-Ray Movies, what would you use the "BURN/WRITE" feature for BD-Rewrittables or BD-R media?

 

With 640, you will probably get a 64bit system. Cheaper hard drive upgrades (Larger too). MAYBE premium colors?

 

Main differences:

Z690 - 1600x900 screen
Z640 - 1366x768 screen

 

Yep.

Same exact thing happened with the Z590 right before it was replaced with the Z690.

 

Display resolution.

I would probably burn a couple of BDs for HD video in the first few months. It would probably be a "wasted" feature for me and probably most other people who get a notebook with that feature. Even so I would like to have it, "just in case".

I'm planning to get two notebooks so I only need one of them to have the BD write feature.

 

When I saw a Z with the 1600x900 resolution, it felt like I was looking at a larger version of my cellphone display. Of course I don't have to stare at my cellphone display for 3 hours plus at a time. You're right it's very readable, but it's more stress for your eyes, even good eyes. Well, I'm sure you have eye drops nearby.

 

No, I use the Z 5-6 hours a day and i find it more than comfortable. Sure the resolution is high, but having such an excellent sharp screen makes it comfortable. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it was 10-15% higher resolution.

You should check out the Vaio P, it has a pixel density of 222 pixels-per-inch, while the Z 1600x900 packs 140. Although the P has ~50% more pixel density, you don't read too many complaints about those, do you?

 

Well I finally put a regular DVD in the other day and IMO the difference is definitely noticeable (think VHS vs. DVD). A BD movie on the 690 with a decent set of headphones truly is like.no.other.

 

Hello,

Spanish support center claims you have to connect the battery in order to have the UMTS modem activated in Z-vaios.

Does anybody know a way to use the HSDPA modem without the battery?

Thank you very much!

Miguel

 

Aw man don't tell me that . I opted not to get the blu-ray drive since I rarely ever watch movies on my computer, using my PS3 instead. It could be useful on the plane or whenever I'm at my parent's home in CA though...hm... .

 

Just rip the bluray movies and save them locally. They'll also be much smaller with a bit of encryption (~10gb/movie).

 

Don't sweat it. It's not like DVD movies look bad. They look fine. If you rarely watch movies on your computer then you definitely made the right choice. On the rare occasion you do watch a movie, I doubt you'll be thinking, "Hmm, I'd gladly pay $500 right now to make this movie look a little bit better".

 

Unless you use an external screen, the Z can't display full HD at 1920x1080 -- it has to scale the image down to 1600x900, which makes it blurry. For every six pixels horisontally or vertically, it has to fit the image in just five pixels.
So it's not as big of an improvement over DVD as you might think.

Running on an external HD-capable display, though, the difference is big.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking when I first bought the computer . I'll be using the hard drive much more than the drive, which is why I went in and upgraded to SSD despite the cost.

That's interesting to hear. Makes sense though.

 

Yeah, I realize it's not full HD. It's just better than DVD. As far as scaling down 'makes it blurry', that simply isn't true. Have you watched a Blu-Ray movie on this screen and come away thinking that it looks blurry?

 

It definitely wouldn't look blurry. The problem is when you try to UPSCALE a video, not the other way around.

 

Help! My gadgets keep moving! I've detached them (2) from the sidebar cuz I want them maximized at all times. I've closed the sidebar and positioned my gadgets where I want them, bottom/right corner an right/middle respectively. Every time my computer starts or wakes up they are positioned about 3" from the right border and spaced about 1/8" apart top to bottom. Can someone help me with this?

 

Is it bad that my neoprene cases shipped and not the computer yet? Its ESD is today as well but I've gotten no tracking number for it...just for the cases. Is Sony usually delayed with posting shipment news? I know Dell would contact you the day after. Eek...

 

Wrong. It happens both ways. For scaling down, the quality loss is worse when the difference is relatively small, believe it or not.

Don't believe me? Look at a 1920x1080 test image, scaled to 1600x900. Like this one. Save it, convert it to a .bmp (important!) and set it as a wallpaper. When using "Center" or "Tiled", you will get the full resolution (you just won't be able to see all of it). When using "Scaled" or "Fill Screen", it will be scaled exactly as much as a video being scaled from 1920x1080 to 1600x900.

The reason you don't notice it much with 1080p BD videos is that they aren't in full quality, and seldom show an image for long enough for you to notice. They movies are both compressed and cropped to fit overscan TVs, and the camera is seldom stationary for long.