Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

Their discounts on the web is really a hassle. Anyway, can you tell me later how you were discounted ? Thanks you thanks for all other helpful information that I've obtained in this thread

 

I'm just wondering what kind of temperature you guys are getting when using the Z under load.

I was playing Crysis on low settings, and my GPU temp got to 80 degrees, and the CPU got to 60 degrees. I haven't updated any drivers, and I was running it on AC, high performance, and had the fan on performance as well.

My GPU idles around 55-60 degrees, and the 2 cores idle around 36 on AC with Vaio Optimized and balance mode for the fan.

Btw, I measured my temps using speedfan.

Thanks.

 

Don't really get what you are trying to ask here, but...

-Pretty much the process was that he asked me what two accessory I want with my bundle.
-I told him that I wanted 2 $20 neoprene sleeves.
-Then he said ok and ask which warranty plan I wanted.
-I told him, 3 years express plan.
-Then he told me that the $300 bundle only works with the accidental warranties.
-I knew this was BS, so I told him (in a nice way) that can you please try and apply the 3 years express plan and see if it works?
-He did it and he said ok, no problem. Then he asked me if I have a student account setup already in sonystyle.com
-I told him yes, then everything was set at this point. Hope this helps.

 

If anybody here is interested in measuring the boot time, please post your results from WinBootInfo here. I would be surely interested in result of another people with Z

 

Crap! I came home today from grocery shopping to discover that FedEx attemtpted to deliver my 690 CTO at 2:15 PM today...UGH!! I didn't even know that FedEx delivers on Saturdays!! Who knew? It wasn't even supposed to be delivered until Tuesday!! Last night when I checked at 9 PM it still said that the expected delivery date was Tuesday. Now - all of a sudden - it went out for delvery the next day, Saturday.

After talking with FedEx Customer Service, I've discovered that FedEx Home (which is how Sony sent it) delivers Tuesday to Saturday (but not Monday). This means that I can request to have it held at the warehouse for me to pick it up, but it still won't be until Tuesday. They were able to put in the request to have it held at the facility, but said I'll have to check online (or by calling the 800 number) to confirm they actually held it at the facility.

Either way, I should end up with my Vaio on Tuesday - which suddenly seems like an eternity away - either in the morning because I drove to pick it up at the warehouse or in the afternoon when they finally get around to my house.

Anyway, I post this so that those of you in the US who have an inbound delivery know to be on the lookout on Saturdays and to check every morning to see if it's out for delivery (don't trust the delivery estimate). Then maybe you won't miss it like I did.

 

LOL. That's what happened to me. I didn't know Fedex deliveries on Saturdays either.. And the strange thing's that they won't deliver again the next day, so I had to wait till Tuesday.

 

Well, at least I don't feel quite so alone. Of course, it doesn't make the waiting any easier. :: sigh::

Thanks for the post!

 

Hey FrinkTL,
Read a few posts back about my experience. Because of sony's yellow label from the factory, they wont hold the package for you at the facility. Make sure you are home on Tuesday to get the delivery, because after 3 attempts, they will just ship it back to the factory. No exceptions is what the label says. They attempted to deliver the package to me, I called FedEx to have them hold it in the facility, and they did not because of the specific delivery restrictions placed at the factory, they shipped it back to sony. I had to go through some crap, but sony is going to reship the package to me on Monday. I am still without the computer I ordered almost 3 weeks ago! Just make sure you are there.

 

So the $300 bundle still available through calling ? And, what I meant is that how you were discounted with both the student saving and the $300 bundle, you were discounted 10% and then with 2 accessories, service plan=> $300 off or something else ? Sorry for the confusion, probably because of my bad English

 

Thanks for the warning/advice. I'll be sure to be home - if not waiting out on the front porch - to make sure I get the package when they re-attempt to deliver it. If nothing else, at least your bad experience will prevent it from happening to others.

 

What is the brand Sony usually uses for the 320 7200rpm HHD in the Z?
I was told that the 7200RPM 200GB Hitachi 2k was good but this was in August and the HHD choices have changed.

Is it any good or is it better to just get a cheap one and switch it out?

Thanks!

Also does the Centrino 2 P9x00 make the macchine hotter compared to the P8x00?

Thanks


Edit: Last thing. Anyone know if the WWAN works on the 2100mhz HSDPA band?
Thanks

 

Pretty much how it did when you did it online.

 

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before; I read the last 50 pages of this thread and random other pages, but didn't see anything about it. I bought the 3 year "Express Service Warranty" with my 690 CTO.

Does Sony actually send a certificate or contract terms at some point? If so, when should I expect it? If not, has anyone asked Sony to send it to them? (I don't want to harrass Sony if they're going to mail it to me.)

UPDATE - Spoke with Sony rep and they said that they mail the contract to you within 30 days.

 

My Sony Z hard drive just died after installing AVG and doing a scan. After the scan I had to reboot the computer, then nothing, it just paused forever. Rebooted again and it says to try to repair Vista, that also hangs and produces a message with an i/o error and to consult the hardware manufacturer for a hard drive or an optical drive error. 4 months old and under warranty in a foreign country. I think i'll try to change the hard drive myself to see if thats the real culprit. Any thoughts?

 

Anyone got a link to download the latest Sony Z series graphics card driver?

I heard you need a special driver since it uses a hybrid 9300M GS + integrated graphics card.

 

I just received my Z35X this friday (equivalent to Z690: P9600, 4GB, SSD128, 1600x900, BluRay, Premium Carbon, etc) but as soon as I turned it on, found that awful diagonal flickering lines on the screen when my eyes move across the screen, specially watching videos. I have a very sharp vision and really can't withstand it, even after 2 days of trying to get used to the effect.
I also tried different settings with no luck. It looks like it is a problem of the screen panel refreshing in an odd way.

I'm very dissapointed, so I'm thinking about returning it tomorrow
I really really hate Sony for doing this s**t in their higher end 3000 EUR/USD laptops. It happened to me before with the old VAIO SZ1 premium which also had an awful LED screen (uneven and with really terrible colors), so I exchanged it for a normal SZ1 with CCFL backlight, much nicer. But now I haven't any other screen options in the Z range (the lo-res has the same problem I think).
I've always been a Sony fan since my old VAIO TR. My other 3 laptops are also VAIOs, but I think I have no option but to try other brands. The problem now will be finding something similar to the Z.

 

I cannot find Media Plus Application anywhere on my Z540NBB. I do however have several Entertainment Platform services running, yet Media Plus is nowhere to be found. I have searched the hard drive, control panel programs & features, even the recovery center. So I hit up Sony Support Chat and they suggested I run recovery center and restore ALL bundled software. I told her that was overkill.

Can someone please tell me if they have Media Plus on their Z & what OS you've got? And how it is listed in the control panel programs & features? And how it is listed in the recovery center???

 

If you have some spare HDD I would do the same...if you didn't do backup, you can try to put the original HDD into external enclosure and get some of your data from it. If you did backup, I would try to format it while it's still in your Z and after that run a checkdisk. The HDD doesn't need to be dead, just some kind of error. Anyway if you don't trust that HDD anymore and it'll be living, you can use it as a very neat external HDD (that's what I did with my HDD)

The one which came with your laptop is most probably the last official ones from Sony. If you feel like trying the unofficial ones, you can find them here. I'm running on them without any problems

 

Time to try out a MacBook!

 

Thanks Metsn!

After reading out how to do it unofficially, I fell a bit scared to try it.

Did you notice (or know about) any improvements that would be worth the risk/effort of trying this? Still considering if I should do this.

 

I used the Sorg way of installation and it was quite simple. If you're playing some games, you'll find some improvements for sure. My missing textures, FPS, sluttering, ... were all fixed

 

Is that for 64-bit or 32-bit only?

 

I have Media plus on My Z. My OS is Vista Business.

 

There are both...but if I'm right, just the 32-bit ones are with no issues...I have 32-bit...

 

Can you please tell me how it is listed in the control panel programs & features? And how it is listed in the recovery center???

I do not have:
VAIO Media Plus
VAIO Music Box
VAIO Movie Story

They are not listed in the recovery center programs either?!?!

 

I tried three times this weekend but everytime I've been answered that the 300$ bundle is no longer available :/.
Do you guys know if the student 10% discount can expire? I would wait for 300$ bundle to come back but I don't want to loose the 10% discount.

I read in a post on this forum (sorry I forgot to bookmark it) that there will be a vaio Z refresh "soon". Do you know what is this about (price, offers, features)?

Thanks.

 

Call in right now and asked for the 300$ bundle and asked if it was still available.
I asked if I could combine it with my student discount and was told it was not possible... one or the other...
Obviously not true but what can you do. I guess I will try calling tomorrow.
Whats a nice way of telling them that I know that the system will allow both?

Thanks!

 

Just keep trying. Just gotta get the right rep sometimes or you gotta weasel your way in.

 

Thats what I will do.
Do they keep a record of the phone call (if you call a ridiculous number of times do they know?).

I told him I was interested (after he had "checked" a couple times) I was interested in both and that otherwise I would think about it and order it online but he didn't budge so I thanked him and hung up

 

Bought 3/16
Est. Ship Date 3/24

Z690CTO: P9600 (2.66GHz), Premium Carbon Fiber, 4GB DDR3-SDRAM, 320GB/7200RPM HDD, DVD Drive, Extended Battery (since I intend applying for the rebate bundle with the normal battery and everyone has been having success getting it).

 

Congrats!
How much did you pay for it?
What promos?

 

Just got off the phone with Sony support. He verified my problem with remote connection and they will be sending me a recovery disc. I first have to fax in a copy of my invoice to verify purchase date is less than 30 days, then call them back in 2 hours...

 

I have the same question. Where is the warranty information when you guys received your Zs?

 

I think it depends on where you buy your Vaio laptops extended warranties and/or how you register for them.

My 2 Vaios with extended warranties brought me different results. I bought the extended warranties separately from authorized retailers (not bought together with the the laptops).

One of them, I successfully entered all my purchase, warranty info on their warranty registration web site. For that one, I copied down the warranty number they gave me on that web site (after successfully registering the warranty) but they never sent me a copy of the warranty certificate.

For the next laptop, I couldn't get through entering all my purchase, warranty info on their warranty registration web site. So I ended up calling them & it went through successfully. For this one, I did receive a warranty certificate in the mail.

I guess it depends on how, where you register your warranty for them to send you that certificate.

 

2nd that.

AlaskaGrown, congrats on your purchase. You'll love it.

 

The veterans will have to validate if this information is historically accurate, but a Sony rep told me today that a copy of the contract, along with the steps to obtain service under the contract, within 30 days of the purchase of the plan & product.

Of course, someone else who purchased a contract longer ago than 30 days will have to validate whether this is actually what typically happens. Anyone?

 

We used to be able to register the extended warranty service up until at least 30 days before the end of the original one year of the laptop but they've changed the policy that requires owners register for the extended warranty of the laptop within 30 days of the purchase of the laptop.

For more info, you may want to contact Service Net Solutions, LLC (the company that Sony outsourced for this extended warranty service):
http://www.servicenet.com/default.aspx

 

cant tell about VAIO Music Box and VAIO Movie Story cause I've uninstalled these programs

 

I got mine directly from Sony. They say that they will send me the actual contract terms (in addition to a warranty "certificate"). The next month will tell whether that really happens or not...unless someone else bought the Extended Service plan directly from Sony. Anyone?

 

I was hoping for an additional $100 off, or for the warranty $300 off deal ... but since I wasn't getting anything, I ordered online with the student discount and used eBates for 3% cash back (~$72). I also am getting the warranty through ProVantage to save $200, and went with the extended battery for $90 extra (well, given the 10% student discount it's a $90 upgrade) ... since I intend getting the rebate bundle with free standard battery (fingers crossed, but it seems a given if you read the thread). Overall, I'm happy with the price I paid. There's always another reason to wait, but getting it DONE feels priceless.

 

Question. So did anyone tried to punch in 8 gig of RAM ?! If yes whats DA REZULT guise !?

 

The specs says that 4GB is the limit.

 

Only Sony is saying that 4GB is the limit. Look at Intel's website. The chipset inside the Z supports 8GB of RAM but it might happen that the bios of the Z will not support that. But the hardware will.

Chipset-Spe cs

 

Base, Thanx for the answer and the link O-Wise-One

 

I'll try it when I have an extra $850 laying around...

Though for that money I could probably build a Core 2 Quad desktop w/ 8gb DDR3 (in a 4x2gb configuration).

If you really do need 8gb of memory for the applications you're running, you may need something beyond a thin and light notebook...

 

paulh69 mentioned that he installed 8GB ram in his Z (post 6950), and that Windows even seemed to recognize it. No word on how well it worked, performance changes, if it was a 64-bit os that could access more than 4BG, etc. You might ask him for an update..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272690&page=695

 

Sony probably states 4 GB as the limit because they (a) sell it with 32-bit operating systems where 4 GB is the limit, and because they (b) don't have any RAM modules larger than 2 GB to sell you.

Especially with regards to (a), they up until recently only sold the machine with 32-bit operating systems and didn't support 64-bit Windows at all, so noting down 4 GB as the limit would make sense for support reasons.

That said, anyone who outfits a Z with 8 GB RAM at current prices has more money than sense. I can't think of a single task that a slim laptop is well suited for where 8 GB versus 4 GB would make a difference. Virtual machines would be one, but with Sony having turned off VT-x in the EFI, that is limited to 32-bit anyhow.

 

Yippee!!! FedEx held my package at the warehouse and I went to pick it up. I wasn't sure that they would be willing to do that after only one delivery attempt, but I'm glad that they did!! Definately beats waiting around all day to only be in the bathroom when they finally decide to deliver.

The box and premium carbon fiber are really nice. I love the toolbox tray at the top of the box that has all the pamphlets, power cord and battery in it. Very nice presentation.

The tray also had something in it that I didn't expect after reading several posts in this thread. Since I purchased Vista Ultimate, it's supposed to come with the option to downgrade to XP Pro (SP3). While others have posted that they had to call to request the DVDs, mine came in the box in their own translucent DVD case, labeled, "Replacement recovery media for support purposes only." (I guess they do the downgrade via the Recovery process.) Anyway, it was a pleasant suprise to see them included so that I could downgrade immediately if that was what I wanted to do (which I don't, BTW). I wonder if the difference in whether it comes with the downgrade DVDs is what delivery chain you bought your Vaio from?

Anyway, time to check on the 26 Vista updates that are downloading and installing (about 160MB or so). Then it's off to remove bloatware, optimizing Vista, installing Office 2007 Professional...etc, etc, etc. Should take most of the rest of the day.

 

I forgot to mention in my last post that there was also a placard taped to the keyboard with the Product Key for Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009. I didn't expect that, since I don't remember reading anywhere that this was included. It appears to be a full license, too (vs. a trial). Cool.

 

Hey, Vaio Z owners, I have a question: do you guys find the shortness of the screen to be hard to use, or do you get used to it?