Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

1600x900 / 1366x768:

 

You betcha... me too.

 

SR's screen can't hold a candle to the Z's. And people say the SR's screen looks good.

 

I agree... but I do have to say that the SR screens I saw looked much better than they look here in these pics.

 

Yes, I also am wondering how the warranty will work if I were to purchase a Z from P1. Would there be any extra work since I'm from Canada?

 

I sent an email to Ivan from Portable One today. Lets see what he says. Asked him a few question actually.

 

Thanks, keep me posted!

I have a feeling though I'll end up just ordering it from Sony. If worst comes to worst, I'll get a CTO. I really want a SSD and P1 doesn't offer it at all.

 

The Z can take any 2.5" HD right? Why spend $700+ thru Sony if you can install one yourself for under $300?

 

Voids ur warrenty

 

if you have to send it in all you have to do is put back the original HD in, they wont know, ALOT of people do this sort of thing with laptops

 

Matte finish? On some of the videos I saw it was nothing but matte... It does look relatively matte to the Sr on those pictures.
I haven't seen the Z in person though.

PS. The SR looks to be very differently calibrated than the Z on that picture.

I agree, but you have to be really careful not to damage any screws.

 

I've replaced HDs in my last 2 vaios with no issue...replacing the HD on the original S series was no small feat either.

Damaging screws should be the least of your worries, damaging ribbons or connectors or any internal components should be your main concern.

anyway, its absolutely silly to spend $700+ on a SSD thru Sony

 

Reason I said damaging the screws is that it will be a sign to the Sony technicians that you've opened your laptop.

And yes damaging anything else would not be a good idea either.

 

REALLY sorry to double post this, but I want to know the answer.

"The Chinese review of the SR says the its ATI card has DDR 3 graphics ram. So can I assume the Z's Nvidia card also has DDR 3 ram? Sony would be extremely stupid if they decided to go with DDR 2 in the Z. And I would be infinitely mad at them."


BTW, the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony was absolutely stunning! Hope you guys saw it too.

 

Yeah the ceremony was amazing!!

 

If only they would just sign it off as a gift.

 

I kinda want to get the 1600*900 screen after I saw the comparisons...
For me, it would be either the 570 or the 590NFB depends on how much the NFB costs. I really don't think I need the higher res because I will connect the Z with my external monitor most of the time. But the higher res sure looks sweet.

Can anyone please answer my question about the graphics ram on the Z?

Thanks!

 

According to this page, the Z's 9300M GS comes with DDR2 RAM.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1329328

Edit: I did find some other pages that mention the actual system RAM being DDR2, not the graphics memory, but Sony's site says the system RAM is DDR3. I'm not sure I'd consider the above page definitive.

 

Well, that sucks, even though I don't know what their source is.

 

As of 2:55pm on Aug 9th (Japan time) my Z is at my house! BUT I am at work! and it won't be for another 4 more hours until I get home!!! The agony, but I'll be strong, no throwing up for me... *^_^*

I'll try to post pics and answer as many questions as soon as I get home.

 

Lots and lots of pics! And can you please verify the video memory type (I truly hope that that thread is wrong and it's actually GDDR3).

 

YEAAAAAAAH! Please let us know about battery time and the screen.

 

Why is this so important you?

Z will be just a mediocre performer for games.

 

Our dollar is actually doing quite worse these days if you have been keeping up with it. 1USD=1.07CAD. (USD has been appreciating while CAD has been depreciating, thus bigger discrepancy in a short time than it would have been if either USD or CAD remains the same)

However, we did get the worst spec possible when it was SZ780....and dollar was on par if not almost on par. Thus, I won't be surprised if we get the lowest spec possible for pre-configured again.

 

I'll admit, I'm a little hopeful that it's DDR3, too. Every little bit of performance helps.

 

Well yea if that happens, honestly I dunno then. Im thinkin Portable One, but I have to pay $120 more cuz of the boarder crap. Question is, is it worthed? I sent an email asking that so see what he says. Do you guys think the shipping will mess up the laptop? Gets bannged around and all that crap.

 

Lets hope he doesn't say, Damn this is a piece of crap and step on it.

 

But you should know that the Notebook has a resolution of 1600x900, thats too high for Crysis :S
And the 1366x768 have only 128MB, I think thats not enough for Crysis ^^

 

If you're planning to play new, very demanding games like Crysis, you should maybe consider playing at a much lower resolution. The game wont look as good as with the high standard resolution, but the power is needed for games like those.

And you're absolutely right that neither options would run Crysis completely smooth with the standard resolution, on each model.

 

NEW Z first impressions:

WOW, I've never owned a Sony laptop before so this is where I'm coming from. So please bear with any ignorance.

First, I received the box and it was a lot lighter than I expected. Inside the box was a bunch of packing stuff and another box, the actual Z box. I was so blown away by the size of it. I opened that and was really amazed at the weight of it. In my area, there's no place to actually touch the machine so this was all a first time for me. Though I have seen the MBA and just wasn't so impressed.

Not much else came in the box, you've got your battery which seems to double the weight of the machine (standard battery here), the power brick, power cord, and some literature about the machine and manual (I'm assuming... it's all in Japanese). Very skimpy in my opinion.

Next up, the build. It is a gorgeous machine, I wish I could see the Voodoo Envy in person, but this Sony just really makes me go wow. The feel is very solid and the colour of the top piece is an off purple/grey (depending on light I guess), the screen is the thinnest I've ever witnessed and feels a bit flimsy if you twist from side to side, but there seems to be very little if any flex in the middle. Again, seems solid. Examining the machine, looking at each curve, the fit and finish, everything just is fantastic.

This is definitely a portable machine. I've had a Toshiba M200 tablet and that thing in comparison is a big weight, even compared to my wife's Macbook (regular 13incher) the Z is lighter.

The keyboard feels very nice, it might take a bit to get used to but so far it's comfortable and the trackpad is nice and large. Again the finish is great.

So far my initial impression are very positive.

Here are some pics.

I'll post more when the machine is fully up and running (it's a Japanese OS so I have no idea what everything is, I'll have to fiddle my way around it...)

 

And a few more shots. Sorry for the quality, I'm no photographer. And yes, that is my wife trying to eat my Z box... *^_^*

Also a couple of terrible size comparisons... a bit rushed, I just wanted to post some pics quickly.

 

nice, power that baby up

 

O_O

I have an M200 as well, the Z is to be its replacement. The weight is that different? I can't wait...!

Thanks for the photos, I can only drool and wait till mine comes.

About running games, I'll definitely not run newer games on higher resolutions, but I'm hoping to run older games at high frame rates (like BF2 and UT2004). I am getting the 1600x900, but gonna run demanding games at lower resolutions.

On a side note, Sony's (US) customer service email form SUCKS >_<. I can't email them a question for some reason... keeps looping me back to the registration page yet keeps telling me I'm already in their database. Anyone have an email address of a sales rep I can contact? (PM) I want to see if I can change something in my preorder config. Otherwise I'll just have to try calling them on Monday.

 

Damn that looks nice. Hows the weight in lb's (pounds) with the battery inside approx?

I assume you have blue-ray? and is it Made in Japan pre-config?

I just puked on my computer desk.

 

In real life there might not be that big a difference in weight but personally feeling them both, you can really feel it. Even when some people say that 2-4 degrees of cooling will have no effect, it really does feel different.

So please read my post with this in mind and that I am really really impressed so far with this machine. *^_^*

I know that I'll be trying to play some older games on this as well.

I'm off to bed, gotta work again tomorrow so perhaps some more posts after work (around this time again)

Do you think my wife will let me sleep with the Z in my arms instead of her tonight??

SMACK! on the head as my wife peers over shoulders

"Just kidding honey, just a joke.. see, HA Ha ha h... a... <ahem>"

 

The weight is 1.435 Kg (3.164 lbs) (I've got a little scale thingy, so it's approximate to 3 decimals)

No blue ray, I don't need that on a portable and Yes! a nice big Made In Japan slapped on the back. *^_^* (though it is a custom build, owner made model) I'm not sure about the pre-config/owner made differences I've heard you talk about.

 

What! ur CTO (Configured to Order) is Made in Japan?? Has to be cuz ur from Japan. You got it shipped from Japan right?

And why do you have a Full HD sticker if you dont have blue ray? Are you lieing to us? Dont lie man. dont, just dont

 

TO Guyy, you really are a hoot. My sister lives in Ontario, the sticks called Avonmore. I should go and visit some time.

At this rate I won't be going to bed. *^_^*

Yup it has the sticker, I assumed cause the screen is the higher resolution version, and no Blue ray, really... I didn't want to spend an extra $500 for that option.

And yes, I'm currently in Japan, I ordered it at a Japanese store and was built here in Japan and shipped from within Japan via a Japanese shipping company.

Hope that helps! (I also hope you cleaned up your mess on your desk...)

One additional note, THE SCREEN IS GORGEOUS! Bright and vibrant and just bursting with full colour goodness!

Okay, NOW I'm off to bed. *^_^*

 

Bro, u gotta take a close picture of the screen before you go to bed man come on! Im going to work very soon myself.

 

IsamuX Congrats
Thanks for the initial impression and pics!!!!

 

Hmm... never crossed my mind, honestly. I'm usually never around to catch any company's live chat session times. I'll try it in a half hour when they open. Thanks!

 

One more for the road, enjoy!

I tried to show off the white compared to my monitor... you just need to see it in person to fully appreciate this machine.

 

Great pictures and first impressions, IsamuX! How is the backlight bleed on your high resolution Z screen? Would you mind sharing your opinion on this and post a picture of a black screen, if possible? Dead Pixel Buddy is a good utility to test this. Simply run the program and press the '1' key, and a pure black screen will appear.

Thanks

 

it has a "FULL HD" sticker because the HDMI port outputs 1080P

 

That's the cool thing about Japan. When I was in Tokyo a few months back, you can go to Yodobashi or Sofmap (forget that store's exact name) and do your CTO. It's not just a website thing. They have samples with the US and Japanese keyboards, etc.

Shame you can't do that in the SonyStyle stores here.

 

Congratulations IsamuX! You're the first one to post in the Vaio Z Owners Thread who actually owns a Sony Vaio Z (after 75 pages, it's about time ).

 

It is VERY important because if it's GDDR3, the 256 MB memory can actually be more useful and yes, believe it or not, 128 MB of memory is not sufficient enough for gaming as many people claim on this board.

Games such as Assassin's Creed (though a badly ported game) require AT LEAST 256 MB of vRAM, so who cares if it will be smooth only at lowest settings and lowest resolution, that 256 MB of vRAM would make the difference between being able to play the game and not even starting up on your laptop and since it needs 256 MB of vRAM, GDDR3 will play an even more crucial role in performance.

I thought that some of Sony screen fanatics, obsessed with every single bit of screen quality would understand that every spec counts.

 

Has it been established that the higher resolution screen is remarkably better than the lower? Could someone spell out why one would want the higher res screen? What does higher res mean in everyday non technical language?

 

its simple, you get more screen real estate. thats it.