Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

Been playing with my Vaio Z all weekend. Very nice machine. The battery drain is the only real annoyance for me so far, but at least there is a fix (remove battery) and I don't think it's a show stopper. Anyway, I wrote up a review. I'm not a computer guru and it's not written for techies, but it might interest some people-

http://carseatblog.com/?p=2032

 

Anytime your laptop shuts off from overheating indicates hardware failure and should definately be replaced. I don't remember reading about heat issues that are this severe anywhere in this thread (though I skipped a few pages early on there).

 

Can anyone tell me if this is easily done? I was planning on getting one with a slower processor and upgrade to a faster one later down the road.

 

Nice review, well done!

 

No, from a technical point of view, it's a new OS, not just an upgrade, so you have to reinstall all programs afterwards.

You can back up your data files, and restore those afterwards, so you don't lose your work, but programs must be reinstalled (unless they're truly self-contained in a directory and don't use registry entries at all).

 

I would not agree with the following:

In my experience, it's quite bad. Visit http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php and check for yourself. (Scroll down to the actual test, then blow up your browser full screen).
A high quality LCD screen will show the page as grey.
A medium quality one will show the word "Lagom" at the top and bottom of the screen in faint colours, with grey in the middle, and the colours won't change too badly if you move your head a bit up or down, or angle the lid just a little bit.
A bad LCD screen will display as depicted in the left screenshot under the tests, which the author calls "fairly horrible, but unfortunately fairly common".
The Z590's screen is worse than that.

It's certainly worse for vertical viewing angles than my old Presario, or my work Dell, and while it may be better than a MacBook, it's close to worst in class.

 

Also, this section is incorrect:

It uses GDDR3 for video memory, and DDR3 for main memory. Unlike DDR2/GDDR2 where only the voltage differed, GDDR3 is quite different from DDR3.

 

I'm torn ... should I bother attempting to use the backup DVDs to restore Windows if it would result in better performance? So far I haven't done so much that it'd ruin my work put in. (Some Vista tips/tweaks, uninstalls, install Office 07 but I have backup media for it, install Firefox/AV stuff - no biggie.)

I don't have a Vista CD so I won't be bothering with a totally new install ... but the comment a little bit ago about ~30% increase from restore is really intriguing.

 

Your review would clearly vary. My review, in context, is mostly in comparison to the X460. To me, the Z looks much better overall and doesn't have the poor vertical viewing angles. I mean, I didn't even need a test pattern to see such an obvious difference.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, though, and I think it's great, at least for what I want. Laptop mag gave it high praises. I haven't compared it to enough of the competition to say it's among the best in class like they did, of course. I only know it's good enough not to be a distraction.

Thanks, I will fix that. For the non-technie, my understanding that DDR3>DDR2 and GDDR3>GDDR2 seemed to make the technical details a little bit less important for my audience.

 

While GDDR3 > GDDR2, it's not as clear-cut for DDR3 versus DDR2. At the same clock speed, DDR2 tends to be faster than DDR3 because the CAS/RAS latencies are usually tighter. DDR3 has the potential to be faster, by allowing for faster clocking. But unless actually clocked higher, DDR3 < DDR2.
For laptops, DDR3 can still be worthwhile even if slower at the same speed, because it tends to use less power. Which is the case here.

 

OK, now I'm interested. This technical stuff is absolutely facinating. What are the differences? I'm assuming the difference is actually in the chip designs, but I can't wait to read your reply.

 

I know it made a difference in mine, since I kept getting that Intel RAID storage message all the time (even though I have a HDD and not SSDs configured in a RAID). That went away with recovered system.

I guess the real question is, what do you have to loose? It sounds from your post that there won't be a lot of re-installing of apps that you've loaded. I'd recommend doing a full (preferably image) backup and give it a try. Worst case, you could restore the backed up image.

 

Considering doing this on mine. Did you just let the recovery DVDs run to completion or did you interrupt them as described in some of the "semi clean install" guides?

Are there any options if you let them run on their own?

Do you need any additional drivers or is it an exact copy of the factory install, less some crap?

 

Hi guys,

I just purchased the Vaio VGN-Z36GD ( http://www.sony.com.au/product/vgn-z36gd). Can anyone point me in the direction of a setup/tweak/optimise guide? Or if one doesn't exist then let me know what I should do to optimise it?

Thanks,
Nick

 

When I did the recovery, I simply booted the system with the first DVD in the drive and followed the directions. I don't remember seeing any option to avoid (not install) any of Sony's software, so I restored whatever the DVDs contained.

However, as I stated in a previous post, my system ran better (faster) and free of the Intel Matrix popup. As an example of the performance difference, sometimes audio/visual playback would drop frames/sound bits before the restore and it runs flawlessly now. I was initially a little disappointed with the performance, but after the restore I'm 100% satisfied with the performance...and I have "only" the P8600!

 

Tips and Tweaks: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532

Clean Install (should you elect to): http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228

 

Can you please advice, is the P8600 is a must have processor?
On the sonystyle is a minimum that you can choose, but i find P8400 on the pcnation for much less money(with weaker LCD of course) - http://pcnation.com/web/details.asp?item=U77907&GEN0=Y
Will it be enough to run smoothly Vista Buiseness + office+internet surfing etc.
No games. Maybe some HD videos.
Thanks.
Sorry for my english=(

 

Hello All - Any 670 owners? Want to know if the 670 comes with a Sprint or a Verizon WWAN built in?

Thanks

Edit: The Marketing Info says Verizon.

 

The standard rule of CPUs is "if you don't know WHY you need a faster CPU, you don't need a faster CPU". The correlation to that rule is that you won't know why you needed a faster CPU until you've bought a too slow one.

My personal rule of thumb is to try to find the slowest CPU I think I can comfortably use and be happy with, and then buy one step faster than that.

"Office" can be so many different things. If you need to calculate complicated spreadsheets, write 500 page books in Word (which is completely unsuited for this kind of use), work in Access databases, or calculate a 20-stop trip in MapPoint, CPU speed becomes important. If all you do is short Word documents, Outlook e-mail and the occasional Excel sheet abused for text-only tables, the CPU doesn't really matter.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDDR3

HTH, HAND

 

The difference between P8400 and P8600 is 2.4 - 2.2667 = 0.133 -> less then nothing. If you don't mind the smaller resolution (which is also better for battery life), then go for the P8400 and save your money!

 

It also depends on how much crap is consuming resources. Vista runs on machines with a lot less than a P8400, like the Intel U and SL/SU processors and various AMD ones. The P8400 should more than fine for what you described. I use it for that, no problems so far.

An Intel Atom runs those applications just fine in XP.

 

By that measure, a 200 mph BMW isn't any faster than a 188 mph Honda -- the difference is less then[sic] nothing.

Keep it mind that speed isn't just about how fast things are done, but whether it's fast enough. Also, once an OS can't finish the tasks quickly enough, they queue up, and the OS spends more and more time doing housekeeping for the tasks. In effect, you have a rush hour traffic jam because ONE car slowed down just a few miles per hour more than what was necessary to keep the traffic flowing.

A "just too slow" won't be good if capturing a video, for example -- drop-outs in real-time data is non-recoverable, and quality loss or drop-outs will be the result, even if it's just 1% too slow. On the other hand, if transcoding the same capture to an MPEG-2, it may not matter that a 5% slower CPU caused a virtual traffic jam and a 50% longer encoding time as a result -- that process might run at night and thus it doesn't matter whether it takes 2 or 3 hours.

 

TY Frink this was most helpful.

I had one problem.
Could not find the "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" function under control. I would really like to halve the boot time. Anyone else have that problem here?

 

I just talked to Sony Vaio Service Department Rep.

I previously sent the VGN Z690 for repairing of high-pitched noise coming out of the bottom after previous repair for replacing bottom housing.

I got a call they will be re-imaging the hard drive and I asked if the technician who was doing evaluation noticed the high-pitched noise.

The Rep said, the high pitched noise from the bottom is because of EPS..

(Positioning System used in GPS).

therefore, the high-pitched sound is normal...
.....
and they will be sending the laptop back because it is normal after 4days of hardware testing.

 

Doing the recovery now. On the first menu after booting the Recovery DVD, you get options like Repair, Restore, Recover, basically all stuff that assumes you have Vista on the drive. I chose the last option for Vaio Recovery Tools.

Then you get a similar list. One is a Restore of C: to factory status. Another is Complete PC Restore which also allows re-partition and such. I chose the complete Restore.

Within that option, the first question is whether you want to have the recovery partition include just the Recovery software or also include Vista and Vaio stuff. The difference appeared to be about 2GB vs. 7GB on the recovery partition.

The next option allows you to add a partion if desired.

The next option asks if you want to include all the VAIO value added software. If you chose not to do this, it says it will only install Vista, Drivers and "necessary" software. It then goes on to say you can install separate value added software individually from the recovery DVD at a later time along with some warnings.

I'm in the process of this option now.... We shall see!

 

Yep. Doing the restore process by not selecting to keep the Vaio value added software will mean that you'll get that "clean" semi-clean install. That's what I did to my Vaio Z when I had it.

 

I'll find out soon enough, but did you notice that you lost anything you considered essential? Was there anything you added back that ended up being useful, even if it wasn't really necessary?

 

Thats a standard resolution that displays 720p.

 

Extended warranty question:

My Z690-CTO just shipped out from Sony, and I expect to receive it next week. I did not buy Sony's extended warranty, but I would be interested in checking out extended warranties offered by third party vendors.

Can anyone here recommend a reliable third party vendor of Sony Vaio warranties? I see newegg.com sells extended warranties backed by Service Net Solutions (both express shipment and on site options), and I've had generally good luck with purchases from newegg. I have not checked out anyone locally, but I don't think it matters where I get the warranty as long as the plan administrator is reliable.

Since I am under the Sony warranty for the first year, I should have awhile to purchase the extended warranty -- although if I choose an extended warranty plan with accidental damage coverage, I assume i would be without the accident coverage until the extended warranty kicks in after year 1. Does that sound correct?

Thanks.

 

By the way, I just want to note that before I ordered a custom-built Z690, I had tried twice to order a 690 from the Sony outlet. Both times, my purchase was confirmed and I was notified that the computer was in stock. And both times, about 5 days after I placed the order, Sony canceled my order stating that they could not confirm a shipping date. When I called them up each time to question the cancellation, I was advised that they were waiting for parts and didn't know when they would arrive.

After the second cancellation, as I didn't have time to continue playing that game, I ordered the 690 custom built (the same specs as the units that I had tried to purchase from the outlet, but about $250 more). They gave me an estimated shipping date of May 5. It shipped yesterday -- so they just got it into my current month's credit card billing cycle.

Funny how they could find the parts when they were properly motivated by price and time.

Perhaps this is all innocent coincidence, but I had to vent somewhere. I hope the Z690 turns out to be all it is supposed to be.

 

Trust me, you'll be happy with the Vaio Z. I believe the Vaio Z690 is just a generation 2 of my Vaio Z590. I am completely pleased with the specs. I hope you will like the laptop as much as I did.

 

im looking to upgrade my dvd drive on my z5?? to a bluray but i dont know where to begin to look and what would even fit in the z is there anyone that can point me in the right direction

 

Hello,
Can we assign open and close function for toucpad to S1 or S2 button for Vaio Z series?

 

I can confirm that none of the lesser trialware was installed with this method. The only trial item I see remaining is Office 2007 which I would have installed anyway.

It isn't completely clean, as you do still get some utilities and applications. They include Adobe, Roxio, Webcam Companion, Java, Protector Suite QL, Vaio Control, Battery, Help and other Utilities, WinDVD, Click to Disc Editor and probably a few others.

I'd say it shaved about 15 seconds off my boot time. Not sure about resources. It ran well before and still does now.

 

How is the screen quality on these Z series? Is it comparable to the TZ/TT series?

 

That is kinda weird. Once I did my semi-clean install, there are no Office 2007, Roxio, WebCam Companion, Vaio Control, Click to Disc Editor, WinDVD, etc. I had to install those if I want. I believe we must have used different methods.

By the way, you did not insert the recovery DVDs after the first reboot & run that, did you? For me, I chose to cancel the process of continuing to install using the recovery DVDs when prompted to after the first reboot. That is probably why I got a "clean" semi-clean install.

 

That probably explains it, I left the recovery DVD in the whole time. No big deal, it's mostly clear of junk. No AOL, no One Care, no trial offers. Something was a battery drain. Same battery settings as I had before, best I can tell, but now my drain i 9k-10k mW whereas before it was 10k-11k. Battery bar and Windows both estimate a full battery is about 6 hours up from 5 hours in Stamina mode with brightness at 4/8. Both wifi and bluetooth on and in use. I wonder what it was or if something else is changed.

Edit- something else did change, I did the semi-clean recovery install on an Intel SSD. Duh. Combined, battery life is up over an hour, probably due mostly to the SSD I'd suspect.

 

What are the steps everyone is following to do the semi-clean install on the Z?

Also, my Z is going to arrive in a few days and I wanted to know where I can get a replacement "Blu Ray" sticker that goes on the palmrest.

 

Can someone with the higher resolution display (1600x900) tell me what are the different lower resolutions that the systems allows you to change to? I am debating between ordering a new Z690 or an older Z540. Price difference is only couple hundred bucks but I am interested in running the 1366 x768 as I've seen the 1600x900 and it's just too small for my older eyes. I stopped into a Sony Style store and tried adjusting the display lower (they only had the higher display models on display) but it would not give me the option of 1366 x 768. Next available was 1200x800. Is this correct? It seems you can only order the new Z690 with the higher displays; 1366x768 is no longer and option. Can anyone confirm if 1366x768 is an option with the higher resolution displays.

Thx

 

I keep seeing conflicting information on sonystyle. Can anyone who has ordered a Z690 CTO with the 128GB SSD confirm whether or not is the raid configuration or a single drive???

 

An LCD can not, unlike a CRT, use different resolutions with full clarity. If you choose any resolution except the native (or the native divided by a multiple of 2), it's going to be blurry. Extremely blurry. The only two really workable resolutions on the high res Z are 1600x900 and 800x450, and you can't use the latter for Windows Vista -- it's not tall enough.

That said, I have old eyes too, and 1600x900 is no problem at all, because I have adjusted the DPI setting in Windows Vista to 140, which is the native DPI setting of that display. That causes all fonts and scalable widgets (like borders and icons) to be scaled up so they appear the same size as they would have on a lower resolution display, just better defined.

 

Um, if you haven't even received your Z yet, why do you need a replacement sticker? To pretend that it has Blu-Ray, so you can swindle someone into buying it for more than it's worth? Or is there some benign reason I just can't think of?

 

hey guys, i own a z520 with vista buisness, my question is should i upgrade to vista ultimate to utilize the 4gb of ram and the extras that come with vist ultimate. or should i stay with buisness also if i do upgrade which upgrade should i buy i noticed that they have two differantly priced vista ultimate upgrades which should i get

 

Thanks, I think I will stop by the SonyStyle store and try this. They seem to have some good specials on custom build Z so I was thinking of taking advantage of that but was worried about the higher resolution. I see if it works for me with the setting you mentioned. Thanks again

 

arth already answered your question, but just to clarify a bit more; the Z690 is built with 1600x900 and not 1366x768, so you are right, 1366x768 was never an option on that model.

The other difference between the 690 and 540 is that the 690 comes with Vista x64 while the 540 has x86. Depending on whether or not you are trying to customize the 540, the 2GB of RAM 540's have 2x 1 GB chips rather than 1x 2 GB, and perhaps Verizon WWAN instead of Sprint on the 540, if you care about that at all.

The 640 CTO might be coming soon with a 1366x768 display, no idea when though if at all.

 

Whoa the 1600x900 have an issue with the screens? That sucks...

 

I was sure my 540NBB came with 2x1GB sticks according to the specs I saw, but it has a single 2GB Elpida stick instead. Anyone have an extra 2GB OEM stick? ;-)

 

From what I've heard, to make it simpler and easier, Sony's not going to do any Z640's, or any Z600's with a 1366x786 screen, but make all of the Z600's with the 1600x900 screen to make things easier. I'd imagine the bulk of the orders they had were for the hi-res screen over the Z540, but I don't know.

 

Thanks for the correction. I was going by written specs too, but it's always better to hear from someone who actually has one.