Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

where can i get the dog foods?

 

Woof!

 

Any chance for a link to the file? I could sure use an English version. I'm trying to create the recovery DVD so that I can reformat with a backup to the original Japanese version.

I learned that lesson with a Kohjisha I had. Screwed that up royally, but I did manage to pull off some files and do a hacked up recovery.

Thanks in advance!

 

Try this

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/dogfoodz500.pdf

 

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/dogfoodz500.pdf

 

Thank you! I forgot to mention that the pictures should be taken in a darkened environment, like most of these pictures, to best show the leakage if it exists.

 

People were quicker than me...anyway you should know this page, where is also 'Meet Your Computer' sheet about the recovery center.

I'll be getting the Japanese OS as well, but I'm not native Japanese nor English...for now, I'm using Japanese OS on my old Vaio and it's pretty fine, but before that I was always used to use English OS....

As I'll get the Vista Ultimate, there is always possibility to change the OS language if I'll get fed up with Japanese...but I'm not sure, how much it would screw up the OS, does anyone have any experiences? Or is it possible to order that cheap Vista disks without license and use serial number from Japanese Vista for the English one?

 

This optional design on the Z, is this etched permanently onto the case or is it one of those skins where you can peel off later and replace it with something different.

Just curious what they charge for that optional design?

 

Its not something that can come off, those designs exclusive to SonyStyle Japan seem to be engraved onto the lid itself.

 

Exactly....and they charge 5 000 yen (cca 45 USD), which is fair price for a bit special look I think And I'm already quite bored with the black cover on my old Vaio...

​

 

You guys should know that, well at least in Sony Canada, theres no refunds on designer laptops like the one above. Ciao!

 

I wouldn't find it a big problem really, 'designer laptop' like that is much easier to sell outside Japan directly to someone...in fact even for more money than you bought it

 

i like that design, pretty cooll

 

Yeah, that's a good design, better than the flowers Lenovo uses

 

Who here has decided to get a preconfigured Z through a retail store? Is there any definite word to a date of arrival in stores? I need one by the 18th Aug.

 

Your best bet is to check the SonyStyle store nearest you.

 

I did check, they claim to have the Z the week of Aug. 17th-23rd, but I plan on getting mine at another retail shop. The pricing is usually $100-$200 less than SonyStyle's. I was just wondering if maybe Sonystyle will get it first before other retail stores, or perhaps both will get inventory at the same time. I guess I'll find out a week from today...

 

Which other online retailers are you looking at? I would order my Z right now if it's 200$ less than SonyStyle's. I know it will definitely get cheaper on Amazon, but I don't want to wait that long (like at least 3 months)... P1's selling them at 100$ less, but that's still slightly higher than what I'm willing to pay.

 

As far as B&Ms, I'd assume Frys (if you have one near you) will get it. Maybe Microcenter will. Best Buy? A possibility. The list falls off after that.

 

Future Shop and Best Buy in Canada do not care the SZ or the TZ, so I do not expect them to carry the Z, since it's mainly a business laptop.

 

my best buy (in the states) carried the TZ so im hoping they carry the Z

 

Really? Thats a shame, my local Best Buys carry the SZ and TZ. I'm sure they will carry the Z, though probably starting in September and will most likely sell only the lower end VGN-Z550N/B model.

 

I agree, they usually don't carry the really expensive models. Plus, theirs aren't any cheaper than SonyStyles from what I've seen.

 

I don't see many retailers outside Frys doing any discounting to be honest. I wish we had Frys here in the Northeast.

 

Yeah, we always get shafted here in Canada. As for Sony laptops, Best Buy carries only FW, NR, one UX and one FZ. As for Future Shop, they carry only CR, one FZ, one NR, and one FW.

 

There is that Sony store in Eaton Centre (yes, I didn't spell it Center), but Canada does get shafted on configs in general.

 

What's so special about that Sony store? I usually go to the Sherway Gardens or Heartland Sony Stores, fiddle around.

 

At least here in the US, the SonyStyle stores in the major cities tend to be a tad better than the ones in the 'burbs. For example, here in the Boston area the Boston store got the Z for preview, but the Burlington store didn't.

I was in that Toronto one a few years back. It wasn't bad.

 

Ah, so you visited Toronto. I thought you were a fellow Torontonian. I actually live in Mississauga but even in 10 years, I never visited the Eatons Center. But I presume the Sony Store there is much better since it's a major mall and it's their flagship store.

 

Fry's will definitely carry the Z. I expect them to at least carry 3-4 configurations; one with SSD, one with Blu-Ray, and 1 or 2 in the $2000 entry-level range. Fry's is definitely the place I am going to get mine. They carried a few SZ premium configs. and even carried the X505 at one time.

I totally forgot about Microcenter. That's in the city of Tustin, right? How are there prices? Do you expect them to be better than Fry's? And what is their return policy when it comes to open box items? Thanks.

(edit)

 

Yes, the Fry's in Houston was where I saw the X505 for the first and only time in 2004.

Microcenter has several stores in the U.S, here in Houston included and their website at Microcenter.com. They will accept returns of laptops 7 days and desktops 30 days from the purchase date and charge a 15% restocking fee unless the laptop is defective in which they'll exchange it.

 

I've driven by that Microcenter in Tustin when I've been in Irvine. I live in Boston, but am in SoCal from time to time for work.

Microcenter will be about the same as Fry's; maybe inbetween SonyStyle and Fry's. Their return policy for the stuff I usually buy is great. I never bought a PC there, but their return poilcy seems to be in line with what places like CompUSA used to do.

Personally, I'd just suck it up and get it at SonyStyle if time is of the essence. I wouldn't think Fry's would get it at the same time.

The last place I saw an X505 was the now closed CompUSA in Austin.

 

Here is a pic of the back light bleed. The machine was on for about an hour (just surfing the web and such) and all lights were off, cept for the tv in the back. The light bleed isn't too bad, but I do notice a bit, a faint bar running along the top and bottom.

I also picked up a Scorpio Black 320 gigger, so I'll try to throw that in there tonight or tomorrow. I'm not much of a warranty guy but anyone know if the screws to take it apart are tricky? (anything hidden or such...)

Have a good night guys and happy Z dreams!

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, thats seems like alot of back light bleed, no?

 

mmm, I'm no expert, I just took a picture. I had the screen to full brightness and my camera to no flash, so perhaps the images are worse than they appear. Which I feel they are. I'm perfectly happy with the screen and the amount of bleed.

But that program did expose a flickering red pixel that I had to "massage" back to working order. *^_^*

The actual screen isn't so purplish in real life.

(It might seem that I am defending this screen, but... wait, yeah, I am. I love it!)

 

Actually yea they do carry the SZ780, But they took it off the shelves cuz its discontinued. Now BestBuy Canada has all the FW series optios like Sonystyle.ca. So theres a good chance of BestBuy getting the Z series in.

 

omg I just read 83 pages to come to the CONCLUSION that I, SonorityGenius, will be placing an order for the SONY Z on SonyStyle.com VERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
soon!

*end hyperventillating Sony Z goodness-caused anxiety*

I need a cure!

 

Welcome to my world, I even threw up all over the place.

 

To me it seems completely normal. My TZ actually had worse.

The only time I would notice it was when I was in a pitch black room staring at a completely dark screen with the brightness cranked up. Never that is

 

lol, I talked a Sony rep on the phone from head office. I asked him about the Z series, he's like we might not even get the Z series because of the demand rate, So I asked him as to why Sony Canada gets less than U.S and what not. He did explain to me and it did make sense I guess. He said they have advisors and tell them how in demand the product is in certain area;s. For Canada, its only Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and that they loose profit cuz its that those cities compared to all of the cities in U.S. So yea it makes sense I guess. But yea he's telling me Canada might not even get the Z series cuz theres not much demand here. IMO I think he;s just saying that cuz customers are not supposed to knoe a pre-release date cuz they loose business on their current products. Im sure we'll get the Z. I hate when companies are not consistent with their information though, one tells you this and the other tells you that, and all in the same **** department!! Oh and he did say I dunno why they told you a date for the Vaio Z , theres no date so on and so on, in like a frustrated voice lol.

 

We MIGHT NOT get the Z AT ALL? Oh man this sucks!!!

 

That guy is bluffing. For the last years, we've been getting the same series here as in the US. Granted, we got shafted multiple times on the variety of preconfigured models, but we still got the series. There's absolutely no reason now for the Z not to come to Canada.

 

Wow, that really does suck... hmm... speaking of buying over the border, couldn't you guys up there in Canada buy it, have it shipped to a friend's place in the US, open it there, and take it back?

I'm not too knowledgeable on all this customs/border stuff, so please forgive me if I'm being a little dense.

 

I just emailed Sony Canada and got this response:

"Product offering is not made public until launch day and due to the nature of the market product offering can change from day to day.

It has been confirmed we will be offering the Z Series in Canada."


Whew!!!

 

That can work, only if you know someone in the States.

 

To do that you need to have a valid US credit card. Sony style does not let you order it otherwise. But if your going through another retailer they may allow a Canadian credit card. I know all this cause i ordered through a freind in the US...

 

But listen, my main concern here is that the Sony guy on the phone told me, I forgot to mention, that if Canada were to get the Z series, we will only get a basic model and the other is CTO (Configured to Ordrer) I have a very good feeling ill end up with P1.

 

Depending on the option offered, I might just end up getting a CTO. P1 is still an option for me, though I know I'll be paying LOTS for duties/customs/brokerage fees because it's FedEx ground.

Did you ever get a reply back from P1 if we have to send our laptop to them or a Canadian Sony repair depot if our laptops needed to get fixed?

 

Acutally not yet, cuz I sent it over the weekend and I believe thy are closed. I should get a response sometime today. I wish I knew what Sony Canada is goin to sell here otherwise I would just give my order to P1 so ill get my laptop asap. Ill keep u posted.

 

That won't work for me. I'll stick with Fry's - NO restocking fee and you have 15-days to try the Z out for a full refund or exchange. I think I'm going to get the 1600x900 and see if during the 15-days I can withstand the text size. If it's uncomfortable, I'll exchange it for the 1366x768, that way, I've tried both, and I won't have buyers remorse wondering what the other would have been like. I am going to get the highest processor as some on this and previous thread have recommended.

If I do decide to exchange, I get the flexibility of exchanging it immediately and taking one home that same day rather than shipping and waiting for it to arrive.

You said from the majority of your posts that Canada is most likely going to get the BASIC preconfigured Z model, so why not just order yours at P1 or Conics and see what their return policy is just in case for whatever reason you need to return or exchange?
Do you have a hunch that Canada might get a high-end configured Z and that maybe is your reason for waiting?
Find out about the warranty and make sure you don't have to send it to a USA Sony Repair Center.