Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

thanks...
looks like i will pull the trigger as soon as i have time to go to the sonystore

 

That really is a fantastic deal IMHO. Congrats & good luck.

 

Just read that the old Z series are glossy displays, I thought it was matte ?!

 

Old SZ series had a glossy display, the Z series had/has a matte.

 

Look at the glossy display specification of these Z-model´s

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/laptop/m/97002774/details/search=sony vgn z/st=product_tab/

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/laptop/m/721984482/details/search=sony vgn z/st=product_tab/

 

All the Z's has the same XBRITE-DuraView extra hard coating.

It is a bit glossier than the traditional matte coating, but it is still a matte screen (it's like something in between matte and glossy). I wouldn't count on the people at pricegrabber to give you an accurate spec... Sonystyle even gets it wrong sometime.

 

No one has any comments or experience with this?

 

Go search for FenderP's post about trading Z for HP 2530...there are some benchmarks and personal "feeling" of Z with RAID 0 vs. HP with Intel X-25M. Probably the closest thing you could find here -- I don't think anyone here switched out their RAID 0 SSD and then stick in an Intel X-25M just to see the difference.

 

Only if you tear the sticker...

It's very common in Taiwan to have this kind of stickers that prevent you from opening the machine -- Sony is not the only one who does it. However, I think Sony only does that in Taiwan and maybe China.

 

Great pics... I am curious which palm rest will come with mine (VGN Z45x). I ordered the premium carbon finish. I guess it will be the silver aluminum (which imho looks a bit classier than the black one).

BTW: Has anyone tried the Logitech VX nano mouse (with the Z)? Currently I use an MX revolution BT mouse with my current laptop. But since I "squeeze" the size of my notebook by getting a Z, I thought about getting a small mouse as well. Right now the VX nano is the only one that "pleases" me optically and in regards to functionality (although I miss the middle mouse button). Anyone one with experience on the MS BT Mouse 5000?

 

What is the cheapest Z-model and where to find it ?

 

All new Z4s have the black palmrest, regardless which screen lid finish you choose.

I'm also using the MX revolution when working at my desk, it is not a BT mouse though, it's just a wireless mouse. A BT mouse can pair with your laptop without the usb connector.

Why not give the Vaio BT mouse a try? They are all pretty good, and very stylish too. It would match your Z.

 

No, it's not a matte screen, it's an anti-glare coated glossy screen -- a big difference.

A matte screen is where the screen surface itself is slightly porous. If you run a fingertip over a matte screen, it will make a sound.
The privacy filter for the Z is matte, but the screen is glossy. It's just not high gloss.

 

Jparity is correct. Your VGN-Z45x will come with a black palmrest. Congrats on your purchase.

 

asus does this with their EEE pc. i've opened several of them to upgrade SSD, touchscreen, and ram.

thanks. i really hope it is. no body here seemed to have said anything bad about the price yet.

 

Thank you, his posts were informative. Looks like I might just go with the Intel drive.

 

I originally used the VX Nano as well but found it to hurt my wrists after extended use. I've switched to the VX Revolution and find it much, much better. Also love the extra thumb buttons missing on the Nano. Only negative is the larger dongle in comparison to the Nano. However, you can order the same micro adapter used on the Nano and make it work with the Revolution. I've done this and it works fine. Key is to order the right micro receiver, based on which model of the VX Revolution you have.

 

You should try the sony vgp-bms33 bluetooth mouse. Basically the normal long slender one, its thin and amazing and doesnt give you that horrible cramped finger claw feeling after an hour of use.

 

I noticed a lot of the new Z's now come with a free upgrade to W7. I've never purchased a pc where the OS was about to change. When they say upgrade, will the upgrade process wipe out Vista completely? Or will there still be some files and folders that will require a clean install to rid of Vista completely?

Is the process really that easy? Insert the upgrade disc and it will take care of itself? Or are there some other things that one needs to do other than the upgrade disc itself.

Or is it better to just wait on Oct. 22nd and purchase a Z with W7 already on it? Thanks.

 

Thanks for the advice
But I really do not like the design of the VAIO mice. Probably just me

 

That would be perfect... exactly what I was looking for. I thought about the VX but it was a no-go since the dongle is so much larger...
How did you do it? (Can you PM me with how to order the working dongle?)

 

According to the Win7 on Z thread, it is no problem to upgrade from Vista to Win7 keeping all settings and drivers. BUT: If you are in Europe, you will not get Win7 with IE8 and THIS version cannot be used to upgrade Vista. Here, you will need a clean install. But rest assured, all drivers Work with the Z. Just follow the instrcutions in this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=342562

 

Having read so much positive comments from you & the others, I think I'll give it a try but unfortunately, I'll have to really wait for it. Got to save up enough money to be able to afford one.

Man, how I wish Sony would be kind enough to do a "U-turn" & just approve my rebate so that I can get this Sony BT mouse + the docking station for free... Oh well, it's just my luck.

 

I've seen some guy in another thread updgrade his 2x64 SSD to an intel one -- the windows rating on this raid setup was 7.1 but the intel got 7.8

I saw this while i was searching for something else so i didnt read too much about it, but it seems that the intel solutions are premium in every aspect. I was doing research on my own ssd (ended up getting a patriot 128) .. but it seems that intel are by far the best in every aspect, and the runner up is samsungs new 256's ... everything else is like the same (patriot, supertalent, pny, etc etc)

 

Anybody know if there's a fix to be able to adjust Brightness/Backlight under Speed mode for Windows XP? Works fine on Stamina mode...

 

For those concerned about the Z's screen flex, check this 1 min. video on youtube. Sony Insider disclosed a notebook prototype that was also presented at the 2009 CES with OLED flex. Interesting...... Could it be the replacement to the Z?

 

the black palmrest Z somehow resembles mini SR
and saw the street fighter benchmark too..really low fps rate..
need a gpu update on Z and so better cooling system running nvidia

 

does the vaio Z790 and Z45X(UK) come with a black palmrest with the premium carbon option? I know it does with the Bordeoux option. It doesn't seem to mention or give an option?

thanks in advance

 

Pretty sure that they come with black palmrests as well.

 

Anyone have a suggestion ?

 

Thank you for that greatful tip! I´ve the MX Nano and the little dongle, can i buy a VX Revolution and use it without problems? That would make my z most complete

 

Maybe it's worth to look at eBay

 

Agree, I'm even disappointed a lot with this :/
I was about to buy this laptop but when I saw it in the shop, I had to change my mind.
For real pro who use notebook to something more than web surfing and mouse clicking such key layout is unacceptable.

I thought Sony targets their high-end model line exactly to such users. So why did they change keyboard layout in this inconvenient way? I can't understand it especially as Sunfox wrote, there is enough place for another key column

Now I don't have any replacement for my SZ 650n/c, suggestions?

 

A friend of mine uses Vaio Z for programming, it has substituted his working PC and I haven't heard any complains from his side regarding the keyboard.

 

personally i dont' really care for the column of extra keys. one thing that i can't used to while i was @ the sony store was the amount of space between the keys (also the space makes me think it's a huge dust collector). also the mousepad does not have multitouch. on the asus EEE netbook that i have, i can use 2 fingers to quickly scroll down a page without pressing or holding any buttons. i'm surprised that sony doesn't have multitouch feature.

 

2-finger pgup/pgdn is an inconvenience I can live with, but 2-hand pgup/pgdn is a deal breaker!

Can the secondary windows key (the one that brings up the right click menu) be remapped to perform as an Fn key?

 

also, when i buy internationally, does that mean the free upgrade for win7 would be an international version? which means it would be non english?

The Japanese model Z92 and American Z790 can support 3.0ghz. the VGN-Z48TD/X (taiwan model) doesn't seem to have a 3.0ghz option

 

I don't think so. There may be a couple of "workarounds":
- there are mice with buttons above and below scroll-wheel - these buttons can be used or mapped to be used for paging
- touchpad on Z supports hot-spots, you can select a function for upper-left corner, there is some sort of "Web Assistant" function along upper edge. Unfortunately, all of these are very limited in customization and cannot be used for PgUp/PgDn. I wonder if there is an Alps driver that could have hot-spots mapped to keyboard shortcuts (an ASUS M50, that was my primary computer before Z, supports a special hot-spot that switches touchpad into media mode where the whole area is divided into smaller areas mapped to media player controlling keys: play, stop, previous, next, volume up/down, etc.).

Technically, scrolling through document using right edge area of touchpad is not utterly bad. It's a bit jerky and unreliable (does not respond sometimes) but useable. That's why two-hand PgUp/PgDn on Z is an inconvenience but not a showstopper to me.

 

You may want to check Logitech V470 - it is BT, very slightly larger than Nano, great battery life (thus far for me), functioning middle button (clickable scroll-wheel), does not require a receiver so both USB ports on Z stay free. No back/forward buttons on the side though.

 

Just out of curiosity, what kind of serious work do you real pros do with your Z away from your desk?

It's not a solution, but I my docking station is connected to my G15 keyboard with more programmable keys than I can ever use. I dock my Z whenever I need to work for an extended period of time. Nothing beats a nice spacious keyboard with a huge screen.

 

I am not so sure about that. There is at least this Taiwanese Z45TD/B model (see unboxing pics in the thread below) that still uses gun metal gray palm rest. And if I am not mistaken, the Z46TD in TW comes with two flavors: red lid with black palm rest and black lid with gun metal gray palm rest.

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=258&t=1100925&r=4&last=12657970

Maybe in Europe it has been standardized with black palm rest, but I am not really sure.

 

Did you contact Sony Listens? I had an issue with the rebate and they dealt with it quite well. I don't know if anyone knows about it, but its a part of Sony that exists solely to assist their customers with whatever problems they have. Basically, its Sony's version of a retention dept. minus the retention.

Tell em your whole situation, they might not give you the whole package but they might ship ya a mouse or charger at least.

[email protected]

I don't get this whole multitouch fascination. I have an EEE and I hate having to use TWO fingers to scroll, when on my Vaio I can just use the side of the trackpad to scroll with ONE finger. Is that REALLY so hard?

--

As far as the extra row of keys, It would mess up the design and look of the Z, which would add function but screw that. If you want ultimate function over form then buy a thinkpad.

 

OK So seeing as Sony is going to offer an upgrade service for windows 7, would it be wiser to pay the extra$150 now to get Vista Ultimate? Or should I stick with the Home premium and just get myself 7 like that? Any input?
I'll be upgrading to the 7 RC as soon as i get my Z.

 

I've read through this thread without really finding my an answer to my question:

Does the Z use 1.8" or 2.5" HDD, and has anyone successfully installed an aftermarket SSD themselves?

Thanks to anyone who can help me answer this!

 

It uses 2.5" HDD. I installed aftermarket HDD but could have easily installed SSD of the same form-factor.

 

But for the RAID-0 it uses 2 1.8" SSD's without the casing if I'm not mistaken.

 

Z uses a 2.5" HDD and I've replaced it with 256GG Samsung SSD.

 

I am pretty sure that this will not be the case. If this was true, you were not able to use a wireless mouse in a setting where a lot of people use one...
From my experience with my first MX revolution, at this time I lost my dongle, I know that each sender/receiver is linked to each mouse. In order to make it work, you need a dongle that works with the specific S/N of your mouse. When I lost my dongle, Logitech did not yet offer a replacement service, so I was screwed...
Apparently they have learned - apparently a lot more customers have had the same fate...

So in order to make it work, you would need to get a specific dongle that is specific for the S/N of your mouse...

And apparently this seems to work with the Nano receiver and the VX revolution, right @cbb77?

 

Thanks man. Was it difficult? Any hindrances or things to keep in mind? What Samsung SSD did you use, and where did you get it? Do you void warranty when replacing the harddrive?

I need an SSD but can't justify spending $660 on as Sony charges.

Thanks!

 

I've to admit I've never heard of this Sony Listens department until you mentioned it. Thanks for the information & I'll give it a try since I've got nothing to lose. Hopefully, they'll understand my situation & kindly approve my rebate.

InspecterJones, thanks again for the info & I appreciate it.