Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

Not sure if this is the right answer but Intel Matrix Storage Manager says my Samsung raid drives are MMCRE64GFMXP-MVB. This is the 128GB raid SSD option I ordered for my Z790 CTO from Sonystyle USA on 26Jun. I mentioned earlier that I feel this drive (or drives?) doesn't perform particularly fast and not worth the price. Better to upgrade yourself to something like one of the new Intel SSDs.

 

Thx for your suggestions, Phil. When you mention clean install, do you mean from a retail Vista disk or the recovery disks? I did a 'fresh start' (I think) install from recovery disks but haven't done any performance tweaks. Anyway, I don't think I can tolerate another OS install until Win7 is released.

 

I remember reading earlier that they weren't the quickest SSDs around, despite being in a RAID configuration, so you may well be right. Those that have put the Intels in seem much happier than those that had the factory fitted SSDs.

S

 

I meant a clean install using a 'retail' Vista disk.

Applying Vista tweaks that can be found in the sticky at the Windows forum also helps.

 

Hmmm....I don't check for a while and even local shop surprised me, when I saw the Z with black palmrest laying there. Well, I was the one who was saying, that I would like to have Z in black, but I wouldn't take this one. I don't understand why they decided to make black just the palmrest and not the hinge. Unfortunatelly the black SR next to it looked better. And black FW looked the best

 

Well, there should be a minor refresh with introducing the Z with the Win 7 OS...

I am just waiting for the drivers ... *grml*... waiting...

 

I read in the manual or some official paper that this actually does not do anything to the battery... so you can just leave it in there.

 

By taking out/putting back in sooner o later something will break for sure.Just leave it in when it discharges recharge it very simply.

 

Well it makes sure you're not needlessly charging and discharging your battery, that way prolonging the life span of the battery.

It also stops battery drain process, again prolonging battery life.

 

If I am not wrong I've read on the Z thread battery drain that even taking the batt out it discharges considerably fast.

 

I think you're wrong but I'm not sure. Let's see what owners say.

 

I used to take out the batt everytime i'm using direct power supply, but then got sick of doing that and just left the battery in there. Apparently the 'charge' light doesn't turn on when the battery is fully charged, so I doubt it does any harm to the battery. I think over time and battery usage, the battery life will also shorten and it'll soon be time to get a new one, so why even go through the hassle and extra wear&tear removing the battery every now and then?

 

The Vista ones work?

 

To prolong the life of the battery. A common lithium-ion battery has an average life of 300 cycles. Less cycles means longer life.

Also, in the laptop is a very warm place. Lithium ion deteriorates quicker at higher temperatures. Optimal is a temperature 5 C.

Also, lithium-ion deteriorates quicker when it's fully charged. Optimal is 40%.

So optimal would be to remove the battery and store it charged at 40% at a temp of 5 C. Unless you're too lazy of course

Guidelines for prolonging Li-ion battery life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery#Guidelines_for_prolonging_Li-ion_battery_life

 

Yes, on 64bit all but WWAN and the corresponding service...

 

Created a thread for this, but I may as well ask you ladies and gentlemen:

On a Z720D (with Vista 64 on it initially), is there any way to get it fully functional running Windows 7 32-bit? Sony does not make many of the apparently required utilities/drivers -- the programmable IO control, firmware parser, etc. -- available in 32-bit for that model, and they seem to enforce model verification, so Z690 packages don't work on the z720.

 

You really think Sony is going to kill the Z just next year? I sure hope not.

The SZ was around for 3 years. The Z just came out last fall.

 

I can't imagine them killing off the Z, it's so amazingly balanced. Maybe it'll be upgraded and changed around, but I don't see this 13" 1600 x 900 16:9 going anywhere. If they can make it more durable, lighter, more powerful, w/better battery then I wont complain.

 

I'm fairly certain that leaving the battery at 40% is incorrect. I believe that lithium ion batteries suffer the least amount of memory loss when kept at full capacity whenever possible. the 40% was for old nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries which suffered memory loss like it was their job.

EDIT: Yup I was correct, sorry Phil but you misread the article. The 40% is only optimal for storing the batteries for long periods of time, but when in frequent use should be charged to full frequently.

 

I don't know what you think I wrote, but I wrote that batteries should be stored at 40% at 5 degrees C. And everything else I wrote in that post is correct.

If you want to keep it in your laptop and want to prolong the life span you should not charge it beyond 80%. That's why Sony and Lenovo have this feature in their battery utilities.

But as I said before, keeping the battery in the laptop is not good for the life span because of several reasons. The Vaio Z battery drain problem being number 1.

The 40% number is for Lithium Ion.

 

Z gurus, is there any easy way to take a 32-bit package containing drivers/software from Sony and remove the model verification (so that I can take the 32-bit software that makes graphics switching / the Fn keys work for, say, a Z540 and install them on a Z720)?

Running a 32-bit OS on a model that comes with 64-bit Vista is proving to be a hassle.

 

I finally became an owner of Z officially. It is Z720D/B. I purchased it with $100 mail-in rebate. First impression is quite awesome, sleek design with powerful performance. Comparing to my experiences with SZ, it is quite an upgrade especially changing hybrid graphic without restarting.

I did clean install of Vista x64 with activation restore program and it worked fine. Drivers on the sony website works perfectly with installing in right order.

One amazing thing about this laptop is that it actually has built-in GPS so if you own a Z7 series with verizon broadband, you can use GPS feature without the verizon subscription. It actually detects real satellite signal.



One thing i would like to ask Z owners is about SSD. Mine currently has 320G 7200RPM HDD and I was wondering if it is worth upgrading it to SSD on my own. From my understanding, Z7 series supports dual SSD and I would like to know if it is possible to diy upgrade on standard HDD model.

 

You'll need to use an universal extractor to "take off" the model check. There have been quite a number of posts describing how to use it. Unfortunately, it is gonna be some serious work to dig them up. One post below may help you out a bit:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2998427&postcount=4

Good luck.

 

wow thanks for the info, Phil. usefull stuff. Not really a battery-person here so I didn't know bout all these stuff =x But then again come to think of it, I use my battery on the Z pretty often cos I'm always on the run and when I reach home there's my Sager waiting for me on my desk so I guess that's the reason why I didn't read up on all these battery stuff.. But thanks again for the info

 

I just posted in the official battery drain about the storage percentage, i noticed that whatevere i run my z after 3 days or 7 days, i always found the battery at 38%-40% just like battery drained fast to match the 40% optimal setting. Note that i had the 80% battery care enabled.
Yesterday remove battery care with regulare setting and only lost 5%, i really can t get the logic of the battery management, shall we need to have a fastest drain when hibernation, when supposed to resume later. Anyway the drain is dependant to vaio software.
Any solution to test if lan is active while switch off.

 

Sorry to stab at you again phil but you completely ignored the edited post:

"Lithium-ion batteries should not be frequently discharged fully and recharged ("deep-cycled"), but this may be necessary after about every 30th recharge to recalibrate any electronic charge monitor (e.g. a battery meter). This allows the monitoring electronics to more accurately estimate battery charge.[26] This has nothing to do with the memory effect."

Straight from your article.
The 40% charge is for STORING not everyday use.
"It is significantly beneficial to avoid storing a lithium-ion battery at full charge. A Li-ion battery stored at 40% charge will last many times longer than one stored at 100% charge, particularly at higher temperatures.[26]"

I just dont want people to get the wrong information, thank you though for linking the article it is very useful and informative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery#Guidelines_for_prolonging_Li-ion_battery_life

 

That thread pointed me in the right direction, thank you! It's just a matter of editing \Windows\Model.txt to reflect the model for which the software was (supposedly) downloaded and using the security tab to deny write access across the board.

Currently installing 32-bit packages listed under Vista Business for the Z690 on my Z720 running Windows 7 32-bit, since there's next to no 32-bit support for this notebook from Sony. The installers throw C++ runtime errors on start, but the installs seem to be working.

 

Ehh.. no I completely saw your edited post and even responded to it. I tried to explain you before, you misintepreted my post. I never said people should charge their battery in their notebook to 40%, that was what you interpreted.

Ps. the Wiki article is nice but there are many sources as good or better. I recommend the battery guide, Battery University (long) and Apple's guide (simple).

 

I see Phil you are correct, I just assumed that since you never mentioned storing you were referring to actual daily use. Good to know we were on the same page the entire time lol. Sorry for doubting you. The most interesting thing i found in those tests though was how negatively the heat impacts the battery. I'm surprised my inspiron 5150's battery still lasts even 30minutes since that thing could be used as a small heater for a room.

 

I'm new to this forum. Great one too.

I will receive a Z790 shortly and am planning on doing the XP downgrade as I will use this computer for business and connect to various corporate networks. Plus I thought I'd bypass any hassles with Vista program compatibility and wait for the Win 7 upgrade.

The Sony Care person said you just install the downgrade disk and it does it. Somehow I can't believe it will be that simple. Does anyone have any tips/warnings/twists&turns that will help this process go more smoothly?

Also, there was mention of some rebate to receive an accessory like the dock for free. I ordered from Sony directly and didn't see any such thing. Am I missing anything?

thanks!

 

This may come in handy: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=309592

I haven't updated in a while though.

 

Thanks Phil. Just what I was Looking for!!

 

I think Phil did mention storing batteries when he said that it should be charged to 40%.

 

No, you're not missing anything. Just go to the following link, follow the instructions, & you're on the way to receiving your free rebate bundle:

https://www.rebate-zone.com/default.asp?PN=SY00122k7&DirectID=29762

The following thread may also help you out a bit:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=319474

Congrats on your new Vaio Z notebook purchase & good luck.

 

My checking the Samsung site shows your SSD modules are likely to be PM800.

http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...ownloads/memory/psg_memory_storage_200901.pdf

I think the SSD actually is very, very fast by current standards.

Model Name PM800
Capacity 256GB/128GB/64GB
Performance
Max. Read Rate 220MB/sec 230MB/sec
Max. Write Rate 200MB/sec 180MB/sec
Formfactor 2.5"/1.8"/Slim Type 2.5"
Data sheet PM800

You're lucky to have these modules.

DR

 

So in all my research and questions about gaming on the Z i overlooked one factor. Most of the responses I got about gaming were from people with the older 1366 panel... anyone here have any input on the 1600x900 panels?

 

Hey I seriously don't think you should use the Z for gaming - the video card is low-end for general everyday use.

 

I have no issues running Battlefield 2 and 2142, it does aplenty good enough job till I get my new box set up. Great for vacations/trips when you're bored.

 

Very few games will run at a comfortable speed at 1600x900, and with LCDs, non-native resolutions just won't look good.

Games that I found playable include:
- GuildWars (but the WASD area quickly becomes too hot to touch)
- Civilization IV (but the cut scenes become a slideshow)
- Infocom games

Games I've found unplayable include:
- Flight Simulator X (and X Acceleration)
- Combat Flight Simulator 3
- X3 Reunion
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Half-life 2
- GTR2
- Thief III
- Vampire: Bloodlines
- Tomb Raider: Legends and Anniversary
- Sid Meier's Railroads
- Anything using the Bioware Aurora engine, including Neverwinter Nights 2 and The Witcher

In short, it's not a gaming machine. Unless you're one of those who don't mind the serious blurring you get from non-native resolutions, there are very few games you'll be able to play.

 

hi guys ,

got my vaio z46 GD last week .. awesome laptop .. my first vaio .. im switching for a macbook as its a bit heavy .. this is just 1.4 kilos

i had vista business 64-bit running on it fine .. I wanted to try xp and downgraded ..

somehow xp does not impress me much . I see only 3GB RAM out of the 6gb i saw in vista ..

i tried to restore to vista but getting a weird error during restore ..

I'm currently on win 7 after i saw the other thread !

My question is should i stick to win7 or downgrade to xp or comeback to the factory settings with vista (means i need to hit the sony service centre)

 

Upgrade to Linux?

 

Did you make at least 2 sets of the recovery discs?

 

Hey arth1 I wont be using this as a serious gaming rig but as long as i can run the games even on lowest settings (preferably native res though) i'd be happy. I have my gaming rig for when i need things to be fancy. So when u said unplayable, they simply wouldnt run? or they just look like crap when non native?

 

Yes a great guide.

Just make sure you don't forget the hotfix from the XP disc. It's mentioned in the guide though.

I had no problems with mine......

S

 

Someone told that new z will be available on december. Is that true?

 

What's this icon that sometimes appears in my tray? I have a Z620.

 

That is your harddrive protection... if the acceleration in one dimension is to high, it will notify you and immediatly put the head away from the platter.

 

It mostly means that while they technically run, they won't have a minimum playable frame rate.
Most of them I only tested with the native resolution at the lowest possible settings. Some of them, I even tried at lower resolutions despite it looking like crap, and they wouldn't run acceptably even then. The Witcher is a good example -- even at the lowest possible resolution at the lowest possible settings, it becomes unplayable at times (and looks like crud all the time).

And there are a few games that won't run at all, either because there isn't any compatible resolution, because the intial tests fail, or because they just plain bug out.

Simply put, the Z isn't a gaming machine, and if being able to play games is important, I'd recommend getting something else.

The Z has a high resolution high contrast screen, a reasonably fast CPU, and a native 16:9 screen which makes it good for video viewing in addition to office/productivity tasks. And the weight and size is really nice. But the 3d capabilities are below average, and quite frankly abysmal with the native resolution for a 2008/2009 model. So a gaming machine, it isn't.

 

I've got my 720D on a docking station connected to a 23", 1920 x 1080 monitor via DVI -- and despite ClearType being on, the text is remarkably fuzzy. Doesn't look nearly like what I'd expect.

Is this because I'm running a DVI cable from the dock to the monitor? This display -- Samsung's P2370 -- does not have an HDMI port, so will an HDMI-to-DVI adapter at that end cause the same problem?

Not sure if I'm missing something.

Thanks in advance.

 

Are you in STAMINA or SPEED mode?