Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

First hook your Z to your TV, so that your Z reads it.

If you have Vista SP1 (assuming you have the Z). Go to:
CONTROL PANEL - PERSONALIZATION - CHANGE DISPLAY SETTINGS - MONITOR TAB

From here:
Your Z is automatically designated as Monitor 1.
Select Monitor 2 (by selecting, this would designate your TV as your primary choice)

(check mark) This is my main monitor
(check mark) Extend the desktop onto this monitor

It should work from here. Don't forget to switch back to Monitor 1 (primary) when you disconnect.

 

By the way, whats the difference between the Z540 and the Z590 CTO's???

 

Oh by the way, I had talked to Sony Store today, they told me Augest 29th is the release date, but he said most of the time they release it before the actual release date. And he said to expect it within a few days. So im gonna be on their butts this whole week lol. I should also state that he said they have units already on the way to them.

 

They told me its 29 too.. I asked today Sony in Eaton Centre...

 

They told me its 29th too.. I asked today Sony in Eaton Centre...

 

They told me its 29 too.. I asked today Sony in Eaton Centre...

 

I'd like to know how you like it once you get it. I was considering a Tom Binh Brain Cell (has handles!) or Soft Cell for my Z, but I've been wondering what size to get, since the Z's not exactly evenly-dimensioned. 1.3" on one side and 1" on the other kinda makes it hard to figure out if I should get a "happy medium" or go for the larger side and let the other side flop around a bit.

 

590 CTO optional Blu-Ray, optional Solid State Drive (SSD), 1600x900

540 CTO "no" option for Blu-ray, "no" option for SSD, 1366x768, however, you can customize everything else.

Just got back, Tumi sleeve is out of stock, I will post next weekend when I go to another store to see how the 2 sizes fit (small versus medium).

 

Ohh, 590CTO is 1600x900!! If only I trusted CTO, too bad. like they say "Once burnt, twice shy". Cuz the 590 is the same price as the Z555preconfig.

 

After using the Z for another day, I don't think the fan noise is too bad. Silent mode works well and keeps the fan noise at a minimum. If I need to do something cpu intensive, its easy to set the thermal mode to performance and tolerate the louder fan and switch back to silent mode afterwards. The vaio software allows you to set the "s2" special button to toggle the various thermal modes which makes it easy and convenient.

Other than that, there isn't much to complain about. Gorgeous screen, solid body, great keyboard, no flex anywhere, super light, runs very cool. Thumbs up!

I'll test the battery life over the coming weeks and report on that.

EDIT: I have found one other thing to complain about. The power brick is too big and thick and the plug is 3 pronged.

 

Ordered my Z540

P8600
2gb ddr3 (I'm gonna buy an extra 2gb stick in the next week and put it in myself)
160gb HD

hopefully it gets here before september 1st. I'll have nothing to do the mornings of frosh week (mornings after the jams), I need a laptop!

 

Does anyone here know if the DVD drive is replaceable? Since I live in the country that is always screwed over in technology, I would like to buy a Z series from Australia, rip it open, and replace the DVD drive with a Blu-ray one imported from overseas.

 

Any P1 customers receive their Z's yet?

 

I spoke with a Sony rep a couple of days back and I've been told that a Blu-ray version of the Z series will be coming to Australia a few months after the initial release.

 

hi, i wana buy Z series .. can anybody tell me which sites they selling it cheaper..
im talkin about Z540 or Z550

 

Does any Z owner, thus far, feel it necessary and important to buy that cloth that covers the keyboard area to prevent key impressions onto the screen? Or do you think those little rubber nibs, on both sides of the Z will be enough of a prevention? I had no problem with my SZ; not sure if it will be the same for the Z.

 

In my unscientific testing, there seems to be a decent gap between the LCD and the keys. While the lid does flex a bit, you do need to put decent pressure on it in order to get the keys and the LCD to make contact. If you had no problems with your SZ, you probably wouldn't have any with this.

 

Thank You very much!!!

 

Be careful cause 99% of German shops ship with QWERTZ keyboards with a lot of german signs on it. International keyboards and UK version are available at www.notebook.de

 

Just received my vaio Z (VGN-Z11XN). Like many people I don't like the pre installed software on it. The best way to get a fresh windows install is with an original windows disk in my opinion. My question is, are all drivers downloadable on the support page? And what about the utilities. Some of them are useful and I would like to remain them. Are they all downloadable? I have the feeling a lot of them are still missing on the downloadpage... Please help me on this. Thx in advance!

BTW, is it possible to install X64 OS?

 

Dadoes, could you try if Crystal CPUID or Notebook Hardware Control are able to go below .9000V with your CPU?

 

I created the Recovery disc DVDs (SL or DL) and then installed Vista Ultimate x86 on it. Drivers were available from the discs bar the all very important LAN adapter driver (Intel 82567LM Gigabit Network, drivers available from Intel website). I now don't have a single unrecognized device.

 

Greetings!

I have been looking at buying a Z for a few weeks now after looking around at a large number of 13 inch laptops that have decent specs. After settling on the Z i am curious how it performs in games. Has anyone ran 3dmark on their new Z? or if some kind soul would like to run 3dmark 03 and 05 for me and post the scores?
Im not going to use the Z for major gaming but with the addition of the mobile broadband built in modem it opens possibilitys of online gaming on the move (WOW and eve etc) but really want to know that its going to handle it ok before shelling out the rather beefy price tag.

 

And what about the utilities? (Like the 'VAIO Smart Network APP' etc.)

 

I wonder if there'll be sleeves for the Z-series available from wrappers.typepad.com? Since the form factor presumably won't match with that of the Lenovo X300, they have to be customized.
I really like these for the TZ-Series (especially this one) and they also seem to be quite affordable.

Has anyone experience with this company? There doesn't seem to be a postal address available, just an email-address... quite curious.

 

Any Z owners please be kind enough to post 3d mark scores, the 9300M (or is it 9200, lol) is lacking much info here... (temps too while gaming!! stupid nvidia..)

 

All these issues with the overheating made me worry. I can't spend a premium for a machine that makes all this fan noise. It depends just from the CPU or are there other factors that make the fan go on all the time? In the "Silent Mode" the performance is still the same?
The SSD will make a big difference for that case instead of a normal HD?

 

Yeah, same here!
I owned already a noisy laptop and is really annoying. I will just wait for some professional review to see if they confirm this issue. I am not in a hurry so maybe I will wait for the refresh of the Z around December. I'm sure Sony will fix all these issues of a new model.

 

Be nice if someone who's performed a clean install of Vista can do a quick what to do guide in performing a clean install of Vista.

ie create recovery cd, where to get the drivers from.

I have my own technet subscription and will want to perfrom a clean install of Vista Ultimate 64bit or 32bit. Mine will be shipped with Vista business.

 

No just wait until you scratch your screen, and then start using it

But on a more serious note: if I'm putting it into a bag I would definitely use something.

 

What kind of protection did you have in mind? Something official from vaio or something else (better)?

And yeah, I'd like to put vista ultimate on it (x64 or x86) so any experiences on this would be welcome!

 

Something cheaper. This is what I used on my MBA.

But sure it would be nicer to buy something official.

 

Same here, PhilFlow. It isn't eye candy, but it is a cheap and easy solution that works flawlessly.

 

Here is a quick and dirty guide to a clean install of Vista on your new Z.

1. Create a back up recovery DVD using Sony's recovery tool. (make sure it works before formatting your HD, really, put the DVD in and do a fresh install, making sure the disc works!)

2. Choose your flavour of Vista and install. Once installed your "Device Manager" will probably show that you have 6 devices and a video card that it can't find drivers for. This is fine.

3. EASIEST but not cleanest:
i. Insert your recovery DVD and use the Reinstall Programs and Drivers, skip on the next screen then on the drivers tab you can select them all and install, on the programs side, choose Sony Shared Library, Sony Utility Service and VAIO Event Service and anything else you want to install. My disc is Japanese and I can't understand half of the programs...

ii. Click next and after everything installs and reboots a few times you should be good.

OR​

3. CLEAN but a bit burdensome:
i. Insert your recovery DVD and use the Reinstall Programs and Drivers, skip on the next screen then on the drivers tab you can select ONLY the top Chipset Driver (Intel). It will pop up the Intel installer. Don't go any further YET.

ii. Open up your temp directory (c:\windows\temp\) and you'll find a directory called APPS. Copy this folder somewhere (SD card, USB stick or anywhere outside of that temp directory) This folder has all your drivers expanded and ready to use. Inside you'll find another directory called data and inside 3 years. (2006/2007/2008) and more directories inside.

iii. Once copied you can continue your install of the Intel drivers and reboot. That will take care of 1 or 2 of your devices.

iv. The burdensome part now. Go through each of your device manager items and choose to update drivers and point to your APPS directory and let it find anything useful in there, if not then move to the next device. Some of the default windows drivers will be replaced with the Sony versions. Keep going until you've been through your whole list. (Some devices such as System Devices and Universal Serail Bus Controllers, don't need to go through...) You'll find that some of the devices will now show their full name, ex. Ricoh Memory Stick... and Ricoh SD Bus... Alps Pointing device...

v. After all that driver monkeying around, go back into your recovery DVD, same as before and under the apps tab, choose the Sony Shared Library, Sony Utility Service and VAIO Event Service then install. You should have a fully functional and all buttons usable lappy (minus the S1 and S2, I think they need to be programmed with a Sony app, they just play with the volume on mine.)

OR​

3. CLEANEST and LEANEST:
i. Same as the Clean and Burdensome above except you will leave all the default microsoft drivers and only use your APPS drivers directory for the 6 or so devices you need them for. I found that everything works with the microsoft drivers. So you aren't installing anything extra. Just the ones that Windows can not find drivers for.

ii. Again, install the Chipset driver, copy over the APPS directory from the TEMP directory, go through Device Manager and update/install drivers for the unknown devices using your APPS directory.

iii. You will need to update your Display adapter that is found to the Mobile Intel version, again update driver and choose your APPS directory, you can also choose to install the Nvidia drivers for the second adapter (that is unknown) or download the latest from Nvidia. Updating to the Intel driver is needed to get the Stamina/Performance switching working. For some reason with a default vista driver, one will be recognized and the other not, but when you install the Nvidia drivers there's a conflict with the default vista one... so having the two drivers fixes it.

iv. Go back into the recovery and back to the drivers thing, but use the Programs tab and again choose to install the Sony Shared Library, Sony Utility Service and VAIO Event Service.

Those last 3 sony apps/drivers are what give you your full Fn keys.

WHEW! I hope that this helps. I personally used the 2nd method which is burdensome, on a Vista Ultimate SP1 clean install. I am also using the latest PhysX/CUDA enabled Nvidia drivers posted from laptops2go...something website. I can switch from performance to stamina with ease.



All my buttons work and it's a lean mean working machine!

I also want to thank all who helped me to get my machine in the perfect state it is. The one tip that really got my mojo going was after the fresh install, do a windows update and more drivers and devices will be auto installed. (I actually didn't do that, but I suppose the SP1 took care of it...)

Also of note, my recovery DVD (I chose the Dual Layer version) also had the Intel 82567LM Gigabit Network driver on it. So I didn't have to go online for it... perhaps the US version is different than the Japanese?


Come to think of it... it can also be done a bit easier, by popping in the recovery DVD, choose the drivers you need and then the 3 sony apps as mentioned above. Just need a list of what to install.... I forgot, I know you need the CHIPSET DRIVER, the RICOH MEMORY Stick thingy, Nvida and Intel Video drivers and the Intel LAN and the WLAN drivers. BUT I think if you do it this way through the recovery, you will also be installing the software related to the drivers. For example the Realtec audio drivers will install the crap tray and sound altering stuff... But this method would be easiest, just need to know what you need (some might also need the fingerprint reader, camera, wan, or felica card reader drivers...)

Any questions, please ask (mind you, I'm busy lately and will be away from a computer soon, goin' on holidays) I will try to answer what I can.

Ja ne!

 

Great guide IsamuX,

If I will purchase the Z, I will definitely use it.
What about the fan issue, what is your experience? Is it so disturbing?

 

I heard that they use a different fan for the 2.8Ghz version here in Japan, so far I've used it in bed with on a book on my lap next to my sleeping wife and have no issues with it. You can feel the heat being exhausted from it but the sound isn't loud. Again my experiences is limited to a Toshiba M200 tablet, that was loud, you can hear the fan kick in, but on the Z. It's barely audible (in my opinion...)

I'm quite happy with it. (and my wife never noticed it, the machine was really almost next to her...)

 

do you guys think a bios update could help with the fan noise? what kind of update is neccesary to calm down the fan?

i got a bit used to it, but it would be nice, to get rid of it. philflow, iam using the same. where can i purchase an official one?

do you guys think a downgrade to xp is a useful thing regarding speed and reliability?

 

CrystalCPUID lets you lower the voltage in the software, but it doesn't stay. I think the hardware is locked at .9000.

NHC doesn't work at all. You can't set any voltage values.

I think everybody just has to listen to the fan themselves. Whats loud to some is quiet to others. No laptop is perfect. The Z comes very close though..

One thing that is certain though is the the Z runs very cool. The bottom feels much cooler than my Sony TZ.

This post seems to confirm that the newer CPUs have the lowest voltage locked.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3825087&postcount=1438

 

I would not be surprised if Sony has purposely put the fan high to limit the likelihood of failure of the Nvidia GPU.

Mine is for sale for 99 euros

 

Really? Different fan for the highest CPU? These are good news, I will start considering the 2.8 Ghz. The strange things is that other cpu's have the TDP of 25W and yours 35W. It seems Sony did a good job installing a different fan for this CPU.

 

Any link of the info of the different kind of fan for the T9600? Anyone confirm this?

 

i already have one of these. but seriously, where can i purchase silk or whatever what material one? or is there no such "official scratch safer" towel?

 

i was thinking that as well, but I also think Sony did it to keep the machine cool.

The Sony TZ's bottom feels quite a bit hotter than the Z and I think thats due to the fact that the TZ fan turns on at a higher temp (around 55, instead of 45) than the the Z. The Z bottom barely gets warm.

 

Do any of you guys know if the SSD drives Sony uses for the Z is based on MLC or SLC technolgy? I hope it's SLC since they charge so much for it.

 

so there is hope for a bios update. the user can choose: hotter machine, no sound, sound but cooler machine. i would choose the first option.

 

I agree, sound is an issue. But it is not a deal breaker, nontheless. Which other laptop even matches the Z's pro's exactly?

 

I totally understand your concerns, I mentioned this, but I only noticed the fan when I was in the library due to the quietness, but I haven't noticed it since then. I'm only aware of it when I read posts about it on this thread. I have noticed though that the fan is continuously on. I don't hear it going On and Off like I did in the library. I'm not trying to convince you in any way, because this may be a personal thing, but it isn't loud. Others have also stated that the sound is not bothersome and you actually get use to it. No doubt, it's obviously ON and you can hear and feel warm air blow out of the ventilation when you place your finger or palm over it, but by no means does it sound like a hair dryer, or like the air-condition vents in your car, that's really overly exaggerating things. Seriously, have someone blow in your ear, it feels and sounds like that.

Oh, It's like bubble wrap. I've got that. In fact I've been using bubble wrap (tiny ones) on the keyboard and as a cover until I get a sleeve.

How do you clean the key spaces in between your MBAir? Unlike the SZ, where I can just wipe across the keyboard, how do you go about getting around each key on the Z and on the MBAir?

And someone who has never done a clean install ever, like a few of us on this thread, do you think can follow these directions (in lamen terms) without problems. I've made recovery disks, but never a clean install. I appreciate you taking the time to type those instructions.

definition (lol)

lamen terms:
A complicated phrase put into perspective so its easier to understand

 

Yes I would have to agree, the fan isn't THAT loud.

 

How important is the 1600x900 resolution compared to the 1366x768?

I understand that the 1600x900 resolution looks much better for HD video but I'm worried that other text will look ridiculously small. Similarly, adjusting the text size with Vista ruins the whole point of getting a 1600x900 resolution screen.

How does getting a 1366x768 resolution screen affect viewing HD on a tv?

 

Either resolution model can display full HD on an external screen, AFAIK. There's plenty of discussion regarding the pros and cons of each resolution earlier in the thread.