Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

Just to reiterate to those of you who are doing a CTO, expect some delays. My "possible delivery date" (as translated from Japanese) for my 1600x900 Z ordered on August 20th is between Sept. 21st and Sept. 30th. I would guess that if there are delays here, there will be delays on certain CTO models (especially the 1600x900 ones) elsewhere. Sony is either having supplier issues or failed to properly forecast demand...I'm annoyed that Sony only notified me of the 1 month+ delay after I sent the full payment by bank transfer.

 

It's good to hear that someone in US already received a shipping tracking number for the vaio Z from Sonystyle.

Unfortunately, I will have to cancel my order from Sonystyle if they do not assign a tracking number for my order by tomorrow as I am leaving the country on 29th.

I don't think this is such a bad decision especially after shelling out $4k for a laptop and if the delivery date is not honored by Sony.

 

Yeah, my Sonystyle Order Detail now says "Your VAIO is being built." The ship date hasn't changed from 8/15/2008. LOL.

At least it changed...it's better than no change. The Sony representative said to expect it to ship within the next 3 days which sounds feasible. I figure one day of assembling, one day for testing, and one day to ship (+/- 1 day). Wishful thinking.

 

I clicked on it there again and it does offer Blu-Ray and SSD. The SSD is one of the configurable options. Philflow spotted it a while back and mentioned it on page 102 of this thread (post 1018). There was plenty of discussion in the subsequent pages.

Does anyone have any idea what 7200 rpm drive is being shipped with the Z series. Does it provide a significant improvement over the 5400 rpm drive?

I see that problems with noise levels for the Z series have been mentioned a few times. Is it annoyingly loud?

 

lol at the blonde joke. But yea on a serious note, now that I know u have it! **** I wish I knew that from before, it even clearly shows on the bottom of ur laptop, Canadian....,Crap! Anyways important question. How do u find the laptop? Why do u want to change it now? how is the screen size?, performance, U seem unsatisfied with it by ur post. Like oh well just another laptop kinda thing. Gimme some feedback brotha! Im about to buy it this week and don;t want to get screwed over cuz Sony told me theres a 15% restocking fee, unless I dont open the box and keep it sealed. Pathetic. Anwyays thanks budd!

 

The order history still says "processing," but the order details page says "your VAIO is being built."

I assume the later is correct, since I got the email about it. Sure is confusing when both pages show different info.

I agree, I like that much better than "processing." haha!

I haven't talked to a rep, but the email did say expect 5-7 days for manufacture. 5-7 days... more torture... I hope your estimate is more correct. I want my new lappy already.

 

I thought you couldn't cancel orders once they begin processing. You'd have to wait to receive it, then ship it back, no? Please let me know how you manage to cancel your order (I'd also like to cancel if Sony can't deliver by the end of this month).

 

As long as there's so many questions on games, how well would Warcraft 3 and Counter-strike Source run, both on max settings?

 

Not bad at all. I think those numbers are pretty good. Thanks for the report! I may have missed this but can you post which model you have? or the specs?

 

I'm pretty sure WCIII can be maxed out. CS:S will probably run at medium to high settings. But it's best to have someone who actually has the notebook to try CS:S.

 

z520n
p8400 2.26 ghz cpu
3 gig ram
250 gig 5400rpm hd
1366x768 screen
NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS with 128MB

 

If they have not shipped and assigned a tracking number, you can call and cancel your order. I have done this already and I will do it again if they do not ship my Vaio Z by tomorrow.

 

You just call the customer service number and ask for it to be cancelled.

I was in the exact same situation as jeanryu. I ordered a Z590 CTO on Aug 6, and I am leaving the country in mid-September. Considering it was supposed to ship on 8/15 and it still hadn't shipped by the 25th, I had to cancel it because I couldn't take chances. It was in "processing" when I cancelled.

I am hoping a 1600x900 model will be available at the local SonyStyle store (or bestbuy or newegg or whatever) before I leave.

 

I cancelled my order.

It pains me to no level.

First I called I was told "in processing" orders cannot be cancelled. I said why did shipping isnt till 9/15 I *NEED* it before than. "Sorry we have a backlog of orders"

I hang up, call again (I KNOW) I can cancel it! - "I am sorry the laser mouse is being ready for shipment and we cannot cancel that, you will have to return it to us to fully recieve refund"

WHAT? readying for shipment, NOT shipped yet..

Escalate the matter to supervisor, very confident guy comes on, "I cancelled your entire order, our associates cannot overide CTO cancellations I apologize for the inconvinience, blah blah" -expect an email within 24 hours confirming changes

3 hours later 2 emails "Your CTO order is cancelled"
another one "Incident: Cancellation" accessories + warranty

The page now reflects in red, bold (as if I committed a big crime CANCELLED

Suffice to say, DEMAND a cancellation AND be persistent but it IS possible and dont let them tell you otherwise!!

I hate doing this, I configured a dream system, but I wanted a SSD after reading its SLC based anyway.. =P (And ofcourse the blu-ray) - so I will wait

 

I called sony style canada today to check the status on my Z540. She said it is processing. I later came on and found out there are 2 coupons that werent available when I payed for the laptop.

Can I call and cancel the order, and then reorder it? Because I want that 100$ off and that free express shipping!

Also, if I do cancel, how long does it take for them to refund the money back to the visa?

 

Where do u get $100 off? I dont see it? Does it also apply to the Z555 aswell?

 

I played around with the settings some more, and if you set the resolution to 640x480, you can set the graphic quality to HIGH (basically turning on all the effects) and textures to medium and the game runs pretty smooth. 30-40 fps.

 

Can you post a screenshot? I would like to see how the game ends up looking on a widescreen LCD. Does it stretch to the entire screen or are there black bars?

 

Geez, I wish I thought of that. Talk to the supervisor!

Guess I've never had much luck with customer service. All I ever seem to get is attitude and "no, no, no."

Then again, they did say I was supposed to get a tracking number, which made me happy and totally forget that I wanted to cancel since I'd be getting my computer by now... or SHOULD have! bleh...

Oh well. I just hope, really hope, that this time it's for real, and I'll be getting my shiny (or semi-gloss) Z soon.

To the customer service rep's credit, she was really, really nice. Probably one of the nicest people I've talked to over the phone for this kind of thing. At least they're friendly.

If it's "processing" I believe you can still cancel it. If they tell you your tracking number is being assigned, you might want to try talking to a supervisor (might be B.S. that some of us have already experienced). Maybe the supervisor can modify the order and apply the coupons, or just cancel it and let you reorder. If it's already being made, I've been told by a rep that you can still cancel it, but it'd be more like a return and you'd need to get an RMA on it. So you get it and immediately ship it back.

Not sure how long it would take to have your money refunded. My guess is next business day.

 

Ugh... I have a strange feeling you might be right.

 

I think they grossly underestimated the demand..

Anyway, back to square one - waiting/hunting for me

I feel oddly relieved/glad (?)! lol

 

Did anyone on this board order the SSD RAID version and got a tracking number assigned?

Currently, Sonystyle says the model VGN-Z590UAB is temporarily out-of-stock and is now on back order.

 

Sorry, I never bothered to click on the drop-down list under Hard Drive. Wow, that's great, but the cost - $3724.00. I have a question with this 128SSD. So Basically, it's only a 128 Hard Drive? That's not very much storage is it? I guess its give and take with the optional SSD. Will the 128 SSD compress so that you can store more into the hard drive or is that it?

As for noise, NO its not annoyingly loud. I don't even hear it. I think the whole fan thing has been slightly over exaggerated. It's fine.

I'm assuming your going to walk into a SonyStyle Store and purchase one based on your posts. My suggestion is when you get to the store, put one on hold immediately, and then go and play with the demo. Bring all your games along with you and try them all out. Try out the speakers if you require all those sound effects when running your games. I think as far as size/portability is concerned, it'll be perfect. You said in a post that you thought that the SZ upon receiving it would be much more portable than you had expected from seeing them in pictures first. Well..., the Z is definitely much more portable than the SZ. So I think this Z will suit you. Good luck, let us all know when you get it. I can tell you'll be the one to give a straight answer on your review on the Z. Can't wait...(lol).

 

I think that means you did not really want it.

 

So no one who's ordered a CTO Z590 from Sony US has received a tracking number yet, right?

 

I don't believe anyone from the US has received one yet. Most people who have a Z now have a ready-to-ship model or a model purchased directly from a retail store like Fry's. None of these are known to be higher end configurations.

Most people were told to expect shipment on or after 8/26/2008 which is today. So, hopefully, people will start chiming in in the today and tomorrow about receiving them.

 

So the Z's 9300G has enough power to run the 1600 x 900 resolution in games? Or is it better to take the low resolution modell with lower gpu ram? How good is the interpolation when running the 1600 x 900 screen in lower resolutions?

 

I plan on playing games on my Z, but not a lot of the newer ones. I'm getting the 1600x900 one. Some have said that the 256MB of RAM is not necessary for the 9300M, but I'll take as much as I can get (and according to one site, 256MB is the max you can configure it with). At least with the higher resolution you always have that option of running it at 1600x900; you won't have the option to run your games at that res on the lower res screen, unless you use an external monitor.

I'll probably use mine for older games that I enjoy (like UT2004) and see how well it runs maxed out, and use it for DX10 demos of models for work. No way I'm gonna use it to run high-end games at full res, but hopefully the game engines will at least let me display a high quality model with full res.

 

In Europe we don't get CTO. I just ordered the top pre-config, called VGN-Z11VN/B (P9500, 4GB, 320GB, 1600x900/256MB, WWAN, DVDR). That might explain why it's come through a bit early.

To be honest, I'm impressed that people around the world seem to be receiving theirs within only a couple of weeks. Sometimes it seems like we have to wait for months in EU after the AP/US markets...

EDIT - UPS status says delivered, yippee! (Now I just need to wait for the nice parcel guy at work to bring it to my desk... and try to get some work done in the mean time.)

 

Second round of gaming complete. I loaded up and played Unreal Tournament 3 for a couple of hours... wow all this research takes a lot of time! *^_^*

Unplayable at the native resolution. I turned it down to 1024x768 with everything turned down to 1(lowest) and it was playable at around 20-30fps depending on what's happening and with a full 12 bots going.

I also played at 800x600 with some of the details turned up again 20-30fps. You'll have to find a good balance that is constant, I couldn't as it was always between 20-30fps. I think 800x600 with everything turned down was about 25-30fps so that was most enjoyable.

If you can tolerate some slowdowns here and there, UT3 should is fun to play and looks good.

I didn't use any scaling through Nvidia, I just left it to no scaling. IMHO it looks better even with everything low, but everything is sharp and crisp.

 

hmmm, doesn't sound that great. do you think command & conquer 3 and cod4 will work?

 

My Z is with me now. I'm at work so can't play with it - just plugged it in (and Kensington leashed it!) under the desk so it's got some battery juice for later at home.

Will go shopping for a sleeve at lunch, although it's an unusual shape - a lot less square than most laptops (makes sense due to the 16:9 aspect and thin bezel) so I'm guessing I won't find a sleeve that fits perfectly, at least until some more 16:9 aspect laptops are released.

I feel like a schoolboy at Christmas!

 

i was shopping for another sleeve myself - i'm not sure how much you wanted to spend but this one looks like it'll do the trick:

http://www.easylaptopshop.co.uk/product.php/1510/65/crumpler_hard_suit_13_laptop_sleeve__brown_

(I have a crumpler laptop backpack already so i can vouch for the supreme quality of crumpler products)

 

Thanks ringmasta, looks great.

I agree Crumpler bags are tough and the hard shell sounds just the ticket. I use their "Ben's Pizza XXL" and "Shrinkle Backpack" bags for my camera gear sometimes. The only problem I have with Crumpler are the silly names and their penchant for too much Velcro on their bags. I got a LowePro for my main camera bag as unpacking with a Crumpler was embarrassingly noisy when at a function...

Anyway, I'll report back from my trip to PC World this lunch (the only computer shop within striking distance of my work) and if you get the Crumpler, let me know how well it fits please!

 

Are any GPU-Z screenshots avaiable for the integrated Intel 4500MHD and dedicated nVidia 9300M GS graphics on the Z? If not, can any Z owner please post GPU-Z screenshots (Graphics Card and Sensors tabs) with the switch set to both stamina and speed settings and indicate which screen you have? All you have to do is click the small camera icon at the upper right-hand corner of the window to create a screenshot.

Thanks

 

Guess I can live with that. I do have my fire-breather for the high-quality sessions.

Do you know your way around the editor? If you do I'd like to know if the Z can handle displaying a full-detail character in the editor, at least. That is partially why I'm buying it, after all... super mobile demo station.

 

First, if you are living around munich, go to Saturn Theresienwiese. They have the Z11WN/B (1600x900). It's screen is realy awesome! Bright and perfect colors! However it's rather expensive. I want to buy the cheaper model which has the lower resolution. However, the guy at Saturn said the screen wouldn't be as good as the 1600-one: worse color-reproduction, brightness... But actually he has never seen the cheaper model. Thus I wonder whether he's right? The Sony techsheet says the same for both editions: "13,1 X-black LC-Display mit längerer Haltbarkeit und faszinierend realistischer Farbtiefe"!?

And there's one more question: Does the HDMI port support non-HDTV resolution? Could someone try... my sister's Dell XPS M1330 e.g. supports 1600x1200 and 1280x768 using an HDMI->DVI connector. Thus it allows using the HDMI port as DVI replacement...

 

http://kunkoku.livedoor.biz/archives/51484778.html

for all folks which need screen comparison side by side (1368x768 vs. 1600x900, Z vs. SR screens etc.)

Very good for your decision making.

 

der wollte dir was aufschwätzen, es sind die gleichen daten, nur die auflösung ist anders. habe es selbst vorort verglichen.

back to english. he wanted to sell you the more expensive modell. the lower screen has the same great quality. i saw it for myself.

 

Is the warranty that P1 offers ( 3 years Accidental On-site ) similar to the ADH? Sonoritygenius you can have the combo SSD+Blu-ray at the P1, although is not RAID.

 

yes was just checking it out today, I am just a bit nervous about them so will wait a bit tho

 

Could someone post which make and model of blu ray comes with the US and Japan version?

TIA

 

Guys I am not tech-savvy so I will appreciate if you can help me.

I saw Sony FW with 1600 x 900 resolution and I quite liked it.

Today I will go and see a Sony Z which comes with the lower resolution model. In other words, I don't have the opportunity to see a Sony Z with 1600x900 resolution with my eyes because I will be moving to Europe very soon and I have to make a decision and buy my Sony Vaio laptop.

I know that FW has a bigger screen but my question is, what would be the differences between a Sony FW and Z both having a 1600 x 900 resolution screen? I would like to hear particularly about the below three respects, but will appreciate if there are other differences that I might have not thought of.

1) Would FW's screen can display more and/or wider windows than Z's screen? (For the purposes of this question, please assume that I will open two or more Internet Explorer or Microsoft Word windows w/out making them full screen)

2) Would the icons/shortcuts on FW and Z be the same size? Such as; i) the ones on the system tray ii) shortcuts on the desktop iii) widgets

3) Lastly, what would be the differences between these laptops in terms of displaying photos, watching DVDs, watching the videos I recorded with my HD camcorder?


I will appreciate if you can answer respectively in order for you not to overlook any question.

Many thanks in advance!

mg428

PS. If you say that there will be a great difference between a 1600x900 FW and a Z having the same resolution, then, since I do not have the opportunity to see a Sony Z laptop with 1600x900 resolution with my own eyes, I was wondering whether there is another Sony laptop having a screen which would be comparable to Sony Z with 1600x900 resolution. I am asking this because I read a post where the poster says that TZ is quite comparable with Z having a 1600x900 resolution because, according to him, although TZ is 11 inches and has a lower resolution, the so-called "pixel density" of these two laptops would be very close. Would you confirm this? Can I go and see a TZ laptop to obtain an idea as to how a Z series laptop with 1600x900 resolution looks like?

 

I preordered my notebook on 08/06/2008, today it finally said from Order Status: Processing with no estimated ship date to Order Status: Your VAIO is being built with an Estimated Ship Date: 08/15/2008

If it just changed from having no ESD, to getting a ESD, why in the world would the date be earlier then today's date? SonyStyle makes me mad.

The good news is that at least its an update, and at least they're working on it. Crackheads.

 

mg428: yes, it's all about pixel density (PPI, Pixels per Inch). If the resolution of the panel is identical (1600x900, both FW & Z), you have 1,440,000 pixels available - on both screens. The difference is the size of each pixel. To fit the same amount of pixels on a 11.1" TZ screen, they have to be a lot smaller than on the 16.4" screen of the FW. So
1) identical
2) everything much smaller on the TZ (~141 PPI) and Z (~140 PPI) vs. FW (~112 PPI)
3) everything appears sharper on the Z and on the TZ due to the higher density

Check out these resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixels_per_inch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_pitch
http://members.ping.de/~sven/dpi.html (DPI/PPI-Calculator)

 

im gonna b gettin my z soon and wanted 2 know if the camera is vga (.3 mp i think) or is it 1.3 mp????

 

I ordered a CTO and there has been no update on sony style ... it still says processing and date is 8/15. I called them today - each day I get a different answer - but today they said it entered manufacturing on the 19th... so that means it should be shipped this week if they're not pulling my chain. I'll keep you updated.

 

I don't think he meant it that way... I think he was just answering my question because I had specifically asked about CTO Z590's.

 

I'm pretty sure it's vga. Slimmer screens usually only offer vga.

 

Guys, what's better in your opinion?

The 590 CTO (1600x900 resolution, P8400 2.26GHz, 2 GB DDR3, 250 GB 5400rpm, 9300GS 256mb, Vista HP)

or

Pre-Configured 550NB (1366 x 768 resolution, P8600 2.40 GHz, 3GB DDR3, 250GB 5400rpm, 9300GS 128mb, Vista Business).

They are at the same price - 2099$ @sonystyle.com

Also, can you run lower resolution (i.e. 1366 x 768) while having 1600x900 as native?

Please let me know, I'm really confused.

And thank you for all your pics, opinions, reviews, suggestions etc! You are really helping me


/sorry for my English