Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

I removed the battery this time around to check for leakage, and the results are the same. Whether it removed or not, it came down to 94%, down from 100% fully charged.

Not to take too much of your time on this, but a screenshot is a still shot isn't it?, so how did you manage to GIF off of a (still) screenshot? I'm going to try it. That was pretty cool how you were able to do that. Did you just change the file to GIF? You did say you had to do some animation, wouldn't that be manipulating the image?

I hear ya'. (lol) I now have until the Sept. 14th. to decide on my Z. I actually went this past Sunday to the store and asked if I can put Z onto an AmEx since it provides an additional year warranty from the manufacturer. That gave me an additional 2 weeks to own the Z before I'm stuck with it. As for school, it's pure perfect. I can't complain. I've been thinking if I do bring this Z back, I'll just wait Dec. or Jan. to purchase. I just need for these issues with the Z to be ironed out. Otherwise, there's always the SZ if I get really anxious for a portable notebook. I'm sure the prices are quite low now, and I'll just get a better config. than the one I use to own.

 

In fact I'm happy with the image of Z, because I didn't see any serious complains about Z yet..


Anyway...the only thing which I miss in this notebook is GPS...does anybody know if it's possible to solve this..?..like buying some kind of express card? The thing is, that I don't need WAN...basically I don't want to pay for anything else, as there is enough free wifi everywhere in my city...I just miss GPS function..

 

This is a longshot, but I have a Canon i70 printer. I went to CanonUSA to download the driver. After I installed it, I inserted the disk (Setup Software for the i70) and the Z is rejecting it. The statement is "this is not compatible with the OS of this computer". I did verify with CanonUSA, and the driver is specifically for Vista, both 32 and 64bit? Any suggestions? By the way, I couldn't get the driver/printer to work for my previous SZ. If I can't resolve this issue, I will have to buy another printer.
Has anyone had to unnecessarily repurchase new hardware because Vista just didn't support their old one's.

 

If the battery really looses 6%/Night - it means, that Z has same battery drain issue, as SR

Battery issue was one of reasons I switched my considerations to Z.

How about further drain? Would it loose another few % next night? Or stays same after initial drop?

(My current lappy looses ~3% very quickly, but then holds charge for few weeks (I only tested that once - since i mostly ise my lappy every 2 days)

 

Maybe one of these would work:
http://www.spectec.com.tw/gps.htm

Claims to work in MiniSD slot with Windows XP. Doesn't mention Vista.

 

I suggest anu BlueTooth GPS unit.
Adwantages:
1. It will work with anything with BT (Phone, PDA, Notebooks, e.t.c.)
2. You can place in anywhere, where reception is better. While holding laptop where it is more comfortable.
3. Cheaper

Cons:
Needs to be charged from time to time (There are however versions with optional USB connection/charging)

 

This might be what you are looking for:
Magma ExpressBox1 - PCI Express Outside the Box

Downside is $729 price tag.

"[A] user can turn a typical, middle-of-the-road laptop into a powerful gaming computer, a scientific computer, or an audio/video editing workstation simply by adding the right PCI Express card to ExpressBox1 and then connecting it to a laptop through an ExpressCard/34 module and cable."

"FOR WINDOWS VISTA: It is best to use a laptop with ATI graphics technology paired with an external ATI graphics card. For Quad Video, we recommend Nvidia NVS440 with Sony Viao [sic] SZ Series."

As for speed, they say "Based on new PCI Express® technology, ExpressBox1 provides a zero latency connectivity solution with a theoretical maximum throughput of 2000Mbps (or 250 MegaBytes per second) each direction... That's 2.5 times faster than Firewire 800 and 4.1 times the speed of USB 2.0!"

 

To daneel3001: i used a cloth that came with my sunglasses, maybe you pushed the screen too far?

OMG

will this work for the Z?

 

I would guess so. They explicitly mention the SZ, which shouldn't be much different from the Z as far as ExpressCard 34 slot and software. I have no experience with their products, though. Possibly something about the hybrid graphics in the Z might cause a problem.

 

How great is it that Sony charges you 1 billion dollars for their batteries and after years they still have drain issues. 6-10% after only 1 night? wow...

 

Man, im so worried now. Theres no other laptop really except IBM thinkpads, which get nothing but fantastic reviews. Crap I dunno if I should keep my Z when I get it. Man, stupid *** Sony.

I mean look at how they delay stuff and they dont even have product availablity on stuff they brag about so much in most countries till like years after. That alone shows you how the company is. These things are very important in running a business. I wish I could just sit down a have a face to face talk with the President of Sony and give him some great advise. I like helping ppl that way. Too bad, they can go very far. And dont forget, we're not talkin about a dollar store here, this is a multi million dollar company.

 

Stupid Sonystyle.ca... I called again today to find the status of my CTO only to find that the shipping has been delayed from today, the 5th to the 12th... which means ill get it by the 17th at the earliest.... GRRR.... i need a laptop for school!!..this sucks...

 

Check this out guys, for only about $1900, you can get double the specs for cheaper from IBM Thinkpad T400.



Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9600 (2.8GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)1
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic12
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm4
ThinkPad Blu-ray Recordable Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)5
Note WLAN10
4 cell Li-Ion Battery60
2764: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller7


And for the same specs as Sony, lets say cmpared to the the Z555 for example, It comes to $1200 only!


Thats a riduclas deal.

 

but...those are super fugly...

 

ThinkPads are a whole different story.

Particular SL400 has folowing differences, that makes him not Z:

1. Size
2. Weight
3. Battery Live
4. Screen (no 1600x900)
5. No VAIO logo

Well Z does not have ThinkPad's logo


Maybe TP also does not display "running diagonals"...

 

The new Thinkpads also LOSE their magical keyboard glamour.. it now has Keyboard FLEX..

They are UGLY. No design WHATSOEVER.

AND only one sticker on palmrest.. (Yuck)

And did I mention the monotone ugliness?

Oh and HEAVY.

And NOT 100% color saturation screen

1600x900 on it? NOPE..

3.4 pounds Z beats it by a landslide.. but it is STILL all subjective opinion so I will stop here and hope everyone can keep this thread ABOUT the Z and lets end with "To each their own, w/e ticks for you - buy it!"

 

My Z is reporting that the Nvidia card has 512MB on board. Is that right, or is it using some shared resource to bump up from 256MB?

S

 

I think the t400 is a great laptop and a great value. If money is tight, I would get the t400, but as others have said the Z has a couple of advantages over the t400.

size, weight, carbon fiber, screen.

But the t400 also has a lot of things going for it, led screen, hybrid graphics, incredible battery life, price..

I don't see the point in bashing another laptop just because you own a different one. Every laptop has its own pros and cons. There is no perfect laptop. The Z comes very close to me, but still has some cons.

 

Lenovos are ugly
but the ideapads makes me think twice

 

The 200GB 7200RPM drive used in my VAIO Z is the well-reviewed Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00.

I'm still running battery tests so I don't have anything definitive yet. In terms of heat, it actually runs pretty cool compared to the hottest area of the notebook (the left side CPU exhaust area). I'm using it now on my lap at the airport and it's perfectly comfortable. No "burnt" leg.

The speed is very good and seems to match most of the other components well as everything I load on the system is snappy and I don't have that feeling of "wait" after I launch something.

Most MS Office 2007 apps load in about 1-3 seconds which is phenomenal.

 

Stevod: Download and run GPUZ from cpuid.com to show your dedicated VRAM.

Dadoes: the Z is also LED backlit, also has hybrid graphics, as well as very similar battery life on a cell-per-cell comparison.

sonoritygenius: Yes it does have flex now, but you can easily replace the new keyboard with the T61 keyboard if it bothers you. The aesthetics of it are totally subjective. While I am in utter love with my Z, I still find Thinkpads beautiful in their own right... thought the newest changes aren't favorable in my opinion (off center screen, plastic lid for the roll cage, etc). That said, I'd bet the Z is less Resilient than the new Thinkpad T-series but neither is going to survive a fall, fire, etc without repair(Thinkpads do survive spills with their keyboard drain however). Besides, the Z and T400 comparisons aren't really valid considering the difference in footprints and weight.

 

i got the same hitachi drive for the 7200 rpm 200GB

 

I own a Z, I know all that. I'm just pointing out that the t400 has a lot of comparable features.

 

Here's a screen shot GPUz in action on the Z

 

im getting my Z on thursday hopefully and had a question about the HD partition.

this is my first vaio and wanted to know wat the partition format was?
is it 50/50 for C and D drive like my toshiba or is like like 90/10 where the 10 is the recovery drive?

if its the 90/10, its possible to change it to a 45/45/10 type of format using the vista drive manager cuz i really need a D drive for my stuff.

thanks.

 

Roger.

256MB?

Affirmative.

S

 

Sorry for bugging you with this, but could you guys confirm, that Z dos not have the batery drain issue, like SR series ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=282258)

Would appreciate any input on this. (Going to get my Z tomorrow if I find diagonal interference OK for me, but cannot check battery in store)

 

Question;

- I am buying my Z in the United States; Can I just buy a European 'Z-cable' and with it connect my notebook to the European power network? Will that work just fine? And risks/downsides? Or do I also need a European AC-adapter?? Thanks.

 

Ok, I am wondering if anyone else is seeing this: On my Z, in Stamina mode, every 15 minutes or so the screen glitches, turning into static, and then immediately returns to normal. This effect lasts about 1/10 of a second. Starting to annoy the crap out of me because it breaks my concentration. It does not happen in Speed mode.

This is on the 1600x900 screen if that matters. Anyone else experience this?

 

No, doesn't happen to me. But I also have a clean install as well.

 

same here, but i had a fresh start

 

The above card supports maximum of 256MB dedicated ram; rest is shared ram.

 

my Z570 arrived this afternoon ... I like it, it's quite a bit different than the LG P300 I notice the screen difference (size) the most but so far so good. I have to get more used to it no doubt.

I have a question, maybe a dumb question but when I plug my 22" monitor in (via HDMI cable) the font looks larger than it should, almost blurry and I can't change the resolution any higher than 1366 x 768 of course but shouldn't is scale/resize itself.

Its not proportionate, whereas with the LG with a max 1200 x 800 resolution it resizes/scales on its own and the fonts looks as it should on a 22".

am I missing something?

Thanks.

 

I have a Z590 hooked up to a 22" external monitor. I experienced the same thing at first. Finally, by tweaking the display properties in the nVidia adapter controller I was able to sharpen it up (not by using the blue FN keys to switch the settings). Now it looks great but, at first, I had an "Oh S***" reaction when I saw the resolution on the external monitor. I watched an HD movie clip and it looks flawless.

I don't know if it makes a difference but I turned off the Z display and I only look at the external when it is hooked up.

 

I got my shipping confirmation today for my Z590 CTO!!

Question: I'm planning on connecting my 1600x900 Z to my my 26'' Samsung HDTV (1366 x 768 native resolution) via HDMI. Do I need to adjust any Windows settings after I connect the 2? Or will the rescaling take place automatically and it's just plug and play? I bought the TV last week.

Thanks!

 

Per my reply above, I found I had to adjust the monitor resolution setting in the nVidia settings to get something acceptable on my external 22" monitor.

 

I took a photo of this small article that was published in the 'Los Angeles Times' Business Section dated Friday, Sept. 15, 2008. I'll let you read for yourselves....
At first I thought maybe the delay on CTO's might have something to do with this article, but I thought about it again, and if it were due to the heating issues, then some of you should have received recall notices, provided that you registered your Z.

edit: I realize the article speaks of the TZ model, but with all this concern over fan issues with the Z. Maybe, both share something in common. Let's hope not.

 

but the article specifically states the TZ....

there's a giant thread here on the forum about it:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=295202

 

Can you illustrate the steps you took to adjust the settings? Sorry!

 

Yeah, I know. I figured I'd post it because there was so much concern with the Z's fan. I thought, maybe, the TZ and Z shared similar features that may cause this heating issue. I'm sure there's no cause for alarm, but having more information is better than having none at all.

 

Sony Z 570 is only $2043 on amazon!!!!!!!!
I am soooo getting it this weekend.

Do you think the price will drop again in a month?

I'm surprised to see that the price drops so fast. It only started to ship 2 weeks ago... It took half a year for the SZ to drop 300$

Anyone care to explain why?

Thanks!

 

still when I plug the 22" monitor to my Z it display too large a font and I haven't found a way to scale it to 'normal' .... however when I plug the 22" monitor to my LG it looks normal - I have to be missing something?

 

What are you talking about? 2043 isn't a drop for Z570

 

The Z550 is only $1788 on Amazon, over $300 lower than what Sony was selling for.

I think the reason is Sony's edu promotion on Sonystyle.

 

Thanks a lot for the answer...makes it a bit easier to choose

The thing is that I'm getting Z because I want to have everything in one package...I really don't like to carry many things...what more, I'm not going to use GPS every day, just when I really need it...in that case carrying GPS express card is fine, not the whole unit...

 

I haven't seen this either. Do you have something you installed running on it? Sometimes stuff you install can cause this kind of thing to happen.

Yup, a screenshot is a still. The GIF was made with a sequence of images, each modified slightly. In Photoshop, under Window (I think), there's an Animation option that will open a palette with the animation options on it. On that palette you can add frames, change the amount of time each frame is displayed, and the order of frames... etc. Whole lot of options! It's largely layer-driven, so you'll have to experiment with it to see how it operates (it's kinda finicky).

I did manipulate the image a bit, just added some diagonal lines to it and animated them over 2 frames. You can't capture the distortion of the screen with any screen capturing, so I had to make a dramatization of it.

Glad I could help. Bummer you can't turn it on with the lid closed, though. I agree, I would think you should be able to run it like a desktop machine if it's docked.

 

I have sz440 (which is noisier than years old desktop) and I am planning to replace with z series CTO next month from sonystyle but I have some questions to you guys. I went to my local sony store but they had only 1366x768 on display.

1- what I want is 1366X768 with 256MB vram but they don't offer it. and 1600X900 would too hard for my eyes. So will I be able to change it to 1366X768 from display settings if I get it? I am really confused with this one and sony guy had no idea either.

2- I'll choose Vista Business option but they don't have any information whether it is 32 bit or 64 bit. what will it be?

3- I saw 2.8ghz on conics.net but couldn't able to find on sonystyle. Do you think it'll be available in few weeks?

4- that fresh start option... something good?

 

Check out our Canadian Vaio Z model which has exactly what you are looking for: 1366X768 with 256MB vram (VGNZ555DNB)

I believe you can order it here, if you are from the US: http://www.ncixus.com/products/32772/VGNZ555DNB/SONY/

 

You can do this, it'll work fine.

 

I just bought Z12GN/B in Indonesia, and the specification page described that the LCD screen is 13.1 wide (1600 x 900) TFT Color display. I just wonder if this screen is also LED Backlit or not? or is it as good as the US version Z5X

thx