Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

I don't think the screen adjustment will work since there isn't any light sensor on this laptop. However, having that feature available in windows will just push manufactures to make laptop with lighted keyboard since that's the best way to make the most out of that light sensor.

 

I think they're just offering more HD space and an upgraded network card on the new Z. The new screen may be more "durable" as Sony stated but that may be just the terminology that they used differently. I can't wait for the new one to be available in the U.S. Normally, it doesn't take this long to get here at all.

 

My eye sight is not very good and need to ware glasses.

You're right. It's very hard to imagine, but you really need to see it\use it in person. I have a Dell 8100 which has 1600 x 1200 that i find too small.

BUT

The Sony Z Screen is so so sharp, it doesnt seem small or unclear to read like my old dell is now.

 

that's not good news. thanks for posting this. can anybody try this?

 

I'm sorry that this has been a big problem for someone - enough for them to return two laptops - but it seems like a bit of a specific problem to me... so specific that it's unlikely to affect the vast majority of Z users.

Maybe it's related to the weird 'diagonal lines issue' that you can see if you move your eyes quickly to the side of the Z's display (and you have the right type of eyes, and you're looking quite close to the screen, and you repeat the test several times, trying to see the problem)..?

I'm not trying to say that the problem isn't real to the user concerned, but rather that you can see a fault in anything if you look hard enough for a fault.

 

As anyone yet used a SSD drive on Z ??? thanks for your reply !

 

Any 2.5" or 9.5mm hard drive will fit on the Z right?

 

Wow! That's great news. I had no idea. First, I heard it was going to be called Windows 'Vienna" with a release date 12/09, I guess not. Do you think with less ram requirements for Windows 7, Sony will equipped the later released Z with this OS with less ram than it has now for Vista to save cost.

(lol) I returned my Z550 due to the pending release of premium carbon and now I find myself having to wait for Windows 7 to resolve this resolution thing I have been very concerned with since the release of the Z, plus I've never been fond of Vista anyway. I'll never get a laptop. I might as well wait for the Z's replacement (lol).

 

Any SATA 2.5" AND 9.5mm High drive will fit, yes.

 

I am still waiting for prem. Z..

And Geee, you can always install Win 7 on Z when it "finally" comes out.. knowing Microsoft, dont take their earliest date of release as official multiply it x 2 and than take it lmao (i.e 2010 folks!)

 

hi guys;

i would like to buy the highest end z avaliable, on american you can have 128x2 SSD and on UK you can have bond edition (128 SSD).

my questions are:

1. On US page, you have to have at least 256gb disk to be able to select bluray option, then why on the UK page you can have 128SSD + bluray? is it not a problem at all?

2. US version with 128 x 2 SSD has RAID. What is it? Is it faster compared to a single 128 SSD? Heavier? More battery usage?

3. Anyone has any idea of what brand SSD do they use, both in the US and in the UK? (and their speed tests if possible)

bond edition seems to cost 3000 sterling pounds, which is slightly less than 5k dollars. American one would cost less tahn 4.5k, and with even 256gb SSD. which one should i go for? (American has no premium carbon option)\

ah, btw, do they weigh the same?

thanks, Simon

 

Just to clarify things, will Windows 7 detect the screen size
and the resolution and determine the appropriate DPI to install, as you suggested above? Or will the user have the option to switch to different DPI's?

I read that link, though brief, still very very interesting. Thanks for posting that.

 

I'll jump in with a few guesses:

Disc burning requires a temporary image of the data being burned to disc to first be assembled on the hard drive. Blu-Ray is 50GB, and the US 128GB option is actually dual channel 64GB. Subtract the OS etc and there's not enough space left for scratch files. My guess then is that the UK version you speak of is single channel 128GB. OR, could be because the UK now has the 2nd gen Z series and Sony have responded to users wanting BR and SSD (so they just kinda made it happen). US still only has the first wave of models, noting there is no real difference other than tiny spec bumps.

RAID0 means that the bytes are "striped" evenly between the two drives. This means that if I want to access a large data file, which would normally be limited by the access speed of the drive and the bandwidth, I now simultaneously access half the file from one drive and half the file from the other. This doubles the bandwidth and access speed.

The drawback is that if one drive fails you loose all your data because the bytes are half on one drive and half on the other (like having every second word of a novel).

PhilFlow probably can advise on this. You should read the new thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=315737

Weight difference between single and dual channel would be trivial. It should just be two sets of chips soldered onto the SSD board instead of one. That said, I think the SSD might be slightly lighter than the HDDs (anyone know?)

 

Should be both. I.e. when you first install windows it will detect the pixel pitch and automatically set the DPI. Note, for example, that Vista already does similar things such as with "slide show". If your graphics user experience rating is too low it will run slide shows at less-than-native resolution to ensure it's smooth. (can be changed with a registry hack, which was something I had to do on my SZ as the grainy slide shows really bothered me).

Of course, you'll then be able to customise the DPI however you please. When you think about it, typical magazine-quality print resolution is 300 DPI minimum, and computer software/hardware manufacturers have been struggling with this disparity in quality by trying to "triple" the horizontal resolution using sub-pixel rendering (clear type). Even though it's a year away, I'm definitely going for the 1600x900 hardware.

 

Thanks... So screen space won't really matter with Windows 7. Let's say, for example, the Z had Windows 7, it would be logical to just go with the 1600x900 res. v/s the lower 1366x768, since Windows 7 will calculate DPI settings for the higher resolution.

But will you still benefit in screen space with 1600x900 with Windows 7 than with the 1366x768 or will it still be the same as you see currently for each models resolution?

See where I'm going with this?

 

The Win 7 details are all speculations at this point, your question can - at best - be more accurately answered when we are past beta testing release 1 or 2 lol

 

I see where you're going. Think of it as being the same as Vista's DPI option only that this time it will be implemented flawlessly. There is, of course, the question of how well third party programs and web-content will support variable DPI. For sure you can expect that Internet Explorer 8 will render webpages according to Windows' DPI, in which case the overall layout of high resolution + high DPI would be the same as low resolution + low DPI but with a finer-grained appearance. Font, layout elements and icons are scalable but images usually aren't.

Part of the scalability push is driven by the touch-screen requirements to suit fat human fingers rather than svelte mouse pointers.

If you want to see bigger buttons and bigger fonts then there'll be less content on the screen. There's no holy grail here except to shift to more space efficient interfaces and buy notebooks with small screen bezels (worst offenders, 7" EeePC and MB Air). Google Chrome, with all it's shortcomings, is the best example I've seen for a while of excellent UI space efficiency.

 

If you let me know where I would find that information, I can look it up for you.

Rambler

 

Indeed.

The battery life is very good, but remember I use the large extension battery. So under Stamina mode, Internal Graphics and PowerSaver mode I was able to get 6,5h out of the Z21.

The fan is a matter of perception. In Stamina Mode it is mainly silent (i.e. off) in Speed Mode, with High Performance it is constantly running.

However not nearly as noisy as it was with my Alienware m15x.

If you are looking for a silent (i.e. no fan at all) Laptop, this one is not for you. If you are ok with low level noise, it is perfect.

Rambler

 

rambler3872 are you experiencing the battery drain problem with your z21 that is being reported in the other thread?

 

rambler3872 thanks for your mini review.

I called Sony to see if they could do anything for me with the price and they told me that these laptops still carry the 3 year warranty but it is just not advertised. They told me that they will be running this "offer" until January.

I also tried to see if i can get one discounted and i was offered only 5% so it brought the price down to £1,899.

Maybe i should settle on one without the premium carbon fibre lid as they are cheaper but i really want one of those.

 

I have not had any issues with the battery so far. Again, I am using the extended battery version, not the original one that came with the Laptop.

That one is only used as a spare for emergency power needs.

Rambler

 

I'm doing the same thing here, except the extended battery is so great that the standard battery has not been back in my laptop since i bought the laptop.

 

i found a ok'ish review of the z21 that mentions battery use
the same reviewer previously reviewed a z11
on the z11 she says she got a max of 5 hours 45 mins but on the z21 she achieved over 9 hours. on the flip side she says got less than 2 hours with intensive conditions.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/233496/sony-vaio-vgnz21mnb.html

 

... and in an extreme thin/light form factor with the 9400M (or next generation) and external ODD (hallucinating)...

I believe Intel won't have the mobile version of the i7 until 4Q'09 unfortunately. Heck, what am I saying -- the 9400M uses nVidia's chipset. Should be fine as nVidia usually makes rather decent system core logic. Whatever...good thing I got off my butt and got my SZ270 repaired. I'm good for another year or so. Ok, you can stop laughing now.

 

Any Z users with Ubuntu 8.10?

It works well, but I can't find any stamina-speed utility and how to turn the bluetooth off.

Btw Ubuntu looks great and performs much better than Vista.

 

Finally pulled the trigger and placed my order for a Sony Z!

It's one of the first CTOs available in the UK, Z25W, with the following specs:

2.53GHz CPU
4Gb RAM (DDR3 1066MHz, it's a typo error that says 800MHz on the website)
200Gb HD 5400rpm (plan to upgrade to a 500GB 7200rpm when available later this year, unless SSD prices drop SPECTACULARLY )
Blu-Ray
WWAN
Hopefully a 9300M GS from a non defective batch (since July, they should have gone by now!)
1600x900 screen
Vista Ultimate 32 bits
UK Keyboard
Fingerprint, webcam
3 years guarantee (not on-site) included
Free shipping

Assembled in Japan, should be delivered within 2-3 weeks.
Price was £1891.05 (5% special discount and no VAT to pay, it's a business purchase )

In the end, I decided not to go for the SSD+BR, mainly because of the cost of the SSD which is too high at the moment, but also because the SDD on that model uses an UATA interface, which would limit my upgrade options compared to a more standard (and arguably offering better performance) SATA.

I also ordered a Z docking station with 10% off, so total price was £2012.84.

Unfortunately the fall of the pound against the zen made it impossible to order from Conics in Japan to get a 2.8Ghz CPU.

I'll wait to see if I need an extended battery or not.

Thank you all for the valuable feedback in this thread (and the previous one)...

I've been uncharacteristically patient (because of the lack of BR in the UK), but I can't wait now!

 

I'm planning on getting one of the UK CTOs as well, what surprises me is that the battery life is stated to be 3.5 hours, which is WAY under what Sony previously claimed we can get from the Z. I'm a bit concerned about this.

 

I wouldn't pay too much attention to that, the website is full of mistakes for the CTOs (ie 800Mhz RAM instead of 1066). Maybe they are trying to be more conservative, but I'm sure it's the same battery life as the previous series.

 

Where do you get this price for the Z21? I found it on sony style, but it only says "Find Your Local Dealer", I can't buy it from Sony it seems, or am I looking at the wrong place?

If I could get a Vaio Z with 128Gb SSD and Blu-Ray at £1,899 I'd buy it instantly. The CTO Z25 cost way more.

Edit,
Oh, I found it by searching. They're up for pre-order, but not listed on the Vaio Z page There's no SSD option, though.

 

Congratulations! That's a great spec you've grabbed there...

 

I bought a sony vaio z 12GN with this specs..

Specs:
2.40 Ghz
1600x900
4 GB RAM
250 GB HD
Priced at 2450USD..
Its expensive but I'm satisfied with my new laptop.

 

Thanks Infy!

 

Hello,

I have and urgent problem and can't find any solutions. I can't use the bluetooth device. I have re-installed the driver, did some updates but it's still not working, it says that the bluetooth adapter is not pluged in....
My vaio is Z11WN.
Could you please tell me how can i turn it on.
Thank you!

 

Im have the same problem, the only way for me to swith the bluetooth is open the vaio smart network program. and there you can swith on the bluetooth.

goodluck

 

I purchased the extended battery for my Z. I charged the standard untill 50%-I remember someone said that the best is to be charged untill 40% and after remove it-. Where should I put my standard battery if I'm not going to use it for a long time?

 

How do you regulate the screen brightness?
Mine is locked on the highest, so it fries my eyes
Did you recompile the kernel with the sony module?

 

Best kept in a plastic bag in a refrigderator. Not freezing.

Use the battery at least once in about every two months.

 

Are there any Z owners that have the latest Adobe CS4?

The new CS4 is now optimized for discrete nVidia GPUs, so I'm curious to know if Photoshop CS4 (among other programs in the suite) recognizes the Z's 9300M to enable its GPU-accelerated interface improvements. Under Speed mode, it would be located in Photoshop > Edit > Preferences > Performance > "Enable OpenGL Drawing".

Thanks in advance.

 

Yes, it does :-D

 

What PhilFlow said, although if you put it in a fridge, make sure it's in a SEALED plastic bag (ziplocked). You don't wan't moisture or corrosion in your battery!

 

I'm passing by Heathrow this Friday, any advice on where to look for the Vaio Z? And can I claim my VAT back as a private person, and how would I go around doing that?

 

New Sony with Premium Carbon in Singapore coming soon:

http://www.sony-asia.com/product/vgn-z27gn

Only available with blueray.
no SSD sighted

 

Do you know what that price in $SIN translates to $USD. So in Japan, premium carbon can be ordered as an option to any CTO. And in Singapore its available preconf. with BD. I wonder if that will be the same for USA if and when it gets here. I just hope its offered in at least one model w/o BD and SSD.

For now, a non-prem carbon lid with BD is (Z590NJB) for $2999.99, so maybe , pricing (prem. carb.) will be between $3000-$3300. Does anyone remember how much it was for this option thru Japan Sony?

I just checked SonyUSA and all their preconfig. prices are slashed. You think it's a sign of a new refresh about to embark? Usually, when Sony starts slashing prices - its to get rid of them to make room for newer versions.

 

Thanks Phil, I will keep the standard in the fridge for now! The extended battery is great, it makes the laptop more comfortable to type on. I have power saver mode, brightness at 70% right now and at 97% shows 11hrs and 37min.
Btw, do you guys shut down the Z often or you just hibernate when you go to sleep?

 

hi,

has anybody news about the fan noise at the new updated Z21?

i gave my Z11WN because of the fan noise back, this is for me not acceptable at a so high price notebook.

 

Its must be a joke... can u test it how long it take for 30 % ?

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to getting my Z in the near future

I've been keeping an eye on Sony USA prices and noticed the CTOs were $150 cheaper in the cart a few days ago, although the prices on the main pages hadn't been updated and the Z590CTO was back-ordered. Now the prices have been updated to reflect the discount, but the P9500 is no longer available even for a back-order.

Oh well, I wasn't intending to buy one right now anyway but I hope they don't hold out on me too long.

 

they changed the 007 movie frame on their website. What's up with that?

 

I shut down if it is plugged or will be plugged in after I shut down. Hibernate is the default for me on battery power. In my case, without full clean install and with 3GB of RAM, waking up from hibernation is just as slow as normal start-up, but it seems to consume a little bit less power -- I think it's about 5% for a start-up and waking up from hibernation could go to like 3% only.

I think if you have a clean installed Vista or XP and lots of RAM, shut down will be a better option than hibernating.