Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

has anyone used a memory stick for readyboost in their Z?

 

not in england all the time this same price :| not matter if this is CTO or Normal Model.

 

I was thinking of doing that. There is external SSD in form of PCMIA card. I wonder how those work.

 

wouldn't it be so much easier to just up the ram to 4 gigs and be done...i have heard there is no performance boost unless you only have 1 gig of ram or less because it becomes just unnecessary

 

I assume you mean ExpressCard34 rather than PCMCIA...

Be very careful if you decide on this route. ExpressCard34s can use either USB or PCI buses internally and the USB versions - by far the most commonly available from e.g. Transcend or Lexar - are disappointingly slow. Fine for increasing capacity for data storage if you only have a small internal SSD for your main disk, but I wouldn't use one for ReadyBoost or anything else that needing decent transfer rates.

There are a small number of high speed ExpressCard34 SSDs on the market, which use the PCI interface to get much better transfer rates. I believe Delkin makes some of these SSDs, but they're not cheap.

 

I got my Z540 at pcnation for 1.4K like 2 weeks ago. Now it has drop to 1325. Has anyone try getting a refund on this?

 

I see. What do you think is the best then? A boost in speed is great but having something plugged into the USB port is annoying. I let my laptop sleep all day whenever i'm not using it. When I do need it, the laptop will be available to use right when the screen is fully opened.

 

they charge a 15% restocking fees and shipping.

 

i think he means a pricematch, and in that case, i believe they would...just give them a call and tell them whats up! They should give it back the extra moolah!

 

just read through pcnations return stuff they say the don't do any sort of price protection, whatever the price is when it ships is the price you are locked in at..

 

I can't believe Notebookreview hasn't done a proper review on the Z yet... even though it's like the 3rd most popular laptop on the site...

They even reviewed laptops that came out after the Z...

What's going on people...

 

ARGH! I could have saved a ton of money off my Z590 if I buy it now. I spent $2500+ for mine (Z590 CTO 2.54GHz, 4GB DDR3, 320GB, DVD Drive) after tax and warranty. Now I can get the same model with blu-ray for $2400. I didn't check but I'm pretty sure my original model would hit just a little over 2K with the Premium Carbon Fiber after all these discounts.

If you are a Golden Key honor society member at your university, you can get very good discounts at SonyStyle.

 

So I finally got the Z-series that was supposed to replace my SZ6 back in August/September.

After reading these threads since late June it's nice to finally have one in my hands. BTW I love it - especially the weight, size, keyboard and trackpad.

If you were buying in Australia and taking it to the US, claiming back tax, it's a pretty good deal... Z16 which is equivalent to a Z590 ( 1600x900, 2.4 GHz, 250 GB HDD, 2GB RAM) for 2,340.00 AUD. Convert it to US dollars and you've got $1,516. And it comes with a free Sony leather case (the wrap around one) and VAIO overseas service.

Anyway, the Aussie dollar is so weak against the USD that anyone in the US who is coming to Aus or knows someone going for a trip should seriously think about getting it here.

 

or Canada or Singapore.. LOL...

Here is the new Sony Z27
the bluetooth is also 2.1 now

http://www.sony.com.sg/microsite/vaio/products/vaio_z/product.html

 

I feel your pain.... I spent USD2800+ for the same spec.

But think it this way... the opportunity with the time that you used your notebook then and now. Is there any gain or anything?
For eg,., did you make more money or something valuable during the that time gap.

You got good unit right? Think about if you get a new one and it has 1 dead pixel for example... at least you are sure you have the good unit.

Regret gains nothing... but yeah... this is one of the considerations when buying high price notebooks.. huge price drop....

The thing about SONY though.... they did this too fast

 

Hello all,
does anyone of you know where the air go inside the Z ??
where are holes (or grid)?

 

Hi all,
Does anybody know where to get service manual for this laptop?
I need one for two reasons:

1- Change SATA HDD Drive for an OCZ SSD one
2- Look for connectors (extarnal antenna) on the Option WWAN card (if any)

If anyone know how to open it for such kind of operations, i'll be happy

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272690&page=90

 

I would not put that in a Vaio Z because it is very likely to cause stuttering.
http://www.alternativerecursion.info/?p=106

 

What about the plug itself? It's different from USA. I travel to Australia a lot and am familiar with your OZ prong. It's 3-prong with 2 slants. You would have to purchase an adapter for it. That price is great though.

 

Any idea how many mini-pci express slots the Z has? I know there is one for the WLAN and I am assuming another one for the WWAN... any others?

 

It's not problem to exchange just the sock plug...you can take the one from your another gadget or just buy one for a few bucks...it's the way I'm using Japanese Vaio in Europe...'cos the international adapter I have looks too dangerous ,)

 

Would someone with the embedded Sprint WWAN card confirm the model (I think you can do this in device properties)? I believe it is a Novatel Wireless E725.

 

Here's another photo on the premium carbon lid.
As you can see the color of the lid is not the same as the aluminum palmrest as depicted
in that one photo that's been circulating (see 2nd photo below). You can see for yourself on the
left edge of the first photo - the palmrest is lighter in color. What do guys think? It looks OK.
It doesn't look spectacular, but then again it may just be the photo. I'm sure in person it will look better, I hope.
I wish that border was flushed in the same color as the premium carbon to give it an even and uni-form tone.


I like the richness of this photo. I've seen products where they look exactly as they appear in ads.
Like Apple products for example, they are shown and advertised as they truly appear.
I hope this Z looks exactly like it does in this photo.

 

Yes, what Metsn said, you can just change the AC section of the charger with a cord you buy or pillage from another gadget. The only thing different is that now the AC chargers are earthed, which means the transformer end of the AC cord has a three pin plug rather than the two pin that the SZ had.

Also note the Aussie models come with the big ugly UK plug as well.

 

I read an open box review of a premium carbon Z last month. The palmrest color is the same as normal Z.
I do wish Sony can make one Z with premium carbon on the keyboard area and palmrest.

 

Yes, I agree; and make it appear exactly as it does on that 2nd photo. That photo has a rich black metallic sheen texture to it - contrast it with deep black keys (lol).
The top photo looks to grey.

 

And where did you read that review?

Thanks!

 

Exactly like the SZ. Palmrest is the same with or without the Premium Carbon lid.

 

here:

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=258&t=810291&r=8&last=8668143

 

first off...you should translate that entire page for us! haha!

but second, what in the world is that space to the right of the touchpad?? I had to look at a different Z to make sure it isn't on all Z's, but i have no clue what it is.

The Premium CF doesn't look all that great in the pictures, but it seems like one of those things that you have to see in person to appreciate. It seems like in person it would look amazing. I wish i could check one out somewhere...

 

edit: did a google translate on the subtitle...it is a FliCa card reader, which apparently reads their subway cards or store credit cards! Sounds pretty badass if you ask me...am i the only one to not know about this type of card reader??

 

when i connect my sony vaio Z1 to a docking station, it asks for a ethernet driver whereas i have already installed it and it works. But when i remove it from docking it dissapears from the device manager.

Any idea why is it asking for a driver ?

Thanks

 

That's true. I'll do my best to look at it that way. I definitely needed this notebook when I ordered it. Then again, had I known I'd be saving over $500 at this time, I think I would have figured out some way to get by. I'll just have to convince myself otherwise

 

You are probably not the only one, but it's Felica card and it does not read credit card -- a store may give you a debit card that is like a subway smart card, but you can't use it on regular credit card.

You can store your credit card information in it, though, for on-line transactions and instead of typing in you just swipe the card. However, this function you can do it with your finger print reader as well.

US did consider importing it, I was one of the beta testers, but I said for the price Sony wants nobody will want to buy it -- I don't live anywhere near any cities or areas that use smart card and I am not going to pay $50 just so to be able to save my password safely. I am sure there are other testers that felt the same way.

 

Hey All,


Had my Z for almost 2 months now. I have this weird problem coming up. My screen brightness seems darker whenever I boot up, and often need to reboot a couple of times in order for it to get back up to maxiumum brightness. Now I had this problem before, than it went away for some reason or another. I recently did a restore and now it's back again.

I have not fiddled with any power options, and I'm kinda stumped here. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

It is just like the SZ. Like I said earlier, you can "only really" see the weave pattern under certain lighting conditions/environments.

 

Hello,

Since you seem to have had success with the S1 & S2 button solution I need to jump in here. I have been trying to get mine to work for 6 months and have tried all of the suggestions posted. Each time something else happens - like my Fn keys go dead, but the special keys don't work. If I check out the results in the Vaio Control panel it shows that the special keys have been assigned an "event" function which opens up a dialog box in Japanese. I have to restore to before the downloads. I have a SZ780U (vista ultimate)

 

Corrections To My Earlier Comments / Question

First, I don't know how my post jumped to the top of the thread...I was responding to a specific post about the S1 & S2 buttons, on another page.

Second, the fouth sentence should reference VAIO Central, Not "Vaio Control panel". Also in the fourth sentence "event" function is incorrect and should be "VAIO Launcher Setting" instead.

See Screen Shots Attached.

 

It's most likely a power management problem. Speed mode's default brightness is higher and stamina's default is lower. Open up your power management and adjust them to be what you like.

 

OK...I'm confused. I have done my best to keep up with all 500 pages of this thread but I seem to have missed something.

Why all the regret with the recent purchases? Is there some promotion beyond the $150 markdowns? Is the premium carbon fiber now avalable in the US?

 

I found the following photos of what appears to be the premium carbon *:

(http) flickr.com/photos/nami73/archives/date-posted/2008/10/21/

Unfortunately none of them show the top and inside simultaneously.

* I apologize for the incomplete link prefix; this is my first post and I am not allowed to post URL links yet.

 

First: Sony Price Drop!! the newer prices for same specs are much lower than what they were a month ago

Second: Premium Carbon Fiber IS now available in US for $50 upgrade and P9500 CPU choice

Third: I wish the lower res Z gets prem CarboN!!!!!!!!!

 

I was able to configure a Z (CTO) with the prem carbon, no blu-ray & lower res display.

 

Same here, I really wish Sonystyle.com USA had the Z540CTO with the premium carbon fiber lid upgrade option. I think I'm going to go for the 590 and see if I can handle the resolution, but ... it'd be so freaking nice if you could just get the upgrade option for the 540!

Some sites give the option, but not Sony. Speaking just for myself of course ... I will be ordering from sonystyle.com only, for the return safety and because of the student discount (I can't configure a better price for what I want on other sites).

 

Where?? Keep in mind that PortableOne has a LOT of spec-errors on their page lol (had Z590 with ULV once)

I too, will only be ordering from SonyStyle.com

 

I think Sony is getting desperate to sell some Z's. It's been two months I keep track of craigslist on ebay and very few are on sale used on ebay and NONE on craigslist.

 

in UK prices are still this same :| im still waiting with my order for new prices

 

Maybe people are just happy with their Z and aren't selling it!

 

OMG!! I can actually read it.

LOL thanks!