Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 (VPCZ1) Official Owners Thread Part 2

Yep that's it, although it seems to be random if the eject button works or not (altough with remapping of the keys, i guess if you knew what u were doing you could remap the eject button to eject)

In any case, for any of you people that want to UPGRADE TO 8GB of RAM, here's your chance: Super Talent 4GB DDR3 1333MHz SO-DIMM Laptop Memory $34.30 AC Shipped (2 for $66.70) - Slickdeals.net

$66 for 2x4GB of Super Talent RAM

 

So even with the Lenovo model it's a crapshoot? I've noticed two models of the ultra bay slim.
Current: 43N3230
Lenovo - Find accessories for your laptop and desktop - Storage - 43N3230

Older: 43n3215
43n3215 Lenovo (no rtn)see replaced by 43n3230 2546656 Product Detailed

This is so f'in confusing.

On a side note, AWESOme price on 8Gb RAM. I myself am waiting for these Samsung's to drop before biting.
43n3215 Lenovo (no rtn)see replaced by 43n3230 2546656 Product Detailed

 

I heard the lenovo one works, but i'm not so sure, there are threads about replacing the dvd with a bluray drive, but in any case, i think the original blu-ray drive sony uses with the Z is the uj-232, but the uj-242 should fit (since it's also a 9.5mm drive). I'm not exactly sure on the specifics though.

 

Okay, i spoke too soon, here's a code for 30% off squaretrade warranties with NO CAP!

SquareTrade Warranties 30% off with NO cap - Slickdeals.net


p.s. it works for ANYTHING including all the new gadgets you got for christmas

 

Did you try in the VAIO Control Center > Pointing Device > Enable ?
maybe there's a hidden shortcut that would disable it?

 

You may have spoke too soon, but I acted too soon !!! I bit on the SquareTrade 30% off, $30.00 cap deal (but I spotted that one -- actually, my brother notified me of it -- yesterday before I even saw your first post and bought it then). Your new find (30% off & no cap) is really a great deal! Probably too late to do anything about it, but it won't hurt if I give it a try. Thanks,

- da Choge

 

Just had my first Blue Screen !! It might have been that I was trying out the Beta of MS Explorer 9,,, and I had skype opened.. then I went to quit skype, my Z 1190 (really quit, not just close) made a few awful clunking noises, blue screened, did a memory dump and shut down. I rebooted into safe mode, all seemed fine, rebooted normal and it seems ok. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem... after a few trouble free months with this laptop... I was bummed to see this happen

 

Well for Squaretrade you got 60 days to cancel any warranty, so cancel it. Then you can reorder if they dont pricematch, but i'm sure they will, squaretrade warranties seem to be reliable (unlike sony ones...)

 

OK, two problems/questions:

Tonight, I tried to run the windows experience index. But it will not run. All I get is an error message that says "cannot complete assesment...due to an
error being reported from the operating system, driver, or other component."

I've run the WEI successfully before, perhaps as recently as a couple months ago. I don't know why it's not running properly anymore. Not that I care, but I'm wondering what the problem is. Has anyone experienced this; does anyone know what's going on here?



ALSO--and this may have something to do with the slow boot problem and all the blinks people have been getting--when I bring up the Event Viewer, and go into "diagnostics-performance, operational", I am getting a huge number of errors in the log. They're all due to boot performance monitoring (apparently the boot time is taking too long), and they started happening about seven months ago--which is coincidently about the same time tht I've been getting all the blinks before my PC boots (about 24 blinks or so).

 

Hi,
Yep; I have this happen from time to time & not been able to find the cause. I use stock browser but even if this is not loaded, the mouse can stutter & stall which is annoying. Like you, I do a re-boot.
Curiously, I notice this happen more ofter after running the 'vaio care' tune, so have set this to manual & have not run for a couple of week & mouse/pointer has been fine - but this is not conclusive.
Cheers,
T

 

Hi,
How did you fix this?
I am aware that Viao care includes a battery monitor, every so often a 'box' pops up with battery condition, maybe your battery needs replacing.

However, what is normal run time showing for your battery - as for me in stamina mode with auto brightness, wfi & wwlan 'on' &bluetooth off, @95% battery says 3hr30. But! I really only ever get about 2.5hr, as at 7% the laptop hibenates & the start of 3hr30 seems to fall quickly in real usage.
Cheers,
T

 

Hi,
DITTO! I had exactly the same problem...
fortinatley; the laptop rebooted after a slow mem dump & has been fine ever sinse. I even checked the 'raid' status & all was green with no error, so seems no halm done.

I had updated my IE from 8 to Beta9; I am assuming it was maybe some problem with 32/64 bit versions - but I never quite found the cause. I have been using the laptop fine with IE9 since te crash with no Blue screens - but it was a very scary moment.

Cheers,
T

 

I've never purchased a warranty for any electronic item (and I've owned many), nor have I ever had an item break on me unexpectedly. However, the price of my Z13 and some of the stories on here have me thinking about SquareTrade. It looks like with the 30% off deal, my price would be $140 for 3 years. Is it really worth it? Can anyone speak to SquareTrade's service level?

 

Does anyone else have problems updating VAIO Care?
I'm on version 6.1 (the one that came with the machine originally), and whenever VAIO Care starts, it wants to update itself (to the latest 6.3 version). However, once downloaded, it just says "Extracting" and that's it. Nothing more. Doesn't get updated. No way to uninstall it either. Tried the update both through VAIO update and downloading it manually, all to no avail.
Not a big deal, but a bit annoying anyway.

 

The slow boot before the windows screen appears is just the RAID drivers posting. There's been discussion in the old owner's thread about this as well as a few threads. You can try reformatting and hope the posting takes less time, unfortunately it's a drawback of RAID0.

SquareTrade has a good reputation. If they can't fix your electronic, they'll send you a check for the price of it. Compared to Sony's customer service (you've seen a few horror stories around here) it's much better. SquareTrade's entire business is warranties while Sony's is building computers, so SquareTrade should be better when working with warranties.

 

Oh man, I missed out on 30% SquareTrade

 

So the successor to the Z Series will be the SA Series according to information at the 2011 CES Show. Its equipped with 3.0 USB and Sandy Bridge. Does anyone have photos of the SA Series? Or is their a link to a forum discussion regarding the SA? Thanks.

(Edit)
Strange.... PC Mag. blocked the webpage I got this information from. Now, there's no information when you Google Search.

It spoke about it having the DVD-Drive on the left side and the Lid looking and feeling more or less like Aluminum. It gave me the impression that the Lid is going to look like the one-piece keyboard aluminum chassis on the current Z. It was also going to weigh a little heavier than the VPC-Z, still having the 1600x900 res. with a starting price of $2249.99.

Forum Link Discussion/PHOTOS of SA SERIES.

 

Anyone ever gotten the IO Gear GUW2015VKIT Wireless USB to VGA Kit to work with the Z13 or equivalent recent Z? Any special tricks? It works fine on my other laptop but not with my new Z. (This is using the newest driver and firmware.) Thanks.

 

How can I find if a Sony AC19V27 is compatible with a VPCZ1.

Stock AC19V32 is spec'd at [email protected]

What size connector is on the AC19V32. I hope the AC19V27 is compatible. Someone is selling it surplus for $10.

thanks

 

I recently bought a 1TB external on a hot deal from Dell ($99), the Iomega eGo. It works well, but I am interested in getting a USB 3.0 express card for my Z-1190. Have any of you had a good experience with one?
I would like one which when installed is flush (or very close to it) so I can just leave it in. I would prefer to have 1 port if it kept it flush but of course 2 flush would be better.

thx

 

Question for you all:

I think I'm going to have to do a system recovery. I've run windows backup to a hard-drive and backed up all my files (apparently). I've never backed-up from that before...and am wondering how "painless" the process is. Maybe this isn't the right forum for that, but can someone enlighten me as to their experiences with running backup? Do you still need to reinstall a bunch of programs? Does the system image take care of that? Any tips?

Thanks so much!

 

Hi,
Ive used Windows Backup & have found it to be a bit 'hit & miss'. It seems to run the backup very smoothly & is fast, creating an image & file container on the backup device.
However, the restore is less reliable. You need to boot from a windows Disk (that you create in Windows, assuming Win7) but I have found is often will not recongnise the image and/or fails to restore mid way through with a error.
Threfore, if you use this method, I would suggest creating more than one backup.
Hope this helps,
T

 

There was a thread about this where 2 that fit quite flush were found... I do remember 1, it's the one that Rachel has: Photofast Expresscard USB 3.0 W7 64bit

I forget the other one that was discussed. However, IIRC, that Photofast one is hard to find outside of Japan or something. I think the other one was readily available from Ebay though...

someone posted this one too: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/515186-usb-3-0-expresscard.html#post6665902

 

Has anyone's Silver-Colored Z shown any chipping of the silver paint along the edges? I'm very careful with my Z so I'm not sure if this is due to age. Thanks.

 

I have a silver Z, since April 2010. No chipping or fading here.

 

Ok, I'm thinking maybe I created a small nic on the edge from a compartment zipper in my carrying case. However, I just don't see how I could nic it in this area when the zipper sits up higher. Oh well..........

 

Hi guys, just got my new z and making recovery discs using the win7 backup/restore. Does it make any sense to create another set of dvds using vaio care? How these two ways of creating recovery dvds compare?

 

Hey richard, welcome to the club

Uhh, i think they're the same, no? In any case, you should make at least 2 sets of recovery disks as for some reason at least one set of the disks go bad by the time you need it (hopefully, you'll still have your recover partition if you ever need to recover).

In any case, here's a few things you might want to consider doing:
- turn off scheduled weekly defrag schedule
- delete or rename "ping.wav" to "ping.useless" in C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\VAIO Event Service as that's the annoying sound you hear whenever you go fn+F5, fn+F6 etc.
- install Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology) and under the "manage" tab, enable write-back cache (<- some people say don't, some people say it has no effect, some people say it helps... In any case, it does tell you about your drives)
- in Vaio Control Center, turn off Auto-brightness as you cant control the brightness manually if you have that checked (then crank the brightness all the way up and bask in it's glory <-- btw that's option )
- look at this thread to increase the threshold of the light sensor for the keyboard backlight (the light sensor is that opaque thing left of the num locks light): http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/521432-z12-keyboard-backlighting-threshold.html
- You can change the brightness values for each tick of the brightness meter at this location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sony Corporation\VAIO Event Service\Settings\VESAutoDimmer remember to type in "regedit" into the little search bar in the start menu. The neat little trick is if you put the brightness to 0 for the first tick, then that completely turns off your backlight.
- Overclock your nvidia 330m with EVGA Precision, Nvidia System Tools, or MSI Afterburner and try out more current, community-modded drivers here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics.html

Well, hopefully that'll keep you busy for a while . In any case, feel free to ask any questions (but we'd appreciate it if you tried to look for the answer in this thread or this forum first ).

 

Hi everyone,

I have the VPCZ119GX and the USB ports on the left side are behaving strangely. If I try to plug a mouse, drive, or keboard into an of the two, they heat up and the device doesn't work.

I am very puzzled with this behavior and I'd love to know if anyone knows how to deal with it.

 

Well, that's not normal (obviously), but can you give a little more background into your problem? For example, was something plugged into those at some point, and then after that the problem began?

You can also look at the ports themselves and see if they are physically intact. There should be 4 contacts in there, evenly separated, nothing cracked...

Sometimes when something, like say a usb drive, is plugged into the usb port, it can be pushed on or tweaked in a way that breaks up the usb connector in the computer.

 

I've posted this in another thread but I figure I should post it here too. In Japan Sony has updated all their models for spring. The Z is now z14. No sandy bridge. No USB 3. The biggest changes I noticed are the 1 TB SSD option and support for the high capacity SDXC memory card.

For those who can read Japanese.
ƒLƒƒƒ“ƒy[ƒ“‚©‚ç‘I‚Ô „  ƒp[ƒ\ƒiƒ‹ƒRƒ“ƒsƒ…[ƒ^[ gVAIOh - ƒ\ƒj[ƒXƒgƒA

 

1 TB SSD

 

Or plug the site into Google Translate

But OMG 1 tb SSD ><... 200,000 yen though...

 

Achusaysblessyou, thanks for your help. Regarding win backup I gave up after it asked me for the 5th DVD, and I was at about 2/3 of the process . Bottom line is the vaio care backup is a way to go (3single layer DVDs on my system).

 

I've been getting on well with my Z11 for about 8 months now but it's just developed a clicking sound on the right hand side hinge (next to the power button) when I go to open it It only clicks once everytime I open it slightly from any position. It doesn't need to be fully closed for it to happen. It's really bugging me and is fairly loud. Just started earlier today and never happened before. I guess I'll have to take it back to have it looked at. Has anyone experienced this before or heard about it please? Is there anything I can do to try fix it or is it better to just take it in?

Thanks.

 

I *might* know what you're referring to. Okay, so open your vaio, then close it while holding the top of the lid. Don't press down on the lid and turn it around and look at the hinge while the lid is still closed. then press down on your lid and is there a little gap where your hinge seems to be loose? If yes, well, you've got a loose hinge. You can fix it by opening up your Vaio and removing the keyboard and you can get to 4 of 6 screws (2 of 3 on each side of the screen) and try to tighten them (you need to disassemble the LCD to get to the third though)

 

Yes thankyou! You are exactly correct. The right hand side hinge has play in it while the left one seems fine (although not perfect). I can actually see the play alot more in the open position. While it's open, if I move the lid back and forth by about 1cm-2cm, I can see the small gap between the round hinge and the small block that's part of the lid. Hope that makes sense!

Will Sony fix this for me under warranty? Do I need to take it to my local Sony store or do I call Sony Service Dept directly?

Thanks again!

 

Hi I had the same problem and it was getting worse, the clicking and the screen was getting looser. I also had a light black spot on my LCD visible under certain conditions. Sony France took it for repair, I got it back fixed in under 48 hours. They have to repair it because you have to open the notebook and void the warranty if you do it on your own. Since the repair it never moved again.

 

You can do exactly what skipper suggested by going through Sony Support, it should be fine as all they have to do is open it up and tighten the hinge. I guess you could call them and see if they'll send someone over to fix the hinge for you, or maybe you could take it to a sony repair center. However, be aware they could scratch your laptop lid if you send it in, a few people have reported this after they sent it in.

I personally went in a tightened the screws and dusted out my Vaio last night in fact. I don't really want to be away from my Z for the amount of time it takes for them to fix it up.

 

There are no stickers or other indications that the computer was opened. Unless you cause some sort of damage, you are not voiding anything.

I and others on this board have opened our laptops many times, our warranties are all still in effect.

I have opened mine twice for the loose hinge problem. The last time I went ahead and applied loctite to the screws to ensure I won't have to do it a 3rd time. If you do send it in, presumably Sony would be applying some sort of permanent fix such as that to ensure you don't have to keep sending it in.

 

Well I just opened it and fixed the problem It was easier than I presumed at first and I have very little experience with opening computers. I just hope I put all the screws in their correct places as there are two sizes of screws but thankfully it all seems fine now. The lid has tightened up considerably and the play has gone. I expect it to loosen up again over time and next time I will use Locktite. I wonder why it only happens to the left hinge and not the right. I'm left handed btw so it can't be anything to do with that as I've been reading it's always the right hinge. BTW I managed to reach all three screws. I was also concerned about Sony service center scratching the laptop which is why I prefered giving it a go myself.

On another note, I noticed a bit of dust inside and would please like to know what others use to clean the inside? Will a pressurized keyboard duster be sufficient or should I wipe it clean?

Thanks again for the help I appreciate it very much and am able to sleep well tonight due to you lot!

 

Use the can of compressed air, I dont advise you to wipe anything either. Also, it'd be wise to take a picture of the bottom of the laptop and then as you remove screws place them at their corresponding holes on the picture.

If you're paranoid (i'd be with a $2k+ laptop), when you remove the battery, you hold the power button for at least 5 seconds and it'll discharge any lingering charges in your motherboard, etc. Also, touch something metal before you operate on your laptop (to discharge any static electricity you've built up).

 

Hi everyone, about to pull the trigger on a z138 from HK.

Couple questions:

1. Are the HK Z's made in Japan?
2. Any idea how the Vaio International Repair Service works? (registration, etc.)

Would really appreciate the info. Thanks

 

Hello,
I beg your pardon in advance to post again about the fan noise of this Vaio Z, but it is really important for me before buying one.

The laptop I would buy is : VPC-Z13A7E/B (the cheapiest I can find on internet, I'll replace the HDD for a SSD later)

About noise :
I'm conscious that a laptop have to ventilate to get cooler ... But what I hated with my last Vaio (SZ2XP) is the fact that the sound is not constant.

Yesterday, I wanted to work with it (with a dual screen vga/stamina), my SZ2XP is undervolted, and I applied thermal paste on it.
When 1 or 2 windows were oppened, with no flash running on them, it was quiet.
As soon as I oppened more pages, with images, or with flash running on it, it started to make noise : coming and leaving with the processor reaching 2ghz (max) and coming back to 1ghz (min).
This continual change of noise level stress me a lot. (Making unusable for me to work with it)

I went back to my other laptop (Acer 5930g, 15"), it was really quiet in normal surf, then I loaded a bit too much tabs with some flash ... The laptop began to make noise, but a constant noise for a long moment ... And I even don't recall if the ventilation stopped at one time or another ... because the stability of the noise, it don't disturbed me that much.

Well, I would know if the Z will be more like the SZ2XP, or more like the 5930g ?

I don't care that much if it spin, it have to spin the right way !

 

Thanks, I'll open it up again once I get a can of compressed air. Would you or anyone else be able to show me where the shorter screws go and where the longer screws go please. I've got most of them correct as the short screws don't fit in many of the long screw holes but I can't be sure if all of them are correct.

About the draining power and getting rid of static, is this important for when just tightening the hinge screws too or are you just saying it for when I clean the inside? Thanks again.

 

I think the Z will be more like the 5930g... Then again, the Z cant do a dual-external-monitor set up. It can, however, do a internal + external monitor set-up (ie. "extend" when you press windows key + p). why not go to a B&M store and test it out for yourself?

It's just a precaution in case you accidentally touch part of the motherboard. If you're careful and promise not to touch anything then it's fine (although i find that hard not to touch anything when you're trying to remove or reattach that darned keyboard ribbon cable... took me forever... and i didnt put it back properly so it didnt register my touchpad and made me freak... *rant over* )

 

I actually didn't take off the keyboard ribbon cable. Got someone to just hold the keyboard slightly suspended from the base while I got the screwdriver in underneath it.

Would someone show where the large and small screws go in the base please. I just need to be sure that all have gone in their rightful places.

 

^ here you go.... Sony Vaio Z installation guide 18
have fun sorting screws

 

Thankyou very much. I appreciate it!

 

Very difficult to find one exposed in a shop where I live.
There is a single place where I could find one, and I have to go there, you're right.
But usualy, there si too much noise in this sort of place (this special shop is very crowded) to make a real advice.

thx