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

Yea, It's a little worse than that. Recovery parition is long gone. I made a clone of the Z11 that I had and cloned in on to the Z14...Everything works except that the monitor brightness doesn't go to 100%. The brightness meter that comes up when you press FN +F5/F6 goes to 100% but when you check VAIO settings it stops at 70%. The Z11 I had was 1600x900 and the Z14 is 1920x1080, that's the only thing I can think of that might cause the issue. I'm guessing I have to reinstall something but not sure if I should download the software from maybe Sony Australia or Sony India (they are pretty lax with giving out the drivers and software) or keep trying to find a copy somewhere.

I've already asked a few people on Yahoo! Auctions to sell me just the recovery disks but I didn't get a reply. Can't see how someone wouldn't jump on that opportunity to make money...

 

Unrelated, but does any one here use the SGP skin for the wristrest or lid? They look nice but want to know about the quality.

 

Tae1,

Try this link for the SGP lid cover, scroll down a bit

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/291748-vaio-z-sleeves-bags-cases-thread-64.html

 

See that sounds bad... you cloned an image of a Z11 to a Z14... the potential for difference in hardware automatically make that a bad idea(screen res, SSD model/brand, TPM(?), etc.). What you can do is just reinstall windows using a windows disk. There are ways to get it, as long as you have a key you're fine(although it is an OEM key, so it might not activate the first time , but just give MS a call and tell them you're reinstalling). Then just download the drivers from Sony Aussie/India or wherever your prefer.

 

Thanks. I just ordered the black leather lid cover and wrist rest.

 

I have a lot of experience cloning and working on things like this..I knew it would work as long as the chipset is the same and even then you can just run startup repair to fix any driver issue thats causing Windows not to boot.

The only issue I have is that the new monitor looks a little darker....when I checked the Display settings in Vaio Control Center, it shows 70%. I've already uninstalled and resinstall Power Management, Sony Utilities, Sony Event Service and Shared Library....still shows 70%. It could be that it's at 100% but its just being read wrong from the Control Center.....If I start and 1%, being the darkest you can put the monitor, and press FN+F6 three times it still shows 1%. The fourth time I press it goes to 6%, then 11%,19%,30%,46% then 70%.

Are the 1920x1080 monitors darker than the 1600x900?

 

Hey, I just got a message from Windows 7 saying to download the Sony Extension Firmware Parser driver and the Ricoh memory reader driver. I already have those installed and nothing is missing in Device Manager. What should I do?

 

No one else every had this happen?

 

To answer your last question, yes. You're pushing pretty much the same amount of light through about 20% more pixels. There was a comparison between the two screens before and it was noted that the 900p was brighter. However, when i have my screen max brightness, Control Center does say it's at 100%...

In any case, read this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/497093-how-fix-dim-screen-vpc-z.html

It's about setting the brightness for each level of the the fn+F5/F6. And it's never set at max (oh and a neat trick would be to set the last one to 0 brightness, effectively turning off the lcd... I wish sony included a native button for this like in the cw? series)

Sorry, i didnt see your post, but that's sounds exactly like the video driver problems people experienced in the past, where when watching youtube/flash content, the screen will go black and a buzzing noise come out. Have you upgraded to the latest video drivers on the VPCZ1390X? I think that might've been the fix. At least it did it for me.

 

(What Achu said) Also, just do a search. You will see much discussion on this issue (and then update the drivers ).

 

Thank you very much for the advice. I haven't tinkered with the drivers since November so I will give it a look.

Thank you. I searched "flash freeze" and came up with nothing so I thought I'd ask.

 

Try "screen freeze". That one shows quite a few hits.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/473103-strange-crash-z1190.html

I think that's the original thread on it. Like I said, it was a VERY common problem back when the Z's first came out... then a few people messed with modded drivers then Sony came out with updated official drivers when the Z13 came out (but it's not updated on the Z11/Z12 driver download page)

edit: I'm reading over that thread and brings back all the memories of the carnage back then, i myself experienced it once, but after i read about everyone else experience so i didnt freak out too much... But most of the new Z owners don't understand where us oldies came from

 

The 190.24 (8.16.11.9024) official release found on Sony's driver update for model VPCZ13GGX/B, worked great on my VPCZ1190X. Fixed this problem and others issues (ObjectDock)

 

Thanks! Worked perfectly. Sony Control Center now shows 100%.

As for turning off the monitor, what I did was downloaded a program called nircmd.exe and copied it to the c:\windows folder. Next create a desktop shortcut, then right click the shortcut and go to properties and set the target to C:\Windows\nircmd.exe monitor off and you can also set a shortcut key. I set "ctrl + alt + Z". Then I placed it in the Accessories folder in the start menu. Now you can either assign the shortcut to the S button and have the monitor turn off when you press it or when you press the shortcut key, make sure you restart after placing the shortcut in the Accessories folder. Tends not to work right away, needs the restart.

 

My Sony notebook experiences are limited to the SZ680, Z1290 and most recently the P530CH. Didn't realize it was an issue. By the time I grabbed my Z12, I guess it was already fixed.

Thanks for the info. Downloading now.

 

I'm glad that worked for you . In any case, i forgot who, but someone on this forum made a simple application to remap the Assist and Vaio keys... i'm not sure where the thread went though...

Oh i meant a problem specific to the Z11/Z12's.

 

I have not experienced any problems so I am hesitant to update, but the tweeker part of me wants to ask this question.

I am running 8.16.11.8880 from 1/20/2010 on my Z1190 i720, 8GB RAM and 256 GB SSD... so I want to mess with this?
would I see a worthwhile performance increase?

 

Most likely not. However, that is the "older" driver that caused the black screen + buzzing noise, but if you never experienced it, then no real need to upgrade. However, the one that zaxon is talking about is an official sony release so it should be safe as it's meant to go on a VPCZ. (This is the same one linked in Nautius' thread on Hybrid graphics btw)

 

anyone else have trouble adjusting brightness? not sure when exactly i get the problem ie if its usually in SPEED or STAMINA, but sometimes it just doesnt work :S

thanks

 

Maybe you have 'auto brightness' switched on & this is affecting the manual setting. As I found some stange behaviour with auto brightness set on & then trying to adjust manually.

Cheers,
T

 

For me, updating to the new driver has seemed to stabilize some of the graphics related problems I was having such as the occasional blue screen when switching graphics. Much happier with my vaio now I would say its worth it

 

I would like to know that if its normal for the VAIO Z battery to stop charging even when plugged when the accumulated charge is 99%. Previously its 100% for full charge, and this unit is barely a year old.

 

If you want, you can download HWMonitor and it'll show you the wear level of your battery (google it to find it)

 

Thanks I will give it a try

 

where did you get the updated drivers from, and what is involved with the update? Do you do it from inside device manager, update driver and point to a downloaded file? or is there an easier way?

 

Either go to Sony Esupport website then enter model vpcz1390x then click drivers and download it and just run it while in speed mode, OR you can go to this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics.html

then scroll down to Official releases and download the 190.24 drivers for the VPCZ. Then do the same, run the file while in speed mode

 

Don't know if this has already been answered. But right click on the desktop (on stamina mode), click graphics properties, and in the power section--click maxmium performance.

 

I have an HP Envy 14 right now and I'm thinking of switching to the Vaio Z but I have a few questions and couldn't find the answers anywhere.

#1 - How good is the screen? I see they only offer the 1080p screen now and I heard it's not as bright as the 900p, is there a big difference? And what about the colors/clarity? Can anyone compare it to the Envy 14's 900p radiance display?

#2 - About the SSD's, there's no TRIM since it's in RAID right? How big of a drawback is this? Generally how long would it take before it slows down and I have to restore and wipe the SSD? And is it possible to remove the RAID and have 2 drives, therefore having TRIM?
Also, I'm new to SSD's so just wondering, would the lack of TRIM mean that it's better to use it for the OS only and not use too much space? I was thinking about putting another SSD using a caddy and using that for storage.

#3 - Does the Z series have the infamous loose battery syndrome that Sony is known for?

#4 - Would I be able to eSATAp via an express card? Or does the express card slot not output power?

$5 - lastly, any coupons out these days?

Thanks in advance

 

where is the best place to order a new vaio z?

 

Hello!Does someone know something about this?Why does it show 3.86gb useful from 4GB?Is this from the VC?before i had a SZ series and i had 3GB of RAM and it showed me every time 3GB not less..I tried to search o the internet but didn't find nothing

 

.14GB is being used by the graphics card. It's normal. Either that, or you're running 32 bit Windows.

 

SonyStyle?

 

Maybe try the Microsoft Store (online) too.

 

The SZ series also had a shared and a dedicated graphic card and it showed all the time the correct amount of RAM and it's 100% x64 OS

 

Every single person running Windows (32 or 64 bit) has this.
For example, I have 8GB and it shows 7.68GB.
It's just how Windows rolls

Anyway, if you don't really like that, there's always Linux.

 

I think the topic's been beaten to death, but it seems to be a consensus that the missing RAM is from the IGP.

As for why the SZ doesn't notice any missing ram... maybe because that IGP is its own separate chip with it's own separate memory? Whereas on the Z the IGP is on the same die as the CPU and therefore has none of its own dedicated RAM (and so it borrows from the system RAM)? I'm just speculating... as I've no clue about this. In any case, are you using 3.68GB of RAM in daily use? If you are, then it'd be more wise to upgrade to 8GB RAM rather than trying to recover the .32GB. For the average person 3GB of RAM is enough.

 

Would it be better to buy a Z with 256GB SSD and use a 500GB hard drive in a caddy, or buy it with 128GB SSD and install a 256GB SSD in a caddy? Assuming both will cost the same amount and total free space is irrelevant..I'm just thinking because since the Z doesn't have TRIM I should only use it as a boot drive which means I really don't need the larger 256GB right? That's why I thought I could put my own 256GB SSD with TRIM in the optical caddy and use that for storage

 

Hmm . May I know, Does all the current VAIO Z with core-i7,quadssd, 1g graphics ram already had TRIM support?
and if not what current crop of the Z series has that kind of support?
TIA

 

Z = no trim.

Otoh, I don't know anyone complaining about drive slowdowns so...
The general consensus is that the drives garbage collection is up to the task.

 

Only SSD's in RAID0 don't have TRIM support. It's really Intel and their RST's fault i guess (or i guess Sony for offering such an option). However, if you have a SSD not within a RAID array, then there is TRIM support.

No computer running SSD's in RAID0 have TRIM support, it's a problem with the RAID, not the manufacturers. Since sony does not offer any Z series with a single SSD, none of them have TRIM, but they all support it (TRIM is a OS level command).

 

thanks, so it would be possible to get of the RAID and have 2 separate drives with TRIM? And Sony has a "garbage collection" working in place of TRIM? How well does this work?

 

hey guys, think i might have some dead pixels or something not sure. top of the screen there is a couple of small patches of pixels that are just purple on most backgrounds, and just grey on a blackground.

anyone know anything, how this happened, what it is, and if its fixable??

thanks

 

Could you please post a pic?
I think I have this exact same problem. I posted my problem wih pics a few pages back.

 

Just an update to my situation.
I have arrived in Hong Kong today and went to the Sony service center.
They will inspect my laptop and fix the problem.

Anyone wants to buy a brand new original unused 1920x1080 Toshiba screen for the VPC-Z?

Oh and while I was at Sony, I bought a new VPC-Z138GG.

 

These drives have their own Samsung/Toshiba garbage collection

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...g-term-ssd-performance-post-your-results.html

pics would be nice. But it does sound like dead/dying/stuck pixels

 

Oh, see... You should have followed our advise & get your screen fixed through warranty! Anyway, on a serious note, it is great to read that you did in fact managed to get your notebook to a Sony service center to have your screen replaced.

Congrats on your new notebook too. It is good to be you.

 

My Vaio TZ died, so I got the VPCZ13M9E/B as a replacement, but I'm having issues with installing PGP Whole disk encription. I've heard runours that it can't be done on RAID 0 disks? can anyone advise on this?

 

hey ota,

searched back a lot of pages but couldnt find any pics? i keep thinking its getting better but dont think it is really. quite annoyed because im super untech-savvy and have no idea what to do. also not keen in having to send away to be computerless for a long time

 

Here are pics of the initial black dots on my screen that eventually became purple blotches.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...l-owners-thread-part-2-a-172.html#post7136276

It kinda looks like pixels bleeding or leaking. I left my laptop yesterday at Sony and I am supposed to get it back on the 24th. I will update you guys on progress.

Well after using the Z138GG for a bit, I have noticed the following differences the Z117GG:

- the buttons seem softer
- the buttons don't pick up grease from y fingers anymore (perhaps I hands are cleaner? I doubt it...)
- the paint finish on the palm rest seems more tough
- the screen is brighter with identical settings
- the touchpad buttons click with less noise