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

Yeah i'm not sure if ANY laptop comes standard with MS office... but yeah, like astera said before, you can get a student discount from MS to get it cheaper. For US students, it's $79... it used to be $60 for 2007 w/ free 2010 upgrade... =.= Sad i didnt jump on that so now i'm running OpenOffice =), which is FREE =p

 

I get a wavy pattern when the battery is charging, seems it's not related to the refresh rate ...

BTW, I've searched the forum with no luck, the Zs that don't have a WWAN module should have a mini-pcie slot free right? nobody is running a pci-e SSD card? in theory you could fit two, one on the express-card expansion slot, and another one on the internal mini-pcie slot, I'm tempted to get 64+64 to get as much SSD space as I can on the Z and I'd rather use those slots than memory cards.

 

It's September now any news of the up coming Z with i5 580m.

thank you.

 

IS there any way to unlock bitlocker with vaio Z? seems like mine doesn't have tpm 1.2....Or do all Zs have TPM?

 

I was doing a search on the comparison between C300 and G2.

Do you feel any performance improvement of C300 over g2?

 

hello to all the owners contributing to this very long post.

Thanks to this thread I've learnt a lot and I finally registered to give some back.

I purchased my Z12 with a conventional hard drive with the intention of puting my own Intel SSD and avoid dvd/bluray.

This way, I get a cheaper vaioZ with a very good SSD, and I get it lighter than the "normal" Z and I can carry my own external optical drive only when I need it (which is not often).

Since many have wondered how to put a hard drive in the original space for the optical device, I put here the pictures of the "official" sony way of doing just that.

Reviewing the pictures after I closed my vaio I noticed I forgot to take one last picture with a narrow Aluminium plate that goes on top of the drive and keeps it in its place.

General view of the inside
Closer view
Intel SSD very close

 

According to reviews the C300 is faster but I doubt you would notice any difference between Intel G2 and C300. But with the C300 you get more disk space for your money.

 

Hi 1997,

I have found this eBay entry, which you may consider:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-VAIO-Z-SERIES-VPCZ12X9E-X-/270630439869?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3f02d4cbbd
It is ebay.co.uk, item no 270630439869 if link does not work.

This is where I bought mine, very helpful guys, immediate response, excellent service and have the z in stock. You may even email them directly at [email protected] and ask if they dispatch to AUS. Hope this helps.

 

hi guys,
im sorry to ask this, im currently collecting the benchmark result of current VAIO Z (non overclock), but unfortunately i dont have the new one, so yea. anyone with highest spec of VAIO Z has a free time and mind posting the 3d mark result (the 3330gt and Intel HD)? If only you guys have free time. im certainly give credit and rep as a token of appreciation of the effort.

post the result with screenshot (with 3dmark 2006, gpu-z and cpu-z) like below format:

Laptop Model | CPU model | Amount of RAM | GPU model and VRAM | Driver version | OS name | 3D Mark Resolution

like i did on mine,

VAIO Z12GN | Core 2 Duo P8600 | 2GB | NVIDIA M9300GS 256MB DDR3 | ForceWare 174.49 | Vista Home Business x86 SP1 | 1280x768

and

VAIO Z12GN | Core 2 Duo P8600 | 2GB | INTEL HD4500 64MB DDR2 | igdumdx 32.7.15.10.1502 | Vista Home Business x86 SP1 | 1280x768

 

Please which SSD did you put in and could you tell us the reason why you picked it?

 

It looks like an Intel X25-M 80GB Gen2.

 

Hi guys

Any advice on where the cheapest place I could get a docking station (VGP-PRZ10) for my Z127? Search of stores in Oz all indicate around AUD300 (~USD270) with not too much variation. Are there any more generic/aftermarket ones that could do the same job?

Thanks

 

After days reading all hundreds of posts about Z on this forum finally pulled the trigger and my new 1080p i5 256GB CTO is on the way.

Product: US-VPCZ1290X-LBOM
Component: Standard Capacity Battery
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: Adobe Bundle ($448 value)
Component: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
Component: No Mobile Broadband Built-In
Component: CD/DVD Player/Burner
Component: No Engraving
Component: Intel® Core™ i5-540M processor (2.53GHz)
Component: 13.1" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)
Component: Premium Carbon Fiber
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
Component: 256GB (128GBx2) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology

I spent quiet some time trying to get a 15% discount from Sony but was able to do so only after I agreed to purchase a extended warranty and 3 accessories valued $25 or more. Representative would not accept, say, an accessory that cost $10 even if second one cost $100 - all of them must be over $25.. I've got neoprene case, 8GB USB stick and 50GB blu-ray media and 3-year express shipment plan.

SSD upgrade from 128GB to 256GB was only $150, but from 4GB memory to 8GB - $300 so I decided to get 8GB memory somewhere else. The price to get 512GB SSD is ridiculous.

I did the order over the phone on Aug. 23 evening, it took few day to assemble it and it was shipped out from Japan on Sep 1 with estimated delivery date Sep. 8. Today is Sep. 4 and it is already at FedEx station in Queens, NY so hopefully I'll get after the holiday, on Sep. 7. I hafe at lest 5 or 6 powerful computers and laptops, but I am very excited to get this treasure soon

 

Without the FHD display and the 256GB SSD you could have bought the same model I have and saved a some money. I bought the 3y extended waranty with AD for $230 (from a reseller).


@Astera keep in mind it is not really a docking station it is only a port replicator: No HDMI connector, no audio connector, no dual monitor and max resolution only 1080p.

 

Does this work?

VAIO VPCZ11 | i7-620M | 4GB | NVIDIA GT330M 1GB DDR3 | ForceWare 188.80 | Windows 7 Professional 64-bit | 1920x1080




VAIO VPCZ11 | i7-620M | 4GB | Intel GMA HD | igdumd64.8.16.11.8880 | Windows 7 Professional 64-bit | 1920x1080



(Later...) Ok I believe the resolution the tests ran at is 1280x1024, no anti-aliasing, optimal filtering, both HLSL VS and PS at "3 0", and no repeat tests.

 

wow, thanks for the contributions, it's fine. much appreciate

 

I have it at last, after it going astray here in Spain for a couple of days.....

VPCZ12X5E spec as posted before

I have one problem or concern not sure which yet, on start up the login screen loads beepin quick but appears for a second to semi crash then refreshes and login as normal all this happens in under two seconds, does anyone elles have this happen to them.

 

Hi all need some help i have just run the vaio care and on the video test of which there are 3 mine fails number one with error verify that the hardware accelerator is set to the max value (E-Video-008) =

can anyone help me with this one please

 

Where did you buy a extended warranty with AD from? Sony asked $399 for 3y.. I can probably call and cancel their and get the one you have but they may ask me to pay back 15% discount.

 

nah, i dont think theyd cancel the discount. most people on this forum got their discounts by ordering for 2 accessories and the extended warranty. they canceled the warranty days after purchase without a problem. in your cart youd notice they are two separate items; just dont mention anything about the discount when you are cancelling it.

 

Buy.com - Sony Extended Service Plan
It looks like it is without AD but it is with AD (Sony part #VGP3SYLPAD).
Okay I paid $242 with tax. It is still less than from Sony and I don't have to buy useless accessories.

 

After some searching I wasn't able to find the old battery drain thread for the Z. I know this is a persistent issue, even with the new Z11/Z12, but I was wondering if there was a confirmed method to mitigate the drain, either through BIOS upgrades or settings.

Thanks.

 

Intel 80gb gen2;

Reason? well, there is a lot of fuss about which ssd drives are reliable in the longterm and the only ones which manage to keep out of the fire seem to be the intel units.
In addition to this, they have good price compared to competition and are easier to buy where I live.
I also have this very own drive in my desktop workstation working like a champ for over eight months.

Also, at the moment I bought it, I really didn't value enough the money difference to the 160gb version.

I would have paid for the bigger model now.

I am mitigating the lack of big storage with the original mechanical hard disk as a esata/usb drive (for when I need to carry something truly big like several 1080p movies or lots of .raw files from my camera) and with a 16gb memory stick pro HG mark2 and waiting for a cheap Transcend 32gb class10 to arrive.

Since I am so happy with this laptop and intel SSD drives in general I might consider upgrading it to the newer G3 drives if it turns out true be double big and better performers at the same price Not really a need or a priority.

Hope this helps.

Also, despite my vaio Z runs between 90 and 100 processes, it only takes about to 17seconds from power off to ask for the finger print.
I don't know if guys with the "standard" SSD drives sony puts inside it's faster or not.

 

Curious to know if (assuming you have 4 ssd drives that fit) you can create your own aftermarket 4x Raid 0 array? Is there anything different about the motherboards or interface on 4x raid models or can any Z12 support them?

Much appreciated!

 

I ran 3DMark06 on my stock settings when I first got the laptop and saved the number in a word document. I know this isn't exactly in the format you requested, but after months on this forum I still haven't been able to figure out how to get pictures in posts. I also haven't run the test on the Intel, at least at this time. I only have the free version of the software, so all test settings were the stock that come with that version.

Vaio VPCZ1190X | i5-540m | 6GB RAM | GT 330m 1GB | 8.16.11.8880 | Windows 7 Pro | 1200 x 800

3DMark Score 6241 3DMarks

 

Hey guys, would a Panasonic UJ232A 9.5mm Blu-ray drive fit the Z116?

 

Looks like this is one of their plans that has been discontinued and/or replaced with new, more expensive ones - DSES3SLPEA (with ADH) and DSES3SLPM (without ADH). When did you purchase it, what is the service provider name listed on agreement and did you have any problems to activate it for your Z12?

The reason why I am asking all these questions is that couple years ago I've purchased a extended service plan for my very expensive digital camera, was sure that I am covered and at one point of time accident happened. When I called to file a claim they told me that the plan I purchased and registered wasn't for my camera but for cheaper one and canceled it. All what I got was the price I paid for extended service plan and I was left to pay for all repairs by myself. I don't want to run into similar problems with this one. I am also considering squarethrade with ADH that is $320 but is the one you got works and does cover ADH like drops, spills, cracked screen etc I will purchase it as I can use the difference $$ for upgrades for my new Z.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned but the Z13 is already up on the Sonystyle Canada site...

See for yourself: http://www.sonystyle.ca/webapp/wcs/...catgroupId=1000883&LBomId=8198552921666257150

 

It goes to show you can never keep up with technology just have to jump in when you can, but I'm interested to see what the improvements are and if its worth the upgrade. I did a little research and it seems intel is gearing more towards battery life with the new m series processors with little speed improvements the video card they used seems to be the same just a code name for the 330m but the chipset is different, not sure what the improvements are there either, anyone else have more info on this new package?

 

The startup screen flickers a couple of times, I believe this is normal.

*This* is not normal, I haven't heard of this issue before (I didn't even know VAIO Care does a video test), I would call Sony. Good luck

Your statements in bold are the key considerations. Sony's quad-SSD configurations consist of 2 physical boards with 2 SSD drives physically residing on each board: one on each side. The connector to one such board is proprietary too, I don't think any other vendor today builds SSDs in that manner. The connector to the motherboard is also different, and Sony uses its own FPC cable.

The Z12 with the dual Toshiba SSD drives support micro-SATA interfaces and people have posted pictures of Intel X-18Ms installed. It is not clear whether the Z11 supports the same setup: previously someone tried fitting an X-18M in a Z11 but he said the dimensions didn't work out, more recently someone else said it works. With the lack of pictures to support these claims, it's not clear who to believe. But I digress...

I think having quad off-the-shelf 1.8 SSDs may be possible using the optical drive space, but the amount of work needed would be significant. It would probably require a separate RAID chip, and some amount of PCB building.

Then again, I think people would generally prefer other forms of RAID that provide true redundancy given 4 drives, rather than a bit more speed (with an SSD, for most purposes just 1 drive is good enough). With an external RAID chip, it would be possible to configure that to support other types of RAID.

 

You can order it also directly here: Sony Vaio 3 Year Notebook Express Ship Extended Service with Accidental Damage & Handling . I bought it two weeks ago.
I was able to register it without problems. Not sure if AD really applies to this notebook after what are you telling me. I guess I have to call Sony to find out.

 

Tofu... you seem to be pretty well informed!

So are the FFC cables and ZIF connectors are different for the 2x RAID than they are for the 4x RAID?

Or is it just that the SSD boards are different?

Could a 2X RAID configuration be upgraded to a 4x configuration by swapping in the "2 in 1 proprietary boards" but leaving the FFCs and other existing stuff in place?

I think I am reading that the 2X RAID is totally different from the 4X RAID and that only the 4X RAID uses the proprietary connectors. If that is correct and the X-18M can be fitted then I can upgrade my Z12 from 128 GB 2XRAID to 320GB 2X RAID.... Holy Crap!

 

So, Sony finally did something right (3rd attempt) and shipped me a Z from the default line: i5-540, 4GB, 2x64 GB SSD, 1080P, standard battery.

First impression: Its damn small! 100% DPI will take some time to get used to - I am right now working on both my old 15" (1280x800) and my Z.
I would have liked the big battery to lift the back for typing comfort - however Sony made the CTO option impossible.

86 processes un first startup.

As I live in Mexico it was shipped with a spanish W7 Pro and I just finished a clean install of W7 Pro (US English version, downloaded freely from MS).

I first googled the ABR software to backup registry and activation data, worked perfect even though my previous version was a Spanish W7.

HD setup in 2 partitions as 40+80 GB. (My old laptop W7 partition occupied 25GB including user data, figured 40 would do following the advice to keep some extra 10GB free space)

32 processes right after Windows install, before drivers.

I followed advice earlier in this (part1?) thread and everything seem to work flawlessly, however the install did not go without doubts:

* Audio works, but only from W7 default driver. Sonys driver kept stating "Corrupt installation file" and never got any further.

* Had some troubles installing "Sony Shared Library", "Setting Utility Series", "Power Management Update". Seem to finally have been installed after accepting "This program installed correctly" (Read the sony install guide which seem to confirm this to be okay)

Boot time post RAID-->WinLogin is <20s, 54 processes.

A big thanks must go out to everyone active in this thread, especially those who've responded to some of my previous posts!

* Did NOT find "TPM" and "Turbo Boost" drivers mentioned in previous posts
- anyone has links?

 

Thank you for the response I guess my key question is: Assuming I would have to utilize Sony's SSDs, can a 2xRaid0 model be configured later to 4x? I presume the FPC cable currently in there is the same for a 2x or 4x array, and the BIOS isn't unique to the 4x setup?

edit: Just noticed that ComputerCowboy asked essentially this same question whilst I was still typing this

 

Change your DPI settings to 100%, and then repeat the Video Test, this will make all 3 tests come as OK.

without problems, after done, return your DPI settings to what it was earlier

Will

 

I have changed with no problems a 2x64 GB RAID in a Z12 to a 4x64 GB RAID from a Z11. Connector on the motherboard is the same... The Z12´s 2x64 was Toshiba and the Z11´s 4x64 is Samsung, if this matters...

 

you say the connector on the motherboard is the same but is the connector on the drive side of the FFC the same? That is the real question here...

 

If you have a Z11 with two drives right amd the cables has no mSATA plug, you can buy the Z12 cables with mSATA plus (check my thread about replacing SSD). The 4 drives VPZ1 I'm not sure you maybe still get only 2 normal 1.8" mSATA drives in there (without metal case) ...

btw. my 101st post since I signed up 4 weeks ago.

 

thank you

another question:

sometimes, usually when i unplug the charger and its just on battery power, my display on most websites gets really... flashy? facebook probably best example but this site too. screen just flashes everytime a key is touched, or mouse moves (so even typing this comment is very annoying)

doesnt happen when plugged in, but if a unplug then plug back in, this will not fix the problem

anyone else know anything??

 

I have the Z12 and I am almost certain that it has the mSATA plug, I am going to wait for the 3rd Gen Intel drives to come out and either buy two of those or buy some cheaper 2nd Gen drives at that time.

Thanks for all the info! Great post

 

You're welcome. You could also consider buying the RealSSD C300 from Crucial/Micron. You get more disk space for your money and they are faster than the Intel. RealSSD C300 256GB for $600 + tax and shipping. The Intel G2 160GB costs $443 + tax and shipping. Or you can buy a mix, one fast SSD (Intel/Crucial) for OS and apps and one SSD that for storage (Samsung or something else). I bought a Samsung 256GB SSD for $400 on eBay (hopefully get it this week) which I'll use for storage.

 

I remember hearing about new clear shields for the Z - anyone know where to buy them? Anyone used them?

 

I want to keep the RAID setup. 2x C300 RAID sounds nice.

 

z13 anyone?

 

well... no update on that only got spec sheet and ship date.

Just z12 here at sony Thailand.

 

I'm assuming your questions have been answered

Try a slightly different laptop model, the drivers should still work, e.g. Sony eSupport - VPCZ11FHX - Software Updates & Drivers

 

Just spoke with Datavison on the phone regarding this plan and they told me that it does cover just ONE repair/failure over 3 year period. Did you read your service agreement? Is there such a limitation?

 

@Enny:

Please update us when you receive the 256GB Samsung SSD, and if you can include the Model no. (use everest) and some photos for the drive and its port , then that would be really kind of you.

One last personal favor, can you give me a link to the ebay supplier, or at least your search phrase, so that I can dig it myself.

regds;

Will

 

I am using a vaio Z11 4 months, and already I see a consumption of plastic where you rest your wrists (where the stickers, which I removed) ... nobody has the same problem?