Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

thanks. is the palm rest fading important at all beyond aesthetics?
and so there are multiple types of batteries you can get that will provide more power, not simply the one they offer as an accessory when theyre selling the computer?
can someone tell me how the prices of the envy 14 and the vaio compare? been reading a lot of comparison reviews but still not sure how they stack up price wise..

 

First, let me apologize for my laziness cuz its 2 AM right now and i don't wanna read through all of this and for having no clue about this stuff

But is there a difference between the VPCZ114 GX/S and the VPCZ116 GX/S or the VPCZ119X?

Would you recommend i purchase either of these if I can get a good price or should i get the newer version?

Thanks!

 

I noticed a little issue with my Z: the zoom out button doesn't work (Fn+F9). Zoom in (Fn+F10) works fine, though, but zoom in without zoom out just isn't really usable.

Any idea what's wrong? Some driver maybe?

Because I'm thinking that providing these shortcuts is a wonderful idea from Sony, especially given the ultra-high dpi of the Z display. Too bad if they don't work...

 

boom! finally 'pulled the trigger' as you guys put it after a month of solid research. ordered the z128 model with 256gb memory and 1920x1080 resolution. after not being able to find any in sydney, i bought one online. they say all there items ship within 2-5 working days which i found a big surprise

so if all goes to plan i will have my very own vaio within the week!!!

(will it come with instructions on where to start? ie... recovery disks etc?)

edit: very excited !

 

Good on you mate! I am still waiting for my order to come through from Harvey Norman. Been waiting for exactly a week today!

Which retailer did you order from if you don't mind me asking? I would be very surprised if they actually had them beauties in stock.

 

you see, i thought so as well! im assuming i wont be so lucky? i figured they would surely say 'out of stock' or something if they didnt have them in. will update in couple of days either way to say if they are out

cameraworld.com.au

 

Hi all!
This is my first post on theese forums, which i have followed for a while.
Cheers!

Anyway; I seem to be one of the unlucky ones who have got a less than perfect ex of the new vaio-z (115)

Im pretty sure i have nailed down the problem to GPU throttling now.
In short: Even in less demanding games (such as HL2 and CSS) the result is a stuttering experience. This is NOT due to lack of GPU power, in the graphics stress test (in which stuttering also occurs) i get 150+ FPS. Its also clear that there is a time-dependence for theese symptoms, and the problem gets worse of you repeat the test several times.
My temps are in the range of 83-86C under load. And the fan is rather loud. Im fine with that, it has to vent the heat out somehow.
Im not happy with the throtteling though. Its basically useless in all 3d applications.

I checked the GPU using GPU-z while running theese tests, and I can see that when the stuttering starts, the GPU memory controller load jumps up and down between 1-5% and 55%, while as when it works (early in the runs) its a constant load of about 50%.

Any other users who had theese problems?

I should also say, that the first unit i got, stopped working (blackscreened, and did not post...) worked fine until it died...

Im starting to wonder if the new Z isnt such a miracle of engineering after all, or am I just unlucky?

Cheers
Suras

 

Anyone has any idea when the refresh (Z12x) is hitting the US? I am particularly interested in the refreshed CTO.

 

Here in Italy it is available in 3-4 weeks.

Same configuration of mine (April 2010 VPCZ11C5E) with new name VPCZ12C5E, but it will be cheaper of 30 € (35 US$).

 

Yes, I am running Dawn of War II (there was this Memorial Day sale ). Since it's kind of old by now, I had thought it would run on at least medium settings. The game itself tested and suggested pretty good graphics options, and most of the time things are ok (even at FHD).

But sometimes, sometimes, it stutters. I don't know why. I initially thought it was because I was running Steam off of an external drive (via eSATA), but I tried installing it locally and the problem persisted. Then I thought it was Microsoft Security Essentials (yes, grasping at straws) occasionally scanning updates and I made it not perform RTS on the Steam directories. I had just downgraded everything to either off or lowest possible setting. Now the stuttering appears only when multiple creatures attack.

It could be the GPU, or driver, but since the driver is Sony-specific, I can't use anything else from Nvidia. I'm kind of sad it's running on lowest settings, but at least the money's not wasted

 

Yeah it's just aesthetics, it's not like it deformed and is now crushing some important piece of hardware underneath. I really don't mind (although I guess I should on a 2k+ usd lappy) since the rest of it runs like nobody's business

Haha well, welcome to the brotherhood =p. No, it wont actually come with instructions, but there are a few posts here on what to do first. This was posted pretty early up on this thread:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Oscar2
Well there's my list. Maybe this is the one you were thinking of? (I've added one more due to feedback from STxVAIO):

Mods to brand new Vaio Z11:

1. Download and install latest Intel Rapid Storage (RST) drivers. Ver 9.6 or higher (To enable RAID 0 TRIM).

2. Enable write-back cache (Speedup): Intel Rapid Storage: Manage | Advanced

3. Turn on VT (virtualization) in bios (Just because there's no reason not to unleash amazing virtualization prowess).

4. Turn off Windows weekly defrag schedule (Why thrash on the poor ssd?).

5. Turn off boot time re-arranger: In Regedit: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction\Enable -> “N” (For same reason as #4).

6. Bloatware removal. Can be facilitated using tools such as "Revo Uninstaller", "PC Decrapifier", "CCleaner", "Autoruns"

hmm, the black screen seems to be kind of common, and it's apparantly due to the current Nvidia drivers, I personally have only had it once, but then again I dont usually watch YouTube Videos. About the stuttering, I had that when playing BF:BC2, but that was apparantly because this Vaio hates DX10 so i had to run it on DX9, but HL2 and CSS shouldn't have problems...

 

Yeah.
Ive actually done a fair bit of testing.
Its pretty clear now i think with the graphs of GPU memorycontroller load in sync with the stuttering. And this with a game with a 140+ FPS...

And yes, it really affects real game performance too, not just the stress tests.
Im a bit worried, because this kind of problems can be a bit of a hard sell to Sony. I have to find a techie who takes the time to test it out.

If wasnt clear, I had my unit on service once already.
The blackscreens i had before, were too heat related. My wifi card occassionally shut down due to heat issues...

Im losing faith in Sony. makes me sad.
I really love my Z in all other aspects. its the perfect laptop.
If it only worked...

 

Hi,

a) Is version 9.6 in 1/ above not provided by Sony with the Z series? and is there any risk of data loss with upgrading as Im not sure it Sony use a modified version, as their SSD is not standard.

b) Re: 2/ above - is there a ''real'' (noticable) performance improvement with this option set, verses risk of data loss? (as with RAID0 & SSD, the performance is already very very quick & I wonder why this is not set as default if significant performance improvement?

Cheers,
T

 

a) No (9.5) and no.
b) Yes, there is. I would classify the risk as low (as your laptop will shut down anyways before you run out of battery and in case of a BSOD you can lose data w/ and w/o cache anyways).

 

I had been following this thread for the past month (albeit passively) as I am in the market for a ultra portable and even nearly got a MBP 13" before I found the enthusiasm and huge pages of postings on this thread.. Now I have finally took the plunge, and just bought the new refresh VAIO Z12 (VPCZ126GG) outright from SONY center here in Delhi. Kinda pissed about getting the black carbon fiber, as I wanted the silver/metallic one. Anyway, first hand experience - Build quality is great, runs cool even after some few HD video playback.

The price I paid is around USD 2300 With the following configurations:
Core i5 540M (2.53 GHz)
6 GB RAM
128 GB SSD (64 x 2)
GeForce GT 1 GB 330M 1GB
1600x900
win 7 64 bit


As I got this refresh model, what are changes/fixes being done after Z11?

Few Problems:
1) After playing video on YouTube in full screen, there is a black screen which won't go away.. I had to force shutdown to recover.. not a good thing!!

2) Mine being 128 GB SSD, it shows only 70 GB as free!!!! As I read somewhere in this thread, Win 7 mights take 15-20 GB, 6 GB equivalent for memory swap, 10 GB or more for the recovery partition (hidden)... That in total is around 35-40 GB .. where does the other 35-40 GB got lost?

3) Lot of bloatwares - how do I remove them all? Should I reformat and reclaim the lost space? (around 70 GB that is).

 

whats wrong with black carbon??

think thats what im getting!

 

The main difference between Z11 and Z12 being discussed, which is still up in the air, is the question of regarding the palm rest.

Some of the ads for the Z12 explicitly state that it is aluminum.

Many of the folks on here say, "I'll believe it when I see it".

So, the big question for you is: Is the palm rest plastic or aluminum?

One way to tell may be the fact that the plastic palm rest deflects easily when you press down in the middle, I'm guessing an aluminum would be sturdy in that regard. Another way would be to look at the edges.

 

I hate to break bad news to anyone but you may well have to accept that you probably bought the wrong computer for what it is you are trying to do. I do not believe, from your description, that it is a problem with your particular unit (bad luck, as you say). I think anyone trying to do what you are doing on this unit will probably see the exact same results. That means its not something that a Sony technician is going to be able to help you with.

Another indication of this is the overheating problems you are seeing. The fact is there is a reason that people build gaming machines with liquid cooling and massive heatsinks and there are some laws of physics that even Sony cannot bend

One thing you might try doing is running at a lower resolution, that way your 140+ fps represents less actual pixels/sec. needing update.

 

Nothing wrong mate, just that I wanted the silver/metallic finish more than the black carbon. But now that I got it, I'll soon learn to love it too, I guess .. BTW, how much did you paid for your Z12? I hope you get it soon!

Aha! Yes, the palm rest don't seem to be the smooth brushed aluminum (as found in the keyboard frame)..running fingers over it certainly don't feel aluminum.. but it does not also feel plastic either.. may be its an aluminum with different grade of finish (matte)..

 

"Some of the ads for the Z12 explicitly state that it is aluminum."

Sony said the same thing for the Z11.

 

Are these things necessary? and how easy are they to do? How would I (novice) do them please?

Should I not ever defrag this ssd?

Thanks.

 

Anyone know the difference between the VPCZ112GX and the VPCZ112GX/S? I was able to get the microsoft store deal for the VPCZ112GX/S but the model number under my laptop says VPCZ112GX.

 

"/S" just denotes the color, which in your case is Silver.

 

Ah, that makes sense. Thank you.

 

New video driver out June 3rd that could fix the black screen of death issue.

I just installed it and hope it fixes the problem, I called Sony support and they advised to install it.

I'll keep updating to see if this fixes the problem and I hope others do to.

Sony eSupport - Electronics - Software Updates & Drivers

 

Sony is providing updated drivers?! I look out my window and I see:



Thanks, I installed it Maybe it'll help with GPU throttling...

 

UPDATE: Cancel the install the Sony rep gave me the wrong driver it was for XP.
Update:
I just checked my driver version number and the driver still seems to be the same. I don't think the updated driver was applied. I may have to call Sony back. Anyone else with the same results...please comment I was to get rid of this problem.

 

it's a driver for windows xp not 7...

 

Does it get cold at night? it might give you a hint

 

I believe you're right! What did I install

 

That's perfect for me since I want to use XP on it anyway!

 

The install didn't take effect.

 

idk if its in the thread already, but can anyone take a picture of the wear they get on the palmrest? Is it bad?

 

Being curious I went to your retailer's website where you have ordered your Z from. It's saying "pre-order" as its status. So looks like you are in the same boat as I am, unless you are lucky enough to get the last one!

 

Short answer:
Not unless your defragmenter can do a "consolidate only" pass. And even then, very sparingly.

Explanation why it's mostly unneccessary:
SSDs don't suffer much from fragmentation. For a regular HD, when a file is fragmented, the drive heads have to move between areas and the platter move into position to read the next chunk of data. On an SSD, there are no moving parts; read speed is the same no matter what.
There's a TINY amount of slowdown on SSDs when files become very fragmented, because there will be extra "continuation blocks" telling the file system where to read the next set of blocks from. So you may read an extra block or two occasionally, but that's milliseconds lost at most.

Explanation why defragmentation of an SSD can be harmful:
NAND storage has a finite number of write cycles. Every time you write to a block, it gets a little more damaged, until it no longer works. So you always want to reduce the amount of unneccessary writes, which defragmentation is.

Explanation why consolidation can be useful:
An SSD can only erase entire sectors at a time. If you have deleted files, the space they took up can't be written to again until the entire sector is erased. So a single small write can mean that the drive must first have to copy the existing data somewhere else, then erase the entire sector, then copy the data back, and then do your write. That's a time consuming operation. By consolidating free space, you free up more whole sectors that can be erased ahead of time, which increases write speed. But it has to be weighed against the extra writes it causes, so do it sparingly.

The best advice for SSD maintenance is to never fill it up. As you fill it up, it's harder for the drive to find empty sectors, and you get more "expensive" copy-erase-copy-write cycles, and a slowdown. In addition, the wear leveling has less space to work on, and you will increase the amount of writes to the same sectors over and over again, reducing the life span of the drive. A good rule of thumb is to always leave 10% space on HDDs and 20% on SSDs. More is even better.

 

Yes, please do.

 

Well there are pictures from somebody taking an eraser to the palmrest to attempt to get rid of the goo from the sticker. Mines looks kinda bad now that i took a picture of it... But in real life, it looks like there's a shadow.

Background: I've got kinda sweaty palms, I gamed on this lappy using W, A, S, D so my palm falls right on there. I removed the stickers and used them to remove the rest of the adhesive before the wear appeared, but when the wear first started appearing, I could see the imprint of the stickers.

Link to Pictures:
Yfrog Album

 

Ouch.

Yea, that kinda sucks, especially compared to the prev-gen Z.

 

About the bloatwares and the SONY's own apps such as SONY Care, Gate, Media Plus, Transfer Support and lot of others, which ones do you think are useful and productive? I had created recovery disks so that I can erase the recovery partition and clean install win 7 in the next few hours. (just got 128 GB, so definitely would like to use all the available space)

Also, once I have a clean install, do the recovery disks have all the required driver/app stuffs, or do I need to download anything from the SONY download center?

And somewhere in this thread, it was mentioned that the following sequence should be followed after clean install:

1. Windows 7
2. Intel Chipset
3. Nvidia Graphics
4. Audio
5. Ethernet
6. MS Card
7. SD Card
8. Pointing Device
9. Sony Firmware Extension
10. Bluetooth
11. Intel ME
12. Intel Wireless
13. Turbo Boost
14. TPM (if needed)
15. Setting Utility Series
16. Sony Shared Library
17. VAIO Event Services
18. VAIO Control Center
19. Battery Checker
20. VAIO Location Utility
21. VAIO Power Management
22. VAIO Smart Network
23. VAIO Update
24. Protector Suite

Any other tip/info that I missed, or that I need to look out for? Would appreciate your views/advice (as don't want to screw up with this little pricy monster!!!)

 

Yeah, but then again, I've been using it like crazy + I've got sweaty palms. In this entire forum, I think I've only read of two other incidents of palmrest wear(one of them was the eraser incident, the other was legit wear & tear). But it's superficial, all the internals run fine and it's still a Vaio Z. Plus whoever's looking at my laptop probably wont see the spot... because my palm will be right over it =p

 

Hi,
Thanks.
1/ I installed 9.6 of Intel Storage & all is fine - however, does this now use TRIM? (As reading the release notes, I cannot locate any reference to trim)

2/ I have enable 'write cashe' but dont see any change as yet - will monitor this

3/ As regards the DEFRAG Regedit fix you suggest; there is no entry in my regestry matching that.

Incidently,

I did run the INTEL 'check updates' & it did suggest
a) Update to wifi from 13.0 to 13.1
b) Update to Ethernet
c) Update to Intel HD Graphics - oddly the Intel sites display my version & a later version but when I install, it halts with a message suggesting I am attempting to install an older version - odd or what...

Cheers,
T

 

See Frequently Asked Questions.

Windows 7 will disable defragmentation for SSDs automatically. If you want to be sure you can use tools like GigaTweaker to disable it.
If you update the Intel graphics driver you will lose you dynamic switiching ability.

Just to clarfiy things once and for all: If you get your brand new VPC-Z there is NOTHING you have to do. All the things dicussed here are optional tweaks, that might not even improve something - they just satisfy peoples' various quriks.

 

What about switching off auto defrag? Does that need to be done?

 

I just switched it off anyway. It was set to defrag weekly.

 

Vaio Care disables it when it is run, it's one of the recommendations it makes when run for the first time. I find VC quite a useful utility.

 

The previous version 5 of Vaio care did not disable DEFRAG for my SSD; it dispayed a message saying 'defrag not recommened' with only option to click being 'ok' - it then proceeed anyways.....

In Vaio Care v6 the default for DEFAG is enabled but in 'options' you can untick degrad for HDD & Registy.

Cheers,
T

 

Thanks gentlemen. Great help!

 

what about the 'disk clean' utility? is that bad for the SSD?

btw, i got my Zeroshock III case, it's not as sturdy as I had hoped, perhaps I should have gone for the Zeroshock IV. Anyway, it's still good, and I will use it inside an also padded laptop bag so should be fine.

I'll post pics over on the bags thread tomorrow

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

 

Whats wrong with defragmenting the ssd? I thought it would improve performance?

 

The basic goal in defragmenting to to get contiguous files.

On a HDD this can improve performance a lot because there is a big seek time (the head must mechanically go to the proper sector) but once the file is found, the transfer speed is big (the disk spins fast and the head reads all that follows). On the other hand, if the file is fragmented, the head will have to seek each part of the file in order to get the complete file, resulting in a big slow-down. The more parts, the more file seeking, the more time lost.

On a SSD there is no moving part, the seek time is very short (simply access to the proper memory cell) and reading a lot of data from contiguous or not contiguous blocks does not change much.


So, no, defragmenting a SSD should have no impact on performance.