Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

hi just wanted to ask, the US and Canadian Z12 models are not QUAD SSDs? it only says 128x2 for the 256GB ssd config. please enlighten me.

thanks!

 

I recommend creating a customized power plan. It's really easy to do, and you can set exactly what you want your settings to be when you are plugged in versus when you are on battery. When I'm plugged in, the Z automatically has brightness of 100% on my plan (I turned off the automatic dimming and lighting). When I unplug, the refresh rate switches to 40Hz, the DVD drive turns off, color changes to 16-bit, and the brightness dims to 30%. It does all of this automatically for me. I can get around 6 hours of battery life doing normal office work with these settings.

I would definitely run RST. And make sure you install the newest version 9.6. I believe this might help with whatever garbarge collection is going on in the Samsung SSDs? RST usually starts automatically for me, and if it doesn't for some reason (which occasionally happens), an icon in the tray shows me it's inactive with an exclamation mark, so I can activate it.

A lot of folks feel the way you do, but I don't think it was Sony trying to prevent upgrades. The SSDs themselves are not standard size. It seems likely that this is because the computer itself is small, and has a lot of hardware crammed into a tiny space. That is just part of the tradeoff I suppose of having so small of a powerhouse.

 

Sorry Geeee, I can't find it. I don't see it up on SonyStyle USA. A few weeks back when SonyStyle was messing with the website and a bunch of folks got a sneak peak, Granite was a new color option listed. The new colors I see available now are Black and Metal Shield.

 

Thank you for reply, JP! Excellent suggestions. You all are great!!

 

Bring me to ask what's the point of getting a Z if it is plugged into the wall most of the time! Might as well get the F-series in that case...

 

It isn't even on the Japanese SonyStyle website, I think it was a mistake (perhaps the granite-cutting yield was not high enough to be profitable).

 

Received my Z12 yesterday. The fan seems to be constantly on and somewhat noisy even after setting the silent and powersaver mode. Are others also seeing this constant background hum from the fan or is yours silent. Wanted to see if this is a defect with just my laptop in which case I was thinking or asking for an exchange from tigerdirect.

 

Lol, not ALWAYS plugged in, you're right. Plugged in at home but not while traveling or out and about... I like to know the battery won't give out on me after a few hours when I do need it!

 

Any updates on the freezing issue?

 

I was prepared for a very noisy fan and was pleasantly surprised when Z arrived last week. When in Stamina mode, I can't hear the Z at all. Fan is slightly audible if I put my ear up to the exhaust.

In Speed mode when I have it under heavy load, you can definitely hear it rev up and it does become audible. I've only really experienced this running 3DMark06 or playing a game. If I'm playing a game and have the sound up at any reasonable volume, I can barely notice the fan. I don't find it bothersome at all.

But again, as has been beaten to death before, this is all perception. Some people will find it noisy, others won't. I had an old PCG-GRT150 with a fan that you could hear from another room...seriously. The Z's fan can barely be heard above the hum of the AC unit in my basement, even under load.

 

I am on the verge of buying Vaio Z, but also desperately looking for lower-cost alternatives. My key requirements are:

Apple MacBook-level vivid display
192/256 GB SSD
Max 3.2 lbs weight
7-8 hrs battery life
No noticeable heat at the bottom

I couldn't find any other alternatives so far (closest seemed to be the Toshiba Portege r700, but it has only 128 GB SSD and ordinary resolution 1366x768)

Can you recommend any other notebook?

 

Hi,
I ordered my VPCZ12JHX/X
and with the upgraded 8GB of DDR3 RAM it totaled:$4473 at PortableOne.com
That's like $327 LESS than the Signature Z that Sony is offering: VPCZ12AHX/XQ | VAIO® Signature Collection Z Series | Sony | Sony Style USA

Also not to mention that the Sony Tax would add another 300-400 dollars. So basically I saved $700 and got similar specs to the Signature Z, except the Glossy Premium Carbon.

Specs:
-Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz up to 3.33GHz Processor with Turbo® Boost Technology
-4GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (2x4GB, 8GB max.) UPGRADED TO 8GB.
-512GB SSD (256GB x 2) Solid state Drive (SSD)
-13.1" Widescreen LED Backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
-Built-in MOTION EYE camera and Microphone with face-tracking technology
-Dynamic Hybrid Graphics - NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M (1GB Dedicated)
-Microsoft® Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-bit
-Intel High Definition Audio
-Blu-Ray Read/ Write
-Intel Centrino Advance-N 6200 Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
-Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband Built-in (Requires Verizon Data Plan - Sold Seperately)
-10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
-Bluetooth Stereo A2DP (2.1 + EDR)
-Multimedia Card Reader MS PRO (Standard/Duo) media slot with MagicGate™ functionality, ExpressCard / 34 media slot, SD media slot
-Pointing device - Electro-static Touch Pad
-Backlit Keyboard with Auto Sensor
-Premium Carbon Fiber Lid
-Noise Canceling Headphones
-NO recovery Disc
-Built in 1.3MP MOTION EYE® Camera and Microphone
-Biometric Fingerprint Sensor
-Ports: 3 x USB 2.0, Headphone Output, Microphone Input, VGA, HDMI, RJ-45 -Ethernet, Port Replicator Connector
-Dimensions (Approx.): 12.4 (W) x 8.3 (D) x 1.0-1.3 (H) inches
-Weight (Approx.): 3.04 pounds (with standard capacity battery)
-3 year limited warranty with International Service
-3 year toll-free technical assistance available 24/7 at 888-476-6972
-EPEAT Gold & ROHS Compliant

I'm VERY happy with the purchase. Now its time to get a VAIO X and few accessories.

 

Man. I just spilled some tea on keyboard. Quickly wiped up and no apparent damage done but it makes me miss the rain gutters on Thinkpads. I wonder why other companies don't have them. It's such a good idea. Maybe Lenovo has a patent.

 

Haven't had time to follow this thread for last 3 months. Anything really important, that i should know as a proud owner of this laptop?

Of course i have kept all updates updated, but besides that?

 

If you don't need a dedicated graphics card, you may have other options. But if you do, I think Z and MacBook are the only options.

Check out ThinkPad X201 or if you're ok with an integrated video card only. There must be a lot more similar options.

 

Am I the only one who is surprised that current laptops go to such lengths to save power?

I mean, what's next, 256 colours, Windows 3.11, 5 Hz refresh rate? :\

It just feels strange to me, that's all.

 

There are no notebooks that fulfill all your requirements. The Z comes closest. Sorry! Everything is a trade off.

The Z has everything you desire except battery life (with the small battery; with the larger one you will get close to that many hours). The Z is more expensive as you have said.

The soon to be out HP Envy 14 has a great display, can be configured with an SSD, has a great display, and will be cheaper than the Z. It is however a 14" and comes in at a whopping 5 lbs.

If you are willing to go with the typical 13" display and go just a pound heavier you can consider the forthcoming Acer 3820TG or the Asus UL30JT. Both are around 4 lbs, have great battery life, and the Acer will have Z like performance. Both should be reasonably priced.

At some point Dell may refresh their 13" XPS. It's likely it would come in around 4 lbs but with a similar build quality and specs as the HP Envy 14.

I bit the bullet and purchased the Z12 from TigerDirect using BingCashback for around $1975. It's not a higher end Z but does what I need it to. Just got it today and am typing on it now. What a great computer! Definitely worth the money IMO, but if you don't have enough money then it's obviously not an option.

 

Thanks, a2bucks and others. Vaio Z is enviable and congrats to those who own it.

Asus UL30JT seems good if I replace the hard disk with 256 GB SSD (I assume that'll be possible). Toshiba Portege r700 will be 3 lbs, again hdd replaced with SSD. With the latter, I'll probably not miss Vaio Z, since I don't need discreet graphics card. Hmm, backlit keyboard will be missed though.

 

The Z is less of a compromise.

But can't go wrong with the Asus UL30VT-A1.

 

if i dont buy the verizon wireless i can put another sim to have 3g?
has anyone try the modem 3g with another carrier instead of verizon wireless?

 

verizon doesn't use sims cards, so there is no place to put sim. So no.

I do wish they had gone the euro way and keep it unlocked and with sim card

 

Does anybody know what the metal shield looks like? That's offered now. Sounds cool. Also, any verdict on the i5 vs. i7 debate in regards to performance benefits and battery usage loss? Tried a search, brings up a lot of unrelated data. Would appreciate getting some help rather than being flamed.

If you ever feel like you could've done better than Sony, check out the HP Envy 17 thread...oh my God. What a mess. Thanks.

 

metal mosaic:



metal shield:

 

Does anyone know if having a SD card in the slot all the time will kill battery life? On my X60, it chews up another 2 watts of power. I wished the Z had a wattometer like the Thinkpads.

I just got a 32GB SD card. I hoping to use it as another drive to supplement the 128GB SSD. Yes, it's slow but I'll only be using it to store some seldomly accessed files.

 

Thanks Pascalt. I also found some pictures here, http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-vaio-z-i5-i7-official-owners-thread-218.html

Wish I could see it in person. The Sony store in Portland carries only the basic model. I saw the silver...not to my taste. Have a Z890 in carbon so not sure I want another of those.

 

I just checked out the Z at the the Sony store. I was surprised at how thick it was. Seems like the desire to put in raid arrays trumped thinness, because this thing should easily be able to be under 1.1 inches.

The Z in the store had the 1600 X 900 display. I set the text to 100% and had no problems reading anything. That being so, I believe I will be able to go 100% on the HD display. It should only be 20% smaller.

However, if it is too small, is there a way to set the font at 110% rather than the 125%? I would have to get the higher res screen and have to display fonts that are larger than the 1600 X 900 resolution.

Also, I have decided to stick with the 128 GB drive because I will not get any performance upgrades going with the 256 and I will not use the computer to hold anything other than some school documents and whatever media I am working with at the time. I will store must everything else on my main computer and 2 portable drives when on vacation. I just cannot justify the $300 cost unless someone provides an argument for it that makes sense.

 

is it possible to remove Verizon card from Z? i'm not going to use it and don't really want to carry unused hardware with me.

 

You can set the dpi scaling to any integer number of your choosing, so yes you can set 110, 109, 111 etc.

I use the 1600x900 on 100% all the time and I think it's fine, however I looked at the 1920x1080 display on 100%, in the store, and I must say the fonts are quite small in that mode.

IMHO 1920x1080 is not really so usable at 100%.

 

psg190:
I ended up doing a reinstall of just the os and drivers using the Sony utility and haven't had an issue since. The strange thing is that I hadn't previously uninstalled anything but some bloatware...I screwed it up somehow though.

Gooduck to ya, I didn't want to wipe all of my updates, photos, or TF2, but in the end I needed the computer to shut down and more importantly boot on demand.

 

I would imagine you can just use Everest to tell you that.

 

Hi everyone. After four months of research, I finally pulled the trigger on my Z:

Black
Windows 7 Home Premium
Core i7-620m (2.66 GHz) Processor
256 GB SSD (Quad RAID 0)
4 GB RAM
1920x1080 screen
No Mobile Broadband Built-In
DVD Burner

Luckily I was able to speak to a representative through online chat on SonyStyle USA and get a 15% discount on the laptop only with the purchase of the 2 year extended warranty and two accessories (neoprene case and bluetooth mouse).

It is set to ship on July 1 and arrive most probably July 3. I'd like to thank the community here for the help with my laptop and I plan to continue reading this forum!

I'm just praying I made a good investment.

 

I also just pulled the trigger on the z with these specs:
Windows 7 home premium
core i5 540m (simply cause I wanted the extra battery life and didn't want the extra heat from the i7)
256 ssd
6gb ram
1920x1080 screen
premium carbon fiber

I have a few questions now that I ordered it....
1. How bad is the Sony warranty. Would you recommend I return my Sony warranty and get it with square trade or another company?
2. This computer I ordered will have no problem playing full hd videos, correct?
3. I have a windows 7 ultimate installation disk and product code. Would it be stupid to clean install the computer with windows ultimate and would I have trouble installing all the drivers. Is there a forum where I could get help with installing the drivers, or will installing all the drivers on the Sony website do it? I just wanna make sure clean installing with windows 7 ultimate wont mess with the raid 0 ssd's or anything.

 

@ tominkozhimala; Congratz

Are u sure the 256GB SSD is Quad ? I thought it was Dual ? Anyways, I also ordered one with 256GB SSD

@ elmish1z; Congratz ! I got the exact same configuration . Yep, there wont be any problem playing Full HD videos on that laptop and I intend to do the same

Some people have had good experience and some had bad experience with the Sony Warranty. I am just gonna return my warranty to save $$ lolx . Maybe someone else can chime in about the warranty provided by Sony

 

1. I am actually returning the Sony Warranty within the next 30 days. I only got it for the 15% discount. However, keep in mind that (from experience) Sony will not help you with any issues for free you have with your laptop after a one year period without the extension. They will most likely charge outrageous fees for even the simplest of things you may need help with.

2. No problem at all, in my opinion

3. When I upgraded my old laptop from Vista to 7, I lost all my drivers, so make sure you know where to get them before doing so. Check the first post of this thread (page 1) and go to the FAQ thread for more info.

Actually, the z11 had only dual RAID 0 for the 256 GB option (Sony advertises 256 x 1 GB) but the newly refreshed z12 has quad RAID 0 (Sony advertises 128 x 2 GB).

 

yes, the Vaio Z can play HD videos fine.

there's an order that sony advises you to install the drivers in... however the list is buried in this forums somewhere, maybe check the FAQ or the Sony site for software itself.

But congratz and welcome to the club =)

 

hey guys i got a new slight / problem.

When i use HDMI with sound ... i can hear like small electronic sounds coming through the speakers, once you play something you wont really ever notice it but if music isnt playing, it sounds like elctronic static.


also...



what do you guys think about stress on the laptop? like using it for lots of games, having the fan on hi alot... isnt this kinda bad for a small laptop like this?
I almost feel like this laptop does so much in its size that after a year its gona die from being hot and always using so much of its speed.

 

hmm I personally never used the lappy over HDMI, but I have noticed that when I use the noise cancelling earbuds that came with it, I occasionally hear some electronic static... maybe someone else can comment about it

As for the fan, I'm a little worried about the stress I place on my Vaio Z too. I mean i look at my temps after some gaming... and it kind of scares me, but I soothe my heart by telling myself what a few people here have mentioned already, that the cpus and gpu are rated for higher temps than those which we can get (I've gotten cpu to 95 celsius and gpu to 91 celsius). However, I appreciate the fan because it's ability to get rid of the heat so my lap isnt burning and neither are my other internal components(other than the offending cpu/gpu). I wouldn't want to have the same cpu/gpu temps in a MBP... or an Envy 17... those metallic unibodies serve as a secondary heatsink... which in turn, turns your lap into a tertiary heatsink =p.

 

HAs anyone tried the new BIOS?
What do you guys think, the description is indescript... as usual

VAIO : Sony Europe

 

is this confirmed?

 

Europe (in fact, most non-American places) doesn't have CDMA. Almost always, CDMA phones don't have sim cards. I think the blame for that goes to the cell phone manufacturer/general CDMA trend, not the providers.

 

Yeah, I am also interested to know if the 256 is a quad or a dual raid. If it is a quad, the speed difference along with the size difference may make it worth it. Can anyone confirm that it is a quad?

Also, if one does not go with the sony warranty , which is outrageously expensive compared to other extended warranties, is there another that is reputable to repair any defects or for accidental protection? Is there another company that has been used as a third party warranty that people have had success with?


Lastly, about the HD screen. Is there a way to set the fonts to 110% instead of all the way up to 125%? I know I can use the 1600 X 900 just fine at 100% but don't know about the HD.

 

The Vaio F-11 i7 is designed to throttle down when unplugged. Has anybody noted that in regards to the Z?

 

Yes, it is possible. You can set it to any integer number, like 110%, 109%, 111%, etc. This exact question was answered very recently.

 

Whats your ship date. When I ordered mine is said july 1rst, but now it says July 8th.

 

My ship date is 06/28/2010. So probably I will get it on 29th or 30th I guess

 

Nope, runs at full performance. Turbo boost still goes up to 3,33ghz with my i7 620m. Also games run just as smooth as plugged in. No probs there ^^

 

Ordered mine June 20th, will be here June 29th! Hurry!!

 

Not true. There are 286 million CDMA subscribers in Asia. Also CDMA phones do have "sim" cards, just not in the US. The fault is squarely on the providers in the US. They don't support the UIM phones in the US since they want to lock subscribers into their service. Haven't you ever noticed that many CDMA phones sold in the US have what looks like a "sim" slot, it's just not poplulated?

 

@travfar Thanks.

 

Shoot, I did not see that it had been answered. Sorry for the double question. :confused2:

I just tried to cancel my order so that I can get the additional 5% and they said they could only apply the additional 5% AFTER I got the computer. I don't think I really want to take that risk, see they can hard ball me, for I would have to pay to ship it back (unless I can return it to a sony store).

I am also considering getting the 256 gb drive.:laugh: