Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

I think Sony Vegas is better than Adobe Premiere. I did use Sony Vegas few times, lot of possibilities. I need to give a try to Adobe Premiere though...

 

ah yes. wasnt in the whole way, have to make sure to push it in hard. thanks!

 

where can i get adapter driver june 2010,
i go to intel and the newest version was Ver:13.1.1.1 64-Bit Date:2/26/2010

 

i think my favorite part about having the SSD is that i can shake / grab / move my computer without using much care since nothing inside is spinning and i cant damage it. I just grab it, and .. toss it as if it was a clipboard or something.

My old Z has 2 hdds in it, so i usually place it delicately and pick it up slowly.

Once i get the second HDD in my new Z im gona have to forget about this habit... :/

 

This is the latest version.

Has anyone tried using the 11.6.92.0 (instead of 11.5.4.0) ethernet drivers? The device does not power up properly for me.

 

Question: How long does it take for your Z to boot?
Mine boots fairly quickly after about 15 seconds...but when I first hit the power button, the cursor blinks for about 10 times (that's the 15 seconds) and THEN finally starts to boot up. Is this normal? Does it have something to do with the boot defragmenter (which I have off)?

Thanks

 

I have read a lot of people having this issue. I just received my Z128 and thankfully it doesn't blink 10 times - around 5 times I think. Very very fast.

 

If you have the SSD HDD option then the delay is the RAID initilising.

In BIOS the default is set to hidden (for RAID display), so when you power on the laptop the screen just displays a blincking cursor.

Cheers,
T

 

See http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/484384-sony-vpc-z11-slow-post.html

 

do these things ever go on sale? or does sony put out coupons discounts etc? Thanks owners

 

i've rarely seen coupons for them. sometimes you can find sales near the end of the model line on other websites. the most common discounts you can get are through Bing Cashback, the occasional $100-150 off on some resellers and also calling Sony Style and trying to get 10-15% off but you'll need to buy accessories and/or warranty (which you can return within 30 days)

 

I see, thank you! Looks like cheapest I've seen is on microcenter for a decent build. $1699

 

I got a Z890. It was listed as refurbished and marked down dramatically in Sony Outlet. I then found a 20% Sony Outlet discount coupon code. That took another large chunk off the price. I ordered it with some apprehension but Sony has a liberal return policy. The laptop arrived and looked like new. Stickers all in place and not a mark on it. To this day I still can't tell if it really was refurbished. It works perfectly.

But Sony CS cannot discount Outlet items. I tried on another item. The prices are locked in the system there.

 

I haven't been real bothered by this yet, but it is starting to gnaw at me. On my Z11, the cursor usually blinks 17 times before Windows starts to boot up. I have not done a fresh install or messed with anything in the BIOS--this system is a straight factory configuration. That is not as slow as ZoinksS2k's slow post (which was 27 blinks I believe). But I still feel like it should be booting up faster. Boot up time is only like 35 seconds total, which is really fast imo. But if others' cursors are only blinking five times, that makes a bit sad.

 

No problem here.

 

Sorry to post this again, but does anyone know how to reset the number of DVD region changes you can do? I'm in Japan now for summer school and need to play both Japanese and English DVDs at school. Is there firmware I can use to flash the Blu-Ray drive with to rest the number? Or something?

 

I bought one from Micro Center on Monday. With tax it came to $1840. We have a Micro Center store here. I was going to order one from Sony but it wasn't going to be much different then the one from Micro Center and I saved $292. We have a Sony Style store here also and I went there first and mentioned the price that Micro Center had and they were going to match it but they only had it in silver and I wanted black.
Micro Center - Sony VAIO VPCZ122GX/B - Black VPCZ122GX/B

 

Hi,
One minor change in BIOS that I found shaved a few seconds off boot was to change the boot order.

In BIOS by default, it searches for a bootable CD, I changed this to selected SSD/HDD first then CD second etc,

This was a simple change & hope it helps,

Cheers
T

 

Yes. The Microsoft store blew out the Z11 for 40% off the top and then another 8% CB. So roughly half price. As another poster said, check Sony Style. The also blow out old models, new and refurbished. I've seen things go for around 66% off for year old models. Also, keep an eye out on clearances for the Z11 now that the Z12 are filling the stores.

The other thing to do is keep checking BCB. Sometimes BCB for stores like TigerDirect go up to 20%.

 

Thanks T for the tip. +1 Rep.

 

The problem was solved by updating from 11.5.4.0 to 11.6.92.0 (instead of directly install 11.6.92.0).

 

You should have joined their free rewards program to get an instant 5% off - that's approx. $82.00 less. Your total should have come to about $1765.00 (incl. the $8 recycling fee). That's if your in O.C. 8.75tax.

 

oh no my stuck red pixel in the middle of the screen came back

 

Sorry to hear that, I'm still dealing with mine but patiently waiting for the on site tech to call and set up and appointment to have my screen replaced or else its going back! shelled out too much money for something like this. bad enough we have to deal with the other handful of glitches which i can live with

 

New Vaio VPC-Z12 with 2 128GB SSD and since first starting the computer I've noticed that after starting, logging off/on, changing display, the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Notification Area/SysTray icon balloons frequently stating:

"Disk on port 1: connected" or "Disk on port 1: disconnected". It happens frequently and rapidly, and when I hit the balloon and open the Rapid Storage Technology program, it shows that both drives are working fine without problems.

Anyone know what's happening? Is this normal? Can I just shut off the notifications and not be bothered or is this worrisome behavior?

Thanks!

 

Exact thing happened to me twice! I also did the same thing, click the notification balloon to check whats up! But, it shows both drives working fine.

If anyone else has some info on this, please share. I don't think its worrisome

 

Don't be alarmed I thought the same thing also until i quickly realized its referring to the DVD drive the Z turns it on and off depending on what your doing whether its hibernating or restarting, cheers!

 

Uh Oh.. I just noticed there is something hairline like on my screen. Dunno if its dead pixel... its wigly, like zig-zag. Can be easily seen on white screen...

:cry:

Whats up with Sony? everyone reporting dead pixels???

 

Yeah that would be bad! that's why I'd rather have them come and replace my screen because what is the odds of sending it back only to get another one with dead or stuck pixels! I'm starting to realize my battery might be defective i used most of the tweaks except for turning off Wifi and stamina I'm only reporting 4h 37 minutes at 94% and that's with the large battery! can anyone with a large battery tell me how much time their getting from a full charge?

 

yeah that's a good point. I'm getting worried now. I'm crossing my fingers that I get a flawless screen.

 

Just talked to the lady at Tech Support, she was offering me repair but I asked her for exchange/return and she directed me to contact customer service. She said it wont be a problem in exchanging or returning the product since I just got it yesterday.

Let's see how it goes... * on the phone *

 

Update:

Got my Z1290X returned and get a replacement sent. I hope the replacement does not have any dead-pixels on the screen!

 

That was my #1 fear as well but thank goodness my screen is flawless!

 

That's great ! I was also happy that my screen is flawless but I guess I was too Excited :laugh: until I noticed a line :laugh:

 

My Z was finally shipped. Does it normally take 7 days to ship? It said expediting shipping so I was assuming it would take about three days. Where does it ship from? Japan? At least it was shipped and I'll get it on the 8th.

 

It gets shipped from Japan and will take around 3 business days..

 

really? why does my estimated delivery date say the 8th if it was shipped today?

 

Mine came in one day before the estimated delivery date. You are seeing 8th maybe because of the weekend (sat, sun). I think you will get it by 6th...

 

my screen seems dead-pixel-less

 

My Z should be arriving tomorrow afternoon. Would someone be able to direct me to the basic initial steps I would need take as soon as I un box this bad boy?

Things that need to be done, updating drivers, removing bloatware, and just basically getting it up to optimum performance.

Thanks.

 

We just got the new Z here in India. My piece is on its way should have it in a day or 2. Extremely expensive down here close to 3500 USD but we always pay a premium - unlucky we

Here are the specs.

VPCZ128GG/XQ

13.1 (33.2 cm) VAIO Z Series (Glossy Premium Carbon)

VAIO Z Series with Quad SSD in RAID 0 for unprecedented speed, Intel® Core™ i7 Processor for ultimate performance, NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU for smoothly rendered video and graphics. The glossy "Carbon" top panel with Black palm rest assures a stylish and modern look.
Intel® Core™ i7-620M Processor 2.66 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.33 GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (64-bit)
Quad SSD in RAID 0: 256 GB (64 GB x 4, Serial ATA)
Automatically controls Gfx mode: Dynamic Hybrid Gfx system
High Durability & lightweight: Carbon top cover & single-piece milled aluminium palm rest
13.1 (33.2 cm) wide (FullHD: 1920 x 1080) ; VAIO Display Premium, LED backlight, Adobe RGB 96% coverage

Quad SSD, Aluminium palm rest a few doubts at ease.

 

Can anyone tell what's the contrast ratio of the standard (non-HD) resolution screen?

 

What level of screen brightness are you using? That seems to be the largest contributor to battery drain/conservation.

If you haven't already, I would recommend turning off the auto brightness in the Vaio Control Center and manually control your level of brightness with the Fn key.

 

Though affecting other models, thought it's relevant: Sony recall 535,000 Vaio laptops as heat distorts shape, burns skin ? Computer Chips & Hardware Technology | Geek.com

 

The short answer is you do not need to do a thing. It comes from the factory ready to run at optimum performance. Sony rarely updates drivers, so you shouldn't need to worry about that. You should have everything installed so that you can run without worry. Regarding the bloatware, just remove the programs you know you don't want to use. You can go to the Add/Remove Programs (or whatever it's called in W7) in Control Panel. I would keep some of the of Sony programs like Vaio Recovery and Vaio Control Center. I would get rid of any media-related programs. But again, you don't have to get rid of a thing, unless you are interested in freeing up some disk space.

You might consider installing Intel's Rapid Storage Technology 9.6, since (on the Z11 anyway) 9.5 was the version installed.

I turned off auto brightness in the Vaio Control Center so that I could control the screen brightness manually. I also created my own power plan with personal settings for battery power and AC power. But these are all just personal tweaks.

Oh yeah, in the Advanced Power settings, you can disable wake timers. I would recommend doing that, as some owners had the Z waking up in their backpacks and nearly incinerating themselves. There are a lot of cool settings in the Advanced Power Settings I would recommend looking at. I disabled all hibernation (except when on critical battery) to prevent needless writes to the SSD. Again, all personal tweaks, and none of them necessary to make the Z run "optimally."

 

I've just now noticed that not only is the base price of the new Z12 series $100 higher, but the 512GB SSD option is $300 higher as well. Bummer.

 

I agree. The auto control doesn't really work anyways. I tried it for a while and sometimes it just changes brightness for no apparent reason. I have to fiddle with the brightness manually anyways.

 

someone was also in your shoes a while back and here was my response:
click me!

well, if it's any consolation with the extra $100 comes a "free" upgrade to the 1080p screen, for now at least...

 

Thanks JP.

Achusaysblessyou, your link seems to not be working.

 

I guess the Z12 is more different than the Z11 than I thought. I was trying to send a fax using my Z11 so I wondered if it has a modem. It doesn't right? I looked up the Z specs on the Sony website. Of course they are for the Z12 now. It has a modem jack and a firewire port. More than that, all the ports have been moved around.