Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

Good catch, the headphone jack is no longer in front.

Also, it looks like the wireless devices' on/off switch has disappeared. Would be great if someone takes a pic of the innards to compare with Z11.

 

Wow, yes, good catch.

They have a USB port on the OD drive side now in a spot that actually makes sense. I am not a fan of the Z11's USB spot on that side. I definitely like the Z12's port configuration much better.

 

do you have a pic of the new ports assignments of the Z12?

 

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=8198552921644570897&parentCategoryId=16154

Click on "Specifications" and you'll see a nice set of pics.

 

That's wrong pic My Z12 has the earphone + mic jack in the front with the wireless ON/OFF switch next to it.

The SD and Memory Stick slots are to the far left of the notebook.

 

this is the VGN-Z not the VPC-Z

 

Check the Gallery tab, it has the pictures of VPCZ.

 

ok.. i don't see any difference on the port assignments.. they are the same as the Z11..

 

yes they are...

 

So maybe some SonyStyle fool posted the wrong pics (VGN-Z) in the Specifications tab?

I do know that those pics in the Specifications tab are new in the sense that the other layout with HDMI on the other side used to be posted.

 

I was thinking something was amiss since the pictured laptop looks thicker than my laptop. Also, the specs don't match the picts.

 

hmm it worked for me... but maybe just for me, but here's the text:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Vaio Z User View Post
• Increase screen brightness to 100% (is that too bright?)
• Change display to 125%? (needed or personal taste?)
• Run Vaio Care? (I read it was worthwhile - is it? How do I do it?)
• Figure out where to increase battery charge from 80 to 100% so I'm fully charged when I leave the house with laptop)
• Delete unnecessary programs
• Install updates (for all software?)
• Create Recovery disk (necessary? or can I rely on partitioned?)
[end quote]

- the brightness you can change at anytime(it's a fn+F5 or fn+F6 command)
- the display is default at 125%, I got the 1600x900 screen and didnt even realize it was default at 125%, i thought it was at 100%, when i changed it... wow things were very small. I cant imagine the 1080p screen(although i really want one =p)
- RE: running vaio care. it's a program you just run, i dont exactly remember what it did...
- Changing the charge maximum of the battery: Vaio Control Center > Power Management > Battery > Advanced Settings, then you'll see 80% charge, 50% charge and then custom(where you set to 100%)
- Yeah delete them >.< like the norton trial, etc.
- Yeah, if you want, you can run vaio update(also a program, although this might give you a unable to find configuration, then you have to go to sony's site, but i'm pretty sure everything's already updated)
- I'd create a recovery just in case. You never know... although some people have called Sony and had themselves sent some "Official" recovery disks when theirs failed to write properly.

Things to add:
- Turn off Window 7's monthly defrag... for some reason it has it on
- Some people advise turning on Intel Rapid Storage Technology(RST)

^ I did those two... but i forgot how to do them >.<. I'm sure the defrag schedule is in windows somewhere, it's posted in this thread somewhere how to do those two things...

 

this is crazy because i even notice they changed the price on the office home and business to 199.99 which i knew had to have been either an error or special savings for early buyers. but it seems like we actually rec'd z11's with FHD screens instead of the actual Z12!! in the bottom right corner of my screen it says VPCZ1 so how does one know its actually a Z12 Considering my dead pixel issue this one may be going back..

 

Ooooooooooooor flying Air Canada, which has standard electric plugs in ALL classes.

 

You can't differenciate Z11 from Z12 from hardware. I think that the differences are found in price and preconfig models availables.

OR : have a look UNDER your Z, check the product name which should tell you it is Z12

 

Okay thanks i feel better it does say z12 underneath so my only assumption is that the pictures under specifications on the SonyStyle website aren't accurate, however it would be nice to have those configurations in the hardware. And boy am i glad i picked up office home & business before the $100 increase

 

Curious. In my Battery Properties, I only have 80% and 50% - no Custom. Wonder why?

 

Thanks!

I've heard it should not be charged to 100%. Is this true? Details?

 

I'd like to know more, as well. That said, I must say that my TZ's battery _still_ holds pretty much the same charge it did 3 years ago - and a brand-new "genuine" battery I just bought (who knows if it's legit or not, but the markings are 100% identical to mine) holds exactly the same amount of charge as my 3-year one. I have never touched this setting.

So who knows - maybe there's logic in not touching it?

 

Yeah, those pics look like they're for the previous gen Zs, based on the depiction of the palm rest.

 

Okay i made a few adjustments and now my large battery is reading 11h 47min at 95% so give and take its probably actually 8 - 10 hrs so it seems to be okay.. so the pictures are the previous Gen Z's because the hardware layout is kinda nice but it figures considering a phone jack is sort of primitive technology but the ilink not to sure if its better to have over the extra usb or not

 

Wow great result! What adjustments did you make?

 

Strange. I just got a SSD. I put it in a USB enclosure and plugged it on my Z. I tried using the USB port on the right. The disk shows up for 2 seconds and then goes away. On the two ports on the left, everything is fine. I almost always use the right port and it's been fine with everything else. Are the USB ports not identical on the Z?

 

Hmm.... It should be in there... maybe you have to check "enable battery care"? I didnt check it and couldnt access the % charges. But here's a pic of what I see below:

Well apparantly charging batteries all the way to 100% degrades the battery faster, but the problem is, you get a smaller battery life... So it's up to you. I personally prefer to charge mines to 100% to get max battery life.

 

What about going to 99%?

 

I highly doubt there's much of a difference in degradation between batteries that are limited to charge to 99% and those that aren't limited.

 

Is this battery thing serious? It seems so confusing...

 

Ok, since the Sony Update 5 really didn't do much for me, I went ahead and manually installed all the available updates on the support site. I figured I'd install them all and the ones I don't like in the future, just uninstall. Is this the same method you guys approached?

Is this all I need to do in getting it up to scratch? The rest relies more on preference than anything else, right? Like brightness, software installation, or display settings.

Thanks guys.

 

If you leave the setting at 80%, the battery will hold a charge better in a year than if you changed it to 100%. If you change it to 100% it will charge fully and you'll get better battery life, with the consequence of a battery that will not work as well in the future.

 

so i want to order a new z today. I was wondering if the 620 was worth the upgrade? Im on the move alot but am forced to used solidworks a lot as well. what about the ssd, is it worth it to upgrade to 256?

also, Im a student so I can get a additional discount. I wanted the fullhd monitor and was wondering if I might get a better price waiting until the holidays? if not I can just order now

 

If I had to choose, I'd pick the larger SSD. 128gb is not much.

 

i kept wifi on with firefox nothing heavy running i set the background to vaio power saver 1920x1080 since its a plain background i made it 16bit 40hz and turned the brightness down to 3 bars and thats about it. i unplugged at 6:30pm and at about 11:30 and 60% i had about 3-4 hours left but im not sure how accurate it is because i notice the remainding time goes up and down but im pretty sure it would have done atleast 9-10 hours with wut was left. This is on the Large battery ofcourse.

 

Seconded. I got the 192GB SSD Z11 and it is my only real regret. I got the fresh start option and I still only had about 155GB free on the day it arrived. heavenly_wild I think said he saw a 128GB version in a store with something like 70-80GB free due to Windows, recovery partition, and all the Sony bloatware.

 

petesindia - given the specs you mentioned in your post, that's the same price I paid in the United States. The market is global my friend - that's the amount of money Sony wants, wherever it's coming from.

But, so far, with just a few days of experience, I think it'll be well worth it - the 1080p screen is beautiful. And it would have been the same cost for a comparable MBP, which can never really be comparable since it doesn't have the screen, isn't as light, and is, of course, a mac

 

Just order Sony Vaio Z12X9E/X.
Someone know what's new: toshiba or samsung SSD, TRIM?

Thank's a lot
Pao

 

Toshiba SSD.

 

I haven't seen anyone post anything confirming or denying TRIM support either way, but I'd guess the answer is no, TRIM is not supported. If the Toshibas are anything like the Samsungs in the Z11, then there is very likely some kind of effective garbage collection service active. I doubt Sony would switch to the Toshibas if effective GC wasn't a feature.

 

I haven't heard anyone confirming that 4 SSD drives are still Toshiba. I know that the Toshiba drives' interfaces are SATA, I don't know if the pin configuration is still that of SATA, because if it is, then I can't see how 4 Toshiba SSD boards can fit in that space.

It could also be that for 2 SSD boards, Toshiba drives are used, but for 3 or more drives, Sony goes back to using Samsung.

More people need to open their laptops...

 

Should I keep it plugged in when I'm at home, even though its at full a battery life?

 

I think it depends on what you are doing. If you are playing a game or watching a youtube video while broadcasting to your TV on HDMI, then keep it plugged in. If you are sitting on your couch checking email, unplug it if it's convenient.

I would plug or unplug based on the situation, and not put a whole lot of worry into the battery. If you do everything a normal user does, it should last you several years.

 

I agree.
I have a number of laptops & those where the laptop is left plugged in seems to perform better (battery performance) than those which are unplugged regularly for a periods of time or used on battery & then only charged when needed.

Also, if the battery is left attached to the laptop & not plugged in, it loses a small % of charge each day, typically 2-4%, so when you then do plug it in it will likley need some charging anyways - so may as well leave it in.

For me ; I had 2 laptops, one was mainly a desktop replacement & rarley used on battery, after 2 years the battery is still going strong. My other laptop was used daily on battery, typically for 2-3 hrs a day & after 18months, the battery needed replacing.

Hope this helps,
T

 

Best would be to get the battery out when your not ''using'' it. But don't know precise numbers to confirm any of this >_<.

 

I got the 128 GIG SSD

and this is what i think: screw getting a bigger SSD, just get the 2nd HDD mod. I have not done the mod on my new Z YET, but will soon. Its much cheaper to get a 640 gig HDD and put it into the Z dvd drive then it is to have a larger ssd.

this way you can bring ALLLL your music and movies and anything you need. And if you really need to save battery life you can just turn it off.

 

Hi
I have planned to order the Sony Z today. This is the following configuration
Intel® Core™ i7-620M processor (2.66GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.33GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Black
128GB (64GBx2) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology
6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
13.1" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080) (Reg. price $100.00)
CD/DVD Player/Burner
And a $50 carrying case

Total after taxes comes to around $2400.

Is there any coupons available?
I am going through the education store. So will I get discount after checking out stage?

Is the above configuration ok? or any changes suggested?

 

Solid spec. Personally I would recommend upping the SSD to the 256. I took the 192GB on the Z11 and that has been my only regret. Rumor has it you'll only be left with around 70-80GB on your 128GB SSD after you account for Windows, the recovery partition, and the bloatware (which you can remove I suppose).

What country are you in? I'm not familiar with the education store, but I think student discounts have been between 5-10% in the U.S. But you can get a better deal by bypassing the student discount route and purchasing a warranty and some accessories over the phone. 15% is the standard discount with that approach (in the U.S.). Some got 20%. The warranty can be returned later if you don't want it.

 

Thanks JP

I live in US. So I should bypass the student route to get the 15% discount!!!

What warranty and accessories wud u recommend?

PS. I am planning to buy the $50 carrying case.

 

lol, I didn't put two and two together, but it looks like we're communicating in two threads here.

I posted some info in your other thread and replied to your PM. Check it out.

 

Yup Thanks a ton JP$ buddy!!!

 

does anyone know if i could buy the black carbon fiber lid for my silver z?

and where would i get it / how much?

ALSO

i have found AUTO mode to work very well, at first i didnt use it since some people said it didnt work well. But so far its been great. It goes to speed when plugged in and stamina when not and i dont have to do it myself.

no complaints so far.

 

Nope, I'll only last for less than 50.5 days in case of that usage pattern.