Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

Lowering the resolution must be useful because that's what I always do when the higher resolutions don't work

I'm thinking there are two parts to handling the lowering of resolutions: the first part is for the GPU to generate the next frame for the lower resolution (say HD), the second part is the interpolation of that frame to fit the FHD screen (aka fill in the missing pixels). Based on what little I know of graphics, I'm going to go ahead and say that part I is significantly more GPU-intensive than part 2. So, running HD in native resolution will be slightly faster than FHD running in HD, but not significantly so. Again, this matters only when the GPU load is around its max.

I have no precise figures to back me up though

 

its okay i won't quote you on it! pun intended but it does make sense.. considering im going to have the option once again to go for either the FHD or the HD any info given will be considered.

 

does anyone know where i could purchase a black carbon fiber lid for my z?

i got a silver

thanks

 

There's no black carbon fiber, there's either Black, Carbon fiber or Glossy carbon fiber.

 

I'm not aware of any shops selling the lids, in any color.

The replacement would be doable, but you'd have mismatched hinges. Don't loose the magnet either

Pics: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/473598-sony-z11-lcd-disassembled-pics.html

 

I just ordered a Z with 128GB hard drive. I remember reading somewhere about being able to tack on a regular HDD in the optical bay of this unit. Does anyone remember where I can find the nitty gritty of how to do this on the Z specifically? Are there any downsides to it?

 

Check the FAQ or here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/469244-z11-replace-dvd-hdd-working-solution.html

 

I disagree. I use both and I do so interchangeably.

I think you overstate a problem that only a few are likely to run into. There may well be corner cases that a more sophisticated user, such as yourself, would run into. But I think for most people, and in general, the files generated are very much interchangeable with Office.

 

that sounds like 1% to me

 

I'm in the process of putting together the specs for a Z12 I'll be ordering within the next 2 weeks. Had a few questions that hopefully you guys/girls can answer. I've read a good chunk of this thread and it seems like the battery drain between the i5 vs. i7 is almost negligible. Is that correct? Also, would there be any drastic difference between 6/8gb of ram? And finally (for now), can anyone comment any further on the 1080p screen in terms of readability (ie. just how difficult/easy is it to read stuff on it?). Maybe someone can post a picture showing just how small things are on the actual screen? I'm not a heavy gamer though that could change once I get my hands on the Z. Mostly used for web, lots of typing, reading pdfs, photo editing in photoshop. Thanks in advance!

 

Can anybody comment on the brightness of the 1080p screen next to that of the iPad screen? What about the 900P one?

I've been sitting on the fence about this laptop for months deciding if its worth the premium. Considering how often I'll be using it outside in the sunlight,, can anybody comment on how readable the screen is in direct sunlight? (both 1080 and 900 would be great.). Does anyone have any pictures of theirs in the sun to illustrate brightness and glare?

Thanks so much. I'm starting to get excited to pull the trigger, but I need to resolve this first.

 

(a) I believe so. I think there was an article about how this is not so, then there's some amount of counter argument, and my impression is that the difference in power consumption is not that great, translating into couple of minutes of battery drain.

(b) The amount of RAM needed is dependent on the apps you run. If you need multiple VMs, then 8GB is better. If you have few apps open and they don't eat a lot of memory, 6 is good enough.

(c) FHD at 100% font size is kind of like looking at the iPhone's screen, but may result in eye strain. Font size can be increased to alleviate that. Depends on your eyes.

(d) Glashub has a thread on FHD versus HD in the main Sony section, I think someone posted pics there.

The HD screen is slightly brighter than FHD. There's the auto-brightness functionality which can be disabled to make things ever so brighter. I believe the screen is TN which is different from the iPad's.

If you're near a Best Buy and if it has both an Apple section and stocks a Z, you can put them side by side and compare. Unfortunately, I never had any interest in the iPad so I can't say anything more

 

Just got a Vaio Update notification. One of the two updates is Power Management. The other looks like is for Bluetooth. So the Vaio Update is working. Anyone else get an update?



I took my Z into the Sonystyle store about the Vaio Update not working months ago as I posted about this earlier. The guy removed the program and downloaded it again from the Sonystyle Support page. So it seems to be working now. Anyone can do this though by going into Control Panel/Uninstall a Program and removing Vaio Update then re-install it from the support page.

 

i dont get any updates as of now.. when i force to check for updates, it cannot retrieve any information..

 

There are new patches for BT, power management and a new VAIO update which fixed the updater problem for me.

Ironically now that the updater works, I uninstalled it. Holds no more interest

 

I hope I don't annoy people with this post, but I am seriously considering the purchase of a Z12 but I am recovering from major spine surgery and for a few more weeks it will be hard for me to spend a lot of time in front of a computer, such as would be required to read the full history of this thread. (My wife is typing this for me!)

Thus, I beg your indulgence with a simple, request for users' overall assessments of this computer. I am fully aware of its features and have read a good bit about screen options, so I don't need any of that kind of feedback. Overall, I am only interested in experienced Z series (current model only) lists of major "cons" or disappointments with the product, covering anything you find a significant problem or disappointment.

I am primarily seeking short lists of your major "cons" about the current Z series because I have read enough reviews in the past to know the overall machine is a marvel!

In addition to overall negatives, the few specifics I am particularly interested in are: battery life, with the standard or large battery (also, is the large battery excessively heavy?), are there many quality problems, requiring return/replacement of initial shipments, can you buy third party SSDs or only SONY proprietary ones?

One other thing: what do you consider the closest competitors in the thin/light category, going down as small as the Alienware MX11 (11.6"), but mostly in the 12-13", 3-4.25 lb range?

Sorry for essentially saying: Would you save me the trouble of reading through the thread? But I really want to order now, so that when I can sit up and use it, it will be there.

 

Ouch, hope you get well soon...

(a) Headphone jack in front, speakers are pretty poor, drivers not updated by Sony, wish it has an IPS screen (I'll pay for it), doesn't do my dishes for me

(b) For the Z11, only Sony's proprietary SSDs can be used. For the HDD option, can be replaced with any 2.5" drive. For the Z12, it looks like the 1 and 2 SSD drive configurations may allow for 1.8" replacement (though someone still needs to measure the dimensions).

(c) Closest competitor would be 13" MBP.

 

I only got one really recently, and my disappointments are all of the superficial nature.

1. Keys get oily fast. Keys feel flat and a little smaller than I'm used to, but perhaps compared to my work thinkpad on which I do the majority of typing.

2. To add on TofuTurkey's comment about the speakers, there is a quality of the speakers that make them annoying to listen to - I'm not an audiophile, but I'm thinking bad bass? I've had poor speakers before, but most I've thought just crap, not annoying.

3. Compared to my old gen Z, this wrist rest looks noticeably out of place, like a fake E-cup boob stuck on a 90 pound girl.

As I said, superficial, definitely not what you'd consider major flaws or cons.
Best of luck on your recovery.

 

I hope I don't annoy people with this post, but I am seriously considering the purchase of a Z12 but I am recovering from major spine surgery and for a few more weeks it will be hard for me to spend a lot of time in front of a computer, such as would be required to read the full history of this thread. (My wife is typing this for me!)

Thus, I beg your indulgence with a simple, request for users' overall assessments of this computer. I am fully aware of its features and have read a good bit about screen options, so I don't need any of that kind of feedback. Overall, I am only interested in experienced Z series (current model only) lists of major "cons" or disappointments with the product, covering anything you find a significant problem or disappointment.

I am primarily seeking short lists of your major "cons" about the current Z series because I have read enough reviews in the past to know the overall machine is a marvel!

In addition to overall negatives, the few specifics I am particularly interested in are: battery life, with the standard or large battery (also, is the large battery excessively heavy?), are there many quality problems, requiring return/replacement of initial shipments, can you buy third party SSDs or only SONY proprietary ones?

One other thing: what do you consider the closest competitors in the thin/light category, going down as small as the Alienware MX11 (11.6"), but mostly in the 12-13", 3-4.25 lb range?

Sorry for essentially saying: Would you save me the trouble of reading through the thread? But I really want to order now, so that when I can sit up and use it, it will be there.

 

Ok I don't know about you guys but I've definitely seen this post before. I'm sure I'm not that senile

 

Anyone remember the steps to get the GPS working with Google Earth? I enabled GPS in smartwi, but not sure where to go next with in Google Earth..

 

Help! My Local D Drive is missing. Do I even need it?

Also, haven't been keeping up with this thread, so did anyone find a cure for the 'Black Screen of Death' issue.

Thanks.

 

I just got my VPCZ1290X w/ the 1080p screen, i5, 7 Pro and fresh start on Carbon Fiber. Out of the box 92.5 of 112 GB free space. 90.0 of 112 GB free after getting the remaining Windows (19 of them) & Sony (2) updates. The loose battery issue still exists. Quite annoying.

I'm having issues with sluggish internet window performance. When I'm scrolling up and down on something as simple as Mafia Wars, at the top of the screen I get lag when scrolling. Once the top most part of the screen is no longer visible, the scroll functions as crisp as I'd expect it. I'm coming from a Dell XPS M1210 and I also own an Acer Netbook. The Dell handled this perfectly with an old GeForce Go7400. The Z actually shows worse lag than my lowly Acer netbook. Anyone know what's going on with that? I tried different display tweaks and even set the video card to Speed mode... no change, the lag remained the same.

I'm also having issues with Google Chrome. The text size of that browser is tiny. It only increases to a size I can actually read when I use the 150% zoom feature. I'm also experiencing problems with scrolling using the laptop mouse pad. Sometimes it works fine, other times I get no movement at all and I'm foced to use the arrow keys. Sometimes even the Fn + Pg Up and Pg Dn combo doesn't work. Anyone else have these problems?

Last thing, what color adjustments is everyone running? The colors on this laptop are TERRIBLE. There is too much yellow.

 

^ oh yea, my scrolling issue only exists in Internet Explorer. When using Google Chrome the scroll works like a charm. I'm being forced to use IE because the scroll function is too flaky within Google Chrome.

 

My old laptop showed a second device for the HDMI output. The Z does not.

I get HDMI video out, but audio only coming from the built-in speakers. How do I enable audio output?

 

Try EarthBridge. GPS info comes over on serial port, captured by EarthBridge, which periodically updates its location on Google Earth.

 

I've got the golden post (well posts) for you. Can't take credit, they are Zendar's and Zoinks' from way back in the day. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6164115-post3797.html

Some of these are no longer an issue, like no 1080p screen on U.S. CTO. TRIM is very likely not suppoted, though an NBR member is currently trying to get Sony to admit in writing that it is supported (as they apparently claimed to him). Also note that the 330m GPU is underclocked, or at least not clocked like you would expect a standard GT 330m. It overclocks pretty well though, so no biggie there.

 

I simply activated it in smartwi and google earth detected it.


Also, for some reason after burning the recovery discs, the recovery partion was removed. Is that supposed to happen?

 

There is an active thread on the lagging issue. Still seems like a software problem to me, but I recommend you check it out.

No idea what you mean on the first one, try the new BIOS update on the second. There is still ambiguity on what it fixes, but couldn't hurt to try.

 

What resolution are you running mafia wars at? Are you running the game at its native 1080p resolution which might be causing the lag? I'm beginning to believe the 1080p screen is a little over rated and even though the Z12 is a more than capable machine I believe that the gpu and cpu is working just a little bit harder than it would on the 1600x900 screen to fill that many more pixels.. lowering the resolution is an option but defeats the purpose, so I think my next choice will be the 1600x900 instead of the 1080p this time around. I had the 1600x900 resolution before when i had the Z11 i5 and everything was easy on my eyes with no need to zoom in any programs or web pages, and allowed me to be more productive for longer periods of time without taking breaks or feeling eye strain. I was really anxious at first to get my hands on the 1080p because it wasn't available for a while, but quickly realized on the 13 inch screen it wasn't practical. When i watched a 1080p movie at 1600x900 it looked great and didn't lag comparing to watching the same movie on the FHD which did. Seeing that you may have other issues, if you decide to return it and plan to pickup another Z12 save yourself $100 and get the 1600x900 screen instead you lose the bragging rights but i think you'll be happy IMO.

 

I'm running it at the native 1080p resolution. The one thing I haven't tried yet was going down to 900 to see if it helps. I was lucky enough to get in on the free 1080p upgrade deal that Sony was having through July 3rd so I don't have the $100 dilema. I usually don't mind small text etc, but the 1080 resolution on this 13" is way too difficult to read. It is disappointing that even when watching movies 1080p lags. Hopefully that'll be fixed with a future software upgrade.

 

I just tested this again with Google Chrome, and that browser doesn't lag at all. I get crisp scrolling like I would expect. Seems to be an IE issue for me.

 

I would try lowering the resolution to see if that helps, i also got in on the free upgrade but due to a dead pixel and back order on the 1080p screen i was forced to send it back as a return and plan to purchase another. I've own both the 1600 and the 1080p and now i can say that I would be happier with the 1600 screen instead. I ran a trailer of dark knight on youtube at "1080p" on a Z11 i5 at 1600x900 with no lags, but ran the same trailer on the Z12 i7 1080p with minor lags, both look the same in quality since the screen is already small. I wouldn't bet on a software update seeing that sony isn't too good with that but remember you have no obligation for 30 days to return it and get the 1600 if you like, IMHO you wont regret it!

 

Im now getting more than 10 cursor blinks on my brand new Z12. Any easy way to fix this? Btw did not do a factory reset, just got it yesterday. Its the quad raid setup.

 

Strange, I have the exact same machine as you, quad raid setup, but it doesn't blink for that long. I would say it blinks... 5 at most?

 

Z12? Also did you do a factory restore?

Another question: did you create the recovery discs and did the system delete the recovery partition?

 

Is anyone else still having their screen flash at least 2-3 times at first power on? and how many times does it flash? mine does and on the Intel card the logon screen disappears for about 2 seconds.. I'm assuming the card is initializing when the screen flashes but it flashes bar code looking lines and looks very unstable to say the least.. this might be why we're experiencing the black screen of death etc.

 

I didn't do a factory restore. I have created recovery discs but didn't delete the recovery partition.

 

Thanks, just installed the new BIOS update. Now I shall wait and see if the problem does continue to persist.

 

Question:
My vaio z came with 192GB SSD, but why does it show 172GB?

Also a few days ago, I did a complete system restore, my Local Disk (D) went missing. I only have a Local Disk (C) with 172GB? How do I get the Local Disk (D) back? Is it important?

Thanks

 

The recovery portion is taking up that space - Windows 7 and Sony bloatware

 

It seems like we have been getting a lot of these hard drive capacity question: "Sony sells xxGB of hard drive but I only got yyGB".

First of all, hard drive manufacturers sees "gigabytes" different from computers. (google search harddrive gigabyte for reasons) So a quick way to see how much your hard drive space as seen by your computer is to multiply the advertised space by 1000^3 then divided by 1024^3

So for example, my VAIO Z is advertised as 256GB,
256*1000^3/1024^3 = 238.4 exactly as windows sees it.

Now, my laptop has 8GB ram so windows makes a page file of 8GB i think, plus a 8GB of hibernate file. And then you have the Windows 7 OS and the Sony bloatware and recovery partition. Thus your disk space may be limited.

However, for my laptop, I ordered fresh start. I removed my recovery partition when I reinstalled OS and removed page file and hibernate.
In the end, the recovery partition used up 1.5 GB and Windows OS with the essential sony software used up approximately 12GB.

In conclusion, Sony advertised my disk space as 256GB, by Windows only sees 238GB, and i only have ~224GB usable space left.

 

Ugh, that isn't good. There is a way to fix it, but we thought it was due to rebuilds.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/484384-sony-vpc-z11-slow-post-12.html#post6328216

Sony is aware of this issue on the Z11's. I'd recommend calling support now while the machine is new. Sony needs to get a fix for this that doesn't involve sending the machine in or having users destructively rebuild the machine.

 

The first question has been answered (very well, imo).

Unless your DVD drive or memory card readers aren't working, don't worry about the D drive.

 

I hope I don't annoy people with this post, but I am seriously considering the purchase of a Z12 but I am recovering from major spine surgery and for a few more weeks it will be hard for me to spend a lot of time in front of a computer, such as would be required to read the full history of this thread. (My wife is typing this for me!)

Thus, I beg your indulgence with a simple, request for users' overall assessments of this computer. I am fully aware of its features and have read a good bit about screen options, so I don't need any of that kind of feedback. Overall, I am only interested in experienced Z series (current model only) lists of major "cons" or disappointments with the product, covering anything you find a significant problem or disappointment.

I am primarily seeking short lists of your major "cons" about the current Z series because I have read enough reviews in the past to know the overall machine is a marvel!

In addition to overall negatives, the few specifics I am particularly interested in are: battery life, with the standard or large battery (also, is the large battery excessively heavy?), are there many quality problems, requiring return/replacement of initial shipments, can you buy third party SSDs or only SONY proprietary ones?

One other thing: what do you consider the closest competitors in the thin/light category, going down as small as the Alienware MX11 (11.6"), but mostly in the 12-13", 3-4.25 lb range?

Sorry for essentially saying: Would you save me the trouble of reading through the thread? But I really want to order now, so that when I can sit up and use it, it will be there.

 

Acer 3820TG, but not quite available in the U.S. More powerful than both the M11x and Vaio Z (except it doesn't come with a SSD or optical drive)

 

If it didn't annoy before, it does now. No need to repeat posts three times.

If you cant read the thread, use the FAQ or search

 

Has anyone (perhaps from Europe or Japan) confirmed that their new Z has a TPM chip (for example, by enabling bitlocker). My launch US version doesn't, and I'm hoping that ultimately there is a part number for the module and perhaps it can be ordered and "hacked" in after the fact (longshot, I know).

Lack of TPM is literally the only shortcoming I've found with my Z as my corporate environment really wants me to have TPM for several IT needs.

 

Mine's imported from SonyStyle Japan. I heard from a member that if we purchase the 'enterprise' version in US, it'll come with TPM.