Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

I think that was information somebody got from clueless sonystyle rep. That's definitely not true since for example conics net will install English version of Win7 on new Z otherwise not available in Japan. If what that rep said was true conics wouldn't be able to offer warranty.

 

Seconded. Reinstalling or doing a clean install does not void anything

 

There are different sizes, and would have to be to make up the various configurations of the Z.

128gb = 64x2
192gb = 64x3
256gb = 64x4 (International) or 128x2 (US)
384gb = 128x3
512gb = 128x4

So the total number of SSD sizes needed for that would be 64x1, 64x2, 128x1 and 128x2.

Since no one has received a 256gb model in the US, we don't know whether Sony's site is accurate or not when they claim 128x2 instead of 64x4. However they accurately describe the makeup of OTHER sizes, so it would be a mistake to blindly assume it's wrong.

 

--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
--------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read : 63.734 MB/s
Sequential Write : 62.110 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 28.631 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 47.982 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 0.520 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 1.237 MB/s

Test Size : 100 MB
Date : 2010/03/07 15:40:04

looks like my current Z isnt that bad...

 

Are you kidding with your avatar? My daughter follows this forum.

 

I ran 3DMark just now (thanks Maratus for the tips!). I did no optimizations and had a few apps open during the time, just ran it, and got a score of 5644. The CPU ranged from 39-83C, and the GPU ranged from 58-80C. The underside of the notebook was cool (not warm), apart from around where the heatsink is, where it was warm (not hot). If anyone has ideas on other tests to run or tweaks to make, let me know!

 

I had to focus on the avatar and look very good and then I saw it. I don't think your daughter would notice it...

 

We can't take what sonystyle says at face value coz see what they say for their signature model.

Intel® Core™ i7-620QM (2.66GHz, 3.33GHz with Turbo Boost)

I am not sure if sony modified their custom ssd 256gb just for US. Lets see in 2 weeks time

 

80° Celcius sounds hot... but no parts of notebook was too hot to touch?

 

Can you do a pass with PCMark Vantage?

Also, running a pass with HWiNFO and uploading the CSV results would be awesome.

Linkage:
PCMark Vantage - http://downloads.guru3d.com/PCMark-Vantage-download-1755.html
HWiNFO - http://downloads.guru3d.com/HWiNFO32-version-3.43-download-1078.html

 

Btw any result yet with Battery life of i7?

 

The CPU can get very hot and not radiate the heat out of the chassis. Looks like Sony's new fangled fan/cooler does a good job.

 

I don't get it. What am I looking at?

 

They are in line with numbers that other SSDs get but I read that the Intel SSDs do better than that. Here are the numbers that Anandtech gets: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3607&p=4

 

Here's an example of the HWiNFO output. Some of it is useless, but I'd still be very interested in the output.
View attachment PC.zip

 

Wow that is impressive. Keep in mind those temps are when running both CPU and GPU intensive application that stresses components even higher than most 3D games. GT330M is relatively hot GPU from 15" notebooks and i7-620M is hottest dual-core available.

But CPU may throttle just like in highest-end previous Z.
You can use this software as throttling monitor while running 3DMark.
http://www.lavalys.com:8081/everestultimate530.exe

 

I was wondering what would happen if I would choose to take Windows 7 Ultimate of sonystyle? Would you get a OEM version or retail version? I guess it would be the OEM version but the picture next to the option, on sonystyle, is a bit deceiving.

 

Is hardware virtualization available as an option in the BIOS? I ask because many laptop manufacturers seem to disable it even on modern CPUs.

 

not bad, especially the GPU temp, awesome. the old Z rise to 97c high for GPU. :/
thanks for the benchmark.

 

More than likely OEM. The license would not be portable to other machines, if that is what you were looking to do.

 

Its not that I want to install it on another machine but I just want a clean install and SonyStyle NL doesn't support that. US Sonystyle does support it

 

First of all, thank you for all your help to all of us answering so many question. Your information in the past few days has been more helpful than weeks of speculation!

After seeing your benchmarks I've decided to go for the core i7 model, and also I'd like to go for HDD model and swap it with Intel SSD just as you did. However, I've never opened notebook before and I'm not technically skilled. Would you recommend such operation even to a noob like me? I'm worried about breaking the flexible cables you mentioned, or mounting the SSD wrong, or who knows what else can go wrong... Any advice?

 

What made you choose i7 over i5-540m? Don't care about the battery life?

 

I think that many of the people on this thread have tinkered with the internals of their computers and it is reletively easy if you are a meticulous person.

If, however, you are a noob and not YET technically proficient, I am not sure tht I would recommend you experimenting on your $3K Sony Z.

The funny thing with modern computers is that they are durable, but mistakes are costly and VERY hard to recover from.

My recommendation if you are not comfortable seeing your $3K expense in a startling number of pieces, buy the system that you want now and then in a few years after it has aged gracefully and things start failing, ie fans and such, tinker to your hearts content and call it a learning experience. You will learn and IF you make a fatal error, you will have used your laptops expected life cycle anyways.

 

+1. I hear that. Still waiting. Whoever said it'd be up on a Sunday was clearly out of their mind. No one in their IT dept is even working today. We'll have to wait until they get into work tomorrow and update the website at some point during the day. You'll know the exact damage $$ sometime tomorrow

I am so glad to hear that the Vaio runs cooler than Dell's, because I've fried my lap before with these machines. It really is fantastic news considering the capabilities of the i7.

Any news on reconfiguring the vaio control software? Could some freeware off the net be used to reassign the keystroke?

 

So far we've heard only rumours about excessive power consumption and heat of i7, but it seems to me that rumours were proved wrong to a large extent. Performance benchmark shows 12% improvement over i5. Heat is no issue. And battery would be affected more by the HD screen (as it takes 30% more brightness) than extra 5% frequency of i7. Of course I'm also eagerly waiting for little more first-hand information, but that's how I see it so far...

PS: Perhaps I'm biased because the current price for i5-540m is only 10USD less than i7-620 here in Japan now. Only until Friday though, so I need to justify i7 fast

 

Here is a question I have: Can the new Z decode 1080P video in Stamina mode (ie using only the Intel gpu)?

 

Battery life and i7 got a boost from post #180 in this thread, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5984471&postcount=180

Before, we only knew that the i7 was clocked 5% faster and that its battery life was more than 5% shorter. But that post (#180) suggested that the i7 is 13% faster at getting things done, so you might get more things done from a full battery with i7, or at least equally much but in a shorter time.

So, even if battery *time* is important to you, perhaps you won't get as much done using an i5. It's like you have a bucket full of water, and the i7 lets you pour that water faster out of the bucket.

 

Thanks for your reasonable advice. My problem is that my desired system, i.e. Vaio Z with Intel SSD, is not available without some tinkering So it's so tempting to give it a try, open screw here and there, pop in the Intel SSD... and BAAANG... explosion.. regrets and tears...

So yeah, I hesitate...

 

Yes, it can.

 

also wondering this, will I be able to reinstall everything fresh from zero with the OS i choose? no pre-loaded apps and stuff, just a simple plain reset of the computer

 

Do you guys really think that dropping an extra $150 for the i7 is really worth it, given that it only gives you a 13% increase?

 

Eventhough Dimension mentioned the i7 not having the heat problem, I think we should hear an i5-540 owner before someone really can judge i7 not having a disadvantage.

 

I'd be careful with that 13%; the PI benchmark is completely synthetic and is probably helped by the larger cache on the i7. I wouldn't expect it to be 13% faster across the board.

That said, I ordered the i7 anyway... so obviously my answer is "yes".

 

Hey guys....

Search for: "VPC-Z1190" on www.google.ca
First Link: "CTO | Customize"
https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wc...Id=20153&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921666096100


I think I might have found the custom CTO build option
although they have not created all of the links on the site yet...

Furthermore, you cannot place the order yet....(you can simply select the options and preview the prices). So not sure if March 7th is the 'real' release for this? or maybe the next business day? (March 8th)

As far as $$$ is concerned (not too bad), but then again,

I'm pretty disappointed with the options available....
(*** assuming this is even the official cto options that will be released soon??*** for Canada)

Looks like no FullHD screen, no traditional HDD option....
(I really wanted both or at least that awesome screen)

Why do we always get screwed out of the options in Canada with sony's brilliant target marketing??
(If you check the Japanese site, wow, now those are options! down to the last detail)

Personally, I really hope this isn't correct or more options will be available
whenever this is officially released on the main site....only time will tell....

 

Z z z z Z z z z

(What he said in his sleep)

(From the bloke who bought 3 Zs)

http://attach.mobile01.com/attach/201003/mobile01-f68e65458b0fc7c9c56d691e5968d7d7.jpg

http://attach.mobile01.com/attach/201003/mobile01-3863119062777cf2f6166e6ba04e0edd.jpg

I'm interested in this as well. I'm going to run Windows 7 as the primary OS, then run Ubuntu within VMs...


I am staring at the ribbons for SSD/CD versus HDD, it looks like both end at the same port on the motherboard. Also, the location of the port on the CD seems to be different from that of the HDD, which, given the Sony-customized ribbon, probably means swapping the CD for a HDD is more difficult since that type of ribbon is probably not off-the-shelf-available today...

 

True... as for other benchmarks (Windows Experience, gaming benchmarks...) the difference was minimal. 150USD might not be worthy, 10USD (as now in Japan) might be...

 

Those are the same as the US CTO options so that seems accurate.

 

Where are the Windows 7 options? Why is there no Windows 7 Ultimate or Pro upgrade? The lack of hard drive options is dissapointing. Other than that, nothing at all unique about the options ..

 

Do any of you guys know if you can replace the optical drive with a regular HDD and keep the SSDs?

I've heard that you need to make a cable because the optical drive is a different connector other than SATA.

 

In the pictures the i5 has a 2x64gb SSD and the i7 has the 4x64gb SSD, I wonder if the quad SSD made the real difference here, instead of the processor itself.

Here in the US the only option is singles or Duals SSDs.

I know this link has been posted before, this is where I saw the benchmarks.

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=258&t=1452570&p=1

I have to say though the write/read speeds on that quad are impresive, too bad is not even available in the US.

 

SuperPI should not be affected by storage at all, it's pretty much a pure measurement of CPU performance.

 

Thank you guys, I thought so too. $150 for this little speed upgrade is not worth it in my opinion as well. Why does the US always overcharge ridiculously amounts of money their customers for stuff that in the european and asian markets sony almost gives away for free?

I should move to japan, I was talking to my wife about it. Seriously, maybe a change in air wouldn't be that bad.

 

The upgrade to i7 is 100 euro in the netherlands. I wouldn't call that free 100 euro is about the same as 150 USD. Maybe a bit more.

 

@ Negaiido,

Maybe only the Asian Markets then.

 

I haven't checked for the US model, but the UK model comes with 7 Pro as standard and you can upgrade to Ultimate for a charge.

 

US has both dual and quad, no single. This has been posted many times her on this website. when it says 1x126 it is really 2x64. Because there is one board, but two hard drives on the board. It is Sony's strange SSD that they are only making. The only quad that most can tell is the highest SSD, where in other countries the 256 is also a quad.

 

As far as I see on that link...there's:
- Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit [subtract $54.00]
- Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit with XP Pro downgrade disc
- Microsoft Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-bit with XP Pro downgrade disc [add $108.00]

(Again, assuming this is their cto build that will get linked on the main sonystyle.ca site sometime soon)

 

The link you provided for the Z1190 CTO was just added to the main sonystyle.ca homepage.

 

I have 3 questions for those lucky to have their Z series:

The motherboard has an intel HM57 chipset, which according to the documentation means it has PCIE 2.0. Is there a way to confirm if the expresscard slot is actually expresscard 2.0? Reason being is that USB3 interface cards will work at full speed when plugged into one of those.

Secondly, I've been reading about diagonal lines on solid colours on the old z series screens. Does this happen on the new Z series?

I also notice it's possible to get firewire on the custom model but would you recommend it, given that USB is more useful (2 USBs might be restrictive whereas getting by with 3 is probably ok) and for the few occasions where firewire is necessary, I can use an expresscard?