Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

There will be NO drastic changes until the next complete redesign becomes available in 2012. Sony also won't lower the price unless some serious competition comes out at a lower price. What they typically do is minor bump ups on specifications while holding the same price point.

So, things that can be expected to be updated over the next 2 years:

* Processor options
* Intel Chipset (which may include faster SATA)
* Storage options (bigger and/or cheaper SSDs)
* Maximum RAM amount (although likely will be downported to older models)
* O/S options (if any new ones come out)
* Colors (this is a fav "update" for Sony)
* WiFi/WAN cards

Items that may be updated, but also may not be:

* Discrete GPU (not until at least the 4th update)
* USB 3.0 (but not unless Intel integrates this in their chipsets)
* Webcam (higher resolution?)
* Perhaps addition of Intel Light Peak interface (if it ever comes out)

What I would expect for the very next revision:

* 1080 screen as CTO (for North America)
* Possibly a HDD option (for North America)
* New color options
* Faster CPU (if Intel has new 35W CPUs with integrated graphics)
* Possibly some minor SSD juggling, such as making 192gb inexpensive.

Sony has had model updates before where essentially nothing was actually updated, just some specs were shuffled around with new colors. I have not heard of any significant updates coming from Intel in the next couple of months, so I would expect the very first model series update to be very minor, and mostly a repackaging of what already exists.

 

ATM only one of those 3 buttons can be remapped with sony control center.

 

I noticed that uninstallation of bloatware is more easy after you shut down VAIO Gate.

Please let us know if you managed to create recovery discs with less bloatware after uninstalling some.

 

Too bad if it doesnt pick satellites.

If someone non North American can pick satellites, please confirm here that its doable...

One thing what I happily noticed, that there is power feed in to USB port while sleep. I am coming from HP world and my recent HP's USB ports were dead while sleep.

 

I am looking for help. Am about to by the Vaio Z 1190X or equivalent but being in Sweden that means a European-type keyboard; I want a US keyboard. However, I am told I cannot buy this in Europe. What do I do short of traveling to the US to buy the laptop?

 

Is GeekStuff4U a reliable site to order the Vaio Z with Metal Mosaic from?

 

If I am not mistaken (I am not sure if it's US or UK layout) you can buy European model with US keyboard in Netherlands.

 

I've tried several methods. It seems that there is no info coming in on COM Port. So, it won't work in any utility. The question is why GPS doesn't work at all.

 

Yes, the VAIO's there come with US keyboard. My Z51XG was from there and it came with a US keyboard.

 

I found I have about 8 stuck green pixels! One is bright, the others quite/very dim but can be seen against a black background. Is this grounds for a replacement screen? Apart from 1, you have to look quite hard to find the others but once you find them, they're definitely there. I have tried the flashing pixel fix test for over 12 hours and it doesn't fix any of them.
I'm also within my 14 day return but no other laptop has the lightness and features of the sony, so even if I got my money back, what would I buy??

I'm a bit disappointed though to pay premium price for something with flaws. I can just forgive the noisy fan as it's very light, powerful and heat management is excellent (no throttling) but when you end up with screen imperfections that can be a problem as once you find hot pixels, you see them all the time (worse than the diagonal lines)!

 

For those interested in TPM, in series 5 chipset (PM55, HM55, HM57) it is called Intel Anti-Theft technology and IAT-assisted encryption works only over ACPI. Since Z11 utilizes RAID configuration, forget about TPM/IAT until Intel implements it, if ever.

Perhaps those with HD configuration might have IAT, if HD is not running in JBOD RAID.

 

So the status of the Signature Z just went from a ship estimate of 4/15 to a "temporarily out of stock, we will email you" message. I'm not sure how to take that. Right now, I'm not taking it well.

I should have gotten it on Friday, but due to Sony's mishaps, who knows when this will arrive.

 

Jcomey, if it is any consolation, it is totally worth the wait. Just hold tight.

 

Sunfox's post is right-on. However, from personal experience based on pricing, I do feel for each phase of a refresh, their also is a slight savings cost. With the example on the VGN-Z, initially Sony came out with 2 base models Z540-1999.99 and Z550-2099.99. Based on observation, the prices of the base models came down a slight bit for every refresh phase. I'm not sure if this works for all preconfigurations or CTO's which I doubt. Once the model has been redesigned, as in this case, the VPC-Z, then you see an increase in price again.

Note, the current price of the base Z is 1899.99, which can be purchased as low as 1729.99 at Best Buys. So you see, there is a slight dip in pricing compared to the base price of the VGN-Z. I've only noticed this on base models and other lower end configurations.

 

This I understand. It's that I should have had it already, and that, through no fault of my own, I have to wait until TBA...and I have final projects I have to begin working on in my classes...and I'm stuck.

 

How's the quality of the screen (color, brightness, etc)? I have noticed the CW and S series have subpar screens.

This is a premium priced laptop, but I don't really know where I would go to get my hands on one of these laptops (best buy in the US doesn't have it in the store yet).

IMO, the MBP Pro screens are one of the best in the market...how'd you guys compare the screen of the laptop to the MBP 13'?

Thanks.

 

Ask for a replacement laptop. Which sw did u use to check the dead pixels?bDid u try the dead pixel buddy 1.1 and the jscreenfix?

 

Bad pixels can be seen with the naked eye. Just look at the screen with a white or black background. They stick out.

 

Just some feedback on my Z1, I'm having a fantastic time with it. The screen is really superb and I love the dark grey/glossy carbon look. The battery life is quite good as well. I may forego the extended battery and just stick with the standard capacity with my Energizer Universal Mega Cell Battery Pack.

The SSD's are just silly fast. I was moving around some 4GB movie and PST files and it just flies.

I'm squarely in the "happy customer" segment.

 

How much time does that battery pack give you? I got a large capacity battery anyway, but that has me curious.

 

4 to 4.5 hours. I can probably squeeze a bit more from it using more conservative settings for the CPU and WiFi

 

I've tried jscreenfix. You can notice them against a black background, and all but one are very feint. I'll see if I can get it fixed but I don't think warranty covers only 1 sub-pixel (the others you really have to look hard...they're not obvious).

 

Hi,
The screen is 6-bit, right?

Also, people it would be really amazing and easy to access if some of us summarize the 'details' of various Z issues on the first post or so, like in other threads.

Thanks in advance

 

Any comment on the screen quality? Color gamut, etc? How is compared to the S series?

 

Yes, the screen is TN 6 bit. I shot a quick (lousy) video in another thread to show the color shifting.

It's still an amazing screen as far as I'm concerned (I have the FHD)

 

I found this in the help files ( see Image )

C:\Program Files\Sony\VAIO Smart Network\EN-US

It shows the vaio smart network program with an on-off switch for the GPS.

Still not found any drivers to make it work, Im going to try some Acer ones next !

 

I've noticed that the screen (1600x900) is MUCH better than my old SZ.

Wider viewing angle (although obviously still TN), brighter, better gamma, more vibrant colors, better stock color temperature, better response time (far less smearing), and I actually don't see any posterization while on my SZ it's as plain as day.

 

If the computer is off, the program will not record. With my Acer, I can put it to sleep and it will wake up and record at the time specified. If the lid is closed nothing will record, the computer needs to have the lid open and be on or asleep (have not tried with hibernation). I have a Hauppauge 950q.

 

Thanks to all the posters in this thread, who answered most of my pre-purchase questions. I've had the weekend to set up and play with my new Sony Z laptop, and I am in general very happy with the new purchase. I've got a CTO version with i7, premium carbon lid, 4 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, mobile broadband, and regular DVD-R drive. I bought the docking station and both the expanded and standard battery.

My previous laptop was a Thinkpad X60s, which served me well for 4 years. I wanted a faster but easy-to-carry laptop and the ability to play a few games. I have a good desktop computer, but find myself away from my desk more and more. I thought I might end up with the Thinkpad 410s, but the version with discrete switchable graphics was delayed.

Here are a number of observations I've made, which might be useful to someone else who is moving to the Z from a different brand.

Build quality: the new Z is wonderfully solid, even though it is amazingly light. My only concern is with the power plug, which is wobbly and feels like a potential failure point. The battery seems very secure to me (both standard and extended), though it doesn't fit as tightly as on my old Lenovo.

Keyboard: Coming from the Thinkpad, this was my greatest concern, but I have been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Z keyboard. No flex noted. I do miss dedicated PgUp and PgDwn keys, though. If I were designing the keypad, I would make room for an additional column of keys with dedicated navigation keys.

Heat and Noise: This computer has a lot more fan noise than my X60s, which was expected, given the power of the components. It's about the same sound level as my relatively quiet desktop, but since it is only about 2 feet from my head during use, it seems louder. I could see it bothering someone more sensitive to noise than I am. Heat is very well managed - hot air is conveyed to the side vent near the Esc key. I haven't tried it during gaming, but the bottom of the laptop stays comfortable enough to sit on my lap during normal use.

Docking Station: This has some limitations compared to my previous docking station. There are no audio jacks on the docking station. The VGA output is very "noisy" (poor quality) at high resolutions, though the DVI output is fine. And the small detachable plastic door over the docking port on the laptop is going to get lost very quickly - this was a poor design decision.

TPM: Like other posters, I bought the laptop with Windows 7 Ultimate intending to use Bitlocker. I didn't even consider that the Z wouldn't have TPM capabilities, as this has been a standard feature on business laptops for several years. Hopefully the TPM feature is present and can be activated with software or a BIOS update. If not, I will use a software encryption solution.

Performance is wonderful - the computer is certainly as powerful as I had hoped. I expect this laptop will serve me well for the next 3 or 4 years.

 

This is great information. I was doing some reading on that exact subject and was wondering if Intel's TPM implementation (I believe it is called iTPM) could be enabled and how it could work.

However I do not believe that Intel's TPM is used in Sony notebooks. I believe the vendor is Infineon for a couple of reasons.

The first being that Infineon is the mainstream vendor for TPM platform. I have not seen a notebook that had a TPM chip that was not Infineon. Not that I have owned every notebook.

The second is that the TPM software available for our notebooks is made by Infineon. It is available on Sony's eSupport website as a download. It would be unlikely that this type of software is compatible with another vendors TPM chip.

3rd there have been comments in this forum that other people have TPM enabled on their notebooks in other regions. I know that other regions have non-RAID options available and therefore could have it enabled through those methods. I don't see any references to TPM not being available under RAID configurations in other regions manuals that have RAID configurations and in fact they call out TPM explicitly being enabled in the BIOS. A non-Intel TPM chip hangs off of the LPC interface so RAID/non-RAID should not matter.

Lastly there is very little point in having Windows 7 Ultimate installed, from a technical standpoint, if you were not going to use BitLocker. Windows 7 Professional has every non-enterprise feature that Ultimate has. I know that from a marketing standpoint this could be why but for now I am just sticking with the facts.

I am debating opening up the notebook and looking for the chip myself and snapping some pics. I am not really sure how to identify it and can only hope there is something printed (silk screened) on the chip itself.

This is starting to look more and more like the "VT fiasco."

.dj

 

Great to see another that uses this. Where you thinking of going the USB Key Encryption Option or TrueCrypt's Full Disk Encryption? I have used TrueCrypt's encryption before but it is horrendously slow compared to BitLocker.

.dj

 

If the TPM issue isn't resolved soon, I plan on trying TrueCrypt. I am aware that it slows things down, but I am hoping that with the i7 and SSD it is less of an issue.

 

On the TPM/bitlocker conversation, it might not be as secure as you think.

From Wikipedia:

 

Fortunately, I'm not looking to keep data out of the hands of the NSA. But like most of us, I have some files that I would hate to get into the hands of business competitors or identity thieves if the laptop were lost or stolen.

 

It is possible to ensure total encryption on an ssd, just make a file really large, then delete it. In linux, you can do something along the lines of dd if=/dev/urandom of=largefile.dat and it'll spit out random data until the disk is full. Then delete "largefile.dat" and you'll be fine There are many utils for windows that'll "wipe free space" for you by performing a similar function. Even better, it won't take long as SSDs are so fast!

Does trim work with encrypted volumes? Surely the ssd would not know what is "empty" by virtue that the empty space is also encrypted. If the OS did notify the SSD which parts of the encrypted volume can be discarded much like it works now with ntfs then I guess that's alright

 

This might be important:
"Warning: Disk encryption is still an agonizingly slow process. It takes BitLocker To Go over 20 minutes to encrypt a 2 GB USB memory stick device, for example. I recently encrypted a 320 GB USB hard drive using BitLocker To Go, which isn't recommended: It literally took all of a work day, or several long hours."

It seems that it is recommended for portable or external drives, and less for large internal ones: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/ff_bltg.asp

So even if you can, it isn't recommended (Takes a lot for a 512GB SSD). I would also worry about performance.

 

Remember that some SSDs use slack space to mitigate performance problems and conduct wear leveling. This space is unusable by the user or system, but may contain user data.

SSD's replicate IDE functions at the controller. It marshals the translation between the LBA (Logical Block Addres) and PBA (Physical Block Address) mappings.

In effect, the machine has no idea where the data is physically on the SSD.

Filling the drive may get some of it, but not all.

 

Will the brand new encryption instructions supported by the core i3/i5/i7 help in this regard or are they only for AES?

 

Very exciting development - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=473226

Interestingly the IDE/AHCI/RAID options can now be chosen

 

That test is for external drives. I'm glad I don't need to regularly encrypt a 320 GB USB drive. Once it's encrypted, though, you would only have to encrypt/unencrypt files as you use them (hopefully only a small percentage of that external drive).

Bitlocker does have overhead to it, but for my purposes I feel it is useful. That test doesn't state what CPU was being tested, but the newer intel CPUs, like those in the new VAIO Z, have a technology called "AES New Instructions" which is designed to speed up encryption/decryption. This review of a the Core i5 661 desktop chip suggests that I should still be able to expect 70-80% of the unencrypted speed, which with a SSD is still pretty fast:

Anandtech Core i5 661 review

Regards,
-T

 

I'm thinking of buying a vaio z...I've read some here anout these ssd raid 0 - no trim issues, but honestly it's all over my head and I have little interest in spending the time to becoming an expert in the matter.

So...what is the layperson, common sense answer to this - is it a problem? Will I ever notice performance problems?

I have a mediasmart home server...could I format the ssd and restore from backup every year or so and restore any hypothetical ssd performance degradation?

 

Yes, you can get around SSD degradation by simply rebuilding. In a sense, a ghost image would have the same result. Either way, in a year, who knows? Maybe intel have there S@#T in a pile and have sorted out trim...

 

Can someone post a picture of their vaio Z with the extended battery? or direct me to where i can see a vaio z with an extended battery. thanks

 

I would really appreciate if there was some "How to replace HDD for SDD manual for dummies", because thats exactly what I need now. Although I manage to open my Z11, I just dont know how exactly disconnect the ribbon cable from keyboard or how exactly swap the disks. I tried to read a lot on the forum and seen some great photos by Zoinks and others, but I am a real beginner. I bought myself Intel x25 in the hope that swapping HDD would be easy... well easy enough some, but very challenging for me right now. I am pretty depressed... Is there any video out-there?

 

Try MicroCenter, they've got the same one as Best Buys; cheaper too and plenty of inventory.

Thanks. I going to get a portable TV Tuner for the Z tomorrow at Best Buys. Glad to see your post. I'll put to SLEEP Mode as you suggested and see if it SHUTS DOWN or goes into SLEEP mode after recording. Are there settings to tell the Z what to do after completion?

 

Hi, could any owner of both VGN and VPC-Z tell me, if the actual screen has exact same dimensions? I would like to know if a screen protector from the previous Z would fit on the new one as well... Thank you

 

time travel to page 59 > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6045994#post6045994
yeah this is a giant thread already!

 

Sony helpfully have a pixel policy calculator on their site. According to that, >=10 bad pixels on the full HD screen would get a repair (for the 1600x900, it's >=7)! They ought to have it independent of resolution, as 1 px is annoying, 2 is awful and 3+ unacceptable. Guess I'm out of luck on this

 

I am not sure what the consumer guarantee policy is like in the US, but in New Zealand, it doesn't matter if you just get one bad pixel, if you find it within 7 days, you can ask for a total replacement. It is not a fault in Sony's policy but their policy does not mean it is the law.

Don't live with so many dead pixels, ask for a new one. It's just not right.

 

just bought the X yesterday, my initial comment was as slowwww as hell with Aero, but once killed the areo and install the new intel graphic software, things started to get better so far loving it, very light weight and comfortable to use.

one thing i notice is that the Z550 specs is equivalent to Intel Pentium 4-M but with far better power consumption. run some demanding software such as Scansoft omni page and corel X3, it actually surprised on how those software went quite smoothly.

I'm currently thinking to replace my Z570 completely with this one, but will test it for a week weather it fits to be the Z's replacement if its not, I'll just grab a TT from Ebay