Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

Wondering. Is GeekStuff4U a reliable site to buy a Vaio Z from?

 

wrong forum ?

 

The tigerdirect blog is taking a look at the new Z: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1WwE8LQEBQ

 

A long time ago I tried the Earth Bridge / Google Earth method. Google Earth does not provide turn-by-turn instructions, and it requires a network connection to download the map on the fly. If you're travelling in a region devoid of 3G coverage, then you're hosed. When I last used Google Earth, it had a 2GB cache so I could 'download' the route beforehand (by simulating the travel), so that helps somewhat. In the end, the overhead incurred relative to a portable GPS unit like a Garmin made it unattractive.

The location provided by Google Maps may have come from the service provider rather than the GPS chip via translation of assigned IP address, I'm not sure how accurate wireless would be compared to wired in that case...

Since Sony didn't actually bundle anything that can provide turn-by-turn instructions, I guess it's false advertising

I'm wondering if it's possible to transplant some other laptop's speakers onto this one. It should involve just two leads, and as long as the form fits, it should work I think...

Does your device show up on a COM port? I think there are programs that can dump the output...

Maybe you can try PM-ing Dimension6. It might help if you post close-up shots of the keyboard cable, especially the part that connects to the motherboard.

 

Have any of you guys had a problem canceling the extended service plan after using it to get a 15% discount over the phone? Do they end up charging you back the discount?

 

I canceled mine. There was no charge. It didn't affect my discount. Also, since they don't discount the service plan portion of the price. It is a straight refund of the retail service plan price ($179.99 in my case).

 

Sorry about this public conversation with myself, but some of the swedes here might be interested. If you're not, just ignore me.

I got a reply from SonyStyle.se today and it seems they have only one new Z in stock. One customer cancelled his order which is why it's back on sale. After that, no more, ever.

 

Hmmm...I'm first in the queue, according to every customer service rep I talk to at Sony. I wonder if that means it's heading here! ; )

/false hopes

 

Curious as to why you canceled the plan. Can you share your reasons?

 

Very interested! Thanks! Do you know why they will stop selling it?

 

Can you cancel through the website or do you need to call someone up to cancel?

I guess he got the plan to get the discount - since it is a 'free trial' everyone should be getting the plan even if they have no intention of keeping it, since they can get a discount of 15% (or even 20%) on their laptop.

 

Well actually bitlocker will fill the drive with a file with random bytes and that will take care of whatever blocks are left behind (the file will of course be deleted afterwards). Except in the case of drives that report less than their actual internal storage size (i.e. if the samsung 64GB drives were in fact 96GB, with 32GB set aside for better performance and reliability; in this case it would be impossible to make sure that all the 96GB were overwritten because they cannot be accessed directly). However i doubt Samsung is doing this . I mean, these are the cheapest/lowest quality drives on the market, right ?

Also, no TPM would be a deal breaker for me as well... I find it hard to believe that it's actually missing, it would be an incredible oversight (or a really dumb decision). It would pretty much automatically disqualify this machine from being usable in a business environment.

Can someone that bought the japanese version with fingerprint and TPM confirm whether it works on their machine ? Also, could they perhaps try to locate the TPM options in the BIOS and take some pictures ?

 

When I manually switch the graphics from Auto to Stamina, it still says Speed. It has never been in the Stamina mode. Is there a way I can fix this? Thanks!

 

I've heard it mentioned a couple of times but not heard someone who actually bought from there (I'm probably wrong though). Most of the time I hear "Conics" (I've ordered from them), mechguy got his from users-side:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=468611

 

I think he mentioned that was the Signature Model with everything fully loaded and these are produced in limited quantity. Maybe they had a small production run allocated to Sweden and that's it.

Not sure, just SWAG here...

 

Right, but I planned on keeping my extended warranty. My girlfriend is accident-prone, so I invest in such things now. Is there a reason why I shouldn't?

 

I basically signed up for the express plan because it got me the 15% discount. I generally don't like or purchase any kind of service plans, but I made an exception in this case, on the off chance that I could cancel it without penalty. They let me without issue so I did.

Reason I don't like them: They make me feel guilty when I decide to tear the thing to pieces and make modifications. Also, I think if them as a form of insurance. So the question is do I prefer to self-insure or do I want to pay a company to take that risk for me. For myself, I prefer to self-insure. I have had pretty good luck, in general, with reliability on things like this so, cost-wise I believe I do better without it.

Having said that though, there is another aspect to it when it comes to Sony. I haven't had to deal with this but I know others that have. If you have a Dell or a Lenovo with a problem. You get it to them and their sop is to make a concerted effort to get it back to you quickly, usu. within days.

Sony feels itself under no such compunction unless you have one of their special plans. So it is entirely conceivable that without the express plan they won't get around to looking at your computer (and charging their exorbitant fee) for many weeks.

That's another risk I take by not signing up for the express plan.

For me, I take both risks with my eyes wide open, but I don't necessarily recommend that for others.

 

I called in and canceled when I did it.

 

yes, also curious about the 'turn-by-turn' GPS software. I did use the 'fresh start' configuration option to remove the bloatware (and I have zero regrets in doing so!).

I was able to turn on location services (GPS) and enable realtime positioning in Google Earth, connecting with the Verizon 3G built in card. Interesting, but not helpful like GPS turn by turn.

 

If you want turn by turn navigation I recommend Garmin Mobile PC. I am using it on my R600 and same maps I can use for my car navigation.

 

Did you play around with your controls, because there is a auto-dim feature turned on out of the box that no matter what you set it to, it does its own thing based on the light in the room. I only say this because full brightness is WAY too bright for me, it hurts my eyes!

As for HD, do a clean install. Saves a ton if space. Make your recovery CDs, then use them to re-install everything. Doesn't sound like you have Windows Ultimate, so you should be able to select the option during re-install to take away the bloatware partition and the bloatware all together during re-install. I have a ton more space now. I have 85 free now and that is after installing Office 2007 Ultimate, Photoshop, and a couple other things.

As for the chip, if it cam ethat way and it is going to bother you, then exchange it.

You need to get the Verizon card during CTO in order for GPS to work in the US.

I have a feelings Windows 4 Home will not allow you to do a clean install using the backup discs. My theory behind this is that clean install is not an option for Ultimate and Home on the CTO page and we already know Ultimate users can not do a clean install using the backup discs. My suggestion is to get Professional during CTO or uninstall all the bloatware once you get it with Home.

I don't think the Z ever has specials like the other ones with free blueray or discounts on upgrades to i7. Also, some have heard that a refresh won't occur until the Fall, not summer. Because of it being released so late in the season.

I highly doubt we will see major changes to the Z, there is no way they make Blueray standard on the base model. That is a $400 option, I just don't see them going crazy like that. I eventually see the SSD size increasing on the base model, but probably to 192 and I don't know if that will be during the first refresh. Again, everything is speculation until it actually happens. Can you wait possible until Sept to get a new PC? If so, then wait for the refresh and see what it adds.

 

GPS in Europe is indeed working.

GPS part of Gobi chip needs to be turned on independently. And you cant do this with Smart Network that Sony provided for us Europeans. I switched to SmartWi, witch I obtained from sony US support site. There is dedicated on/off switch for gps. After I turn it on and match port setting with Earth Bridge and my GPS port I am able to lock on satellites. I even got like 9 sat indoors. Takes 1-2 minutes tho.

I still have problem with Earth Bridge. When it finds satellites I get warning about unhandled exception. If I dont kill the application it appears to continue normally, I just cant change anything in Earth Bridge app.

There is also nice addition in SmartWi what we dont have in smart network. You can share your 3G connection with Wlan.

 

Please?

 

The problem I have with Bitlocker isn't what is being encrypted or how, but that it unlocks the entire drive for all users. It's like having a very strong door and lock on your department store in that it only helps when the store is closed.
With EFS you can prevent other users (and spyware and malware) from reading data. And, for non-sensitive data, you don't pay the encryption/decryption penalty.

 

Hi Arth,

quick question (and I really don't know the answer, I'm not an MSCE or something). I remember EFS from older Windows version (Server 2000 or 2003 I think) but you could read the file through the Administrator account I believe and since you can easily access this one through some Linux boot disk and a bunch of other method, it is not as safe... Is it still the case?

My recollection on this is simple: years ago some disgruntled employee gets fired and his laptop was retrieved. He had left the domain, change the Admin password on his laptop and encrypted (EFS) the source files for a lot of the company code he was developing (yes, nice guy... don't get me started on why he was fired...)

We were able to retrieve everything by rooting the Administrator account on his local machine and then accessing the files that were EFS encrypted as we were some kind of Data Recovery superuser (sorry for the terminology, I know I'm wrong ).

I'm pretty sure that's what happened and the one thing that stuck with me was 'Well, EFS is kinda pointless if it can be broken so easily'.

Make sense to you? Are things different in Windows 7? was I drunk again when that happened?

Very curious on any insight you might provide !

Thanks

 

Has anyone had luck creating the recovery disc using a DVD+R double-layer disc? I attempted to do so with verification turned on, and left my desk while it did its work. When I got back, the status bar showed 100%, but an error message indicated there was a problem and that the disc was unusable. (I was able to successfully browse the disc contents via Explorer though.)

I'm now attempting to burn 2 discs with standard DVD+Rs. So far so good. Just a bit annoyed that I may have wasted a few bucks on the double-layer disc (Sony brand, no less).

EDIT: 2nd attempt with standard DVD+Rs was successful. Not sure what the problem is with DL discs.

 

Quick answer: No, you can not read an EFS encrypted file/folder/drive by logging in as Administrator.

However, there are a few catches:
1: On Domain accounts, the key is (if configured so) available on the domain server to Domain Administrators -- precisely to allow recovery of corporate machines.
For computers not part of a domain, the key does not exist anywhere else.

2: A local administrator can usually change the password for a user, then log in as that user, and the encryption is defeated, unless the key is stored somewhere else (like TPM or an external key fob).

3: There was an issue with early versions of XP, in that by booting a Windows 2000 CD, one could access EFS encrypted XP drives. This is no longer the case with XP SP2 or later.
But that's rather academic anyhow -- using EFS to encrypt a boot drive (without TPM or other ways of storing the key off the drive itself) is the Wrong Tool for the Wrong Job. EFS' forte is in encrypting folders and individual files, even on network drives or removable devices, without encrypting the entire boot drive, or unlocking it for everyone.

All in all, combined with TPM, and outside a Domain account (in which case the Domain admins can get at your data no matter what), EFS is pretty good and safe.

 

Thanks Repeli !

I managed to get the GPS working with the US drivers as well !

I also get the earth bridge error as well ( see Images ) and have posted a support request to the earthbridge devs.

I have noticed that Google Earth seems to be able to read from NMEA ports ( i read somewhere that it scans the first 20 ports ). It seems to be tracking my current position correctly with out using EarthBridge, I'm going to test more tomorrow when I'm on the move

Google Earth Menu
Tools-->GPS-->Realtime --> click start

On the Device Manager I changed the port settings to 4800 bits per second ( don't know if that actually made a difference )

 

Does anybody know how to re-enable function keys? (Fn + F keys) dont work for me now, I must have uninstalled some program connected to it. Anybody know which driver/program enables them?

Also I lost the light sensor function, I dont have the option to enable automatic brigthness adjusting, which means my backlit keyboard is always on when I type. Anybody knows which driver works for that?

 

No problem for me, on first try, cheap generic discs and they work.
Didn't even have the Verify on (maybe that's what's not working? )

 

Cool thanks !

 

I believe it is the VAIO Event Service that takes care of that but there's some dependencies (extension parser maybe ?)

Cheers

 

Easiest fix is to reinstall the notebook utilities.

 

So...

At what point do you decide you have a gadget tweaking problem?



Think I'm there.

A Description and results of the project will be posted after I take care of some medical junk.

 

Just noticed a curious thing about the Sony Z ear phones; they give the backround music to movies on my iPhone but no speech audio. Also noticed the earphone input jack is made differently. Anyone care to share some light on this? I take it the phones are proprietary like their memory sticks and won't work with other stuff. Bummer; I really liked the ear phones other than that.

I tried to play Oblivion on the Z and noticed frame rates were like 5 frames per second where they used to be 50 or more. It did not hit me that the AC power chord was not plugged in until I was in the middle of a restore. I plugged in and Windows 7 went haywire, booting me into a black screen. So I had to do a restore software for the third time. Working fine for now. I am not and don't think I ever will be ecstatic over Windows 7 though, sorry.

 

Thanks! VAIO Event Service did the trick! I was trying all others, thinking that I dont need Sony events... those apps names are confusing (plus in Japanese). I try to keep the applications minimal, so now everything seems to work, I am happy now.

 

Most, if not all, of the extra metal brackets are the microphone inputs.

 

Hi Everyone,

I just ordered a very basic CTO model of Z1190GX/S with following configuration:

4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
Fresh Start
Intel® Core™ i5-540M processor (2.53GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
CD/DVD Burner
Large Capacity Battery
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
128GB (128GBx1) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology

I am thinking to order a 256GB SSD and ThinkPad Serial Hard Drive Bay Adapter III to replace the DVD burner and use the 256GB SSD as the boot drive. Do you think is it possible? The HDD adapter information is:

This adapter enables serial ATA hard drive expansion in the ThinkPad native serial media bay. The ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III lets you add a second hard drive to the Ultrabay of your T400s systems. With a second hard drive, you can quickly store and back up critical data.

ThinkPad Serial Hard Drive Bay Adapter III Model Number: 43N3412
Depth Metric 133 mm
Height Metric 10.5 mm
Weight Metric[2] 0.80 Kg
Weight US[2] 0.17 lbs
Width Metric 128 mm
Height US 0.41 in
Width US 5.19 in

Do you think the Lenovo's SATA HD Adapter can fit Sony Z's SATA connector and DVD Bay?

 

Yes
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=469244

 

One more question.

If I can use the Lenovo slim adaptor to hook the SSD to the Z. Can I change the BIOS to boot it from the new SSD drive?
I want to install a Linux system with all my development tools (DBMS, J2EE and WebLogics Application Server) to the non-RAID 0 drive. Is the Z Linux compatible?

Please advice. Thanks!

 

Just posted pictures showing the disassembled LCD

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6107015#post6107015

 

Thank you! You are very powerful. I just ordered the Lenovo Adapter. I think it will arrive about same times as my new Sony Z.

 

yeah the headphones do the same thing on my iphone but have worked all other mp3 players ive tried with them. but yeah its pretty lame they dont work with iphone

 

ok, here's the thing: most headphones have two leads (stereo speaker). Some were modified (for phones such as the iPhones and others) to have three leads (one is the microphone, two are the speakers), Sony has four leads I believe (they have stereo microphone, one in each earbud... not sure though, I don't have mine with me.)

so, of course, you have to do some trickery to align the rings. If you just put a two lead stereo headphone in a three lead one... add to that there's information that can be sent back (like up and down volume, answer call which is all done with some interesting grounding/resistance introduction in the circuitery), well, of course not everything is compatible.

NOTE: I know there's one more on all of those jacks for the ground, but it I'm just talking about leads... anyway, high level.

Cheers

 

Since you have a VGN, what you need is the dimensions of the VPCZ, right? So, someone with the VPCZ can just measure their screen and post the dimensions?

 

LOL you are totally out of your mind.

Bronsky

 

I am about to order HDMI cable, but I actually dont know whether the HDMI slot on Z is standard or "mini" - can anyone tell me?

 

Most if not all laptops use standard hdmi slots. The z uses the standard

 

Thanks, have never used HDMI... everything seems so mini to me with this notebook...

 

How much should a Windows 7 (I have Home Premium) take up from the disk? After installing from Sony recovery disks, I have 117GB free out of 160. Dont know if thats acceptable... just lazy to do clean install for now.

EDIT: I guess thats due to the hidden recovery partition? Any easy way to delete it?