Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

i was refering to DDR3 1066; PC3-8500...

The 1066 is the rated bus speed for that RAM; I don't know where the 8500 comes from...

From what I understand, if you bought 1333MHz, it would be under-clocked to run at the FSB frequency of the CPU, since that is the rate at which the memory controller on the CPU is accessing the RAM (well in fact the bus is actually running at 667MHz since the memory is Dual-Data-Rate, whereby the RAM is actually accessed on both the forward and back edges of the clock signal, but I digress... ). As for latency values, well I don't know much about those, but doubt if a slightly lower value would make a visible difference. If anyone knows better, please feel free to correct me...

 

Isn't it 8 x 1066 = 8500? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR3_SDRAM

@dilem: What's speccy?

 

Well there you go, Wikipedia knows better than I do...

 

@ozbimmer Speccy is that program released by the same group that release CCcleaner. It just shows you your system information in a reasonably great detail. RAM, OS, Motherboard, temp etc etc...

@ponx so.... what really is the stock RAM for the Z... I'm confused... the spec sheet says that its 1066MHz, you said its 1066MHz, but the 'slightly glitchy' speccy thing says its PC10700. How else can I check it?

Also, If my old SZ is running Intel C2D T7700 with FSB of 800MHz meaning i can only use UP TO DDR2-800 PC 6400 right? =) thanks all

 

I see. Thanks.

Speccy reports my RAM correctly. May be you can try CPU-Z?

 

Well if it actually is 133MHz (PC3-10700) it'll most probably be running at 1066MHz, so no worries there... If your app is telling porkies then you could always open the little panel and see if you can find a serial number on the RAM modules, then google it...

But anyway, I reckon your current RAM config is optimum, so I wouldn't bother wasting money on changing it...

 

Same here, sometimes it just falls a sleep for like 2-3 seconds.

 

Yes, you have 1333MHz RAM (1333MHz = base 667MHz * 2). But that RAM is also capable of running at base frequency of 533MHz and 400MHz. In case of Z it runs at 533MHz, which gives you equivalent of 533MHz * 2 = 1066MHz DDR3.

And no, there seem to be no win in latency because at 533/1066 this RAM has 7-7-7-20 - typical latency for that type (and it has 9-9-9-24 at 667/1333).

 

Interesting.... so sony actually gave us a better RAM than the system can handle thanks heaps guys... that clears a lot!!! now I know what RAM to use to uprade my old SZ too.

edit* ponx thanks for the guidance!

 

No worries; having been assisted myself on numerous occasions, it's always nice to be able to help others out too...

 

I don't think that this Nvidia tool is compatible with GT330M and windows 7. Have you managed to overclock it and did the graphics improve?

 

I think it's always been quoted like this where "256GB" ==> 2x128.

 

The keyboard I am using as we speak is just some Dell keyboard and it has a model number of SK-8115 on it.

What I did to compare the Z to this Dell keyboard was to compare the distance, center to center, across 5 keys (A-G). Finding my micrometer now and doing a more accurate measurement shows the distance to be 3.0".

As far as comparisons against other Sonys. The only one within the reach of my arm is a Vaio TX770P. My trusty micrometer indicates that one has a measurement of 2.64" across those same 5 keys. Note that the TX is a tiny laptop with a 11.1" screen and has what all consider to be a much smaller than average keyboard.

Edit: Spotting a GQ brand (i.e. generic) keyboard with model number 7932M, yields the same 3" spacing across the 5 keys.

All in all, it just seems to me like the key spacing is pretty standard.

 

I must have missed it somewhere. I wonder if one can still do it after installing a few things...

 

sorry guy can guru let me know if i have to charge my battery on first use for 12hrs like on the cell phone? also how does the 80% battery cap setting in sony software work?

 

Well, I am by no means 'guru', but yes by all means charge your battery. 12 hours is probably total overkill.

The 80% setting causes your battery to not be charged fully. This is supposed to extend the life of the battery. Personally I don't bother with that one, I plan to buy the extended battery when my standard battery gets too old and weak so I would rather have something that decreases the life of this one rather than extends it (maybe a 110% setting?).

 

so what is the proper operation when you have fresh battery? how long did you charge them? i heard that first 5 usage before recharge i have to discharge it completly? but that is opposite with my Z manual it said "i do not have to discharge them before recharging.

thx

 

Go to Vaio Control Center > Battery > Advanced. Here you will see the settings for battery care: 80% charge, 50% charge, and Customize. Customize resets it back to allow you 100% charge.

 

thx, but the main question is how is it work? how many % i will extend my battery life? (ie says if i charge my batt to 100& i will have 1000 charges but if i set it as 80% how many charges i will gain throughout the life of the battery)

thx

 

That was back in the days when NiMH adn NiCd batterys were in use. I believe with current Li-ion batterys you reduce life by using them from 100% to 0% every time.

 

Does someone know how to get rid of the annoying beep what you get everytime you change volume or brightness with function keys? What is is for anyways?

 

Rename "pi.wav" file in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\VAIO Event Service\"
["(x86)" in path is only in 64-bit OS skip it in 32-bit]

 

so th sony would not fix my screen on my 1 dead pixel, i think i will return every thing worth $5500 and buy new MBP then

very unhappy w/ sony now

 

Have you tried calling sony support and asking if they will exchange or fix your lcd? I remember I asked a sony rep at a local sony style store about their dead pixel policy and he said they will exchange the computer even if there was only 1 dead pixel. Keep in mind this was a sony store in Canada, and I am unsure if this is the same in other countries.

 

In the days of NiCad batteries there was a problem that was termed the "memory effect" where the battery would lose apparent charge if not fully discharged with each use.
This is not a problem that modern LiIon batteries have. The main issue with this type of battery has to do with increase in resistance caused by overheating. Oxidation builds up on the contacts until the battery can no longer deliver sufficient charge. This is exacerbated by heat. One of the main causes of overheating is from charging.

Various schemes are in place to optimally charge the battery. The controller is actually quite smart in this regard. It doesn't just slam the charge in there like in the old days. it follows a pulse profile designed to charge optimally while maintaining the longevity of the battery. The 80% probably does help some, but I can't give you a definitive number as to how much benefit. Maybe someone knowledgeable about batteries will chime in with that (if it's even possible to know). But one thing for sure, with LiIon there is no benefit to totally discharging the battery. That only helps with NiCad.

 

ok well next time you are in sony style, take a look at the S, EB, CW or F, then look at the Z. See the difference?

 

Hi everyone,

Im sorry for this question and i'm sure that it has been asked numerous times, but i simply couldn't find the answer.

Anyway, I just got my Sig. VPC-Z today and i was wonder if there was any one place where all of the useful information in this thread, the SSD thread, and any other thread have been compiled for easy access. I have been following most of the various threads about the VPC-Z, but i am not computer savy and simply dont understand everything that has happened. I think that i speak for a lot of people when i say it would be helpful for everyone if someone knowledgable about all the information could compile the info into a post. Some questions that could be answered might be: What should I do once i get my computer?, info about the SSD (I understand there is a really good thread on this but i was wondering if there was a step-by-step sort of thing...), how to some what fix the sound problem, etc.

I know i am probably asking to much and if that is the case then no worries, i'll try to sift through the pages...but if someone could help me out or at least point me in the right direction...it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks for reading

 

Thank You, Sir

Saves me from many awkward moments.

 

I just installed these three tools from "6.02_nvidia_system_tools".

Haven't had chance to test them yet, at least they installed on Windows 7.

I'm not an expert in overclocking, but with right details i think i should do fine.

So can anyone who knows better make some small overclocking guide for Nvidia GeForce GT 330M ?

As someone said, it's underclocked for some (good?) reason. I wouldn't mind returning it at least to default, if it is safe and there is no problems with temperatures or fan.

I assume that if you overclock gpu, it will of course affect in your battery life by reducing it?

Thanks in advance.

 

OK, so... Keys are a little bigger, spacing appears to be standard... so what?
Get the one that has the keyboard that feels good to you, who cares?

 

It's underclocked i guess mainly because of the heat (if you didnt notice this yet, it's a damn small laptop). 2nd would probably be the consumption aka battery life.

It's not sure if all 330M's in the Vaio Z's can run ''default'' speeds, but they probably will, you just have to find out yourself hehe.

And overclocking is pretty simple. Just open the nvidia configuration panel (after having installed the system tools). When you are there, click the performance tab, then device settings. Switch to custom and start sliding one bar at the time (and only a few mhz at the time). Apply the overclock and start testing it with benchmarks / gaming. When you seem to have your max (aka your pc starts acting weird or something), get below it by ~20mhz or so, just to be safe.

After that, start with slider 2, follow the same routine, after that the shader clock etc.

PS: overclocking is your own responsibility and it's probably best to only do it when you know what your doing.

 

If you have accidental damage insurance....

 

Yeah i would logically suggest that those would be the reasons. I thought that, if i could make one settings for battery usage and other settings for desktop use without battery, when i play Napoleon Total War. ;o

 

Nope, as long as you're within the 20 days of your purchase they said they would exchange the laptop even if it was just 1 dead pixel.

 

yes that what they offer me, but they do not have them in stock so they are offering me full refund for this stupid 1 dead pixel. anyway the lady told me that i have 30 days to check back if there is a stocked appear on the website call them back and they will pay all the shipping fees and ship me new boxes (this is for the $4499 version)

so i will use this until they have more stock

 

I purchased a Netgear Push2TV unit to test if the Wireless Display would work. After installing the Wireless Display software and the latest WiFi card driver I tried it out. The Wireless Display application was able to see the Push2TV unit, but when I tried to put the display onto the TV screen I got instant blue screen of death. Tried reinstalling both the software and firmware 3 more times with identical results. Seems like Intel or Netgear (or both) put some sort of a kill command into either the software or hardware to prevent non-approved notebooks from using this feature. Anybody have any suggestions? I'm willing to be a guinea pig

 

Apologies if this already has been posted, but the Z comes out looking pretty good in this Laptop Mag review of the new 15" i7 MBP.

Would love to hear more people's thoughts on the trackpad (w/ multi-touch activated) -- not loving that aspect of the Z.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-15-inch-core-i7.aspx

 

Whilst I am aware Bluetooth and Wifi B/G/N operate on 2.4GHz, I have never ever had a laptop that has these issues when both bluetooth and wifi are enabled and performing data transfers.

It is my understanding that at worst data transfer rates will be degraded, but disconnections and drop outs, this has got to be a software issue.

Any one else got any input here?

 

As mentioned above, this has never been a problem on previous laptops, 5 GHz is not an option, I work at multiple sites for multiple companies, I can't see them purchasing new access points just because my laptop has issues.

 

That's nice of Sony, I didn't expect it after hearing stories about their customer service

 

I am playing some video clips, one of them in 720p, through VLC on my external monitor connected through HDMI to DVI. They looked excellent through my old DVI connection. Now I have lost ability to adjust luminance (contrast) on my monitor. They look muddy, there are no blacks, it's crap.

Text and photographs look okay. Anyone can enlighten me what is happening? It would be a major bummer if I couldn't play decent quality video. Does it have something to do with the HDMI - DVI conversion?

It's equally sucky on Windows Media Player.

 

Maybe this should help some of us of feel even happier about choosing the Z: http://kettya.com/notebook2/crystaldiskmark.htm

Probably the fastest SSD aroud, besting even the much larger Alienware.

 

Hey guys, I'm planning to purchase an entry-level Z (i5-520), then upgrading the processor to an i7-720QM or even an i7-820QM (accdg. to Intel, they have the same pm55 chipset, thus being compatible).

Battery performance is not an issue, but I am concerned with the heat being generated. Any thoughts on this matter? Or other implications of this upgrade?

 

Don't think you can do that, traviankotoh. The i5 520m is an embedded chip. It can't be replaced.

 

Have you tried adjusting your gamma overlay settings?

 

Even if you COULD replace the chip, none of the quad cores have integrated graphics. I don't know what kind of havoc that would play with the BIOS or other custom items designed to switch between the two.

 

FYI

If GeekBench could be used as a suitable cross-platform benchmark, the new MBP 15 (i7, GT330m, Mac OS X) has a score of 5395. Mine, a i7 GT330m VAIO Z scored 5165.

 

You can't compare that way. It would be best to do it from Windows via bootcamp.

Too bad Apple are buttholes about exporting OSX

 

Yep. I can't get real black on the monitor. Bizarre. Tried contrast and brightness, too. All through Nvidia controls. Seems like minimal threshold is way above black.

Could that be the nature of this Nvidia card? I tried stamina mode, but that doesn't work with external monitors.

I even set the background on the monitor to 100% black background, nothing on it. Still looks like a slightly washed out very dark gray, but no black.

And the video playback that used to be very nice on the previous laptop (much lower horsepower, but the card was ATI) has a real poor quality, pixelated, lousy.

 

For your black level issue - try this.

Go into the Nvidia control panel. Then the video playback options setting (near the bottom, sorry don't have my Z in front of me for exact wording or placement). Change the radio box to the option that says you want the Nvidia drivers to control video settings instead of the application. Now click on the far right tab and select a forced range of RGB 0-255 (instead of 16-235).

Edit - just to add that if that DOESN'T correct your exact problem, this is still likely the issue except that the Nvidia drivers may be outputting 16-235 range over HDMI when your set is expecting 0-255 range (especially if it's a DVI set).