Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 Official Owners Thread

Haha, I have that same issue. I disassembled it and poked around but it looks like it isn't fixable (at least, it's not 'jump out in my face' apparent). Good to know mine isn't the only one

 

My right hinge is also a bit higher...

 

Oh No! Now us obsessives will never be able to take our eyes off of the hinges.

 

anyone using Eclipe Touch with their Z? any impressions?
i like its unique style (kinda reminds Z shape a bit) probably will be ordering it tonight...

 

For the first many weeks that option was on the second page somewhere under the engrave option. In the last couple of weeks though it migrated to the first page. Now it's back in its "traditional" spot.

 

I am not too concerned about performance as I am sure this system is already fast enough. I think you are right, the 128GB version is really 80GB or 90GB when it comes to free space after all the essential apps are installed.

Good idea about using the SD slot. Have you considered using a PCI-Express card for space?

What do you mean by the power consumption bug? Would really like to know.

I am in Australia and we either get the 128GB (x2 64GB) or 256GB (x4 64GB). I thinking whether to go with the 128GB and save some money. Use that money to either buy a PCI-Express card SSD or a large SD card for storage.

Can you store applications on SD cards and run them like as if they were on the hard drive?

Thanks guys!

 

Has anybody a working solution for the gps on european models?

I've tried the drivers for the gobi2000 from the us site, installed smartwi and uninstalled smartnetwork but i still don't see the gps at the device manager.

Any advice?

 

If you get it, please post a review. I was looking at Razer Orochi for a while (it was $40 at Frys'), but people say the bluetooth part goes to sleep a little too quickly...

 

Holy crap, I hadn't noticed that until you mentioned it, but I have the same issue!

 

Ha! That's hilarious. My Z590C (that I've had for 2 years) is exactly the same, and I never noticed it until now.

Having not noticed it in two years of every day use - I'm not going to let it bother me when I receive my new Z this week.

DC

P.S. - to tell you the truth, I actually think it's the hinge COVER that's positioned slightly higher, vs. the hinge itself - so the screen isn't really tilted.

 

Must be designed that way. My left hinge is slightly lower than the laptop body. The right is slightly higher.

So far everyone has a higher one on the right. Is there anyone that does not have this?

 

OMG!

I kept meaning to turn off auto-brightness adjust (on the Z11) and finally got around to doing so.

I just about burned my eyeballs out of their sockets
(that thing gets bright)

 

It seems that an additional drive messes up the ACPI tables which prevents the CPU from going into power saving states. See this thread for more information.

Working GPS here. Just reinstall the GOBI drivers with the GPS=1 option. You'll find the NMEA adapter after a reboot and activating the WWAN module via smart network in the device manager. Imho there is no need for flashing the firmware or using any additional software including SmartWii.

 

So here's my laptop after 2(?) months of use.

1. My palm rest. As you can see, totally faded - it looks like a big fat black spot. And this is all just from my hand and cleaning it once in a while.
2. The left part of the palm rest is starting to fade too.
3. Someone ran in to me on their bike and punched in the speaker. The laptop was closed, but for some reason the dent happened there. I still don't get it.

I'm sending my laptop in for repairs in about two weeks. As I told you guys a few weeks ago, it turned on during sleep mode and became almost as hot as an oven, which caused half the screen to turn black (like someone took a torch to it). They're obviously going to fix the dent, of course, but I want them to check the laptop out for any internal damage from that extreme heat. I noticed that ever since then, the laptop produces a lot more heat and runs the fan more often. Parts of the LCD screen also have these light or dark "spots" thanks to that incident, so I'm hoping they'll either fix the screen or replace it all together. I also hope the repair peeps will call me like the guy said he would ask them to do - I want to see how much a new palm rest is, since they won't replace cosmetic damage. Hope it's not too much.

 

That's some really bad luck!

I am concerned by the fading palm rest. Then again, I have used quite a few notebook over the years and the prolonged use of them meant the palm rest did fade on most occasions.

 

Finally got my Vaio Z VPCZ117GG!

It's absolutely beautiful

Since it seems that clean installing will have some negative effects on the performance ( first time i will ever not clean install a system ). What preinstalled utilities have you guys removed so far that seems to be not important?

Also i've been reading through the video card driver threads. Is there any current driver pack that works with the Z1's switching that is more updated than the default set?

Thanks alot!

 

Well, I'm definitely leaving those stickers on!

 

Hi guys, I can't believe I've read this entire thread (well almost lol). Thank you everyone for doing all the laptop research and dissecting! I was gonna wait for the next Z refresh in Jun/Jul before buying one since some people were complaining about the "black screen of death" and what have you.

I just found what I believe is a crazy deal for a VPCZ112GX trim though (from passwird.com):

http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Sony-VAIO-Z112-VPCZ112GX-S-13-1-inch-Notebook/product/44792FD8

Use coupon CLR-MSAFL-40%-PC for 40% off. it's $1140 after the coupon. i wish it had 1080p!

someone please stop me from pulling the trigger.

nevermind, i bought it anyway lol

 

I considered that further option, but now I bought a USB 3.0 PCI-Express for occasionally USB 3.0 backup.
If, in the future, I should need more storage space I will go for PCI-Express SSD.

 

Cool, are you getting the full USB 3.0 speed?

 

No of course, same as with USB 2.0 it is difficult to obtain full spec speed.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/483123-usb-3-0-z11.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/484774-backup-usb-3-0-speedy-gonzales.html

 

The new Z126GG is sold out in Hong Kong. They are selling like hot cakes...

 

Well, from your results (thanks by the way!) it is at least double the speed. Currently it takes 90 minutes to back up many files at once. With the Express Card USB 3.0, I would imagine the time would be reduced to 35-45 minutes Not bad!

 

From what I've seen there's very little difference between the models ... true or am I refusing to admit that i bought too early ?

 

No difference really apart from maybe more RAM, at most.

 

The way I understood it, you can get all the drivers downloaded from the Sony Vaio support site, so clean install shouldn't be a problem?

Ah man, my regards. That sucks It's always annoying when the technology fails on you. It takes time, money and yeah.. Just bothers you!

The palm rest thing looks really crazy. It looks like someone burned that part of the laptop with a lighter, holding it upside down!

Is your Vaio Z, a "Black" Vaio? The one I am planning to buy is just called Black.. I'm unsure if that means it's a paint job or if it's just the finnish or if its like that from the carbon fibre itself?



Are you going to pay for the repair, or do you have Vaio Care package thingy?




To everyone else - Finding a good portable harddrive is hard these days. I really dislike the new Western Digital My Passport. I got one of the new 500 GB ones. Not only was it loaded with horrible bloatware, that required software installations and firmware upgrades to remove. They had a great thing going, and now they are just trying to make a major hassle and waste of anyones time. Grrrr.
My main grip is that they have changed to Micro-USB. It's this ultra thin, smaller looking HDMI port. Only problem is that the connection is horrid, and you will get disconnect between the hard drive and the cable, so incredible easy, that it's not portable at all, and borderline useless.
But apparently many manufac's are changing to this micro-USB. Goddamit.
Whats the point of making everything slimmer and smaller if it's not working? I had no problems with normal USB. Does would at least not disconnect, by the slightest movement!
I don't really know where to get good storage now, actually...


Having an SSD probably means that you do not want to load it up with all your films, songs and pictures. I at least just want to keep it for applications and fast performance, and then connect my media to it from a small external.... I really need a good high capacity fast external hard drive. I heard Seagate's are still unreliable, and have been for years. Samsung has some offerings... But not convinced(don't like the design.. but might have to take the plunge, anyways)!

 

The new Z126GG has the exact same specs as the Z116GG which it replaced. The new Z126GG is 1000$ HK cheaper.

 

Riccardo,
i'm new in this forum. Just to ask you: i would like to buy a Z11X9E/B
with samsung 128GB ssd; what is your opinion about it (main use GIS
Cartography and image processing) if i'll buy an USB 3.0 ext Hd as a data disk?

 

Dear all,
i'm new in this forum. Just to ask you: i would like to buy a Z11X9E/B
with samsung 128GB ssd; what is your opinion about it (main use GIS
Cartography and image processing) if i'll buy an USB 3.0 ext Hd as a data disk?
Someone can help me? thanks

 

Depends of how you "store" these applications. Actual storing executables (i.e. manual copy, or "unzip" installation) and launching them will run fine, like it would with pictures or videos.

But installing on SD card can be sometimes tricky because the installer may not want to do the installation on a removable media. However I think that's still possible by using some tricks...

However the question is also about performance. Running applications from the SD card will be immensely slower than running them from the internal SSD; a big application (modern game for instance) will take minutes to launch instead of seconds and may "freeze" when accessing data. If you'd have to extend your internal SSD storage by an SD card I would highly recommend to only put data that doesn't need to be accessed quickly on the SD card, like videos.

Well if you need to save money going for 128GB instead of 256GB is definitely an option, but only if it's enough space for you.

If you already know that you might need more space, I wouldn't recommend hoping to compensate by express card SSD or SD card... Because :
1. they are not really cheaper, given the available storage space
2. you won't find really big SD cards (more than 16GB)
3. express card SSD are quite costy given the questionnable performance and pretty small space provided
4. overall, performance sucks terribly compared to internal SSD or HDD
5. it will be awkward to use the SD card reader of the express card slot given the slot is already used on a permanent basis (think adding USB 3.0/eSATA/TV tuner... or simply take a look or copy the pictures you've just taken with your camera)

In short, you won't save much if you buy the 128GB SSD and then you add big SD cards and express card SSD. Plus you'll have several disks to manage instead of a big one and the performance will suck on these extra disks.

My advice would be:
- either you're sure that 128GB will be enough, in which case take this option and save money -- also knowing you'll be able to use external disks, SD cards and so on as emergency storage places
- either you find the extra cash to get the 256GB SSD and you'll be uber-happy with it
- or finally you know you'll need a lot of disk space and you're not afraid of hacking your device: go for the 128GB SSD and be ready to replace the DVD drive by an internal HDD (this will be by far the cheapest available storage option)

 

i see, thanks for the info I got the Z117GG, I notice it's not been refreshed, so i'm happy enough

 

Congratulations

 

Good to know that some people also have their right hinges slightly higher. Sony were meant to make this stupid machine perfectly designed and constructed since its a very expensive Vaio but they FAIL

Now, Can someone please tell me what are the advantages and disadvantages of having a clean install? Will it boost the performance of the vaio Z or what?

Cheers dudes

 

Has anyone used any of the SGP Vaio accessories?

Wrist rest, LCD protector, and Lid skin?

 

The signature VPCZ11FHX/XQ is now No longer available for purchase at Sony Style.

 

I have a quick update. cannot use the restore disks from the fresh start unit, as it causes error when attempting. It seems that the disks know what system model number or perhaps serial number are being used.

tried a restore a few different ways using the restore disk from the second system, and the same delayed boot time. about 16 cursor blinks after the BIOS screen followed by about 10 seconds of black screen until the "starting windows message appears. on the CTO fresh start machine, there are 3 blinks and almost immediate starting windows screen. total boot time about 32 seconds.

the config on the CTO machine: i7, 4G ram, 128G SSD, dvd, fresh start
on the pre config machine, i7, 6g ram, 512g ssd, dvd, verizon card.
I had restored the CTO unit with its restore disks and the boot time remained the same, the preconfigured machine had the same boot time as the CTO
but when I restored the preconfig machine with its restore disks the boot time was much longer than before.

Called Sony-- after getting to level 2 support, they are sending me official sony restore disks. I think there is a bug in the utility that makes the restore disk from the recovery partition. We will see what happens

If the sony disks prove to improve the situation, then the argument that the restore disks are not restoring the system to the "as shipped" condition could be made and perhaps others in the same boat can get the disks from sony too.--- or not!

 

Ha ! Someone's trying to sell the I7 ssd 512 Gb for 1100 € (approx 1600 dollars) on french ebay.... I hate conmen

 

For many years that I had ThinkPads, one hinge was designed to be different than the other.

Re: Clean Install.

It's possible that it might boost performance if there are apps installed that are stealing cycles. Otherwise, it just gets crap off of the disk and out of the menus.

 

Can anyone please help me? Thanks in Advance..

I ordered the Sony Z w/ 128gb ssd from that deal yesterday. I tried to search but are there any guides that show how to replace the dvd drive with a hard drive? I'm planning on keeping the SSD partitions clean with just the necessities/ important software, and load up the larger drive with my hd movies.. Another option might be to get a portable hard drive for long trips or just when I'm at home.

TY

 

GIS Cartography sounds like a map application requiring lots of disk space I guess maybe you need high-speed access to a lot of data? The Z doesn't have a USB3 port, so you'll probably need to get an expresscard for that. Then again, depending on the speed of the drive, and the application, perhaps USB2 would be good enough...

The other option is to replace the optical drive with a HDD, that would require modifications.

That's quite interesting, Zoinks has a thread titled 'Something something Slow Post something something", if you resolve it you should definitely post it in there

 

I thought I read that the clean install could be a contributor to the slow post issue, in which case you might want to consider not doing the clean install. Did I dream that? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

PS, my Z has been delayed...again. SonyStyle wouldn't budge with additional help or reparations. Had to take this one to the Direct Sales Department.

 

I was searching for some drivers earlier, and found a pattern image that creates a clearly visible display-wide interference in my Z (FullHD)

Test

Open that link and everything that is over the web background or even outside of the window (but on the same horizontal space) will have an interference all over it!

 

Selling my vaio Z11 here http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...alienware-m17x-r1-m11x-also-sony-vpc-z11.html

 

what do you mean by interference? i opened the link and image was pretty static. no problems have been noticed... (brand new Z 1600x900)

 

You can never attain full USB 3.0 speed with a PCI-e 2.0 1x bus.

 

You mean ExpressCard SSD?

 

I just got my new Z delivered today! I love it so far

I want to do a fresh install of windows 7 ultimate and have 2 questions:

1. No disk was included w/ the computer. Do I create a disk myself? How?

2. Where can I find the proper drivers? Is there anything special I need to do because of the SSD?

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, there are solutions as Verbatim Expresscard SSD (64 GB 180 € and 32 GB 100 €) 120 MB/s Read 30MB/s Write.
Worse than a Raid 0 SSD but better than SD slot.

Till now I'm happy with my 192 GB SSD (137 GB free)

 

Can't confirm that. Everything looks still fine, when the picture is open...

 

Wooohoooo!

My CTO Z has been sent from the factory! Should be sent to me tomorrow!