VAIO TZ Owner's Thread

just go to intel's website and download the appropriate driver, which is what I did, and it works perfectly.

 

Okay, one thing has been buggin me. There is some wierd etching on the wrist rest area to the right of the mouse just above the intel and energy start stickers - it looks like a finger pressing a button.

What is that supposed to signify? It doesn't seem to do anything.

 

It's the FeliCa port; a Japanese smartcard standard. Not usable in the US.

Stefan

 

It's a chip reader? Is there software to allow to read other smartchips?

 

It is; the software itself is in Japanese. I'm not aware of any working English client.

If you're interested it can be downloaded from here: http://www.sony.co.jp/Products/felica/pcrw/fsc_dl.html

Stefan

 

Do you know where can i download the manuals of TZ in English? Mine will come with japanese.

 

Manuals are available from the Sony US site as the tz160c

 

Thanks avalpert,

I just found it. I'm still waiting conics to send me the TZ but i'm more and more excited about this lappy. What about the battery? When you get it started the TZ you charged the battery for how many hours? The first charging must be long no?

 

I used it plugged in for the first evening I had it so I don't know how long it took to charge - but its a great computer.

 

It's a FeliCa port, as StefanB also mentioned.

You can read more about FeliCa via the following links:

http://www.sony.net/Products/felica/abt/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FeliCa

Japan is using this technology extensively as a very versatile payment system. Right now I am in Thailand where they also use FeliCa technology for their subway system. However, it is also spreading to other countried outside Asia. The interesting thing with the FeliCa port on your Vaio is that you can use it to manage your transactions (statement), i.e. what you have bought with the FeliCa card and also use it as a means of online payment.

All in all a clever system which I hope will start gaining momentum in other parts of the world.

 

Hello all,

Just placed an order for the TZ90 which I am getting from PriceJapan.

Opus9: I have read through just about all threads concerning the Vaio TZ, but I am still in doubt about the following:

Can I make a clean install of Windows Vista English and then extract the drivers from the recovery partition (the hidden partition?). That's how I understand your comment above. I would then copy the japanese drivers from the partition to a CD-ROM for backup purposes and then remove the partition contents afterwards. Please let me know if it is possible.

I would much rather do the above than fiddle around with the US drivers and model.txt or universal extractor.

Thanks for the help.

 

To Avalpert,

Since you took TZ from conics (english OS installed) can you tell me how many GB left at the SSD? What did you keep of the Sony stuff?
I'm still waiting mine but i'm curious

 

After installing office 2003 and some standard software I have 20.7 GB free.

 

That's good.

You delete Sony junkware? And if yes which?

Everyone, what did you put as standard software in your TZ?

 

Yeah, this is a good question.

Can we make a list of indispensable softwares in the TZ with SSD?
I ordered mine yesterday from pricejapan

 

You mean 20.7 GB, don't you?!

 

Actually conics deleted most of it for me; just left the installation files on the computer for me to decide. The only things I realy kept where the AV Mode launcher, image converter and power management software.

Other than that: office 03, foxit for pdf, cutepdf for printing, ccleaner, google toolbar, media player classic (with real and quicktime alternative to replace their bulkier siblings), software for my Netdisk (external network attached storage), voicestick (my voip software), gimp, lame and eac for audio ripping.

All other software runs off my netwrok drive, if I find that I use labor intensive programs more frequently I wil move them onto the ssd drive. I also keep most of my documents on the network drive.

 

20.7 MB left must be a misprint in a hurry? Please confirm this.

 

it was a misprint - I fixed it

 

Good! Thank you!

 

Great avalpert. Quite all of these softwares i use them too (plus azureus and nero) so i wanted to calculate how much space i will have.
Good that conics did that job and let you decide what you want. 20.7 gb left is very good.
Which external HD you took?
Come on Brett send my lappy!

 

Mandersen you finally decided to purchase TZ or not yet? Relax when the 64 GB SSD comes i'm sure we gonna be able to put it

 

I use a netdisk enclosure with a 300gb hard drive in it - it cna beboth networked attached or direct connect to the computer via usb.

When savign space I highly reccomend Ccleaner to delete those unnecesary temp files and installation leftovers - also turn off windows' autorecover since I am sure you are suing some other periodic backkup system anyway (I use True Image)

 

Can anyone who ordered from pricejapan specify how long it actually took to receive your TZ?

I made my oder exactly on the 12th of July and I really need it before the 29th. I've read that some conics people got theirs shipped out overnight right after 2 weeks of building. So this coming thursday will be exactly 2 weeks. So is it reasonable to hope that my TZ will come to me by at least Saturday? Does pricejapan do overnight shipping right after they receive it as well?

 

exetlaios, thanks for asking. Thinking that a new model probably will not reach the market before about new year, I think I will go for a 32GB SSD and DVD as soon as the finances allow it. I also think to add an Express Card 32GB and a Memory Stick 8GB and SD Card 4GB: That will add enough GBs, I think.

 

Great choice. Me too i got these specs. Which Express card 32GB do you have in mind? I'm in the market for one also.
Kevin i ordered from conics at 7/4 and they still didn't ship it. I don't know about pricejapan with conics is definitely not 2 weeks.

 

Hi, again!

The ExpressCard I have found is: TRANSCEND 32GB Solid State Disc, Express Card 34 (TS32GSSD34E). In Norway the price is about 3000 NOK, that is about 371 EUR. With about half this price for 8GB Memory Stick, I think it will be OK to equip the TZ with these cards that will increase the GBs so substantially.

 

Heia Norge!

Seems nice this card but 370 euro is a little expensive. I will wait for the 64Gb SSD and then i will pay the extra bucks. Maybe someone else knows some other suggestion about express cards?
Thanks anyway mandersen.

 

I am expecting to get the TZ160CB. It is a Canadian model. Its says that it comes with 1GB (2X512MB). I thought that there is only one memory slot, or am I wrong? How can I upgrade my TZ to 2GB then?

 

You'll have to take out the 1gb stick and put in a 2gb stick.

 

Thank you for your help. That what I thought so. However, please look at the model's specifications and see that there are, actually, 2 memory slots. It says 2X512MB. Is it a mistake. Here is the link:
http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...Id=1004115&navigationPath=32009n100299n100380

 

Thats most likely a typo. (sony is not the best when it comes to accurate information) I really don't see Sony making 2 slots just for canada TZs. If I had known how easy it would be to replace RAM (I thought you would have to remove the whole chassis like many ultras), I would opt for 1GB and just buy a 2GB stick for under $100 and pop it in myself.

 

Thanks Outrigger. I hope you are right. I will let you know once I get my TZ160.

 

I just got an e-mail from Vaio support. They claim that the TZ160CB model comes with 512MB RAM onboard and 512MB RAM in the uprgadable slot. The total RAM would be 1.5GB. I found that similar problem arose regardingg the TXN25. here is the link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=130230
Can I change the 512MB to a 2GB, and ended up with 2.5GB RAM?

 

Hey, guys

I've just run into a problem with my wireless card - it doesn't detect any wireless networks any more! It's been working fine until today.

This morning I installed the Sony Vaio utilities and all seemed well until this afternoon. I've since tried uninstalling the apps as well as rolling my system back to before the installs but the same thing happens - she just won't pick up any networks.

The main symptoms that I've noticed (other than not seeing any wireless networks at all even when sat on top of a work WAP) is that the refresh seems to take milli-seconds as opposed to the usual 10+ seconds do work though.

To me, it's almost as though the wireless card is turned off but then switch is to on, the bluetooth icon lights up too, the properties for the card itself have wireless turned to on as well so I'm one confused bunny.

Any ideas, folks?

 

Hi all, for memory upgrades, does the TZ support a 2gb DDR2 800mhz or 667mhz? if yes will those speeds make the TZ go faster compare to 533mhz? thanks!

 

yes.

no.

 

thanks philflow! I have a TZ150, is it possible to swap the 100gb hd with a 64gb ssd?

 

is it true that the tz150 is super slow? would adding another gig of ram (2 gig total) make adifference? thanks... sorry for all the questions but i gotta know

 

the tz150 has a 4200rpm and its 1.8" even smaller than the usual 2.5". I would expect it to be very slow because even with a 2.5" 4200rpm drive is crawling slow I would assume a 1.8" 4200rpm is even slower. Man i'm soooo glad that I ordered the 160gb 5400rpm 2.5" =) should be more than enough in speed wise and I'm going to replace it with a hitachi travelstar 7k200 7200rpm =D should be equivalent maybe a hair slower than an ssd drive =)

 

"Boot-up time from pushing the power button to being able to start applications is 40 seconds flat, quicker than my desktop using a Raptor 10k rpm drive. Now that is fast!"
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3780

 

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of ordering a TZ (32SSD+160gb HD) from Conics and have a couple of questions. Had a look on the forums, but could not find an answer. Help would be appreciated.

(1) With the 32GB SSD and 160GB HD option, do the media player buttons at the front of the unit still work?

(2) Given this unit does not have a CD/DVD drive, what is there on the right-hand side of the unit? An extra USB port(s), nothing?!!

(3) I am planning to puchase 'English setup' from Conics (which is presumably Vista in English language), but what recovery options are there? What if I want to restore the laptop to factory settings in the future (i,e, wipe the hard drive and start again), how can I do this?

(3a) When ordering from Conics, does anyone know what exactly the TI English Recovery DVD is??


These are really newbie questions, but would really appreciate some support!!

Thanks!

 

Hey, noob, read the threads! All your questions have been answered at nauseam:

1. No
2. Cover plate plus extra USB port is what some have reported.
3. English Vista restore only (original restore partition is gone)...
3a. ...using your English Vista Recovery DVD.

 

You are right, Outrigger. It is a typo. I just got the TZ160C. It has 1 GB RAM stick, and not 2X512MB, as stated at www.sony.ca.

 

is the tz170 noticeably faster than the 150?

 

bump please i need help

 

adding the gig of ram would make a world's difference in vista.

 

Give us the specs you are talking about, and tell us what OS and applications you will be running.

Then I will be happy to answer your question.

 

thanks phil, im sorry if im being annoying, but i dont have that much time to make a decision..

The tz150 has 1gb of ram, the tz170 has 2gb ram, the u7500 processor, 100 gb ram 4200rpm...

Ive been hearing its very slow(the 1gb) and that the 2gb should be faster, and if i erase all the bloatware, and change the setting in vista for better performance it should be much much better. but i dont know ive never used a tz...

i only use the browser, itunes, picture viewing. if i want to play any games ill use my desktop of course.

im really indecisive between the tz170 and the sz650.. but ive been hearing some bad things about the sz650.. light leakage, not such a good performance, poor battery life, etc.

Im leaning towards the tz170.... but any advice is welcome. thats why im making all these noob questions..

 

or do you thinkg its better to install xp? i saw a youtube video of a tz190 running on xp working perfectly (brightness controls, fingerprint reader, etc)