VAIO TZ Owner's Thread

No, there are two flashcard slots, Memory Stick and SD, so you can have one of each. Although, based on my test with the 8GB HDSC card, there are sacrifices to be made. For one, writing is very slow, only about 3MB throughput. Second, every time the TZ wakes up, it wants to mount the HDSC card, annoying.

But you do get 8GB for 90, or so, bucks, so not bad.

I have not seen Express Cards that big, but $500 sounds about right. Yes, don't bother with the Micro Vault, just get an 8GB Memory Stick from Buy.com for $130, that will give you 48GB total.

 

ubercool, u can get express card up to 16GB, not too expensive.

Have look www.myssd.com (is a korean flash maker) ,
I am not sure where u can get one other than from the korean market,
I only see one seller selling one at ebay.

http://www.myssd.com/bbs/view.php?id=ssd_Itnews&no=24

basically they states two models, SLC and MLC.
SLC writes about 10MB whereas MLC can only do at 3MB.

I am just wondering if its worse getting any memory stick duo pro or SDHC or express card SSD for TZ (32Gb SSD model) to further impove speed..?

E.g. Would I benefit if I store paging-files, temp documents into one of those..? Or should I just keep all in the 32GB SSD ??

Cheers.

 

I would definitely not put the swap/page file on the ExpressCard SSD/SDHC/Memory Stick Duo.

You have the 32GB SSD model. The SSD is much faster than the performance you will get from external flash devices. Hence putting the swap file on the external flash card will only decrease performance. It is however a good idea to use them for normal data to allow for more space on the 32GB SSD.

 

Guys, you must check this video

Vaio TZ90 booting from SSD

From pressing power button to firefox launched within 27 seconds.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=THd0-0Alu4M


Enjoy!

 

I do believe thats already posted by phil in a dedicated thread.

 

I received my Samsung SE-T084L DVD burner yesterday and hooked it up last night. Here are my initial impressions:

• Heavy -- It's much heavier than I thought it would be. And not particularly small either. It's nicely finished though and comes with a black slipcase for traveling, but...
  
• Power supply -- It churned endlessly while USB powered trying to open a CD, and nothing happened until I plugged the power supply in too, so it can't be powered off a single USB port. Now, I'm wondering if I should try it with my "Y" cable that came with my FreeAgent drive, which uses two USB ports. What do you guys think?
  
• Booting -- It did boot off my Acronis True Image recover disk, so that question has been definitively answered.

Since I have no real alternatives, I'm going to have to just keep it for TZ installation and look around for any alternatives. I want something smaller that I can travel with. As it stands right now, the Samsung SE-T084L must be carried in my suitcase because between its weight and the need for a bulky power supply and cable, it's not great for lightweight travel.

I like the LG GSA-E50L that Phil linked us to, another LightScribe model, but I don't think we can get that in the U.S.

 

Yes the thread is here:
http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=160743

We are still looking for someone to post results of a 4200rpm and 5400rpm boot.

 

Actually I saw the announcement from Transcend abut a 32gb express34card before I ordered my TZ . I thought it was going to a necessity in the configuration I got from Sony-Style USA (32SSD and DVD ). I'm sure it is but I must learn more about this machine (so far I have only admired it's appearance and inspected for slots and controls.)
The instruction which come with the TZ that I ordered suggest, nay direct me ,to make a recovery disc and delete the partition in the 32 SSD .
Is this correct? Also I wonder where I can get an OS that isn't filled with carp and will operate the machines features?
My wife who is an avid computer user and changes computers like one changes clothes asks why did I buy such a small unit when it will not serve all my purposes . I answer "cute toy"

I think this unit will need all the help I can give it in data storage

** I see elsewhere the how and where to get clean install and drivers , Thanks to Philflow for the reminders

 

Hello all,

Just wondering if anyone who owns the TZ with the Oneseg tuner or WWAN has opened it up and can specify the location of each module, possible model number and which connector each one is using to communicate.

I was looking at this and got inspired to equip my forthcoming Japanese TZ with the WWAN module myself and if possible to replace the Oneseg tuner with a PAL/NTSC alternative.

http://www.gottabemobile.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3347

The LE1700 uses a standard WWAN module, if the TZ employs the same idea it would free up alot of people, especially those of us in the cellphone tyrany of Ireland and similar countries, to use their preferred provider (once provisioned) rather than being forced iphone-style to go with just one network.

Any info and especially photos would be much appreciated.

 

I found an excellent Japanese VAIO TZ page.

They keep up with all the latest news on the TZ, and also have some very good picture for pulling the entire thing apart.

The base page is here: http://kunkoku.com/new/datahtml/salegoods/vaionote/tx.html

 

Thanks Nanaki, that page is brilliant. Although most of the pictures are very small the ones i've seen so far have already answered alot of questions. The gallery has more links than chainmail armour so it will take a while to go through but its already got me thinking of the mods I can do. Danke.

 

I skimmed through the pages earlier. It has a lot of useful information on all of Sony's models if you go to their VAIO notebook portal: http://kunkoku.com/new/index_vaionote.html

I was hunting for some information on the TZ195 (48 GB SSD) and the release of a Santa Rosa SZ, but with no success. At least I was compensated and found this gem.

 

not entirely on topic but wanted to share this anyway.

I am now looking at HP 2207W LCD and i must say the picture is brilliant. It's connected to VGA on my Asus laptop. (because my TZ is in the box, waiting to be sold.)

The colours and contrast remind me a bit of the beautifull TZ screen. I am sure this would be a great monitor for the VGA out of the TZ. Resolution is 1680*1050.

Be warned though Nanaki, the frame and the screen are shiny

If you want to read some reviews here's a test by Tomshardware.de : http://translate.google.com/transla...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools

 

lol Each to their own. It looks like a decent monitor. I'm going to be buying a 22" as soon as I finalise my next job.

 

Yummy, shiny stuff, sorry Nanaki. Im kinda building a new entertainment centre thingy made with only black (usually piano finish) components. The TZ will most likely be a part of it, along with a PS3 as a media server, 3 coolermaster x-craft black cadies with 500gb each and my new Logitech Z-10 speakers which i bought to give the TZ a fighting chance to do movies justice. The final part was a new display. The HP looks gorgeous but its quite expensive and Anandtech just hammered it. Maybe they got a faulty one.

http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=3054

Just wondering does anyone know if the TZ can output to 1920x1200 HD. If it can I may go for a Dell 2407wfp which is expensive but worth it for the res. Also does anyone know if there is a black bluetooth expresscard 34 remote available. All I can find is a silver one. The all black is to contrast with the previous setup below.

 

Expensive? here in Holland it's 300 euros.

Bytheway I now read the review.. I would definetly not say he hammered it: "You get an attractive, durable LCD" "When it comes to actually using the HP w2207, there were some areas where it clearly surpassed other LCDs. It produces some of the best blacks that we've yet seen from an LCD, and this in turn helps it to achieve high contrast ratios. "

But now I've tested it more I'm finding a problem: There is banding. so maybe I'll have to send it back. First figure out if it's not my laptop causing the problem.

About 1920*1080 on TZ: i believe it's possible but i was not very impressed with the signal quality of VGA out on TZ, so that resolution may be a far stretch for it.

 

Thanks Philflow.

Dell had a similar, and very public banding problem with their 2407wfp. That was rectified by a firmware upgrade to their image processor. HP may have one already or in the works. Maybe their tech support could help. The Anandtech reviewer did say that it was an Asus laptop which had problems with its outputs. I wouldnt put anything past that company aince I purchased my R1F and got shafted completely. Hello lawsuit.

 

Actually I take back what I said about the HP W2207 earlier. Have read a number of other reviews and almost all seem very positive. And the price does seem very reasonable compared to the competition. Also it does match the TZ very nicely. Thanks for the heads up Philflow.

 

If you're wanting to read an answer about outputting to a 1920x1080/1920x1200 resolution, have a look at this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=149276

It is possible, but it is not a "supported" resolution.

 

Cheers Nanaki just what I wanted to know. TZ impresses again.

 

Indeed it does. I am backing up the Japanese and English OS installations as we speak.

I must say, the premium carbon looks HOT. If it were only me to ever see its beauty, the extra I spent to get it is worth it. Then again, I am a nutter and also enjoy most types of art.

 

Let me take back anything I said about the signal quality coming out of the VGA port of the TZ. It's absolutely perfect.

the banding issue I had is related to my Asus laptop, it's not an issue on the TZ.

And Jurisprudence, I am glad to see you found good reviews of the W2207. Here in Holland we have laws that say if you are not satisfied with a product you can return it within 8 days and get all your money back. So I just bought it and tested it for myself. Contrast and colours are extremly good i find. And I am quite picky with my monitors, the last one I bought/tested was a Samsung 206BW, in my opinion it does not come close to this W2207.

 

Offtopic, Holland is the dream country...argh... I am definitely going to go there for EuroTrip. :=) Probably in 2009.

 

Just want you all to know that I received my new TZ yesterday and I've been busy installing apps today. The Samsung DVD drive works great so far.

 

You purchased the SSD+HDD with an English keyboard? Did you receive it quickly? I believe that VAIO Japan has a pre-configured option for that, which means 1-5 days shipping.

I just purchased my 250 GB WD Passport drive. As soon as it finishes formatting itself to NTFS, I will be set to backup and then customise mine.

On the issue of Vista or XP, I don't mind Vista's performance at all. I don't need XP for anything specific, so I think I will stick with Vista and hope that SP1 makes it even better.

 

I got mine from Dynamism, and their turnaround was about a week, but they were due in anyway.

Vista works fine on an SSD. Of course, XP would be much faster, but that would be taking a step backward, which is not what most trendsetters prefer.

That 250GB drive should be big enough for backing up your TZ. I need something like that to back up my new iMac, which has a 320GB drive. I've been playing with the new Mac apps and they're terrific, but that's a topic for another day.

 

Taking a step back? how so? please educate me

The only way I can think of is eyecandy value. But maybe I need to experience Vista a bit more. My SZ6 may be coming soon, so I can choose which way to go.

 

I don't mind Aero, but I don't use it.

I like the side bar. I enjoy having my RSS feeds read out to me when I wake up. I have added a few more gadgets, such as mail checkers and weather (which I also add to my Firefox). It is now becoming a welcomed part of my "mobile" life.

I've turned the Start Menu and Windows Explorer back to how they were in 2000 & XP, so Vista is fine in that department as well.

The TZ is eye candy meets decent performance. In that regard, Vista is the same. They were made for each other.

 

Hmm maybe I will give Vista another chance after this positive review.

Two things turned me off. Slight menu latency and huge security settings. If I wanted to install a simple codec I had to click my mouse like 20 times to approve of any change.

Bytheway this was not on TZ but on a well speced desktop.

 

I disabled all the Windows security and installed ZoneAlarm and AVG.

 

How you disable the Windows security? Is this the annoying program on Vista that ask you 5 times if you allow to do things?

Edit: Where is the best place where can I purchase the larger battery for the TZ?

 

If you don't use classic Control Panel, go here: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...nt-control-uac-the-easy-way-on-windows-vista/

If you do, use method 4 here: http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

As for the larger capacity battery, for me it would be cheaper to buy locally then to import from Japan, so check your local SonyStyle web site/store.

 

how do you make a recovery dvd? i want to erase the partitions. it says i only have 24gb available. and i only have 8gb left of space. help! i aleady installed office, itunes, messenger, java.

 

there should be a program that will run a wizard for you to make recovery cds look for it in your programs file

 

Anyone selling a TZ mayn I really want one

 

Phil is, but he's not in the States.

ubercool just brought a different spec. one, but I am unsure what he is doing with his old one.

 

Anyone knows if is possible to connect the TZ with the TV via VGA port?
If yes from where can i buy this cable?

Thanks.

 

If you have a TV with VGA port it works fine.

Most Plasma/LCD TV's have VGA port. I have a Panasonic 42PV70 and works fine with TZ (1024*768)

 

I did and it's ready to ship tomorrow! I just finished setting up the new TZ, and between it and the new Alu 20 iMac I bought last week, I've had my fill of setting up new computers, that's four this year alone!

 

Hey Nanaki, was it you who mentioned that it's possible to install OS X on the TZ? I remember that post, but I've searched and I simply can't find the thread by any keyword.

 

It was jjahshik32: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2407447#post2407447

 

I have always had little Sony laptops. My last one died over a year ago. I didn't like the TX so decided to wait. I want the portability and access to use my home laptop for work and pleasure everywhere, including work where I spend way too much time. The TZ was to be the answer. I love the design. I can't open up a computer and play with it, so I knew I had to wait for the US model. Thanks to you very computer savy people on this board, I know I have to go for the SSD model so that I can run VISTA etc. Then I saw the other big issue for me with the US models--they all ship with VISTA business. I want this computer for fun and don't want to loose the features of XP home media ed. I saw a similar query on the software board, but there was no satisfactory answer. I've been on vacation for several weeks and I'd hoped the issue would resolve--it has not and it seems possible that even if I throw more money at it and try to "upgrade" to Ultimate to get the features I want (which many of you got by ordering from Japan and getting Home Premium and the extra hard drive) I may not be able to do so without disaster.

I know for most on this board that this is a very basic problem, andI think that this should be the machine of my dreams--but it has to work for what I need it for--can it be made to do so--any advice would be appreciated--I don't think I can wait much longer to order and if there isn't an easy solution I will become a luddite and swear off all tech.

 

Please remember a few things when you are buying a vista business laptop

1) You only loose mediacenter not mediaplayer 11
2) Mediacenter is not the only one of its kind available in the world
3) The current version of mediacenter even with all the MS updates is a complete pile of crap. Buggy, falls over, looses library contents etc. Also since microsoft cant seem to allow a file to transfer without their little scheduler process wiping out 50% of your network connection speed you can imagine what happens when you have 3 pc's streaming across your house like i've tried.

If you really need it then you can still purchase an OEM Vista Premium version for about $90 (see link below).

http:/www.microcenter.comsingle_product_results.phtml?product_id=0263496

If you consider the overall cost of your puchase, approx $3000, then another $90 for a legitimate version is not so bad.

 

Thanks heaps, Nanaki!

 

Hehe, relax Irene, the situation is not as dire as you describe it!

Home Premium, as you can see form the prior post, does not offer that much, but if you have your mind set on it, then I would highly recommend you consider buying your TZ from Dynamism in Chicago. They provide great service and support, plus you can get the SSD/160GB/Home Premium version, which is ideal for carrying around all your music and videos you will want to download from the Net.

The big advantage of the American versions is the broadband modem, I really want that one myself as well, so I'm going to see if I can't talk Dynamism into creating a VIP model that includes the modem too.

Hope that helps!

 

Has anyone notice that when turn on/off bluetooth with wifi on, the wifi connection restarts by itself?
Is this normal? It didn't happen on my TXN.

 

Thank you both--I am starting to feel better about all of this. For me the connectivity issue is the main reason that I have waited so long, I wanted "n" because I believe it will make a difference--am I wrong? My other concern has been that there were no alternatives to media center that I could figure out, I now have some hope. I still have the concern that the US model can not support the media center apps, but perhaps there are alternatives that will work.

 

Whenever I turn on my computer it starts with the brightness leve very low... why is that? can I fi it? I also cant seem to erase the "hidden" partition ive been looking everywhere but cant do it

 

Admiring this beautiful laptop TZ 191 with SSD /DVD
Windows Vista expedience index 2.0...
Not sure if I have a question but just sharing some thoughts here
I am impressed by the way it looks and feels, I am in a quandary about having to completely redo or reformat it because of the way most of the HD space is used up already.
I have had a few Sony computers before (2 desktops and two notebooks) and although they came bloated I think that I sort of ignored the situation and hid the icons
It seems what I may have to do is copy the recovery partition as a safety net, and go on from there, to reformat and install an unbloated OS or even upgrade to XP. Then I will have to reload all the utilities and drivers for the features which make this a really cool unit. I like the WWAN card with GPS.. I like the installed camera..the instant on feature and more..I know part of the solution is going to come from the use of external photo and data storage HCSD , memory stick etc
But HD space for a few programs seems critical already.
I'm wondering where Office 2007 and Quickbooks will fit, not to mention my favorite photo editing program(s)

I have had this baby for a little over a week and today is the first day that I have really sat down with the unit and updated it and took a a tour of it and Vista

 

calot, I did very simple way to get rid of that hidden parition.

I deleted the hidden partition using one of the partition software. Or I think you can delete it from Admininitrative->Computer Managment
Then I assigned a drive letter. I could not be able to 'merge' together.

I reboot the machine using Vista DVD, in the clean installation, you can delete both hidden partition AND your C:, -> then it becomes one partition.