Vaio FZ Owners Official Owners Thread

Yeah, somebody on a dutch FZ forum with a similar machine just tried it and it's confirmed that it's a T7100, but i'm still wondering why it says T7300 in the device manager....

I only got a percentage reading on my battery level indicator too, i double checked but i can't find any menu that allows you to change that into a 'minutes left' indication.

 

What are yall getting for battery life?

 

On low power mode i get around 1.5 hours watching a dvd. If i'm browsing, chatting or do other stuff with w-lan on a little over 2 hours, and with everything off and on extremely low settings just working with word or excel up to 3 - 3.5 hours.

 

I was able to get about 3.25 hours out of mine with the Wifi on and the screen on the next-to-highest setting. I was just doing e-mail/web surfing, but I thought that was decent. FZ140.

 

Do yall think the extended battery is neccesary? I would like to get at least 3 hours surf time, but I'm looking at the high capacity battery and the cheapest I can find it is $244.00. By the way I got this cool bag for my Future Vaio the model number is Sony VAIO VGP-AML2 - Notebook carrying case. Got it for $63.00 it looks hot!

 

i think if you intend to use the fz without being connected to the mains you should buy the extended battery. i will certainly have to even though sony has us by the balls. have to save.

 

Thanks!
That's good, I figured as much but I wanted to make sure Sony wasn't using something weird So, is brand really important? The person above you linked to a Kingston, and while looking for RAM upgrades for my fiance's Dell, I noticed that some brands had problems with certain models. Is a similar thing likely to happen with FZs?
For example, I'm looking for 2GB sticks on NewEgg, but the only brand choices there are Transcend, CORSAIR, PNY, GeIL, Patriot and G.SKILL (the latter three I'd never heard of at all) - any comments? Better places to buy from?


Oh, also those of you who DO have the long-life battery, do you find that it comes out of the slot accidentally if it gets caught on something (as it sticks out a bit)? The battery for my S doesn't pop out TOO easily on its own, but if the "lock" switch comes undone it can come out unexpectedly so it has happened to me though it's flush to the back.

 

Can safely say that the Extended battery will not come out. It's very secure in there.

 

I believe Corsair as well as Kingston are recommended brands for the FZ's, and both are known as reliable and durable.

Wow, that's very good battery life i !!
I knew the Intel card uses a lot less power then the NviDia, but that much. Nice to know the difference.

 

Kingston and Corsair are considered the best brands for memory. They also have some useful Memory Configuration Tools on their websites. There's a good chance that they will have memory sticks that they claim were specifically designed for your particular system.

 

Hey! I just got my FZ-190 (without blu-ray) and I love it! It has a 2.8 Ghz processor and 2 gigs of ram.


I have some extra cash so I think I want to max out my ram. I'm planning on buying memory from Corsair or Kingston (anyone have any preferences or are they about the same?). Can someone please tell me where the ram is located on the bottom of the laptop? Is it in the compartment closest to the disk drive and directly below the battery or in the compartment on the corner of the laptop?

Also, I've heard that most laptops do not make use of 4 gigs of ram. Would that last gig of ram go to waste? Should I just buy a 1 gig stick and leave my laptop at 3 gigs?

Thanks!

 

2.8 ghz? Do you mean 1.8 ghz?

Both memory manufacturers are good, just go with the better price. There is a panel at the bottom of the notebook to access the memory. It is the middle panel. The other panel, the one closest to the audio ports is for the hard drive.

I'm still considering buying 4 gb of memory. I heard that windows cannot see all 4 gb as it uses some of it for devices. Wouldn't this also be true for 3 gb, as some of that would be used for devices as well? Only problem of running 3gb is you don't run dual channel because memory sticks has to be same size.

 

Thanks for the info. Nope, I meant 2.4 ghz processor, sorry. It was the fastest processor on the sony website for FZ-190 CTO.

 

Well, I bought the 2GB from Patriot. My computer runs fine with them. Only the Vista Experience Index is not too appreciative (it improved from 4.5 to 4.8) but I doubt that means much.
I went with them based on the customer reviews. There was one product which seemed to only clock at 533MHz, so I made sure not to order that one.

 

Are you sure? cpu-Z tells me both 1GB and 2GB sticks run Dual memory.

 

My question is simple: I'm going to buy a FZ. Because it's always expensive when you select upgrade from Sony site, is it a good idea that I select 512M memory,Vista basic ,then upgrade RAM by myself(to 2GB) and upgrade Vista basic to Ultimate? I've heard alot about the sick of reinstall clean Windows on FZ, so in case of that, do all my drivers still ok?

Thanks for your help.

 

Went pretty simple for me. I simply downloaded all the drivers and utilities from the Sony website onto a flash drive before hand, did a fresh install of Ultimate, plugged the flash drive in and loaded the drivers. Everything works fine, even the FN keys and AV mode.

 

People were having trouble installing XP on the FZs more than clean installing Vista. There was a lot of frustration because Sony doesn't support XP that well for this series, so drivers had to be stolen and modified from the SZ series (I think).

A few weeks ago there were some drivers missing from the website, but as far as I can tell (I haven't done a clean install), everything that I have is there.

 

I believe that you need to have matching ram size and speed in order to run dual channel mode.

 

Hey guys,

i know this is totally off-topic, but i have a little problem i hope someone has a solution to:

I've got the harddrive out of my old laptop (i've soled the laptop without the hd) inside a hardcase and connected to my FZ through usb. It works fine and i can recover all of my old files, but i don't know how to reach/find/open the folders 'my music', 'my documents', and 'my pictures' that you usually access through the start menu. if i use the search function i can find the shortcut file for my documents, but when i open it it only opens the folder my documents on the main hd in my FZ. Anyone knows how i can recover my pictures and music and transfer 'm to my Vaio? If so, please im me, i would be really really happy

Edit: nevermind, i've got

 

Sure: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 / 2.0 GHz, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT (This shows up with 256 dedicated about 1gb shared), SuperMulti (DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive), 160 GB Hard Disk Drive... I ordered it with 1 gb of ram & then added a stick of 2bg. The vista experience index is 4.7 overall. (the limiting factor is the hard drive). I think the hard drive is perfectly sufficient for me... I also got the hi color screen (looks amazing) & I ran Oblivion without updating the drivers. I don't have the high pitched noise issue. The webcam works well enough for skype, and the microphone actually works nicely. The computer actually isn't particularly heavy. (I walk 2 miles with it every day in a normal backpack.)

 

Mine is a Vaio FZ11Z with Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 clocked at 2Ghz, Nvidia GeForce 8400m GT with 256 onboard memory. Blu-ray Drive, 200GB HDD with 4200 rpm. I upgraded the operating system to Windows Vista Business and the vista experience index is 4.3. The HDD is sluggish but you actually won't notice. I don't have the fan noise issue either. The High-Color X-Black screen is amazing

Need to thanks of my agência de design for buying this laptop
I'm very satisfied and I recommend it! Maybe Sony could take a look at an higher resolution screen because 1280x800 is not enough.

 

Hey guys,

I finally got my FZ11S today and it's great. I just have a few questions...

1. I fully charged the battery 100% but the battery seems to be decreasing quite fast, even with the power saving option turned on. Can I actually use the laptop normally with only connecting it to the mains with the power cord and without the battery inserted or does the battery have to be connected at all times?

2. I haven't got a mouse for the notebook yet so I'm only using the touchpad and I've noticed the cursor become unresponsive for 1-2 seconds a few times. Anyone else have this problem or know why this is happening? Will a mouse fix this problem?

3. Will any desktop mouse work with the notebook or does it specifically have to be a special notebook mouse?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers guys!

 

People who are saying you don't have the fan issue...what does your fan sound like exactly?

 

I don't hear mine at all, unless it's middle of the night, or when I put my ear really close to the keyboard.

 

1. It's perfectly safe to use the laptop on mains only, but you should fully discharge the battery several times while it's brand new. I would think that it's a good idea to do the same once in a while even after the brake-in period.

2. I do find the mouse pad to be quite poor. I'm not sure if I get the lack of response, since I use (that should answer your last question) a full size Bluetooth mouse since day one.

 

Hi I am from India. The FZ is finally here ..
Model VGN-FZ15G
CPU - Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7100(1.80 GHz)
OS - Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Display - 15.4 WXGA 1280 x 800 Clear Bright High Colour LCD 90
Optical Drive - DVD±RW/±R DL/RAM Drive
Memory - 1GB
Hard Disk - 120GB
Wireless LAN - 802.11a/b/g
Battery Life - upto 2.5hrs
Graphics - NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
Bluetooth - Ver. 2.0+EDR
Camera - MOTION EYE
Rs. 69990/-

I have a few queries:-
Is the sound quality not good?
Does it heat up much?
How is the screen quality compared to the others like Dell and HP
Is 1280X800 too low a res or should I be going for a higher res?
I am also looking at the Dell vostro 1500 but am disappointed by the lack of HDMI.

 

The 1200x800 screen is...tolerable. Depends on what you're used to. You will probably find yourself missing the screen space if you normally use higher resolutions.

However, the screen quality is breathtaking. Color=WOW. And it's the brightest screen I've ever had.

The speakers are typical notebook speakers...so don't expect too much out of them. I'm not sure what quality sound the notebook exports through the headphone jack...probably 2.1. But I have a feeling that the sound card has the ability to output 5.1 sound through the HDMI port.

Heat=very minimal on my unit (2.2ghz processor, 8400m GT), but the fan is quite annoying.

 

The screens really are amazing....I keep the brightness down a notch or two usually and it still looks better than most notebook screens out there.

 

Do you guys think the spec I have in my signature a good one? I am wondering that Windows Vista Ultimate might slow the computer a little but I am hoping the computer will be like any other FZ that has all the ad ware eliminated and it loads up in just 40 seconds. By 40 seconds, I mean fast loading not like 2 minute loading even when I have all the start-up programs disabled except for AIM and MSN messenger. Thanks!

 

New video driver on the NVIDIA site for Series 8 video cards.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/158.24_vista_driver_x86_installation_instructions.html
I think 8400 GT is supported.

 

Thanks for the reply Giggs.

By discharging the battery, do you mean using the battery until it's empty and recharging fully again a few times before taking it out and using mains only?

 

Yes, but this is not necessarily true for newer batteries. You should look in the manual and also consult others for proper usage on batteries.

 

Will do this, thanks for all the help mate.

 

Rezzone; 1. Yes, it's safe to use it without the battery inserted. Giggs advice sounds solid to me, just 'drive inn' the battery a little and than it will show you it's maximum capability. My experience is that it prolongs battery life to completely empty&fill it at least once every 3 to 6 months even when i don't use it. 2. No, i don't have this problem and i'm not sure a mouse will fix it, although it might be worth the try since i don't know everything My touchpad works perfect and is responsive enough. I say enough because it isn't as good as some synaptic pads i worked with, but it's still well above average. To me it sounds like your touchpad-problems are caused by either sweaty hands or a temporarily freezing/busy OS. 3. You can use any usb mouse you want to that has Vista capable drivers.


Oh, and congrats with your new Vaio mate


sA x sKy; you have nothing to be uncertain about, i'm quit jealous of your spec's actually. Maybe and only maybe the 100Gb hd is a little on the small side, but that depends on what you use your FZ for and is a problem easily fixed if it ever turns out to be a problem. Otherwise it sounds like a great machine to me.


Thanks for posting those new drivers Nefarious_Guy, i'll try 'm out and post the results as soon as i'm sober


@ATP; i think i've wrote this before, but it really sounds like you're fan is not working as it should and i think you should return your FZ to Sony to get it fixed/replaced.

Mine is so smooth and silent, only when i command my cpu to work really hard it blows a little faster&louder, but only to turn down really fast again.

Gr81; i'm not to fond of the sound quality myself, but i also know this is because i'm used to the best in laptop sound quality, and this just isn't it. That does not mean it's bad, the surround/stereo effects are actually quit good, but there is a certain lack in base and sound depth as in most notebooks. I don't agree with APK and Luisarn opinion on the resolution part; i think 1280x800 is just perfect for a 15,4 inch screen, a higher resolution would just make it very hard to few and read almost everything besides pictures/movies. Otherwise the screen is like everyone says; amazingly beautiful.
The laptop can get warm, but not more then normal for a thin laptop like this with this kind of hardware i think. Even working a heavy workload i wouldn't call mine hot, but hey, i'm used to a pent4

But.....the dell vostro you mention does not sound bad at all when i take the price in consideration as well. It is a little slower then the FZ you mention, but it does depend on what you want to use it for before it should become a problem to you.

 

Storm: So far, I've seen 6 FZ190s, including the first one I had, the one I have now, (both with 2.2ghz proc and nvidia graphics), one at Circuit city with integrated graphics and a t7100, and three from my friends. And the fans sound pretty much the same. That's why I want to hear what people who say their fan works sound like...because I don't know whether I'm just delusional or whether a notebook fan shouldn't constantly change speeds.

 

Sony had a bit of a deal on harddrives the other day, so I finally jumped in and purchased one!

160gb hd/ 2gb RAM/ 2.2Ghz/ 8400M GT/DVD+-RW/Large Battery Set to ship on the 23rd! Hopefully that'll come through - I'm so excited about this!

 

Thanks for the thumbs up Storm. I was a little hesitant at first but now that I got a reliable answer I think I will go with the buy once I come back to America (in Bangladesh right now visiting family) on August 3rd.

 

You could improve it by going to the control panel and changing the touchpad settings.

 

i had zero to very little reduction in battery life in my thinkpad after i let it attached to my laptop (thinkpad has so called battery safer). it reduced more when i attach/detach the battery on use.

 

Thanks for the replies Storm and Dijo John.

I connected a USB mouse (Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000) to the laptop and it worked even without installing the drivers on disc. It even sorted out the 1-2 second pause that sometimes occured when using the touchpad. My first laptop and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks again!

 

hello. do you know if these models are compatible with linux?

 

Ubuntu cannot be installed, that's all I know.

 

I just updated the 8400M GT driver version 162.18 from laptopvideo2go. It improves some of the benchmarks.

3dmark05: 4615
3dmark06: 2632
pcmark05: 5613

 

Amazing!! i checked the older benchmarks you posted and the 3DMark06 and PCMark05 are exactly the same !! 3DMark05 is up considerable though.

When i checked around everyone says this driver is for XP only, do you use them under Vista?

 

hey is it safe and would it give me any benefit to use arctic silver on my fz? Would it help the laptop to cool down? How much of a possibility is there of busting my computer if I use the stuff? Also, If I do can I use it on the heatsinks for the nvidia card? it seems to be the hottest thing in the computer. thanks.

 

I'm trying to choose between Kingston and Crucial for 2GB stick. The prices I've found are very similar, not sensational, but well below retail. The Kingston edges in front a bit, since it's a "system specific" module (as opposed to their ValueRAM series). Your thoughts and experiences will be greatly appreciated.

 

Just came across a nice piece of software that might come handy when you buy a new Vaio, basically you install it and it recognizes all the crap soft u have pre-installed and uninstalls it for you, all with the one click, no need to spend hours in control panel....

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/download

 

i'm pretty much set to get a Sony FZ until I read the specs carefully and discovered that they only support up to 2GB of RAM. Is this true?

Thanks

 

It's set to 4GB but if you have more then 3GB/4GB, then I think the FZ doesn't really detect that it's there. Correct me if I am wrong=]