Vaio FZ Owners Official Owners Thread

I get similar temps on mine, just not as high for the HDD.
I'm getting get Core 0 and 1 at 84F or 29C.
Something wrong here?

Edit: This is with power plugged in and fairly idle. I assume the temps are lower with power not plugged in since SpeedStep will kick in then.

 

How did you get SpeedFan to show anything other than the two core temps?? Some of us here installed it and allit reported was the two core temps, nothing else at all.


JesterX, same question to you! How'd you get it to show the HDD temp?

Gary

 

did you get the latest version of speed fan the on ei have is 4.32.. that should be your problem.

 

lilplaya661,

I have version 4.32, so that's not it. Hmmm, this is strange. I have the same processor as you, I do have the 160g hard drive option. I wonder if that explains the lack of the HD temp readings. But I am curious what the other two temps you are showing might be for. The ones labeled Temp1 and Temp2. I don't see them either on my instance.

Gary

 

Are those programs purchasable or can I find them somewhere for free?

 

Original software and drivers for VAIO FZ11 series (European models):

ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/Vaio/Original/FZ1_Drivers.zip
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/Vaio/Original/FZ1_Utilities.zip

 

This is what I get. Just installed it and ran it immediately. 30 mins later after some web publishing work the HDD temp reads 97F. Temp1 and 2 are the same, Core 0: 86F Core 1: 88F

 

Here is what mine looks like. (See attachment.)

I have no CUP usage display, no HDD temp and neither Temp1 or Temp 2. (BTW what are those last two measuring?)

Did you just install it and run it without needing to do any sort of configuration?

Gary

 

If you're still looking for those patches you can find them here:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/

I get the exact same speedfan readings as you do btw, so the T7100 and the T7500 seem to reach the same temperatures.

What drivers are all of you using for your 8400GT ? I still have the 101.28 version myself, i tried to install newer versions like the 166.22, the 163.11 and the 158.24, but during installation the setup-program says my Vista 32bit isn't Vista 32bit and aborts installation.........

I thought the problem was caused by another version of the patches you'll find in the link above so un-installed them and tried again, but with the same results. If anyone got a similar or different experience i'd like to hear it.

 

Hi there (my first post).

I run a Vaio dealership in the UK, so my comments apply to the UK/European models. I've used every Vaio model shipped since 2003(!)
By far my favourite machine is the FZ11Z I'm typing on right now.

The FE series here all have dual-lamp X-Black displays. The FZ has dual-lamp, but a new screen with new tech (LED backlight? Looks like it).
It's completely different from the FE display. Note also that the FZ is the replacement for the FE range.

 

It depends what you are doing. I PAR2 checked some files and unpacked them to the drive the other day, and the machine simply locked up. It was unusable for several minutes. I couldn't even bring up Task Manager to kill the tasks.

I'm going to replace my 4200rpm drive with a 7200rpm Momentus 7200.2 as the other guys did on this forum. I think I'll wait for the 200GB model to become available though.

 

I've got my FZ11Z connected to my 24" DVI monitor at 1920x1200. It's stunning. Haven't tried 1680x1050, but it is a standard resolution; all 20" widescreen displays use it, and my desktop with an 8600GT is connected to a display with that res, so it should be fine.

ExpressCard slots use both PCI-E and USB (so USB devices and high-speed devices can both be connected).

 

hi all..im between fz190 n1 and dell latitude d830..after reading the posts of both reviews it seems dell users have less toubles..i like the beauty and lightness of vaio and the better vga but concerns i get of the fz posts r: noise ..heat..bloats..home page unchangable..less sturdiness and probable life..i wanned to know r these real threats or just some exceptions or ignorable points...and is it true that sony cant be relied on to live longer than 4-5 years?

 

No laptop can be relied on to live that long. Many computer parts (hard drives in particular) are designed to have an MBTF of 5 years.

 

Alright, I'm going to address these in order;

Noise: Yes, I've complained about the noise. The fan to me is quite annoying. But compared to anything other than notebooks with integrated graphics, the noise isn't bad at all.

Heat: The FZ has no heat issues. It runs even cooler than my mom's Latitude d620 with integrated graphics.

Bloats: Yes, bloatware is crazy on this. But that's not a permanent problem. It took my about 2 hours to uninstall, and support for clean install is available now. Either way, it's not a major problem.

Home page: Completely untrue. One of the first things I did was change my homepage.

Build Quality: FZ is made of MG alloy, while if I recall some dells are made of plastic...Overall build quality feels sturdy, though you'll want to put some kind of cloth in between the keyboard and the screen.

And there isn't ANYTHING that will run longer than 5 years....why would you even want it to? It'll be so outdated by then it won't even be funny. Most of the old notebooks that I see people using (past 3 years old) are Sonys. I've NEVER seen a dell last that long, though people claim they will.

 

Hi All,

I am facing a bit of heat problem in my FZ-190 notebook. Other than this rest all very good in this notebook.When antivirus is running in the background my notebook become more hot on keyboard and touchpad (Some times keeping the hand on keyboad and touch pad area are diffucult because of heat). Can somebody share their heat problems so that I know whether I am only one facing this problem or it is common to everybody.

Below are my configurations.

VGN-FZ190
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 / 2.0 GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR
SuperMulti (DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive
2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667MHz)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

Thanks
Raj

 

I have an almost identical configuration (the only difference being that I have a T7500 processor). And I don't have any heat issues.

 

its what scares me..i donno if i will become another one with a problem with my fz if i buy it...whatever can i do?..anyway respectin to my budget i ve chosen two configs:1.fz190 with 2 c2d t7300 ,1 gig ram,120 gb,vga 512(geforce8400+intel),vista b...my questions:is it ok to add 1gig more and will it improve the vga quality and how?..and second question is: will there be a significant difference for an ordinary user if i take the second choice: 1.8 c2d t7100 ,2 gig ram,160 gb,vga 1gig(gforce8400+intel),vista business....(i mean in usual speed or some occasional gamings or vista performance)...which one would u chose ?..tnx in advance

 

It certainly looks like it uses the LED backlight. I've seen the SZ Premium series which are confirmed to have that technology, and their screens are incredibly thin, but not necessarily superior to others.
On a different note, I just noticed in the specs for the FZ11Z that it says Max Memory (RAM) 2048MB. Is that correct?

 

TZ also has LED backlight. That's a gorgeous machine. There's a reason "Z" means extreme in Sony speak!

4GB max I believe.

 

This is weird. Did you try to download a different installation package. I got mine directly from the developer's page. It could also be something that differs in your hardware configuration. And last but not least, lets not forget that Vista is definitely not quite refined yet.
I've no clear idea what the Temp1 and 2 stand for. In the configuration window it shows that these are taken from ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface).
To answer your last question, I did not do any changes before I ran it.

 

Thanks,
I have found and installed those patches already.

I'm currently using this driver for the 8400M GT: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13894

It's probably a good idea to read this guide:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11997

 

Thanks Storm3016. Well for trying. If anyone ever figures this out, I could LOVE to hear about it.

 

SpeedFan just auto detects it, theres no configuration really. If its not reading the SMART data for your drive, you can try a SMART monitoring program. The temperature isn't from a probe, but from the drive's SMART feature.

 

Do you see the four temps "Temp1", "Temp2", "Core1" and "Core2" or just the two core ones?

Gary

 

I see all four of those, including temp1 and temp2.
I don't know how accurate temp1 and temp2 are, but I'm probably going to use something like CoreTemp to read the core temps.

 

I am so confused as to why some of (including me) only see the two core temps and nothing else. I assume the 160 gig hard drive does not support the Smart stuff so we see no HDD temps. But I wonder what the other two are. I do see four temps when I run "Notebook Hardware Control".

Gary

 

Its probably just SpeedFan not detecting it. Your HD should have SMART, unless its ancient, which its definitely not. Try a SMART Monitoring program, like:
http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/

Question for you Scuderia..., does Vista show the battery time remaining for you? I only see percent remaining, not time. Is there a way to show the time remaining?

To all with VGN-FZ1x0, what kind of a battery life do you guys get? I was playing Tremulous (OpenGL shooter), and the battery was getting zapped like 1% every minute.

 

Jesterx,

So I found the CoreTemp program and it reports values very different from Speedfan. But I found out why! None of these programs can read the actual temp. They read the the difference between the Intel preset shut down temp and the current temp. SpeedFan assumes the shut down temp to be 85C. CoreTemp assumes it is 100C. I have both running right now. SpeedFan is showing 81F and CoreTemp is showing 108F. Here is a link about the difference: CPU Temps vs CoreTemps

Vista does not show time remaining for me only %.

Which processor do you have? And which hard drive?

Gary

 

How much battery life are you guys getting from the FZ's mine is a FZ18G I just got it yesterday and I'm noticing the battery seems to take longer to charge than the battery life I get out of it (around 2 hours), I'm considering getting the extended battery but that will pretty much ruin the slim form factor of the laptop all together...

I'm going to test it out with the power saver mode on at uni on monday... see how that goes, if I can get anywhere around 3 hours with that I'll be happy

 

I have the T7100 (1.8ghz), 160GB HD (its a Hitachi) and the 8400.

Thats interesting, I'll take a look into that temps stuff sometime.

I'm not real concerned though, the laptop feels very cool at all times. I know the temps can get even lower if you use the CPU a bit because it will kick up the fans. I tested that while watching an xvid encoded movie in WMP (~10% CPU use). At idle, the fans are very low in my experience, so the temps are actually somewhat higher at idle.

Edit:
I agree with the others that charging is SLOW! I don't understand it, maybe its Sony being cautious after all those battery recalls....

 

Thank you!

 

i have a problem with windows vista on my laptop.. i have trouble sharing a printer that is on a windows xp desktop.. for some reason vista wont let me connect to it.. any body else have the same problem?? my laptop finds the printer and everything it wont connect to it.

 

Hey guys, just a quick question? I just bought A Sony Vaio FZ here in Australia and i noticed in the contents of the box that it mainly just contents different types of power chords, the power supply unit and of course the Laptop itself. My question is does it come with any cds whatsoever??

Or is everything supplied on the laptop already?

 

Congrats on the purchase. The box doesn't contain any cd/dvds. The first thing you should do is to create the system recovery discs (2 dvds).

 

Does have this problem or know how to fix it? Whenever my FZ enters hibernate state (idle for 1 hr), when I try to power up the system, the lights blink on but the screen stays blank. I have to turn off the system and restart the machine in order for vista to reload.

 

Mine comes back out of hibernation just fine. I get a Vaio/Intel/Phoneix logo, followed by a small white cursor in the upper left conrer and then a small progress meter display at the bottom of the screen that says "resuming windows".

Gary

 

I had exactly the same problem. Solved it by changing the workgroup name in Vista to be the same as on the XP computer.

Here's a quite useful link discussing file and printer sharing in Vista:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/evaluate/vista_fp.mspx

 

hi frns,

I have a sony fz 140E which comes with a built in intel 965 chipset graphics .. is it possible to upgrade to any dedicated graphics card like nvidia ? If yes please tell me how to do it ?

Thanks a lot in advance for the help ...

 

No, this is not possible. Sorry.

 

Can someone please list the instructions on how to dual boot the FZ? I want to put XP Professional dual booting with Vista Ultimate.

 

Instead of dual boot, you might want to look into Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (it is FREE). I am using it now to great effect. I do a lot of software development and many of the current tools are XP only. ...sigh...

I can run XP in a window inside Vista. It is very fast especially if I
run XP in full window mode. Then it gets all the attention of the CPU and needs to share very little resources with Vista.

One word of caution if you do run XP inside vista be sure you install the Virtual Machine Additions INSIDE the XP virtual machine. It install all the optimized drivers.

The COOL thing about using Virtual PC is you do not need to find the XP specific drivers for your machine!!! There are some things you CAN'T do with XP inside a virtual machine. Audio/Video editing for example are out of the question. But most other things work REALLY well,

Gary

 

GoSensGo you have Nvidia driver problem. Check H.P thread.

 

hi

Just a quickie I got an FZ11s saturday and have now decided I really want to run XP so before I go ahead and attempt to install it I have a couple of Q's

I want to back the laptop up first ...can I create recovery discs to external HD or do I need to burn them to dvd ?

If I "brick" it can I do a restore to factory state even though I reformat the HD ? are the recovery discs bootable ?

is there a driver pack yet ?

reading through the thread I understand i will lose some functionality like the camera etc which for me is no problem but I MUST keep the HDMI working for video and Audio ...can anyone confirm this will be ok ?

TIA

 

You MUST burn them to DVD. Yes the resulting DVD #1 is bootable. If I were you I would NOT delete the hidden partition, even if I created the DVD's. Unless you really NEED the extra 7-8 gig, why not just leave it there. Remember reformatting actually reformats a partition. You'd have to re-partition the hard drive to remove the hidden partition. (I know, I know, I am picking nits there, but just want to be sure you or someone else who stumbles across this conversation understands that reformatting the C: drive will NOT destroy the hidden portion. To get rid of that partition you have to repartition the hard drive.)

I don't think anyone here has reported a successful install of XP with all drivers. They certainly don't exist on the Sony website, so you are left to digging around on various manufacturers websites to find them. Good luck! Many of those websites are OEM folks and will only supply drivers to the original manufacturer of the machine and refuse to deal with us mere mortals.

Bottom line, is you will be swimming upstream with no guarantee that HDMI audio will work until you try it. Is there some piece of software you need that is making you want to switch to XP? As I mentioned in another thread, I have some software that requires XP, so what I did was install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and use it to run XP inside Vista. I also mentioned in that thread that resource intensive apps like audio and video editing are out of the question in that sort of environment, but if you NEED xp for some things that are not resource intensive, maybe this would be a solution for you. I can use Vista for the things it does well (like HDMI) and then run XP in a Vista window for the development work I do.

Gary

 

Hi Gary

thanks for the reply ..I will keep the partiton ..not too fussed about 8GB

I got this laptop primarily to play video / audio through the HDMI into my reciever and into my Plasma .

The main software I use to do this is Power DVD Ultra but it wont output 5.1 via the HDMI..at first I thought I'd made a serious boob and the HDMI would'nt out put 5.1 at all but since playing a DVD in WiNDVD it does output 5.1

Powerlink DVD say its not using my HDMI for sound ( even though its outputing 2 channel through it ) and I cant force it to find it..

I'm not sure its a Vista problem but I work in IT and wont be happy until I've at least installed XP and ruled that out as well

I will probably dual boot just to see

 

Well then I'll delve a bit deeper then, knowing you're an IT brethren! ...big ol' grin...

What I did was to use BootIT_NT (a very cool partition maintenance tool) to repartition my hard-drive. I set aside a big chunk as a FAT32 partition to hold Ghost images of my C: drive. I have a boot-able CD with ghost on it. The partition is FAT32 because Ghost has less trouble storing and retrieving IMAGES from a FAT partition. (It has no trouble making and restoring images of NTFS. The issue is just where it stores them, because booting Ghost is actually running DOS.) I can let Ghost run for 15 minutes or so and have a true backup of Vista and then play to my hearts content knowing I can get right back to where I was with NO issues. You could do this for you dual boot trial, just to be certain your current Vista instance is preserved intact no matter what.

Just a thought!

Gary

P.S. Let us know how XP works out and if you can find the necessary drivers. I know there is one other person here who has been asking about that.

 

Can we put OSX in our FZ? I just wanna see how the most beautiful OS looks like on the coolest laptop screen IMO

 

Let's talk cases/bags for the FZ. I just got a VGP-AMC3 neoprene case, but it doesn't fit as snugly as I hoped. It's a little too loose for my liking, both in length and width (damn FZ is too thin! ). I shrunk it a little (I think) by putting it in the dryer on high heat. Any other tips for shrinking this thing?

 

Hartman,

Scissors and duct tape...

Gary