Vaio FZ Owners Official Owners Thread

in order to uninstall it, I simply just need to run the program and click uninstall

but sadly its not that simple.

In order to uninstall deep freeze, the program needs to be "unfrozen". but that there is the problem, I cannot click the icon (it disappeared), or the short cut to access it.. so whenever i uninstall it, everything will re appear again because I did it in a frozen state.

 

do you by chance still have "program files/sony/vaio recovery/launcher.exe" and the hidden sony partition as well or did those get wiped already?

 

Are you planning on upgrading to 2GB yourself? Vista hits the sweet spot at 2GB. It really gets the benefits of SuperFetch, helping to decrease application launch times.

 

I ordered mine the other day:
FZ 190CTO:
a/b/g/n/bt wirelss
2.4ghz C2D
Nvidia Geforce
HC Screen
Blu-Ray
100 GB HDD (Free upgrade)
Vista Home Premium
1x 1gb stick ram.

I am going to order a 160gb 7200 RPM HDD, Vista Ultimate, and 2gbs of RAM.

 

can i burn copy on to cd rws??

 

Yes, ordering from newegg...

 

Thanks Guitaroomasta and Hartman...I will look for those codecs.

I dont want to do a clean install now, since I've almost fully customized everything. I've removed all the trial software, created recovery DVDs, and installed all my applications.

I'll look into what you did and go from there.

Thanks Gary.

 

they're still there. Actually some how or other I fixed it. I just booted into "last known good boot" and the icon reappeared. i still had some problems partitioning my HD but fixed that too.

 

anyone knows who makes the HC panels for the FZ 190/180?
hardware ID simply lists it as MD 0040

 

dose it make CPU whine ?

 

@ Goren; what do you mean by HC panel, the screen (high color..?) or the hosting control panel? The screen is made by Sony.

@ Ro911; 'dose' what make the cpu whine? What on earth are you revering to bro?

 

i have question about the fans. do other people have their fans wind up and down all the time? its not noisy but in a quiet room you can definitely tell that its doing that. is this normal for laptops?

my second question is at certain times even when im not doing anything my hdd will start being really busy for no apparent reason for extended periods. Can anyone tell me why this is so? anyone else experience this. Ta

 

Im thinking of buying the Sony VAIO FZ11L. Link: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_FZ11L_VGN-FZ11L/version-1.asp

Just a couple of questions:
1. How much dedicated memory does this model have as I know that it varies between the different models?
2. Does it have the high colour screen?
3. Does it have bluetooth? The laptops direct website description does not mention it but I saw it mentioned on a description elsewhere.

 

Hey Robin,

it's a bit hard to tell with the FZ's sometimes, but the model you want to buy seems to have 128mb dedicated video memory and no bluetooth, i can't be sure about the screen but i think it's the high colour version.

If you check out the Tecgnical specification and the product feedback tab behind your own link you'll find an answer to most of your questions already, you can post a question there about the screen to if you want.

@ Zensen;

The fan noise you describe is probably the most discussed issue on the FZ, please read through this tread for more info on that subject.

The excessive hdd activity is caused by Vista, you can check your task manager if you want to know exactly what it's doing but it seems to be normal.

 

what is the best driver for fz for gaming???


101.28 doesn't seem to work on my laptop.

thanks

 

What do you mean best driver...be more specific please.

 

I think I am going to order the FZ11L sometime next week. However after reading through this thread I am slightly wary as there seem to be alot of people complaining about fan noise and the laptop having a high pitched wine and also some have mentioned that it has a slow start up time. Obviously there are going to be more complaints on a forum but would anyone say that I should avoid this laptop and go for something else?

 

what i mean to say is, what is the latest driver that supports 8400gt and will give me better gaming performance than the stock driver?

When I uninstalled the nvidia display from add/remove in control panel, and tried to install 101.28, an error message poped up saying the driver only works on Vista 32 and that it can't detect it on my system.

But I do have Vista 32 bit.

 

This one will work:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13441

Don't forget to download the modden.ini file to and paste it in to the 101.28 folder.

 

Not me anyway
Buy it, it's a great machine.

 

This is one of the quietest laptops I have ever owned. With a clean install of Vista it boots to a login prompt in 35 seconds. Another 10 seconds and the desktop appears, 20 more and all background tasks have loaded.

Gary

 

Will there be a big increase in performance by doing a clean install of Vista rather than just uninstalling all of the unnecessary software loaded on by Sony?
I would rather not do a clean install if possible but if it would make I significant difference then I would do it. How difficult is it to do?

 

If you have access to a Vista install DVD or a Vista Upgrade DVD it is NOT difficult at all to do a clean install. Check my signature below for a link to complete step by step instructions.

Gary

 

Clean install is worth and it necessary (in my opinion, others will disagree) for max performance. Sure, you can go through and uninstall all the programs and use the registry cleaner, but it just isn't the same to me. With the very straightforward clean install guide that ScuderiaConchiglia has posted, there's no reason not to do a clean install.

 

Unless you don't have a copy of Vista and don't want to pay over $100 for one..

 

I won't have a copy of Vista so a clean install may not be an option for me

 

You could still try a semi-clean install Vista w/o a copy of Vista. It's been done with the SZ, CR, and AR models so it should work for the FZ.

Heres one guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144727

 

I am currently running my full battery test. I booted to desktop in 130 seconds, shut down in 19 seconds, and then rebooted. I have my settings under a customized plan, with average brightness.

For the entire up time (currently 3 hours 15 minutes) I have had Firefox open with multiple tabs and Windows Media Player playing music. On and off I had Word and Excel open and I was installing/uninstalling a few applications. My theme has transparency enabled.

The battery indicator is showing 12% remaining, so I estimate 3-3.5 hours of battery life under normal use. I may consider purchasing the extended battery, which if it holds to its specifications (1.5 times standard battery life), should provide 4.5 to 5 hours of battery life. For a notebook of this performance I think its pretty impressive, at least compared to the standards of battery life of the present. Surely this will increase with hybrid disks and other technology in the future.

 

A question regarding battery life remaining:

Is there a way to show actual time remaining of battery life, or is the percentage remaining the only option?

 

Actually, one does not need to pay anything like $100 in order to do a clean install on the FZ. In my case I just ordered the "Windows Anytime Upgrade" DVD ($4.99 total from Amazon.com) and then followed this excellent guide:
http://www.davescomputertips.com/Newsletters/20070715.php#2
I also referred to Gary's guide (great job by the way) for the FZ specific details, such as driver installation.
I've done it twice already on a brand new HDD, so I would think it should be even easier on your original hard drive.

 

downloaded it, installed modded inf file, but I still only got 1069 in 3dmark06...

is it normal for it to be so low? what can I do to improve it?

having said that, the test was done on the basic version, with 1280x800 resolution.

 

It depends on what version of the FZ you have; if you have the version with 64mb dedicated video memory it's a normal score, if you have 128mb it should be around 1700, and if you have 256mb of dedicated v-ram it should be around 2200 (please correct me if i'm wrong Gary ).

edit; don't know why there's a link to a vostro in my reply, i'm no dell fan....

 

really? never though that dedicated ram can make so much difference. how will having 64mb ram affect games? or will 8400gt with 64mb dedicated memory perform at the same level as 8400gt with 256 dedicated memory.

also, I downloaded 158.45 drivers, and ran 3d mark 05, and got 2121 with stock clock speeds 450/600... is the score normal as it also seems quite low?
Also, to what speeds can I safely overclock a 64 mb 8400gt card?

thanks

 

More dedicated vram, better graphical performance.

 

I haven't played with ANY of the benchmark numbers so I haven't a clue. The HP link is an automatic one generated by the forum software, I believe.

Gary

 

hey guys i got one question!
whenever i use battery power saver mode, my internet speed slows down... is this normal?

 

hey guys quick question

for the fz190 is the hd 5400rpm or 4200 rpm?

ive also heard that the 200gb one is 5400 rpm while the others are only 4200rpm. is that true?

thanks in advance

 

Yes, its potentially normal. Are you using wireless or wired? That mode does put the wireless into a power saving mode, which means it uses less power for output. I don't believe it messes with the LAN port, but I don't remember off the top of my head.

 

The 200GB HD is 4200RPM. Everything below 200GB in capacity is 5400RPM.

If you want a 7200RPM HD, you will need to buy one and install it yourself.

 

hi guys I'm considering buying the sony vaio Fz and i have 2 questions:

1.CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive: Does this mean it has a DVD burner ??

2.What is da difference between the EEBR screen and HC screen and is the difference worth the 50 dollars??


Thank u

 

The EEBR screen uses 1 backlight. The HC screen uses 2 backlights. Since the HC has 2 backlights that will produce the FZ to have a more brighter screen.

 

1. No, thats a CD Burner only. Does read DVDs.

2. The HiColor has 2 backlights (lamps) while the EEBR has 1. HC is better and is worth the $50 for most people. If you are just using your computer to browse the web and do word processing, no; but for movie watching and gaming, yes!

 

I don't think any of the FZ models (at least the 180/190 series) come with a CD RW/DVD combo. I think all of them have DVD burner capability. I think the original poster may have misread the specs.

Gary

 

The default config for a 190 CTO is CDRW/DVD Combo Drive.

 

That really sucks dey don't give u a dvd writer and don give u vista dvds and expect u to make dvds from their recovery partition.
Anyway guys thanx for ur replies.

 

Its "ONLY" $30 more for a DVD Burner (with Dual Layer capability).

But I agree about the recovery DVDs though, its 2 DVDs, which is like 20 cents in costs at most for the DVDs. Pretty much it adds maybe $1 at most of costs for them to include them. Sony is being really cheap here or they want you to buy their Recovery Disks for $xx.

 

Thanks, I didn't remember seeing that when I ordered mine.

Gary

 

okay i found out AV MODE button works on 'vista ultimate' which i'm using it right now.

i don't know if only works on ultimate however, if i press av mode button

on top it pops up little screen that i can choose windows media center and vaio webcam ultility

and i'm using Geforce 8400GT

 

well I have 2 more questions:
1.What is the amount of dedicated memory on 8400gt for the fz-190 model and is it ddr3 or ddr2.

2.How do you think fz would fare against the dell latitude D630 regarding the build and the graphics.

 

That's not really what it's intended for.