Vaio FZ Owners Official Owners Thread

I see there is a new snake skin keyboard option available on the CTO website. Any have any info or pictures?

 

Gary,

I am about to use your manual to do a clean install on my FZ11E. Dl-ed all necessary drivers and utils. I'm usnig the recovery disks that failed last time. Curious to see if I can get it to work this time around. Just a quick question for you, or anyone who might know. I remember reading a manual for doing a clean install without having all the Vaio utils installed as well. It meant halting the install procedure at one very specific point. Any idea where to find this manual ? Thanks mate.

 

Whoa, snake skiin? I cannot find pics anywhere, though I'll keep searching

 

Ahaaa, found it. At sony:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=10151&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665234510

Scroll to the keyboard option and click more info (on the left below the actual options.)

I kind of like the snake skin...

 

I was looking on the sony-style website to customize an FZ and I noticed something odd about the battery life info.

For the standard battery, they claim anywhere between 1.5 hours to 5.5 hours per charge. For the extended battery, its 2.0 hours to 8.0 hours. Any current FZ owners get 5 hours on a standard battery?

 

It's called the semi-clean install, I think the link is in someone's signature. Use the search I guess...sorry I don't remember the link

 

Please take all subsequent clean install discussion to the clean install thread.

But remember the recovery DVD are used in the clean install scenario ONLY for installing some of the auxiliary applications for function keys, power management, DVD movie viewer etc. You will need a REAL Vista install DVD to do a clean install.

The "halting the process at one very specific point" is called a "semi clean" install. It does use the recovery DVDs and does NOT require a Vista install DVD. Look for another thread on that topic if you have questions about the semi clean method. Remember it is not the same thing as a clean install.

Gary

 

No chance of getting 5hr battery on Vista. I get about 2hr's on vaio optimised mode and about 3hrs on vaio ultimate battery. Imo, the standard battery is quite poor on the FZ. However, if you got the cash, very much worth getting the extended battery as you'll get 4hrs easy on balenced mode.

 

I get around 2 hrs of battery life with average use from a standard battery.
You can get may be 5 hrs with brightness turned all the way down, speaker turned off and wireless/BT turned off.

 

Wow, then how can Sony claim upto 5 hours??? Could it be because of the changes they made to the FZ-290 version?

Edit: Can someone tell me how they like the keyboard feel? I've been dissappointed with many laptops in the past on the keys, some being too soft and some requiring extra force.

 

Cheers Gary. I've found the semi clean install manual. I did a recovery install using my "defective" recovery dvd's. This time all went well and Vista installed properly. However when it came to halting the installation of Vaio-specific software (ctrl-alt-del ; ending varu.exe), after restart of Vista the installation procedure just kept coming back and continued from where I halted it before. Any idea's ?

 

Ive just bought a FZ290 from sony style to replace my Sony PCG K37 P4 which has been a great notebook btw!
Anyway the first one arrived and the keypad (white) had a bump in it around the qwerty area and some of the F keys were unevenly aligned or higher than other keys! This annoyed me as my 3 yr old K37 has a perfect keypad. I sent the FZ back imediately and shortly after i recieved another brand new one. I couldnt believe it but it has almost exactly the same problems! The F keys are uneven and not aligned and there is a bump or raised area around the qwerty keys!
My question is this, has anyone else noticed this problem and is it something FZ owners have to live with, or am I just unlucky recieving 2 poorly constructed keypads?

Other than this it is a superb note book!

 

its common. i started a thread on it a while back. no one noticed it until i started the thread. you have a keen eye/hand.

ive had my computer for over 3 months now and outside of it being visually defective the raised keyboard has no affect on my typing.

 

I don't notice this much bump. The keyboard is not perfectly flat though. My ASDF keys are slightly raised. I think that I can live with that.

 

any thoughts on the question?
anybody?

 

If I CTO FZ with 200 gb 7200 RPM HD does any one know what brand does sony uses?

 

Ask this in the semi clean install thread. I am the "clean install" guy... grin.

Gary

 

Just to let all you FZ(21s) owners, with the NVIDIA 8600M GS 256mb chipset, iv just tried call of duty 4 and it runs amazingly well, with most of the settings on high, didnt expect a sony laptop to perform soo well on gaming, now to try bioshock... mmmhh

 

What type of hard drive fits into the FZ? I haven't received my FZ yet but I want to order the Seagate Momentus 7200.2.

Do I need Serial ATA150 or Serial ATA300?

Thanks

 

Hi Guys!

I have a 8600M GS with gddr3 memory (Vaio FZ21Z) which is standard clocked @ core 500 and memory 702.
Since i did a clean vista install my 3dmark06 score raised from +/- 2500 to about 2900.
Then i overclocked it with latest rivatuner to core 600 and memory 702 which gave me a score of 3400.
Temparature is not getting above 65 degrees (viewed with rivatuner) which seems very good to me. Also no
crashes, artifacts or whatever in 3dmark06.

But then..i set my core to 700 (200 increase) and memory to 800 (almost 100 increase). I ran 3dmark06 again
and still no crashes, artifacts or anything strange. My score was now ALMOST 3900!!!
My temparature was not gettting above 70 degrees now which is still very good i think.
I can run need for speed pro street, bioshock, soldier of fortune 3, unreal tournament 3 etc. all at high settings smoothly.

So my question is...How the hell is this possible?? And should i go any further than this??
It was a pretty expensive notebook and i want to use it for at least 2 more years so i dont want to destroy anything.

Any advise??

Thanks!


N.B. I'm using the modded 169.04 drivers (cant watch blueray dvd's with this one, to solve that i use 156.69)

 

my problem that memory card device undetects each memory card is unsolving until now.. after I've got the drivers from Memory Stick Upgrade Driver Version 2.0.0.18
The device (SD) still undetect the memory card.. (it seems that the drivers is not relate with that driver) should I re-install my windows? but for memory card stick duo, it works..
somebody can give a clue for this problem?

thx anyway..

 

I'm not really into OC's in laptops, still...don't go over 60º C... unless you have a support table for ventilation.

 

is that overclocked laptop the 256mb version of the 8600M GS?

 

jup, that's the one

I want to push it over 4000 marks but i don't think that's a good idea because of the impact of the temperature on neighbouring parts in the laptop ( a lot 8600M GT owners push their card over 85 degrees, but most of those laptops are crap anyway)

 

The FZ21s and 21Z both contain the 'normal' 8600GS with DDR3 memory. All previous laptops that contained the 8600GS were very underclocked and therefore many thought the 8600GS was quite far off from the 8600GT. However performance wise, you'll see little difference between the 8600GT and the 'normal' DDR3 8600GS.

I also hope Sony continue to bring out 'gaming' capable laptops in the future. I'm just proud I waited 1yr(!!!!) in getting a laptop, and seems like I found myself a perfect laptop.

 

kacper, coukd you give a rough guide on how you made it run better for us noobs.
im playing call of duty on my fz21s and its running awesomely, but any better wont hurt

 

Hi!

There is not much to explain:

-install clean vista
-install 169.04 drivers
-install latest ntune (i use it for monitoring temperature)
-install latest rivatuner(to overclock).
-install 3dmark06(for testing, free version is ok)

First start the monitoring tool from ntune and watch the temperature (leave it on the desktop when overclocking)
Then you start rivatuner en the tab for overclocking.
Everytime you increase the core with 10 (keep memory at factory settings)and then test with 3dmark06 for crashes, snow, artifacts, dropping 3dmark06 score, or to high temperature. When you found your core max do the same
for your memory (now reset the core to standard factory settings).

After that set both core en memory to the max you found and you're ready
(you can also decrease both about 10 mhz if you want to be sure you wont get any FPS drops while playing a game for a longer time)


N.B: i managed to overlock it to 4100 MARKS!!!! (core @ 721, memory @ 930, max temp. 72 C)
Real max temperature is around 75 degrees because of the little error in 169.xx drivers (tested myself). From this settings the marks wont increase a lot anymore. I only use this settings when playing a game and after that i reset my settings to factory. So i don't use any windows startup or bios flashing!
This is because in case of a defect i still want to have the opportunity to return it to sony.

 

Hello can somebody send me the VGN-FZ290 recovery cds. For some reason I get an error trying to burn it.

 

What error are you getting? You need to get to the bottom of this and make sure you are able to create them yourself.

Gary

 

I just got by Spiderman 3 Blu ray disc from Sony for registering my Vaio. The picture is unbelievably crisp and clear. Even though the FZ hasnt a true HD screen, the screen's quality itself (X Black/X Brite) makes up it.

Btw, I got a message from Sonysupport that I can replace my laptop from the shop I bought it from . I;m a bit confused though, as my Vaio registeration is with this individual laptop. Will I have to completly register brand new with my replacement laptop since it will have a different model number?

 

how long did it take your spidy3 to arrive? I registered a week ago.

 

Hoping someone can help...

Just bought an FZ21S and was pretty excited about trying out the blu-ray drive so went straight out and bought Planet Earth. Problem is that the plyback is completely rubbish - its totally jerky, plays ok for a couple of seconds, then goes really slow, probably showing 3 or 4 frames per second for a couple of seconds then ok again for a couple of seconds and so on. doesnt matter how long i leave it playing, it never sorts itself out. This happens whether i watch it on the laptop or through a tv. Im watching it on cyberlink powerdvd and have display set to 1280x800. Nothing much running in the background..

Anyone else had similar problems? Any idea how to solve it?

 

welcome to the FZ21s owners club~!

I havnt tried using the blu-ray player yet, however why not try the built in programmes for blu-rays, interwin Dvd for BD? mite run better?> just a guess?

 

thanks for the suggestion but i have tried windvd and unfortunately had exactly the same result.

 

My Blu Ray is running very smoothly actually - thats one thing my fz21s is actually good at .
And singh100, it took about 3 weeks for my spiderman 3 to arrive.

 

try factory graphic card drivers and the powerdvd ultra patch. I also use powerdvd (with the update) and it works like a charm (also on lcd tv)

 

Anyone tried overclocking their 8400m gt cards yet? I'm getting 77 degrees maximum temperature while running 3dmark06 measured with ntune. I was wondering if that temperature was high. I looked around the internet but haven't found much information on overclocking this card.

 

I've been messing around with drivers to get the best out of my FZ21S equipped with an NVIDIA 8600M GS GPU. I've used both of the Sony/NVidia drivers (including the one that was released in the last couple of days) and a couple off laptopdriver2go.com (mostly beta versions). I was very pleased with the results of 169.04 driver when playing Bioshock. It's almost fully playable at maximum settings and fine when dropped to medium settings.

However, as you can guess, these Beta drivers don't support the playing of Blu-Ray disks. So, yesterday, Mr Postman delivered my free copy of Spiderman 3 which I wanted to try out. Well, it would not run when I used WinDVD. The drive would spin up, I'd get the revolving blue circle next to the pointer but nothing would happen. I decided to roll back to the recently released driver and had no joy. As a last resort I installed the driver off the rescue disk and that on didn't work either! So I thought it best to re-install the WinDVD software from the rescue disk before I started to lose my mind. Trouble is, on the Programs Tab I cannot find it. Unfortunately I've already uninstalled it from my laptop (yes, I know ) so I'm a bit high and dry.

Questions
(1) Where do I find WinDVD on the rescure disks? Is it part of one of the VAIO software bundles that can be found on the disk? Maybe it's on Disk 2 or Disk3? Haven't tried that yet!

(2) A few days ago while I was trying to solve this problem, I downloaded the update from the Sony site for WinDVD. About a quarter of the way into the install it complains that my version of WinDVD is different to the one it expects and the whole upgrade process just stops. Any ideas why?

(3) What's the best driver out there for games that will also play Blu-Ray disks. Anyone try the new driver release and had any success with it?

Sorry for the length of the post.

 

Hi,

question regarding the FZ display.
even though all reviews say the X-Brite technology is great,
I cannot recover true to life colors on my personal digital pictures.

I couldn't find an answer in the current thread.
Basically, reds and blues are too bright, don't look natural, and light colors come out yellow. Specially true in indoor pictures for instance.
It is as if the colors ( especially vivid ones) were "enhanced" by the XBrite technology and I would like to turn that off or adjust the display for that.

The unwanted effect happens on Vista Photo Gallery or with Corel.
I tried to contact technical support at Sony but they are not very helpful.

Anyone having the same issue or having a suggestion about how to fix it ?

Thanks.

 

Of course it is a matter of personal taste, but colors are a little over-saturated on the FZ on standard settings. You can change the color settings in the Nvidia Control Panel or/and in the Personal settings menu to your preferences. Do you have the HiColor screen or the EcoBright screen btw?

 

I don't know about Blueray discs but the newly released driver for the 8400m gt that popped up on my Windows Update did not work with my Battlefield 2142. My favorite driver right now is the 169.04 but since I don't watch blueray discs, I don't know why it doesn't work correctly for them.

 

Funny you brought up this issue because I just recently got a 21.6 inch LCD monitor that acts as the primary monitor for my laptop now and despite all the good reviews of the great colors produced by the LCD monitor, I always thought it LACKED the way that colors were produced on my FZ190 screen and have been trying to tune it as close to the laptop screen as possible but to no success. I guess it's all personal taste, especially since I have a really mild case of colorblindness and the way the colors are presented on the laptop screen is perfect for me. I think the only way for you to go in and change the display colors is using the nvidia control panel, unless you have an Intel graphics card

 

I have the XBRITE-ECO display
and NVIDI 8400 Card.
No matter what I try in the Control Panel NVIDIA and by Fn-F5/F6,
all colors are overly bright and agressive.

Quick example : by displaying www.yahoo.com
the red in the yahoo logo sticks out.

Same for personal pictures.
The best way to tell the difference is to put another laptop ( Lenovo Thinkpad)
and the same picture as background.

I find it impossible to replicated the lenovo colors, which look normal, i.e very close to real colors.
Is there a setting besides the NIVIDIA control panel which could alter
the display ? Where would you go in Personal Settings ?

 

I think it all comes down to what we're used to seeing, I can't think of another way to change the colors

 

Yeah, it's probably a matter of taste. But then again, i can't really compare how the colors look on your screen because i have the HiColor version myself. If you really think there's something wrong with the screen you should contact Sony.

I was wrong about adjusting the screen colors in the personal settings menu i'm afraid. Apparently it's only to change the color of the menu windows.

 

I tried again last night to see whether there was a driver that would work with Blu-Ray disks and run games such as Bioshock. I tried everything from the default Microsoft driver that comes with windows right up to the 169.12 driver that has just been released. If you do not have a Blu-Ray disk then I agree with p00rcoll3geboi that the 169.04 driver is superb. However, to do both then the 167.43 driver which has just been released by Sony/NVIDIA is 'the daddy'. I haven't given it a proper hammering yet but it does look promising.

I'd also recommend PowerDVD over WinDVD. The latest 7.3 version is excellent. Also, if you connect up to your TV via the HDMI cable then use [Fn] and F7 keys together to swap between the laptop monitor and the TV. Unfortnately the 8600 card does not support both screens being driven at the same time.

 

quick question FZ owners.
I recently bought a FZ240. wanted to downgrade to XP but canot find the correct drivers. all I find is drivers for the FZ1xx series and the FZ29x series. wanted to know if it was possible to use a vista install disc to do a clean install, and just work from the or is that kinda like overkill???

 

Alchemy, See this thread regarding clean install:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=145748




Has anyone tried to play Gears of War on the FZ with the US spec 8400m GT? Thanks in advance!

 

Have an FZ190 with standard preinstalled video. Eco Brite screen. When I play DVD's picture is a bit grainy and black areas are reflective. Picture is overall good and the screen in other modes is great. These are regular store bought DVD movies. Question is; if I upgrade to the 8400 video card, will I see any marked improvement in standard DVDs. I understand these DVDs are not at the resolution of the laptop screen and this may be as good as it gets. All in all the picture is not bad. I do no gaming. If the 8400 or better will make a difference, any advice on what to buy and installation tips i.e. drivers. I use Windows Media Player and WinDVD, but I don't think the media player is going to impact screen quality. I might be wrong. I may be overly picky on this, but I have no reference to know if I can do any better with the standard DVDs.


Thanks,

Ken

 

I'm not sure if there would be any significant differences in video playback between the 8400GT and the X3100, but it would matter anyway; you can't upgrade your videocard with this notebook anyway unless you buy a new one as far as i know.