I got my TX651p/b

Yes.. I am not happy with the price, but unfortunetly other manufactures simply do not have notebook pcs that are as small, stylish, and handy as this piece.

I like it so far. I wiped out all silly recovery partition etc .. and it increased boot up process quite a bit as I expected.

Man.. this thing is so light and small .. just perfect in terms of size in my opinion.

I am going to update this thread as I use the system.

stay tune.

 

It's a pretty sweet notebook eh. Have you thought of purchasing a carrying case? If so, did you have any in mind? I want to get one but don't know which ones are good out there.

I put in 1GB additional RAM too. Makes thing easier and a lot smoother when you're running a lot of programs. You should consider if not already.

 

i bought the carrying case for the tr series.for my tx650.its black with the silver vaio logo on front...looks pretty cool..got it at amazon...sonystyle has the leather one just for the tx..its $145!..not for me...

 

That's one of my choices to buy this month

keep us updated :sony:

 

Haha, I entered a contest to win this sleek notebook. I'd be extremely surprised and happy if I won.

 

Well.
I love TX.. it's amazing .. you will get people to turn their head and make your office-mate jealouse (spell).. it's the most stylish and the most powerful "true" mobile notebook on the market (i cannot think of any notebooks that have all the bells and whristles as this one with this size).

Getting correct software from Sony is next to impossible. I mean I had to erase the HDD .. with all that garbage preloaded, I cannot possibly use the system. My current system takes about 35-40 sec to boot (after loading all of icons on the tray..) and I have about 350MB free RAM. No need for GB upgrade unless I want to create a RAM drive. I also have about 52GB left after installing XP SP2, Office XP, Photoshop 7, Visual Studio 6, visual studio .net archtecture.

Guys, the battery life on this is just fantastic. I now laugh at guys who pulls out those bulky notebook pcs in train or bus trying to place them on their lap properly etc..
With mine .. I can just slip it out from my bag and rest it on my LEFT palm and use the pc; no lap required.

Also, some guys said that playing DVD is sub par quality on this new xbright screen? No. It's as perfect as it can be if you have drivers install correctly. With default windows driver, the native 1333x748 (i cannot remeber exact numbers) is recognized. But when playing DVD, the image rendering will suffer since decoding of MPEG4 support is not there. But I noticed that after i installed 915G driver from sony, DVD plays beautifully and fast. It only consumes about 20%-30% of CPU.

 

how do you get rid of the recovery partition?>...should i delete any sony programs that are completely unnecessary?...

 

Ok.. if you have bootable DVD disc or CD, then you can boot from it and delete partitions using fdisk. Or Windows XP professional allows you manage HDD partition before you install the XP.

But before you do this, make recovery DVD. I did not do this (did not have any blank DVD) so that I was not able to create one. But the factory setup was too **** .. yuck!

 

how does it run photoshop? say compared to your desktop?

 

Well .. I did not have chance to use PS7 extensibly on my TX, but i launched the app and loaded some jpeg. I do not see any it loads any slower than my AMD 2000+ XP desktop PC. My TX runs real good, its fast after clean Win XP install. I will be very happy if I can somehow get a hand on Instant Media Application.

 

So I suppose it's recommended to get rid of the recovery partition since it slows down boot times and uses up memory eh? As for a boot disk, is there one that comes with it or can you make one from the laptop? I'm thinking of getting rid of the partition, but I'd like to keep the drivers and such for the media and etc. (I'd rather not have to reinstall drivers and such if I were to do a complete WinXP installation.)

Also out of curiosity, I took a look at the TX651 and noticed there are quite a number of unecessary programs installed. Pain in the ass I think. In your opinion, do you think there are a lot of programs on the tx651 that are not necessary?

PS: I'm ordering my TX650 in a few days! Taking advantage of the Circuit City rebate. But I can't use it till I get back home from school..... Just to make sure, the TX650 and TX651 are identical except for the WAN ability right? The **** little antenna and it's functions (Cingular network and such) is the only difference if I'm not mistaken.

 

the only ones I would never get rid of are vaio launcer and vaio media, the rest are pretty useless to me. But it's nice to keep incase u need to use the software lik dvd burning editing etc and u do not have any more advanced program installed.

 

Well .. i hate all sony apps. so messy. for dvd authoring and data cd dvd creation, i use nero burning rom. I may install sonic stage for my md-nz10. that's about it. I got everything to work now, except for instant media application which let u play dvd cd and pic viewing without windows. I do not know what type of application it is, but it may be non-windows app that resides on special hdd partition. if you think this feature is important to you .. then i suggest no HDD format. But once i get the recovery dvd, i am gonna look into it. I heard that the recovery dvd will retore the system into the factory setting; there is no option where you can just install software or driver that you want. What I may need to do is to install recovery dvd on my another pc which has 5gb partition and install it on that machine. Then i can just copy the software.

 

Souds good if I'm what you're talking about is what I'm thinking. I'm gathering up all my programs so that I'll be ready when I get my tx. Can't bloody wait, just wondering about the special features of the tx651 and was wondering if they somehow reside in the recovery partition as you said. Do your media buttons work as well? Just wondering if the functionality of those buttons are affected (Though I think not. Never know though, sony has some messed up things in their computers.).

Keep us updated about the recovery software and the software transplant for your tx651. I'm fairly interested in that, I'd like to get rid of the partition, but also keep the special features of the tx650. (I'm planning on installing a linux distro partition, so the more space available the merrier! )

Edit:
To MilanoStyle:
Hmm from what I gathered after looking around, I'm under the impression that the Instant On feature where you don't have to boot Windows to play DVDs and such is tied with Intervideo. That is to say that Intervideo has a seperate software known as Intervideo Instant On, which runs the entertainment features on an linux platform. I believe that's the software you're looking for. It might be a bit hard to find, this program isn't offered as retail sale, only OEM and integrated into laptops. Recovery disks and such that came with your laptop sound like your best bet. I'm assuming the laptop came with disks for the pre-loaded software that were on the laptop. If you knew that already, disregard this message. Otherwise, hope this helps.

 

Anyone who has TX with factory install kind enough to send me AV MODE utility out there?

Please contact me, [email protected]
Thank you so much.

 

Are all the drivers available if you completely reformat the HD and erase the recovery partition? Also, does Sony give you the XP disc? I am getting a TX650 and would like to wipe it clean, but I am concerned about getting everything working, including all buttons and keys. Those are often difficult to get working without restoring to factory default.

 

I am getting the recovery dvd from the sony sales rep.
but with rec. dvd, you cannot pick and choose which apps or drivers that needed to be installed; it's all or nothing. So this is what I recommand if you are going to wipe out all the partitions and do clean install:
1. Have windows xp pro. CD
2. find following sony apps and back it up since these ones you cannot get from the sony web:
i) Sony Instant Button utility -> allows you to config AV MODE button
ii) Instant Media Application that is being launched when the tx is powered off.
iii) other sony apps that you feel that you need.
Without making a proper recovery DVD or CD, I got everything to work except for AV MODE button.

Once you do install windows and all the apps that you want, make image of that C:\ into DVD; this is true recovery DVD for you. This way, your system runs LOT better. I actually think that my TX is faster than my AMD XP 2000+ desktop system and Dell GX270 (my office system) desktop.

You can keep those factory partition where sony keeps recovery stuff. But i think it's a completely waste of a space. Beside, if HDD crashes, it's no good anyways. I don't who's idea was it to do this way, but not providing rec DVD with tx is complete BS in my opinion.

BTW, Today i noticed dead pixel.. yeah dead pixel. i carried my tx around and it was freezing in Toronto, and my tx was cold. I do not think it likes being cold. Once the system warmed up the dead pixel became undead. It is noted on Sony's user guide actually. Until I get shockzero case, I am not going to carry my tx around..

 

my hunch was right. It looks like the instant media tech. needs OS after all. Not Windows, but Linux kernal. Read this.

http://www.microsoftmonitor.com/archives/007008.html

 

Please post pics of your tx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i was thinking about getting one too but shrugs im not sure depends if i can make enough money for it. lol

 

Does this mean that you CANNOT delete the recovery partition for InstantOn Media/DVD to work? Sounds like it.

 

I cannot remember, but if you have TX and you have original setup, use partition magic or fdisk and see how many partitions the system has. I think there were 3; one for recovery - this is formatted NTFS type 4 for windows can't access it. one for windows, the other for linux.

The safest way will be leave all other partition as it is, and just format windows partition and do the clean install on that partition. This way you have preserved factory partition. I do not know the order of the partition and I do not know the whether or not the order of partition matters. If it doesnot, you can remove recovery partition and get yourself extra 5GB.

Update on my dead pixel:

Well .. the pixel is lazy. When I turn on my tx, one dot lit white. But as the system progresses, it blinks and eventually turns into correct color. Odd .. but I am getting little concern about this.

 

I took a gander at the tx651 unit at a nearby Sony Store. There were 2 partitions that I could see. the main c:/ and a hidden partition. Surprisingly that was 6GB. the available space on the c:/ was 49GB.

I'm thinking create a recovery disk (Access Vaio Recovery and you can create a DVDR/CDRs) and then delete the Recovery partition (The hidden one). Essentially what MilanoStyle said. I didn't see a 3rd partition but I was using the standard MS Drive manager, so it could have overlooked it.

I'm assuming though that the Recovery parition is completely isolated from the main Windows partition C:/. By that I mean it's not accessed or anything by Windows or isn't accessed while running Windows. There shouldn't be any conflictions or errors that I can imagine. Input anyone?

 

no. there has to be 3rd parition for InstantON feature. 3rd partition is linux partition so your software did not even look at that. The recovery partition is NTFS, but type4 which is not seen by Windows Explorer.

Boot the system with bootable CD such as Windows XP pro CD, then see the partitions, using installer of the XP or fdisk. I am sure there is a 3rd partition.

 

Yeah, that's why I noted that the program could have missed it (Standards Windows Drive Manager, nothing special). Most likely it did b/c of it being a Linux partition like you stated. I was playing around with the Sony Store's laptop, so I don't think I should mess around with it too much. (Mine is waiting for me at home, 2 more weeks till I can use it!)

I'm curious about the recovery partition. I was able to see it and all with the Drive Manager and was wondering if by making a recovery disk, would I be able to just delete it afterwards without any ill effects. I'm planning to make 2 physical backups (One to keep with me and the other for safe keeping.), and one virtual disk on my portable HDD. I'm assuming it shouldn't affect the system if I delete just that one partition. Is that even possible? haha, just planning for when I get my laptop. It'll be my first laptop! A supplement for my desktop. I even ordered a nice case for my tx650!

 

humm any luck with find all the software online.. kinda upset that this thing came with no software on cds. not too big of a deal because the crap they sent you most of the time is really outdated.. but I want to wipe this system off. What cant you get from sony.com

 

Well, I got my TX651P too. I love it and hate it at the same time. Love it's size, battery life, power, and that it's so beautifully desigend, like a litte jewel.

BUT...

1.)
I also bought the port replicator, and it's useless. Every time I put the laptop on it, I have to disconnect/connect the mouse and any usb device several times before they start working. Sometimes, I even have to reboot. This is makes the port replicator (docking station) useless, and even vorse then if I connect the devices to the base system.

2.)
And here is the bigger problem:
I couldn't find anything on Sony's site about maximum extrnal monitor resolution. I visited several computer stores asking them to open a box and allow me to test my laptop with a large high end lcd, but nobody would let me.

I tested the highest external monitor resolution for the TX651P, with three of my old existing CRT's and I found the following:
Viewsonic P810 21" 1792x1344
Viewsonic P221 21" 1920 1440
Dell P1130 21" 1600x1200
So far so good...

Finally I found on Intel's site, that the Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family accelerator (that is in the TX651P) will support up to 2048x1536 !!!
WOW...

So I bought a DELL 2405WFP 24" WUXGA LCD monitor online, with a native resolution of 1920x1200.

Big mistake!
Sony limits the external resolution to 1600x1200 in the video bios. Why? No idea.

Here is part of the email I received from Intel support:

So, I sent Sony an email a week ago, but no answer yet.
Dell wants to charge me 15% re-stocking fee if I return the monitor.

I don't know what to do. I love the TX, and my 24" too. So far, I am using the monitor as a DVD display...
I can't afford to hire someone to hack my video bios to allow this resolution. I was even thinking of installing Linux on my TX, because some Linux gurus already made a hack for this, but it requires that I get rid of Windoz.

I just don't understand why corporations are SOOOO painfull to deal with, when it comes to support. I am their best customer, I love gadgets, and buy them all the time. Why do I have to "beta test" their products on MY expense?

Julian