"I just got my Vaio Z. Now what?"

I think we should post suggestions regarding what we should do when we get our Vaio Z's. I'll edit the suggestions into this first post so people know what to do.

For example, I know we should do an image backup, but how do we do that? I've also heard we should peel off the stickers so that the paint doesn't become discolored. And how do we take care of the battery to make it last longer? Is it okay to always have the laptop plugged in?

Once we have good answers I'll edit them into this post.

 

Hmm, I'd guess you'd want to create the restoration CDs first thing, using the Sony utility. Since I also have a WHS backup server, the next thing I'd do is install the WHS client software and have it back up.

I always peel the stickers off my electronics, and especially notebooks where they rub on your wrists. I'm amazed at how many notebooks I see in the wild with those thick, chunky, sharp-edged stickers still stuck on them. Not to mention other electronics like stereos and DVD players will all the marketing blurbs still stuck to them. Are people too lazy to peel them off? Do they think it adds to the visual appeal? Are they worried that they'll forget what they do? Do they realize that in a couple of years that glue is going to be nearly impossible to get off cleanly if they DO try?

Normally I just work a fingernail under a corner, careful not to scratch the paint, and then peel VERY VERY SLOWLY with the sticker at a sharp angle (almost doubled over). Some of them are extremely hard to get off. If some sticky residue stays behind, typically rubbing it hard with your thumb towards the edge can roll it into a ball and make it possible to remove clearly, but if not perhaps some careful application of varsol (caution as that stuff works great but could damage plastics).

I think VAIOs now have a function called "battery care" or something that keeps them at a 90% charge instead of 100%... this should "extend" the lifespan. With that said, the battery in my SZ is over 3 years old, it's been plugged in nearly 24x7 for that entire time, there's no battery care function, and still gives more than acceptable battery life. Generally my thoughts here are "don't worry about it".

On a side note, I can't believe you have yours already. Mine just went into production today (Friday).

 

Re battery care, they ideal condition for a battery is 40% charge and cold storage. I.e. plugged in (fully charged) and warm (as it gets when the laptop is on) is quite the opposite.

I managed to reduce my first battery in my TX1 from 7-8 hours to just over 1 hour by having it plugged in 24/7 for about 1 1/2 year. However, the same usage for an older T1X keeps the battery ok even after more than 5 years.

I think the main difference is the average heat of the battery cells. On the T1X, the battery extends a bit behind the laptop, but on the TX1, the battery is more wrapped inside the laptop body and receives more heat.

Since I bought a new battery for my TX1, I always take it out when I have the laptop on AC power, and mostly at around 40-50% of charge. It has preserved it quite well over the last 3 years. I can probably get 4-5 hours out of it when needed.

Not sure how well the battery care function preserves it though, I'll probably unplug my Z battery when on AC until I hear that it works ok.

 

So do I literally create the image CD's after I first turn it on? Or do I wait until after I install/uninstall what I want and change my settings?

And I don't have my laptop yet, it's at home waiting for me. I'll get it tonight.

 

If you want all the buttons (I mean the special one) in your machine works, you should not delete any Sony software.
I deleted most of them and then reinstall them but still can't figure out how to get back my S1 button original function I mean the windows arragement.

 

The depends on whether you plan to modify the Drive configuration, such as either dropping the Recovery partition or dropping the RAID 0 in favor of JBOD. If you are doing either of these, then Yes, the very first thing you should do upon arriving at the desktop is to burn the Recovery DVDs.

What you need to know about the DVDs the Recovery program in Vaio Care does is the following:

1. They are a DVD-based copy of the contents of the Recovery partition. This means that it doesn't matter when you burn them, you'll get the same results if its the first thing or the last thing you do. They do NOT make an image of the current state of your drives or computer.
2. The intent of the Recovery partition and the Recovery DVDs is to restore your computer to it's "out-of-the-box" state. In other words, they return you to the image put on the computer at the factory.
3. You should be careful how much trust you put in the Recovery DVDs. They don't always create successsfully or without error. You can mitigate some of this risk by selecting the verification checkbox at the bottom of the Recovery disc creation program, but that's not full proof.
4. Having Recovery DVDs should in no way discourage you from creating regular backups of your computer. Since I use my Z daily for both work and home, I create an physical disk image of my entire computer every weekend. It only takes about an hour and if the worst happens, I can restore my computer to its then-current state, losing no more than a few days of changes.
5. Recovery DVDs are also very handy in the event that you ever decide to sell your laptop (to restore it to a clean slate for your buyer).
6. You canNOT create Recovery DVDs if you have dropped, reformatted, or modified your Recovery partition.

 

Would a out-of-box restore bring the SSD performance back to speed/?

 

In a word: No.

 

I'm in the Aventura Florida Sonystyle now looking for a case but I see nothing even that would look good with the old Z's. I actually came to buy the small BT mouse with the slide cover; so expensive but so cute. I plan to remove my stickers with the fingernail method. Checked out the 3D Sony TVs, nice but kinda blurry sometimes. But I digress. I hear the defragmenter on these things is set to activate after a week by default thanks to Windows 7. Maybe I need to deactivate it since the Z is SSD, but how? I have the metal mosaic but I see the premium carbon fibers models are now in the store. Guess I can justify the mouse now since I would have probably gotten the carbon fiber model had it been here earlier.