Just bought the Sony VAIO TZ90!!

I don't know if you were asking me. When I do buy it,since I live in the US I will use conics.net But it is really important that I change the hard drive. Maybe Fry's Electonics would do it. Any other ideas?

 

Conics site offers an option to have N wireless. Is that right? I thought only the Santa Rosa platform had N wireless.

 

Yes Sony Japan offers the wireless N capability since the 26th of June, currently i got the N one.

 

Cool!

Whats the word on the US version of this machine?

 

JayHoward,

I believe you have the 160GB HDD spec, how's the fan noise? loud like the TX or silent?

thanks.

 

I have the 2nd drive option aswell and I can say the fan is slient. The only way I know it is running is if I put my hand over the vent and feel all the hot air.

 

thanks. I'll be getting my TZ (SSD + 160GB HDD) this friday. I'll be installing a clean OS and wish me luck with the drivers.

 

Good choice, I love the extra storage. I couldn't live with only 32gigs of storage. Installing the drivers was easy, I did a fresh install with no issues except the fingerprint software which I had to get from the TX support page.

I also got a 4 gig MS Pro that sits in the MS slot and it is used for Vista Readyboost. I am not convinced yet if it makes a difference.

 

The AV Mode is working also with the SSD+160GB combination? Because someone in the forum was telling that without optical drive doesn't work.

 

I haven't been able to get it to work... Not sure what it is suppose to do. Right now it opens Media Center if I click the button.

 

yeah, that's a good question. Does anyone know if the AV mode works if i connect an USB external dvd rom to the tz?

thanks again

 

The DVD drive also highlights the fact that this machine can playback both DVDs and CDs without actually booting into Windows. The AV mode boots pretty much instantly and lets you view images or listen to music files as well as play optical media. Can you balto see a movie or listen music without booting?

 

When i pressed the key it boots windows instead of the AV mode.. so i guess its not working for users with SSD + HDD combination. However if already on windows it launches the AV launcher application.

 

It says on sonystyle japan here:

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Product/Vaio/Tz/tz90ns_s_hs.html

that you cannot use AV Mode with the 2.5" 160GB configuration. This is one of the primary reasons why I would rather get the DVD drive.

 

Does anyone know anything about the US launch of this laptop?

 

No one knows just yet, people are saying end of July or August

 

will be in august.

 

Has this been announced or are basing this on the ppt that was posted?

 

Launch? or just announcement of launch?

Do you think it will be different from the Japanese version? Im really itching to buy it, but I dont really "need" to till the end of august.

 

check this link,

http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7748&d=1182831434

 

Interesting! Thanks! The prices look like they are higher than the japanese models.

Is the WWAN chip only gonna work with sprint? no EDGE/HSDPA networks?

 

outrigger,

here's an article about you,

http://laptops.engadget.com/2007/06/28/sony-vaio-tz-first-impressions/

 

Will the american version come in premium carbon? I've been hearing that it will not but is there any confirmation of this or where is that info coming from?

 

Got my tz90 from pricejapan on Tuesday.

My specs are:

black
Core 2 Duo U7600（1.20 GHz),
2G memory,
160G HDD,
802.11 a/b/g/n wireless LAN,
English keyboard
standard battery
no fingerprint sensor

Total came out to be $2038 shipped. Was supposed to get it on Monday, but pricejapan didn't enter my zipcode correctly so it got delayed by a day. No big deal.

First thing I did was install English Vista on it. That went smoothly thanks to the tz drivers guide from OutRigger.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the performance on vista. Its not as fast as XP, but after tweaking it a bit, its fast enough.

Battery life with the standard battery is pretty good. I'm getting about 5 hours on a single charge with the display set at 60% and the cpu set at 0% in the vista power management configuration.

For those that use bluetooth devices, the toshiba bluetooth chip is excellent. I was able to connect my bt mouse and keyboard with no problems and I didn't encounter any interference issues when transferring a file via wifi at max speeds. Very happy with that.

The screen is gorgeous. Super bright, gorgeous colors, and excellent viewing angles. There is definitely light leakage at the bottom of the screen, but that is only noticeable if the screen is totally black and it doesn't bother me one bit.

One thing that I was concerned about is the keys touching the lcd when the lid is closed. On mine, the keys don't touch, but I can see where if you put some pressure on the lid, the keys will touch the lcd. So what I did was I put a bumper on each side of the lcd so that the lid sits higher when closed. Its kinda ugly, but I think its better than putting a piece of cloth on the keyboard every time you close the lid. Maybe later I'll try to find something a bit more attractive. I've attached a couple of pictures to show what I've done.

Another issue that was reported in the forums was having to jiggle the power supply. I have this problem with my TZ. Sometimes I noticed that when I plugged in my power cord, the laptop would still be running on battery. I had to twist the cord a bit to get the machine to register that it was plugged in. This also happens with my other vaio power cord.

Seems like the power socket on the TZ is just a bit too large so sometimes the connection won't register. I've been thinking of ways to fix this besides sending it back to japan and I'm thinking of buying some conductive tape and wrapping it around the plug so that its a bit thicker.

Other than that, I'm very happy with my purchase.

If anybody has any questions about the TZ, I'd be happy to answer them.

 

Welcome to the club!

 

what he said!

 

bmnotpls, when did you place your order? Any problems with import fees?

 

I ordered it on 6/20. I'm in the US, so no import fees.

 

It comes with a japanese version of vista basic? Thats the one that doesnt have aero?

Do you think its worth waiting for the US launch of this machine?

 

Depends on what you want.

I wanted the 160g 5400rm hd and that won't be available in the US model. Plus, the cheapest US version cost $2300 (with only 1gb and slower processor), so I actually saved some money importing it.

yes it comes with japanese vista basic, but I installed english vista.

 

You can install all the drivers separately and it will work just fine? The camera, the fingerprint thing, etc?

 

Yes, that is what I did and the cam, fingerprint reader works just fine.

 

I just ordered the TZ from conics.net. Hope it arrives soon

 

and another one joins the club. membership is expanding faster than I thought!

 

well ive now got my tz50 from pricejapan and its absolutely perfect for all my needs! just one question, do you think that the 1seg tv tuner could ever be converted to work elsewhere?

 

To the people who bought their TZ90 from pricejapan..... does this already include the SEG1 Japanese tv antenna ... or do you have to specify to them that you want it included before making the order?

 

the standard spec does not include the SEG1 but you can go to here

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Product/Vaio/Tz/tz90ns_s_hs.html

use translator if you cannot understand japanese, and tell them what spec you want and the price, they'll add 5% for their charge and shipping plus insurance...

 

hi on the tz50b which i bought from pricejapan, the 1seg tv tuner isincluded as standard

 

if you don't live in Japan, its useless and cannot be converted for anywhere else

 

Here are some benchmarks:

super pi to 2m: 1:47
pcmark05: 2418
hdtune: attached

I'm totally satisfied with the performance of the my tz90 running vista. Vista with aero glass runs great. I don't have any problems with it.

Edit: Also attached my vista score

 

I'm thinking about the TZ to replace my Vaio S170 (Pentium M-1.7ghz). Any idea how the performance would compare? Would I actually get a decent performance boost, or would it be generally similar (with most of the benefit coming from the smaller size/weight & extra battery life)?

 

Question for those that have all the drivers installed.

In device manager, I still have one question mark, meaning a driver has not been installed, but can't tell what it is. Does the TZ come with an internal mic? when I try to do recording or use the web cam app, it does not record any sound. Any clues?

 

The last device is probably the FeliCa port. That is the smartcard system based in Japan (the symbol on the right side of the keyboard).

I got the driver from here: http://www.sony.co.jp/Products/felica/pcrw/fsc_dl.html

StefanB

 

Anyone know if the AVMode works when an external USB DVD drive is attached to the system? (for models without the built in DVD drive)..Thanks!

 

Thanks for the link.

But does the TZ have a built in mic? or you would need to pluc a mic in, in order for it to record sound?

 

I found driver of "TZ160C" from Sony USA website:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNTZ160C&UpdateType=Everything

Is it the English drivers that we are looking for TZ90?

 

Hi Outrigger,

According to the Sony Style sites, the TZ does indeed have a built-in microphone. I guess it would also be a bit of a joke if it didn't, considering the built-in web camera.

Cheers,
Chris

 

hmmm if thats the case, I'm not able to record any sound. although my previous thinkpad and dell could record with no problem. anyone else can try to record something?

 

My microphone is working. I tried to record something with the sound recorder application and it did it fine.

 

Outrigger, yes my mic works. I've used it for Skyping. It's driven by the Realtek HD Audio Driver, according to my Control Panel.