Need a REAL dock for Vaio Z

I am looking for a vaio z dock (i have a z13). never used a dock before so im not sure how it works. but from what i am seeing on sony's site the dock doesnt have much options at all, no hdmi and all that?


also, what kind of bandwidth does that port link have? with all those connections, does it suffer from all those devices possibly sharing?


is there a better port from another manufacturer that works on Z even?



I can't believe that, this laptop has been out for slong and all they have is one cheesy dock for something touted as a business laptop? could have sworn such a designation would be loaded with 'connectivity options' no?

 

the USB ports are NOT shared. The dock is OK, it doesn't have HDMI but what it does have works well.

 

Check out Sony's dock for the SB which has built in HDMI. The Z won't sit centered on it, but it may work.

For what I needed it to do I got a DVI to HDMI adapter and a USB optical sound card.

 

Same here, no HD sound that way, but I don't have a receiver that supports HD sound anyway.

 

It would be awesome if someone can confirm this. I also wonder whether the S case can contain the 13z with a big battery.

 

Sony store claimed it wouldn't fit. Anyone with any more input?

 

I don't think it can either. The Z with the standard battery is already marginally thicker than the SB (however if you look closely, the Z appears thicker only because of the incline caused by the battery. The SB is actually ~1mm thicker but as the Z tapers up the SB appears 5mm thinner at the upmost point of the Z. Still functionally though, the Z is thicker).

Go and try to ask the store manager to see if he can allow you to open one SB case to see if your Z with the big battery can fit in. I went to stores that sell macbook cases and they allowed me to do that as well.

 

I bought the VGP-UPR1 dock from SonyStyle refurbished. It has a USB hub network, DisplayLink and sound. I plugged this into my Z dock. Now I don't need to use the HDMI anymore because the sound comes from the USB dock. I am pretty pleased with it. I can always use more USB ports also. Here is the link, not bad at $44 to add sound and USB.
VGP-UPR1 | REFURBISHED - VAIO® USB Docking Station | Sony | Sony Style USA

I don't use the DisplayLink, haven't even tried it, but everything else works great.

 

Don't trust that they said it won't fit. I'd still try it out myself before I determine if it will work or not.

Remember, the SB dock has to fit the computer with the sheet battery also, making the SB substantially thicker than before. I don't know how Sony engineered the connector, but they must have made it movable in some sense to get it to fit the computer with and without the sheet battery.

@computercowboy, even with the added dock, you still don't get HDMI.

 

Have you noticed the switch on the S dock that pops the connector up higher for using it with the ext battery?

True but I don't really need it, I use the computer at my desk with the stereo speakers built into my TV. When I hook it to the projector in the living room I use HDMI but all the sound goes through a USB TosLink adapter to my receiver. I don't have anything capable of HD sound (DTS-MA or TrueHD) so it is not an issue at the moment.

If the S dock does work then I'll buy that for the living room and I can hook HDMI from that up to a HD capable receiver and from there to the projector.

 

Ah that's what that switch is for! Makes sense.

HDMI would have been most convenient for me because our receiver has too much stuff hooked up to it, so it's running out of ports. Luckily I got everything to work just the way I want it right now.

If the OP's situation is anything like mine, HDMI for a limited amount of ports would be the most convenient. Hopefully someone can test out the S dock for sure.

 

I know Sony has a return policy for new computers if you buy from SonyStyle, I wonder if that applies to accessories also. If it does I might buy one and if it doesn't work I could return it. I wouldn't even mind just returning for credit, I am always buying random B-stock from them. There is all sorts of good stuff on there if you look hard enough.

 

When I got my keyboard skin from them, I believe they told me the return policy is 14 days. This was from a brick and mortar Sony Style store.

 

hey cowboy

i am trying to order the VGP-UPR1

will it work by directly using the usb on laptop?

is there any driver issues with vpc z win 7 64?

 

Yes, it should work with any computer

no, it's fine, the drivers for windows 7 can be found here Sony eSupport - VGP-UPR1 - Software Updates & Drivers

I can't vouch for the DisplayLink video, I have used other DisplayLink before and they are crap. The best 16x10 res you are going to get is 1680x1050 and the best 4x3 is 1600x1200. But it does make a great powerd USB hub with built in sound and network. That is what I use it for.

 

I placed an order on Sunday after finding a driver for win 7 64.

Thank you.

I like that the hub has mic and audio out port.

It could have been better if the Ethernet port supported a giga bit.

(and maybe a display port?)

So, with this, triple monitor setup is theoretically possible?

Laptop lcd, 1 hdmi, and 1 usb-displaylink?

 

changed my sig.

we have the two same laptops

 

I bet you wish you had a UX also, probably the coolest concept computer ever.

 

??? You use your P to handle iTunes?

It's soooo slowwww!!!

 

it is freaking slow but it kind of handles it well enough.

more importantly, iphone requires one computer to sync it's music to manually manage the songs and I usually can't use my main laptops to do that as i factory restore them frequently.

so the only option is to buy a laptop solely for itune sync with iphone 3gs.

 

or get rid of the iPhone

 

My last 3 laptops have been the Vaio S series, SZ, and Z. I bought the Sony dock for the first two but decided not to get it for my Z because Sony's docks are total crap.

Here are features that the dock for my Dell laptop from almost 10 years ago had:

1. It's actually a dock - you slide the laptop in and it clicks. You press "Eject" to release the laptop.
2. The dock had its own power button. On the stupid Sony I have to open the lid to power it on.
3. It had audio output, so it automatically connects to my desktop speakers when I dock.

Sony needs to make a REAL dock for its business laptops, especially considering the prices it's charging.

 

I agree that the Z dock leaves a bit to be desired... but I don't think that the solution is just not to have a dock. I love the convenience of dropping the Z into the dock and having everything hooked up. I'd love to get another one for the living room so that I could dock it in the evening and have my projector and sound hooked up.