Official Canadian vaio user thread

What do you mean by "English" keyboard? Both US and Canadian are English keyboards, but Canadian includes keys to support French as well.

Do you mean that you can order a US-standard keyboard, rather than the default Canadian multilingual? I hope it's true, because the Sony store staff at the Eaton Centre said that all Canadian VAIO laptops come with Canadian multilingual.

 

If you CTO, like me, you will get a US (non french) keyboard. At least that's what I got.

 

Yes, I think it is an American keyboard, altho the manager told me it is English keyboard.

 

hey, anyone here knows when is the new CS series gonna be released here in canada? i checked sonystyle.ca, but couldnt find anything about CS series. i heard they're releasing it in the US this fall, how about about up here?

 

I now understand why to avoid CTO (build quality). I have to reconsider z555 which is made and assembled in Japan. I have asked this question before, but would like an update from you all helpful guys how do you feel about the bilingual keyboard. Are you getting used to it or are you still miss hitting the left shift key and the return key? Thanks, I have to make up my mind soon, before this crop of z555 runs out, as the new ones will likely have lower res screen.

 

As much as I also encourage it, why do you now get this feeling to avoid CTO's? Like what made you say that besides other ppl like myself telling you not to get it???

 

it really sucks how we do not have the option of a lower resolution screen on a regular model like the US has

I think 1600x900 is simply too much strain for my eyes

 

I only saw one of your posts to avoid CTO. I replied and ask for explanation, but I did not see any from you. Maybe I missed it, or mabe you said it earlier and I did not read it. I did not mean to ignore what you said. Anyway, what prompted me now is that I read in another post about poor quality control (USA vs Japanese), and one had to exchange it 3 times. Then I just read about the Nvidia GPU problem, so I am totally not certain of what to buy. I bought the TZ and returned it, because it was too hot on my lap, and besides there is a recall on it. Maybe I should really wait for the new TZ to come out in a couple on months.

 

Yea I hear ya, honestly bro, in all honesty, the Z555, if ur okay with the specs, just go for it dude, its a FANTASTIC laptop. Even when I watch avi. movies, it looks crystal clear, I could swear I dont see a HUGE difference between that and Blu Ray cuz of the screen itself. Now this I cant promis but u can give it a shot, talk to a Manager, not employee, but Manager, and see if he can give you a return policy like they did for me. If ur not happy, send it back. As far as the video card, the way ive been testing it, and the way I test my electronics you dont even want to know, especially when I have a return policy, video card is great, I dont ever hear the fan, it pumps out warm air, not hot. Games so far run fantastic with no heating at all. Battery is actually giving me 5 1/2 hours now. I drained it and fully charged it and this is what I get. So IMO, I definitley say go for it before you miss out oin the 1600x res. And when it comes to movies, you'd want 1600x cuz it makes it nice and crisp. I dont just buy anything just like that, thats also why I returned the SZ780 fighting with the President of Sony, so I waited and waited till Sony came out with something new which is now the Z, its a beautiful laptop. CTO you definitley want to stay away from. If you read a bunch of posts back when it first started about the Z on the Official Vaio Z Owners Thread, I had warned ppl from experience Not to get CTO, but they did anyway, and now their paying for it. And you know what the President of Sony told me? That son of a ***** told me that I should return the laptop cuz all CTO's have some kind of defect! I SWEAR TO GOD. If I could show u that letter I would, to everyone. Anyways, I just hope you take my advise seriously, cuz this laptop is just outta this world man. My uncle who hates Sony loves this laptop. Ciao!

 

Thanks TorontoGuy. I'll go to the store Thursday, when the manager I dealt with is going to be there.

 

My CTO works like a charm... i dont see any problems with it what so ever... NOTHING... its absolutely amazing... maybe the guy who built mine took his time...lol

 

Thanks for your feedback. I guess out of all the productions, there must be some that slip passed the QC.

 

Just order a Z570 from the States, that's what I did and I LOVE it, the resolution is perfect, I could never work on 1600 x 900 all day. Plus I got the non french keyboard and a great deal and fast shipping - bonus!

 

Resolution is a personal thing. If you're 20 years old, 1600 x 900 is no problem. If you're 49 years old, then small text may be difficult to read.

Likewise, how you use it makes a difference. If you mainly watch movies, then you'd want the higher resolution. If you mainly do office work or editing or e-mail, then 1600 x 900 is going to give an older person, or somone with less-than-ideal vision, eyestrain.

At 20 years old the eye muscle has plenty of flexibility and can easily focus on small text at close distances (such as a monitor). As the eye ages, particularly in mid-40s and older, the muscle becomes less flexible and it is measurably more difficult to focus on small text at close distances. This is called presbyopia and it happens to everyone at some point. If you're at or near that point, then a lower resolution is preferred as while there will be less stuff on screen, it will all be somewhat larger and clearer and therefore easier to read.

 

God what am I gonna do cuz I'm NOT ok with the specs it offered!

 

While I would also trust the Japanese to do a better job of assembling my laptop than the Americans, how badly can they mess it up? They're essentially just slapping in the hard drive, RAM, & dvd or blu-ray drive. Also, what's the worst that happens -- if they mess it up & it fails, odds are it'll do so in the first little while it's still under warranty.

Maybe I'm biased because my last CTO Vaio had no problems, but I think it's worth the risk to get the specs I want (& the US keyboard!).

 

Hey guys, DD3 ram sticks are now available.


http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProdList&cmd=pl&id=RAM.187.778

 

who did you order it from?
how come in total with tax and custom?

 

Which store has Z on display in Toronto area? Anyone knows? My frd said there's even no display in Yorkdale!

 

I was at Yorkdale on Thursday and tried out the Z. Maybe your friend did not recognize it.

I tried the bilingual keyboard. It seems to be ok, but just need to getting used to a bit.

I find it big compared to the TZ. Maybe that is why it is cooler. I am waiting for the new TT and compare before I decide which to buy.

 

The Z has been on display at Sherway Gardens for at least a week (I fiddled around with it last weekend).

 

I FIIINALLY saw it today! Amazing machine, the only thing I was worried about which is the resolution but everything seems pretty cool, I'll definitely get one myself.
I wait for the next version of Z and get it before the end of this year, I hope there is 500GB HHD or 320G w/ 7200rpm.
hey btw maybe the machine we saw is the same one, we r now Z-mates lol!!!!

 

Hey, everyone.

I finally received my FW CTO a day ago and I like it alot. I'm still getting used to Vista and setting everything up.

One of the gripes I have with it is that the DVD drive makes quite alot of noise when reading a DVD. My sister's old Dell seems very quite reading that same DVD. Is this normal with that drive?

Also, I ordered the Hi-color screen and it says so on the side of the box but I have no way to make sure. Even the device manager comes up with "Generic PnP monitor". I've read a few msgs about this issue on the boards but I'm still uncertain. When comparing the screen to the Dell's, it is quite brighter but you can see your reflection much better also. While watching a dvd movie on it I noticed that black is a bit "faded" and the image seems to blur ever so slightly (especially the black) when there are rapid changes. Either this is the Eco screen, the Hi-color isn't that magnificent or my expectations were too crazy. Colors are really beautiful and don't seem to be exaggerated when viewing the sample Vista images, though, so that gives me some hope for my art/design work in the future.

Any ideas on these two problems? I'll keep testing and see if anything changes.

 

I think it is the Eco Screen as the High-Colour isn't available in Canada. You'd have to find a re-seller in the US who ships to Canada.

How do you find the weight, how would it be to have sitting on your lap for an evening replying to emails or using on a table in a coffee shop for example?

Enjoy!

 

Of course the hi-color screen is available here, just check hte 190CTO on sonystyle's site, you can opt for the hi-color screen for a $100 more.

 

You're right! Should of known better than to take the word of a Future Shop staffer, I'm going to call our local Sony store tomorrow and see if they have one on display.

How do you like the size/weight so far?

 

most future shop/best buy employees are idiots

I personally do not own a FW, waiting for the 290CTO to come out first, and it should be due at the beginning of october.

 

VGNFW235DH
http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...1&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1005660

this just appeared on the site it seems to have replaced the lower end FW1xx model.
T5800 at 2 ghz
vista home premium Bilingual
4GB of ram
250GB 5400 hdd
no blu ray
Intel 4500HD
normal eco screen not higher colour, 1600x900

price
Price $1,099.99

expected september 30th.

the CTO and other FW2xx models are due shortly

as well if you buy a FW190, you will receive a free PSP.


so if you don't care for gaming and just want a normal laptop, buy the cheapest CTO and get the PSP

 

You guys see this AD for the Vaio Z, lol. Hmm who in here is selling their Z!?

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/sys/858077408.html

 

ha its in vancouver as well. I should go and check it out, but the Z is not worth it for me.

 

For those who were curious, the store where I purchased my vaio was so awesome to do the straight exchange for my prior machine, with the defective screen. I'm happy that in the end, I've got a laptop with a perfect screen, which to me, means being free of dead or stuck pixels or other annoying distracting anomalies.

Other then this, I'm still deciding if I should keep my case, I might return it to get something with more padding. I should look around in the next week and see what my options are. I still have yet to read the z laptop and sleeve thread It will be interesting to see what everyone else has for their machine.

 

I just finished watching Saw 3, which by the way is awesome, with no black bars at all

 

lol howd you find this????
i dont want the laptop but i wish i have an uncle who sent out a brand new Zs to each of the brothers!!!
If it were me, I'll sell two of them and customize another brand new with
P9500+4G+320G+VISTA ULTIMATE+blueray+nicest sleeve+an 32G ipod touch!!!!!

 

edit: nevermind, I saw white leakage in your other pic with the blue background (on top)

May I know what is the brightness level? I see a little white leak on mine

 

either sony canada decided to change their minds about the 290CTO or its coming in middle of november, I don't know but according to this, no 512 3650 in canada, only the 256 one

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...1&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1005657

Screen Size: 16.4"
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
XBRITE™: Technology: Yes

Processor: ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with Total
Available Graphics Memory of 2280MB (max.)
Video RAM: 256MB of dedicated video RAM

plus I can't customize it so fail, the hi res screen kills it for me so I think I will go with the 190 with the 1600x900 screen.

 

why havent they lowered the price on 190cto yet

 

good question, probably because no 290CTO exists yet and the older FW-1xx notebooks are not on sale anymore, except 1, the 180. I was told by sony early october for the 290CTO, it doesn't appear to be the case, and I will opt for the 190 instead.

 

Ugh, **** you Sony. The FW with HD3650 would have been perfect. I took the bait too soon.

 

Anyone knows when the new Z is coming? It's been updated in Europe and Asia already. They have 7200rpm 320G HDD.
I hope they have P9500/4G/320G HDD in the pre-config version so I dont have to CTO one.
And btw anyone find a sleeve for Z in Canada?

 

You know what, that's very disappointing and complete BULLSH1T if you asked me. Why do our neighbors down south get the 512MB 3650 to power their 1920x1080 screen resolution while us Canadian have to live with the 256MB 3650? The EXTRA ram is a necessity for running any GPU-intensive application at those resolutions. Why even bother slotting a GPU that can do what an integrated chip can do for HD playback, but is shy of the performance required to give fluid DirectX 3D performance at HD resolutions? IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!

For all the Canadians out there considering purchasing the 2XX series of the FW in Canada with the 3650, DON'T. Boycott it. It's a complete WASTE of money, and only an IDIOT would fall for such a marketing gimmick.

 

That's a bit harsh. the 290CTO isn't even on sale here yet, so it is unknown what will be offered in that model. The FW190 arrived much later in canada than in the US, so this could be the case with the 290.

it is not a marketing gimmick.

 

Anyone know when the TT is going to show up in stores? Based on specs I think I'll still be going for the Z, but I do want to have a look at the TT before I make any decisions...

 

Nov 14th delivery if you pre-order from Canadian SonyStyle.ca. Price seems to be better than USA. Check it out.

 

how com the coupon for $100 instant rebate wont work on the cs-series. shouldnt it work for any pre-configured laptops $999.99 and up?

 

just noticed this on the sonystyle site

SR200s in, albiet poor models SR210
http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...categoryId=100497&navigationPath=32009n100299

only comes with a T5800 cpu which is poor decision on sony's part, higher end models would be nice.

also
VGNFW265DB
VGNFW275DW

now on sale on the website, the VGNFW285DH is still slated for nov 14th.

I am still hoping for a 290CTO to show up.

 

You guys see the exchange rate?? We're at $1.25. If you're looking to buy a Vaio, it's probably best to do it soon before they readjust the pricing...

 

The loonie has been valued at $0.85 US by many fx analysts and economists. I don't think that will change anytime soon.

 

I have emailed a press person at sony regarding the 290CTO and whether it is still going to be offered in canada, since otherwise I will have to go with another brand or buy from the US, which I don't want to do but will have to if sony fails to offer it in canada.

 

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet but:

10% Off Orders Over $1499.99

When you shop online at SonyStyle.ca, use RedFlagDeals.com exclusive coupon code CJRFD198 to save 10% on orders over $1499.99. This coupon cannot be combined with other offers. Expires Dec 31, 2008.
This coupon does not work with CTOs but will work with all pre-configs I believe.

Also... I see that SR200 series are now availible for pre-order on Sonystyle.ca, however all pre-configs currently are Montevina Chipsets, but apparently with PT5800s (I think that's a typo... probably mean the T5800s? It's wrong in specs, probably right in the description) right now. The SR100 series is still running full Montevina. Not sure why they're doing that... and just not running base configs with the P8400s to sell them as Centrino2s.

 

neoce find!