Ordered My New Z1290 Series Laptop (Canada)

Hey everyone! It's my first post on this forum and I got several questions to ask you all!

I received my Confirmation Email and Order Number and all the necessary paperwork, but when I try to track my order, theres a problem and it tells me to call the toll-free number (which I would, but it's Canada Day so they won't be working until this coming Monday).
I'm hoping it won't be too big an issue, but I have all the necessary info to prove that I did purchase the laptop.

I was wondering if you guys had experienced this from the site before? I had created the account as I checked out, so that might have caused a problem seeing as the Canadian SonyStyle site isn't as well made as the US one.

I definitely will be calling them ASAP, but for now, am I the only one that has experienced this and do you think I should be panicing right about now?

Secondly, I noticed a lot of people who did the CTO option received their laptop and ended up with dead pixels or some sort of screen issue when they turned it on. Is that to be EXPECTED from Sony? I mean for the price we're paying I expect that the laptop will come in tip top shape and it would be a huge setback if I have to ship it back to them and whatnot...

Oh, one more thing, does Sony often delay their production/shipping dates? I can only imagine how irritating that can be...

The config I chose was..:
Component: Large Capacity Battery
Component: No Engraving
Component: 128GB (64GBx2) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology
Component: Fresh Start
Component: No additional AntiVirus Software
Component: No additional Office software
Component: 13.1" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080) (Reg. price $100.00)
Component: Intel® Core™ i7-620M processor (2.66GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.33GHz
Component: CD/DVD Player/Burner
Component: No Adobe software
Component: Premium Carbon Fiber
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
Component: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066

Grand Total: $2,686.3
What do you all think of my setup?
If money permitted, I would have opt for the bluray and 256GB SSD but I think I'll survive!
I'm afraid that 128GB is too little HD space, but it definitely will not be my main computing rig. I expect to game a little bit here and there, watch movies, do some work and whatnot, I think it would be okay?

You can all expect photos when I receive the laptop in couple weeks! Expected shipping date is July 9th, so I can expect to have it July 13th.

Also, I called in before I ordered and I was told that the Large Capacity battery is NOT larger (physically) than the Standard Battery. Can anyone confirm this? It would be awful if the CSR was not knowledgable and gave me the wrong information, I could not live with a huge bulge sticking out of my laptop...

 

^

The large capacity battery does not sit flush with the bottom of the notebook as the standard capacity battery does. The large battery raises the notebook from the back. So, it's not the same size as standard battery but you wont have anything sticking out of your notebook's back.

 

Oh no... He said it would be physically the same as the standard! I would have chosen the standard if that was the case!

Does this mean I'll have to ship the entire unit back and tell them I want the standard because some dumb CSR gave me the wrong information?

...or buy a battery (which would be a bad idea given they're like $200 and I don't need a spare battery)

 

Large Capacity Battery:

VGP-BPL20 | VAIO® Large Capacity Battery | Sony | Sony Style USA

Standard Capacity Battery:

VGP-BPS20/B | VAIO® Standard Capacity Battery | Sony | Sony Style USA

You can see the difference, they are not the same.

I am not really sure, how one would handle the situation like this. I hope they can ship you a standard battery and you can ship them the large battery back.

 

Well I'll be calling them first thing Monday and hopefully be able to change that part of the order since I ordered it only 2 days ago.

 

I ordered the laptop on June 20th, since that was a Sunday, the real order was put through on Monday, the 21st. I recieved the laptop from Fedex at my doorstep exactly one week later, June 28th.

About the inability to track your order online it happend to me too. I called them on Monday and the guys said that if I wanted updates I would have to call up the Sony CS. So you're not the only guy who cannot see your order online. Should be fine. But give them a call just in case, make sure your order is on the system.

Oh and about the dead pixel thing I think you shouldn't be too worried about it. I think, I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think my 1080p screen has any dead pixels. Hopefully your's would be fine too.

PS. That week waiting for the laptop to arrive was agonizing.

 

Check this out for a difference in the batteries: http://forum.notebookreview.com/4109797-post10.html. This is in the FAQ in the Z Owner's thread. The large battery is both heavier and bulkier. It will jut out from the bottom of the laptop and elevate the machine. Should help with ventilation, but not with portability.

 

I'm biased - you've ordered a great system

I ordered my 1290 yesterday from Canada as well. My setup is in my signature. I went with the lower res as I've had that res on the z555 I've had for 2 years and am used to it. I use this laptop for business and for gaming. I like frame rates at higher detail. Lower res works for me.

I went with 256 GB SSDs. I'm in the middle of a conversation with Sony about whether there's TRIM support for those RAID drives (Intel says no, but I'm getting strong verbal claim from Sony of yes).

I also went with Blu Ray. My existing z555 is carbon fibre and I loved the look. I made the leap to metal mosaic because I like the change. Plus I'll have both laptops so having a different look will make it easier to not pick up the wrong one on the move.

We went for the same OS and RAM. For SSD this is very useful. We can turn off the virtual drive swapping and go with all the OS in RAM, which is additional speed and longeivity for our SSDs.

I look forward to your unpacking report

 

As for your shipping status, apparently the Canadian Sony Style website is crappy and all Canadian order statuses can only be checked by calling the #.