So I Bought The VGN-Z590UAB Today ...

I was really hoping to wait and get one in a few months, and most likely a Japan special order. Unfortunately, my VGN-G2AANS decided to act up today and I need to send it back to Conics to have Sony Japan fix it. The fan decided to stop working today (although it's working now and it seems to be OK), but since my job depends on me having a good, working laptop and knowing it'll take a minimum of about 3 - 4 weeks (including round trips) to fix the G, I decided to look at the Z now and possible forego getting a custom built one from Japan.

So I went into Boston to the SonyStyle store at Copley Place. They had the VGN-Z590UAB, which is close to the spec I'd get from Japan. The only real differences if I could order it from Japan are:
1. I'd get it without the WWAN,
2. I'd get it without the camera
3. I'd get it without the TPM module
4. I'd get it with the 1366x768 NVidia
5. I'd get the extended battery and not the standard

These are in the grand scheme of things minor differences and won't really change the weight too much. The only more major difference is the graphics option.

Before buying it I played with changing the DPI to 120 and that seemed to be OK and would solve the small font issue. Since the $300 special is still on, I got the 2 year accidental warranty and two cheapie accessories. I would have bought the extended battery and the privacy filter but they had neither.

Cost-wise, it's basically a wash. With MA tax, I paid about $4200. The custom Japanese one I spec'd out (going by Conics prices) is about $4400. If I get the extended battery, it's in the same ballpark since the battery is $249.99.

I didn't want a traditional hard drive, so outside of a CTO, the 590UAB was my only option.

I didn't perform a clean install of Windows (and most likely won't do it) - I just removed all of the bloatware and software I didn't want. I haven't deleted the hidden recovery folder yet (I need to burn the recovery discs first), and most of what I use is installed including moving over my VMWare virutal machines. I still have room to spare. With my G I hover around 1 - 3GB.

So far, no real complaints. It's a VERY fast, especially with the RAIDed SSD drives. I've done no battery life tests yet and probably won't for a bit.

I'm getting used to the keyboard, although I think I'll do well with it because I'm a heavy typer and I don't think I'll wear this one out.

More as I use it ..

 

Congratulations on the Z! I'd love to see some Benchmarks on the SSD Raid.

 

The Japanese review - which used the 2.8GHz processor and the SSD config - had some pretty nice numbers with the SSD RAID.

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2008/0730/hotrev369.htm

For fun, I just switched to Stamina (yay, no reboot like the SZ) and it shows that I have 5 hours of battery life left. Right now I'm not accessing the SSD much and have WiFi on, but even if that drops an hour give or take, it's not bad.

 

BTW, I'm not sure why people are complaining about the fan. The Z so far for me is pretty silent. My both my Gs and the SZ were way louder than the Z. I barely hear the Z at all.

Size-wise, this thing is amazing. It's barely bigger than the G. The SZ couldn't fit into my ultraportable backpacks, but this can. For the past year I've been using the Tumi Generation 4.4 model 26177 which is pretty darn small and it fits in.

I can feel the extra pound or so over the G, but it's not bad at all.

 

Congrat's on your new Z.

I was happy to read your comments about the resolution ... it's a major decision factor for me and i have to make up my mind before it's not too late ...

Sounds like you prefer the 1366 x 768 resolution. I do too for font size, but for everything else photo's, movies etc I guess the 1600 x 900 would be better.

How did increasing the DPI work for you? Did it give you near the exact same 'clear' font you'd see on a screen running 1366 x 768 native resolution? Or do you still prefer the 1366x768 NVidia.

Thanks.

 

Well, I didn't compare it to the 1366x768. Since this is a prebuilt, it was this or order it from Japan, and I needed something today. So far so good on the DPI increase. I'll know more after a few day's worth of use. It's not perfect as all programs and fonts don't respond equally to it, but leaving it at 96dpi wouldn't work.

I tried putting it to 1280x768 and it looked a bit more fuzzy, so I just settled on leaving it at 1600x900 with 120dpi.

If I had my choice - I'd probably do 1366x768. Too bad it's not an option in addition to 1600x900 on the card.

 

FYI, my Windows Experience scores (remember that 5.9 I believe is the best you can do)

Processor: 5.4
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 4.1
Gaming Graphics (based on the NVidia score): 3.8
Primary hard disk: 5.9

Not too shabby!

 

FenderP, congrat on your new laptop. I'm waiting for mine to come ....

BTW, i was at Copley yesterday lol

 

Ha. I'm not sure if any of the other SonyStyle stores in MA have the Z590UAB - I honestly didn't check. Copley said they had two, and I'm not sure if one was the display model or it was display + two in the back. I don't think it's going to be a big seller due to the cost.

I just ordered the privacy filter and extended battery cheaper than SonyStyle. Sony doesn't even have the privacy filter in stock. I was poking around and found a place called PC Superstore ( http://www.pcsuperstore.com). They have "real time" prices so what's there may actually be less. The privacy filter wound up being $57.22 and the extended battery $200.64. With shipping, it was $265.92. At SonyStyle the battery alone is $249.99 + tax + shipping.

 

I suggest you do clean install...my clean install beats your Graphics and Gaming Graphics.

You do have the dual raid SDD drives, so your primary hard disk did beat 5400rpm 200gb hdd.

Processor: 5.4
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 4.4
Gaming Graphics (based on the NVidia score): 5.1
Primary hard disk: 5.4

 

Maybe when I get time I'll do a full clean install. Too much work to do so I took the path of least resistance.

 

So I've set the display to 1280x768. 1600x900 is very nice and crisp but IMHO 1280x760 is much more readable. I wish Sony USA had offered this config with the other graphics card ... but whatever.

 

I am glad that you seem pleased with it.

Btw, what model of SZ did you have because i have read that the fans were louder in the older SZ models comapred to the more recent models.

 

Have you tried changing the DPI scaling while in 1600*900?

 

Phil - Yeah. I lived 1600x900 all of yesterday (day and night) and the better part of today. It screws with some dialog boxes and makes you unable to see, say, buttons you need to click in some cases. 1280x760 isn't bad at all, just not as crisp (as you may expect).

So if I was not backed up against a wall like I was yesterday, I would probably order from Conics, get the same spec basically but at 1366x768. I wish NVidia had an option to set that setting with this graphics card. IMHO the only real difference is the amount of memory (I think), so theoretically it's possible. Who knows.

Rach - I had the SZ90 (1st gen from Japan). I've also owned two Vaio Gs and the U70. This is by far the quietest Sony I've ever used.

Ironically, my biggest gripe at the moment is that the mouse buttons on the trackpad are too small. The SZ and G ones are bigger. I don't have massive hands, but the trackpad to button size is a bit out of whack.

 

Powerstrip probably gives you the 1366*768 resolution.

 

BTW, Powerstrip has a Trojan virus in it. Kaspersky caught it while downloading.

 

I just tried futzing with NVidia's Control Panel application. It only lets me set 1600x900, 1280x768, 1024x768, or 800x600. You can choose to change the flat panel scaling to get some sharpness back but you essentially lose screen real estate.

Do not scale gives the best quality, but you really lose real estate and it's like looking at 1600x900 since you're only really using part of the screen. Fixed aspect ratio is a tad better, but at that point, you might as well use full screen scaling.

It's much like trying to watch 4:3 stretched to 16:9 on a new TV.

I hate NVidia and Sony for not allowing 1366x768 on the 256MB card.

 

I believe Canada's SonyStyle offers a 1366x768 with the 256mb card...i'm not trying to rub salt in your wounds, but it is possible, i think its the Z540 or Z555 or something like that

 

Yeah, but no SSD RAID. Again, had I ordered a CTO from Japan I could have exactly what I wanted, but such is life.

 

I made a decision this evening: I hate 1600x900. I've tried everything to make it work for me, but it doesn't. 1280x768 isn't great either. I'm going to suck up the 15% restock fee at SonyStyle, but it just isn't usable for me. Too small - much like the TZ is too small for its resolution IMO

I like the Z in every other aspect. It seems like what the SZ was trying to be and is way more powerful than the TZ or G, so ultimately more useful that way. And as bad as the restock fee will be, at least I've used it in real world conditions and know I like the computer.

I'm just going to get a Japanese CTO with the 1366x768 and be done with it. Since the extended battery is already on its way to me it makes no sense to cancel that since I got it cheap; otherwise I would have just gotten that as my battery. I'm getting the same basic spec (P9500, 128GB SSD RAID, 4GB of memory). The main differences are the 1366x768, the Line Forest cover, no WWAN, no TPM, no motion eye, and no Felicia (Japan only option anyway).

 

i'll receive this laptop today, do i need to calibrate the battery? and how to do it?

thnx

 

Also Conics doesn't offer the 1366x768 and 256 mb vram...At least the delay now is not 4 weeks but 2 (for the black colour, other colours 3). I would pull the trigger from them if I didn't have to pay the 19% VAT here in Europe. Maybe the fan of this model is so quite because of the SSD?

 

1366x768 256MB isn't an option anywhere. It's either 1366x768 128MB or 1600x900 256MB.

I just talked to Brett - black is basically a 4 week wait, the other design options are about 2. Another holdup is that without the Felicia reader, it goes up to 4, 2 with. So I'm getting the Felicia reader and just going to disable it.

I can tell you that SSD is silent - has been in both of my Gs, and it certainly I would think contributes to the quiet nature of the Z590UAB overall.

 

I didn't have to.

 

Well i do hope you talk your 15% restocking fee into being wavered.

Have you not considered just buying a US model say of Amazon or Sony and then taking it to a Sony repair centre and have them fit your SSD drive in? You could do this with Apple products it would not invalidate your total warranty but it would just invalidate the warranty for your new HD.

You have other computers to use right now. It seems like you do want to upgrade to something more powerful though. Do you think you will be happy in the long run though if you settle for something that you don't really want.
The Z looks better to me without the Felicia on the palmrests.

I hope that it works out for you.

 

Well, let's put it this way: I don't need glasses to read or use a computer. I do have an astygmatism and this is the first time I've had to wear my glasses (for nearsightedness and also has some corrections for my astygmatism) to use a computer because the text is just so darn small. Needless to say, the display is a huge issue for me. I did what I could to make it work. Even with the restocking fee, it's worth it not to feel uncomfortable using a laptop.

If it was a standard SSD, I could do it myself. You can't get the RAIDed SSD off the shelf. It's not like it's an OCZ or generic 128GB drive.

Happy is relative for me. Stay with me for a moment ...

The Z590UAB had more things I didn't want in it, so it balances out. My first G had the Felicia and it really is no big deal and easy to disable. I find the TPM and webcam way more annoying (and I hated where they put the TPM on the Z; maybe that'll help solve my mouse button issues but I doubt it). Since I have 14 days to return the Z here, time is a bit more of the essence. I can at some point order the upper assembly ( http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/ec...earchOperation=modelSearch&searchText=vgnz590) and install it myself if I really want to get rid of the Felicia.

This has always been my struggle: power vs. portability. As someone who is a consultant and on the road a lot (with a bad back to boot), carrying around a brick isn't an option. 4lbs is about my upper weight limit. I also do a lot of stuff with my laptops - I generally run 3 - 4 VMs in addition to the normal Office and web surfing. So I'm more of a power user who almost needs a desktop-like experience in a small form factor.

Once I stopped carrying bricks, my back got a whole lot better. Starting I think in 2003, my first foray into smaller computers was the U70. Small, light, but not powerful enough (limiting in terms of both HDD size - VMs are large - and memory). Love it though and still have it. Next up was the JVC 741 - more powerful and useful, but the drive speed made it ultimately unusable. That one lasted about 8 months. Then I had the Sharp MW-70J (same as the M4000 here in the USA) - sub 4lb, but ultimately for its specs, an underperformer and a really crappy keyboard. It lasted about 6 months before I got the SZ90 (1st generation SZ Japanese model). While slightly heavier than I'd like at 4.1lbs with the extended battery, it had that balance of power and portability I needed especially to write my last book. Towards the end of writing the book (a year later), it developed some issues and I was also craving to lose some of the weight, so I got the G1. The G is a good size to usability ratio, but the G1 had one major limiting factor: the 32GB SSD. It was great for speed and made the system nearly as snappy as the SZ despite the ULV, but I needed more space. Last fall I upgraded to the G2 with the 64GB SSD which has served me very well. It's been used and abused and needs to be repaired to be brought back to "new", but it's been arguably the best road mate. Both Gs were somewhat limited in terms of memory (like the TZ) at 2GB, and as of late (and probably another book project starting), I've been thinking about something a tad more powerful but not as heavy as the SZ. Enter the Z. If the Sony ULV computers could support 4GB of memory, maybe I'd consider them but even if the new ones do in the fall, the Z represents quite a lot of value for the dollar over their slightly smaller and lighter siblings.


The Z series to me is currently the perfect blend of light to powerful ratio. Is it MacBook Air thin? No, but I don't care about that. For me it's overall weight and size. It's just slightly bigger than the G, slightly heavier, but not as heavy as the SZ (and you can feel the difference in the three). I mean, it fits in my ultraportable backpack when others - the MW-70J, SZ - did not!

As you can tell, in about 5 years, I've gone through quite a few laptops. Will I ever be satisfied considering I tend to upgrade about once a year give or take? Probably not. But I also use my equipment A LOT - and probably harder than someone buying it who will basically dock it or just use it at home as a desktop replacement. I'm pretty demanding, and I've found that whenever I step away from Sony computers, I'm ultimately unhappy with not only design, but build quality and usage. Sony has had its knocks from people, but I've never had an issue and they do build phenomenally light but powerful notebooks.

Bottom line is you never know how well something will do for you unless you use it over time. If had to pick my three favorite Sony laptops of all time to date for design, they'd be the TR, X505, and the first S series (the one prior to the SZ, and which current the Z reminds me of). If you asked me which ones were the most usable and durable, I'd say the G, SZ, and Z.

 

Yeah I felt the 1600x900 resolution would be too high for a 13 inch screen. I think the 1368x768 is a good size. You don't have to put your face right in front of the screen to read text.

 

Well I hope I did the right decision to listen to you. I just canceled my 590 and ordered a 540 with the 1366 res. Your thread convinced me.. and I really didn't need the 256mb card. Thanks.. I hope!

 

Don't blame me if it's not

Seriously, it's such a subjective thing. I could see if I had a knee jerk reaction but I've spent the better part of two days trying to find a setting I could live with. I was even changing fonts and scaling (i.e. CTRL - and CTRL +) in browsers.

I don't need 256MB either. I'm not playing games or doing anything that needs a ton of graphics horsepower.

 

Right now I'm restoring the Z590UAB to the original factory configuration so it literally gets returned the same way I received it.

 

I won't blame you, don't worry.

The reason I actually took your comment seriously as opposed to the rest of the comments I've read regarding this subject, is the fact that you seem very unbiased.

You own the device yet can still say that less is more. Contrary to many people who are always trying to convince themselves and others that what they bought is what others should buy.

Thank you for taking the time to produce a thread regarding your own experience. And thanks for saving me 200$. Irregardless of if I think I made the right decision or not, I beleive that my eyes are more important then my feelings.

I've been using a 15.4" and a 14.1" laptop for years on 1280 res... I even use a 26" 1280x720 LCD TV as my computer screen at work. So I think the extra workspace is not needed for me.. Regarding the memory, I invested the funds towards a faster harddrive, which for me should be more useful.

Even though money really wasn't the issue, it is never really smart to buy things you won't use. I beleive I'll be cruising on stamina most of the time anyways.

Again, I thank you.

 

For watching movies trough HDMI is important to have the 256 mb vram or anyway is going to be in speed mode and is going to be enough?

 

Believe me, I was concerned pre-purchase about 1600x900 but there's only so much you can do in a SonyStyle store to futz with it to see if it's going to work. Until you get it home and set it up the way you like it, you don't know. It'll be a somewhat expensive mistake, but I'd want to throw it out the window sooner rather than later.

I mean, I shouldn't have to adjust browsers via CTRL + (and for the record - I've never usef Firefox before but it scales better than IE 7 does). The worst offender was Outlook. It was darn near impossible and since you can't change all the font sizes from within Outlook to make it more readable, you're out of luck.

For general use, I saw no difference between Stamina and Speed. I saw the same thing with the SZ as well.

I'm sure some will adore 1600x900 since you get more real estate and maybe if you're doing things like Photoshop, the addition of both the resolution and the additional 128MB (total: 256) will be a benefit. For them, the Z is perfect in that configuration.

As you can tell, I've had a journey with laptops and know at this point what I like, what I don't, and what I can accept as compromise. The sizes of the notebooks were wide ranging: the U was a 5" screen, the 741 8.9" wide, the SZ and MW-70J 13.3" wide, the G 12.1 (4:3), and now the Z 13.1" wide.

I know the SSD is a bit excessive for most, but I really need the speed it gives and having used the G now for over a year (both G1 and G2), while they're not perfect, SSD is great for someone like myself. Accidents happen, and computers get dropped. I've lost hard drives that way in the past with old Compaqs and Dells.

Trust me - I like to pop open the lid and see what's under the hood. I have no problems doing that. I've changed hard drives where you have to be VERY careful. But one thing I've learned over my laptop journey is that while you may be able to get some of the parts cheaper, my time is worth more, and if you screw it up, it can be very costly. For example, on the Z, the only easy one is memory. Sony charging $150 for 4GB PC3 RAM isn't out of line.

To each his or her own. I can see where having a non-bloated and more optimized Vista is worth the time (I don't know what SOny's Fresh Start doesn't put in or how good it is), but when it comes to hardware, at this point, I'd rather have it show up all working with the parts I want.

 

You should be fine on 128 IMO ... you're passing the video out and you really aren't using much power of a graphics card watching a DVD.

 

They did a test somewhere and they were playing a blu ray on an external 30-some inch screen (looked just like bluray should) and playing a regular DVD quality video on the screen and they were both running without a hiccup with the 128mb card. It's well known that GPU speed is usually more important they the ammount of memory the card has.
And I think speed mode is a must regardless of which Z you choose. When you plug in the HDMI, it asks you to switch to speed mode.


I think I took the right decision in going with the 1366x768 screen.

 

Another cool option with the MS 8000 mouse is that there's a fourth button on the mouse that has a large mangifier that works well when working on documents.

I do a lot of work on spreadsheets and word so I like the 1600x900. But you're right - either screen would be great because of all the "other" features of this notebook.

 

I'm gonna be using the CTO to order my Z. Should I check Sony's Fresh Start? Anyone have experience with this? Or should I just leave it pre-installed will all the Sony stuff? I don't need it, so that's why I was going to do the Sony's Fresh Start. But I want to know what the advantages and disadvantages are.

 

YOu can look at the list of software installed (see the thread I started earlier on recovery with the 590UAB). If you want/need some of that, go for a full install. I'm sure you get some of it such as SmartWi, but I can't say what Sony leaves out.

 

Sorry to hear you don't like the 1600x900 resolution FenderP ... it does make me so happy I choose the Z570 that comes with the lower resolution, I nearly changed my order to a different model to get the high res - whew!

I should get it Monday I hope.

 

Thanks for the info. Anyone wanna tell us about their experience with the 1366 x 768?
What do you think about it? How does it look?

 

I'm expecting my 1366/128mb card on the 13th. I'll make sure to let everyone know if I feel it was the better screen/card for my uses. Surfing, excel, word, some photoshop - No gaming and not a lot of external monitor use.

 

I'll also update when I get my Japanese model as well. I think it'll be fine. I'm used to 1280x768 on the SZ and 1024x768 on the G. 1366x768 isn't a stretch. 1600x900 was

 

I was looking forward to 1600x900, so I'm bummed to hear that it's hard to read. I do a lot of stuff in Excel, so I thought that resolution would be great for me. I hope I get to see a 1600x900 screen in the store.

So what was the issue with scaling -- dialog boxes, & Outlook, are mostly what don't scale properly? In general, does scaling not work all that well in Vista?

 

So I should be ok if I get the Fresh Start. Anyone have experience with this?
I just don't need all the trial crap that they give with it. As long as it has the SmartWi and stuff then I'm ok.

 

I also do a lot of Excel. the 1600x900 works GREAT with the MS 8000 presentation mouse. The mouse is Bluetooth, leaves your USB free and has a fourth button to use the magnifier. The neat thing about the magnifier is that you can work in it. For example, hover over 72 cells and then start to edit and make changes while keeping the entire width (A-Z) of the spreadheet up.

It is very cool.

At 96DPI - Excel has A-X columns, 1-32 lines, magnifier is 12 lines x 6 columns
At 120DPI - Excel has A-S columns, 1-24 lines, magnifier is 9.5 lines x 4.5 columns.

 

On the surface it seems to work. However, take Sony's Recovery Center. Unless I set it back at 96dpi, I couldn't access things like the Next button since the dialog boxes didn't allow me to scale them bigger or smaller. That's partially an application issue, but you see the problem.

Word isn't a problem since you can change the view to be x%. Excel is pretty much the same that way. Outlook was impossible for me - and I have good close eyesight AND write small. If I say it's small and hard to read, there's a problem! Remember that Outlook is different from Word or Excel since you can't easily (or at all) change the way it looks in relation to screen size.

IE didn't scale right either via CTRL+ or Zoom. Firefox actually scaled nicely with CTRL +, but again, if I'm doing all sorts of tricks just to get things usable, I've got issues.

1280x768 just doesn't look great on the 1600x900 screen and is pretty much a waste. That's why the 1366x768 - just slightly different but the proper aspect ratio - should be fine on the Z IMO.

Bottom line: 120dpi may work in some cases but it failed to work for me. I've never had to TRY to get a computer to work for me as I did the 1600x900.

 

For FF there is the addon 'No Squint' with excellent scaling options.

 

PhilFlow, what do you think about the 1600 x 900? You seem to know a lot, so I'd like your opinion.

 

The point is that I shouldn't have to use something like that. I've owned way too many laptops in the past 15 or so years. Not once did I encounter the resolution isses I did with the Z at 1600x900.