Sony TZ sim card slot location

I found the spot on the TZ170 where the SIM card slot should be. It is behind the battery, but is blocked off by some piece of plastic. I may open it up and see if there is a sim card reader or just the spot for it. Let me know if anyone has checked this out.

 

I guess there is NO sim card reader.. Why would SONY do that?

 

Have a look at the spot where it should be. I wonder if people with a TZ21 (Euro model) have used their modems. I know they have HSDPA modems in theirs that are vodafone? I would like to trade someone who has a euro wwan if they want my sprint wwan?

 

the tz170 has a sprint wireless wan card, and sprint doesn't use a sim card.

 

This is true but sony sells the TZ laptops in the EURO market as well and they do not use CDMA technology, thus they have 3G HSDPA modems in their laptops which do use sim cards. I would like to have one of those WWAN cards or rather just the SIM CARD slot if it is separate from the actual mini-pci-e WWAN.

 

even if you could expose a sim card slot, it wouldn't do anything for you unless you were able to swap out the wireless wan card, which nobody has yet discovered if that is possible. good luck to ya.

 

Well based on the driver that is installed, it looks to be a MINI PCI-E card made by novatel. If this is the case, ATT makes the AirCard 875U which is a USB air card. I happened to buy a broken one online and when you open it up, it is simply a Mini PCI-E card attached to a board (same card used in lenovo wwan) with a sim card reader. This reader is the only issue. On lenovos the sim card reader attaches to the MOBO separately from the WWAN card itself and they can communicate through the MOBO. Assuming that the EVDO card in the TZ is mini pci-e then replacing is not an issue, only with what to replace it with.

 

Hi all,
I've been doing research about this lately and found some interesting topics related to PCI express mini card for WWAN in notebook. Some of them might not related to vaio tz though. It just give you idea how it works.
If you have vaio tz japanese model with build-in antenna, you may consider upgrading it.

1) link discussing WWAN card, type of signal, and carriers
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=398883&sid=6e015a1d7de5540d65325e19102833df

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=394100&sid=6921e0b188f9b2c743027102a2292a08

2) link for WWAN PCI express mini card with sim card slot
I planned to use ATT for WWAN because I can get GSM service all over the world, unlike CDMA (Verizon, Sprint) which has very limited availability (US, Japan, Korea, etc..)
http://www.mobilx.hu/index.php?target=products&product_id=6381#section_description

3) link shows you how to open your vaio tz
You can see that there is one extra PCI express mini card slot that is use for oneseg card (Japanese TV tuner card) which can't be use anywhere outside Japan. I guess every model should have this slot available unless you buy a model with build-in WWAN (US-Sprint) card. Then it will be occupied.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=208981&highlight=oneseg

Personally, I want to use WWAN from ATT because it's GSM network. But pricewise, now, ATT is $60/month with 5GB bandwith/month whereas Sprint offers $60/month unlimited bandwith/month. ATT's GSM(HSPDA) is faster but less coverage area whereas Verizon and Sprint CDMA(EVDO) is slower but more coverage area. So, unless ATT changes their plan to unlimited/month then I'll hold on considering using WWAN.

In the mean time, I plan to utilize that slot by putting TV tuner instead.
4) link TV tuner PCI express mini card
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...&board_id=3&model=F3Sv&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...3537484&board_id=3&model=F3Sv&page=1&count=28

http://cgi.ebay.com/Avermedia-A301-...249596QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0802251041a33429

Plz, don't ask me if I already try to open vaio tz or install any of these card mentioned, because I haven't buy vaio tz yet. I plan to buy it in the future when it get refresh with Centreno 2 chipset (Montevena). I just want to do some research of what I can upgrade to vaio tz when I own it

Lastly, many thanks for those people who share their ideas and knowledges on those forums that I don't put their name for credit here.

 

Nice post. Just checked up on that 3G card and it looks like it may be the one that fits inside the TZ since it looks like it would fit where the WWAN is AND get access to the sim card slot from behind the battery. I found this site in english: http://www.novatelwireless.com/products/expedite/eu850d.html but no price on it. Thanks for all the info and I will keep all updated as to whether this works or not.

 

Hello .

Do you know is the TX790P comes with a slot for a SIM card? It has Sony Ericsson GPRS Modem Buit in, suppossely, S i was just wondering.

Thanks.

Hope Corporation

 

Sony puts them behind the battery if it has one. Remove the battery and you may see a slot for it. Only downside would be that GPRS modems are slow.

By the way I contacted that hungarian? company above in the post asking about the Expedite EU850D HSDPA modem. The good news is that it comes UNLOCKED with drivers. Based on the pictures of the inside of the TZ, it may be possible to fit it in there AND have external access to the SIM slot via the pre-cut slot-hole. I may buy one of them and try it out. Any input?

 

I saw a picture of a tz in an other thread, it shows a tz90s inside with no tv card or wwan card; maybe my eyes are getting worse but I don't see the mini pci express slot in the open space for the ; I think this is a host card with a small white connector that should ordered separately along with the wan card.

 

Wait, so do you need some type of antenna? Or can you pop this in models like the tz130 and 160, which don't come with wwan.

 

see this thread, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=222965

 

Greetings. Europe VAIOs (SZ and TZ series) use the ePCI card from OPTION. This one precisely: http://www.option.com/products/gtm_378.shtml
I strongly believe that it can be replaced lately for the GTM380 or GTM382. The only problem is where to get this card since OPTION does sell it only to OEMs.

Concerning the picture of SIM slot above. You will not find a SIM card reader inside. If your VAIO wasn't equipped with UMTS ePCI from the factory there is no SIM card slot. The cases are the same for all the TZ VAIOs. What matters are the "bowels".

 

Do you know how the sim card slot operates? Is it part of the motherboard? Can it be purchased separately? Is it part of the mini-pci-e card? Any help is appreciated.

 

Hi.

I have a TZ160N that i bought on ebay from the US but i live in Portugal, so it will be very good if i could use a 3G modem with sim card, so there is any way of doing this? Replacing the Sprint card with a 3G one?

Thanks,
DeepImpact

 

I think you need the option GM378 embedded HSDPA card

 

Here's a picture of the module and daughterboard inside my TZ180 (US Sprint EVDO Model). The Sprint EVDO doesn't use a SIM card, but the SIM card slot is on the daughterboard.

This board mounts with the up side down right above where it's positioned in the picture (see the 2 antenna leads in the right upper corner).

 

Hi,

So if i can find a board like this i can insert it on the vaio (do i need to remove something) to have de service for example with Vodafone in Portugal?

DeepImpact