Sony VAIO Z VPCZ1 - Unboxing Photos and Movie

Hey Zoinks.

Just a quick follow up regarding the backlit keyboard.

Do you have any observations on it after using for a couple days now? How even is the coloration? Is it too bright? Does the ambient light sensor act strangely when using artificial lightting (CFLs, Office lighting)? Not that I expect any problems, but it'd be nice if you could review that, and the feel of the keyboard as well (from the perspective of an actual owner) since ... you have one and I don't.

Oh and I can't wait to get my hands on the Z I'm losing sleep over it!

 

Nothing too bad to report, mostly positive. Please keep in mind that the machine has been almost exclusively in my study as I work on the SSD's. I keep it dark in this room and I haven't moved it much.

The back light is very white, you can tell it is from LED's. Not too bright, not too dark. The light fades in and fades out as it cycles on and off. I've seen Macbooks and the Dell Z's backlit implementations would say this is in the top of it's class.

Two potentially negatives:

1. At extreme angles, the light under the keys can be brighter than the keys themselves. Not a problem, but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.
2. With the standard excuse I used before of not really using the machine for what it is designed to do, I have noticed come strange "dimming" relationship between the keyboard and LCD. Not sure if the LCD's adaptive brightness sensor is getting feedback from the keyboard or what. Every so often, the screen dims a little when I start typing.

This may also be explained my me blocking the ambient light with my cranium or some other bodily appendage.

I wouldn't be too worried unless other people see this and post about it.

 

hi ZoinksS2k,i just wondering how's your sdd.

 

I'm confused about how many actual physical SSDs are present in the 128gb configuration. I just got off the phone with a Sony tech who has said that there is just 1 drive for the 128gb. How is the raid 0 setup possible then? Isn't that only possible with a hardware raid controller? When I asked, she informed me the raid controller is hardware based. The sony website shows the 128gb being just 1 SSD. But, skimming http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5997572&postcount=18 it was said by a couple posters that the raid is software based. If this is the case, then wouldn't there have to be a minimum of 2 drives in a raid 0 setup? Indeed, in this picture provided by ZoinksS2k: http://img695.imageshack.us/i/dsc00845nz.jpg/ shows that there are 2 physical SSDs.

What I am interested to know is how many drives comprise the 256gb being offered. If it is 4 drives, then it makes sense to upgrade for the additional speed.

 

Sony uses 64 GB SSDs in the new Z (except for the 512 GB model with 4x128GB SSDs). Each pair of those is sandwiched together (so 1 physical drive = 2x64GB SSDs). So the 128GB version has one physical drive but actually two SSDs and that's how RAID is possible. Btw. the RAID in the Z is not pure HW-based. It's the common Intel SW-based RAID (fakeRAID).
In Europe 256GB is a quad SSD setup (4x64GB). It is not 100% sure, that e.g. in the USA the 256GB version is also 4x64GB, but in my opinion it most probably is.

 

You know more about this product than the two Sony reps I spoke with (one from sales and another from tech support). Thank you for this information.

 

Just wondering Zoinks- is there an extra slot for a second internal wireless card?? Thx.

 

hows the battery life of the new Z? ive been using the TZ for 3 years and would like to upgrade. i get around 5 hours of wifi and 5.5 hours of movie with the standard battery on the TZ.

i find the TZ's screen too glossy, bright and reflective, do you know if the Z is very glossy and reflective too?

back then, sony advertised 10 hours of battery life for the TZ. well i only get half what was advertised.

i just hope the new Z doesn't have like 2.5 hours of battery life since its advertised as 5 hours.

 

hey zoinks quick question, is the US 4gb ram (4x1) or (2x2), sorry if this is a repeat question.

 

If you looked carefully at one of his uploaded pictures you would see that it is 2x2.

 

Is it possible to switch out the optical drive with a 2.5" SDD on the American model? And can you use that drive as the boot disk? I think new Intel SDDs are coming out this year and I might want to use one of them to run the OS.

 

Yes the preconfigured model is 2GBx2 for sure, Sony's website is right for this one: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...&productId=8198552921666039653#specifications

The confusion is with the CTO model, its configuration page states 4GBx1: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...52921666065650&categoryId=8198552921644569398

So far nobody has received the CTO model it seems to confirm.

 

It would be REALLY UNLIKELY to be 4gb x 1, simply because they cost more than 2gb modules, and Sony also charges a lot more.

If you look at the Sony Canada CTO page for the new Z, the memory options start off at 2gb, so we can work out the price of each module.

1gb module - $10.80
2gb module - $21.60
4gb module - $183.60 (in 6gb) & $210.60 (special 8gb ripoff price)

Now we look at the US CTO site. If 4gb really is 4gb x 1, then they're charging:

$150 for a single 2gb module (in 6gb configuration - this is the one that makes no sense)
$300 for a single 4gb module (in 8gb configuration - really really expensive but slightly possible)

Now if 4gb is really 2gb x 2, then Sony is charging a more reasonable $150 to swap each 2gb module for a 4gb module. Since there's not enough information to know the US starting price of a 2gb module, we can base it on the Canadian price, which would work out to a cost of maybe $170 per 4gb module, which seems more in line with the real world.

Edited - subtracted when I should have added. I'm starting to think these guys throw darts at a board when it comes time to figure out the price of upgrades, and completely forget what they just finished pricing the same thing at 5 minutes ago.

 

Still working on it. Put a post in the SSD/Trim thread with some preliminary screenshots.

Dunno. Heck, I'm not even sure if the machine I currently have has one.

I haven't run the battery down too much. After about 45 minutes of usage, the time estimate was 3:51. 4.5 hours is probably doable if you are stingy with wireless and screen brightness.

What jon_lui said

 

Hi Zoinks, I looked at the specs and I don't think your Z has the WWAN option. If you have the time, would you mind checking to see if the SIM slot works (e.g. not permanently sealed)? It's around the back, where the battery is:
http://attach.mobile01.com/attach/201003/mobile01-c5155a6b48e5ce648366f60c722c5039.jpg

TIA... I'm thinking of retrofitting an unlocked WWAN card.

 

@Zoinks:

Thanks for the hard work you're doing on this. As far as i know the only game benchmark you've done is batman AA? Just curious if you plan to do any more game benches.

 

Here. Read the post after to see which charts show the degradation.

-Peter

 

@Zoinkss2k : have you try to play mkv files using hdmi output to lcd tv?, i try mine but can't hear any voice in the tv or notebook, the picture is ok btw

 

I'm not Zoinks, nor do I currently have a Z (so what am I doing ) but here's a thought anyway: there are some reports of Nvidia drivers not playing nice on Win 7 with HDMI ( http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/18157-no-sound-hdmi-out.html). It's perhaps far-fetched at some level, but maybe you could try using the integrated graphics chip on Stamina mode and see if that driver works? If so, then that would narrow the problem down to the Nvidia driver.

 

Aren't you going to need to have an AC3 or DTS codec installed for the system to recognize the audio tracks? I think AC3Filter is the preferred one for W7.

 

@tofu : thx for the reply
I can't use external lcd output when using the stamina mode there is a warning to tell me to swith to speed mode,

whenever a hdmi cable is attached the sound will not come out, even when i allready disable the hdmi output.

@sunfox :when no hdmi cable is attached i can play mkv on internal display normaly(with sound)

 

I noticed that some of the 5th (older) gen Zs come with Windows 7 and the exact drivers that the fellow older Z users here used to get their W7 clean installs running. Basically, some of those drivers were (and still are) buggy.

I've seen brand new 5th gen Zs that come from the factory in the 'buggy' state due to bad drivers. The audio-out via HDMI is one issue; we have to go to realtek and download their drivers...

So @idanawi, firstly connect up your HDMI setup and go to Control Panel and Sound settings. On the Placback tab, see if there are any HDMI settings (you should see 2x choices: Speakers or HDMI Output). If you do see and can select HDMI Output, click and Ok. If there is nothing there related to HDMI, I would suggest you try out another audio driver (not too sure what brand the new Z uses, though gonna guess Realtek) from the manufacturer's website. Hopefully that will work out...

Also, I would suggest using a CCCP codec pack installation when viewing .mkv files. I'm into packing, unpacking, and repacking .mkvs and trust me, that is the most light-weight codec pack you can get that just works.

Now, @Zoinks...
Just wondering if you have NOTICED (not asking you to check your clock speeds with any tools or anything) the i5 CPU downclocking randomly when you are using it? Basically, is the performance (aside from the SSD) consistent?
Cheers in advance, and so far, I like what I'm reading here~~

 

Haven't tried any TV output yet.

I've seen other posts saying it works on the Z11, with sound. My current Z works this way as well.

idanawi, make sure you set your default playback device to the HDMI option. I don't remember if you have to be using the Nvidia card or if you can do it with the integrated Intel. Try both.

 

okay figure it out, it turn out my hdmi setting on lcd tv was wrong.

 

A few people we asking about Acronis.

I got a hold of the Acronis 10 ISO and booted to it. Looks like everything works, but I haven't done a restore or anything.

Important thing is that it can see the the drives in either RAID 0 or JBOD, so it should be good to go. I saw the drives or RAID volume in the Acronis DriveCleanser app.

Irritatingly, the touchpad works on the intro screen but doesn't when you get into True Image Home.

 

Thanks mucho Zoinks... I don't need to return my acronis home 2010 then Sucks that our date has been bumped to 3/31 which one do you prefer for a back up. Between Acronis and win7 backup and image? Looks like there has been a pretty good garbage collection sw on the ssd. Did you make up your mind on your 512gb ssd... JBOD or RAID0?

 

I prefer and use Ghost.

I'm undoubtedly going RAID. Nothing has shown me that this will be anything but good... and fast. Naysayers on the drive reliability front: go away!

 

Sweet! so far so good.

 

Hey Zoinks, mind posting some idle and load temps for the CPU and/or GPU? Thanks.

 

do you get any characters 'discoloration' like a word in black (on white background) or white (on black background) with a tinge of red? i wonder if this is due to improper factory calibration or the anti reflection coating.

 

No I do not see anything like that. I have only seen that sort of thing on CRT's when the convergence was off. Unless I am misunderstanding what you are describing.

 

i've attached a screen grab of this discoloration. screen resolution default at 1600*900 and text size at 125%. the screen grab is an icon on the desktop with black background.

 

If you can take a screen capture, it's obviously not a display problem.

That's called "font smoothing". Sounds like you don't have it configured right for the system, or simply don't like the way it works.

 

Attached (at the bottom) is a blow-up of your screen capture so you can clearly see how the effect works. Even though it is made up of multiple colors, when ClearType is properly calibrated and shown on an LCD, the word should look perfectly white. However some LCDsdo tend to look odd. I have a Philips 23" IPS LCD and no matter how it's configured I can see the color halos on text quite clerly. However on a NEC 24" IPS screen - same screen type and even with larger pixels - the text looks completely white even when very close.

This works by fooling the screen into giving a higher resolution then it's capable of, by working on a sub-pixel basis (red-green-blue)

So say we have this jaggy diagonal line made out of black pixels (RGB) and white pixels (blank):

Code:

RGBRGB   RGBRGB
RGBRGB   RGBRGB
RGB   RGBRGBRGB

Using sub-pixels the system can smooth that out by addressing the red, green and blue pixels individually, by knowing that if it specifies a bright green only the green pixels will light up, and so forth. So you could have:

Code:

RGBRGBRG   GBRGB
RGBRGBR   RGBRGB
RGBRG   GBRGBRGB

The end result, when shown on an LCD and viewed from a normal distance, should be a smooth diagonal white line. However if you zoom in on a screen capture of this, you'd see multicolored pixels next to white pixels.

Try running the ClearType calibration wizard to see if that improves things. I've noticed on my LCDs (when using an analog connection) having the sharpness too high can result in the color fringes going from invisible to rather bold, but you can't adjust that kind of thing on a laptop.

The old style of font smoothing simply used solid grey pixels which prevented the color halos you're seeing, but also doesn't do nearly as good a job of rendering fine details as ClearType. I'm not sure if Vista/Windows 7 still supports the old style, but XP does.

 

If I look at it from below, I can see the effect. The effect is even easier to see on Arith's avatar image (when viewed from below on a tn type monitor).

 

Hi, Ascend!

Sunfox has nailed what you're seeing. The technology, known as ClearType, was primarily designed to work against a white background vs. a black one. Moreover please keep in mind that shifting that text around, even by one pixel, will necessarily change the artifacts that you're seeing. Eliminating this everywhere in Windows 7 isn't trivial, since it requires turning off Aero mode, turning off font smoothing in Display, etc.

It's not a problem with your panel or machine.

Cheers!
Mark

 

Thanks mjflash, oscar2 and sunfox. Good to know this is normal. i'll leave the factory calibration as it is. Don't want the hassle of messing around with this. cheers.

 

Quick and dirty

 

Awesome...no throttling I remember you already did this and nothing happened.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=429203&page=3

 

Is there a utility that shows real time MHz on each cpu?

 

There are many.

I prefer Everest. You can dump any statistic you want to a sidebar gadget.

 

Hi There. Just had a quick question for you please.

I couldn't tell from the pictures what kind of space was available to replace the Samsung SSDs.

Can you tell me how many 2.5" and/or 1.8" slots are available internally? (excluding the DVD drive bay)

Thanks a lot

 

Zero.

The dvd drive bay is it as far as standard size drives are concerned.

 

Model Number: VPCZ11FHX/XQ
VAIO® Signature Collection Z Series

made the order march 5th and ships out tomorrow the 19th.

 

You sure? I ordered on the 3rd and have been delayed until the 31st.

I confirmed this via chat with Sony customer service.

 

The wait is tiring a good thing you r passing time by playing with another z. Do you get the full refund or is there a restocking fee when you give it back?

 

There is a restocking fee.

 

Hey guys i was just wondering if anyone had the time to actually shoot a movie of the Z hence the title : "Re: Sony VAIO Z VPCZ1 - Unboxing Photos and Movie"

 

Zoinks, any GPU temps? Another Z owner said their 330M maxed out 84* C.