Sony Vaio Z - SSD > HDD? Wikipedia says No.

What do you say?

I'm looking to buy the new Sony Vaio Z laptop. It's completely perfect in every way with one exception - the Hard Drive.

I work with a lot of photography and image design (yes, i know 13" is a bit small for this, but I chose the lesser of two evils. The other being size and weight.) And currently have about 60 GB of images on my Dell Studio 15. With this number expected to go on a big rise soon, and my gaming habits - a 128GB hard disk is not nearly enough to satisfy me.

I also do not have the funds to upgrade to a 320 or 500GB SSD.

Somebody gave me the idea that instead, I could simply buy the model with the cheapest SSD - and replaced it with a larger HDD. I loved this idea considering that I have a perfectly working spare 320GB Hard Drive from Dell, and selling the SSD is some extra cash in my pocket.

Literally, an hour away from buying I checked Wikipedia out of plain curiosity and there I found the gem above. However, some fellows on another forum are calling shenanigans.

I really want this laptop, It seems to be just about the only one on the market at the moment that does exactly what I need it to so I'm kind of grasping at straws here. What does notebookreview.com think about this situation?

Edit: The wikipedia article also says this:

If there is some place to order this computer with a HDD and no optical drive - I'd love to know about it because sonystyle.com must have hid it well. I don't really care about the Optical drive - I can't remember the last time I put a CD into my computer anyway.

 

There is no vendor-approved HDD upgrade path for the SSD model.

However, you can upgrade it by yourself with a slimline SATA to SATA bay adapter, which would allow you to replace DVD drive with a HDD (or SSD)

This has been covered extensively on this forum:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=469244

Note that, however, if you order a Quad SSD model (with 4 SSDs in RAID) and you add another drive - you will have to do some software patching to fix an ugly bug which prevents the CPU from going to idle in this configuration.

 

Is it safe to assume that that upgrade path forfeits any and all warranties on the machine?

I'm very hesitant to do heavy hardware modification like this. I'm a regular desktop whiz, but I have absolutely no experience with laptops.

 

In the USA, yes. I'm in China and they have the 500GB HD model in the bay, replacing the SSD for the same price as the 128Gb SSD model. Not in the USA however.

UL

 

That's a shame... I wonder how much shipping from china is.

Edit: oh wow, and a 1080p display too...

Do want.

 

It is impossible to give one answer to that question - it all depends on the country you live in.

In some countries it is forbidden for manufacturer to deny warranty claims for unrelated damages, for example. So if, say, CPU fan dies - in those jurisdictions vendor cannot deny warranty cover for repairing a fan just because you replaced the HDD (unless they can prove that the fault was caused by you replacing the HDD).

And, screws in the Vaio Z are not sealed and there is no sticker that gets torn if you open the device - so, if you do everything carefully, even if something happens it is straightforward to put the old DVD drive back and send the notebook for repair under warranty.

 

This is USA. I called Sony back when I wanted to replace the SSD with an HDD and they told me that wouldn't break warranty terms.

 

Ok. Is the replacement going be done by you or authorised service provider to not void the warranty terms?

 

I assumed I would do it myself, since according to the thread I was linked to Sony doesn't "officially" support the switch.

 

You may want to ask them to confirm that in writing.

Normally it breaks warranty.

 

If your computer breaks down why wouldn't you just put your optical drive back in so as to keep the warranty valid?

 

You cannot replace the ssd with an hdd (looking back at your post). The only thing you can replace with HDD is the DVD drive.

 

I'm considering doing that now, but still trying to be aware of all the downsides of doing this - and cover all the bases so I don't face an unfortunate surprise after I spend $2000 on a computer.

 

Why don't you just order a Z from Conics.net. They sell an I5-520M Z with a 320GB HD and the 1080 display, 2 options not available here in the states for a total of $2,046 USD. That way, there is no warranty issue. The HD can be upgraded to a 500GB for $112.78. The I5-520M CPU can be upgraded to an I7-620M for $187.97.

Bronsky

 

Because... I had no idea such a site existed!
Thank you so much for that. The cost is bumped a bit on that site because things like Backllit US keyboard are non-standard but it may well be worth it.

I guess now there is the question of "How much is too much? The tale of a 1080p display on 13" computer."


Also, I e-mailed Sony asking whether they'd be willing to somehow sell me the HDD version of their laptop in the US. Be it through refurbished parts, or importing from overseas. I don't expect an answer that isn't a ten pages of policy "No" but it's worth a shot.

 

Guaranteed that Sony's answer is a polite no. As far as the 1080, for $50 I would get it, even if you use the 1600 x 900 most of the time. In fact, I would probably configure the I5-540M or the I7-620M as well (can you ever have too much money, be too good looking or have too much power?). Glad I could be of help.

Bronsky

 

When I read this thread, I'm asking the question : "Why they want to replace ssd by hd!?" The thing I love the most
in my new Vaio Z is the ssd. For the first time in my life, I see a fast laptop. Before, I had laptop with great cpu/video card, but because
it had a hdd (4200 or 5400 rpm) the laptop can go as fast as it can do. After discovered SSD, now I want to upgrade my 2 desktops pc too. (but that's very expensive of course,
finally the Sony Z is not expensive when I saw 300$ for 2x60 gig for desktop ssd (cheaper models) !

SSD for OS and replace Optical by HDD for files archiving, now I can understand your move . Astandard HD like an 500 gig is great for stocking photos/videos, etc.

SSD is very a revolution in computer, but the technology still new and continue to progress. In 2 years, ssd will be faster and les expensive (If Apple don't buy every ssd on the market for his Ipad hehe)

For now, I like to see the score 7.9 in my vaio Z for hard disk performance in windows 7 instead of 5.9 on my desktop 7200rpm hd.

 

Storage, storage and once again storage. Don't get me wrong - I would love to have an SSD in my computer. But with my usage I need at the very least a 320GB hard drive which calls for a $600 SSD upgrade. This is money I simply do not have.

 

Konnie, just so we're clear again...you cannot replace the SSD. The sites selling HDD models are replacing the DVD drive with the HDD. The SSD is in there forever.

 

Yes yes, I realize that. I'm ok with that though, I can't remember the last time I put a CD in my computer that wasn't music though.
I compared prices though, and the Japanese store is much more expensive with the same product so I won't be going with it. Ill probably just settle for an external hard drive.

 

Cool I just keep reiterating because you keep mentioning replacing the SSD....