Sony vaio z11 various problems, LCD pixels, freezing and battery drain

Hello all,

Before I got my z11, ,I used to dream about it, now all i want to do is smash it to little pieces. below are a list of problems i had/still experiencing. and would love to hear your comments and suggestions on how i can fix the following issues.

Other forum members and I have posted about some of these problems in the past. However, not all of them have been solved (at least not completely or just not in my case)

1. battery drain: after fully charging the z11 and shutting down, if i leave it for a day it looses a lot of its charge. maybe 20 percent. if i turn off the wireless (while it is shut down) it is a bit less but still discharges. I do not know if there is a solution for this. all i do is try and remember to manually switch off the wireless using the physical switch.

2. My screen suddenly started developing a line of stuck pixels. i was told by other forum members that this is caused by pressure on the screen. Although i suspected the same, i take really good care of my z11 and it is always double padded (i put it in a padded sleeve inside of my padded backpack). i guess for this issue it could be my fault.

PLEASE HELP with these especially:

3. constant freezing while in stamina mode. I have been experiencing momentary freezes with my z11 when in stamina mode. i thought the mouse was lagging as i was using bluetooth but it turns out the whole computers lags. (i.e if i move my mouse when the lag starts it suddenly moves to where it should go in a second). It is not a mouse issue (i cant use the touch pad. keyboard or anything else, the system locks up for a couple of seconds then goes back to normal)

i have had it for a long time and it is very annoying. The second i got the z11 i did a fresh install so I do not know if this was happening before that. i have had it since september 2010.

I tried increasing the minimum processor state in the power options but that did not help.


4.When in a dual monitor setup (using VGA and in speed mode) i can't control the screen brightness and it is always maxed out (blinding me and giving me migraines). when i put it in stamina mode, i can control brightness but then i have to deal with the constant freezing problem.


Thanks a lot for helping! this has been adding to my stress levels and i just can't work with this laptop anymore. Either i suffer from the high brightness or the annoying freezes. I am willing to try anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

I can't really help you with your last three issues, but for the battery drain problem, do you have "Battery Care Function" enabled in Vaio control center?

I've noticed quite some effect of stopping battery drain when the battery care function was enabled. Previously when I didn't enable battery care the battery drops from 100% to 92% overnight. It didn't bother me much initially, and I didn't really much care (and it isn't as stark as dropping from 100% to 80%). However, once I enabled battery care my battery drains from 80% to 78-79% overnight, almost no drain at all. Try it out and see if that fixes your problem.

 

I use my vaio on ac power mostly. but i will give it a try. thanks for the tip.

Hopefully someone can help me with the brightness and freeing issues as they are driving me insane.

 

Hmm, when u did the fresh install, did you install the drivers in the order Sony recommends? Also, have you tried using new/updated video drivers? either official or community built? The Z13 was released with newer official video drivers that seemed to plague a few Z11 users (at least i noticed no one complains of flash video turning their laptop black and causing a buzzing noise in speed mode).

 

About the fresh install, i used one of the threads on NBR. it had the recommended order. I just checked the official drivers from sony yesterday. Mine are all up to date (i did try and use other drivers, but all the problems persist, so i just went back to either stock or officially updated drivers from sony's website). please note my model is vpc z1116ga.

thanks for all the help.

 

My Z12 does the exact same freezing thing. Almost like it stutters. It is so so so irritating and often makes me choose to use my desktop instead. I've tried numerous things- increasing the minimum processor state, changing GPU drivers, that raid caching setting- all to no avail. Happens to me in both speed and stamina mode.

I'm going to Uganda next week and I need to take it with, but after that I'm considering calling Sony and making a fuss about it...no idea what will come of that. I sort of don't want them to try and repair it, just hoping there are other options.

If anyone has any more suggestions about how to sort the stuttering out they would be gladly received. Almost makes me wish I had a MacBook Pro.

(Ps- I notice it most when I'm just wandering around the internet. You?)

 

I don't think it is triggered by anything specific and i dont really notice it more while browsing. sometimes it happens occasionally but sometimes they are frequent, some freezes are longer than others (just had less than half a second freeze). I really want to solve this though, it is incredibly frustrating.

I kinda want to buy a new 13 incher but specs wise, the sony z is pretty awesome. i like the optical/SSD (i put in a HD instead of the optical). plus it is pretty tiny. the screen is really nice too (apart from the line of dead pixels i now have). I just wish it had a longer battery life and it wouldn't discharge while shutdown. the build quality could be better, i feel like it is very flimsy and breaks easily. I'm thinking about getting a lenovo x220 if i somehow get rid of the z11.

 

Perhaps changing you Thermal Control Strategy from Silent Mode to Balanced mode via VAIO Control Center would help?

BTW, I do encounter the battery drain problem too, especially when charged to 100%........... but I usually use the AC so I usually charge it to 50% to keep my battery healthy
when i need to take my laptop out, I only charged it to 70 or 80% via the battery care function again to keep my battery last longer, and the battery drain issue is better when not charged to 100%

Also, I also has the same pixel issue and I already got my screen replaced one because of this
it is definitely caused by imposing too high pressure to the lid........
this is quite annoying as i expect there will be more pixel problem later

i hope this won't be a problem when Sony release Z3 / Z4 with intel haswell!

 

for the sluggish problem, since you did a fresh install did you try to restore to sony's factory default settings and see if its sluggish even under sony's setup?

 

I've tried both performance and balanced thermal modes - no change.

My setup is otherwise as it came, I never formatted & reinstalled.

 

After the fresh install, i installed all the drivers and all the vaio stuff that i thought i needed. so i assume the settings they were installed with are the default. did you have a setting in mind i should look at?

 

yeah i tried to change the power plan a long time ago. No change

 

The SSD might be wearing out. Try out some hard drive diagnostic tests and see if it detects problems.

The role of the hard drive in a computer is often overlooked and it contributes a lot to lag and stuttering, provided that you have a faulty or slow drive. My dual core SSD Z13 can fire up the web browser almost instantaneously after logging into Windows. My quad core 7200rpm desktop lags for at least 3 seconds before being able to do so. It also makes the computer stutter every once in a while.

 

I did think it might be something to do with the SSD and it *feels* like it is, but it's been the same since it was new so I'm unsure how that could be the case.

I've done error checks - apparently nothing wrong with the drive.

 

If you guys have fresh installed, did you install drivers in this order:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6155868-post96.html

That's the Sony recommended order of install, but i guess if everything works it's fine.

 

I did follow one of the posts on NBR. I can't remember if this was it though. Before sending my laptop to (hopefully) get repaired under warranty, im doing a fresh install and i'll test it out for a bit i guess.

does anyone know anything about the dual monitor + brightness control?

 

i think you are right about the browsing thing. it is pretty bad when i'm emailing and on fb.

 

Can you try installing this for me:


SATA Registry Update - 1.0.0.07280


And see if that makes any difference to the stuttering?

 

To anyone else experiencing stuttering on the Z - I think that link is actually the fix! I haven't had one stutter since installing it!

Wooooohoooooo!!!

(I've had this stutter for 8 months -- I couldn't be happier right now. Even if I do have huge exams tomorrow.)

 

i will try it and update in a few days! VERY EXCITED!!

 

Mine still stutters. As it does not stutter when in speed mode, i'm sure it is either a video card setting, or a power setting.

 

I applied the SATA Registry Update. Thanks timtim. Thought I didn't have any big problem, but there was some stuttering. Now my Z is back, fast as when it was brand new. pretty amazing

 

after i fix the screen on warranty (hopefully). I will do a clean install and see if it still freezes.

ill keep you guys updated.

 

sony fixed the laptop screen. no questions asked. in less than 24 hours. even though i had opened it up a few times (to fix the hinges myself and to replace my ODD with an HDD). they did not notice and they fixed it. Im gnna see if it still stutters. Ill do a fresh install when i get back home as i am traveling.

 

^Remember, power plan != thermal strategy. Make sure thermal strategy is properly set in VCC.

 

what is the proper setting for the thermal strategy? and i could not find in in VCC. could you be more specific?

Also, the lcd screen of my z11 (b4 and after it came back from repair) sustains a little bit of pressure when closing and opening the lid exactly where the hinges are. if you look at the plastic frame around the screen (between the lcd itself and the plastic frame), it is thinner in the bottom corners than in the middle. at the point where the plastic frame becomes thicker, it causes a pressure point on the lcd when opening and closing the lid. Now i am wondering if this is what caused my stuck pixels in the first place. as the pressure point was directly where the lines of stuck pixels were. if so, what can i do to prevent it.

Has anyone else noticed this????

 

I noticed them. I believe this is known as the "ghosting" effect on the pixels. Not really that much of a deal, though it can be scary at times. I don't have dead pixels on my Z13.

 

it appears i am not alone.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/481033-vaio-z-random-freezes-stutters-5.html

updating my video drivers to 263.14 - 2266 (Andrew08's package located here) solved the brightness problem while using an extended display.

i will use the z on stamina mode and see if it solved the stuttering as well.

thanks

 

I know some people will attempt to compulsively clean their Z to keep it in pristine condition but don't do it. When I bought a second hand Z11 I noticed many localized areas of dead/stuck pixels near the hinge and on the top of the display where the baseplate screws were. I'm guessing the previous owner opened it up and applied alot of pressure tightening the baseplate screws?

Either way, using a lens cloth and isopropyl alcohol to clean the screen and massage stuck pixels made it worse. If you leave them alone, they will sometimes fix themselves. The dead pixels over the screws were completely stone dead but there was a 3 inch long streak of stuck pixels that just disappeared over the course of a week after I just left the screen alone and left the laptop unpowered for a while.