Upgrading Vaio Tx

^
For a while U7700's TXN/TX motherboards were sold on ebay as tested and working by quite reputable sellers. I know there is one right now selling with a U7600 and and i did drop them an email and as i expected they did state that they can seek out the U7700 motherboard if it is requested. I would check on ebay and confirm through a seller that does sell these modded boards if you have any doubts.

With the notebook i upgraded it seems to be that a U7600 is the max processor it can take but with the later TX/TXN's there appears to be no such limitation as people have found out with the UX series. Like with the motherboard i bought the same seller only offered it up to a U7600 what it could support.

This is a 128GB 50 pin V4 Photofast drive inside a very similar laptop.

 

Rachel,
Would it make sense just buying the U7600 or u7700 CPU alone rather than on an existing TXN/TX Motherboard. I see the U7600's on Ebay for about $80. And is there any way that I can confirm in advance what the max process might be on my TXN15p.

Thanks,
Wayne C.

 

Hi Rachel,

Can't seem to find a way to contact you. From what I have seen over the last year or so, you seem to have a good read on this, along with a few others on this forum. Plus, your avatar is just so sexy! (LOL!)

Hope I'm not rehashing too big of a debate here....

I'm researching 1.8 PATA Female SSD drives for a Sony TX. I also have a TZ. (So also 1.8 PATA ZIF.) If you have a sec, I'd love some feedback on the best ones, plus who else you think would have good input as well. I'm an IT guy, not just an EU. I am considering RunCore, PhotoFast as well as others but I may be missing something or missing a key point. Researching 2.5" SATA SSDs is sooooo much easier!!

Thanks heaps! Rusty

 

lol, RustyTheGeek, i moved your post as i didn't want to veer off topic in the TT owners lounge.

If you own a TX series that takes a 50 pin drive and do not wish to use an adapter the best drive really is the Photofast V4 drive. I benched that a few posts up. You may not be able to use your recovery discs with this drive and should probably upgrade to W7 anyway.

If you own a EU TX5 and TXN these take native zif drives. Possibly the EU TX4 and other later Oceania models might be able to take native zif drives also, i'm not sure so check what drive you have in your device manager. If your TX does not take a native zif drive you can purchase an adapter very cheaply.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZIF-CE-1-8-1-...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item43a43b49c2

I've used this before in a laptop for a family member but i was concerned that it would lose connection as they're not that careful with their laptop so went with a 50 pin drive.

The best zif drive is now the Renice K3VLAR.
Renice Technology : SSD : Storage Products - Computer Memory - MemoryC.co.uk

This works in PC and Macs. Some TZ owners have purchased this for their laptop without issue. Several TZ owners have had problems with the Kingspec drives now and the Runcore drives are quite well known for being problematic.

Nando4 has started a thread about the different 1.8 zif drives available.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...rades/531052-1-8-zif-pata-ssds-available.html

On another note, i mentioned in another post that i went with the V4 Photofast drive partly because of low power consumption. I really couldn't notice any difference compared to the V2 drive.

Also, has anyone done the Core 2 Duo upgrade yet?

 

All great info Rachel! Thank you for providing such a detailed reply and moving the post. (As expected which is why I sought you out.) I am upgrading a VGN-TX750P which uses the PATA 50pin configuration. This is the primary project. The TZ170 unit is actually an overseas (Japan) unit (I think - PCG-4L9P). The TZ is my system, has an older 32G RunCore it came with and is something I would like to upgrade sometime but the TX unit comes first, for the wife. It appears that the PhotoFast V4 is available from DVNation. It is super expensive. If I read you correctly, it appears you are suggesting I get the K3VLAR and use a zif adapter like you linked to on ebay. What do you anticipate the performance will be (compared to the OEM 80GB 4200 platter drive) with the three SSD choices we are discussing? (Photofast, Renice or RunCore) I would hate to do all this and then the wife is underwhelmed. She loves the Sony TX more than the newer stuff. Also, based on other stuff I see around here, do you know of any other upgrades I could squeeze into this older PATA PentiumM1.2ULV/1.5G/915 chipset unit? CPU? MB? Optical Drive? Thanks for all the help Rachel. I'm not trying to be lazy, just save a bunch of time and get this done. Just let me know where to send the choclolates. Thanks!

 

BTW, low power consumption would be nice but a ginormous battery is already being used so it's not the highest priority.

 

Man, it sucks to be super busy on a Monday. I'm missing stuff. You mentioned W7. This TX laptop maxes out at 1.5G RAM. Does W7 work well with a Pentium M 1.2 ULV and 1.5 Ram? Never tried that. I want to make sure we are talking about the same system. Or, some of the info you mention about motherboards above, does that apply to this older model? Sorry for the wasted posts as I pull my head out...

 

You will notice a noticeable difference even in XP with an SSD. The CPU upgrade is for Core solo models with a 945 chipset. Aero also i think doesn't work with your chipset. For that reason you may be more inclined to stay with XP. If your model has got Vista drivers then you can just use those for W7.
I upgraded my wifi card in my TX to a 5300 (which is an N wifi card) and added a 3rd antenna but the smart network didn't work and i had to control my wifi through the networking software.

 

Good and thanks for the fast reply. I'm pretty familiar with all things XP, Windows, SATA SSD performance, etc. I'm just curious with this little beast and the special PATA, older chipset and CPU, etc. I assume it will be much improved but nothing beats actual experience and you have that. (Thanks for sharing!)

I have a 64G Runcore 1.8 Pro IV PATA ZIF and the seller has graciously offered to swap it for whatever I want. I assume the best option will be to get a K3VLAR and use the ZIF adapter because they don't carry Photofast. The only direct 50 pin SSD units they have are RunCore.

Is eBay the best place for the adapter and are there any I should avoid?

Also, are there any VGN-TX750 type Vaio units that have the Core Solo 945 chipset possibly with a higher RAM spec? I don't have a problem watching for them. It's the keyboard, screen and integrated optical that are the primary reasons for staying with this model type. She doesn't like the chiclet keyboard on the TZ, etc.

Thanks again for all your time. I'll share whatever info I gain that will help the group.

 

OK, so moving forward... I decided to trade the RunCore 64 Pro IV PATA ZIF for the suggested Renice 128G SSD drive tomorrow and use it (ZIF) in my TZ system later. Any comments or warnings appreciated.

I decided to just buy the Photofast 64G V4 50pin PATA drive for the wife's TX750, drop it in and avoid any issues. However....

Different TX Unit - I also now have a TXN15P/B on the way I won on eBay. It has the 945 chipset so what are my chances of upgrading the CPU to the U7700? Is it just a drop-in for this system? (I gather from the earlier posts that is a possibility.) I'm also guessing the 945 chipset this uses has a 2G RAM limit, correct? Here is the CPU I was considering... INTEL CORE DUO U7700 1.33GHZ 2M 533 MOBILE CPU PGA - eBay (item 220701756892 end time Jan-24-11 05:17:02 PST)

And finally, I made the bold assumption that the TXN15P/B uses the 50pin drive connector like the TX750. From what I have read in the earlier posts, this is *probably* correct. Do you agree? If everything falls into place, I will set up the TX15P for the wife with all the best parts, SSD, CPU, etc.

Thanks again. Have a great day!

 

Nando4's thread i linked to really is the best place to post about the Renince drive as other TZ owners have noted their experiences in that thread.
TZ owners who have done this upgrade have also posted about that in this thread in the Sony forum.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/534634-vaio-tz-guide-ssd-install-upgrade.html
I've bought a zif adapter from ebay before. Just purchase may be a few spare connectors also from another seller as backup.
The TX/TXN might not operate on the same mode as the TZ. It operates in Multi-Word2 DMA mode the same as the P7230 which i benched. It doesn't appear to be limited to 33MBs without doing the above hack.

The TX8 and up use the 945 chipset. Ram on all models is limited to 2GB. A forum member with an older model also upgraded to 2GB. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/344919-how-install-memory-tx-help.html

To upgrade the CPU will take a BGA job. The CPU is soldered. Right now though there is U7600 TXN motherboard on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-VAIO-VGN...493161085?pt=Motherboards&hash=item414eb1fa7d
Use very good thermal compound on the cpu like ICD7 if you do this upgrade. Interestingly all TX/TXN models use the MBX-153 motherboard. May be you should have just purchased the motherboard for your wife and not the TXN laptop. It's the BIOS what makes the fan quite active on core solo models (see below).

It's likely that the TXN1 takes a zif drive. The fan on the core solo models might be more active than it was for older models because fan noise on these models was a common complaint. Upgrading to C2D doesn't make it any worse.

The Sony TT is really nice laptop. May be you should consider one of those secondhand. I upgraded from a TX to a TT as my travel laptop. It's more powerful. If you upgrade to a C2D processor though and SSD the biggest difference is the ram limit 8GB and graphics card. They also run pretty quiet. I say this because you're spending quite a lot out now what with buying a new TXN and all.
If you're really that fond of the design i can see why you'd want to stick with it.

MicrosataSata SSD's which is what the TT takes can also be had for cheaper. They also offer better performance as well as the speeds are not capped to PATA speeds.

 

Rachel,

It's really nice to see someone with a lot of good experience willing to take the time to share it. Thanks again for another very enlightening post. I'm going to consider the modfied MB on eBay. It is the same CPU I have in my TZ and works well on W7. I'm very familiar with good heat sink compound, thin application and heat thresholds. I've fixed many a struggling laptop for folks who didn't understand why their laptop just suddenly started shutting off arbitrarily. I understand your comments about spending the $$. I already suggested a new system with a newer chipset, CPU, etc. I also offered up my TZ. She likes the keyboard the most on her TX and doesn't like the chiclet keyboard on most of the others. The only other option was a Thinkpad X201 but she really wants the optical integrated. (Something I totally relate to.) So, here we are! I'm a busy guy but I still don't mind getting my hands dirty and doing some crazy modding when it's necessary. Sort of like the crazy car rebuilds I did years ago, putting engines in cars they had no place being!

I guess I'm missing the spicy info in your 'memory to TX' link. I'm a veteran laptop 'taker-aparter'. (I'm just currently trying to get my head around the various quirks of these particular units.) Is there a trick to getting the TX to see more than 1.5 or 2 GB (depending on chipset) that I should be aware of? Typically, trying to install more RAM than can be addressed is fruitless just simple because the chipset won't access it, even if the BIOS counts it.

Yeah, I figure when all the chips fall where they may, I will see what I have left over for parts. Do you know of a wiki or other source of info that gives a full rundown on the TX, TT, TZ etc Vaio Ultraportable series? I'm discovering there are a lot more models (with a lot more possibilities) than I realized. I'm seeing all this research and work as a way to have at least one heavily modded unit and then one for her to use later or for parts. She uses it daily as a road warrior so having a backup isn't a bad idea.

I'm going to look into the TT for me perhaps sometime but right now I'm just concentrating on the TX mods and saving up $$ for a Canon 5D Mk III hopefully in the summer! BTW, if you want a solid, good, easy to work on laptop for daily grind use that takes abuse but isn't too heavy, try the Toshiba U205 series. 12.1"/C2D CPU up to T7200 (or maybe more)/4G RAM/945GM chipset, around 4 lbs. Everything you need, not much weight, pretty durable, inexpensive on eBay. Best of all, everything is easily accessible and the things scream with a standard 2.5" SATA SSD.

I have found the 500G/7200 Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" SATA Hybrid drive to be extremely nice for the price. Not much slower than a mid range SSD but with 500G of space. Highly recommended.
Dailymotion - Momentus_XT_Benchmarks - a Tech & Science video

You are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for holding my hand! Let me know the next time you are in Texas, I'll buy you a meal!

 

All TX/TXN models can recognise and utilise 2GB of ram. The chipset limit for ram is 2GB. In the case of the TX/TXN 512GB or 1GB is soldered and you need to purchase a 2GB PC2-5300mhz ram or a DDR2-400 module. The former will downclock to 533mhz and in older models may run at 400mhz.

I don't know of any wiki pages. I just use the Sony website to identify other models.
Good luck with all the upgrades.

 

Hi Rachel,

I meant to ask for a quick clarification of the following statement you wrote earlier...

"The TX/TXN might not operate on the same mode as the TZ. It operates in Multi-Word2 DMA mode the same as the P7230 which i benched. It doesn't appear to be limited to 33MBs without doing the above hack."

Does this mean the hack is not necessary (skip the hack) to achieve the optimum performance?

Thanks!

 

It was posted here in this thread what mode it uses. I cannot confirm it further than that.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/5556342-post36.html
Like i wrote before the V4 Photofast drive i benched also operates in the same mode and is not limited to 33mbs without doing the hack that i linked to.

 

After replacing the 60G HDD with a 64G SSD in the TX670P several months ago; I decided it was time to upgrade the RAM.

Purchased a 2G stick of SODIMM DDR2 PC 5300 to replace the existing 1G stick of SODIMM DDR2 PC 4200.

I realise that only 1.5G of the 2G will be utilized, but I am still hoping to see a little boost in performance.

 

Installed the RAM last night... and there was a noticeable difference in speed.
Found that the installed stick was not a 1G PC 4200 as I originally thought, but in fact a 1G PC 3200 333 Mhz and the new stick is a 2G PC 5300 667Mhz; so now I have an upgrade in RAM and a small bump in bus speed.

 

CharlesS, have you checked in the bios and system information to see if your laptop supports 2GB as it should do?

 

UPDATE:
Checked BIOS and 2048 Mb of RAM is what the computer registers.
Searched the SONY esupport site looking for BIOS updates, but there are none...
Even though I am not using the new stick to its full potential; the increase in performance of the laptop is noticeable.

Charles

 

I posted my problem here, but still got no reply. I hope that this topic may be more appropriate place to ask the same question.

I have a Sony Vaio TX670P notebook. I decided to upgrade it and replace both HDD and DVD with SSD and SATA HDD in caddy respectively. HDD->SSD replacement was a success. DVD->SATA HDD in caddy - not so. After I installed SSD, I aligned partitions, installed Windows XP and fully updated it. Then I bought a new HDD - WD7500BPVT (SATA disk with advanced format functionality), made 4 partitions and aligned them using WD align tool on my desktop PC. I installed it into Caddy ( pic) and Caddy - into notebook instead of DVD-RW (IDE connection pic). When I started notebook I got the following error:
The problem seems to be caused by the following file: PartMgr.sys
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
pic
Though this error is not rare, I could not find a solution related to my case. Any help is very much appreciated.

 

CharlesS 2GB 2048MB is what it should report. It seems that a couple of posts earlier that you were expecting only 1.5GB to be recognised but that's not the case.

Merovingen may be your laptop cannot handle that SATA drive and lacks the drivers needed.
May be you should have tried this bay with an IDE drive. Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy (OBHD9-PATA-B), Black, 9.5mm [OBHD9-PATA-B] - $37.95 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

 

May be. But in that case I'd expect it to load and discover some device it wouldn't recognize, not to fail to BSoD.

Regarding your IDE-idea - I wish I had an opportunity to test it before ordering! My first attempt seemed safe enough, but went wrong.

May be someone has done this kind of upgrade to their Vaio VGN-TX laptop?

 

Partmgr.sys seems to be a storage error. Could you try deleting the partition on your drive and trying again? I think it could be a driver issue.

 

Checked the System information in the Control Panel and BIOS and only 2Gb is reported. There is 512 mb that is not seen by the computer.

 

Most models have 512gb ram soldered so adding another 2gb gives you 2.5gb of ram. However, the chipset for these models 915gms 945gms max ram is 2GB so that's why only 2gb is recognised.
Well, i saw 2.5gb in Vista system profile with a TX5 EU 1.33 Core solo model but the BIOS did not recognise it.

 

I have a vaio TX5XN a real beauty of a laptop and very fond of it but after almost 4 years its too slow to be adequate, i have already upgraded long ago the memory to 2gb and recently found a cheap 64gb ssd zif drive, which got me thinking that the only thing that remains to do its the cpu, found a local shop that do bga work with apparently good results considering the many happy customers and surprisingly low prices.

so to my question is if anyone has attempted or knows for a fact if the TX5XN can support U7700 or U7600 is the best i can hope? the motherboard part number is A1227856A which seems to indicate a Mbx-153 but i have yet to find conclusive information about the U7700 compatibility.

I'm also thinking since i use alot my TX5 as medial player of buying this BCM970015 Broadcom HD Crystal Decoder for apple tv on eBay (end time 25-Feb-11 16:54:28 GMT) and installing it where the wireless wan supposed to go, i don't have a particular need for a wireless wan, never saw the point since i use my mobile as a hotspot, but my question is has someone ever tried installing something other than the wireless wan on that slot?

Thanks in advance for reading

 

cavafy, i used to own the TX5XN. I also tried to mod it with hsdpa wwan using a TXN wwan board. I think what you might find with the TX EU models is that they have the TX North American casing so you most likely won't be able to close your TX if the decoder is any bigger than the original Sony EDGE modem. The Sony modem is very thin. The broadcom adapter would need to go in the TXN wwan board. The TXN wwan board in terms of measurements also is not a perfect fit for the TX models.

The TXN casing is slightly different to accomdate the TXN wwan card.

 

The decoder card is pretty thin as it appears, so it should fit, if not, well i have more uses for it, i will try though to find exact dimensions of both the edge modem and the decoder card to compare but from your photo it should be a good fit

what about the cpu? do you think its possible to upgrade to U7700? i really love this laptop, and i feel it still has lot of life in it, particularly after i replaced the entire chassis (the old one was so worn than in some places it was bare plastic hehehe) it looks like new, i would just appreciate more grunt.

 

I edited my post above. The mini pci holder on its own probably will make it very hard to shut the casing.

I do think that the cpu will likely work. However, i cannot more assurances than that. How much is the upgrade going to cost? Good luck with your upgrades.

 

The price for the decoder card is small enough to worth the risk, plus if it works as advertised i will anyway need more for some really small nano boards i have so at any rate its not wasted though it would be extremely nice if i manage to fit it.

As for the rest of the upgrade, it will actually be pretty cheap, 50 euro for the cpu and 30 for the bga work, the whole upgrade, 64gb ssd, the decoder card and the new cpu sum up a little over 200 euro, you don't even get a netbook for that amount so i believe it worth it, particularly since the laptop looks brand new now, its actually how the whole thing started, i found a cheap chassis on ebay, 60 quid or something that was pulled from a brand new but dead one and replaced mine, after that it was inevitable i would start looking for things to improve.

Thanks for your input btw, its much appreciated and if you have any more ideas of things that could be improved, i would really love to hear about it

 

That's very cheap for the bga work as i paid £110 for mine.

About the decoder, if it's recognised it should give you better performance so that's a plus but if you're expecting HD you most likely will be disappointed.

This is the wwan board that you need to purchase.
Sony VGN-TX N15P WWAN Circuit Board Assy on eBay (end time 09-Mar-11 22:11:47 GMT)

In regards to other upgrades, i think that upgrading the wifi card to a N wifi card and adding a 3rd atenna is a must especially as you intend to use this as a media centric device. As mentioned earlier in this thread i did this upgrade.

I used the TX for some time when i was a graduate student. I bought it because it was cheap, looked good, had amazing battery life, a built in drive and had a built in pcmcia slot which i used for WWAN. I used to use it travelling over 100 miles a day back and forewards and for recording 2hr lectures sometimes back to back. It was a nice little laptop but in terms of specs a few things let it down for me.

1) No built in microphone-using a plugged in device to record was not ideal for me
2) No built in webcam

There is a forum member who added a webcam to a Fujitsu Q2010, http://forum.notebookreview.com/2654223-post42.html

May be the TX bezel is too thin though for a mod like that to be done. May be it is though something for someone ambitous to try lol.

I looked to see what i could do about the microphone but didn't get anywhere with that.

 

The reason the bga work is so cheap among other things its that i provide them with just the new cpu and the bare motherboard and promised them alot more work coming their way if it will work, i also assume any compatibility risk, the can only guarantee their work, hopefully all will go well, if not i still have a motherboard from a tx3 as a failsafe.

about the HD decoder maybe i will hold back till i get my hands on a cheap TXN bottom, for as you suggested closing the case will be a challenge.

as for the lack of camera and microphone, i never felt it as an issue, i do very little if any video chat, and i use a bluetooth headset anyway for voice so an onboard microphone is hardly missed

that said had someone wanted to have an onboard microphone it could be added easily between the speakers, or a pinhole on the lower side of the laptop near the fingerprint reader, about the webcam though i really doubt there is enough space on the bezel, i dissembled it once when i replaced the screen for a friend and things are tight!

the wifi N is intriguing though, i just had some bad experiences with HP where the compatibility is kind of limited to say the least so i wanted to research a little more which card would be compatible, you don't by any chance have a link of the card that you used?

you've been a treasure trove of information btw, i thank you

 

Possibly the decoder might fit the TX casing but there is a chance that it might not. If the decoder is the same size as a wwan module at it's thickest point then it definetly won't work.

I've got the original TX wwan card/TXN wwan board here so if need more information about them let me know.

Measurements of the TX laptop-

10.7”(W) X 0.83”-1.12”(H) X 7.7”(D)

TXN-
Measurements: 10.7” (W) X 0.83” -1.23” (H) X 7.7” (D)

I just bought a 5300 of ebay. If you want to purchase the 5300 just buy any 5300 generic one and you should be fine. I used a bluetooth antenna for my third antenna and just stuck it on the HD.

 

how thick is the wwan module at its thickest? the card looks pretty thin, i already sent an email hoping to get exact dimensions of the decoder and waiting for an answer.

i do believe that HD on the native resolution of the TX5 can be achieved since its already capable of doing so albeit in an extremely choppy sort of way, the hd decoder should give it the extra juice to make HD playback adequate as its exactly what is designed for, do you have any reasons to believe otherwise? the thread you posted doesn't seem to indicate any reason why it shouldn't work.

the main reason i decided to stick with TX5 btw its mainly the keyboard, that and the fact that I'd love to see how far it can be pushed, i even think its possible to stick a blu-ray drive in it although i doubt its financially viable, but the possibility exists, with a little modding a sata adapter can be fitted for the drive and there are 9.5mm blu-ray drives out there.

 

I realised that about the post i linked to. I clearly did not pay enough attention to that thread the first time i read it as i read it as X owner wishes to upgrade the cpu as their current one cannot handle HD with the decoder.
I went back and read it again today and noted that was not actually the case.

These are the dimensions of a Gobi wwan card-
51 mm x 30 mm x 5 mm

As you wrote before it's quite cheap so may be give it a go.

 

I'll do that and post my results, for now my priority is the cpu upgrade, i ordered it and its on its way, so in about 10 days i should have it installed and ready

 

Any luck, i'm also thinking about the company you used. I was thinking of may be using them for another job, or may be your price £30 was a special arrangement?

 

Dear Rachel,

I have a TX3XP, my processor is U1400 @1.2Ghz, HDD is Toshiba MK8007GAH, the Display adapter is 945GM express chipset.

My question is, what possibilities of upgrading this laptop do i have? Since the HDD connection is IDE, is there a way to fit this:

Kingston SSDNow V+ 180 - Solid-State-Disk - 64 GB - SAT bei eBay.de: Festplatten (endet 10.04.11 16:20:27 MESZ)

Or what SSD do you advise me to insert? for me its indiferent adding addapters, just need then to fit on the small space left.

Is there a possibility for upgrading or using a different motherboard? I have with me a VGN-TX27GP working. Should i use any part from this laptop?

Waiting you answer.

Thanks

 

Egypsian, you're laptop uses as you stated a IDE PATA connection. The drive you linked to is a micro SATA drive. Possibly you could use that drive with quite a bit of modding but it's not an easy route to go down. I'd advise you to look at the below thread if you wish to go down this route.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6989450-post102.html

What I do recommend is that you change your adapter to a TX3-TX5 zif type or buy a pata to zif adapter and buy a 1.8 zif drive. The above drive is going to run in PATA speeeds anyway. There are more zif drives out there now then there are 50 pin drives. It seems like the Renice K3VLAR is the best 1.8 zif drive to go for right now.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6861746-post1.html
SONY VAIO VGN-TX3XP HDD OPTICAL DVD DRIVE CONNECTOR on eBay (end time 19-Apr-11 11:34:56 BST)

1.8" ZIF to 1.8" IDE PATA hard driver HDD adapter -(a5) on eBay (end time 02-Apr-11 23:23:13 BST)

If you don't wish to use an adapter then the Photofast 50 pin V4 drive i believe is your best bet.

 

I see, I have here two models, VGN-TX3 and VGN-TX27GP

VGN-TX27GP its more recent, i believe it uses the same processor, but the motherboard is different. Different intel wireless board. Wireless pro 2200 and TX3 is wireless pro 3945 ABG. I had to switch leds, so i have changed the complete set with hinges and cabes.

Is there a reason why the color of the cables is switched? on the right side of TX27GP was white and on left side was black. On my Tx3 was the opposite. I have connected them with the has they were, colors changed but now i'm facing a overheat on my tx3 wireless board and some loss of connection ( this loss i was facing it before the change) Do you think is there a problem with this change? should i have changed just the LCD?

About those two laptops, TX27 uses ATA tecnology i believe and TX3 uses IDE.

Is it possible for me to change those connectors? To just simply disconnect from the motherboard and connect them to the new laptop?

Hopping to hear from you

 

I still have one doubt, since my HDD connector is IDE 50 Pin, is it possible to switch for the PATA that comes in TX27GP?

Which of the two connections is preferable? and which SDD connection is prefered? i believe i can find connection somewhere for one of this two situations.

I'm still deciding which laptop i'm going to keep.

 

Getting the original Sony zif connector that was used for later models is more preferable.

Yes, you can switch and use a zif drive or go with a 50 pin 1.8 SSD.

As i wrote in my other post there are a larger varitey of zif 1.8 drives and these also now offer better performance. Although the 50 pin V4 Photofast drive is a good drive. It i believe doesn't support TRIM in W7 but has it's own GC.

Edited to add:
I just realised that you own a TX3 lol and i showed you a TX3 connector in my other post. Anyway in that case it looks like you need a TX5 zif connector or a TXN connector if you want to get a zif SSD an don't wish to buy an adapter. I owned a TX5 and that came with a zif drive. Both of those laptops should use the same connector. Given the specs of your TX2 i dont think it uses a zif drive. Connectors if different should be interchangeable. What though is the HD in your TX2?

The TX3 has better specs and also uses the GMS945 chipset as opposed to the GMS915 that the TX2 uses. The TX3 also has a core solo processor and the TX2 uses an older Pentinum M. I would stick with the TX3.
http://vaio-online.sony.com/prod_info/vgn-tx27gp_b/specifications.html
http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/specifications/index.aspx?m=VGN-TX3XP_B&l=en_GB

 

The TX27GP come with a HTC426060G8CE800 ATA Device.

This laptop is weaker than the TX3. I prefer to keep the TX3.

I believe i can find better SSD's using Zif than 50pin.

Is there any difference in the speed of the harddrive using the 50pin connector + 1.8" ZIF to 1.8" IDE PATA hard driver HDD adapter -(a5) on eBay (end time 02-Apr-11 23:23:13 BST)

to a Zif SSD, against a direct Zif connector?

What should i expect since i do not understand this part of laptops.

 

There should be no speed difference between going for the adapter or the original zif Sony connector. With the latter the connection might just be that little bit more secure. Although it should be secure with the adapter also. However, well i used before in another laptop and it came apart.

That's why i opted for the v4 Photofast drive for another laptop that takes a 50pin drive as it was someone else and they can be a bit rough with their laptop and i didn't want them calling me and telling me about problems with their laptop.

The situation is a bit different with the TX series as you can purchase the Sony TX zif connector.
The Comcast guide might have some clues about your TX2 HD.
http://home.comcast.net/~nw_systems/vgnTX.pdf

 

I have allready dismatled both laptops and they are both working good.

I have checked that TX27GP has the Zif connector i think thats the name of that connector.

Would it be preferable to switch connectors from both laptops so i can use a Zif SSD on my TX3XP? Since there are more options to choose from.

 

Another question is about the Chip? should i upgrade anything in the board so i can put there more RAM?

How is it possible to get 2.5Gb on this treasure?

 

You can upgrade these laptops to 2GB.
That's odd that computer is using a zif drive.
You can just google what zif drives look like if in doubt.

 

Its this connection Installing a ZIF Drive Into the Digital Intelligence 1.8" Hard Drive Enclosure

But it connects to the board same way has TX3.

Dunno if i can exchange both connectors so i can use Zif SSD on TX3

 

Yes, you can. Why not try anyway as you have two of the different types of connectors/drives there anyway.

 

Hi Rachel,

Your recommendation to upgrade a tx to be able to accept a zif drive is fantastic. I have a tx770 that could definitely benefit from an ssd upgrade. It has the 50 pin micro ata connector.

I am given to understand, from the link you showed above, that I can replace the current optical/hard drive connector with the tx3 version. This would result in a zif connection. What a wonderful solution.

The link you gave ships to UK only. Searching ebay for one that ships to the US only turned up this one: SONY VAIO VGN-TX SERIES HARD DRIVE CABLE 1-868-272-12 | eBay

This looks like a pata connector to me. Are you aware of any other sources for this cable?