VAIO TZ -- swapping DVD drive for 2.5" hard drive?

I decided to move this from another thread.

I have this problem. I want to buy a TZ and I want an SSD for speed. I love the idea of combining an SSD with a regular hard drive, because I don't need a DVD drive. The only problem is that apparently in the U.S. the only TZ Sony offers is the TZ198, which has the biggest SSD drive (64 gigs) PLUS a huge hard drive (200 gigs) PLUS an external DVD burner which I don't need, at a huge cost.

I don't need 264 gigs of storage, nor do I need the external DVD drive. The 32 gig SSD would be plenty for me if I had even a small separate hard drive.

I know about the options to buy Japanese models through the various gray market importers, but I'm a little leery of the warranty situation. I can't really afford to ship off the unit to Japan for warranty repairs if something breaks -- I'm a business user.

So two questions:

1. Does Sony offer any custom configurations in the U.S., like they do in Japan?

2. If not, can I buy the TZ 190 or whatever it is with the 32 gig SSD plus DVD, and then swap the DVD for a 2.5" hard drive I buy separately? Anyone have any idea whether this is possible?

 

P.S. You know it would be really great if this is physically possible -- 2.5" drives are cheap, and it would be great to have the DVD drive in the drawer for those cases when for some reason you might want it for something.

 

I am actually in the same shoe as u. Jap version won't work for me since I need the sprint EVDO connection.

I have seen several disassembled TZ pic and it seems additional mounting hardware is needed to replace CD/DVD drive. You also need to cover the hole on the side of the laptop once CD/DVD has been removed.

What you could do is to replace the existing 1.8" 100GB 4200rpm HDD with a 32GB SSD.

 

I have the 32GB ssd +160 hd and just upgraded the hard disk to the new WD 320GB 5400 rpm and unless you manage into talk Sony to provide the internal mountings for the hard disk, the extra usb port and the front cover, you would have to do the McGyver thing to get it done.

 

Yes but that would still leave the DVD.

 

Not sure why. I've bought plenty from Dynamism over the past few years. If you have a warranty, they deal with Sony Japan. You just need to get the computer to Dynamism here in the US. And I'm also a business user.

No

Not unless
a) You know what you're doing (and even then, it'll be difficult as mdrift says - there are parts you'd need which Sony isn't really giving you)
and
b) YOu want to really void your warranty (which puts you in a worse situation)

I'm not sure why you don't just get the TZ91 and use an ExpressCard or USB modem. You're making it much more difficult on yourself.

 

Thanks a lot for the info. Too bad Sony doesn't make the bays really modular, and too bad they don't let us configure the TZ like we want -- like they do in Japan, and like a lot of other manufacturers do.

From Dynamism, I can order the TZ91 with 32G SSD + 160G HD. It costs $3424 with 2 gigs of RAM, the standard battery, and with the leather case, shipped. It only comes in the icky gold color. But it does have a 3-year warranty.

For $3456, I can get the TZ198 from that guy Chris on E-Bay. This has 64G SSD plus 200G HD, and includes an external DVD drive. It only has a one-year warranty. I can get the same thing for $3999 shipped from SonyStyle.

The three year warrant costs about $300, so Dynamism kind of makes sense compared to Sony Style; on the other hand, for only $350 more from Chris (including the 3-year warranty) you get the TZ198 with double the SSD size, a bigger HD, an external DVD drive, and a more or less acceptable color (I would have preferred the premium carbon, but it's not available for any configuration I like, from anywhere as far as I can tell).

Hmmm.

 

Hmm, is right. I ran the same type of analysis through my head a few weeks ago and decided to go with Chris. In the end, I decided that Bordeaux Red doesn't look so bad after all.

 

So I hear colpic is unfortunately a slow shipper, but not his fault, when are you gonna get your TZ198N/RC?

 

Being a slow shipper will not really be a problem, as long as I can be sure of getting it by 20 December. I'm travelling abroad until then anyway.

So you got your TZ198 from Chris Ubercool? How long did it take? And how do you like the machine?

 

Rahul, Dockhead, I'm supposed to get mine this Tuesday. Based on what I read before, I'm sure it won't happen, but I can wait another week or so. Will let you know when I receive it, since the obligatory "unboxing" pictures are a must!

 

Great, let us know!!

 

hmm i ordered the tz190, but i opened up to a tz198. must have been a shipping error from Chris. Guess ubercool will enjoy more a less the tz190.

 

Your gonna get a bill! ha, ha.

 

Back to the original theme: This guy Ivan at some company called Portable One (lapstopinc.com) has posted that he will soon have adapators to put a HD in place of the optical drive in the TZ:

http://www.leog.net/fujp_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12095

Thanks to rahunirmal for putting up the link. I have written to Ivan to ask whether he will be selling them separately and for how much.

 

Just got my TZ198 and noticed it has a panel where the DVD drawer normally is, so there has to be a means for replacing the HDD with a DVD -- I suspect the challenge is the internal mounting/connections -- there just isn't much room inside these little jewels.

 

hi bruce,

does your TZ198 has the extra USB port on the right hand side (where the pannel cover replace CD/DVD ROM, so you have three USB ports instead of two)?

the reason I ask is on the Japan version (1.8" + 2.5" two HDD model), an extra USB port to the right is added when no CD/DVD ROM is installed. However on the US version, Sony didn't include a extra USB module, I guess to save cost???

there is really no difficulty to do the swap as long as you get the two parts, HDD mount case and right dock cover. It is plug and play and everything is secured with screws.

 

Oh yea? Mine is supposed to be on its way. If I end up with a TZ190, at least we know where the good one is...

 

I hope it has the extra USB port on the right, because it's very handy to have!

 

what the hay? bruce lol, i thought u weren't getting a tz because of some error with CHris. but congrats man, u posting up any pictueres? really jealous now.

hey ubercool, my tz190 is on the way too, its only been 6 days since he said it was shipped, i emailed him yesterday to ask any updates on the shipping and NO responses so far. have u tried to email him yet? he respond? usually he respond within a few hours but its been more than 24hours. Chu think he running off with our money?

 

its confirmed that there is a third USB on the right side. However, the spec and picture of TZ198 on Sonystyle says there are only two USB ports. lol must be a typo for sony

 

Something related to this is that the new Vaio VGN-G21VN/B in UK does not have a built-in optical drive and the manual shows an i.LINK port on the blanking plate where the optical drive would be. Perhaps the objective of this version is the have a G21 weighing less than 1kg (although the current specs show the standard 1.13kg weight). It's interesting that the G21 without optical drive gets an i.LINK port but the TZ without optical drive might have an extra USB port.

John

 

Old news. Even the G1 in Japan had this configuration - with DVD, or without DVD and you gain the firewire/i.Link port. You do sacrifice a bit of weight but not that much.

 

a bit offtopic:

how is Chris (colpic) able to offer Vaio notebooks substantially cheaper then the official Sony site?

 

Isn't the difference that the TZ already has a firewire port elsewhere so they just added another USB port, and the G doesn't normally have a firewire port so when the DVD drive is deleted they added one.

 

The kit to swap the DVD drive for a 2.5" HDD sounds fantastic. I want to go SSD, but not until the prices come down and more space is available. So hopefully this will be a fairly inexpensive DIY project one day.

 

I have recently been in communication with Ivan Gospich @ Portable One (lapstopinc.com) to find out the status on this swap kit...Q & A listed below:

WHIZKIDD: I am enquiring to purchase a 2.5 hard drive kit for a sony viao vgn-tz195n/xc. Do you stock this kit? If so, what are the options available?

IVAN: Only if you purchased machine from us, we apologize but there are no exceptions unfortunately.

WHIZKIDD: I am based in the United Kingdom and unfortunately this item was a birthday present from my brother who live in the States and don’t know whether you are the supplier or not. You are very highly recommended to me by many vaio forum users and were confident you could supply the required kit. I am desperately trying to avoid an external hard drive option and I will be extremely grateful If you would make an exception on this occasion and will promise to purchase from you in the future.

IVAN: Unfortuinately we cannot Sony’s rules; sorry and happy birthday.

WHIZKIDD: What info do you need to find out if it was purchased from you or not....I don’t really want to interrogate my brother for this and I don’t want him to think I’m not happy with it.

IVAN: Unfortunately we cannot, Sony was extremely adamant towards this and told us no exceptions for our corporate customers only and we are not going to risk our business for it. Any issues have to be handled by us not them; we have to submit each serial number, service tag number and product code off the bottom of each unit we offer with such too.

WHIZKIDD: I can supply you will all the relevant serial, service tag and product code from this unit. The item is supplied Sony USA model.

IVAN: Yes but if it does not match one of the systems they shipped us they will refuse to let us do it; my apologies.

WHIZKIDD: OK, no problem....It’s just a matter of time before this kit will become widely available. If you come across a retailer/supplier who stocks this kit, I will appreciate it if you could forward me their details.
Thank you very much for your time....It’s unfortunate we couldn’t do some business.

WHIZKIDD: Just satisfy my curiosity, can you list me the components in the kit?

IVAN: I have no clue; our Sony service center has to file a bunch of paperwork for each set; it consists of around 10 core parts I am told.

I personally do not believe Ivan can provide these kits...Simply because if sony were to provide this option to authorised reseller, it would be widely available everywhere.

 

The parts are available through various online notebook parts store. you just have to know what combination of parts to order.

 

Yea. Has anyone found out what parts are needed to do the swap? I see a lot of relevant parts on Sony Direct Accessories for TZ198 but I can't tell which is which.

 

you need the replacement bezel, 2.5" hdd mounting bracket, a USB port assembly, sata flat cable and couple more screws. Find them and post the part #

 

Any update on this? Did anyone find the parts? I just picked up a tz170n today and this would be a sweet upgrade.

 

I got a TZ190N and will love this.. I am surprise that New Sony Vaio TZ2 with SSD has an option for 250GB Hard along with 64SSD but the price tag is in high $3k

 

Seems like it would be something easy todo. My tz170n shows 2 harddrive spots in the bios so I know it can support it. I would love to take out the 100gb 1.8" and stick in a nice 7200rpm 2.5" sata. Then my little tz would fly

 

I would like to replace my optical drive with just the bezel and extra USB port. I dont need to add another HDD. Where can I get the parts to do this?

 

Bumping...we need to get the part list for the items shown in the pictures on this chinese website where the guy was able to remove his DVD drive and put in a HDD. http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=258&t=643869&p=1

 

I've managed to find the following part no's;

310627802 BEZEL ODD 1SP Yes $25.27
310627102 BRACKET HDD SH Yes $13.24

http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/ecom/accessories/web/productSearch.do

 

Hi,

These 2 part numbers are the ones you will find if you compare two models, one with the ODD, one with the second HDD.

However, to get all the parts, you need to spend about 170$:

187403511 (FPC-109) flexible ribbon connecting the HDD and the USB
310627001 Bracket HDD holding the new hard drive
321887011 Gasket to insulate the HDD
A1289822A CNX-389 Connector to the HDD
268071531 Tape, Kapton
310627802 Bezel to replace the ODD drawer
A1289823A IFX-489 USB port
310629101 Spacer for the bottom of the HDD

if you just want to remove the ODD and put the bezel and the USB port, you only need the 1st item, the 6th one, and the 7th one.

cheers

Julien

 

All of these are valid part numbers and can be bought at sparepartswarehouse except for A1289822A. A google search of that part number only brings me back to this thread.

The total on all the parts before shipping and tax is $176.29, not including the part that can't be found.

 

Okay, part A1289822A is available at sony's site for $19.87 but isn't in stock.

 

Yeah, I placed the order for everything, but a few items are backordered, expected second week of july. The main ribbon is not even backordered, so they actually are supposed to get back to me when they hear form their buyer, and have it come in from Japan specifically. Most of the other companies don't keep stocks of these things, so they should have the same shortage.

cheers

j.

 

I'm in Tokyo on business... anyone know if I can buy these parts here? I've been to Akihabara but the place is a maze to me... and my japanese is limited. Anyone have a clue if there is a sony parts store in Tokyo? Cheers!

 

got all the parts, it's quite easy to install and works like a charm. I went for 100$ special on a WD 320GB, but some might want to put a 9.5mm 500GB drive in there. I also bought an a-dat 32GB SSD, and it seems to be doing a decent job. The WD has speed of about 60MB/s, the 1.8 SSD is more in the 40MB/s, and the xpresscard SSD is around 20MB/s. For almost 400GB of storage, and an easily removable 32GB, I like that setup.

cheers

Julien

 

jmuffat

wow, that's an exciting news for me. Can you tell me more detail about install and where exactly did you get the parts? More detail, please.
Is it possible to boot from 2.5 drive and keeping the 1.8 slow drive?

 

Hi,

I posted above all the parts, and I found them all at the sony parts center (dapc). Some were back ordered, but I really did not have to wait much at all. Installation follows the previous guides posted here to open the machine. Once you've removed all the back plate screws, it's easy to pry apart the keyboard, then the only difficulty is to free the hinge area, but even that is well explained elsewhere. Once inside, you will find a y ribbon connector that leaves the bottom right corner of the mobo, and goes left to the 1.8 HDD, and right to the ODD and its board. It's easy to identify which screws free the ODD, and you can then remove the ribbon and the ODD altogether. When you buy the new parts, you will get a new ribbon connector, which instead of having 2 branches, has three: one for the 1.8, one for the new HDD, and one for the extra USB. The parts include a cage for the hard drive that replaces the ODD, and uses the same mounting screws. Use the pictures from the chinese website as a reference, and it should be easy to mimick. The only difficulty is to fold the ribbon connector so it adopts the proper geometry, but again, looking at the pictures was informative enough. for less than 300$ you have maximized storage, while still being able to go back to ODD if you so desire. In my case I have the SSD, so I don't want to boot from the new HDD, but I assume it's feasible to boot from the 2.5 HDD instead of the 1.8 one. If you install windows from scratch after the hardware change, you will probably be prompted to use the new 2.5HDD as your boot disk.

good luck

j.

 

I just placed my order today. Came to $197.86 with tax and standard shipping, and all the parts are in stock right now.

The connector is for a SATA HDD, right?

 

I'm interested in this mod too. Does it void the warranty though?

 

It most certainly would void the warranty if sony could prove you had done it (ordering parts from them pretty much proves it, though). I suppose you could put it back to factory hardware configuration if you ever have any problems. If you're good enough, they may not know you had been inside the laptop.

 

Alright. Well could you post your experiences with this mod too?

I'll wait for you then before I do anything.

 

Hi, I am in Tokyo right know and I think I am going to get myself a TZ without optical drive but therefore with 2.5" HDD.

Does anybody know if I can put in an additional 1.8" SSD without havin any trouble or needing any additional parts. What type od SSD do I need: SATA or IDE?

RGDS,

Uli

 

I have the 1.8" drive can I leave it in and add the 2.5" drive as a secondary drive? I have the vaio tz-170n thanks