Z12 Available on SonyStyle (US)

I have found that this is possible only in speed mode using the Nvidia graphics card im not sure if my settings are the cause

 

Has anyone purchased the Targus USB 2.0 Docking Station and like it? or even the Sony dock and also know if they are both compatible with the large capacity battery?

 

It is possible in Stamina mode, at least if you are using VGA. If you are using HDMI, then I think you're right, need to be in Speed mode.

 

I have the older version of the Targus dock:
Targus USB Docking Station with Digital Audio ( ACP45US ) - Parallel / Serial - Targus System

I got it refurbished, could have been from TigerDirect. It was around $20, which is my threshold for careless buying of stuff that is remotely useful

It's still working very well. Like the picture shows, it's angled so the back of the laptop is supposed to be lifted up. Given that my extended battery already does that, I don't place my laptop on it. I use it mainly for the USB hub capability, I suppose the latest model's VGA output might be useful. Although I think the USB bandwidth might limit the max video resolution.

The Targus dock connects to the laptop via USB, unlike Sony's dock.

 

Ah i see thanks TofuTurkey, so its connected via usb instead of the port directly under the laptop so there is no need to worry about compatibility but i wonder if the one from sony would work with the large battery as well? Another question i had is, does anyone know of a kensington lock that fits perfectly on the Z? because of the design around the edges the one that i own has a lot of slop!

 

My laptop was shipped yesterday late evening (or Japan daytime) from Japan. Building laptop took much less time then it was estimated - ordered on 1st evening, got shipped on 6th - expected date was 9th. This is great for me!

Delivery is expected by 12th afternoon (to WA) - so takes 6 week days (4 business days) - longer then 2 business days that was said to me over phone. Lucky I am Sony built a laptop very quickly!

Already eager to see laptop running in my hands

 

Do you really want your Z12 to be turning on by accident in your backpack?

 

I'm talking about having a way to enable this feature, not have it on by default. The same way you can choose what closing the lid does, etc. I want an option.

 

Any difference between the VPCZ124GX and VPCZ125GX, except $150? Specs look exactly the same to me.

 

Fair enough. It could be useful if you're trying to use your laptop as a perma-HTPC or if it's always docked, etc.

The main reason they didn't implement this option is probably because they don't want users to be able to set it to enabled by accident ("Hmm, what does this do? I'll just change it and see."), then have their $2000+ laptops turn on by accident in a backpack, going on fire and perhaps setting something else on fire, thus causing the ppl to sue/hate Sony.

So maybe they thought the benefit isn't worth the potential risk.

 

Except that Wake Timers ARE an option that people can play with, and can essentially lead to the same thing--the computer turning on inside of bags. That already happened to NBR member SurferJon. He said it caused a slight discoloration in his screen because of the intense heat while it was in his bag.

That's why I would recommend that any owner go into the advanced power options and turn off Allow Wake Timers.

 

How do you get into " advanced" power options ?

 

Don't have my Z with me at the moment, but I believe there are a couple different ways. I usually just go to the battery icon in the tray, and then click on "More Power Options" or something like that. You can then select a power profile (there are the stock settings like Battery Saver and High Performance). I created my own profile that I keep active. If you click on a profile, you go to a screen where you can set things like what the closing the lid does and what screen brightness you want. At the bottom there is a link to more power options or advanced power options. This will give you a list of things you can set, including wake timers.

I'm fairly certain you can also get to this same advanced list through Vaio Control Center's power management tool.

 

Ahhh, I see it.

Thanks, JP$

 

Yes, the VPCZ125GX model has got the Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband Built-in (& GPS functionality).

 

Out of curiosity, what is wrong with the Premium Carbon option? Is it just not what you expected? I saw a video on YouTube of this colour and it looks great. Just wondering if I'm missing something...

 

Prem Carbon is not THAT much of a difference compared to the black lit. Only in specific angles or in the light you see the glazing tiny horizontal fiber finish. Its not that special for the extra cost. The glossy prem carbon is a bigger difference. Nevertheless I like my prem carbon finish - looks nearly the same as the battery cover of the HTC HD2 I got.

 

how the GT330M compare to an ATI desktop 4850?

 

Not very well.

 

I've decided to go for the silver. Now I've got to decide between the 1600x900 or 1920x1080. I must admit, when I was in the store, I was shocked at how small the text looked at 100%. I knew it was going to be small, but wow. My eyes are fine but damn that text was tiny...and that was the 900p screen.

Still, I could really use that extra real estate but the comparison video on YouTube actually made the 900p screen seem more vibrant. I know that more vibrant doesn't always me more correct, but I definitely don't want to end up getting washed out looking colours. The video confused me simply because I thought the 1080p screen was supposed to be 96% coverage, brighter, yadda yadda.

Other than that, I'm set on this laptop. Going to get it with i7 620m/8GB RAM/Fresh start/DVDROM/Win7 Pro/1920x1080 (most likely). I still can't get over the features of this laptop. Most 13" laptops are more like toys in comparison (performance/screen wise.)

One other question:

I noticed something strange at the Sony store (Canada) that almost kept me from considering this laptop. The left shift key was half the size and there was a multi-purpose key between it and the 'Z' key. This royally screwed me up while testing out the chiclet keyboard (I've never used one before.)

Looking at the laptop on SonyStyle.ca, the shift key appears normal. The display model at the store was a Z11 while I'm looking at the Z12. It didn't appear to be a multilingual keyboard, though I must admit I didn't pay that much attention to it. I want the keyboard with the standard size. I assume that is considered the "default" keyboard style for this laptop.

 

hummm could you be more specific?

 

It seems that starting with Z12, SonyStyle Canada is selling US models in Canada. The VPCZ122GX/B is definitely an US model which comes with the sane US keyboard layout (normal left shift key, one row enter key), and it's officially sold in Canada.

I applaud this decision, as I hate the stupid multilingual keyboard layout with short left shift. This is why I now own a Z122GX.

 

Yes.

GT 330M
Mobility Radeon HD 4850 (note Mobility, not the Desktop version)

The desktop version should be faster than the laptop variant, but I'm not sure by how much. As you can see, the GT 330M is about 30% slower than the mobility HD 4850.

 

I really hope I end up with the "normal" keyboard because my Z12 will be CTO (Z1290). I think I'd have a good argument with Sony if they send me the messed up one (in my opinion), since they don't show the multilingual keyboard on their website.

 

I wonder how much the 900p LCD panel is to buy separately (as a replacement part for instance.) I'm planning on going with the 1080p screen but if it turns out to be an issue, I might consider swapping it out for the 900p. I assume this should be possible.

 

I am having trobble playing Starcraft 2 with medium settings and that's is annoying me, the config is: Pentium E2160 overclocked to 2,7ghz + HD4850. I believe the CPU is bottlenecking, since I've read ppl playing it well in Z's and medium settings. I should have a much better performance with that desktop.

 

It could be software config or driver issue. I'd expect that desktop to run SC2 quite well.

 

RTS's are usually very CPU dependant. the core i5/i7's blow away the E2160 in CPU muscle

 

or you can just change the font rendering settings...a hell of alot better option.

 

I understand that, obviously, but some programs might not render correctly at those settings. I know most new Microsoft software, which is what I primarily use, is fine but I'm concerned about my car development software.

I am also more concerned about brightness/colour on the 1080p. I'm putting my order in today, so I guess I'll see how it looks in a couple weeks.

 

I have ordered an E7500 (2,93ghz - 3mb cache) to replace the Pentium, I believe I will see a gigantic improvement.

 

what is your suggestion on a 2nd power adapter, the sticky one available in sony site seems to have very bad reviews, there are some adapters available in ebay from honk kong, genuine, model VGP-AC19V32, is that the best?

 

So what I am able to figure out from the previous posts is that the 512gig SSD option is 2-256gig SSD's which themselves are each composed of 2-128gig chips which turn end up acting like 4 drives in a RAID 0 array. It seems that this should easily exceed the 3gb/s speed of SATA-2. Is Sony using SATA-3 for this SSD configuration?

I think that I saw some earlier posts of benchmarks that were slightly larger than 400MB/S (3.2gb/s), so it seems that given overhead they must be using SATA-3, or some strange cache arrangement. Does anybody have any information on this?

 

As far as I know, neither the Intel HM57 Express chipset nor the SSDs used in Z's are SATA 6gb/s compliant. Every drive is logically using its own SATA port so that every drive can transfer up to 3gb/s (~375 mb/s).

With a Z1 with quad ssd setup, you will get sequential speeds roughly around 500 mb/s.