Z12 Available on SonyStyle (US)

Is that the 256GB?

 

Yes........

 

Mini-review on the cons people had with the Z11:

1. Screen is amazing. Came with a red-stuck pixel, but after the massage method I got it out, otherwise it would have been a return right away. 1080p is very readable, just make sure you go to VAIO Control Center and turn off auto-brightness. I think the 1600x900 resolution is not as crisp on this 1080 screen.

2. Sound is OK. It is not as horrible as people made it to be, my last ASUS G had worse.

3. Battery is wobbly. Got 3m double sided tape and it's fine now. Sony should have fixed this, but not a problem.

4. HDMI makes zero noise when the HDMI cable is touching the outside port or when plugged in entirely. Works as intended.

5. Fan noise is barely audible. I can't believe people complain about this? Of course, it will be louder when you play games.

6. Heat is fine.

7. Plastic wrist-pad looks nice to me. People made it sound like it was horrendous.

8. Power adapter port does wobble, but I don't care.

9. Comes with RST 9.6, but had to turn on write-back cache. The WEI for the SDD is only 7.4. I heard people had 7.6 or 7.7, but it might be because this is a different SDD from z11.

10. VAIO Update 5 doesn't work. Had to delete that and some other VAIO software, but only a few.

 

Be careful with #2, it gets snug when the unit is hot. I wonder if they left the gap to prevent the aluminum keboard from deforming when the battery expands?

#8 I think that's by design (less likely to break).

1600x900 on a 1080p screen will never look very good.

 

the power port is designed to be wobbly. Fixed positoin receptacles are prone to snapping off.

The wobbly battery is also a design consideration as well, though the felt pad idea was excellent.

 

11. Had to get Drivers | Synaptics to get two-finger scrolling. The trackpad is very good on this laptop, I don't get frustrated using it.

 

For people that have gotten 4GB RAM on the Z12, is it 1 stick of 4GB or 2 sticks of 2GB?
Will there be a noticeable difference between 4GB and 6GB?

 

There will be some difference if 4GB is a single stick. Single stick works in single-channel mode. 4GB + 2GB will work in L-shape mode: 2GB (from 4GB stick)+2GB (entire second stick) in dual-channel and 2GB (the rest of 4GB stick) in single-channel mode.

 

I was trying to install this driver since two-finger scrolling is really nice, but it tells me the current driver is newer version. Did you uninstall the installed version and then installed the driver from the website ?

 

yup

Learn anything else about the SSD's in this machine ahsan? That's the last thing I'm interested in knowing

 

Does Sony take the 15% (when you buy the service plan + 2 accessories) off the subtotal or just from the total of the computer. Online, when you add a service plan, it shows a promotional discount which is 10% of the order's subtotal. But, the lady over the phone would only apply the 15% off to the computer and some of the accessories.

 

Thanks, will do ,

andye39s pointed out that the SSD's are using standard SATA connectors, but right now I am not up to open up this baby :laugh:

right now I am loving Raid SSD what a speed! I can't imagine what 512GB config would be capable of !

 

the 15% discount would be applied to the Laptop's price.

 

Ok, I just ordered mine. I upgraded to the 256GB SSD which I did not plan to do originally. I figured that $255 ($300-15%) is probably less than what it would cost me to put another 128GB in there if it becomes possible to do so in the near future.

 

Yep, it's better to get bigger SSD since upgrading the SSD later on is expensive.

Congrats on the purchase

 

Thanks! I should get it next week's Friday.

 

Yes, two micro SATA connectors for each of the SSDs, each on the opposite ends.

I didn't take measurements. Search for pictures of a 1.8" SSD (which looks sort of like a PCMCIA/CardBus card, if anyone remembers what those are LOL). The two SSDs in there look like the same physical size as a 1.8" SSD with the two sides cutoff, presumably it's just part of the housing.

I don't know what SSD size is in the one Zoinks disassembled. It may be that it's only this way in the 2x 64GB models. I don't see how that little space can sandwich four of these modules in there with the micro SATA connectors..

 

Hey guys, I just encountered another problem here. Does anyone experience any trouble on the wireless network?

It often failed on me without any reason: I did check that the toggle in the front of the laptop is switched to ON position, but the connection is just suddenly disconnected with a red cross on the wireless connection icon. Neither can it find any network anymore. This can only be solved by disabling the wireless card in adapter settings and enable it again, after which I can find tons of wireless network and reconnect to mine... And of course I'm sure it can be solved by rebooting.

Does anyone have this issue?

BTW, I also have installed the newest driver from sony website: 13.1.1.1

Any help will be great

 

All you people picking up the Z12 should remember to get your $300 for trading in old laptops. The pickings were slim for the Z11 with two eligible models but for the Z12 there are many more. I pick up traders on CL for about $50-$60.

Sony TradeUps

 

u need to use the older 6200 wireless modem driver whichi is 13.0.0.107

the newer driver gives me the same problem.

you could just go to device manager and right click on 6200 AGN

and click roll back!

 

is CTO model eligible for trade up?

 

Made a purchase yesterday at sony-style:

Product: US-VPCZ1290X-LBOM
Component: Standard Capacity Battery
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: Adobe Bundle
Component: 6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Component: No Mobile Broadband Built-In
Component: Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)
Component: CD/DVD Player/Burner
Component: No Engraving
Component: Intel® Core™ i5-540M processor (2.53GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
Component: 13.1" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080) (Reg. price $100.00)
Component: Premium Carbon Fiber
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Component: 256GB (128GBx2) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology
Per Unit Price: $2,056.99 (with 15% discount)

Purchase of extended 2 years warranty and 2 accessories was required to get this discount over phone. Unfortunately, only warranty did not work, tried two different sales reps

Shipping is scheduled on 9th of July, and delivery is expected on 13th of July. All, on average, how long did delivery of Z12 models took for you (total time since purchase till you get it to your home)?

 

is this with the trade up? what 15% discount are you guys speaking of?

 

No, this is not a trade-off. If you order a laptop by phone, and purchase 2 years warranty (179.99) _and_ 2 accessories, you can ask for 15% discount from laptop price. Some guys get 15% discount only by purchasing laptop and 2 years warranty (without 2 extras).

Price listed is for notebook with discount, on top of it there are costs for warranty, 2 items (case and earphones for me) plus tax.

 

Congrats! That's exact same config as mine except I got Large Capacity Battery and Windows 7 Professional Edition.

It took 8 days to get mine (this includes the weekend).

 

"Roll back" button is grayed out... I uninstalled the driver before I update it to 13.1.1.1

Is there anywhere I could get 13.0.0.107?

 

^Just use the drivers posted on Sony's site?

 

No on Sony site 13.1.1.1 is posted. I found 13.0.0.107 from intel site, and installed it, will test it out

 

Man it's not working. I still got the same problem after install 13.0.0.107. Did this driver effectively solved your problem for sure?

 

I ordered my Z1290x on 6/22, it shipped from Japan 6/27, arrived on my doorstep 6/30.

I have a Sony VAIO TZ350N with an internal Sprint WWAN card. Is it possible to swap it over to my new Z?

 

I ordered Z1290x on 6/23, shipped from japan 6/30, and estimated arrival is 7/8. This is my second Z, small step up from Z114. I am thinking of giving Z114 to my sister.

I have used the driver found here for wireless dropping problem,
Sony eSupport - VPCZ114GX/S - Software Updates & Drivers

 

Thanks, I meant the built in 3g internal mobile broadband card from my TZ350N. Def. Worth a shot.

Does the Z use a standard 12.7mm optical drive? How else could Sony get away with charging $500 for the BD-ROM burner.

In the next 30 days, i'll return my machine if, Sony comes out with a 384GB SSD option or an $80 Blu-ray combo drive. My 256GB SSD is Toshiba

The Premium carbon is a ripoff. It should be a no-cost option. If I do return it, i'll be getting metal mosaic next time.

 

That's so long for a delivery! Are you getting it inside US? Is it expedite shipping?

 

Just like to make another observation.

I spec'd the extended life battery and am dissapointed in the capacity of 7800mAh. For comparision, My Sony TZ350N is rated at 8700mAh with a battery only slightly larger. And the TZ uses a ULV processor.

 

it was CTO, it is shipped from japan

n

they said it was 2 days shipping....

 

I tried reading quite a bit of this thread but couldn't find the answer to this question: can the laptop be used with the lid closed? Meaning, if I have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and have an external monitor plugged in, can I still power it up without opening the lid? If not, can it be done if it's connected to the docking station? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Absolutely. You just have to change the default settings in the Power Options. It comes from the factory set to sleep or hibernate if you close the lid. You can use Vaio Control Center (or the power options in Control Panel) to change what closing the lid does. Just set it to "Do Nothing" and you can set the Z aside and do all your work on your bluetooth keyboard and external monitor.

 

Yes and no. Actually you will need to open the lid to power it on (when lid is closed power button is disabled)....after that you can follow JP$'s instructions.

 

This has always bothered me. I wish there were a way to power on the unit without having to open the lid first.

 

Yes and no. You can set "Allow this device to wake the computer" for an external keyboard and mouse's USB hub. Of course, that will burn batteries faster when not hooked up, so use with caution.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! But if the power is on and the lid is closed, will the lcd still be on as well? Obviously I would want the laptop monitor off. Maybe that can be controlled in the power options menu also? When I use my laptop connected to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor it's usually plugged in but thanks for the tip.

 

There are plenty of ways. "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby" can be checked for quite a few of the devices in the device mangler, and for some of the others, the Sony power settings allows wake-up.

 

Me too, on my hp mini 210 the on/off is on the side and this will allow you to just flip the pc on and have it start to boot up and be ready for you.

 

nope lcd will be off. It is like this for almost all the laptop.

 

Really? This will allow the laptop's power button to turn the laptop on -- even with the lid closed? Are you sure?

How exactly is this done? I'd like to try it.

 

I think he was talking about when the computer is put to sleep or hibernate. You can move the mouse or keyboard to wake it.

 

Thanks again! I think I'll be taking the plunge within the next two weeks. SonyStyle was offering a free upgrade to the full HD display but I guess they just ended that. I also need to do a little more research with regards to the full HD vs. 1600x900 display since some people are complaining about the full HD brightness. A couple other questions. 1) Is it possible to get the black outside/silver inside color combo? 2) Any good pictures showing the finishes (black, silver, carbon fiber, metal shield)?

 

Oh, that's different. I'm talking about when the power is OFF and the lid is closed. I'd like to be able to press the power button to turn the laptop on -- without having to open the lid first.

 

No, but it will allow devices you have plugged in to turn it on. Like a USB mouse.

 

Ah, yes, that's different.
Since you can power most Sony devices on from their docking stations, I presume that it would be possible to create an external on/off switch hooked into it. Anyone have the schematics?
(Alternatively, it's possible one might trick it by removing the tiny sensor magnet from the display bezel -- that would supposedly trick the machine into thinking the lid is always open. Or rewire the power button. But I'd see a no-internal-mods solution as more elegant.)