buying a z1290?

i am currently considering buying a z1290
and i would like to know a few things:

1) biggest concern: debating between 1920x1080 and 1600x900. my concern is can i play games smoothly on 1920 setting? i think 1600 is already quite hard for 330m to score more than 30fps for most new games, like cod6 with medium setting. i don't want to get a 1920 screen and then play games at scaled back resolution like 1366x768, some non-native resolution which doesn't look good. what do you guys think?

2) i read some forum post and realized that i can't replace the sony ssd with a normal off-the-shelf i buy elsewhere. is that true? paying 1300 more for 512gd is pretty crazy for me.... and i wondering are there any option to get a hdd without sacrificing the optical drive? also for the ssd, i heard the degradation is not that bad for z. but how soon should i be expecting some performance drop noticeably? and then i can format the whole thing and do a ghost restore, things should get back normal, right?

3) i heard the carbon fiber is essentially plastic? but the finish is different? what does that mean? and i saw a metal shield option for case, anyone got that? and how it looks and feels compares to the carbon fiber one. is it an actually metal case?

4) will i be able to put the z on my lap without burning myself? is it too hot to work with when loaded?

5) i also wonder how well the battery does in normal uses.

6) there is currently a 10% discount form their educational store, when paired with extended service plan. anything better?

7) how fast they ship? the official website said ship in around 7-8 days. i live in the west coast of the states. so how soon i can expect the z to come after i ordered it online?

8) i already have a copy of win7 pro so i am planning on doing a fresh install when i got the z. i wonder if the z comes with a driver cd or recovery cd with everything i need to do the installation.

thank you in advance for all replies.

 

1. it will be tough... most of the time you have to play in lower resolutions

2. sony use raid0, and the ssd is pretty much custom-made. unless you try to remove the optical drive and add in your own (which i believe there is a separate thread for it)

3. the top casing is made of carbon fibre. its essentially plastic yes, but lighter and more durable. i like the design for metal mosaic! no idea about the touch feeling though

4. should be warm to touch at max load

5. est 3.5 hrs with avg load for i5... should be lesser for i7

6. no idea. living in different timezone

7. -

8. i thought you have the option to opt for "fresh start" ? recovery cd you have to burn yourself ... takes about 4 dvd, or 2 dvd-dl


edit:
personally i think you would be better off getting a 1600x900 screen if you are gonna game, and use the extra $ you saved from it to get more ram / or upgrade the HDD

 

1) oh no....... have to play in lower resolutions............ that doesn't sound very good... so how does the screen look in lower(non-native) resolution? most lcd in non-native resolution looks like full of pixel(lack of better way to describe it).

8) fresh start requires win7 pro(50 dollar more). since i already has a copy of win7 pro, so i decided to go with the default home edition.
so you mean z doesn't come with a recovery dvd, and i have to download the recovery from sony website and burn it myself?

thanks again for your help~

 

1. its do-able... i play aion using 1366x768 resolution.
- image not as sharp as native resolution... look slightly more wash-out...
- if you want me to describe the feeling... it will be something like a downgrade from "photo" to "painting" quality

8. isn't fresh start free? they used to charge $50 for it, but after a ruckus and bad publicity reports, they removed the fees. should be in year 2008.

when you get the laptop, there should be a program (e.g. vaio recovery) that will enable you to create a recovery cd. you will need to do that, as none will be provided.

this is true for all companies (e.g. dell, lenovo, acer, etc) as a way to reduce cost

you cant dl the recovery from sony webby as there are none... (and its like 14gb or something for mine anyway)...




EDIT:
tried searching for z1290...
lol server maintenance



Sony still have a dog? thought they killed A.I.B.O. =P

 

1) i see...... then higher resolution screen is actually a bad thing for gaming....

8) fresh start is free when you choose the win7pro option, which is 50 dollar more than the default win7 home option. i guess it's a more subtle way to do it...

z1290 is the only Z now in USA sonystyle website with customizations. besides those signature collection~

 

For question 5 regarding battery life for typical web browsing and screen brightness set to the middle you should be getting a minimum of 4 hours. I usually get around 5.

 

1) biggest concern: debating between 1920x1080 and 1600x900. my concern is can i play games smoothly on 1920 setting? i think 1600 is already quite hard for 330m to score more than 30fps for most new games, like cod6 with medium setting. i don't want to get a 1920 screen and then play games at scaled back resolution like 1366x768, some non-native resolution which doesn't look good. what do you guys think?

I just ordered a 1290. I've been using a z555 for 2 years with 16x9 res. Going to 1920 res is going to result in some small text. But more importantly, the 330m card will struggle at top Rez with full HD, but should fare very well at 16x9. And trust me, the graphics at that res are just fine. Worst case, use hdmi and plug into a larger monitor.

2) i read some forum post and realized that i can't replace the sony ssd with a normal off-the-shelf i buy elsewhere. is that true? paying 1300 more for 512gd is pretty crazy for me.... and i wondering are there any option to get a hdd without sacrificing the optical drive? also for the ssd, i heard the degradation is not that bad for z. but how soon should i be expecting some performance drop noticeably? and then i can format the whole thing and do a ghost restore, things should get back normal, right?

I'm waiting for written confirmation on this but the word is that Sony has a proprietary solution that provides TRIM on RAID 0. The drives may be a part of that solution.

3) i heard the carbon fiber is essentially plastic? but the finish is different? what does that mean? and i saw a metal shield option for case, anyone got that? and how it looks and feels compares to the carbon fiber one. is it an actually metal case?

I have the carbon fibre on my 555. I loved it. However, I've gone with metal mosaic for my new laptop.

4) will i be able to put the z on my lap without burning myself? is it too hot to work with when loaded?

I had no problems with 555.

5) i also wonder how well the battery does in normal uses.

There's a review on this site that specifies battery results. Iirc 4.5 hours on integrated. My 555 does 3 hours gaming. 6 hours is what I get with integrated graphics. Given the hungrier graphics card and CPU I'm not surprised to read there's about 25-20% drop though.

6) there is currently a 10% discount form their educational store, when paired with extended service plan. anything better?

Not heard of anything better.

7) how fast they ship? the official website said ship in around 7-8 days. i live in the west coast of the states. so how soon i can expect the z to come after i ordered it online?

I'm told 8-9 days.

8) i already have a copy of win7 pro so i am planning on doing a fresh install when i got the z. i wonder if the z comes with a driver cd or recovery cd with everything i need to do the installation.

Burn your own?

 

1. I recommend the 1600x900 screen for you. It still looks amazing, will get a little brighter, and will be able to play more games at native resolution with higher fps.

2. It would appear that Sony is using proprietary Toshiba SSDs on the Z12, but not enough users have opened theirs to confirm this for all size drives. The Z11 used Samsung drives. There DOES appear to be a background garbage collection utility for these drives. But TRIM is NOT currently supported. Despite that, the background garbage collection would appear to keep the drives running well. I recommend you check out this thread for more information about the SSD: http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...g-term-ssd-performance-post-your-results.html. This is specific to the Samsung drives in the Z11, but the Z12 Toshiba drives likely work similarly (or even better). You cannot replace the SSD with a standard sized drive, say an Intel. But if you're willing to sacrifice your ODD, you can install a HDD in the bay. There is a thread in the forum for that modification.

3. The metal shield is not really a metal case. That would make this thing far more than 3 pounds. It is carbon fiber, which as another poster stated is a stronger material than plastic (it's the stuff they make some helicopter rotors with).

4. If you're doing normal activity, the Z stays very cool and can rest on your lap comfortably. If you are stressing the hardware, it can get a bit warm by the vent, but still can rest on your lap (but probably not directly on your skin).

5. If you're like me and are obsessed with getting the best battery life out of a system, then you can make some tweaks on the power plans and get about 5.5 hours doing office work with wifi on. If you're watching a movie or playing a game, don't expect more than 2 or 3 hours max. Switching to the Speed mode (Nvidia graphics) obviously drains the battery faster.

6. If you're in the U.S. you can get a 15% discount relatively easily with the purchase of a warranty and accessories. You can return the warranty later. This has been discussed to death in a couple threads (see these: http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...sony-vaio-z-i5-i7-official-owners-thread.html and http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/488550-z12-available-sonystyle-us.html. Some have received 20% discounts, but Sony will fight you really hard on that one.

7. Yours will likely be built in San Diego, so if you get ground shipping calculate your travel time accordingly. I ordered mine in late April and didn't get it until late June. So just hope you are not unlucky like me. It sounds like from others' experiences that you can expect to get it within Sony's estimated time.

8. All of the recovery information is already included on your Z. You just need to stick some DVDs in there and burn the recovery DVDs yourself. It took me about an hour and I used two regular DVDs. The Z has an "Action Center" which will prompt you to do this.

 

I'm in the process of working with Sony Canada and a sales rep on the TRIM for RAID support. I've ordered my laptop and am threatening to cancel unless they can confirm in writing. I've also got an option to test the machine and return if I can't validate TRIM support for RAID mode.

So far this is what I'm hearing:
- The rep indicated that he'd had an answer back from Sony US Product Compliance. They're adamant about TRIM support, saying that they have a proprietary chipset as well as drives. At a theoretical level this does fly.
- However, I've shown them the Intel article retracting support. They've acknowledged it and thus I'm getting flexibility to back out. My argument is that I dont want RAID without TRIM (obviously, I'm not pointing out the garbage collection feature). The fact is, I specifically asked the rep up front about TRIM and he said yes - so I get to wiggle.
- I'm hoping to hear something back on Monday. When I get something in writing you can bet I'll be posting it here. The jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. However, it's plausible enough to not cancel my order.

Edit: Found my own answer. To validate if TRIM is working in Windows 7:
run (as admin)
fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify
If the result is '0' TRIM is enabled.

Edit: That's weird. I've got a RAID 0 setup on 2 velocerator HDDs on my desktop system and got the result 0. My theory is that because the setup is RAID it 'thinks' it's working. I'll need to ask around on this.

 

I'm looking VERY VERY forward to your response from Sony on this. From everything I've heard, they have not breathed one word of detail about how these SSDs in RAID maintain their performance over time. Good for you for pushing them on this issue. Rep added.

Yes, please be sure to post what you hear. I'm sure it would fit very well in the Owner's thread, as well as the Sony Z11 SSD Long Term Results thread.

 

thanks for the answers guys.
i would love to play games on my new z if 1600x900 is good enough for medium setting for games like cod2 and bfbc2. anyone know if the z can do 25fps for those 2 games?
really looking forward to the TRIM support, want to keep the expensive ssd for as long as they can.
15% discount would be really nice, can you return the accessories and warranty for full return after the discount?

 

I haven't downloaded fraps, so I don't know exactly what fps I'm getting on the couple games I play. I can play Call of Duty 4 on native resolution with medium-high settings and get very good gameplay. My guess is I'm in the 25-35 fps range. I have hooked up my Z to my TV a couple times via HDMI and also get surprisingly smooth gameplay at full HD. Be aware though that this is with a fairly significant overclock. If you want to be able to play more modern stuff with decent settings, you'll probably need to do some overclocking of the GPU. This is especially true if you plan on playing Bad Company 2. That is going to be quite a bit more demanding than Call of Duty 2 or 4.

While the Z can definitely play some games, I think it's best to realize that it is not a gaming computer. It's just not designed for that to be its primary function. But for this size and weight, the fact that it can game at the level it can is amazing. Only the Acer 3820TG and Alienware M11x can compete with the Z for the portability-power combination (at least of the systems I'm aware of).

Even if TRIM is not supported, I wouldn't fret too much. The SSDs themselves are doing something in the background that is keeping them solid.

I know that you can return the warranty for a full refund. I'm not sure about the accessories.

 

umm, i do realize this is not exactly a gaming laptop, and i totally agree that it's a good gaming machine considering its the weight. but at the same time, i kind of want to sacrifice the resolution, even to 1366x768 for the gaming aspect. but i guess 330m is already pretty good enough.

yea, that's cool. ssd is the way to go now~

i see, thanks for the reply.

 

2 years ago I purchased a Blackbird 002 along with my z555. My tAke at the time was that the 9800gs video card could give me 3d gaming on medium quality. On the road for buisness that gave me gaming in a hotel room. It's knowing that you CAN get some decent gaming that makes this laptop. Yes, it's not a pure gaming beast, but it is decent.

IMHO if you want gaming go desktop. Mobile ultra gaming laptops are heavy but worthwhile for the LAN party crowd. However, a 330m is going to be a 6x step up for me against my 555. Not bad for a 2 year wait. But it's all the other stuff, notably the ssds; this laptop will actually show the raid 0 velociraptors on my Blackbird rig how to store data!

 

i wanna do desktop too. but i am a college student and studying aboard too.. so desktop seems little bit too heavy to carry, also the gaming laptops..
so how's your new 16x9 z doing? pretty smooth gaming experience with medium setting in 16x9? i like your config, i am gonna do that too. how it working out for you?

 

i am currently considering buying a s760 with i7 and 310m config.
and i would like to know a few things:

1) biggest concern: debating between 1920x1080 and 1600x900. my concern is can i play games smoothly on 1920 setting? i think 1600 is already quite hard for 330m to score more than 30fps for.
___________________________________________________________________
Pallet Racking | Fitflop Boots

 

my bad, i was considering between s760 and z1290 because of the concern of 1600x900 gaming performance, and i have posted separately in both forum with different questions, i just copy and paste the header with difference questions, made a mistake there copying ...
anyway, no one replied in the fujitsu forum yet.... and think i am gonna for the i7 16x9 z1290.
thanks for all the replies~

 

hey guy, don't be using two different usernames, there's no good reason to do that... consider yourself lucky that the admins didn't ban BOTH your accounts.

 

I was so excited that I went and updated my signature on order. I'm expecting delivery on Jul 20.

My experience at the time with the z555 was that I'd get average graphics but at least it was workable. I'm thinking that the z1290 is going to be a 6 fold increase in power over my z555 (rough guess) graphics wise. The SSDs will blow my mind however! I'll let you know how it works out.

It's an absolute fact that 1080p will push the 330m card harder than the 900p. In reading the threads on this topic this also tends to be the least talked about element. However, that makes sense - this is not meant to be a gaming laptop; it's a business centric laptop that can do games. Go into the purchase with that mentality and you're golden. Expectations are everything.

That said, if you do plan on getting your game on then IMHO 900p is the way to go for frame rates. You want a bigger screen go external. My z555 does a great job of games on a 1080p external screen. The 900p sucks less power, requires a less intense backlight and does not present the problem of small text or switching dpi settings when you go external.

I'm not saying that 1080p is wrong. I'm just very, very clear on why 900p is for me. It's all about personal choice and expectations. For some, the very fact it is 1080p just makes for fun bragging rights. For me I know what 900p looks and feels like, and I won't care in 2 years time that I couldn't brag about my 900p screen. That said I've seen more posts about 1080p small text and hassles with external montors and dpi swithing than I've seen raves on how great the 1080p screen is.

 

@Carmien,

Did you hear from Sony regarding TRIM with RAID?

 

Verbally, yes. In writing as I ask on Monday, no.

In the Sales Rep's defence he did follow up of his own accord Monday morning. He also said that he had to get permission to send on the details of an internal email. I get that. However, I'm getting more and more suspicious.

That said, this is more of an intellectual exercise now. The demonstrated GC on these drives appear to make TRIM moot. I'm getting 256GB so space won't be an issue. However, based on the principle of the thing I will keep pushing. I'll send an email after posting this back to the rep summarizing what's happened and asking for a formal response.

Thanks for the reminder.

EDIT: I've just sent an email to the rep with a documented list of my experience. I've also clarified why I am skeptical of the claim, and that the delay on Sony's part to provide something on writing that contradicts Intel's stated position only adds to my doubt.

Hopefully, this will move things along.

 

i only use one...

 

yep, i just ordered the z1290 with 1600x900. the rest is much like your config, except i don't need a bluray and i am gonna buy myself 8g ram later from newegg to save some money and keep the 2x2 i ordered for my other laptop.

and i go with large capacity battery thinking adding the 0.4lb (large vs standard battery) to the z1290 won't be too much problem considering it's super light weight. although that might kind of getting away of what Z is proud of, but guess that's my personal choice.
and i am expecting the laptop on 28 after paying $45extra for express shipping~


VPCZ1290 CTO
Intel i7-620M | 4GB DDR3-SDRAM-1066 | 256GB SSD with RAID 0 | 16x9 Display |DVD-Disc | Metal Mosaic | Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

 

Congrats. I went for blu Ray because I have a bunch of movies and missed having it on my z555 when travelling. But that is a specific need for sure.

I have the extended battery for my z555 and found having 2 batteries to be a useful option when travelling. I will likely get a second extended battery ahead of my next big trip. They are not that heavy but do give a handle by which to carry the laptop.

 

Cool. I don't know if I would say TRIM would be "moot." I still think it'd be a step up from the background garbage collection (I assume that that is making the drive work somewhere/sometime to do the GC). But yes, the GC on the drives hopefully keeps them running strong even without TRIM. I don't know if it'd help me anyway, since I have the Z11 with Samsung drives and not the Toshibas. It sounded to me like the rep was claiming TRIM is activated on Z12s with Toshibas.

 

That is exactly how I heard it when I pushed for details. Interestingly I've not heard back from him on my paraphrase. I will be getting the laptop tomorrow and putting in a call tocustomer care.

 

So, the mystery thickens. Regarding the Intel announcement about TRIM on RAID 0 I found a unsubstantiated claim that Intel’s announcement about TRIM support only applies to single SSD’s that are present in a system with a RAID array, and not to a RAID array of SSD’s. This has caused confusion. I've asked the source of this claim to cite a reference for this.

I've also caught a rumour that OCZ is working with MSFT on a fix at the OS level. The basic idea behind this is, I believe, that if Windows 7 can see the drives in a RAID individually then the TRIM commands can be executed properly. If Sony has indeed got a fix for this at the OS level it would be compelling.

However, I'm still waiting for an official Sony reply.