I have been waiting for the Vaio Z to be refreshed with a new and improved graphics card, i was hoping by the summer as other pc makers are doing this. Do you think Sony will use the new ATI 4000 series or the new nvidia series? Will it get refreshed by the summer?
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Anyone knows if there is a big difference between the Z46 with Intel P9700 and Z45 with Intel P8800?
Would speed and heat be noticeably greater with the P9700 processor?
My friend is thinking about pulling the trigger on a new vaio Z. He needs it for the fall school semester so he doesn't need it now, but it would be nice to have. I know no one knows when Sony will do a refresh but do they typically refresh this early? I read others talking about a refresh coming in May or June, but that's only 3-4 months after the Z was actually released. Is this a realistic refresh time frame or should he just buy it? Really don't want to buy and have a refresh two weeks later.
View 10 Replies View Related1. How do I control the duration for which the backlight keyboard lights are on.
2. The ambient light detector keeps dimming and brightening my screen when in a complete dark room. How to fix this?
3. How to turn on or off the green power light button?
Not announced officially yet, but take a look here at the German sonystyle:
https://www.sonystyle.de/SonyStyle/V...C/B-Serie-15-4
Will the new Z refresh ever get GT430M? The desktop version of Nvidia 4xx has already been released. I think it won't be long for the mobile version to be released.
I am planning to get a new laptop around August or September but I don't mind waiting for a couple of months if I can get GT430M. However, if the GPU will never get an update, I think I'll buy the Z earlier since I don't think there will be much of an update before August. From what I see on the old Z, the GPU never got updated. However this time the GPU on Z is a little behind with no DirectX 11 support.
I understand the z690 is available for our friendly neighbors to the north, but apparently, the z690 CTO is still unavailable through sonystyle.com.
Just wondering if anyone has heard any rumors or anything on the retail availability of the z540 / z590 refresh. That's one of two things keeping me from settling on a notebook to order.
How exactly often do they happen? I plan on getting an FW very soon, I could buy one early Feb, or wait until middle march will be the best times for me to buy one financially wise. My question is if I wait until middle March sometime, do you think there will be some upgrades on it opposed to the current FW390CTO?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI'll be able to order my new E6400 soon, as follows:
CPU: Intel P9700 2.8GHz
GPU: nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M / ExpressCard
HDD: (whatever is cheapest) I'll replace with a Scorpio Black or Blue (see question 5)
MEM: (whatever is cheapest) I'll replace with 2x2GB of Corsair DDR2-800
WI-FI: (whatever is cheapest) I'll replace with an AR9280 half miniPCIe card
LCD: WXGA+ (1440x900) LED-backlit
- Backlit keyboard, Bluetooth module, 6-cell battery
Keep in mind that I won't be running Windows on this machine, but instead, Linux (Arch Linux x64).
Questions:
1) Is the nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M enough to run Compiz-Fusion smoothly?
I previously ran Compiz-Fusion with an Intel GMA X3100 integrated GPU and was underwhelmed. Everything worked, but the animations were pretty herky-jerky, most of the time. Aero animations under Windows 7 were similarly not very smooth. I'm hoping for more with the nVIDIA Quadro (I read one report that Aero with an E6400/nVIDIA wasn't very smooth).
2) How bad *really* is the touchpad?
I've heard reports that the touchpad is imprecise and laggy, but I've also heard from people who say they haven't had any issues. Is this a "hit or miss" situation with the hardware, or is it due simply to what people are used to? Or has this been fixed?
3) How durable is the lid/screen?
I've heard reports that "the E6400 is well-built and durable ... except for the display," with no real elaboration. Is there any truth to this? Bending, flexing, etc.? Screen distortions if pressure is applied to the back? Does it seem strong? Feel strong?
4) Does the "brushed-metal" on the back of lid look good in person? Or does it look cheap, fake, tacky, etc ... ?
5) Can I replace the hard-drive?
I heard from one owner that the hard-drives used in the E6400 use a non-standard SATA layout, and thus aftermarket hard-drives cannot be installed. That seemed like it would be a very stupid thing for Dell to do ... but I thought I'd ask.
6) After time (6-12 months), does the display start to wobble when open?
I had an Acer Aspire 4720Z (I know, cheap quality) whose display would wobble when open. At the top of the screen, probably about 1/2" to 3/4" of wobble. The Dell Inspiron 1521 I'm using now does the same thing ... very annoying. Does the E6400 exhibit anything like this even AFTER extended ownership? Say 6 months to a year or more?
7) Is the audio bad?
I've heard from a few people that the audio is simply horrid, even through headphones. I've also heard that disabling PC Spk has fixed it for some people ... is this an outdated issue that has been fixed by Dell?
8) Is there anything else I should know?
If there's anything else that I need to know, I'd love to hear it.
Sorry for so many questions, but this will be a big purchase.
I want to disable bluetooth, like how I do it with my dell, in the dell, I just go into control panel => bluetooth devices => bluetooth settings,
and then on the first tab, there's an option to "show system tray icon" and "disable bluetooth adapter".. when the system tray icon is enabled, I can right click on the icon and select "disable bluetooth adapter
Since Intel has released it's latest mobile CPU's, can we expect any new Sony models?
[url]
P.....8"......1600 x 768
W....10.1"..1366 x 768
X.....11.1"..1366 x 768
Z.....13.1"..1600 x 900..*1920 x 1080 (*hoping someday available in US!)
Y.....13.3"..1366 x 768
CW..14".....1366 x 768
E.....15.5"..1366 x 768
NW..15.5"..1366 x 768
F.....16.4"..1600 x 900..1920 x 1080
Couldn't find a comparison chart of this, so I made one just for reference.
I'm set on getting a 1080p display in my next laptop and so far, Sony has the best choices! This is coming from someone who has purchased or influenced the purchase of about 17-18 Dell laptops.
I've been busy downgrading my FW31ZJ (european model) to windows XP SP3.
I have found and installed the drivers for all components and things went smoothly, up until the point where I wanted to get my Fn-keys working.
This is where I got stuck initially and after much forum lurking I found the right Sony utilities to install, the order to install them in and so on (it is all on this forum).
Basicly you need the following components for your machine.
- Sony Firmware Extension Parser driver
- Sony Programmable I/O Controller driver
- Sony Shared Library
- Sony Utility DLL
- Sony Utility Settings
- Vaio Event Service
You also might have to copy the VESConfig.ini from the original Vista install.
I read here that for most this has worked well and offered full fn-keys functionality under XP. Unfortunately I'm not of you...
I just finished watching the keynote and I didn't see a S in the lot of them? Anyone know if it is going happen, or should I start saving for the Z?
View 7 Replies View RelatedNow that new windows 7 and new intel processor came to market, do you think Sony will upgrade VAIO FW? I really like it, but want to take it in white + I really hope NEW video card arrives + DDR3 RAM is available. I'm not hard core gamer, but still want to play from time to time.
View 10 Replies View RelatedOn the SonyStyle site the SR can only be configured in 2 colors and you have to order silver to get the ATI card.
Are they just clearing mass stock to come out with a new SR refresh?
when will apple be doing the summer update of their macbooks? they usually do this by offering a better processor, hard drive, ram during june/july/august time. they also offer free ipod/itouch around august to get rid of old stock dont they? and the laptops are cheaper. and will snow leopard be out in the next month or two with the macbook updates? I want to buy a macbook pro but i dont mind waiting till its cheaper or has new stuff.
View 10 Replies View RelatedA pretty good deal on the dell xps 1645 came up recently and I was wondering whether i should buy it now or wait for any updates to the dell studio xps 16 in the summer.
Do you guys think the studio xps 16 will have the ATI 5000 series graphics chip or new processor by summer time
When I adjust the refresh rate on my Z to 60 Hz and restart it, it plunges back to 40.
View 5 Replies View RelatedWas toying with the idea of getting a 15" MacBook Pro, but as OneNote is a major application with me, dual-booting with Windows 7 like I'm running now, or using Parallels, is required.
What kind of battery life are you guys getting with Parallels / Fusion (or running Windows natively via Boot Camp)?
Been having mini wars in my mind pitting HP Envy 15 vs MacBook Pro vs Sony Z. Right now Sony Z's got the edge and my interest, and so these questions:
1. I'm interested in getting the Z with the 512GB SSD. Is ordering this configuration only possible via Sony's site?
At first I thought that to be the case, but then I saw in the several hundred page Sony Z thread, links to Jr.com and Amazon.com where they have the Z on sale in various configurations, but no 512GB SSD .....
Trying to get rid of these questionably useful programs -- but I don't see entries for them in add/remove programs in the control panel (or for any of the other useless VAIO software packages that come on OEM machines sans "fresh start")
View 5 Replies View RelatedI have a new spare keyboard for my e6400. I need to sell it and was wondering what other models would it fit. e6500 and e4300 maybe?..
what would be an honest price?
I'm wondering if I am the only one, but I had 2 SXPS16, an original and a replacement,
both were shipped with A08 bios, both seemed pretty hot to the touch like everyone talked about (still not unbearable, just a little uncomfortable) but this new one that was shipped with A10 bios seems way more manageable,
so manageable i don't even think about heat anymore, in fact it has been on my lap for the past hour and a half and no more hot than my 3 year old toshiba
you've probably heard it told to you time and time and time again, that there is no way to upgrade a dedicated GPU on a notebook.
But as an Acer owner, you may very well be among the lucky few who CAN upgrade their GPU, since Acer has used the MXM standard on its notebooks for quite some time now.
(For a primer on what MXM is, go have a look at the best resource online for MXM.)
But if your system came with any Intel GMA, it cannot be upgraded. NO EXCEPTIONS.
This topic will list which notebooks are CONFIRMED to be MXM-capable, as well as what slot they have, and what cards they were originally sold with (consider those safe upgrades). Any successful new-card upgrades will be linked to alongside the model.
A later post will document all the MXM cards that Acer has issued - although it's possible to use cards from other vendors, it's safest and more likely to be compatible if you stick with an Acer issue.............................
Matte + bright(300 cd/m2) scren
13 to 15 inch screen size
similar power consumption > long battery life
I can never find any in Ireland/UK/Europe. Which models in specific carry the 6 cell battery.
Would it be at all cost effective to get a cheap Aspire One and a seperate battery?
I noticed that some of the Aspire model numbers come suffixed with 'G' and 'Z', such as 4930G and 2920Z.
View 4 Replies View RelatedI've been checking (and hoping) to find a laptop with built-in serial port on HP's website but couldn't find any (with intel cpu).
Are there any current or past (last year) models with serial port at 15".
Dell, is it possible to configure 1564 with a different keyboard? I even prefer the 1545 raised keyboard.
It's more old school (bb guy said it would collect dust under keys more), but it's easier to use. Does anyone know if the insp15z has a keyboard with raised keys?
Anyone else find the big flat keys harder to use? Is there some advantage to these, thus Dell made the change? I wasn't wild about the Sony chicklet style either. Lenova seemed easiest to me of the ones I tested in BB.
