Sony VAIO TZ Review Discussion

The R500 is the U.S. model version of the RX1 which is available in Japan now, or anytime now. If you Google Toshiba RX1 you will find some semi-reviews. Dynamism is taking pre-orders, expected to ship in early July. This is the first machine I'm aware that will offer a 64 GB SSD, which should placate those who wanted a SSD, but felt the 32 GB SSD in the TZ90 was too small. The screen is slightly larger, however because of the use of the SSD it overall is lighter than the TZ90 even with a built in DVD. Not quite as sexy looking as the TZ90, also the processor is slightly slower. Overall, if you have four grand to blow, it looks like a great machine.

 

So are there any rumors of the upcoming processor bump to the L7500?

 

Sorry, if I google for "Toshiba RX1", I just get some announcements for it.
Are you going for the TZ90, the RX1 or non of them? What do you mean -"four grand to blow" - it won´t cost 4000$. Tohsibadirect is listing it for 1999$. I´m from Europe. I think they are going to do the $ = € thing..

 

I already have the TZ90 as of last week, and am very happy with it. Having said that, if the RX1 had been available, I might have been tempted. The RX1's bigger screen, 64 GB SDD and built-in DVD, which still weighs in at less than the TZ90, is awfully appealing.

Yes, you are right that it is listed as $1,999 on the Toshiba direct website. But that is with a standard HDD, and probably only 4200 rpm at that. It seems like a terrible shame to buy a notebook like this and not opt for the 64 GB SSD. When you add the SSD and upgrade the RAM to 2GB, which is highly recommended, you are talking about close to 4 grand, or more if you order it from dynamism.com.

 

themaiday,

My mistake - I checked the Toshiba website and the HDD is 5400 rpm. Also, no word on U.S. Toshiba site about availability of machine with 64 GB SSD. Dynamism says shipping the Japanese version in early July. Unless financially undoable, I wouldn't recommend ordering this machine without the SSD.

 

Not 100% sure but I think the SSD drive they offer will be the 2.5" type which when ordered, you cannot have a DVD, so its one or the other. On the web site, they listed the upcoming 64 SSD and its without the DVD drive. You can't have them both, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

I can't even imagine how much 64GB would cost right now if 32GB costs $600 to $700.

 

Looking at the dynamism page, the 64 GB SDD model comes with a DVD, and sells for $3,799.

 

impressive features. if dynamism sells for 3799, other retailers might have them for cheaper. also, I noticed the cpu is u7500 only at 1.06GHz, no option for 1.2GHz. But 3 usb ports is very nice.

For those that thinks 11.1 is too small and are looking for a 12.1, this is definitely the way to go.

 

outrigger,

an article about you,

http://laptops.engadget.com/2007/06/28/sony-vaio-tz-first-impressions/

 

LOL thats funny.

 

Dear Outrigger,

Thank you very much for your excellent review! You convinced me! I am planing to buy it at the same place you did but i have some questions:

1. I see that in your pictures the keyboard has standard English layout, but in the picture in one of your last post the keyboard has some japanease characters. If I order the English keyboard, will it have any japanease keys?

2. I am planing to install vista ultimate. Where do you get the English drivers for your laptop when you do a fresh install? Do they come with the laptop?

3. Are you able to install the 64 bit version of vista? or is it an overkill?

Thanks a lot in advance,


elies

 

I might be able to help you.

1. You have the option to choose US keyboard which means there will NOT be any Japanese characters on the keyboard.

2. Check this link for info on drivers (thanks to outrigger)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=132293&highlight=guide+to+tz90+drivers

3. I don't believe you can install 64 bit. only 32.

hope this helps.

 

Wow ASH148,

Thanks for your super fast reply. Do you have yours already up and running?

My only issue was the keyboard layout so i'll go and order mine. Can't wait to get it!

The only thing that i miss in this laptop is Santa Rosa's 800Hz FSB, better graphics, and built in HDSPA.


I just read in the link you sent that Sony doesn't provide 64 bit drivers so i'll stay with 32 bits, where I'll probably get less errors.

Thanks a lot!

Elies

 

ASH is right.

If you're getting it from pricejapan, just request for an english keyboard and you'll be set.

the japanese keyboard pic was just to illustrate what a japanese keyboard would look like, I do not have that keyboard.

 

I'm in Japan now and have tried both the Sony and Toshiba. In terms of weight, Toshiba seems to be lighter when no battery is attached. In fact, Toshiba is so light that I almost feel nothing on hand !

However, the screen of Toshiba is far behind Sony, even in maximum brightless, it is just too dim imo.

In fact, even though the screen of Sony is smaller than Toshiba on specification, I found that the difference is extremely minimal in terms on actual usage.

 

Nice news rickywck, thanks!

Meanwhile, this should be a very-close-to-production unit. Maybe the TZ90 is the overall more sophisticated notebook. Also, like mentioned before, there will be a hugh difference in price.

 

Would it be possible for you to go into any more detail about the heat/cooling on the notebook?

Heat, or lack thereof, is going to be the most important issue in my next notebook, and I'm also looking for something relatively small and light (this would be on the extreme side of both). The fact that this notebook uses SSD and ULV must take a significant chunk out of the heat output, but is it possible for you to find any software to actually measure how hot the CPU gets under normal usage, and see if the SDD gets any warmer than the ambient case temperature?

I'm currently using a ASUS W7j, which is fairly cool, but I think I'm feeling a lot of heat off of the 2.5" drive which is right underneath the right palm and uses a standard core duo processor, as well as has a Go7400. So I assume the Vaio generates far less heat, but at the same time has far less air volume to cool with, so I was just hoping for a little more insight on what i can expect. Thanks.

Edit: sorry, one other thing, is it constructed entirely from carbon fiber, or is it just the lid like a lot of other "carbon fibre" notebooks?

 

Not sure who your question is directed at or which laptop, but if its the TZ, I can answer a couple.

1. Since the SSD drive has zero moving parts, it generates zero noise and it requires no fans for cooling as its heat output is significantly less than a conventional disk. Not sure what the idle temps are but its easy to check with temp monitoring software. But do keep in mind that since the cpu produces heat, the temps of everything in your laptop will be higher than the ambient due to heat transfer. Just like if you put a hot glass on a table, the table will get warm. The TZ only has one small vent opening on the left hand side with just a small fan blowing out ALL the hot air, so it does quite warm, but its limited to just that part of the laptop. Remember, the laptop is tiny and has very small air flow inside. The keyboard does not get hot and remain very comfortable to use, same goes for the palm rest.

2. The carbon fiber is not just limited to the lid, but most of the laptop including the palm rest, thats how they were able to keep the weight so low. The only area that is not carbon fiber is the glossy area of the keyboard, because they wanted a contrast of the dull keys and glossy area. IMO I would've prefer if it had been all carbon and no glossy materials.

 

32 GB SSD before the TZ gets a 64 GB SSD - what is a possible solution? A solution is to add an Express Card 16 GB, a Memory Stick 8 GB and a SD 8 GB. Then - all in all - you have 64 GB available in the machine. My point is only that this is possible to do, not necessarily economic. But it provides the user with plenty of solid state GB, after all!

 

"Outriiger wrote :Total hard drive after format shows 30.5GB of space
Windows – 8GB
MS Office and other applications – 5.5GB
Free space – 17GB"


Outrigger,

You only put 8GB on your partition for windows? I though the minimum space requirement for vista is 15GB. Isn't 8GB too little?

 

I am seriously considering this HOT notebook~~

But occasionally I play little WoW...
Can this little thing play WoW on average setting? (1024x900 mid setting fps 20+ to 40+)

 

if this is going to be your ONLY computer and you play games, I would suggest wait for the SZ6 series to surface. it will have the santa rosa platform and dedicated graphics. its not a gaming machine but will have more graphics power than the TZ.

While not as sexy or portable as the TZ, its only 13.3 and weighs 4 lbs, so given the increased screen real estate, its not bad.

 

Thank you for your advice~
You mean SZ5?
It is good, but once you single handed TZ, you will never forget that feeling (of nothing) XD

 

Outrigger, thanks so much for the great review! I can't even believe that there is a newer model to the TX. I went to the Sony store in San Jose, CA and asked the employee if there would be a newer model coming out soon because I do not want to invest on the TX now and find out that a couple of months later - something new will surface! *Extremely excited!*

I do have some questions, *pretty new to some of these computer terms*, you mentioned that you could choose different things:


-------------------------------------------
Sony allows you to have several configurations of the hard drive/optical drive combination. You can have:

- 2.5” 160GB with no DVD drive.
- 32GB SSD with DVD drive.
- 32GB SSD with 2.5” 160GB HDD
- 1.8” 100GB with DVD drive.
-------------------------------------------


What do you mean by 2.5" and 1.8"? I'm not sure what it means and what the differences are, if any. I was thinking about getting the 1.8" 100GB with DVD drive, since I use that drive feature all the time. Having plenty of space will also do me some good as well.


Thanks for everything!

 

Do you think that the TZ will be available in the United States anytime before the end of next month? Because I really want it before the new semester days. LOL

 

great review outrigger. regarding your wallpaper, the link you provided looks slightly different than the one on your lappy......why?

 

it might be possible that they have changed it, I can't seem to find an exact one anymore. The one I downloaded was 1600 x 1200 and I resized it to this current laptop's screen res.

it looks like the TZ is coming to the US either this month or next!

2.5 inch 160GB is a 5400rpm drive
1.8 inch 100GB is a 4200rpm drive

if you get the larger 2.5" it would be put where the optical drive is so you can have just the hard drive and no optical.

if you opt for the smaller and very slow 1.8" you can have the hard drive and the optical.

currently the largest available capacity of 1.8" 4200rpm is 100GB and imo, its very slow for a vista OS.

 

OOh thanks for the information!!! Yay! So, that means that it should be out soon. I'm so excited!

 

It is on Sony's website now - and it is much cheaper to import it from Japan

 

Yes, its actually better to import from Japan where you can customize it to your liking and only they have the 2.5" 160gb hard drive option.

I have heard of 1.8" 120 gb hard drives being made or already just being available.

 

LOL you beat me to it! LOL. Should be out at the end of the month, early next month

 

Also on the Sony site, the two highest models doesn't tell you the storage capacity. I can't tell if it's Flash - I'm assuming it is, but how much?

 

The two most expensive model has 32GB SSD.

 

Is it just me or does that seems to be soooo low. LOL.

 

attach and PM plz? =)

 

One thing I am having trouble with is the internal 1.8 drive seems slow so I prefer the 32 gbyte ssd (I need an optical drive so the ssd plus internal drive doesn't work). The idea would be to get an external 2.5" drive for data.

I have been warned that ultraportables don't actually put out enought power across the USB 2.0 port to power the normal USB powered external 2.5" drives.

That would be a deal breaker since 32 gbytes is simply insufficient. I suppose using other flash ram jump drives is possible but they are really too small to cobble together to achieve 40-80 gbytes of external memory.

Have you tried an external 2.5" drive with the TZ? Does it work. How do transfer rates compare with the 1.8" internal using the ultra ATA bus?

Thanks.

 

Sure - I've hooked up USB 2.0 hard drives just fine, and the ports on the TZ power them sufficiently without problem. I wouldn't be able to give a decent speed comparison, not having run benchmarks, but it's certainly "fast enough" to be able to store/run apps off it. Expect the same speeds you'd get off any USB 2.0 device attached to any computer; ultraportables are neither slower nor faster in that regard, which applies the same way to the TZ.

Mind, I haven't tried connecting _two_ external drives to it. I don't know if that would work (but with a single 160GB that should get you a long way).

 

I ordered the TZ without a DVD, so I've been using a Seagate external HDD to rip DVD images from my desktop computer to transfer to my TZ. Haven't noticed that it's any slower from the external HDD to my TZ than it is from my desktop to the external HDD.

 

Is that external hard drive powered by USB or from the wall socket? That's helpful on performance. Just want to double check the USB can power the external drive. Thanks.

 

sorry, I didn't see Pseudo Nim's comments above. Sounds like USB can power the external drive. Thanks.

 

Also, I read some review that said the internal HDD on the TZ was "jumpy" with video. That was the source of my anxiety about the "slowness" of the 1.8" internal HDD (4500 rpm) vs. the spin rates of 2.5" drives (5400). Anyone have any thoughts on the speed of the internal HDD from experience?

Has anyone tried streaming a MPEG off an external hard disk? Work OK?

 

Dos anybody know if there is reason as to why Sony did not opt for a 7200rpm 2.5" drive? Heat, power etc... Its seems a shame

 

The reasons you mentioned.

With an ultraportable most people want as much battery life as possible and in general the more RPMs the more consumption.

Furthermore, heat from high RPM hard drives can be an issue in small footprint notebooks. For example the heat can affect the performance and life span of other components in the notebook. Also you don't want the fan to go off constantly or want the laptop to be to too hot on your lap.

The perfect ultraportable to me consists of the following: low weight, small footprint, long battery life, low temperature, low noise.

 

I've just got a TZ for work and it's cracking.

The primary drive behind getting it was to have all the admin tools, software, utilities with me when I travel around the offices. The laptop needed to be small, light, easy to use and reasonably powerful and on that score, the TZ nails it.

The one issue I have run into so far is installing XP onto it. Out corporate policy states no Vista machines on the network at all for the time being so after nuking Vista with the standard XP image in use at the moment, XP was installed. However, some of the drivers don't work properly (graphics being the most annoying) and none of the oem utilities are available in XP version yet. After speaking to Sony's tech support though, they let me know that all the drivers and utils are being developed for XP and should be completed by the end of Sept. In the mean time, using the hardware manufacturer's latest available drivers does resolve most things is only partly. For example, at present I can only get the "square" resolution working but the latest drivers I can find so allow this to be stretched to fit the screen. Whilst that's a solution, it is only a bodge fix for the short term.

 

Not sure what you meant by cracking.

Regarding installing XP, check the Sony forum here, there is a dedicated thread in which people have successfully installed xp with all the drivers working.

 

No, I mean the SZ6, its on Sony's web site for US now.

 

Cheers for the advice. I'll have a look and see what's what.

Cracking = very good. sorry for the English phrases

 

Yep I noticed some jumpiness with video when I was running vista if I was multitasking other stuff while playing video.

Installed XP and its much faster.

IMO, the 950 GMA integrated graphics is not sufficient for vista. Even running flash video on vista is jerky, whereas it runs silky smooth on xp.

Sony really should have put in the x3100 integrated graphics for the tz. But my guess is it probably generates too much heat and takes too much power for it to be put in such a small package.

 

It definitely would've been fantastic if Sony was able to incorporate the SR platform into the TZ, but I will take extra battery life any day for what I use it for.

I'm not sure what all you mean by jumpy videos. I have several Firefox tabs open, Word doc, Outlook, AOL, and watching a Video either from the hard drive or my network drive, DVD or flash, and have not noticed any jumpiness even once. Could you guys clarify what you mean as well as what other programs you're running?

 

Try watching this HD flash video:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/22931.html

make sure to select the flash player at the bottom of the video controls.

When I was running vista, these types of hd videos were very jerky.

Also, try zipping a huge file or doing some video encoding/decoding while watching an HD resolution video (not 640x480 or dvd resolution). The jumpiness is def there.