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Sony VAIO VGN-Z720D: Graphics Card

This has never been a technical blog but I decided to post this because I know thousands of Sony customers out there are having problems with drivers for Windows 7 on Sony machines that were bought just before the release of Windows 7, specifically the graphics card.

I ditched Sony’s free upgrade in favor of a clean install of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. After reading the instructions for the “upgrade” process from Vista to 7 that came with the DVDs in the mail, I figured it would be impossible to end up with a clean system.

While I love the hardware, I would not recommend a Sony computer to anyone. First, their machines come pre-loaded with an incredible amount of bloatware. Second, they don’t come with disks. You have to create your own recovery disks, which only allows you to re-create the bloat-filled setup you started with. Third, Sony’s customer support is pathetic. I base this on personal experience and general comments on forums and discussion boards. And, yes, I have spent time on the phone with a call center not located in the US. A complete wast of time.

So, what’s the gist of this post? Well, after installing Windows 7, you need the drivers to support the new operating system, which you can find and download from Sony’s website. However, as of today, the list of drivers is not complete and many of the drivers on that list do not install properly on Windows 7. If it’s a Windows 7 driver, why do you need to install it Vista compatibility mode?

The greatest omission (in my opinion) is the lack of a driver for the built-in NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics card. This is inexcusable. This card was one of the main selling features of this machine. I work with an external HD monitor via the built-in HDMI connection. Without the NVIDIA driver, no second monitor.

In the meantime, I’ve some temporary solutions, including these two:

1) I downloaded the drivers for Vista 64-bit and ran the installation in Vista-mode. The install worked without errors and the device manager shows the card (sans exclamation point). The light on the Stamina/Speed switch lit up (but I could not switch between Stamina and Speed mode while the computer was turned on). I could run my external monitor from the HDMI jack and dual-screen mode worked, but the image on the external monitor was not crisp.

2) The fuzzy picture on the external monitor is not acceptable, so I just tried something new: VGN-Z820D does have a video driver for Windows 7 (visit this link). Install worked OK and the stamina/speed light is now lit up. I still can’t switch between stamina/speed mode while the computer is turned on, but sleep mode is now working correctly. I haven’t had an opportunity to hook it up to my external monitor yet. This will be the final test. I’m hopeful that the Win 7 driver will do the trick and give me a crisp image.

Feel free to share any other suggestions you might have.

Tags: drivers, graphics, update, vgn-z720d, video, windows 7