A Review of the Sony VAIO VGN-AR790U/B 17" Multimedia Laptop

Sony is a big time name in the entertainment industry so it is no surprise they would go all out on their line of multimedia notebooks. This is truly the case with the VAIO VGN-AR790U/B a 17" monster that is loaded down with some of the best hardware Sony has to offer. Of course all that computing power comes at a premium, really as do all Sonys. In this review I've gotten my hands on one of these beauties and I'm going to let you know how it performs and who is going to get the most out of purchasing one of these bad boys.

Hardware:

Imaging: 1 megapixel webcam (generating an image comparable to a cell phone's camera)

Processor: 2.50 GHz "Penryn" Intel Core 2 Duo T9300

Storage Space: 400GB hard drive

RAM: 4GB RAM (un-upgradable)

Optical Drive: BluRay ROM with integrated CD R/RW and DVD +/-

Graphics Accelerator: Nvidia GeForce 8600M (using up to 1791MB of shared system RAM)

This notebook is primarily designed for entertainment, and performance. It is rather large and isn't one you'll be carrying around everywhere like to class or whatever. But it will move from room to room or perform well on the plane entertaining your entire row of seats. The notebook has a decent power plant in the 2.5GHz Intel Penryn and plenty of hard drive space with the 400GB drive. You'll be using every bit of it to store all the games, HD movies, and music this notebook will be playing for you. I also really love the bluray drive, you will to if you don't already have a next generation player.

Connectivity:

Integrated WiFi

Integrated BlueTooth

3 2.0 USB ports (the typical peripheral connection to be used to connect digital cameras, iPods and printers)

1 FireWire port (to be used for high speed data transfer between digital camcorders or other PC's)

1 HDMI output (to be used to connect to high definition televisions)

1 VGA output (this is a typical monitor connection)

1 S-Video output (this is a typical video output for projectors and some compatible televisions)

1 ExpressCard slot (to add peripherals like a cellular modem)

1 PCMCIA slot (an older version of the slot above)

Memory card and SD card slots (to directly insert memory from portable devices into the notebook)

1 audio out / 1 mic in

1 digital audio out

The connectivity in this notebook is one point. The HDMI output is crucial especially since Sony has included a bluray drive. This notebook would really be at home in the bedroom or living room where it can be connected into an entertainment center. I would also serve as a great desktop replacement for college kids. All these features come at a price though. Right now prices average around $3000 for this notebook. I also don't foresee any drastic price reductions since this is a newer offering from Sony. So if you can afford it and have the need, why not go ahead and treat yourself.