Tag : sony vaio, vista premium, duo processor, gb ram, 320 gb, t7300 2

Company : Sony List Price : $3,499.99 Amazon Price : $2,599.99 Used Price : Average customer review :

Features

• Multimedia studio notebook with 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (”Santa Rosa”) processor and 17-inch LCD
• Dual 160 GB hard drives (320 GB total), 2 GB installed RAM (4 GB max), Blu-ray Disc read/write (as well as DVD and CD), NTSC/ATSC TV tuners
• Three USB 2.0, one, FireWire, one HDMI output, S/PDIF audio output, ExpressCard 54 card slot, Memory Stick & SD readers
• Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), 10/100 Ethernet, Nvidia GeForce 8600M video card with up to 1023 MB of shared memory; Bluetooth
• Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Ultimate (with Premium and Business capabilities)

Product Description

Sony VAIO(R) AR notebook combines the convenience and portability of a notebook with the power and performance of a desktop. Featuring a full-sized keyboard and stunning 17″ widescreen display, this multimedia powerhouse is the perfect productivity and entertainment companion. With spectacular XBRITE-HiColor LCD technology, the massive widescreen improves color contrast in your images, video and television content, delivering the ultimate HD viewing experience. The VAIO(R) AR notebook is the premier Blu-ray Disc-enabled PC, with the ability to play, record, and re-write Blu-ray Disc media. With Blu-ray Disc capabilities, you can enjoy stunning HD video in crystal-clear, flicker-free, mind-blowing resolution or record 25-50GB of video, pictures or data to a single Blu-ray Disc. The VAIO(R) AR notebook also offers end-to-end support for High-Def (1080i) compatible HDV camcorders and a suite of video applications that let you capture, edit and burn content to Blu-ray Disc media in full 1080i resolution without downgrading video quality and integrity. NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT notebook graphics processing unit (GPU) with up to 1023MB Total Available Graphics Memory ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner with NTSC analog and ATSC DTV tuning compatibility Multimedia Card Reader supports optional Memory Stick® media and Memory Stick(R) DUO? media5 with MagicGate® functionality and Secure Digital Media (SD) One PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot with CardBus support One ExpressCard /54 Slot Built-in camera and microphone Ports - Headphone Jack; 1 (4pin) i.LINK(R) connector IEEE 1394; Microphone Input; 3 USB (2.0 ports); 1 HDMI Connection Output; S-Video Input 1 Output 1; S/PDIF Output - 1; VGA Output 1; RJ45 Ethernet Port 1; RJ11 Modem Jack Preinstalled Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium; Norton Internet Security 2007 60-Day trial with spyware protection; Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0; and other utilities

Customer reviews

The best notebook I have ever owned
This is the second VAIO notebook I have purchased. I have been using it for about two months as a desktop replacement running dual monitors and have had no problems with it. It runs Vista well, the screen is beautiful, and has plenty of power for gaming.

I am a little confused about the previous reviews. This laptop *DOES* come with Vista Ultimate (that is what the U in VGN-AR550U means). Also, this laptop does *NOT* have a Blu-Ray drive. So trying to play BD movies in it simply will not work!

HELP ME AMAZON
I totally agree with Richard D. Unholz. I bought mine from antonline after placing the order with amazon first but they were out of stock. I am now expressing my dissatifaction with antonline since I have been trying to return the product 1 week now and although going through the necessary procedures they still have not sent me the RMA. I phoned them and the sent me back to their website. The pc is missing some key specs from the one I ordered. Guys be careful stay away from this company. You do not want to pay 3000 plus and its not worth it because the company itself ripped you off and they wont even respond to you email. I wish amazon could step in and do something cause all I want is exactly what I paid for or my money back if its out of stock. One would think that the service for a high priced machine would be better. Again guys stay away from antonline.

Not quite as advertised
The Amazon description says that this computer comes with Windows Vista Ultimate installed, but it actually has Windows Vista Home Premium. You can upgrade to Ultimate from the crapware screen for $159.00.

I have as yet been unable to play commercial BD movies to my HDCP compliant TV through the HDMI out connection, instead getting a message from the DVD player program that this is not allowed. I am also unhappy with the difficulty of removing the crapware, including the Spiderman movies.

Must Have HDCP Compliant HDMI Device
If you want to hook this up to a TV and watch BD movies, the TV must have a High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compliant HDMI connection. Apparently this is a secret because you can’t find this on Amazon’s description or on Sony’s website specifications. It also seems to be quite difficult to determine if a TV is HDCP compliant, so call the manufacturer if you can’t find it in a specification sheet or in the manual. An external computer monitor must also be HDCP compliant for BD movies to play. If you watch a BD movie through the HDMI connection, you can’t have the laptop display on simultaneously.

I don’t see this in the description on Amazon, but I bought mine direct from Sony and it came with an external ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner that accepts a cable card. You can watch HDTV broadcasts on the laptop with it.

I think this is a great laptop.