Sony VAIO AR170PU2 is the new member of Sony VAIO AR series introduced in June this year. First model in these series - Sony VAIO AR190G is the first Blue-ray drive enabled laptop. High price, shortage of Blue-ray media content and Blue-ray software glitches may be the reasons for Sony to introduce low-end sibling - Sony VAIO AR170PU2 featuring all bells & whistles of Sony VAIO AR190G but without Blue-ray drive. Starting at $ 2,199.99 Sony VAIO AR170PU2 is a more affordable package not only for professional HD video editors and producers.

Features:

* Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83 GHz)
* Genuine Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
* DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+-RW Drive2
* 1GB RAM and 200GB hard drive4
* 17″5 WUXGA XBRITE-HiColorâ„¢ LCD Technology
* Graphics: NVDIA® GeForce® Go 7600GT 256MB Video RAM
* Graphics Interface: VGA out w/ Smart Display Sensor, HDMIâ„¢ out and S-Video out
* Hard Drive 200GB4(100GBx2) 5400rpm Serial ATA Hard Drive
* Windows XP Media Center 2005
* Video connections: TV tuner, HDMI output, S-Video input and output, VGA output, FireWire
* Audio connections: S/PDIF, headphone, microphone
* Other connections: PC Card, ExpressCard, 3 USB 2.0 ports
* Network connections: Bluetooth, Intel PRO/Wireless 802.11a/b/g, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K modem
* Weight 8.4lbs. (weight is approximate and may vary)
* Measurements 16.4″(W) x 1.32″(H) x 11.8″(D)
* Built-in camera and microphone

PC Magazine reviewed more expensive, blue-ray enabled Sony VAIO AR190G and writes: “Powered by an Intel Core Duo T2500 (2.0 GHz) processor and 1GB of RAM, the Sony VAIO AR190G demonstrates impressive SYSmark 2004 SE performance. Its nVidia GeForce Go 7600GT is a slightly better graphics chipset than the Qosmio’s, and it dished out better 3D gaming scores. Its battery life, however, was considerably worse, at just 1 hour 51 minutes, compared with the Qosmio’s 3 hours.

The Sony VAIO VGN-AR190G is Sony’s best portable Media Center offering so far, but it’ll put a large dent in your wallet. Because of its HD recording capabilities and other promising A/V features, this attractive laptop is a bit more compelling than the Qosmio G35-AV650. That said, my suggestion is to delay taking the plunge until Sony hammers out several software issues and more Blu-ray titles hit the shelves.” - pcmag.com

This entry was posted on August 24, 2006 and is filed under Sony VAIO AR series.