Sony announces Vaio AR laptop with Blu-ray

Part two of Sony's minor attempt at viral marketing -- which just brought us the Vaio UX Micro PC -- is Sony's new Vaio AR series of laptops with 17-inch screens and an option for a Blu-ray drive. The specs aren't much of a surprise, with that 17.8-inch 1920 x 1200 display leading the charge, accompanied by a 50GB Blu-ray burner, internal TV tuner, HDMI out, and 256MB GeForce Go 7600GT graphics (check our prior coverage for the rest of the juicy details). The good news is that beyond this $3500 model, there will be a "stripped down" version for $1800 that lacks the Blu-ray and TV tuner, but still does the WMCE thing and houses that ginormous 17-inch display.

[ScamBusta @ Feb 2nd 2008 12:22AM]

I disagree with Andrew. This laptop has not quite been available for a year as of today. It remains a lemon over-all. I too have restored the system completely and gone through completing all the updates. Blu-ray support remains spotty. Not all movies play. Bottom line is that Sony cannot be trusted to produce quality products. BTW fixing the kinks in this system in their next revisions provides little comfort in the $5,000 cost of the system.

Good Things
1. display is clear, crisp and bright
2. keys have a good feel to them
3. Telephone support people were actually nice and
seemed knowledgable unfortunately efforts to
fix problems were fruitless

Partial Problem List:
1. Driver conflicts can produce some psychedelic video card bugs and frequent "program not responding" lines in your application windows.
2. Blu-ray support has been spotty: history of no 1080
output, poor HDMI signal, video/audio sync problems,
problems reading discs, some fixable, playback of prerecorded blu-ray discs is hit and miss (even Sony movies)
3. Media Keys do not function properly
4. lid latch pops up frequently under your wrist
5. cheap plastic; parts not snug (one thing I used to
like about Sony was their well designed/manufactored devices)
6. VAIO moniker on display stays lit up even for video
playback reducing view quality
7. Trackpad is very small and mouse buttons flimsy and non-ergonomic
8. No way to turn off trackpad input when a mouse is
plugged in
9. Speakers are weak (compared to my MacBook Pro)
10. USB ports are not all USB 2 apparently
11. USB ports are poorly positioned: two at front of right
side where I use mouse.
12. Update website: very awkward and poorly named files
make it very hard to know what you have installed and
what you need too. (One thing Microsoft has managed to
get right)
13. No way to automatically set system to switch to the
display plugged into docking station when docking this
laptop.
14. no way to disable trackpad with mouse plugged in

I say run away from Sony as fast as you can.

[Rem @ Feb 11th 2008 4:54PM]

I am having a lot of trouble with my first Sony acquisition. I keep losing the cursor to random places even though I am typing normally on the key pad. No reason or rhyme.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to avoid this from happening. Apparently the mousepad is a bit weird or too sensitive or what ever. I am about the take the machine back.

The mouse pad can not be disconnected with the use of an external mouse.

Thank you for your help.

[Brian K @ Aug 28th 2008 7:03PM]

What a bunch of whiny sniveling little girls - Actually I take that back (don't want to offend little girls!)

Everything works fine on mine! And I edit Full HD 1080x1920 24p video!

If you can't figure out how to hit the Fn + F7 key to output to 1080p big screen - time to pack it up and get a job flippin' burgers!

I was a total and complete pc novice when I got my AR - now I film,edit and produce commercials and documentaries!

Tech help is excellent and you get chat help years after the warranty runs out! (btw - one of the times I called was because I hit the numlock key and thought I had a virus!) LOL

Bottom line - If you can find an AR - get it!

If anyone has a serious question about this or filming with broadcast HDV - feel free to E-mail me and find out how to easy it is to make this stuff work. shoalsstudios@gmail

There is a whole digital world of fun (and business) out there - give it a chance - I'm glad I did!

If anyone spams my email - I will hunt you down and film me blowing your brains all over where ever it is you be! (maybe in slo-mo!)
Have a great day!

[brucewayne @ Aug 31st 2008 1:54AM]

Yeah,

Bruce Wayne here. I have been using the BatTop for a long time now. Runs very well, not with original software. No problems with Blu-ray. No problems with anything other than the OS crapping out at random times. Like when I tune into Gotham Television using my ATI tuner and digital cable card. Windows Media Center can't handle it and it freezes. Silly Microsoft, go back and rewrite all your code.

[lifesux @ May 16th 2006 3:19AM]

how long will it take to burn a BR?

[Dr. c @ Feb 27th 2008 1:51PM]

I have the blu-ray laptop and sony told me it was my problem they don't have the software to run the hardware only about a third of the disks work and sony won't do any thing about it

[h0rrid @ May 16th 2006 4:24AM]

#1 - Assuming the drive is a x2 speed (probably a Panasonic UJ-215), approx 49 minutes.

[Karl Viklund @ May 16th 2006 4:27AM]

Blu-Ray yey! This is the one to get :)

[dzieci @ May 16th 2006 4:32AM]

expensive toy ...

[Karl Viklund @ May 16th 2006 4:37AM]

When PC World tested Pioneer BDR-101A it took them 44 minutes to burn a Blu-Ray-disc with 22 GB of data which gives like 67 Mbit/s and that should be a 2X-drive.

[james @ May 16th 2006 5:04AM]

i assume that the HDMI will be HDCP compatible?

to make it HDCP compatible, does there need to be a hardware change or is it all in software?

[Intrepid @ May 16th 2006 5:46AM]

To #6 - "to make it HDCP compatible, does there need to be a hardware change or is it all in software?"

Intel's HDCP technology needs hardware implementation with software support... one set of instructions on the video card, one on the display and coding in the movies.

[Malia Zee @ May 16th 2006 10:46AM]

I covered this laptop for Notebook Review.

http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=54185

The BD-R write and BD-RE write and read speeds are 1x, while BD-ROM read is 1.6x.

It's not 17.8". That was a typo on the supposedly unauthorized Canadian website which had other mistakes as well. For example, it does not come with Vegas Movie Studio. And it's 1080p, not i.

[pcgsrx87 @ May 16th 2006 4:19PM]

BLU-RAY POWER
This will be my next computer for my desktop.
17 inch.

[SHRIDHAR @ Jul 26th 2006 10:47AM]

what is the prize of this laptop?

[Kim @ Sep 19th 2006 9:37AM]

Why are these laptops being sold for as less as 1Euro / 500 $ or 240 $ ? There must be something fishy about it... Right?!

[david72 @ Sep 29th 2006 2:25PM]

Aside from the "ooh new toy!" factor, I'm wondering just how worth it is. I'm an indie filmmaker, and my cinematographer just got an HD camera...so part of me loves the idea of doing films on an HD-ready notebook, but how far along is this tech? If I plunk down all that money, will I regret it? I can get it for a decent price here: http://www.clearanceclub.com/depot/quelle_showroom.cgi?sku=5674, but I'm wondering if I should wait...

david

[Takusa Matsuyaki @ Apr 20th 2007 8:59AM]

lux super notebook

[Chris @ Apr 29th 2007 5:52AM]

I have been using this system since launch. The display is very nice and bright, better than my 17" MacBook Pro. Sadly, there are problems with Blu-ray/DVD playback. Audio/Video sync problems (apparently a WinDVD special edition problem). I bought PowerDVD which does not have this issue, but the system freezes sometimes during playback of both blu-ray discs and DVDs. There is some good software preinstalled but also much unwanted crippleware.

[greg @ Nov 30th 2007 11:18AM]

avoid this laptop. it is a total piece of junk. blu-ray does not work at all in any sony lap top. I have constant problems with the three I bought. they were all supposed to play blu-ray. They do not. the hdtv does not work. raid drives in all of them are failing even after sony taking months to fix them. I think sony should test before they say it works. IMO sony is junk for laptops. I am still using my 5yrs Toshiba. Slow but still works--unlike the sony. I spent $15,000 on three of their best. I lost $15,000. If you want something good from sony, buy a camera or stereo.

[Andrew @ Dec 7th 2007 1:36AM]

I have now owned this notebook for over a year so my evaluation is much more accurate than some that I have already been posted on this site. The notebook as it stands today with all of the software updates supplies by Sony "WORKS" and it works very well period. It does everything it is supposed to do and it does it extreemly well. The special features involving the Blue Ray DVD drive function perfectly. You are able to watch Blue Ray movies on the computer screen or on a high definition TV with HDMI inputs using the Blue Ray drive as a source for the films. The screen on this computer is nothing short of breathtaking in it's colors and clarity. The notebook is fast enough for all standard software. I cannot vouch for gamming programs since I do not use them, but I can say that as notebooks go this is no slouch as measured by different speed measuring programs. All in all a great computer that works well as a computer and as a source for Blue Ray disks. I have recorded some Blue Ray data disks with the supplied software and I had no problems.
Now as to the negatives. It is a total pain in the neck to go through all of the updates this computer requires from Sony to make it work correctly. The keyboard letters are not a clear white but look like an off brown which makes them hard to see in regular non office lighting. There is no numeric key pad on this notebook even though (for the price) there is ample space if it had a good keyboard layout.
The mouse pad takes a little time to get use to because of the location of the mouse buttons. That is about it. None of the above is not correctable in a new and improved succesor model.