Sony intros Blu-ray burning AR50, FZ20, L Series VAIOs

Sony recently took the wraps off a new range of Blu-ray burning VAIOS in Europe, including two laptops and an all-in-one desktop. On the top end of the laptop side of things, the VAIO AR50 series boasts a 17-inch WUXGA LCD, along with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics, with that aforementioned Blu-ray burner conveniently tucked inside. The FZ20, on the other hand, packs a 15.4-inch display with a mere 1280 x 800 resolution, along with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo T7500 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 300GB hard drive, and GeForce 8600M GS graphics. Rounding things out, the VAIO L Series all-in-one desktop remains much the same as we've seen before, with it boasting a 22-inch 1680 x 1050 display, an unspecified Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, twin analog/DVB-T TV tuners, and GeForce 8400M GT graphics. From the looks of it, the whole lot is available in Europe now, with the Blu-ray add-ons demanding a none-too-surprising premium over less-equpped models.

[spike-on-a-pike @ Sep 13th 2007 12:25PM]

Is Sony ever going to bring the VAIO G series to the US?

It's been available in Asia and Europe for quite a while, and it's even available in Australia!
The only options available for U.S. are importers like Dynamism.

[John M @ Sep 13th 2007 12:46PM]

I would rather get that HP that burns both HD and Blu Ray...Since Blu Ray is Sony propritary technology then you will NEVER see a HD DVD burner/Drive on a Vaio

[Jimmy @ Sep 13th 2007 1:38PM]

You are probably right that you will never see an HD DVD burner in a Vaio but at this time why would you?

1. For burners Blu-ray makes more sense. Blu-ray burners are already hitting 6x speeds and the prices are under $500 now. While the fastest HD DVD burner is stuck at 2x for about the same price. Also, please show me some place I can actually order an HD DVD burner to go in my PC.

2. The blank media for both formats starts around $14 per disk. The difference is that Blu-ray holds 25GB and HD holds 15GB. On top of that there are more manufacturers making Blu-ray blank media: Sony, Maxell, Verbatim, TDK, and even Ritek.

3. Blu-ray is not Sony proprietary. Yes Sony owns some patents that will make it money from Blu-ray but look at the founding Blu-ray members: Hitachi, LG, Matsushita, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson. All of these companies get money from the Blu-ray patent pool.

[John M @ Sep 13th 2007 4:54PM]

Yes your correct...Apparantley there are over 180 companies that helped make this technology possible...The board of directors consist of:

Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment

Considering SONY is really pushing the format of Blu RayI made the incorect assumption of thinking Blu Ray was strictly a SONY product...But, it is rather interesting to know so many companies pitched in to make a superior product to DVD format....However, if given a choice I would want the ability to burn both formats on one computer like engadget posted about the new HP...anyway, thanks for the knowledge

[Silverfrog @ Sep 13th 2007 1:53PM]

John M, Blu-Ray isn't Sony proprietary technology. Do your homework before you post. Or, just understand what the word proprietary means before you post.

[John M @ Sep 13th 2007 4:42PM]

Ok... I assumed it was...thanks for the education

[Jay @ Sep 13th 2007 7:38PM]

Problem is most people think that EVERYTHING Sony does is proprietary, and that they are the only company in the world which uses DRM.

And an awful lot of people know neither to be true, but like to allow the claims to stand for their own agendas.

And one guy on here recently complained about the existence of DRM with Sony devices so bought an iPod instead! Hello?!?!?!

[nice, not @ Sep 13th 2007 2:10PM]

A 500 gb laptop drive? SWEET, though you sure it's not 2x250 gb?

[William @ Sep 13th 2007 2:56PM]

In Re: "nice, not", the 500 GB HDD is unfortunately a pair of 250GB drives in a RAID 0.

The important thing to note here is that these models are the models which are about to be discontinued in the United States and Japan. The replacement to the AR series will be unveiled at CEATEC Japan on October 8th. As you can see if you go on the SonyStyle.com website, the preconfigured AR laptops are already out of stock, and being pulled from the site.
Unfortunately for our "friends across the pond", sony seems to give them the short stick by dumping the older units they can't sell from Japan and the USA on to their market.

[Siddharth Chatterjee @ Sep 13th 2007 3:07PM]

Exactly John M. Do your home-work. Blu-ray is far more widespread than HD-DVD currently... Also Dual-Layer BD's offer 50 GiB. Now is that awesome or what!

[John M @ Sep 13th 2007 4:43PM]

Ok point is I would still rather have a computer that burned both HD DVD and Blu-Ray...Once again thanks for the correction

[Siddharth Chatterjee @ Sep 15th 2007 1:24PM]

No problem buddy. Same here... But till the time Optical Drive companies adopt that approach, I would go with Blu-ray.

[Siddharth Chatterjee @ Sep 13th 2007 3:08PM]

Exactly John M. Do your home-work. Blu-ray is far more widespread than HD-DVD currently... Also Dual-Layer BD's offer 50 GiB. Now is that awesome or what!

[Siddharth Chatterjee @ Sep 13th 2007 3:17PM]

Err... Sorry for the double post... I meant 50 Gigabytes, not Gibibytes.

Dual-layer Blu-ray Discs and dual-layer HD DVD discs can hold about 50 gigabytes and 30 gigabytes of data, respectively. Which makes BD's better! BD's rule!