Sony Vaio VGN-A690 reviewed by PC Mag

Sony's 8.6-pound Vaio VGN-A690 won't be mistaken for the T-series or any of Sony's other tiny
Vaios. Then again, you probably won't be using this to take notes on an airplane tray table. Designed for media playing and recording, the A690 includes a 1.86-GHz Pentium M 750, 1GB of RAM, an ATI Mobility Radeon X600, a 17" XBrite 1920 x 1200 display, a 100GB HD and a dual-layer burner.
PC Magazine took a look at it, and while they liked the hardware, what they really liked was Sony's Vaio Zone software, which includes audio and video functions, and which they called "a worthy competitor" for Windows XP Media Center Edition. One gripe that we agree with: the TV tuner is in an external docking station. With a notebook that's clearly not designed for ultra-portability, Sony should have been able to find a way to squeeze the tuner into the box,
if only so you could carry it from room to room without having to drag the dock along.