Sony VAIO Digital Studio

Over the past few years there has been a large improvement in the quality of laptops. Two years ago when I got my first laptop it had a 1.6GHz Pentium M processor with 1GB of RAM, a integrated graphics card and 100GB hard drive. It was by no means meant as a desktop replacement. A number of laptop companies are transforming their current laptop lines into desktop replacements.

The Sony VAIO Digital Studio VGN-AR730E/B is a laptop designed to replace a desktop. It has a 17″ widescreen LCD, 3GB of RAM, 2.10GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 320GB hard drives and a dedicated Nvidia graphics card.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the VAIO Digital Studio Laptop:

• Street price: $1699.99
• 17″ WXGA+ LCD screen (resolution: 1440×900)
• 3GB RAM
• 160GB hard drive (x2)
• NVIDIA GeForce 84 00M GT
• Blu-Ray Player
• 1.3 MP camera and microphone
• 1.5-2.5 hours of battery life

Things I like
The thing I like most about this computer is its storage space. Fitting in two 160GB hard drives means that you’ll have a lot more space to store your files than in other laptops. One of the biggest things that stop laptops from being true desktop replacement devices is their limited storage space. If you can only hold 100GB of data it really isn’t a viable desktop option if you’re going to be doing anything that needs a lot of space. The VAIO VGN gives you enough space to store almost anything you would need.

The other thing I like about this laptop is its speed. With a Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.10GHz and 3GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4GB), you won’t see the usual slow performance of a laptop. This device will be able to run processor dependent applications without any real problems.

I also like the fact that there’s an included Blu-Ray player. Sony made a great choice on putting this in because Blu-Ray has beaten out HD-DVD in the high-definition format wars. Since a lot of current Blu-Ray players are fairly expensive this just adds to the value of the laptop.

Things I don’t like
This laptop is large, even for a 17″ model. If you plan on taking your laptop with you when you travel I would suggest getting a smaller laptop so you don’t break your back while carrying this. I think Sony could have put a larger disk in (maybe 200GB) and dropped the dual hard drives to cut down on the VGN’s weight.

I also don’t like the fact that the display does not support 1080p content. The17-inch display features a standard 1440×900 resolution, but this means it is limited to 720p playback for high definition content. It’d be really nice to be able to watch the Blu-Ray videos on full 1080p resolution.

Pros:

• Blu-Ray Player
• Fast processor with lots of RAM
• Large storage space
• Desktop Replacement

Cons:

• Very large and heavy
• Screen can’t display full 1080p content
• Not the best graphics card

Final Thoughts
This laptop is one of the better desktop replacement laptops. It has a fast processor, lots of RAM and a lot of storage space. It also comes with a Blu-Ray player which is a large bonus but unfortunately it’s extremely large and the screen can’t even display full 1080p content. If you’re wanting to play Blu-Ray movies on you computer I would wait a few more months until better and cheaper laptops come out with this feature.

Rating: 3/5