Sony Vaio VGN-AR61

Notebook Specifications

Reviews for theSony Vaio VGN-AR61

80% Sony Vaio VGN-AR61ZU review
Source: PC Advisor
The Sony Vaio VGN-AR61ZU is a very competent desktop-replacement laptop with impressive performance and good entertainment capabilities. Provided you're not planning on moving it too far and you can afford the high asking price it shouldn't disappoint.
(von 5): 4, Preis 3.5, Verarbeitung 4.5, Ausstattung 4.5, Leistung gut
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 04/28/2008
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 70% performance: 80% features: 90% workmanship: 90%

80% Sony VAIO VGN-AR61ZU - Entertainment Notebook
Source: Trusted Reviews
Despite the chassis being close to three years old, the VAIO VGN-AR61ZU is probably still the best looking, Full HD multimedia notebook on the market. You're also getting a very solid specification with strong performance, making it an ideal replacement for your big, ugly desktop machine. With a digital TV tuner and a Blu-ray drive built-in, you've got your entertainment needs pretty much sewn up. On the down side, the screen isn't quite as good as it could be, with backlight bleed at the bottom and top edges, while black levels could also be better. Also, the woefully disappointing internal speakers are a real issue with machines like Toshiba's Qosmio and the Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue have great internal sound to complement their visual performance. But even with these issues and the annoying placement of the touchpad buttons, the VGN-AR61ZU has a lot to offer the user who wants everything in one box.
(von 10): 8, Ausstattung 8, Leistung 9
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/04/2008
Rating: Total score: 80% performance: 90% features: 80%

Comment

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT: The NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT is the DirectX 10 capable successor of the GeForce Go 7600 GT GPU for laptops. Depending on the used graphic memory and the clock speed,  the performance is between the 7600 GT and 7900 GS video card.

Just as the performance class 1 these cards are comparable with video cards for desktop computers with the same name. The newest games should run with some reduced details fluently (in moderate resolutions).

Intel Core 2 Duo: This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).

The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.

T8300:
>> Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

17.1": Nowadays, meanwhile the 17 inch display size is a more frequently offered standard format for desktop-replacements. 17 inch laptops are built only in 16:10 format.
The DTR-Laptops can't be carried easily, need much current, but on the other side texts can be read easily and high resolutions are no problem. DTR mainly are intended for stationary usage on desks, where the weight and the energy need are unimportant.

>> To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

3.9 kg: This laptop is heavy below average, compared with the average of notebooks. Therefore especially desktop replacements fit in this class of weight.

Sony: Sony is a notebook manufacturer of medium size according international market shares. There exist a lot of reviews about Sony notebooks. The total ratings and price/value ratings are good above average.

80%: This rating is not convincing. It must be considered, that there exist hardly any laptops, which receive a rating below 60%. This notebook is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.

>> Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.