Sony Vaio VGN-AR61
Notebook Specifications
Notebook: Sony Vaio VGN-AR61 (Vaio VGN-AR Series)Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T8300
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Display: 17.1 inch, 16:10, 1920x1200 pixels, glossy: yes
Weight: 3.9kg
Price: 2300 euro
Average of 2 scores (from 3 reviews)
Reviews for the Sony Vaio VGN-AR61
Source: Bios Magazine
It may be a laptop, but the VGN-AR61ZU (416x299x33mm, 3.9kg) has all the power necessary to edit personal HD video content - before burning your clips onto BD-R/-RE/-ROM/DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM for safekeeping. Whether you are editing in HD or enjoying an HD movie, the massive 17-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) widescreen display gives you every last pixel of 1080p Full HD in brilliant colour with X-black LCD screen enhancement and super-bright double lamp illumination.
Expensive but powerful HD laptop
Preis schlecht, Leistung gut
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 07/16/2008
Rating: price: 40% performance: 80%
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%
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.
These cards should be able to display all current games with fluent framerates but not all with high detail settings. Especially demanding games like Crysis, Age of Conan, or Mass Effect are only playable with lower settings. Less demanding (and older) games, like Fifa 08, Command & Conquer 3, or Battlefield 2142 can be played with higher detail levels.
>> Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
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": Meanwhile the 17 inch display size is a more frequently offered standard format for desktop-replacements. The DTR-laptops can't be carried easily, need much energy 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 Corporation is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Japan. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from sonus, the Latin word for sound. The company was founded 1946 with another name and renamed in 1958. Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments—electronics, games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. Sony is a notebook manufacturer of medium size according international market shares.
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.
