Science & Technology

mrina · Admiral Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 1747

Sony Vaio AR69GU Robust-Looking Metallic Giant Laptop Review
Sony Vaio AR69GU is a giant. This should hardly come as a surprise, considering it's been designed as a full-blown desktop replacement. It weighs in at 3.9 kilos and measures 416 × 33.5-41.5 × 299.5 mm (WHD). While this makes it a bit smaller than the Acer 8920G, it's nevertheless one of the biggest consumer laptops currently available.
Sony has given the Vaio's hinges a robust-looking metallic effect. This metal strip runs all the way around the laptop; even the mouse keys have the same finish. Thankfully this strip is a darker shade of black-silver and contrasts well with the overall finish. The AR69GU is very sturdy; it boasts a thick plastic body that wouldn't squeak even on the hardest tap. Neither will it flex, as it’s just too big and solid.
The keyboard maybe a tad small, but it does offer a good working experience. The keys offer good feedback and are quite pleasant to type on. The only downside is that the keys sometimes don’t register a click. This is simply because the keyboard employs a deep-click system, for which the key has to be pounded a little harder than usual. While this is not a big issue, touch typists may sometimes see funny errors.
he LCD panel on the AR69GU is a standard TFT-LCD. This was a disappointment, as we were hoping it would have a backlit LED panel. The current panel is not bad though. It offers a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1200 and offers excellent color and contrast. The black levels were not as deep as in the Acer 8920, but they were good enough for us to enjoy a full HD movie without any issues.
Connectivity-wise the AR69GU offers anything and everything: it comes with a Blu-ray record/playback drive, three USB 2.0 slots, 1394a FireWire, HDMI, S-Video, VGA, Ethernet, modem, headphone, mic, S/PDIF, an ExpressCard slot, and surprisingly even a PCMCIA slot. Apart from this it also has full support for 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR. It even packs in a hybrid DVB/analog TV tuner. You also get a Windows Media Center remote.
most good things, this laptop is priced at a staggering Rs 1,69,000. At this price it’s out of the reach of almost everyone, barring diehard enthusiasts and the well-heeled. If you can afford it, rest assured there's nothing better that money can buy!