Storage Space – Sony VAIO VGN-AR550U: 240GB on two hard drives

Operating System – Sony VAIO VGN-AR550U: Windows Vista Ultimate

Connectivity – Sony VAIO VGN-AR550U: next-generation 802.11n wireless for greater speed and range than 802.11a/b/g standards

Eye Candy  – Sony VAIO VGN-AR550U: oversized 17? widescreen, powered by XBRITE-HiColor? LCD technology

Multimedia Options: – Sony VAIO VGN-AR550U: watch, record, and timeshift HDTV with the included outboard ATI tuner box

Sony VAIO VGN-AR550E Digital Studio notebook PC provides a power multimedia computer platform for enhanced entertainment performance. It features a 17-inch WXGA+ widescreen XBRITE-HiColor LCD screen with a 1440 x 900-pixel resolution, and video is powered by the NVidia GeForce 8400M graphics card, with up to 895 MB of video memory. You can also watch and record your favorite shows using the integrated dual TV tuners–both NTSC and ATSC (digital, high-def).

Notebook is powered by the 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor from the newest “Santa Rosa” chips, which offer a top-of-the-line 800 MHz front-side bus speed and 4 MB L2 cache. The Core 2 Duo processor provides an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved gaming and multitasking performance, as well as excellent battery management. It also includes Intel’s 4965 AGN wireless LAN, which will connect to draft 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g networks as well. Other features include 240 GB of hard drive space (from dual 120 GB drives), 2 GB of installed RAM (4 GB maximum capacity), multi-format/dual-layer DVD+/-RW drive (which also burns CDs), both PCMCIA and ExpressCard slots, both Memory Stick and SD memory cart slots, and Bluetooth connectivity.

This laptop also comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, which combines all the features of Windows Vista Premium and Vista Business as well as adds extras such as multi-language packs and Secure Online Key Backup. It offers all of the features found in Windows Vista Home Premium, including Windows Media Center, Windows Movie Maker with high-definition support, and Windows DVD Maker. It also provides all of the features found in Windows Vista Business, including business networking, centralized management tools, and advanced system backup features. Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

The Basics

• Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor, 1.8 GHz processor speed, fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and a extra-large 4 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance.The Intel Core 2 Duo processor has two computational execution cores in a single processor, providing greater system response when running multi-threaded applications simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. It’s optimized for multitasking and is ready to support the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include:
  • Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
  • Smart Memory Access: Improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed.
  • Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.
  • Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
• Memory: The 2 GB of installed RAM (2 x 1 GB DDR2, PC5300) is excellent start, but you’ll want to add more RAM to handle today’s demanding multimedia and productivity suites. It provides two DIMM slots and has a large 4 GB maximum RAM capacity. (with 667 MHz speed).
• Hard Drive: System offers a total of 240 GB of hard disk drive space from two 120 GB drives (5400 RPM). These Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives also quicken the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to FireWire and USB 2.0.
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 86-key keyboard (2.5mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch) and electro-static two-button touchpad.
• DVD/CD Drive: Double-layer DVD drive is compatible with a wide range of formats, including both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, CD-RW discs, and dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data–great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most important documents. It features the following speeds: 2.4x for DVD+R DL, 2x for DVD-R DL, 8x for both single layer DVD+R/-R, 4x for both single layer DVD+RW/-RW, 5x for DVD-RAM, and 24x/16x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Wireless connectivity with the integrated quad-mode Intel Wireless 4965AGN Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It’s also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and Wi-Fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range–great for closed office environments).

Notebook also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 54 card slot (as well as a PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features.

Screen, Video & Audio
This notebook offers a 17″ screen with a widescreen 1440 x 900-pixel resolution.With Sony XBRITE-HiColor panel technology, the flat-panel screen will deliver dazzling colors and sharp images whether displaying a DVD movie, television show, or web content. It delivers deep blacks and bright whites, true-to-life color, and razor-sharp detail. A glare filter and anti-reflective coating to minimize reflection …

Video is powered by the NVidia GeForce 8400M graphics card, which provides up to 895 MB of available RAM/video memory for unmatched HD video performance on a notebook PC. With support for Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), the 8400M lets you rip through all of today’s most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications. Experience real-time photo editing, or immerse yourself in the most complex, true-to-life gaming environments. Audio card includes Sony Sound Reality technology with DSD (Direct Stream Digital) support.

Here’s the full list of connectivity options:

• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
• Video input: 1 S-Video
• Video output: 1 VGA, 1 S-Video
• 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II, CardBus support)
• 1 ExpressCard/54 slot
• Memory Stick/Memory Stick DUO slot (with MagicGate functionality)
• 1 S/PDIF digital audio out (for connecting to a home theater receiver for 5.1-channel surround sound)
• Secure Digital memory card slot (compatible with MMC cards)
• 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).