Sony VGN-AR51M

Villain

Anyone got one of these http://vaio.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-AR51M&site=voe_en_IE_cons&pageType=Overview&category=VN+AR+Series

I can't find a review anywhere?

AlmightyCushion

No but it is horrendously over-priced. Do you really need a blu ray drive on your laptop? You'd end up saving a fortune if you did without.

majiktripp

Slightly misleading description too as it states WUXGA screen which is (1920x1200) in the box beside the picture of the laptop but further down in the tech specs it states its a WXGA+ (1440x900). For that price you could do a lot better with a Dell.

Villain

Well I thought that it was expensive too but Laptopsdirect have it at €1688 which seems very good value for the spec, Its either that or the Acer Gemstone 5900 I think.

Opinions?

majiktripp

With the price down to €1688 its not too bad, still not too keen on the Acer one either, would still take the Sony over the Acer I have to admit. Whats the Gemstones price?

Villain

Acer 5920G with a HD DVD drive is €1174, but I think the Sony will offer a better build quality and I just confirmed with Laptopsdirect that if I provide a Vat number they exclude the vat on the purchase so I can get the Sony for €1437 plus another €60 or so for shipping, I think thats very good value?

majiktripp

For my two cents I would go with the Sony too, Some people hate them, some people love them , same goes with Acer. But in my experience I only have good things to say about Sony's build quality. They're pricey but they seem to do the job alright.

AlmightyCushion

Personally I think Sony is style over substance and overpriced.

Villain

Well I would agree with you and at €2000 I think its overpriced but at €1600 I think its good value, I want a HD laptop with HDMI out and 2gb RAM and 256mb graphics card I can't find many others, but if anyone knows of any I'd be very grateful.

Jor

I've beem looking at new laptops over the last week.

I want one that will not date too much for a few years:
Quality 17in screen
About 2.0 GHz
Large hard drive.

I've narrowed it down to :

Sony AR51E €1399 in Sony Centre shops
(Similar to one mentioned earlier but without Blu-Ray)
http://vaio.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-AR51E&site=voe_en_IE_cons&category=VN+AR+Series

HP Pavillion dv9565ea €1299 in Soundstore
(Not much different from dv9574 which has Intel instead of AMD, but costs €300 more)
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ie/en/ho/WF25a/21675-38187-38191-38191-38191-80247530.html

I have tried to do price comparisons on the web as there are not many computer shops in Waterford but is is not easy.
The Harvey Norman website is especially poor.

AlmightyCushion

Jor wrote: »

I've beem looking at new laptops over the last week.

I want one that will not date too much for a few years:
Quality 17in screen
About 2.0 GHz
Large hard drive.

I've narrowed it down to :

Sony AR51E €1399 in Sony Centre shops
(Similar to one mentioned earlier but without Blu-Ray)
http://vaio.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-AR51E&site=voe_en_IE_cons&category=VN+AR+Series

HP Pavillion dv9565ea €1299 in Soundstore
(Not much different from dv9574 which has Intel instead of AMD, but costs €300 more)
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ie/en/ho/WF25a/21675-38187-38191-38191-38191-80247530.html

I have tried to do price comparisons on the web as there are not many computer shops in Waterford but is is not easy.
The Harvey Norman website is especially poor.

That sony has a very slow hard drive. It's only 4200rpm drive. The hp has two hard drives which will eat battery life.

Villain

I looked at a Dell XPS with a Blu Ray burner and its about €1000 more expensive as the Sony AR51M!!

Villain

Well I got my Sony AR51M Friday and I am well impressed, I got it for €1,400 including Delivery from LaptopsDirect.ie

I have installed VMWare Workstation and have an XP pro installation running through that for any apps that aren't up to Vista yet.

The screen is very bright excellent for viewing media, the only minor issue I have is that no media what so ever came with the laptop, so say e.g. you decided to wipe the system and install XP pro you wouldn't have any drivers, obviously there is a restore function but I think selling a laptop without any media is a step too far.

I played a BluRay movie on it and it looked stunning, haven't got arround to testing the HDMI connection to my HD Projector yet but will do soon.

majiktripp

Good to hear it has worked out well! Good price you got it for too!

ergo

anyone know where I might get hold of a sony VGN - AR41M?

couldn't see any in Peat's or on laptops direct or on Sony's own online stores

Villain

Seems to be out of stock everywhere or discontinued as its says on Dabs.ie