What do boardsies think of this Vaio?

silvine

What's the verdict on this?

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_VAIO_AR61M_VGN-AR61M/version.asp

It seems quite cheap. I'm looking for a desktop replacement with Blu-Ray. Any idea how soon we will see in Blu-Ray in non-Sony laptops?

Overheal

seems viable. Has slightly better specs than mine and I paid more. But that was 6 months ago.

silvine

Any issues with yours since you bought it? What's the performance like?

Overheal

Well mines an HP bt we're talking similar specs. No I havent had hiccups with it save for I fried my charger the other week. So no it purrs like a kitten (especially when you run your hand along the keys)

The processor you have on that is a goodie. http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLA44

The hard drive seems a little slow but it is about 2x what I've got capicty wise.

The only beef I has is the screen is huge at 17" - making it heavy and a power hog. And speaking of which theres no mention of the battery.

Oh and eh, its sold out

Voodu Child

Seems like a good enough price.

Blu-ray is a pricey option, but lately i've seen a lot of laptops with blu-ray for quite cheap. I guess in the next year or two it'll come down further and you'll nearly start to see it as 'standard' on laptops.

Processor is good, hardrive is big (but very slow), graphics card will do a great job of everything except games (will play older games grand). The screen isn't full HD, so you're not going to see blu-ray at it's full resolution. But having said that, most 32" TVs aren't full HD either, so it may/may not be an issue for you.

Looks alright if all the specs suit your needs, only problem i see there is that it's sold out....

AlmightyCushion

Graphics are a bit of a let down but everything else is pretty good.

Overheal

voodoo_child wrote: »

graphics card will do a great job of everything except games (will play older games grand).

I can run plenty on the scaled down 8400M GS 128MB. This card shouldnt have too much trouble. You wont be blazing full specs but you will be able to run the likes of Crysis in some fashion.

Voodu Child

Overheal wrote: »

I can run plenty on the scaled down 8400M GS 128MB. This card shouldnt have too much trouble. You wont be blazing full specs but you will be able to run the likes of Crysis in some fashion.

Nah, it's a low-end 3D-card. When you're describing it to someone who may be thinking of buying one, you've got to be honest and realistic. It's great for older stuff (HL2 etc), but current stuff will fairly struggle. That's not to say it won't 'run', but you've got to be careful not to give people a false impression of it's capabilities.Crysis?!

silvine

Nice pic, You're having a laugh!

I am not worried about the weight. It's a desktop replacement. I want Blu-Ray so I can hook the laptop up to my tv and voila, full HD. Should I wait a few months till prices drop a little? The hard-drive does look a little slow..

I also want to play Sins of a Solar Empire on it.

Recommended Requirements:

* 2.2 GHz Dual- or Quad-Core Processor
* 1 GiB RAM / 2 GiB for Vista
* 256 MiB DirectX 9 3D Video Card (Radeon X1600 / GeForce 7600 and above)

Any alternative laptop options? Sony are expensive.

I like the look of this but it has a smaller screen size.http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_VAIO_FZ31S_VGN-FZ31S/version.asp

Overheal

Hey I just said you'd run it. You will always envy your desktop counterparts in performance. Theres 2 machines downstairs I covet for their gaming performance.

where the hell do you get the 'i' from?