Sony VAIO VGN-AR350E 17" Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, DVD?RW Drive, Vista Premium)

Enjoy the ultimate in entertainment performance with the luxuriously designed VAIO(R) AR Digital Studio AR350E with its 17-inch WXGA Display, HDMI Output, NTSC & ATSC TV Tuner, Windows Vista Home Premium and Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology using Core 2 Duo processor. Watch movies and experience entertainment like never before. The black exterior and sleek profile house an interface and ports that are easily accessible yet stylishly and discreetly integrated. The 17-inch WXGA Widscreen Display delivers deep blacks and bright whites, true-to-life color and razor-sharp detail. 2GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz Max SDRAM 200GB Serial ATA(TM) 4200rpm Hard Drive Optical Drive - 4x Write DVD+-R Double Layer, 8x Write DVD+-R, 8x Write DVD+RW, 6x Write DVD-RW, 24x Write CD-R, 16x Write CD-RW, 24x Read CD, 8x Read DVD, 5x Write DVD-RAM and 5x Read DVD-RAM Multimedia Card Reader - One PCMCIA Type I & II Card Slot with CardBus support, One ExpressCard 54 Slot Sony Sound Reality Audio Enhancer System 17-inch WXGA 1440x900 XBrite HiColor Technology nVidia GeForce Go 7600 GPU 399MB Video RAM Intel 945PM Chipset VGA out with Smart Display Sensor, HDMI out and S-VIdeo out interface ATSC and NTSC TV Tuner Ports - Ethernet Port, HDMI Connection, Heapdhone Jack, 4-pin IEEE 1394 iLink Interface, Memory Stick(R) Media Slot, Modem, Secure Digital Slot, Microphone, Port Replicator Connector, RF Connection, S-Video input and output, 3 USB 2.0 Ports, VGA Output and DC-in VGP-BPS2C Standard Battery with up to 3 hours of battery life Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Dimensions - Width 16.4 x Height 1.32 x Depth 11.8 inches Weight - 8.4 pounds Note - When you first turn this machine on, you will have to wait ONLY 5-6 minutes before you use Windows Vista.

The luxuriously designed Sony VAIO VGN-AR350E Digital Studio notebook PC provides a powerful multimedia computer platform for enhanced entertainment performance and a brilliant 17-inch WXGA widescreen LCD screen with Sony's XBRITE panel technology. But it can also be admired for its gorgeously appointed design, featuring a black exterior, sleek profile, and interfaces and ports that are easily accessible yet discreetly integrated. Watch and record your favorite shows with the integrated TV tuner (standard NTSC and digital ATSC) with help from the pre-installed Windows Vista Home Premium operating system.

This notebook is powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which offers a 20 percent performance boost over its predecessor while using 28 percent less power--so you get the benefit of a powerful dual-core PC plus all the benefits of mobility. The dual-execution core T7200 Core 2 Duo processor provides an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved gaming and multitasking performance, and it features a 2.0 GHz speed, lightning quick 667 MHz system bus, and massive 4 MB L2 cache. Other features include a 200 GB hard drive, 2 GB of installed RAM (maximizing capacity), NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics, built in camera and microphone for VOIP video conferencing, multi-format/dual-layer DVD±R/RW drive, multimedia memory card reader, tri-mode wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g), Bluetooth connectivity, and HDMI output.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). 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 T7200 processor has a 2.0 GHz processor speed, super-fast 667 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and an enormous 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 FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall 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. It can simultaneously run multiple demanding applications--such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching business productivity applications--while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background. Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include:

  • 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.
  • Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
  • Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
  • Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.

• Hard Drive: The 200 GB hard drive (4200 RPM) is one of the largest drives available on a notebook PC (as of January 2007)--perfect for storing large multimedia libraries for use on the road. This Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to FireWire and USB 2.0.

• Memory: The 2 GB of built-in memory (PC5300, DDR2 SDRAM, 2 x 1 GB) maximizes the capacity for this machine, enabling you to effortlessly handle a wide variety of multimedia tasks right out of the box. It also offers a top-of-class 667 MHz speed.

• DVD/CD Drive: The 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: 4x for DVD+R DL, 4x for DVD-R DL, 8x for both single layer DVD+R/-R, 8x for single layer DVD+RW, 6x for single layer DVD-RW, and 24x/16x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 86-key keyboard (2.5mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch) and electro-static two-button touchpad.

Screen, Video & Audio
This notebook offers a 17-inch screen with a widescreen 1440 x 900-pixel resolution and Sony's original XBRITE LCD technology, which delivers deep blacks and bright whites, true-to-life color, and razor-sharp detail. And with a glare filter and anti-reflective coating to minimize reflection, you'll experience a beautifully clear image even in bright sunlight.

Video is powered by the Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT graphics card, which was chosen by PC World magazine as one of the 100 Best Products of 2006. It provides up to 399 MB of dynamically allocated shared RAM/video memory for high definition gaming and home-theater quality video. It features NVidia's PureVideo technology--which provides great picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for video content. It also offers full support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and true high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting. And it's ready for the next step in graphics processing--SLI technology (Scalable Link Interface)--which delivers twice the performance of a single GPU configuration by allowing two graphics cards to run in parallel.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
This notebook has an integrated tri-mode Intel 3945ABG wireless LAN, which is 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). With the Bluetooth connectivity, you can communicate and synchronize with Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as PDAs and cell phones. It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 54 card slot (in addition to a standard Type II/I PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. You get an excellent offering of connectivity options:

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

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).

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect to your favorite WiFi hotspot.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Includes Sony Click to DVD (for easy DVD creation), Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition (60-day trial), Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007 (with 60 days of Live Update).

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 16.4 x 11.8 x 1.32 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 8.4 pounds.

Power
It's powered by the VGP-BPS2C rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which has a battery life of between 1.5 and 3.0 hours (depending on usage).

What's in the Box
This package contains the VGN-AR350E notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, remote control (with IR receiver), RF cable, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty, and Sony offers 1-year of toll-free telephone technical assistance.