Sony VAIO AW170Y/Q

Packed with features, power, and a gorgeous screen


THE SONY VAIO AW170Y/Q is the latest desktop-replacement notebook to feature a breathtaking 18.4-inch display and a wealth of learnt es. Break out this 8.8-pound eye-catcher, and you'll be the envy of the laptop-toting set. Plus you'll send a signal that you're surviving the market crash just fine, thank you, since you just dropped $3,300 on a new laptop. Unfortunately, we're not convinced the AW170Y/Q is fast enough to justify the puke.

Compared with other 18-inch notebooks, such as the $2,199 HP Pavilion HDX18 or the $1,549 Toshiba Qosmio G55-Q802, the VAIO seems way overpriced. But its vastly superior feature set puts it mote in line with Dell's XPS M1730. which sells for $2,899 at its best configuration.That's a $400 gap that gets filled in with Sony's bundled software and chic design, which may not be enough for most users.

The VAIO cuts a dramatic profile. Its shiny, piano-black case opens to reveal a subdued, classic matte-black interior, a gargantuan wide-screen display, and a full-size keyboard with Chiclet-style separation. A sleek speaker grille above the keyboard houses a tow of touch-sensitive media buttons, while a wide mist test, textured to feel like leather, frames the touchpad. Sony has otherwise exercised admit able restraint, adorning the VAIO AW170Y/Q with not much else save a subtle, green LED that lights up (slowly) when the system turns on. The power switch, meanwhile, is housed in an elegantly recessed cylindrical cover hinge.

On the inside, the VAIO is loaded with power. A 2.53G1-1z Core 2 Duo T9400 CPU is coupled with a dual hard drive array (RAID Level 0), providing a whole terabyte of storage space. A built-in TV tuner, 4GB of RAM, and a noisy Blu-ray DVD burner are just some of the signs that you're entering desktop-replacement country. Sony also throws in a fingerprint reader, a bezel-mounted Webcam, 802.11a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth with A2DP technology. Connectivity will never be a problem, since the system has HDMI, optical-out, FireWire, and two memory-cards slots along with the standard host of ports.

All those top-notch features aside, the 18.4-inch display is the VAIO's real claim to fame. Featuring an LED backlight and Sony's antireflective XBrite technology, the screen is stunning. When we watched The Squid and the Whale. colors were crisp and blacks deep and rich. Full 1080p HD support lets you play the latest DVDs, while the screen's 1,920x1,080 native resolution accommodates an intimidating number of spreadsheet cells. DVD playback was very smooth. and audio came through loud and clear, though we did experience a couple of hiccups as we watched out test movie.

In general. the VAIO handles daily tasks with ease. It sped through our iTunes conversion test in 3 minutes and 29 seconds and took 5 minutes and 48 seconds to complete ow Windows Media Encoder test—two scores that are in line with the T9400-based systems from Sony and iBuypower we recently tested. But the VAIO faltered on Futuremark's PCMark Vantage test, turning in a score of 3,147, more than 300 points behind the Sony and over 800 points behind the iBuypower.The VAIO also matched these two systems in Cinebench testing, scoring 5,219 on version 10.

In 3D testing, the VAIO's 512MB GeForce 9600M GT graphics card delivered a it my impressive 6,351 on Futuremark's 3DMark06 test, blowing the other systems out of the water. Even at its native resolution, the VAIO kept pumping out pixels, scoring a solid 3,686. But then it clocked a more pedestrian 30 frames per second (fps) on our F.E.A.R. tests at 1,024x768 resolution and an unimpressive 13fps at native Tesolu tion. That's fast enough to play most titles, but true garnets will be left wanting more.

Meanwhile, the VAIO's relatively small 4.800mAh battery lasted just 1 hour and 18 minutes on our DVD rundown test. If you plan on taking your VAIO on the road, you'll want to opt for the $50 extended-life battery.

Part of why the VAIO costs more, of course, is that Sony preloads its software suite—which includes media, audio, and moviemaking packages, as well as Microsoft Works—onto the hard drive. A one-year warranty comes standard, and you can purchase tip to three years of protection for $299.



If you're in the market for a true multimedia powerhouse notebook with Bluray—and style is a main concern—the VAIO is worth a look. But film editors, multimedia pros who have their own software, and even families looking for a single, do.evetything home computer can get more bang lot the buck with high-end systems from Dell, HP, Toshiba, and even MSI. You'll give up some resolution and some style points, but you'll save serious cash and get roughly the same performance. —Asa Somers


Computer Shopper January 2009