Posted to Notebooks 2009-08-27
With a great combination of the latest technologies and features, the 18.4" Sony VAIO AW Series VGN-AW310J/H is a premium laptop that is perfect for the multimedia or gaming enthusiast on a reasonable budget. Although Sony notebooks are known for their expensive price tag, this model is priced appropriately when comparing features and power for price. So if you are in the market for a great desktop replacement, then consider the Sony VGN-AW310J/H for the premium multimedia experience. Approximately 17.2" x 1.56" x 11.4" in dimensions and weighing 8.2 pounds means that this ultimate notebook is not for ultraportable seekers. The huge 18.4" X-BRITE LCD display (1680 x 945 resolution) is not one to shy away from, especially since this model comes with full-HD 1080p support and a Blu-Ray drive that lets you watch your favorite HD movies. Overall, the Sony VAIO AW Series Notebook PC is excellent in its capabilities and power, yet it maintains a price range significantly lower than other models. Unfortunately, the poor battery life tends to steer users to other models. But if you're looking for a good desktop replacement, this is a great model to consider.
ValueWhen you realize that the Sony VGN-AW310J/H has most if not all the features of notebooks twice its price, then you can see that it is a great value for the price. Although this laptop isn't specifically designed for gaming, the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT GPU with 512MB dedicated memory allows users to experience many HD-quality games. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor also blazes in performance when paired with the 4GB RAM (expandable to recommended 8GB). Among other features are stereo Bluetooth, HDMI, and wireless-N. The only downside to this laptop is the poor battery life- approximately 3 hours. Because of this, we can only recommend this model as a desktop replacement. FeaturesBecause this notebook is not meant to be shuffled on-the-go, Sony focused more on including features in this powerhouse, rather than making it ergonomic and ultraportable. This particular model comes with a 400GB hard drive for storage, along with processor and RAM mentioned earlier. Perhaps the CPU needs a step-up, but the graphics card does not. It performs very well, especially with 1080p video, such as Blu-Ray movies. There is a Blu-Ray reader/DVD multidrive to handle this task. For networking users, the Sony VAIO comes with integrated stereo Bluethooth 2.1 (+EDR), gigabit Ethernet, and wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n). This model has a built-in webcam and microphone, plus ports like HDMI, VGA, optical audio, S/PDIF, iLINK, and three USB 2.0. Although we miss a fingerprint scanner, overall, this laptop is loaded fairly well for the price. SummaryPutting the poor battery life aside, this model is an excellent desktop replacement with great features and smooth performance. If you feel intimidated by the more expensive notebooks, consider the Sony VAIO AW Series Notebook PC. When taking in all the considerations, this laptop is very reasonable. Users desiring blazing gaming notebooks should look elsewhere, as well as on-the-go consumers who need something ultraportable that has superb battery life. Overall, this is a great entertainment notebook and fits nicely in the middle-market range of Sony's laptops. Pros
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