Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

More details on the AW on the German Vaio website!

 

Sony US now have listed AW in their website.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...0151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644576902

 

Info only, I have spoken with Sony US support they have confirmed the US versions will be shipped with HDMI 1.3, I'm waiting for the Sony UK support to confirm if the UK versions will be shipped with HDMI 1.3 as well, this is vital to take advantage of the Dolby Home Cinema which outputs Hi Def Audio formats

 

There is your AW screen mentioned:
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowPro...g&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VAIO+Notebooks

 

p.laver, let us know what Sony UK say about that.

 

I'll post their response when I receive it

 

Does anyone know if the US version has a eSata port? The website does not list one.

 

Should be interesting to see if Sony will bring in the QX9300 to match HP's offering and if they can better price the AW closer to the cost of HDX18.

 

So the AW won't be all that good for gaming? I am looking at purchasing the AW for school/work/gaming.

 

AW is actually okay for gaming with the 9600 GT. It is a okay medium graphic card. Of course, if you are really into gaming, I will look into laptops with X700 or above graphic cards (I mean the Gateway 7811 is the cheapest gaming laptop you can buy at bestbuy now for like $1250 on special).

 

I dont really do a lot of gaming. I am actually looking forward to diablo III, thats probably the only game I would even play.

But its nice to have the options to play games if I want to.

 

the 18.4" screen would be best paired with an 9800m GTS that would be great for gaming. X9100, Q9100, Q9200, QX9300 CPU options would also be sweet.

 

Consider please that people should be able to pay for that laptop and you don't want to cool it with liquid nitrogen

 

Does anyone have more information on the screen? Is it still going to be a TN panel but with an improved LED lighting system? If this is an 8-bit ips panel with led lighting then I'm going to have to seriously consider this over an hdtv+ps3 combo.

*edit*

Ok..., unless i completely missed something, on the US site the adobe rgb screen is a 624 dollar upgrade.

For that price they better drop in an ips screen. Color shifting from TN panels is NOT photography friendly.

 

bah double post

 

Laptopmag.com has published a review of the VGN-AW180Y/Q version.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/sony-vaio-aw-series-vgn-aw180yq.aspx

It seems like their biggest complaint was that the price is too high which is not very surprising considering that they tested a version with SSD.

Also they didn’t like the design. I am waiting until I see it in real life before I make up my mind about it. I am not sure I will like the glossy lid. I think I would have preferred a matte finish all-around…

 

Thanks for the link! The reviewer claimed 180 degree viewing angles! Amazing this is the only laptop that isn't a 12 inch tablet with a screen that isn't TN. I still want to see some more pics and reviews and I'd like to still know what type of panel is being used but unless someone else releases a laptop with a non-tn screen it'll be hard for me not to buy this. My one concern is that tv reviewer said that the laptop couldn't play the Blu ray movie without a few hiccups. Will have to investigate more on that but with a 9600gt it should play buttery smooth even at 1080p. Sounds very odd. Anyways there are rumors of apple and dell also releasing rgb screens sometime this year but we will see if that comes to fruition.
A laptop with a screen like this

 

Anyone found any coupon codes for the AW?

 

Their six lamp technology as seen in the FW series is awfull, washed out image with poor viewing angles, wonder how the 3 chip looks, in my mind the TZ has the best screen, 1366*768 on a 11.1" LED display with deep blacks and great viewing angles, a photo editors dream..

 

lol I'm sorry but the TZ does NOT have 180 degree viewing angles because it is a TN screen meaning it has poor viewing angles and mediocore color reproduction and thus it is not even close to being a photo editors dream. All current TN panels are 6 bit! That alone makes them poor for accurate color reproduction. Does the TZ have better than average viewing angles? Yeah probably, and by laptop standards the screen is probably really nice. I don't think you realize what 180 degrees viewing angles really look and what 100% adobe rgb color reproduction mean. Once you see a screen like that your jaw will drop. I haven't seen the Sony AW but I have seen an IPS screen with 100% adobe rgb color reproduction and its simply amazing and thats why I'm excited to see if this screen can live up to those expectations.

 

Okay, just recently got home from Fry's Electronics. I saw and touched the Vaio AW in person, IT IS AMAZING!!!! HUGE notebook. From looking at everything, I didn't see a glossy lid or anything glossy for that matter (except the screen ) The noteboom played Blu-rays just fine without hiccups. Very smooth performance and extreamly responsive. Sony really out did themselves. Pick one up, NOW!

 

^

You said the AW you saw wasn't glossy, right? If it wasn't then the one you were playing with didn't have the RGB screen.

Only the piano black finished AW's have the better LED screen, not the silver ones.

Although I am glad to hear that the cheaper AW still has a nice screen, even if it is a CCFL lit one

 

Right, the screen was a standard Xbrite-Eco, looked great as is. However Xbrite Full HD will blow it away.

Out of curiousity, what will this new RGB screen give that a CCFL lit one does not give besides being more energy efficent and brighter?

 

Color gamut, mainly.

I believe it renders over 100% of the NTSC color spectrum. It should provide fantastic color reproduction - a must for photogs (which the system was designed for).

 

The new Adobe RGB screen will give you 100% Adobe RGB color gamut, which I believe is 93% of the NTSC color gamut. The best laptop screens currently give ~70% of NTSC color gamut and I believe most only give ~50% of color gamut.

The other HUGE factor is viewing angles. You know how when you tilt your screen back you get that ugly negative effect? And how when you move your head the colors shift on TN screens? Well according to one reviewer the screen gives 180 degree viewing angles which means you can view the screen from ANY direction and it won't shift in color or look any different.

To me that's huge because I hate TN screens. We still don't know exactly what type of screen is in this laptop, but I've never seen any screens besides TN and IPS in laptops before and there doesn't exist a TN screen with anywhere near 180 degree viewing angles.

 

As far as I know none of the AW's have the Xbrite-eco screen. They all have the XBRITE-FullHD™ LCD, but only some have Adobe RGB color management

 

Care to enlighten me on what a TN and IPS display panel is? I am computer and tech savvy, but not 100%

 

By the way, even though these notebooks have made their way into stores, when will Sony OFFICIALLY start CTO AWs on their website?

I mean, I found that you can do an AW CTO on Sony's website, but it is not officially listed up in the scrolling laptop line banner, you would have to search for it. And indication?

 

Oh, found out you can get that fingerprint reader on the AW, good move, but that's probably why the CTO AW page isn't 100% ready, because the fingerprint reader option isn't listed but it is in the .PDF document.

 

That should not be any problem. Probably a matter of installing better drivers or removing some Sony bloatware.

The laptop is more than fast enough to play Bluray 100% smooth.

 

I'm still waiting for Sony UK support/desigh team to get back to me, I have spoken with a guy at my local Sony centre he's confirmed all AW series will have a 1.3 HDMI port but couldn't confirm if the HDMI will allow Hi-Def audio. He did say Hi Def audio through optical would be OK, as we all know that's not true, optical can't handle the higher audio bit rates. I've managed to find a contact at Dolby who knows all about the 'Dolby Home Theatre' used in the AW series laptop, I'll be talking to her on Monday, she was out of the office yesterday. I hope I can confirm what audio formats the AW series can handle later next week.

 

I never said the viewing angle was 180 degrees, but it will eat spit and poop over the sony FW screen which is a washed out piece of garbage, and i'm going by that for the AW screen, I mean if the FW screen was bad that can't blame me for expecting the worse for AW...

Do you even own a TZ?, no consumer lcd tv whatever size and res can match that display, your talking 1360*768 on a 11.1" LED display, HD video will look better on that than the 1920*1080 AW as the res is to high, displaying hd video at native res shows up all the noise and grain, it's like when you take a picture when viewing it at full res looks grainy and pixelated but lower the res and it looks much more better...

Of course the 1920*1080 is better for photos and DTP or work related stuff as your have more work room but for entertainment purposes it does not cut it...

I sit at about 45 degrees to my tz display and see no colour change, looks exactly the same, the horizontal viewing angle is great, the vertical one is ok better than most notebooks, but the colour reproduction and brightness and contrast ratio and black levels are out of this world...

Until I see the AW in person I can't comment but I don't have high expectations...

What I'd like to see is a TZ, TT, Z, Z *1600*900* , AW all side by side...

 

No I don't own a TZ but I've seen one in person. You know nothing about screens if you think your 11" TZ screen is better than any consumer tv screen, that's just a ridiculous statement. You do realize that your TZ has a TN screen right? You also realize that all top end tvs use technology that is years ahead of TN too right? You also realize that your screen is only 6 bit color while LCD tvs are now at 10 bit color right?

Sounds to me like you invested a lot of money in your laptop and you chose it over a real tv and you feel the need to convince yourself you made the right choice. Obviously there are trade offs, mainly portability but stop lieing to yourself and realize that laptop screens are way behind the technology curve. All the major lcd manufacturers are putting their best technology in tvs, laptop screens are on the back burner.

Also, theres not a ton of information on the ADOBE RGB LED AW SCREEN but one reviewer claimed 180 degree viewing angles, and given that it can reproduce 100% of the Adobe RGB color gamut it is most likely an IPS screen and certainly not a TN screen. Go wiki "adobe rgb color gamut" to inform yourself a bit more on what that means.

As for resolution, yes you are right that the smaller you make a picture the better it may 'seem' to appear. What you don't understand is that all of the new blu-ray release movies are going to run at 1080p, the native resolution of the AW laptop. "Native resolution" means you're NOT making a "small picture bigger".

Watch that on your 11" lower resolution laptop and what that means is that you're making a big picture smaller and in the process you probably will hide certain defects inherent in a movie, especially on older movie but you're ALSO going to lose detail because your throwing out information.

Also as for "grain" I hope you realize that several movies have grain in them on purpose to create a certain look to the movie.

Lastly, look the TZ is an amazing laptop and the portability is amazing and for a laptop screen it is very nice, but consumer tvs, blu-ray, and apparently this new adobe rgb aw screen (please note I'm referring to a very specific screen not to be confused with a standard AW or any FW screen) are on a whole different level.

 

Honestly, the TZ series is a waste of money. If your going to be spending a lot of money, the AW series is a much better choice. You get more performance and spend less money in comparison.

 

Notebook mistake #1 "Size doesn't matter".

You try carrying a 8.8lb laptop all over campus and that TZ is gonna start looking real good, let's not start with battery life either because the TZ puts the AW to shame.

We are talking about two VERY different laptops here. If you don't need to carry your laptop around a lot AND you don't need more than 2 hours of battery life then the AW makes more sense. I already have a laptop that is easy to carry around, I'm looking at something that's still portable but more of a beast, hence why I'm looking at the AW.

 

Then you want to go for the z series..

 

No I want to go for the AW series, it's more powerful with a much better screen for less money and I don't need something as portable as the Z series. I'm only occasionaly going to move this notebook around and when I do it won't be carried much.

 

Has anyone here (UK Based) seen one these babies in the flesh.

 

I called the Sonystyle store in the Garden State Plaza mall (NJ) today and was told that they just got the AW in stock with one on display with the RGB screen. Just in case you're nearby & interested in the AW.

 

I called the Sony store in Costa Mesa in Californiaon Sunday and I was told they would be recieving the AW today but that they didn't know which models they would be recieving. I didn't get a chance to call today, but either way I'm going to wait a few more weeks. Apple's new notebooks should be coming in a week and Dell's new xps line is rumored to come out November, both of which have been rumored to carry adobe rgb screens. Costa Mesa mall has both a sony store and an apple store so I can check them out by doing a little walking.

 

Try your local Best Buy. They have AW-125 in stock for $1850.
I bought one from them here in Seattle last friday.

-J

 

I'm only interested in the adobe rgb screen, to me its the only thing that makes this laptop special and I'm pretty sure Best Buy won't be have this model on display as it'll be too expensive for them. I did call the Sony store and they do have an adobe rgb screen on display, but since its a half hour drive I'm gonna wait and see if new macbooks are announced and go look at them together in case apple offers an adobe rgb screen.

 

Do you mean screen with LED Backlight? Yes, thats available only on the most expensive model. I don't know if there are any other differences in specs for the screens. On my laptop I was able to download the Adobe RGB color profile and use that as my default color profile.

-J

 

Yes I mean the screen with the led backlighting. It's not JUST an led backlight though. The screen can reproduce 100% of the adobe rgb color gamut, on top of that it has 180 degree viewing angles. I'm still waiting for someone to confirm what kind of panel is in it, but given that it has 180 degree viewing angles (according to one reviewer) and that it can reproduce 100% of the adobe rgb color gamut, it is most likely an 8-bit ips panel. The only good thing about TN panels is that they have a fast refresh rate, so I'm curious to see what if any ghosting is seen on the led backlit display.

Oh and even though you can download the adobe rgb color profile, I'm not sure it'll mean anything. Just about every laptop screen uses a 6-bit TN screen meaning it can only reproduce about 256k colors but through a process called "dithering" it can "simulate" ~16.2 million colors. On the other hand, an 8-bit color display can reproduce ~16.7 million colors. So even if you download the color profile, it doesn't mean it'll make your screen look comparable to the led one.

 

This is the part that is confusing me, has it actually been verified that the AW without Adobe RGB color management has no LED Backlight or a different backlight? At least one person has claimed there is no difference in the LCD display between the Adobe RGB color management AW and the one without and so far the only reviews have been with the Adobe RGB one.

 

I've seen several press releases stating that the AW190 Premium (the piano black case, starting @ $2,318.99) with Adobe RGB color management has a 3LED backlit display...it's the same technology used in the top of the line Bravia HDTV. The other (cheaper) AWs have CCFL backlights. I assume the 1080 FullHD display has a dual lamp, but I'm not sure if this has been fully confirmed. I haven't seen it, but I'm sure the 3LED display is the 'piece de resistance' of laptop displays at this time. I'd love to own one...too bad that it's about a $600 add. Unless Apple raises the bar in the next few weeks, this baby looks like a Mac Pro 17 killer.

 

You should really consider the fact that Apple's new notebooks, particularly the MacBook Pro, will be far more expensive than the AW series.

 

Correct, the premium model uses a 3led backlit display BUT it ALSO uses a screen with 180 degree viewing angles. I haven't been able to confirm whether this is a pva or ips technology, but it is NOT TN which is old crappy technology. I can tell you for a fact that the cheaper screen uses a TN panel and CCFL backlight.

I'm also waiting to see if the coming laptops from Apple will use an IPS screen. The $600 add on is quite inflated I think though. The adobe photoshop elements 5.0 retails for $100 dollars, and the photoshop light room 2.0 retails for $300 dollars. This software is only included with the premium model which means it is part of the $600 dollar add on. It's possible Sony inked a deal with adobe to include the software at a discounted price but unless Sony gives us an option to only include the screen and not the software its difficult to know how much extra the screen would be.

It's worth noting that a Sony press release stated the AW would start at $1600 and the premium would start at $2000. So far we have not seen a base $1600 model from sony directly, but we have seen it at amazon.com. The $1600 model has some lower specs than the lowest base model at sony, so I'm guessing Sony has a similar model to offer but with the premium screen, so a $400 upcharge for the screen when we see it hit retail perhaps. Sony still hasn't listed the aw on its main page, and I'm guessing that they are waiting for their ar sale to end, so maybe tommorrow we will see it up with more cto options. And maybe in retail in a few days.

I'll consider it, but only as a fleeing thought. The rumors are that Apple is going to reduce prices so we will see if Apple's laptops are more expensive or if they even release a comparable screen.

Also, lets not kid ourselves here. Apple's laptops do carry a premium but so do Sonys. And finally, Apple's notebooks are actually pretty good deals when they first come out. The problem with Apple is that they don't reduce their prices over time the way pc manufacturers.

 

Mind if I ask you whats your source on that? I cannot find any details on the display of the lower cost AW.

I went to the US Sonystyle website and did a customize on both versions of the AW series and after adding Photoshop Light Room to the non-adobe RGB model the price difference between the two was $400 USD, with all the options the same on both models.

 

Well first of all just about every laptop out right now uses 6-bit TN screens. The easiest way to tell if a screen is TN is to look at it from a large vertical angle. For example, when you see the aw in person tilt the screen back and if the colors wash out and you get that ugly "negative" effect then the screen is TN. The only notebooks that currently use ips screens are a few tablet pcs and probably now this laptop. Most consumers don't care enough about the screen for manufacturers to bother giving us this option. Actually IBM had an IPS option last year but according to them, it became too difficult to obtain a reliable source of IPS panels in order to continue offering the option. This laptop is in a 16:9 ratio, which surprise is the ratio of consumer tvs which get all the nice ips panels, so hopefully now that laptops start coming in at 16:9 we'll start to see more ips panels.

As for customizing the lapptop, good idea. I hadn't thought of that. I did notice that Sony lists the adobe software as a "$300 value". But yeah, they are force feeding you the software at a nice $224 tag, so the screen itself is a $400 upgrade. I'm glad to know that the $624 upcharge is mostly for the screen and not the software. I still don't understand Sony though. Yes I know this is being marketed towards photographers, but you would think that many photographers already have this software and don't want to buy it again.

On another note. I went to amazon.com and looked up the specs on the 1600 dollar laptop and what I found out is that the 1600 dollar one uses a 9300m graphics card and a lower resolution display. Amazon's description is incomplete though and doesn't list if it has the tv tuner or fingerprint reader etc. My guess is that the $2000 premium model will also have a 9300m and maybe no tv tuner. The tv tuner I can live without but I definately need the 9600m.

Now to wait for Apple to release their laptops and to see if I can buy a premium model online without paying $200 in taxes.