Official Sony VAIO AW Series 18.4" Owners thread

I have called (once) and chatted a few times. I was told education discount only applies to select pre-built configurations (not customizable). Since I teach at a college, I qualify for the discount, and I see it applied to several products, but not the AW pre-builts. However, every time I chatted, the sales person told me to call for special deals not available on line. I figured I'd start calling daily once I am 100% ready to buy.

Also, about a month ago they were selling the last of the 190's which had a $300 something or another applied to them. I guess if it was a rebate, that would explain why I though the prices on the 190's were no better than the 290's when configured as close as possible to one another.

 

greetings,

does the Blu-Ray ROM have the capability to WRITE CDs and DVDs or do i have to get the Blu-Ray writer to do this?

thank you
bruce

 

BluRay ROM is playback only writer is needed for writing data or recording to BluRay. Also the $300 warranty discount with two accessories is back on the American Sony Style website. And knight is right-for a while they were playing pricing games and the 190's and 290's ended up at the same price as create your owns because some aspects of 190 upgrades were more expensive than the same upgrades on the 290.

 

I'M about to get the aw170c with the RGB screen. I tried the AW120D and returned because I didn't like the display. It had dark corners and somewhat uneven backlight. I'm hoping the RGB display fares better. To anyone who owns that display, can you tell me if the corners aren't darker on a white background?
Thanks

 

Should I buy the 1680x945 or 1920x1080 model? I'm going to do all my photo/video editing with the laptop. 1680x's DPI is more to my taste, as its close to 100 (my current screen has 96 DPI), 1920x has 119 DPI and I'm not sure if thats too much for editing.. Only downsize in 1680x is that the vertical resolution is only 945, but I currently have 1024 as my vertical resolution so it's not that big difference. I don't have opportunity to see these laptops in person.

 

The screen is TERRIBLE on the 1680x945 model, like all the other cheap laptop you get terrible lightbleed at the bottom with washed colors and darker upper screen. Unless you're spot on on the viewing angle those screen are unusable for any photo/video editing.

 

So you have seen that model in person?

Did your "cheaper" model have matte screen, or is matte only in those RGB screen models?

btw, is it possible to install other Vista versions to these laptops (Vista Business 32/64 for example)?

 

Bear in mind that these laptops are 16:9 proportion, so although it's an 18.4" screen, in height terms it's about the same as 15.4" screen at 16:10 pro...

i'd be tempted to go 1920 if you can... there's other benefits like 1:1 playback of 1080p material to think about as well.

 

only the RGB is matte I heard, but i compared both non-RGB led screen side to side and they're both glossy.

 

When you compared them side to side what material were you viewing and what is your verdict regarding image quality?

 

If Im right, AW's actual screen height is about the same or even bigger than MBP 17" model (about 23cm in MBP).

Also:

MBP 17" 1920x1200 = 133 DPI. (2,304,000 pixels)

AW 18.4" 1920x1080 = 119 DPI. (2,073,600 pixels)


So things look bigger in AW.

 

solid black and solid white. The 1080p screen is well saturated and vibrant, but has dark corners especially the bottom ones. The viewing angles are good and the backlight is somewhat even. The lower res screen looks washed out and has a terrible backlight bleed at the bottom. I would choose the 1080p one but the dark corners bother me too much. The HDX18t i had for 2 months waas perfect but the whole build quality of the laptop was shoddy. Didnt inspire confidence...

I was ready to buy the RGB screen but as I went in store today, it seems like we Canadian can't get any of the higher end AW anymore. I'm screwed for now as I don't want to buy online without being able to return the laptop if I'm not satsified with the screen or have dead pixel....

 

I misunderstood-I thought you were comparing AW290 premium LED technology and AW290 standard CCFL technology? Has anyone done this? It sounds like this is the 1920 x1080 and 1645 x 980 you were comparing?

 

Can someone post pictures from the screen? Both when the laptop is on and off, and fom different angles, so we can see how reflective it is. I've only seen like 1 non-promo picture on the net so far.

 

Yes, you can write CDs and DVDs. You cannot write Blu-ray Discs.

No, a writer is not needed for writing data since the Blu-ray ROM writes CDs and DVDs. Blu-ray ROM means that it only reads blu-ray discs, but it writes everything else.

Here are Sony's specifications for the Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500S:

DVD+R DL Write: 6x max.
DVD+R Write: 8x max.
DVD+RW Write: 6x max.
DVD-R Write: 8x max.
DVD-RW Write: 6x max.
CD-R Write: 24x max.
CD-RW Write: 24x max.
CD Read: 24x max.
DVD Read: 8x max.
DVD-RAM Write: 5x max.
DVD-R DL Write: 6x max.
BD-R Read: 5x max.
BD-ROM Read: 5x max.
BD-RE Read: 5x max.
BD-R DL Read: 5x max.
DVD-RAM Read: 5x max.
Blu-Ray Disc™ Support: Yes (read only) (BD-ROM/ DVD±RW/±R DL/RAM Drive)
BD-RE DL Read: 5x max.

 

flibottf, my AW120D does not have dark corners on a white background. Yes, it has a somewhat uneven backlight, but I only notice that if I use a monitor benchmarking program such as TFTtest. As others have noted here, its CCFL screen does have a bit of light bleed at the very bottom of the screen.

I haven't seen the AW170C for sale at SonyStyle Canada for a while now. I don't think you can buy it any longer. The AW190CTO is still available though. Its starting price is $2,289.99, but when you click on the Customize button, the price jumps to $2783.99.

 

What Canadian store are you reffering too? SonyStyle?
When I went to a SonyStyle store a few months ago I could either order the 170C or the CTO, but the CTO was through credit card only.

 

futureshop and sonystyle, both are out...

 

I just received my pre configured AW-290 with LED screen. In my opinion, it is not clear on Sony's site but Lightroom is not included. It is only included in the when you configure a CTO model. I thought they were giving a good discount for a pre-configured model, but in reality, they omitted Lightroom. I had to call Sony to confirm that is wasn't accidentally omitted. I am still deleting unwanted software & offers but otherwise I am pleased with the laptop.

 

Okay guys so here's my situation-in order to get the needed accessories for the 300 dollar warranty rebate I bought a VIAO carrying case, the HP 6480 Deskjet Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax and two printing cartridges for it, plus the three year warranty with damage protection and an AW290 configured thusly: 2.66 GHZ T9550 processor, 4 GB Memory, 640 GB HD and BluRay read/write plus the standard AW290. When I started reading here about the difference between the LED screen on the premium and the CCFL screen on the standard, I began to want the premium even though its 600 dollars more-its also the premium configured model that impressed me with the picture watching a few scenes from the Dark Knight BluRay at the Sony Style store that blew me away. It was better by far in picture quality than the large screen HDTV above it (which was showing a HDTV loop of flowers at the time-you could tell it had more detail.)

So the AW290 is also going to be my HDTV (small apartment and trying to stretch money to cover several bases- for example if I get a really nice bed right now it can double as a desk and dinette and couch for the time being instead of getting a so so bed now and a so so desk-just giving you the example to make a point- also it's a studio so all I would really need for now besides the bed is some sort of table and a chair. So the 290 will also be my HDTV and it's probably pointless to spend 50 dollars a month on Dish or Cable HDTV when all those programs are easily found and I can get all the Los Angeles HDTV stations for free 24 hours a day.

Anyway I'm more than willing to spend the extra money if the LED is so much better than the CCFL and also from an article I read CCFL is on the way out while LED is still growing in possibilities for improvements-that would also keep its value higher in the future I would think. The printer, cartridges and cases have already arrived and I called to cancel the standard 290 this morning which I guess is still being built- so that might set the timetable back a week or so but I want to be completely happy with what I get.

Anyway who has seen the standard and the premium extensively and what did you think? Am I making too big a deal out of this if the picture quality is the same or is it really that much better?

Also I'm writing a movie and book and at some point I may want to use the AW for HD film and possibly the Adobe RGB package but the main reason I didn't get the premium in the first place was no use for professional quality graphics and photos. However, I also didn't realize the Adobe model also had that significant difference with the LED's-I believe there are 32 of them , which is quite a lot, and unlike the Apple computers, they are not white but red green and blue.

 

knight427 --

PLEASE let us know if you have any luck getting a daily special discount by calling Sony. By the way, do you call a general sales number when you do this?

Many thanks from all of us on budgets. I'd like to purchase the pre-configured 290 premium model, but even with a small educational discount I'm looking at spending more than I'd originally planned.

 

Wow, that's interesting. I hadn't noticed that about the pre-config model. Doing some simple subtraction, Sony is charging about $220 for PS Lightroom in their CTO models.

Also, I did some playing around with the $300 rebate offer. It's very difficult to NOT spend the full $300+ on qualifying plans and accessories. The best I could do was to net $5.

3 Year Express Ship Service Plan ($200)
VAIO® Traveling Case VGP-AMC8 ($25)
VAIO® Canvas Urban Messenger Bag VGP-AMB12 ($70)
Promotional Discount: -$300.00
net $5 plus three things I don't really want

Needless to say, I'm not feeling pressured to order during this promotion, though if you wanted an extended warranty, it seems like a great deal.

I called once just to confirm some basic stuff like: education discount does not apply to CTO...it DOES however apply to AW290JFQ (preconfig premium). As I said before, when I'm 100% ready to buy, I'll start harassing them by phone (sales number listed on website) and report back whatever the results may be.

EDIT: important change above...the Ed discount does apply to AW290JFQ, I signed out sometime and didn't notice

EDIT2: wow, now I am tempted, I know the ed discount should always be there, but if I'm willing to live with the casual bag rather than the nicer looking Caselogic I linked to a few pages ago...then the savings really start adding up...basically I trade out the 320x2 7200rpm hard drives for 500x2 5400 rpm (don't really require that much space) but also get BRD R/W (was going to get BRD-ROM)...just noticed 18mo financing too...hmmmm

 

Another "by the way" -- I received some specs on the VGN AW290YPH model from a distributor:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor P8600 (2.4GHz)
4GB (2GBx2/DDR2/800MHz)
320GB/2.5/7200/SATA
18.4" with XBRITE-ECO™ Technology (1680 x 945)1(16:9 aspect ratio)
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9300M GS GPU
256MB Dedicated / 2030 MB (max.) [Total Available Graphics Memory]
Blu-ray Disc™ Support
DVD+-R Double Layer / DVD±RW Drive
Intel® WiFi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/b/g/n)
Integrated Bluetooth® Technology
Built-in 1.3MP MOTION EYE® Camera and Microphone
Titanium Gray (Magnesium Chassis)

 

knight427 --

The educational discount *should* apply to the AW290JFQ model. When I sign in on Sony's site, they show me a discounted price. Now, I haven't actually clicked away through the purchase sequence, but I'm assuming the discount would stick....

A third "by the way" -- what proof of student/faculty-ship is required for actual purchase? I bought software from Adobe recently, and they required a PDF of my student ID card before they would process my discounted order there. Sony will have a similar policy, I guess?

 

For those considering the AW290:

This laptop has been a treat to work on. With it's 2.93Ghz dual core processors and 8GB of ram I have not had any issues editing large image files or running multiple programs at once. Blu Ray movies look great on this screen which is matte by the way if you decide to get the RGB LED option. I tried the WinDVD software that it comes with which works flawlessly but then tried PowerDVD and preferred the interface and it seemed to work a bit more smoothly when I connected the laptop via HDMI to an LCD HDTV. I am sure some of the great image quality is credited to the Nvidia Pure Video processing. The one downside to the PowerDVD software ws that some special Blu Ray on screen extras didn't seem to work.
The only issue I had was with the fact that the optical drive tray is a bit flimsy to the point that I have to put my hand beneath it when loading a disc because it feels like it may break and the fact that the compact flash card button doesnt push the card out far enough to get a decent grip on it. Aside from that this notebook one of teh best I have used. I nearly went with the HP 18.4" but I am so glad that I did not. The keyboard feels great and is quite responsive. The LED is brighter than you could possibly need and the b attery life seems to match exactly what is advertised on the site however there different methods of managing power on this computer that would yield better results. There was a bit too much bloatware but for a person who isn't going to customize and already had other favorite software titles each supplied program can actually be very useful. Anyway, I njoined this forum and it helped me select the notebook that I wanted. I figured I should give an update on how things went with the purchase. I am very happy and will copy this post over on the Sony site. The only question I haven't answered is whether or not I can burn to duak kayer Blu Ray disc or just single layer.

 

I'm glad to hear that. I ordered the AW290 standard but then canceled it when I read about comparisons between CCFL and LEDs. If its already in transit and can't be canceled (they don't know yet) I suppose worst is I play with it for a day or two then return it for the premium model. I already bought a 25GB Panasonic rewritable BluRay disc at Fry's for $12.99 (they seem to be much cheaper than the Sonys- a three pack of rewritable Panasonic 50GB BluRay discs is $79.99 while a single Sony is $59.99. The Panasonic and the Sonys appear to be identical. I wouldn't trust the Memorex or the Verbatim ones and I've also read that buying write once BluRays is a very bad idea as they can become toast fairly often and there's no way to rescue them from the garbage.

 

I spent roughly $18 on a Sony 25GB BD-RE but really wanted to get the dual layer 50GB. I am waiting for a response from the Sony tech before I purchase it and discover that I can't burn dual layer BD's. As for the screen, I am actually redoing a few old images that were not done on a properly calibrated monitor and am seeing a huge difference in regards to referencing colors on this monitor. I did finally get my Syder 3 Pro to work as well so some credit goes to that.

 

And the Sonystyle store wont let you order one?

 

not online and not instore... im quite upset right now

 

About this $300 rebate for purchasing a service plan and accessories: is it good only on customize-to-order models, or can it be applied to the two preconfigured models currently available?

Thanks for answering here, even if it's been answered previously.

 

zedata, may I know what model is the NVIDIA GeForce used in your AW290? Thanks.

 

It works on the AW290JFQ and stacks with the Ed discount.

 

It's the GeForce 9600M GT.

 

Is there big difference between non-LED and LED screens? For example, is MBP LED screen way better than AW non-LED screen?

 

I wont speak specifically about the non LED AW laptop but when comparing the RGB LED screen to any fluorescent screen I have used in the past there is a huge improvement.The screen is simply much brighter to the point that I always have it at it's lowest setting when indoors and the colors are much more accurate and rich. For photography work this is a treat and the extra bonus is of course using this machine for Blu Ray. Yes, there is a difference and I personally prefer the semi-matte screen anyway.

 

Ok. 1300€ is still way too much when all you get is pretty much LED screen and a little bit better processor.

1.998,99 € model = T9550 and non-LED

3.299,00 € model = T9800 and LED.

They both have sh*tty 4200rpm HDD's too. And the high price model doens't even have correct keyboard for me, lol.

The pricing in Sonystyle Europe is wierd too.

2.250,00€ model has T9400 processor and 640GB 5400rpm HDD (2 x 320GB).

1.998,99€ model has T9550 (better) processor and 564GB (500GB SATA 4200 rpm HDD + 64 GB SSD ATA/66).

Otherwise they are identical. Why would someone buy that 2.250,00€ model?

 

It appears the U.S. preconfigured premium AW290 is slightly cheaper than the create to order model with more hard drive-these are my preconfigured specs-2.66 GHZ T9550 processor (same as preconfigured, apparently), 4GB (same), BluRay read/write (same), 640 GB HD (1TB on preconfigured) - main difference is 4200 rpms on hard drive in preconfigured (500GB x 2) or 640GB at 7200 rpms in create to order (320GBx2)-what is the real world difference in these hard drive speeds? Thanks.

 

It would be fairly huge, but you can replace hard drives on your own. Depending on what you use it for though it might not really matter.

I'm currently running a 7200RPM Seagate drive and it feels like my desktop systems in terms of disk access, though my desktops are running older older seagate drives.

 

I guess I was another one of the lucky buyers of Neweggg's VGN-AW190JAH for $1,399. At the time of purchase, Newegg's specs stated that the maximum memory supported was 8GB, which was a key selling point to me. A similar feature was the option of installing a second hard drive.

On the SonyStyle site, you can configure an AW series with 8GB of RAM and two internal hard drives, but I'm beginning to doubt whether or not the AW190JAH CAN actually be upgraded.

Reason for such doubts is the fact that Newegg recently changed the specs on their product page to "maximum memory supported: 4GB", the fact that I've found no 200-pin PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 SoDIMMS which offer 4GB, and the fact that when I opened up the drive bay, although the space for a second drive is there, there's no SATA connector.

Now, on one of Newegg's product reviews, someone had said that this required some 'professional customization' but after talking to a Sony Store service tech. (who wasn't really sure about whether or not this couold be made and asked me to take the laptop over for him to check it out) I'm beginning to have serious doubts.

Does anyone know if other AW models DO include a second SATA (or eSATA) connector for second hard drive installation, and if they use 240-pin SoDIMMS OR have four memory slots?

Please help. Thanks!

P.S. The computer is still great and a steal at $1,399. After all, it cost me almost $1,000 less than my previous 17", 2GB RAM (stock, upgreadable to 4GB), 256MB nVidia video RAM, 200GB 5400RPM HDD, no-blue-ray-disc, and heavier Toshiba Satellite P105 S9339.

 

NONE of these have 4 memory slots. Virtually no laptops have 4 memory slots (I think like Dell's super high end $4000-6000+ Precision does, but that's a rare exception).

For 8GB you'd have to buy two 4GB DIMMs, which IMO isn't worth the cost right now, though might be in the future. (Honestly, I'm loaded up running a crazy number of programs right now, at 100% CPU utilization on my laptop with 4GB and it's still only using about half my RAM, and it's as fast as if I was running a single program).

EDIT: Regarding the hard drives, that's a known thing as listed earlier in this thread-it doesn't include the bracket thingee unless it ships with two drives. The RAM is no big deal though.

 

Thanks, Wolfpup. I just found the thread with the parts list for the second drive installation.

Do you have any link to anyone who offers the 4GB DIMMs? I've seen some, but not for laptops. Thanks!

 

Crucial does if nothing else. It's really expensive though, not worth it for most of us IMO.

I mean I'll have like 16+ programs open, using 100% of my CPU, and still only use about half my RAM with 4GB (and that's with 64-bit Vista which by necessity uses more RAM than the 32-bit version).

 

So in everybody's opinion I'm better off spending an extra $75 for the create to order premium AW290 with 640 GB spinning at 7200 rpm than buying the preconfigured model with 360 GB or more hard drive than the create to order for a total of I Terrabyte in HD but spinning at only 4200 rpm all else being equal. Which is likely to keep the value of the AW290 higher in the future-which is one of the reasons I want the LED display?

 

Well... if I may be allowed to venture an opinion, I'd go with the faster drive for better performance. Besides, it's quite a feat to fill up a TB of data and apps, though not impossible if you work with 3D animation and video editing, BUT in this case many applications (including some of Adobe's Production Suite Premium) require a 7200RPM drive.

Hope this helps.

By the way, Wolfpup... I found the 4GB memory SODIMMs at Crucial. ( http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT51264AC800) They're at $339. I guess it'll make a nice birthday present for next year by when they'll be (hopefully) at half that price or lower.

Thanks for the tips and all the info.

 

Actually I do have the 640GB 7200 RPM drive set up and 8GB of RAM with the 2.93Ghz processor(Vista 64bit) as I had mentioned so the set up is quite different from the one you are speaking of. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty expensive but the model you are comparing it to does not have the same processing power or overall speed. If the RGB LED screen isn't that important to you then I guess you can go with a different model but there is more to it than just the screen . It would be a waste to put 4200rpm drives in this machine especially if you will be doing image editing.

 

Personally I wouldn't trust RAID 0 at all, and especially not in a laptop-that's my only issue :-/ I know plenty of people use it though. But I'm skittish enough about the issue of hard drive failure as it is, w ithout doubling my chances of losing data!

(I'm switched to running Syncback on my new laptop once a week, figuring it's more vulnerable to data loss than my desktop was, which I ran once a month.)

 

Here is the best AW model: https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/AW-Series-18-4"/VGNAW21XY/Q.CEK

As you can see, it has 4200rpm HDD.

I need best screen I can get, since I do mostly videoediting and graphic desing work with it. But like I said, processor update from T9550 -> T9800 and LED screen aint worth of 1300€ (1600$).

T9550 would be enough for me anyways.. but the dual lamp screen might not be good enough... hard to tell since I have no opportunity to see these laptops in person.

 

Thanks the part about certain programs requiring a 7200 rpm drive is a huge factor and that makes my mind up. Apparently Alienware is offering 500 GB 7200 rpm drives so why not Sony? Of course when I researched Alienware a lot of complaints came up immediately plus they don't offer any 16:9 models.

 

A 4200 drive helps with saving battery life but the minute you start opening large files and running or using a program to edit video or photos you will notice that it just isn't as responsive. The best AW290 is the customizable version because you can get a solid state drive along with the maximum available RAM and the LED screen. I would have gotten my drives but am happy with the set up it came with.

 

There's no option to customize AW's in Sony Europe store

LED screen model with 7200rpm HDD and T9550 = 1950€ in sonystyle.com

Dual lamp model with 4200rpm HDD and T9550 = 1999€ in Sony Europe store

not fun