Sony VAIO VGN-AW130J/H 18.4-Inch Laptop Review
Sony VAIO VGN-AW130J/H 18.4-Inch Laptop Review from Vincent Whitmore. A Good Value!, Pros:
Screen- 18.4″, Full HD, 1920 by 1080 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio. Biggest screen I have ever had (or seen) on a laptop.
Photographer’s Laptop- Built in compact flash port, runs Adobe Lightroom 2 and Adobe Photoshop CS4 quite quickly, screen makes photos look really good and makes editing easy, included Roxio CD/DVD burning software that makes it easy to to put finished photos on a disk
Powerful system for the price- 4 Gigs of Ram, 320 GB Hard Drive. I have looked at systems with faster Dual Core processors and higher rpm hard drives- at twice the price of this system. Watching TV with an external tuner while running several resource-demanding applications such as Photoshop CS4 on two monitors can slow things down a bit, but that would be a demand on any system.
Full numeric keypad- Something I’ve always missed in a laptop and now I have it. No more cramping hands on those ‘almost useful’ regular keyboard adaptations or hauling around an external USB numeric keypad. This is a BIG feature for me.
Built in speakers with subwoofer are remarkably good.
Vista Home Premium- I guess I should turn in my geek card for saying this but I really like Vista- have since it came out. I’m not sure what all the hating it is about as I have found it stable, handy and full of great features. This computer is a replacement for my previous Vista computer that was stolen, and running XP for a few weeks on an backup laptop made me appreciate Vista even more.
Built in web cam and microphone- I’ve been Skyping on this new computer with family and love it. No extra stuff to carry about and I can video conference. I’m liking it. A lot!
Fingerprint sensor- I didn’t think I would use this feature and when I discovered that I could swipe my finger rather than type in a password I use it all the time. I keep my laptop password protected but can be logged in in no time. Another cool feature.
All of this for less than two grand. THAT’s a deal!
Cons:
Only 3 USB ports. What was Sony thinking? When there’s a USB-compatible everything available now? While not a huge tragedy with all the USB hubs out there, I still think this is a design flaw. But it’s the worst I could find in this great computer.
Other thoughts:
Docking. I don’t have a real docking station but I plug this computer into a 24″ Dell HD monitor with an HDMI cable and the display is GREAT. Even with a Blue-Ray disk. I tossed in a old Compaq USB keyboard and I run a two monitor system with the laptop. Very handy.
Recommended Accessory: The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000
Love this Bluetooth mouse. I’m a left-handed person and a five button, ambidextrous, wireless, rechargeable mouse is cool.
In closing: I’m very happy with this laptop. Good price, good deal.
To check price or purchase Sony VAIO VGN-AW130J/H 18.4-Inch Laptop.