Sony VAIO AR brings Blu-ray to your lap

Posted May 16, 2006 at 02:07 PM by Adam Berger

Section: Home Audio, Laptops, HDTV, Portable Video

After yesterday’s clue of “is it red, green, or blu?“, Sony took the wraps off the world’s first Blu-ray Disc enabled notebook computer the VAIO AR.       

The VAIO AR will come in two different configurations: Premium and Standard. The AR Premium version plays Blu-ray Disc high-definition content, so you can enjoy movies in full 1080p HD resolution with a 17-inch WUXGA 1080p (1920 x 1200) widescreen display and uses Sony’s XBRITE Hi-Color LCD technology. It will also have an HDMI output to send to your even larger screen. This is also the first laptop announced with the ability to record to Blu-ray in 1080 resolution. The notebook will have an Intel Core Duo chip and run MS Windows Media Center Edition. A NTSC tuner is built in processed by the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 256 MB graphics card The AR series also incorporates a camera and microphone allowing users to chat online with friends and family.

The AR Standard model will start at about $1,800, while the AR Premium Blu-ray Disc enabled model will go for a whopping $3,500 (in comparison the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650 HD-DVD notebook sells for $2999.99). Both models are expected this summer. The Premium model will be shipped with the Sony Pictures Entertainment Blu-ray Disc release, “House of Flying Daggers,” providing a high-definition experience on the PC right out of the box, thanks for the $20 freebie.

Read [Sony Press Release]