Sony's laptop configurations are often bleeding edge, but the company's latest Vaio notebook might just be the one that hits home with mainstream users.
 Judged by press photos, the all-new Sony Vaio NW series looks better than most mainstream laptops around. More importantly, it won't ship with expensive, bleeding edge technology that might only take you 80% of the way anyway. In stead, the Sony Vaio NW offers technology that reminds us of a HP configuration. That's obviously not a bad choice nowadays.
At the core of the Sony Vaio NW you'll find a mid-range 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 400GB hard drive as well as ATI Radeon HD4570 discrete graphics with 512MB dedicated video RAM. The machine is powered by Windows Vista Home Premium, and bundled software includes Microsoft Works SE 9.0 and Vaio Multimedia Suite.
The Sony Vaio NW boasts a 15.5-inch display with Xbrite-Eco technology and a modified WXGA resolution (1366 by 768 pixels). A webcam is integrated just above the display, and a "display off" button turns off the screen while the laptop is running in the background.
The laptop can also be had with a Blu-ray optical drive, and a HDMI output will deliver Full HD playback to your HDTV. There's also quite a few other ports found in the Sony Vaio NW, including 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, i.LINK (Firewire), as well as an Ethernet connection and Wi-Fi 802.11n. Additionally, there's an ExpressCard expansion slot, a SD memory card slot and a Memory Stick PRO slot.
Sony promises a battery capacity between 1.5 to 4 hours for the Sony Vaio NW's standard battery, meaning that Blu-ray playback might not last for a full movie while on battery. You'll obviously need power for your HDTV though, so power shouldn't be a problem at the end of the day. However, like most other mainstream laptops, there's a good chance that the Sony Vaio NW can't deliver an optimal viewing experience for Full HD content.
The Sony Vaio NW weighs in at approximately 6 pounds and measures 14.6 (W) by 1.2 (H) by 9.8 (D) inches. A specific release date has not been announced, but the Sony Vaio NW will have a starting price of $800 when shipping later this summer. The Sony Vaio NW with Blu-ray will have a starting price of $880.
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