VGN-AR: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:58, 10 August 2022

Overview

VGN-AR with its original stickers

The Sony VAIO VGN-AR Series, released in 2006, was designed to tackle the desktop replacement segment. As usual for VAIO desktop replacements, the VGN-AR was equipped with powerful hardware and many multimedia features, which makes it a high-end and expensive laptop.

At launch the full-spec VGN-AR was offered with features like a Blu-Ray RW optical drive, 17" 16:10 screens, which could be had in either 1440x900 for lower-end models or 1920x1200 for the higher-end offerings. Something that Sony complemented with an optional ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, making for an excelent multimedia device.

With a range of Intel Core 2 Duos, Core Duos and a Pentium Dual Core to choose from, as well as the choice between NVIDIA GeForce 7600 Go (for the earlier models), 8400M GT and 8600M GT GPUs, the VGN-AR had a lot to offer in therms of performance, making image and video editing, as well as gaming a simple enough task. Sadly performance was hindered by only 2GB of RAM on most models, which could be upgraded to the maximum of 4GB.

All of this performance comes at a cost. With its weight of around 3,8 to 4,1 kg, the VGN-AR is quite heavy. Another negative is the small battery life between 1.5 and 3 hours. This is fine for a desktop replacement, but considered low for a laptop you would carry around. The speakers, for such an expensive media oriented laptop, are also not very good.

What the VGN-AR lacks, it makes up in connectivity, featuring a PCMCIA Type II, ExpressCard/54, 6-in-1 card reader (SD Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate), i.LINK 4-pin, HDMI, VGA, S-Video out, Modem, Ethernet and 3x 2.0 USB ports. Besides the Blu-Ray-RW drive, the VGN-AR was also offered with a Blu-Ray-R or DVD+-R/DVD+-RW/DVD-RAM drive on the lower spec models. A webcam was included on all models.

In addition to the choice between Windows XP Professional (earlier models) and several Windows Vista versions, the VGN-AR came with a plethora of multimedia software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Works and Microsoft Office 2007.

The VGN-AR was superceded by the VGN-AW and VGN-FW Series.

Detailed Specs

Processor: Intel Pentium M T2370 / Intel Core (2) Duo T2500, T2500, T5450, T7100, T7200, T7250, T7300, T7700, T8100, T8300, T9300

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT, 8600M GT, Go 7600 (earlier models)

Display: 17.1" 16:10 1440 x 900 WXGA+ / 1920 x 1200 WUXGA

RAM: 2x SO-DIMM DDR2 (upgradable to 4GB)

Storage: 2.5" SATA HDD

OS: Windows XP Professional / Windows Vista Home Premium / Business / Ultimate

Weight: 3,8kg - 4,1kg

MSRP: 900€ - 3499€

Problems

The VGN-AR models equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT and 8600M GT all have a very unfourtunate problem. The NVIDIA 8 series of GPUs are known for their 100% failure rate because of a manufacturing problem from NVIDIA, and the VGA-AR is not an exception to that. All NVIDIA 8 series chips on every single VGN-AR with those GPUs are affected by this problem. Models equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 7600 Go are not affected.

Symptoms of this problem are:

black screen when turning on the device (device is not booting up, it has not passed the power-on self-test)
artifacts on the display
not being able to successfully install GPU drivers
unable to boot into the operating system

There is no real permanent solution to this problem. One temporary solution would be a reflow (see our upcoming reflow guide), one more permanent but still temporary solution is a reball or chip replacement. However, all of these methods requires a precise hot air station, BGA No-Clean flux, and some experience (practicing on a junk board is a good start).

Daily Usage Today

Thanks to its high-end hardware of the time, most VGN-AR models are still quite usable today. Casual tasks such as web browsing and text editing are no problem for the large desktop replacement. Playing games from the time and modern 2D games should also be possible. Though modern 3D games will either not run at all, or run very badly.

Resources

Sony JP VAIO VGN-AR Series Presentation Page

Sony VAIO VGN-AR User Guide

Sony VAIO VGN-AR Startup Guide

Sony VAIO VGN-AR Recovery Guide

Sony VAIO VGN-AR Troubleshooting Guide

Sony VAIO VGN-AR BlueRay Disc Guide

Sony VAIO VGN-AR Optical Disk Drive Instructions

Sony VAIO VGN-AR Teardown Guide

Sony VAIO VGN-AR Accessories Guide Fall 2007

Sony VAIO VGN-AR550U Specssheet

Downloads

Sony VAIO VGN-AR31s Recovery Discs and Drivers

It is highly likely that these discs are model locked. See Compatibility Problems section in the Recovery Discs page.

Follow our guides to download and install drivers.

Sources

Sony, SpecsPro, NotebookCheck, icecat and wikipedia

Pictures: NotebookCheck

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==Overview==
-[[File:Sony Vaio VGN-AR.jpg|alt=A Sony Vaio VGN-AR51m with its original stickers|thumb|389x389px|A Sony Vaio VGN-AR51m with its original stickers]]
+[[File:Sony Vaio VGN-AR.jpg|alt=A Sony Vaio VGN-AR51m with its original stickers|thumb|389x389px|VGN-AR with its original stickers]]
-The Sony VAIO VGN-AR Series, released in 2006, was designed to tackle the desktop replacement segment. It replaced the VGN-AX Series. As usual for VAIO desktop replacements, the VGN-AR was equipped with powerful hardware and many multimedia features, which makes it a high-end laptop.
+The Sony VAIO VGN-AR Series, released in 2006, was designed to tackle the desktop replacement segment. As usual for VAIO desktop replacements, the VGN-AR was equipped with powerful hardware and many multimedia features, which makes it a high-end and expensive laptop.
-At launch the full-spec VGN-AR was even offered with a Blu-Ray RW optical drive. It was offered with a 17" 16:10 screen, which could be had in either 1440x900 (WXGA+) or 1920x1200 (WUXGA) resolutions. This made for a fantastic media consumption experience. Something that Sony complemented with an optional ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, making for an excelent multimedia device.
+At launch the full-spec VGN-AR was offered with features like a Blu-Ray RW optical drive, 17" 16:10 screens, which could be had in either 1440x900 for lower-end models or 1920x1200 for the higher-end offerings. Something that Sony complemented with an optional ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, making for an excelent multimedia device.
-With a range of Core 2 Duos, Core Duos and a Pentium Dual Core to choose from, as well as the choice between NVIDIAs GeForce 7600 Go, 8400m GT and 8600m GT, the VGN-AR had a lot to offer in therms of performance, making image and video editing, as well as gaming no problem for the Sony. Sadly performance was hindered by only 2GB of memory on most models. This performance comes at a cost. With its weight in between 3,8 and 4,1 kg, the VGN-AR is quite heavy. Another negative is the small battery life between 1.5 and 3 hours. This is fine for a desktop replacement, but considered low for a laptop. The speakers, for such an expensive laptop, costing 3499€ for the most expensive variant, are also not very good.
+With a range of Intel Core 2 Duos, Core Duos and a Pentium Dual Core to choose from, as well as the choice between NVIDIA GeForce 7600 Go (for the earlier models), 8400M GT and 8600M GT GPUs, the VGN-AR had a lot to offer in therms of performance, making image and video editing, as well as gaming a simple enough task. Sadly performance was hindered by only 2GB of RAM on most models, which could be upgraded to the maximum of 4GB.
-What the VGN-AR lacks in battery life, it surely makes up in connectivity. Featuring a PCMCIA TypeII, ExpressCard/54, SD Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate, i.LINK 4-pin, HDMI, VGA, S-VIdeo out, Modem and Ethernet and 3x 2.0 USB connectors. Besides the BlueRay-RW drive, the VGN-AR was also offered with a BlueRay-R and a DVD+-R/DVD+-RW/DVD-RAM Drive on the lower spec models. A webcam was also included on all models.
+All of this performance comes at a cost. With its weight of around 3,8 to 4,1 kg, the VGN-AR is quite heavy. Another negative is the small battery life between 1.5 and 3 hours. This is fine for a desktop replacement, but considered low for a laptop you would carry around. The speakers, for such an expensive media oriented laptop, are also not very good.
-In addition to the choice between Windows XP Professional and several Windows Vista versions, the VGN-AR came with a plethora of multimedia software, such as Adobe Fotoshop, Adobe Reader, Adobe Standart, Microsoft Works and Microsoft Office 2007.
+What the VGN-AR lacks, it makes up in connectivity, featuring a PCMCIA Type II, ExpressCard/54, 6-in-1 card reader ''(SD Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate)'', i.LINK 4-pin, HDMI, VGA, S-Video out, Modem, Ethernet and 3x 2.0 USB ports. Besides the Blu-Ray-RW drive, the VGN-AR was also offered with a Blu-Ray-R or DVD+-R/DVD+-RW/DVD-RAM drive on the lower spec models. A webcam was included on all models.
-The VGN-AR was superceded by the Sony VAIO VGN-AW series.
+In addition to the choice between Windows XP Professional (earlier models) and several Windows Vista versions, the VGN-AR came with a plethora of multimedia software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Works and Microsoft Office 2007.
+The VGN-AR was superceded by the VGN-AW and [[VGN-FW]] Series.
 ==Detailed Specs==
-'''Processor:''' Intel Pentium D T2370 / Intel Core (2) Duo T2500, T2500, T5450, T7100, T7200, T7250, T7300, T7700, T8100, T8300, T9300
+'''Processor:''' Intel Pentium M T2370 / Intel Core (2) Duo T2500, T2500, T5450, T7100, T7200, T7250, T7300, T7700, T8100, T8300, T9300
-'''Graphics:''' NVIDIA GeForce 8400m GT, 8600m GT / NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
+'''Graphics:''' NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT, 8600M GT, Go 7600 (earlier models)
 '''Display:''' 17.1" 16:10 1440 x 900 WXGA+ / 1920 x 1200 WUXGA
-'''RAM:''' 2x SO-DIMM DD2 (upgradable to 4GB)
+'''RAM:''' 2x SO-DIMM DDR2 (upgradable to 4GB)
-'''Storage:''' 2,5" Serial-ATA HDD
+'''Storage:''' 2.5" SATA HDD
 '''OS:''' Windows XP Professional / Windows Vista Home Premium / Business / Ultimate
@@ Line 28: / Line 30: @@
 '''Weight:''' 3,8kg - 4,1kg
-'''2006 MSRP:''' 900€ - 3499€
+'''MSRP:''' 900€ - 3499€
-== Problems ==
+==Problems==
-The VGN-AR models equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 8400m GT and 8600m GT all have a very unfourtunate problem. The NVIDIA 8 series of GPUs are known for their 100% failure rate because of a manufacturing problem from NVIDIA, and the VGA-AR is not an exception to that. All NVIDIA 8 series chips on every single VGN-AR is affected by this problem. VGN-AR models quipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 7600 Go are not affected by this problem.
+The VGN-AR models equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT and 8600M GT all have a very unfourtunate problem. The NVIDIA 8 series of GPUs are known for their 100% failure rate because of a manufacturing problem from NVIDIA, and the VGA-AR is not an exception to that. All NVIDIA 8 series chips on every single VGN-AR with those GPUs are affected by this problem. Models equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 7600 Go are not affected.
-Symptoms of this problem are :
+'''Symptoms of this problem are:'''
-* black screen when turning on the device (device is not booting up, it has not passed the power-on self-test)
+*black screen when turning on the device (device is not booting up, it has not passed the power-on self-test)
-* artifacts on the display
+*artifacts on the display
-* not being able to successfully install GPU drivers
+*not being able to successfully install GPU drivers
-* unable to boot into the operating system
+*unable to boot into the operating system
 There is no real permanent solution to this problem. One temporary solution would be a reflow (see our upcoming reflow guide), one more permanent but still temporary solution is a reball or chip replacement. However, all of these methods requires a precise hot air station, BGA No-Clean flux, and some experience (practicing on a junk board is a good start).
-==Daily Usage Today==
+==Daily Usage Today ==
-Thanks to its high-end hardware of the time, most VGN-AR models are still quite usable today. Casual tasks such as webbrowsing and textediting, are no problems for the large desktop replacement. Playing games from the time and modern 2D games should also be possible. Though modern 3D games will either not run at all, or run badly.
+Thanks to its high-end hardware of the time, most VGN-AR models are still quite usable today. Casual tasks such as web browsing and text editing are no problem for the large desktop replacement. Playing games from the time and modern 2D games should also be possible. Though modern 3D games will either not run at all, or run very badly.
 ==Resources==
+[http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/AR1/ Sony JP VAIO VGN-AR Series Presentation Page]
 [https://download.vaiolibrary.com/manuals/vgn-ar/vgn-ar_userguide.PDF Sony VAIO VGN-AR User Guide]
@@ Line 65: / Line 69: @@
 ==Downloads==
+[https://archive.org/details/disc-1_202207 Sony VAIO VGN-AR31s Recovery Discs and Drivers]
+It is highly likely that these discs are model locked. See Compatibility Problems
+section in the [[Recovery Discs]] page.
 Follow our [[Drivers Downloading Guides|guides]] to download and install drivers.
-[https://archive.org/details/disc-1_202207 Sony VAIO VGN-AR31s Recovery Discs and Drivers]
 ==Sources==
-[https://www.sony.com/en/ Sony], [https://specspro.net/laptops/6798-sony-vaio-vgn-ar31m/?currency=eur&country=de/ SpecsPro], [https://www.notebookcheck.net/Sony-Vaio-VGN-AR-Series.10626.0.html NotebookCheck], [https://fo-stage-03.icecat.biz/p/sony/vgn-ar61s/vaio-notebooks-vgn-ar61s-1371141.html icecat] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Vaio_AR_series wikipedia]
+[https://www.sony.com/en/ Sony], [https://specspro.net/laptops/6798-sony-vaio-vgn-ar31m/?currency=eur&country=de/ SpecsPro], [https://www.notebookcheck.net/Sony-Vaio-VGN-AR-Series.10626.0.html NotebookCheck], [https://fo-stage-03.icecat.biz/p/sony/vgn-ar61s/vaio-notebooks-vgn-ar61s-1371141.html icecat] and [[wikipedia:Sony_Vaio_AR_series|wikipedia]]
 Pictures: [https://www.notebookcheck.net/Sony-Vaio-VGN-AR-Series.10626.0.html#lightbox-9 NotebookCheck]