Any opinion on the Sony Vaio laptop - VGN-AR290G
 

I noticed some previous posts about laptops that jive well with cineform, and other products that may require a more intense base platform.

Just wondering if anyone has used the Sony AR290, and if it has found them well? I noticed that some used the 190 - I'm thinking that this model may just be next-gen, faster processor, etc(?). Wouldn't mind knowing more about its Blu-Ray playback & burning as well - I currently have the Toshiba A1 HDDVD player, so I guess it wouldn't be bad to get into the other camp as well, if this was indeed a viable/reliable Blu-Ray drive.

I'd also like to use it with HD-Rack, etc.

I'm looking for reliability, speed, etc. A light/quiet laptop that runs cool and doesn't get too clogged up with dust/lint is an extra bonus. I currently have a great custom-built laptop, but the video display is getting flakey. May be an integrated vid/motherboard scenario that could be costly - would rather roll into a new unit under the circumstances.

The Sony AR290G is a faster version of the AR190 that we used with the Silicon Image camera for the 48-hour film project http://www.cineform.com/48hour/index.htm. Adding the Core 2 Duo of a nice performance boost 30%+, and the laptop is otherwise very nice. CineForm's CEO now uses the AR190 as his primary PC, including some Prospect/Aspect HD testing (the RAID-0 drives are very helpful for video work.)

Thanks very much David.

You guys don't by chance have any stories to tell about their blu-ray drives that are included in these, do you?

Just wanted to see if they were playing blu-ray discs reliably through the HDMI port, burn media correctly, etc.

We haven't tried the Blu-ray drive for anything.