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• As the driving force behind Blu-ray technology, it’s no surprise that Sony came first to market in May 2006 with a Blu-ray equipped notebook PC. Despite the more than two years that have since elapsed, Blu-ray is really just beginning to become both affordable and viable for notebook PCs. Sony has recently reworked much of its VAIO notebook line, and introduced the multimedia AR790U/B model in mid-2008 as part of that effort. What the AR790 delivers is a well designed, nicely equipped multimedia notebook at a middling price. Sony’s successor model to this is the VGN-AR870. Configured to match the innards of our review unit, including a Blu-ray burner, this notebook goes for just over $2,900 on the SonyStyle Website (as compared to $3,300 for an identically configured AR790 at Amazon). You could buy a Blu-ray player, use Vista Home Premium instead of Ultimate and go with two 200 GB drives, and save $600 on the purchase price, to come in just under the price for the HP HDX. At 8.4 pounds (9.6 with AC adapter and power cord), the AR790 is a typical multimedia notebook in terms of size, weight and handling. Its 17" WUXGA display supports full 1080p resolution, and its 512 MB 8600M GT graphics adapter handled all of our Blu-ray and broadcast HD material with aplomb. The 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor seemed more than adequate for the computing tasks we threw at this machine, as did its 4 GB of DDR2-667 RAM. The chipset is an Intel PM965 Express, with networking support from an Intel 4965 802.11a/g/n adapter for wireless and a Marvell Yukon-based GbE for wired connections. Sony provided an ATI USB TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner along with our notebook, and we used it to good effect in tuning in OTA and unencrypted HDTV channels on the unit. The HDMI output was able to deliver both sound and picture to our digital receiver, but we couldn’t pass any high-definition audio schemes other than Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 to that device (this is typical for most PC Blu-ray playback, in fact). The keyboard layout on this unit features a more or less standard keyboard layout with full-sized keys. But the 2" margin on either side of the keyboard, with media control keys and status LEDs to the left and a power indicator to the right, didn’t leave room for a numeric keypad. For those seeking a good multimedia base station PC, this won’t be a problem. But for those who also want a fully-functional desktop replacement PC, this might be somewhat vexing. Nevertheless, the AR790 (and its nearly identical AR870 successor) makes a good media station, whether in the office or the living room. As we take a tour of this notebook, you’ll find its many ports, connectors and controls on all four of the unit’s edges. The bezel around the display is also home to a built-in 1.1 MPixel Webcam with an activity indicator light to let you know when you’re "on." Sony bundles a miniature Windows Media Center-compatible remote control with the AR790, which works with other multimedia applications besides what Vista offers. The remote control has a standard USB-attached remote sensor device (much like the Microsoft remote does itself). The MS memory card reader works with standard and Duo-sized media, MS Pro and MS Pro-HG Duo formats. MS Micro (M2) media requires an M2 standard or M2 Duo-sized adapter. The SD slot works with standard SD media or mini-SD media in a standard SD adapter. Except for the lack of a numeric keypad, the VGN-AR790 offers sufficient horsepower and capability to do double-duty as a media center and a desktop replacement. As with other multimedia notebooks, it is fairly heavy and also gets warm when running anything more than a moderate load (we measured a temperature of 103 °F/39° C on the underside with an infrared sensor during testing). The placement of USB ports (two front right and one at the rear) is a little odd, especially for right-handed users who may also want to use an external mouse. The built-in speakers are listenable but not on par with those you’ll find in the other units in this round-up. Besides these few minor annoyances, the VGN-790 is a satisfactory multimedia notebook and general-purpose PC.

• Trash that Webcam, Mount a Camcorder

  The Webcam Shootout article generated many responses from readers who want to use their camcorders as a Webcam. Many people, for example, have camcorders lying around, gathering dust, that could be put to better use as a Webcam. Others would like to improve the quality of their video chat programs, such as Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger. It is, in fact, possible to use a software solution to transform a camcorder into a high-end Webcam. For this article, we used a Panasonic GS70 camcorder as the test device. It is a triple CCD MiniDV camcorder that Panasonic no longer sells. The techniques described in this article apply to digital camcorders with a USB or FireWire connection. Benefits Of Using A Camcorder As A Webcam Some people would consider it overkill to use a several hundred dollar camcorder as a Webcam, but there are two benefits. The optics in digital camcorders are much better than those that Webcams offer. Modern MiniDV camcorders are designed to take video in 720x480 resolution at 30 frames per second. In addition, camcorder lenses are designed to accurately reproduce color. Webcams, on the other hand, generally top out at 640x480 and 15 frames per second. Using a camcorder as a Webcam can actually save you money, provided that you have an unused camcorder lying around. Rather than spending $50 to $200 for a decent Webcam, you can use the free USB Webcam drivers for your camcorder or spend $20 for OrangeWare's WebcamDV software and convert the camcorder into a high quality Webcam.

• In Village Tronic’s documentation, they claim that their goal with the ViDock is to “create an affordable, reliable device that would empower notebook users by allowing them to connect more and bigger displays to their computers, as if they were desktop systems.” The ViDock is much more than this simple goal would suggest. While Village Tronic focuses on the ViDock’s multiple display functionality, its hardware might be considered a little overkill for this task. While it does offer support for a lot of displays, the ViDock offers a great deal of 3D graphics acceleration for laptops with slower integrated chipsets, allowing for much faster performance in professional 3D applications, games, and HD 1080p video playback. In addition, the ViDock includes a USB port in addition to its display outputs, which makes it a very attractive docking station for users on the go who want to use a better display, keyboard, and mouse when they get home: with the ViDock, all of that can be quickly attached with a single ExpressCard cable. Since driving multiple displays is Village Tronic’s core focus for the ViDock, let’s look at that functionality first. Village Tronic claims that the ViDock supports the highest resolutions available to an external graphics card solution, with the ability to drive two analog or two digital displays at 2560x1600 each. Here is a breakdown of some competing external display solutions and their specifications compared to the ViDock Gfx: As you can see from the chart, the ViDock does seem to offer the most feature-rich display solution available. I would note that Village Tronic’s chart would suggest that all versions of the ViDock Gfx will accelerate HD Video playback, but as far as I know, the base model ViDock ‘Business Edition’ models—sporting Radeon X1550 or GeForce 7200 GS graphics—probably won’t sufficiently accelerate high-definition1080p video from a Blu-ray source in a satisfactory manner. Without this version of the ViDock to test, though, we can’t say for sure. Speaking of the different versions of the ViDock, let’s consider the different models, the hardware each model sports, and the suggested retail prices: ViDock Gfx Business Edition MSRP: $329 ATI Version: GPU X1550, 128MB DDR2 NVidia Version: GPU GF7200GS, 128MB DDR2 ViDock Gfx Pro Edition MSRP: $429 ATI Version: GPU HD2600Pro, 512MB DDR2 NVidia Version: GPU GF8600GT, 512MB DDR2 ViDock Gfx Mac Edition MSRP: $499 GPU: GPU X1550, 128MB DDR2 As you can see, the $100 price spread between the Business and Pro versions of the ViDock will upgrade the user from a low-end 128MB DirectX 9 graphics chipset to a more respectable 512MB DirectX 10 graphics chipset. However, we should point out that the street price difference between, say, a, X1550 and a 2600 PRO 512MB is only in the neighborhood of $40. And it’s also notable that the Mac version is considerably more expensive than the PC version of the ViDock. Village Tronic anticipates the ViDock’s retail availability by the end of the second quarter of 2008. This means that we were given an early pre-release version of the ViDock Gfx Pro for testing, so bear in mind that the company has some time to iron out any problems we might encounter. Now that we know what to expect, let’s dig in to the hardware!