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The Sony VAIO AW-17GU - Awwwww!

By Aloysius Low - 5 Nov 2008

Awww, My Benchies!

Awww, My Benchies!

The closest DTR comparison to the Sony VAIO AW-17GU would probably be the HP Pavilion dv7. Despite the disparity in sizes, the dv7 remains one of the newer DTRs that we've tested and they share somewhat similar specs (as they both use similar discrete graphics). To ensure that we keep things comparable, we've also thrown in the Dell XPS M1730 into the mix, though do keep in mind that the M1730 is more of a high-end gaming DTR.

Notebook Comparison Table
Specifications / Notebook Sony VAIO AW-17GU HP Pavilion dv7 Dell XPS M1730
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz) with 6MB L2 cache Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8400 (2.26GHz) with 3MB L2 cache Intel Core 2 Extreme processor X7900 (2.80GHz, 4MB L2 cache)
Chipset Intel PM45 Intel PM45 Intel PM965
FSB 1066MHz 1066MHz 800MHz
Memory 2 x 2GB DDR2 2 x 2GB DDR2 2 x 1GB DDR2
HDD 2 x 320GB SATA 5400 RPM 1 x Western Digital 320GB SATA ( WD-3200BEVT) 5400RPM / 8MB Buffer 2 x Hitachi (HTS722020K9A300) 200GB SATA - 7200RPM / 16MB
Video NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT SLI

System Benchmarks

While the VAIO AW definitely outclasses the dv7 in terms of performance, it still lags slightly behind the M1730 for all three system tests. Of course, the older XPS uses a desktop class Core 2 Extreme processor, so it's definitely that much better. Generally speaking though, the VAIO AW's performance definitely feels average and nothing too spectacular.

PCMark Vantage performance was also decent and nothing to shout out about. As mentioned, despite its relatively high end specs, the performance can be considered quite average for its class, and you won't find any special surprises here.

Gaming Performance

With a NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT chipset onboard the VAIO AW-17GU, we're expecting to do pretty well for our standard suite of 3DMark06 and Quake 4 benchmarks. The unit didn't disappoint, and scored a decent result of 6402 which easily beat out the other units apart from the Dell XPS M1730. Processor performance does play a part in this test, so it's no wonder the unit scored so high. Quake IV results showed a pretty similar result to the NVIDIA 9600M GT found on the dv7 which shows that there's really not much of a difference with the discrete graphics of dv7 and the VAIO AW-17GU.

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7.0
The Good
Good design
Lightest 18.4-inch DTR
Isoloated keyboard
Bright matte screen
The Bad
Very Expensive
Short battery life (if it concerns you)
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