Sony's 18-inch Blu-ray laptop is our portable home theater favorite
In any collection of similar laptops, the one with the Sony Vaio logo is likely to be the most expensive in the group. So, imagine our pleasant surprise to find the Vaio AW125 to be less expensive than the other 18-inch, Blu-ray equipped laptops we've seen.
Our Blu-ray HP HDX18 was $2,149, while the Blu-ray version of Acer's Aspire 8920 was $2,499 (both have cheaper non-Blu-ray versions). In comparison, the Vaio AW125 was a mere $1,849 (although fancier models from the AW line can get up as high as $3,200).
We're big fans of the 18-inch 16:9 screen concept, which matches the resolution of HDTV screens and works perfectly with HD content. Our only real knocks against the Vaio were its insistence on including the usual assortment of proprietary Sony stuff, from a Memory Stick slot to all kinds of Sony-branded media software (just stick with iTunes or the VLC player).
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
