VAIO Features

High-end VAIO laptops are usually shipped with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium or Business, while low end laptops such as N series come with Microsoft Vista Home Basic.

As of October 2005, VAIO laptops are available upon request without pre-installed software at a slightly lower price. Most recently, some models no longer ship with a Recovery CD, but a special partition on the hard drive is used for the recovery information, including operating system and all bundled software. VAIO users are prompted to create a set of recovery CDs or DVDs immediately after purchase.

VAIO computers use Intel processors, Seagate Technology or Fujitsu hard drives, Infineon RAM, Sony (usually made by Hitachi) or Matsushita optical drives, Intel or NVIDIA graphics processors and Sony speakers.

Current VAIO Models

• AR – Flagship 17″ High-end multimedia machine
• FZ – The first 15″ notebook with BluRay burner
• CR – New 14″ derivatives of the FJ and C Series.
• BX – Professional 4:3 notebook
• G – Entry level Vista Laptop for professionals
• N – Entry level Vista laptop for home users
• TZ- 11.1″ professional notebook, perfect for long business trips with 7hour battery life
• SZ- 13.3″ professional notebook

Bundled software

VAIO computers feature a wide array of specially designed or bundled software that help you to use the laptop for multimedia purposes.

Many of these applications inspired similar software or integration into the Windows OS, e.g. Movie Shaker preceded Windows XP’s Movie Maker.

Additional software products in the bundle can include:

• Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements
  These products are bundled as part of the video and audio integration that Sony prides its VAIO series on.
• SonicStage, a digital music manager
  Integrated with Sony’s Connect downloadable music service, it allows users to transfer music to Sony standalone music players, PDAs, or PSPs.
• PictureGear
  An image management software that predated popular programs like Picasa.
• VAIO Zone
  Used for music listening, viewing photo slide shows, and watching TV (when a tuner card is present) and DVDs. VAIO Zone is an equivalent to Apple Front Row and Windows XP Media Center Edition.