The VAIO F VPCF116FG is huge. It measures in at 387.2 x 263 x 31mm, and easily dwarfs most notebooks. The size isn’t wasted, though—it packs a 16.4-inch wide (Full HD 1920 x 1080) TFT color display and a whole array of ports and slots you could possibly ask for. There are no signs of pretentiousness in the lid design—simple, matte black with the requisite VAIO lettering is what you get. Sony has opted to go with island-style keys this time around, and since there’s plenty of real estate, a full-sized keyboard complete with a number pad came built in. The wrist rest looks vaguely covered with leather, with the trackpad embedded slightly off center.

And while the VAIO F VPCF116FG isn’t eye candy, it’s equipped with impressive hardware. Most of the number crunching is handled by an Intel Core i7-720QM Processor running at 1.60 GHz (with turbo boost up to 2.80 GHz). An NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU with CUDA technology handles any graphic rendering tasks that you might want to throw at it. To cap it all off, the VAIO F VPCF116FG has a 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB of hard disk space and a Blu-ray optical disk drive.

This laptop is large enough that the keyboard even has a numeric keypad, as well as space for a generously-size trackpad. The keys are well-spaced, and are very easy to type with. The satisfying click each press produces made typing this review a very pleasurable experience. Sony’s design cleverly integrates the power button on the right side of the hinge, and the port for the power cord on the opposite side.

With a high-capacity 6-cell battery, the F Series can last for around two-and-a-half hours without external power, even with everything on, and with the screen at full brightness. That’s long enough to play at least one HD movie that takes full advantage of the laptop’s 1920 x 1080 (full HD) 16.4? display.

Equipped with the latest Quad Core CPU, the Intel®  Core™ i7 Processor plus the latest NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU. The Full HD display lets you enjoy viewing of HD video and photos. The classy top panel of Premium Black features a two-layer finish with pearl black covered by a clear layer.

• Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor 1.60 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.80 GHz
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• 16.4″ wide (Full HD: 1920 x 1080) VAIO Display + Full HD 1080
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU with CUDA™ Technology
• Blu-ray Disk™ Combo Drive
• Advanced Connectivity:eSATA/USB port, HDMI output connect

For a company that’s long been entrenched in the camcorder space, Sony’s pocket video cameras have always been off target in terms of features and usability. The Bloggie MHS-PM5 minicamcorder, however, at least shows improvement and a better understanding of what consumers are after with these devices. The Bloggie matches up well against competing models when it comes to shooting movies, offering good features and decent results. Sharing your clips, on the other hand, is not as user-friendly as cams from Flip Video, Kodak, and others.

Also, the product name, however silly it sounds, is an accurate descriptor. Its clips are suitable for Web sharing and nondiscerning TV viewing. Just because it’s capable of recording at 1080p doesn’t mean it can replace larger full HD camcorders or that the video is “Blu-ray quality.”

Show your videos to the world. Just use the pre-installed Picture Motion Browser (PMB) Portable software to pre-select videos and images in the camera and easily upload them to a compatible PC and popular internet sharing sites. No additional software needed.

Sony’s Bloggie joins the growing ranks of pocket camcorders offering a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Paired with a 5-megapixel 1/2.5-inch CMOS sensor, the Bloggie delivers excellent video quality for a pocket camcorder. You also have the choice to bump the resolution down to 1280 x 720 at either 30 or 60 frames per second, or down to 640 x 480 resolution.

Color reproduction looked accurate on the Bloggie and while there is some digital noise (or graininess) in dim light, the Bloggie held up about as well as its main rivals: Kodak’s Zi8 and Pure Digital’s Flip UltraHD. Unfortunately, for all this great HD video, Sony didn’t include an HDMI output on the Bloggie. You’re left with lower quality A/V outputs for viewing your vids on an HDTV.

Sony has launched a new head unit for your motor with the MEX-BT3600U. Alongside the traditional features it sports a USB port for accessing remote music and Bluetooth for streaming music from a compatible player or for chatting hands-free on the moby.

With USB hook-up Sony has created the Quick-BrowZer interface, using the MEX’s rotary controller for ‘effortless browsing through your MP3 library’. The Bluetooth feature is A2DP enabled allowing for stereo quality sound without the wires, and the Bluetooth AVCRP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile) gives control of source functions like play, pause and skip. There’s also a standard front-mounted aux input for connecting other MP3 players.

A very good stereo, music wise with enough features to satisfy most listeners, however i purchased this model mainly for the bluetooth phone compatibility for handsfree calling. In this instance i have been very disappointed and have resorted to going back to using my corded headset with which i’ve had no problems whatsoever. I wouldn’t recommend buying this product if you’re intending using it for handsfree calling primarily, although as a music device then go ahead, i have no complaints on that part.

Sony’s new MEX-BT3600U CD tuner has it all: USB and Bluetooth interfaces, a quick-search interface that lets you browse your MP3 media and support for hands-free through the car stereo. If your Walkman or mobile phone can stream audio over Bluetooth, then the MEX-BT3600U can receive and play it back on the car stereo. Thanks to support for Bluetooth A2DP  (advanced audio distribution profile) and AVRCP (audio/video remote control profile), you can skip tracks or pause audio from your car stereo.

Sony’s Alpha DSLR-A900 feels like it’s been with us for a long time – after all, the prototype was first shown back in March 2007 and its sensor unveiled in January 2008. So unlike its rivals which are often sprung with little notice, we’ve long-known what Sony’s flagship DSLR would look like and speculated how its new 24 Megapixel full-frame sensor may perform in practice.

Despite this advance information though, using the A900 in person is still quite a surprise in a number of respects. First, it’s larger and heavier than it looks, and once equipped with a quality lens like the Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f2.8, you certainly know you’re carrying it around. This is not a combination for anyone who wants to travel light, but it does feel well-balanced in your hands and like most heavier cameras, this heft instils a degree of confidence. It should also be said, the A900’s very distinct styling comes across better in the flesh than in photographs – it’s a unique but smart-looking camera.

The Sony A900 has to rank among the most anticipated digital SLRs in recent memory. The company first showed an early version of its upcoming flagship design at the Photo Marketing Association tradeshow in the spring of 2007, and at the following year’s show Sony revealed a few more details about the image sensor and stabilization mechanism it would use. With the Alpha A900 featuring a full 35mm frame-sized image sensor, Sony has joined a rather exclusive club. To date only four companies have offered full-frame digital SLRs. Of these, two - Contax and Kodak - have since left the digital SLR market altogether.

It is designed to deliver ultra-fine picture quality with the world’s highest resolution, 24.6-megapixel, 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor and fast image processing with a new dual BIONZ® processing engines. The camera is also the first to have a body-integrated image stabilization system for a full-frame sensor with Sony’s SteadyShot® Inside anti-shake system.

One look at the camera’s distinctive pentaprism and nostalgic body design will evoke its full-frame optical performance. It features a bright, clear optical viewfinder with 100% field of view coverage that would impress even film photography loyalists.

The Sony HDR-SR12 ($1,399 MSRP) is the company’s third generation AVCHD camcorder recording to hard disk drive (HDD). The SR12 features a new CMOS sensor and DSP touted by Sony to be the best yet, along with a huge 120GB capacity. It is joined by the HDR-SR11 ($1,199 MSRP), an identical camcorder with a smaller 60GB HDD. In previous iterations, all AVCHD camcorders have failed to live up to performance expectations, but 2008 seems to be the year it’s turning around. The Canon HF10 gave outstanding performance and sharpness. The Panasonic HDC-SD9, while not as good as the Canon, exceeded the performance of its predecessors. So how does the Sony HDR-SR12 hold up to the competition? In a word … strongly. This is undoubtedly the sensor/processor package to own if you’re a Sony fan. The low light performance is excellent – far superior in noise reduction to the Sony HDR-HC9, its HDV cousin, and comparable to the Canon HF10 in1080/60i. However, the overall sharpness does not match that of the Canon HF10 in bright light, and Canon’s inclusion of multiple frame rates (60i/24P/30P) makes it a tempting offering. The manual control packages are evenly matched. Sony wins on capacity, while Canon wins on portability. It’s a tough choice. Let’s explore.

The Sony HDR-SR12 is a solid, beefy charcoal-gray and black-bodied camcorder. Pick it up and you know it’s sturdy without the lighter-than-air feel of inexpensive Mini DV and DVD camcorders  or even expensive flash-only models such as the Canon Vixia HF10 . It weighs 20.4 ounces without the battery, 23.4 with and measures 3.37 x 3 x 5.5 (WHD, in inches). By comparison the HF10 with 16GB of on-board capacity weighs around 15 ounces but it holds only two hours of Full HD video versus nearly 15 for the Sony. Even with the extra weight it fits nicely in the palm of your hand once you adjust the Velcro wrist strap.

Chiseled from a solid block of ingenuity is the HDR-SR12’s right side. Sony went for practicality and sheer sexiness on the grip side. Toward the lens end, the Mic, Headphone, and HDMI ports are shielded by a sliding port cover door. No other camcorder is equipped with such a flashy and convenient enclosure system—this design is straight out of Q’s laboratory from any 007 movie. On the opposite end you’ll find the A/V and USB terminals, enclosed by a covert plastic plate that slides underneath the body of the camcorder. Sony has kicked some major behind so far with the HDR-SR12’s architecture.

Connecting the camcorder to a 50-inch plasma via HDMI I was quite pleased with the outdoor video taken in Manhattan. Colors really popped including brightly-painted tourist buses, speeding yellow taxis and the like. There was hardly any trace of noise in the blue skies or as I zoomed in on the architectural details of the nearby buildings. The SteadyShot optical image stabilization worked really well with barely a hint of “shakes” from my handheld pans. Some brightly blooming red azaleas looked extremely lifelike. Face Detection also worked well and the 5.1-channel surround sound was fun, especially with traffic coming up behind you. Besides the HDMI connection I also burned a DVD using Sony’s truly effortless One-Touch DVD Burn system and played the material back through a Panasonic BD30 Blu-ray player. There was a touch more noise than the direct HDMI connection (to be expected) but the overall results were quite good.