Sony's VAIO VGN-FW198UH is one of the first to usher in the era of Centrino 2 platforms on laptops. The 16.4-inch widescreen together with the Blu-ray drive offers a mobile HD experience different from the usual. The exterior of the FW198UH comes in a bland plastic gray frame. The interior was given more thought, with the hinges looking like they're being wrapped around by the chassis and a ridge dividing the keyboard from the palm-rest area. The keyboard has proper spacing, providing a pleasant typing experience. It's the first to offer a 16.4-inch widescreen display that features Sony's bread and butter, the XBrite. Despite being short of a full 1080p experience, it offered wide viewing angles and excellent picture quality. The FW198UH comes with three USB ports, FireWire, and an HDMI-out port. Performance-wise, the reviewer stated that the FW198UH’s SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score of 132 was able to beat the HP dv5t by 4 percent. Video-encoding and CineBench R10 test results are also better than the dv5t, albeit only marginally. On the other hand, battery life is too short, powering the FW198UH for only 1 hour 56 minutes using MobileMark 2007. Despite having the performance muscles, the FW198UH high price point and a huge software load needs fixing for it to succeed in the field.

Sony raises the bar on desktop replacements with its Sony VAIO VGN-FW198U/H, striking a near balance of portability, multimedia power, and screen real estate. It is the first to include a 16.4-inch widescreen display with a 16:9-aspect ratio. The VAIO FW is only 1.46 inches at its thickest point and weighs lighter than most 17-inch notebooks. It sports a silver-and-black chassis that looks sharp. The comfortable keyboard is set into a plain silver deck together with the large touchpad. It has all the requisite ports you’d expect from a desktop replacement. Sound quality is very good, though the top volume might not be enough for some users. The 16.4-inch display is the answer to the prayers of those wishing for a larger screen than the 15.4 but more portable than the 17-inch monster. It uses Sony’s Xbrite-HiColor technology which provides a higher brightness and more color gamut. Powered by a 2.53-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 processor, the VAIO FW had above average scores in performance tests. However, the VAIO FW isn’t meant to bear the brunt of extensive 3D gaming. Battery life, while not stunning, is still above average. The biggest caveat with the VAIO FW is the amount of bundled trialware. Nevertheless, the power and portability of the VAIO FW won’t disappoint you.