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Model

VGN-A290

HARDWARE

Processor Name

Intel

®

Pentium

®

M Processor 735

(1.70GHz

1

, 2MB L2 Cache)

Front Side Bus Speed

400MHz

Chipset

Intel

®

855PM

Integrated Wireless LAN

Intel

®

PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network

Connection(802.11b/g)

3

LCD

17” Wide UXGA (1920x1200) with 

XBRITE™ Technology and 
ErgoBright™ Technology 

Hard Drive

100GB

2

Memory

1GB PC-2700 333MHz DDR

(512MB x 2)
(Expandable to 2GB Maximum) 

Graphics

ATI Mobility™ Radeon™ 9700

64MB Video RAM

Graphics Interface

VGA out w/ Smart Display Sensor

Video Interface

A/V mini jack

DVD+R Double Layer / DVD±RW
Drive

5

Double Layer

+R

DVD+R Write (2.4x MAX)

DVD±RW

4

-RW

DVD-R Write (8x MAX); DVD-RW Write (4x MAX)

+RW

DVD+R Write (8x MAX); DVD+RW Write (4xMAX) 

CD-RW

CD-R Write (24x MAX); CD-RW Write (24x MAX) 

Modem

Integrated V.90 Modem with RJ-11 
interface

Ethernet

10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-
T Ethernet with RJ-45 interface

Audio

Windows

®

sound system compatible,

Built-in stereo speakers

Audio Interface

Monaural mini microphone jack, 

Headphone jack

Docking Station

AV Entertainment Dock with S-
Master™ Digital Amplifier and 
Premium Speakers 
Four USB 2.0 ports, Monitor (VGA)
port, VHF/UHF TV port,Printer port 
DC in, S-Video in/out, DVI-D, RJ-45 
Ethernet, Optical out, Line in (RCA 
Pin), Line out (RCA Pin)

Memory Stick

®

Media Slot

Supports optional Memory Stick, 
Memory Stick PRO™ and Memory 
Stick DUO™ media

5

PC Card Slots

One PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot
with CardBus support

Other Interfaces

i.LINK

®

connector(IEEE 1394)

6

, 3 USB

2.0 ports, port replicator connector

Pointing Device

Electro-Static touch pad

Keyboard

QWERTY, 86 keys with 3mm stroke 

and 19.05mm pitch

Action Buttons

Power On, S1 (programmable),

Magnify Screen, Brightness, 
), Volume(-), Mute, Wireless
LAN on/off

Power Requirements

135W+10%

Battery

Lithium-ion Battery (PCGA-BP2EA)

Estimated Battery Life

Standard Battery: 1.0-3.0 hours

7

Optional Floppy Drive

External 1.44 MB, 3.5" USB floppy 
drive (PCGA-UFD5)

Weight

8.6 lbs. with standard battery (weight 

is approximate and may vary)

Size (W x H x D)

16” x 1.7”-1.8” x 11”

Supplied Accessories

Standard Lithium-ion battery (PCGA-

BP2EA), Power cord & AC adapter 
(PCGA-AC19V7), AV Entertainment 
Dock w/Speakers(2) & Remote Control

Optional Accessories

Additional Battery (PCGA-BP2EA) 
AC Adapter (PCGA-AC19V7)
802.11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Router 

Access Point (PCWA-AR800)

802.11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Ethernet 

Sony VAIO Update software
Sony VAIO Recovery Wizard software
Sony VAIO Help and Support software

Internet Services

AOL Online™ 90-day Trial

SERVICE AND WARRANTY
INFORMATION

Limited Warranty

1 Year Limited Warranty

8

Telephone Support

1 year toll-free technical telephone 
assistance, available 24-hours, 7-
days-a-week

9

On-line and Email Support

Support available from 
http://www.sony.com/pcsupport

1. GHz denotes microprocessor internal clock speed;
other factors may affect application performance. CPU 
speed will be reduced under certain operating conditions.
2. GB means one billion bytes when referring to hard
drive capacity. Accessible capacity may vary. A portion of
hard disk space is reserved as a recovery partition.
3. Requires compatible wireless LAN access point, sold
separately. Internet connection may require fees.
4. DVD Media/Formats are not universally compatible.
5. Supports Memory Stick PRO™ high-capacity media test-
ed up to 1GB. Does not support MagicGate™ functionality.
6. i.LINK is a trademark of Sony used only to designate
that a product contains an IEEE 1394 connector. All 
products with an i.LINK connector may not communicate
with each other.
7. Estimated battery life. Actual battery life may vary on
usage.
8. See actual Limited Warranty for details.  For a copy of
Sony’s warranty, please visit www.sony.com/pcsupport,
call toll-free 888-476-6972 (888-4SONYPC), or write to
Sony Electronics, 12451 Gateway Boulevard, Fort Myers,
FL 33913.
9. For certain third party software applications, Sony pro-
vides first level Phone Support. Additional telephone sup-
port may be available from the applicable 3rd party ven-
dor. Availability and schedule for any such support is
determined by the applicable software vendor.

Computer Interface: The computer industry lacks stan-
dards, and therefore, there are a multitude of varying
software packages and add-on hardware options. This
personal computer is not manufactured to operate any
specific software, and Sony does not and cannot make
any warranty or representation with respect to the per-
formance of this product with any particular software
packages and/or non-Sony add-on hardware options
except those mentioned in this document. Sony hereby
disclaims any representations or warranty that this prod-
uct is compatible with any combination of products you

may choose to connect. While Sony representatives or
Sony authorized dealers may be able to assist you and
may make recommendations, they are NOT authorized to
vary or waive this disclaimer. Purchasers must deter-
mine for themselves the suitability and compatibility of
the hardware and software in each and every particular
instance. Software titles pre-installed on the Sony
Notebook Computer are subject to change without
notice. Simulated graphic shown on display.
Preinstalled software may not be identical to retail ver-
sions or have all documentation. This product meets the
standards of the International Energy Star Program for
energy efficiency. Features and specifications are sub-
ject to change without notice. Non-metric weights and
measurements are approximate.
©2004 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permis-
sion is prohibited. Sony, i.LINK, Memory Stick,
SonicStage, Giga Pocket, and VAIO are registered trade-
marks of Sony. XBRITE, ErgoBright, Memory Stick PRO,
Memory Stick PRO Duo, MagicGate, Click to DVD, S-
Master, DVgate Plus, VAIO Media, Picture Gear Studio and
Like No Other are trademarks of Sony. Intel and Pentium
are registered trademarks, and Centrino is a trademark of
Intel Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks
are trademarks of their respective owners.
Printed in U.S.A. 8/04

AV Entertainment
Dock

Plug in and access Sony’s
impressive Giga Pocket®
TV tuner/MPEG2 Encoder,
personal video recorder,
high-end S-Master digital
audio amplifier and premium
Sony speakers.  Your note-
book just turned into a digi-
tal studio.   

Superior LCD
Technology

Powerful combination of Sony
technologies combine to give
you truly incredible image quality.
17” Wide UXGA display with
XBRITE™ Technology delivers
ultra crisp, bright graphics.
ErgoBright™ Technology auto-
matically adjusts the brightness
of your LCD, giving you reliable
resolution in just about any light-
ing environment. Smart Display
Sensor automatically adjusts to
any projector or display resolution.

Intel® Centrino

Mobile

Technology

Intel® Centrino

Mobile

Technology runs cool and
quiet, while keeping the pro-
file slim and light, with
enhanced performance and
battery life

7

. A remarkable

blend of full-size power and
portability.  Wireless capabil-
ities let you connect wire
free around your home or on
the road

3

.

DVD+R Double Layer/
DVD

±

RW/CD-RW Drive

Burn professional quality
DVDs and CDs.

4  

Store up to

8.5GB of data, music, pho-
tos or movies on a single
DVD.   

Portable Multimedia
Entertainment

More than a PC.  More than
a TV.  A Feature-packed
notebook that performs like
an entertainment center.   

The VAIO® A Series Digital
Studio™ PC delivers high
performance and incredi-
ble Audio / Video capabili-
ties. Unlike other full-size
notebooks, it connects to
an AV dock that enables a
TV tuner, personal video
recorder; S-Master™ digi-
tal amplifier and premium
speakers.

More than a PC. A full featured entertainment notebook. 

Sony

®

VAIO

®

Digital Studio™ PC

VGN-A290

Converter (PCWA-DE80)

3

Visual Communication Camera 

(PCGA-UVC11A)

Wireless optical mouse

(PCGA-WMS5/S)

USB Mobile Mouse- Black

(PCGA-UMS3/B)

USB Mobile Mouse- Silver

(PCGA-UMS3/S)

USB Optical VAIO Mouse

(PCGA-UMS5)

Memory Card Adapter (VGP-MCA10)
512MB memory expansion module 

(VGP-MM512G)

60GB External Hard Drive

(PCGA-HDM06)

2

External Floppy Disk Drive

(PCGA-UFD5)

SOFTWARE

Operating System

Microsoft® Windows® 
XP Home Edition

Sony Original Software

Click to DVD™ - DVD Creation
Giga Pocket® - Personal Video 

Recorder

SonicStage® Mastering Studio - 

Audio Mastering & Remastering

DVGate Plus™ - Digital Video
SonicStage® 2.1 - Digital Music
PictureGear Studio™ - Digital Photo 
VAIO Media™ - Network File Sharing

VAIO® A Series Software Bundle

Adobe® Photoshop® Elements
Adobe® Photoshop® Album

Starter Edition

Intuit Quicken® 2005 New User

Edition 

(previous Quicken users may 

require additional upgrade)

InterVideo® WinDVD®
Microsoft® Works 7.0 - 

Word 

Processing, Spreadsheet, Calendar,
Scheduling, Contact Management, and
Database

Microsoft® Office® 2003 60-Day 

Trial (Student/Teacher Edition)

Sonic RecordNow!® 7

Anti-Virus Software

Norton® Internet Security™ 90-Day

Subscription - 

Norton AntiVirus™ , 

Norton™ Personal Firewall, Norton™ 
Privacy Control, Norton AntiSpam™ , 
Norton™ Parental Control

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