Sony VAIO Digital Studio PCV-RZ54G Desktop PC (3.2GHz, Pentium 4, 512MB RAM, 200GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW/DVD-ROM)Platform: Microsoft XP Media Center Edition
Brand: Sony
Binding: Personal Computers
Release Date: 2004-02-08
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Rz54G Gigabit Ethernet slow [Posted on 2004-05-05]
I purchased the Sony VAIO RZ54G and like the machine for the most part. I noticed that my home network was very slow though. I found that the GIGABIT ETHERNET built into the SOny was configured for 10MB/s (1% of it's max rate). My network only supports 100MB/s so I figured it should easily handle 100MB/S if it can do 10 times that... right? Wrong. I worked with support for two days reconfiguring the system and trying every immaginable option in the ethernet controller. We tried to clean install and even had the mother board replaced but still no more than 10MB/s. I can plug in my old dell or my wife's laptop and connect at 100MB/s no problem. Sony washed their hands and said I can put in an aftermarket ethernet card if I want this work. That is not an acceptable solution in my mind. Not happy with their cutomer dis-service.
Watch out for this one! [Posted on 2004-05-16]
My husband and I purchased one of these to do dv recording and to convert to and edit mpeg2 files. Each time we tried to play a video in mpeg2 format - and we tried with multiple files - it REBOOTED THE MACHINE! (XP was set to reboot after a fatal error - but even when this was turned off, we still got a fatal error). After we spent hours and hours on the phone with tech support, trying multiple solutions, they concluded it had a faulty video chipset. Needless to say, we returned the pc immediately and got our $$ back. Doesn't Sony do QA testing on a common format like mpeg2??? All I can say is, I hope not many of these machines came out of the box like this one!
If you ever hope to upgrade, don't buy a Sony [Posted on 2005-02-01]
I bought this system on sale, so at least I didn't lose as much as many people who got taken by Sony. I still paid far too much, however. I immediately discovered that both the keyboard and mouse were very poorly designed. The mouse was so poorly shaped that I immediately began suffering the effects of carpal tunnel. The cord on the keyboard was so short, I could not pull out the keyboard drawer on my computer desk. I actually had to type with the keyboard halfway under the desk. My old Gateway had plenty of cord to pull it out as far as I wanted. So, I had to replace both the keyboard and mouse after paying nearly $3000 for the system.
A mere six months after buying the system, Microsoft came out with MCE2005. Because of peculiarities with the Media Center Edition of XP, the upgrades have to be issued by the computer manufacturer. Sony refuses to make such an update for any system sold with MCE2004. So, I'm stuck, unable to get the new MCE unless I buy a completely new system. Talk about a rip-off. When I DO buy a new media center computer, it definitely will NOT be a Sony. I will never have another piece of garbage made by this low-rent company again.
Another minor annoyance is that Sony doesn't include any of the disks for the programs on the system. When I bought my last system, Gateway included copies of every last piece of software they installed on the system. Now, I have to go to the trouble of contacting Microsoft to get a copy of my OS. What a pain.
I should have done more research before buying. Had I, I would have gone with a media center computer made by HP that was on sale at the same time. Don't make the same mistake.
Frustration and disappointment [Posted on 2006-10-01]
We bought our rz54g in June 2004. It was grossly overpriced but we believed in Sony quality. Since than we experienced 4 major technical problems. 1 month after purchase there was a problem with motherboard and compter had to be serviced in authorized Sony service. Than Hard drive failed twice (replacement from Sony had only 90 days warranty) which was probably caused by poor ventilation (only 1 fan).
The lastest problem is with a system board which has to be replaced.
We have to buy it Sony because Sony Customer rep could give us only a part number. This poorly engineered computer never worked more than 7 months continuosly. Also - no OS upgrade is available. Summary - waste of money.
It has been a good PC, but it has required some work... [Posted on 2007-03-13]
I purchased the RZ54G in 2004 and it was definitively an overpriced computer (almost $3,000). The main reasons were that it was a Media Center PC (MCE 2004), and that it was bundled with "tons" of software for audio and video editing. Most of the bundled audio software was very good and worked. However, the video software was garbage (nothing compared to Mac software).
To-date, the PC works great, without any technical flaws. But it did require a "few adjustments". To start with, I had to expand the RAM from 512 to 1 GByte. Also, the MCE 2005 upgrade that ships with Sony is useless (I am never, ever ever buying anything else from Sony in my life). What I did was install using a clean MCE 2005 set of disks and then used the license that was shipped with the MCE2005 upgrade from Sony - it worked like a charm. Then, I installed all the upgrades, and on top of those, I only installed the last versions of the TV Tuner drivers, Gigapocket engine, etc. Again, this required a bit of work, but the PC has worked perfectly for over 2 years now.
Back in 2004, a 3.2 GHz HT cpu, 200GB Hard drive and DVD-RW were hot. Today, I would put my money on one of the new Core Duo iMacs - they run OSX and Windows.
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