Sony VAIO VGC-RA820G Digital Studio PC (Intel Pentium 4 Processor 540, 1 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW Dbl Layer, DVD-ROM Drive) | List Price: $1,549.99
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Platform: Microsoft XP Media Center Edition
Brand: Sony
Binding: Personal Computers
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Liquid-cooled speed monster! Great for VIDEO and Multimedia! [Posted on 2004-12-05]
I have owned one since 11/15/04 and I am very happy with the performance. Although the price is not the most affordable, I think you get your money's worth and then some. Just be sure to take advantage of all the rebates. Now for why I gave this a 5 STAR rating...
I do video, lots of video. I edit it, render it and author it to DVD. This, except for games, is probably the most SYSTEM intensive tasks a computer could be asked to do. I was trying to do it before on a P4 Toshiba notebook, which worked OK until it was time to render. Redering video heated up that notebook CPU till I thought it would melt down. I needed MORE POWER!
The Sony R-Series has that power... all in a whisper-silent, LIQUID-COOLED, very sleek and modern-looking package. I won't bore you with specs as they are listed above, but I will rave on the SPEED and POWER this system has! My 20GB video files now render in an hour or two and I just barely feel warm air coming from the "radiator" system. One very cool machine, especially since Intel's Prescott CPU's are well known for being a VERY HOT running CPU. Others have CPU fans, which work OK, but you just can't beat LIQUID COOLING. A very nice PLUS for Sony.
It also has a 200GB SATA hard drive spinning at 7200rpm! You can't get much faster without going SATA RAID with multiple hard drives or a 10,000rpm drive. There is also room for TWO additional SATA hard drives. No capability for standard ATA drives unless you disconnect one of the optical drives though, which is a mild bummer.
Let's not forget the 1GB of 400MHz DDR Memory! That is almost DOUBLE what other systems offer and that extra 512MB of DRR RAM makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in EVERYTHING you do. Sony just saved you the hassle of adding it later on... and trying to "match" them up to avoid mismatched conflicts. Big plus!
The video is a very solid, middle-of-the-road Radeon video adapter that can handle most needs less the serious gamer. Even then, buy a top-line card and just replace the one in the Sony. The Sony gives you a E-PCI (Extended PCI) slot, which is where all the video is moving, leaving AGP behind, so you have a GREAT upgrade path for video. There is even a couple PCI slots for other stuff you might want to add.
Now, a really great feature is the plethora of video and audio inputs and outputs. You have a full array of Firewire, USB 2.0, S-Video, Video In, Stereo Audio, Speaker and Mic in the front, as well as more in the back. You shouldn't need more than that! It also has a Giga-Pocket TV Tuner that works perfectly with the Microsoft Media Center Edition Operating Software.
Ahhh, the MCE Operating System, built on XP, is pretty good but I've had a few crashes, where my old XP PRO almost NEVER crashed. But the Media Center is pretty cool and worth the occasional crashes and glitches. It functions as a TOTAL MEDIA CENTER where you can record TV like a DVR, watch TV, scan the Guide for upcoming flicks, play your .mp3 or other audio files and watch your video files as well. It basically brings it all together in one spot which can be nice. I hope to use the DVR function more as I ponder getting a new Media Center Extender so I can pipe the video out to my TV in the Entertainment Room. Otherwise, the TV feed on my Sony XBRITE 19" Monitior (also HIGHLY recommended) is a bit grainy unless you have HD cable feed. DVD's look awesome though!
Basically, a great POWER USER system! If you are a computer novice, you can find a more entry-level system and save some dough and not even know what you are missing. But for those like me, none of the other brands, even the new HP Media Center PC, could equalt the Sony on features, quality and power.
Rmpl
This is the machine! [Posted on 2004-12-29]
I bought this system replacing a monster Dell I sent off to college with my son. I thought leaving the comfort of DELL would be uncomfortable, but that lasted as long as it took to set this system up and let it fly! This machine is amazing! I was given a Vaio Laptop a few years ago from a client and that machine has logged thousands of miles of travel and hardship and NEVER stopped working; a true battleship. I thought if the laptop is that good; the desk top has got to be as well. The theory is correct!
I don't get the tech stuff, read Robert's review for that; I know this Vaio has been an outstanding machine; very reliable and very easy to upgrade. With it I got a SAMSUNG 17" flat screen, 4 various printers, a wireless LAN and editing software. The machine is silent, you'll find yourself looking over to see if it's processing. But as fast as you navigate, the system is ahead of you, it is that fast. I recently added two 250G HDs without any effort. The system walked me through it. If you're looking for an alternative to DELL or Apple (I agree, both are excellent), I will recommend this SONY system.
The best desktop for the money [Posted on 2005-01-09]
Just helped a friend buy this machine at J&R. It's just incredible. Not only is it well equipped -- just check the specs! -- but it runs very fast and very quiet. While in store we ran a few of the included applications. I specifically tried out the full version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 that comes with the system. The program launched and ran very fast. We opened a couple sample pictures and all the filter effects and transforms we tried were done quickly, much faster than on any other machines.
The P4 540 processor is state-of-the-art, bested only by the 560 which is just a tad faster. These processors are faster than the older P4 at the same clock speed, due to improvements in the core and L2 cache. The DDR2 RAM is also very fast, great for video-editing (as the first reviewer points out) and Photoshop tasks.
Like all Sony Vaio's, this one is packed with multimedia features. I won't rehash the details. You also get a dual-layer drive; just keep in mind that at this point (Jan. 2005) dual-layer only works in the DVD "plus" R/RW format, not the DVD-R/RW format. The Sony's drive can burn DVD-R/RW, DVD "plus" R/RW, and dual-layer DVD "plus" R/RW, plus CD-R/RW, of course. This is just totally state-of-the-art and future-looking.
When we did research on which power PC to buy, we discovered that the Sony VAIO VGC series was actually cheaper (sometimes by a lot) than similarly equipped machines from Dell, Gateway or HP. Of course, none of the other makes make a cool machine like this one; this is basically a gamer's machine at an affordable price.
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