Sony VAIO VGC-RB42G Desktop PC (3 GHz Pentium 4, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R Double Layer/ DVD±RW Drive)

List Price: $1,160.00

Features:

• 3.0 GHz Pentium 4, 800 MHz front side bus
• 1 GB 400 MHz memory, 250 GB hard drive, double layer DVD-R/RW CD-RW drive
• 6 USB 2.0, 2 FireWire, S-Video, Coaxial, Composite, Multimedia Card Reader
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900, RJ-45 Ethernet, V.90 data/fax modem
• Windows XP Media Center 2005, Corel WordPerfect, Corel Quattro, Adobe Photoshop Elements

Accessories:
Sony XBRITE SDM-HS75P/B 17" LCD Monitor (Black)	Sony SDM-HS75/B 17" LCD Monitor (Black)	Memorex 700MB/80-Minute 52x CD-R Media (100-Pack Spindle)	Sharp LL M15X1 - Flat panel display - TFT - 15" - 1024 x 768 - 300 cd/m2 - 350:1 - 25 ms - 0.297 mm - VGA - speakers	Sony XBrite SDM-HS95P/S 19" LCD Monitor (Silver)

Customer Reviews:

Odd design, front doors fall off, impossible to get drivers [Posted on 2007-03-07]
At first I thought the design was pretty cool. The features were comparable (even better) than other manufacturer models and it was more bang for the buck. But after a few months, the front door flaps that hide the ports and CD/DVD drives stopped closing (the springs came off.) Soon after, two simply fell off. The HDD failed after 7 months. I replaced it and added a second. For some bizarre reason known only to Sony designers, the drives are mounted sideways. This requires a special right-angle SATA cable - not a standard right angle SATA cable or regular SATA cable. Now I can't close the case because the cable sticks out ¼".
The power switch is located on the lower right side. Like most people, I have this under my desk. I can't count the times I've spun in my chair to answer the phone and my foot tapped the power button. Unlike most power buttons, this one DOES shut the PC down - It does not bring up the shut down options.

After the HDD crashed, it took weeks to find drivers (I still can't find some.) Sony's download site does not work. I tried from several locations at different times. Downloads always time out (a common complaint!)

I have owned it for over 2 years [Posted on 2007-08-05]
This is a great computer! Obviously it is windows so it is has it's issues that are related to that problem... :) I am using all but about 50gb of the hard drive and use it as a tivo with windows media. I have even used the component inputs to convert my analog 8mm home videos to digital.

Mixed views [Posted on 2007-11-11]
I've had this computer for over two years now and there are a few big issues.

Pros
-It's lasted longer than any other computer that I've had.
-With proper upgrades [only to the video card/fan/hard drive], it can play all of my games on medium/high settings with 60fps.

Cons
-the cd drive/dvd drive are very cheaply made. The covers of both have broken off, and the CD portion rarely even opens.
-the default hard drive is horrible, crashing after a few months and costing me about 60gb worth of important data [and nearly a point on my GPA]
-the default fan cannot handle any upgrades to video cards, replace it as soon as you can
-I'm no expert on the inner-workings of computers, but trying to install a new video card was utter hell due to the mass of wires inside.
-even though it's apparently twice as fast hardware-wise as my laptop, the laptop performs far better after 3 or 4 hours of play


In all, it's a good computer if you are looking for a long term commitment, but the costs will add up quickly.

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