Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC (Intel Pentium D Processor 920, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R Dbl Layer/DVD+/-RW Drive) | List Price: $1,110.00
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Brand: Sony
Binding: Personal Computers
Features: - 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium D 920 CPU, 800 MHz front side bus, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 graphics controller (224 MB shared memory)
- 1 GB PC2-4200 533 MHz RAM, 250 GB hard drive, double layer CD-RW/DVD-RW optical drive, DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive
- 6 USB 2.0, 2 FireWire, S-Video, composite audio/video, 9-in-1 memory card reader, composite audio-video
- 10/100/1000 gigabit network interface, 56K modem
- Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005, Microsoft Works 8.5, Intuit Quicken 2005 New User Edition, Microsoft Money Standard 2004
Fast PC, runs Windows XP well... [Posted on 2006-06-20]
The VGC-RB60G is our fourth purchase of a Sony VAIO desktop computer, and replaces my wife's PCV-RZ32G. I currently have a VGC-RA940G, and my wife started out with a PCV-LX920.
The VGC-RB60G has a black metal case, with a black plastic front panel. I like the position of the silver buttons on the front-right of the case (two eject buttons for the DVD drives, and the power button).
Below the two DVD drives is a drop-down panel which reveals two USB 2.0 connectors, an iLink (Firewire 400) 4-pin connector, and four memory card slots (Memory Stick, Compact Flash, xD Picture Card, SD/MMC). There is an access light which flashes whenever a card is being read by the computer. There are no front panel audio/video connectors.
Unlike the PCV-RZ32G and VGC-RA940G, the case of the VGC-RB60G does not click open, you will need a screwdriver (two screws located at the back of the PC) to remove the side panel. It is also possible to remove the entire metal case (four more screws).
First, the technical bits...
Inside is an Intel manufactured motherboard, an OEM Pioneer DVR-110D dual-layer DVD-RW drive, and a Sony DDU1615 DVD-ROM drive. The motherboard has four SATA connectors, and three available internal drive bays for additional hard drives (but only two spare power connectors).
Note that unlike the VGC-RA940G, the VGC-RB60G motherboard does not support SATA RAID 0. The onboard NIC is an Intel PRO/1000 PM (the same as that used on the VGC-RA940G). Whilst it does support Gigabit Ethernet, it does not support "Jumbo Frames" (frame size higher than 1500 bytes).
There are two PCI slots on the motherboard (both of which are occupied), two free memory slots, a free PCI Express x1 slot, and a free PCI Express x16 slot for a video card. Also, unlike the PCV-RZ32G and VGC-RA940G, this computer does not have a floppy drive. After purchasing the PC, upgrading to 2 GB of RAM was inexpensive ($ 66 for two Samsung 512 MB PC2-4200 240-pin DIMMs). I also added an ATI Radeon X1300 Pro video card.
The lack of free PCI slots was a constraint for me. I removed both the supplied Agere modem and the Sony MPEG card, and instead used the two slots for a Wi-Fi adapter and a Promise TX2200 SATA RAID adapter, and also installed another SATA150 250GB hard drive for RAID 0.
The PCI Express x1 slot is a good choice for high-bandwidth cards, such as SATA300 RAID or Firewire 800 adapters.
Installing Windows XP Pro...
Personally, I never use the manufacturer pre-installed copy of Windows on any PC, and always wipe the hard drive(s) and install a clean copy of Windows XP Pro, SP2, all the latest drivers/patches/updates, etc.
If you choose to do this, the drivers for the PC can be found on the Sony Website. You must install the Sony Shared Library before any other drivers from Sony. I used the latest chipset and NIC drivers from Intel, rather than the Sony ones.
The Promise TX2200 RAID adapter (which was not originally supplied with the PC) required additional drivers during the installation of XP, and this requires a floppy disk for the drivers. This was not an issue as the BIOS of the VGC-RB60G fully supports the use an external USB floppy drive for this.
I have read complaints from others that the fans on this model are noisy. I have not installed any additional software to control the speed of the fans, and have not experienced any excessive fan noise. In fact, the PC is fairly quiet during normal operation.
Overall, installing Windows XP Pro presented no challenges, and the PC is fast and runs very well.
VAIO desktop computers in general...
We have been using VAIO desktop computers for many years, and generally have been very satisfied with them. We have encountered problems (of course!), but no more than I would expect from any other PC manufacturer:
VAIO # 1. PCV-LX920 - the LCD monitor/tablet started to develop rows of dead pixels after approximately 18 months and eventually became useless.
VAIO #2. PCV-RZ32G - after three years of use, the (ASUS manufactured OEM) motherboard failed. I was unable to find a new replacement board.
VAIO #3. VGC-RA940G - the chassis has bays for up to three internal hard drives. This worked well for a few months before one of the (brand new) drives failed. I replaced the drive with a new one, and a few months later another drive failed. The chassis definitely does not have sufficient cooling for three internal hard drives. I now run the PC with two drives.
VAIO #4. No problems so far with the VGC-RB60G.
My biggest gripe about Sony would be the lack of support/drivers/updates, especially if you install your own copy of Windows XP. Considering the fact that Sony have been manufacturing VAIO computer for ten years now, I would have hoped for more.
For example, it is not possible to flash the firmware on the (OEM) Pioneer DVR-110D drive with updates from Pioneer. The drive in our VGC-RB60G has version 1.10 firmware, and the latest version from Pioneer is 1.41).
I have never been able to get any applications, such Windows Movie Maker, to recognize the Sony MPEG Realtime Encoder card as a video capture device. This is true of the PCV-RZ32G, VGC-RA940G, and VGC-RB60G (all of these models come with a Sony MPEG card). I yanked the card out of the VGC-RB60G.
My other issue would be the lack of support for Gigabit Ethernet "Jumbo Frames" on the VGC-RA940G and VGC-RB60G models. This is something that the older PCV-RZ32G did support.
Sony also gear most their VAIO PC products towards Windows XP Media Center Edition (which is the version of Windows that is generally pre-installed on VAIO desktop PCs).
For example, the VGP-XL1B2 200 disc Media Changer only works with XP Media Center Edition, which in my view is a major limitation. A 200 disc Firewire DVD reader/writer would be a nice thing to have, but alas it is not supported with XP Pro.
I'd like to see future models of VAIO desktops include support for Firewire (iLink) 800, rather than just 400, and also have integrated Bluetooth.
Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC [Posted on 2007-05-10]
I love this computer. I bought it two years after the first Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC. Buying this new computer through Amazon allowed me to obtain a new re-furbished product which was no longer being sold by Sony. I needed another computer, which did not have the new Vista operating system.
The Amazon service was excellent, and the product is everything it should be.
I would buy another computer from Amazon again.
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