Sony VAIO PCV-W500GN1 desktop

[Ioman]

For style conscious technophiles looking for a PC that draws double-takes and does it all, Sony today unleashed its VAIO PCV-W500GN1 desktop.

The latest entry in Sony's desktop PC family multiplies entertainment options in any room with a 17.5-inch wide format bright LCD, integrated DVD/CD-RW drive and Giga Pocket® personal video recorder. It has a small footprint and breathtaking design highlighted by a white aluminum finish and acrylic accents.

"This is big screen entertainment for a small space," said Hideyuki Furumi, director of VAIO desktop marketing for Sony Electronics. "Time-shift your TV viewing; edit your own photos, music or video; and output your creative projects to CD or DVD -- all in the fraction of the space needed for an old 15-inch CRT."

The new W model adjusts to the needs of the user and the environment with several operating modes.

When the attached keyboard is open, the PC is ready for computing - anything from standard productivity functions to any of Sony's included multimedia applications, such as Click to DVD™ and PictureGear Studio™ software.

Folding the keyboard all the way up creates an intensely thin profile. This audio mode position leaves exposed the integrated speakers for CD and digital music playback pleasure. It also reveals a portion of the LCD, which transforms into a clock that adjusts its color and lighting according to the time of day.

The jointed hinge keyboard can also be folded in half for TV mode. In this position the entire display is viewable and several television viewing enhancements automatically activate.


-- The LCD adjusts to maximum brightness;


-- The Natural Color Control Circuit boosts color to more vivid levels, similar to TV displays;


-- The SRS® WOW™ circuit also automatically engages for virtual surround sound; and


-- The Giga Pocket function starts up, for a full-screen


TV experience.


Ports, Slots, Connections

The latest VAIO W model also comes with a PC card slot so for wireless Internet connections and other expansion possibilities. Sony's own VAIO Media™ software allows users to share images, music and video content between PCs over a wired or wireless home network. The PC also has a Memory Stick® slot that is compatible with both Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO™ media, as well as 4 USB 2.0 ports and an i.LINK® (IEEE 1394) port to connect compatible multimedia devices.

The VAIO W500GN1 desktop, which is expected to sell for about $2,000, will be available beginning next month at select retailers and online at www.sonystyle.com.

[Ioman]

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[Ioman]

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[Ioman]

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[Ioman]

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[neuroking]

Did they post any specs like CPU, mobo, etc? I always liked these little living space pcs. Not dropping $2k for it, but cute none the less.

Brandon

[Ioman]

I contacted Sony and here are the specs:

SPECIFICATIONS
All-in-One Design - Slim, Sleek, and Sophisticated
17.5” LCD Wide Aspect with Stereo Speakers featuring SRSTM WOWTM
DVD-RW / CD-RW Combo Drive - Create Your Own DVDs!
Giga PocketTM Personal Video Recorder with TV Tuner
PCMCIA Type-II Card Slot for expansion capability
i.LINK® (IEEE 1394) Interface and USB 2.0 Connectors1
Sony VAIO® W Series PC
PCV PCV--W500GN1 500GN1
SONY VAIO® PCV-W500GN1
i.LINK®
(IEEE 1394)
Video Audio Integrated Operation
MODEL
PCV-W500GN1
DISPLAY
17.5” LCD Wide Aspect Ratio
PROCESSOR
Intel® Pentium® 4 2.66GHz†
CACHE MEMORY
512KB Integrated On-Die Level 2
FRONT SIDE BUS SPEED
400MHz
STANDARD RAM
512MB PC-2700 DDR (expandable to 1 GB)
HARD DRIVE3
160GB†† Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive3
DVD-RW / CD-RW DRIVE***
DVD-RW (1X max. write / 1X max. rewrite / 4X max.
DVD-RW read / 8x max. DVD-ROM read)
CD-RW (16X max. write / 10X max. rewrite / 24X
max. CD-RW/ROM read)
VIDEO & GRAPHICS
SIS 651 Integrated Graphics
32MB Shared Graphics Memory
Giga PocketTM MPEG2 Realtime Encoder board with
TV Tuner
ETHERNET
10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet
MODEM
V.90 compatible data/fax modem
EXPANSION SLOTS
One PCMCIA Type-II Card Slot
Memory Stick® Media Slot
PORT CONNECTORS
4 USB 2.0 (One Used for Mouse)
S/PDIF Digital Optical Out
One 4pin i.LINK™
One Headphone / One Microphone In / Line In
VHF/UHF / S-Video in / Composite V/A In
SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES
IR Remote Control
Speakers (Stereo) (Built-in) featuring SRSTM
WOWTM
VAIO Keyboard (Built-in) / USB Optical Mouse
POWER REQUIREMENTS
100-120V 2.7A (50/60Hz)
POWER MANAGEMENT
ACPI 1.0 Compliant
DIMENSIONS (UNIT)
Keyboard Open 20.4”(W)x12.1”(H)x15.2”(D)
Keyboard Closed 20.4(W)x12.9”(H)x7.4” (D)
WEIGHT (UNIT)
25.95 lb
PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE:
SONY ORIGINAL SOFTWARE
Giga PocketTM - Personal Video Recorder
SonicStage Mastering StudioTM - Audio Mastering
Click to DVDTM - DVD Creation
PictureGear StudioTM - Digital Photo
DVgate Plus™ - Digital Video
SonicStage™ w/MP3 Encoder - Digital Music
VAIO MediaTM - Network File Sharing
OPERATING SYSTEM
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
VAIO® recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP
OTHER SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
Adobe® Premier® LE
Adobe® Photoshop Elements®
Microsoft® Works® 7.0 - Word Processing,
Spreadsheet, Calendar, Scheduling, Contact
Management, and Database
Microsoft® Age of Empires® II
MoodLogic® 2.5**5
Intuit Quicken® 20032
New User Edition
Veritas® RecordNowTM
Microsoft® Money® 20035
Microsoft® Encarta® Online4
Screenblast® Acid® LE
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
Apple QuickTime®
RealNetworks® RealOneTM Player
ANTI-VIRUS & RECOVERY SOFTWARE
McAfee® Security CenterTM**5
VAIO® Recovery Wizard3
VAIO® Support Agent
ONLINE CENTER
America Online®**
Netscape® Navigator
EarthLink TotalAccess™**
MSN® 8**
SERVICE
One Year Limited Express Repair Service *
LIMITED WARRANTY
One Year Parts and Labor *
TELEPHONE SUPPORT
Hardware: One Year
Software and Operating System: 90 Days

[sonyman]

Nice work Ioman. :thumb

What's with the front side bus and L2 cache? Gimme more please.
But, if you aren't a tech junkie and want to replace an outdated desktop with something much smaller and a little more visually stimulating, this model isn't bad. Definite improvement over the old W10 model, I will say that.

[neuroking]

*walks up to Sony CEO*
*smack smack smack smack*

What did I tell you about integrated graphics?!?!

*smack smack smack....*

I hate how they do that. Take a nice appealing system and give it some huge Achilles heal. What's a GeForce2 or 3 cost now? $10?

Grrrr.....
Brandon

[Ioman]

Originally posted by neuroking
*walks up to Sony CEO*
*smack smack smack smack*

What did I tell you about integrated graphics?!?!

*smack smack smack....*

I hate how they do that. Take a nice appealing system and give it some huge Achilles heal. What's a GeForce2 or 3 cost now? $10?

Grrrr.....
Brandon

My guess is they didnt have a choice and were limited to the motherboards small form factor, other than the video card, everything else looks awesome!

[nedlyj]

Originally posted by Ioman
My guess is they didnt have a choice and were limited to the motherboards small form factor, other than the video card, everything else looks awesome!
If space was the issue, couldn't they have used one of the laptop boards that are out that still take the desktop P4s? These are pretty std boards and have 400MHz front side bus, but can also have better (ie non-integrated) video.

Regardless, more and more mainstream systems are using integrated video - and it is getting to be better quality all the time (although I'm not familiar with the SIS 651). I'm probably more surprised that it's only 32MB of video than I am that they used integrated video.

The system itself is very cool, but I hope they don't price it too high for its specs.

-n

[neuroking]

I think they mentioned $2k for the system.

And I know Sony has had AMD cpus before. They could ahve saved the money and gone with an nForce2 board. Or like the other poster said, one of the laptop chipsets with the mobility chips in them.

*shrug*
Brandon

[Unregistered]

I have been thinking of getting a new notebook computer and am intrigued with this device. I would also like to see a better graphics system with more memory.

I take my notebook from the office to the living room and sunroom, but don't really travel with it. I am wondering if this 25lb system would be easy to move around every day? Anyone used one of these systems before and transported it across their house?

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
I have been thinking of getting a new notebook computer and am intrigued with this device. I would also like to see a better graphics system with more memory.

I take my notebook from the office to the living room and sunroom, but don't really travel with it. I am wondering if this 25lb system would be easy to move around every day? Anyone used one of these systems before and transported it across their house?

Yes and no. The unti itself can be moved easily, but you will still have a couple cords I.E the mouse and the power cord. The keyboard flips up and out of the way which is nice. I still think you would be better off with a laptop.

[Unregistered]

Ioman,

Thanks for the answer. I would like to see one at a store to ascertain how it looks.

[sonyman]

If you want to see what the system looks like you may be in luck. Some stores still carry the W20, which is based on the same basic platform as this new W500. Notwithstanding minor internal and external differences, the systems will look and feel almost identical. I know my local CompUSA store has a W20 on display. The W500 will have a keyboard that folds in half and a little beefier processor, DVD writer, etc., but it is still the same look and design as the W20. Hope this helps.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by sonyman
If you want to see what the system looks like you may be in luck. Some stores still carry the W20, which is based on the same basic platform as this new W500. Notwithstanding minor internal and external differences, the systems will look and feel almost identical. I know my local CompUSA store has a W20 on display. The W500 will have a keyboard that folds in half and a little beefier processor, DVD writer, etc., but it is still the same look and design as the W20. Hope this helps.

The W500 has a larger screen (17") and I think the unit behind the screen is a little bigger on the W500, but the principle is still the same. We liked the PCV-W20 a lot when we reviewed it, the W500 seems to be a huge improvement,

[Unregistered]

I am going to head over to Circuit City today and see if they have one of the older models in stock.

Thanks for the help,
Vince

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
I am going to head over to Circuit City today and see if they have one of the older models in stock.

Thanks for the help,
Vince

Let us know what your impressions are!

[Unregistered]

Could anyone tell me whether I need to boot up to watch TV, play a CD or DVD? There's another system of another brand, that allows you to use it as an entertainment system even without booting up and still records to the hard drive. It's also an XP home machine being sold on the QVC shopping network!

I'm a fan of VAIO though and am of the opinion that they usually do things better and would like to know whether this machine shares that feature.

[Unregistered]

I just configured my W500 and it is not only beautiful, it has everything you would need, and is a speed demon.

Highly recommended.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
I just configured my W500 and it is not only beautiful, it has everything you would need, and is a speed demon.

Highly recommended.

Please register so we can chat some more. Would love to hear more about your W500!:D

[dkleinberg]

I just configured my W500 and it is not only beautiful, it has everything you would need, and is a speed demon.

Highly recommended.

Any questions welcome.

[Ioman]

I just added the W500 pre-review here: http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review408.html if you have experience with this desktop, please add your own user review for others to read.