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Sony's new Vaio RA104 is intended to be used as a home media server, a PC that stays on all the time and has enough storage space for all your media. You can then, in theory, access music, videos, pictures and moreover your home network.
It is designed to fit in with modern entertainment products, and it certainly looks the part on that front. The case is finished in matt-black metal. The top section, which houses the optical drives, is suspended above the main case by two silver triangular sections. These are part of the PC's elaborate cooling system.
The processor, an Intel Pentium 4, runs at a blistering 3.6GHz. Backed up with 1,024Mb of memory, it scored very well in testing, although we have seen similar computers from other manufacturers that run faster.
For such a high-powered and expensive system the inclusion of a 128Mb ATI Radeon X600XT graphics card is a bit of a surprise. It's fast, but if you want to play games it might struggle at the highest settings.
Then again, considering what the system is designed for - serving and working with video and audio files - it's more than capable. The fast 250Gb hard disk can store thousands of video, image and music files. It uses the new Serial-ATA system, which makes things easier to connect if you're changing or upgrading a component, and will open the door to faster disk drives in the future.
The case opens at the side and a simple catch fastens it in place. The two optical drives, a recordable DVD drive (which will burn all major formats including dual-layer discs) and a standard DVD drive are housed in the top section, which cannot be opened as easily as you might think, so fixing or upgrading them may be a bit taxing.
The system we reviewed comes with a 19in TFT monitor. It uses Sony's X-Black technology which makes black actually look black (a problem for many TFT monitors). If you have a perfectly good monitor, you can buy the RA104 without a screen for £1,899.
The RA104 comes with a standard keyboard and mouse, as well as a remote control for the TV tuner. You can remotely connect to the PC over the internet and program the TV recorder, so even if you're out, you need not miss your favourite shows.
Of course, this relies on the computer being on all the time, but that's what it is designed for and, with suitable firewall and security settings, this need not be a problem.
It also comes with a separate network media server, which sits by your hi-fi and allows you to play music remotely when the PC is in another room. One flaw is that neither the PC nor the media server have wireless networking built in. Sony does supply two wireless networking devices to connect them both up, but it's extra clutter and seems like an oversight.
You get plenty of software, including Windows XP, MS Works, Adobe Premiere 6 for video editing, Adobe Photoshop Elements for picture editing, and SonicStage for working with music, and it comes with a one year warranty.
Contact: Sony 01932 816 000
www.sony.co.uk
Also consider:
Elonex Exentia. £1,799. Still pricey but a cleverly designed Media Center PC with lots of features.
See also:
All Desktops
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