MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-04-19 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Sony Vaio RS410 Review - DONT BUY THIS PC
|
Sony Vaio RS410
Sunday, November 23, 2003; Page F09
$1,350 ($100 rebate available)
Display:15-inch, 1024-by-768 pixel LCD, $400 (included in above price)
Processor and memory: 2.7GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 256MB memory,
integrated Intel 845GV graphics accelerator (64MB memory shared)
Storage: 116.8GB hard drive, 16x/10x/32x CD-RW/4x/2-2.4x/12x DVD+-RW combo
drive, 40x CD-ROM drive, floppy drive
Communication: 100-Mbps Ethernet, 56-kbps v.92 modem
Expansion: Two PCI slots, one drive bay, one six-pin FireWire and one
four-pin FireWire port, four USB 2.0 ports, and one parallel and one serial
port available
Support: One-year warranty. One year of 24-hour toll-free phone support (90
days for software issues); $20-per-issue charge afterward.
After spending two weeks with this "Digital Studio" Vaio desktop, we're
forced to wonder who would actually buy this machine.
The problems start when you first boot up the computer and must accept a
Sony license that lets Sony "take appropriate measures" to protect
copyrighted content on the PC -- measures including "counting the frequency
of your backup and restoration . . . [and] refusal to accept your request to
enable restoration of data." If this legalese were printed on the outside of
the box, we predict sales would plummet.
Sony offers surprisingly little hand-holding, leaving out the usual
follow-the-pictures set-up poster and including a Quick Start booklet that
omits any information specific to this model.
The software bundle consists of such minimal entries as Microsoft Works,
entry-level versions of this year's Microsoft Money and last year's Intuit
Quicken. It's a good thing Sony bundles Norton Internet Security, with its
firewall component, since the installed copy of Windows XP was missing
patches issued last summer. (Instead of a Windows CD, you get a
five-gigabyte recovery partition on the hard disk.)
The design of this mundane machine belies Sony's "Digital Studio" label.
There aren't any memory-card slots for digital cameras (not even for Sony's
own Memory Stick), the lackluster speakers need their own power outlet and
the low-budget integrated graphics chip set can't be upgraded, since this
machine inexplicably lacks an AGP expansion slot.
In the midst of all this corner cutting, it was gratifying to see the
RS410's dual-format DVD+/-RW drive (meaning no worries about buying the
wrong kind of blank DVD) and video-editing and DVD-burning software.
But for those set on a Sony PC, the RS420, RS430G or RZ-series models make
more sense than this bare-bones machine. -- Alan S. Kay
(c) 2003 The Washington Post Company
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