Digital Trends

Sony VAIO PCV-RS220

July 1st, 2003 | by Ian Bell

Introduction

The Sony VAIO PCV-RS220 is Sony's latest entry level system in the sub $1000 market. Geared for the small office or home, the PCV-RS220 would be best suited for office work than gaming or any 3D related software. This is because the PCV-RS220 uses the Intel 845G/GL chipset with shared video memory and no available AGP slot which means you will never be able to upgrade your video adapter. Surprisingly though, Sony does include a DVD-R/CD-RW drive in the PCV-RS220 which is certainly unusual for a system in this price range. If you are a fan of Sony's design we would recommend spending a little more money and opting for the next level in Sony's desktop line, the RZ series.

Features

The Sony VAIO PCV-RS220 features Intel's Pentium 4 processor running at 2.53GHz on a 533MHz front side bus supported by the Intel 845G/GL chipset. The PCV-RS220 comes with 512MB of 266MHz DDR memory which is expandable to 1GB, and a 120GB ATA 100 Hard drive. Components integrated on the motherboard include Intel's integrate 845G graphics with 64MB of shared memory, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, 3 PCI expansion slots, one front and one rear IEEE FireWire ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports. The real treat with the PCV-RS220 system is the included 2X DVD-R/CD-RW drive and a separate CD-ROM drive. For complete specifications please click on the specs tab above and below this review. Included with the Sony VAIO PCV-RS220 system is two multimedia speakers, a keyboard and a Sony style mouse with scroll wheel.

As with every Sony VAIO system currently available, Sony packs the PCV-RS220 with their own Sony original software including DVD creation, Picture Gear Studio for digital photos, DVgate for digital video making, Sonic Stage for Music playback and VAIO Media which is for network file sharing. The PCV-RS220 features Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition as the operating system.

3^rd party software includes: Corel Office suite 2002, Intuit's Quicken 2003, Veritas RecordNow, Apple QuickTime, Real Networks media player and MacAfee's Security center with virus scanning software. Overall the software package feels about right for a commercially available system like this, but is not overwhelming with shareware and software you will most likely never need..

Sony is offering a one year parts and labor warranty on the PCV-RS220 system with registration or 90 days without it. Telephone support is limited to 90 days for software related questions; certainly on the skimpy side.