Sony VAIO VGX-XL2 Review
By
March 14th, 2006
Summary
The VAIO® XL2 Digital Living System™ merges Sony's industry-leading home theater expertise with the computing performance of a VAIO® PC. The upgraded Intel® Pentium® D dual-core processor, NVIDIA® graphics card, expanded memory and hard drive will speed you through computing applications and present dazzling video images. The 200-disc mega-changer and optimized Windows® MCE 2005 interface revolutionizes content management, making your CDs, DVDs, photos, high-definition camcorder content, recorded TV shows, and more easily accessible and enjoyable at the touch of a remote. The VAIO® XL2 is ready to bring your digital world to life.
Specs
Specifications
- Model:
VGX-XL2
- Processor
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 920 (2.80GHz1, 4MB L2 Cache)
- Front Side Bus Speed
800MHz1
- Chipset
Intel® 945P
- Memory2
1GB (512MBx2) PC2-4200 533MHz DDR2 (Expandable to 2GB)
- Hard Drive
320GB2(160GB x 2) 7200rpm Serial ATA (RAID Ready)
- Graphics
nVIDIA® GeForce™ 6600GT 128MB DDR SDRAM dedicated memory
- Action Buttons
S1, Volume and Mute
- Keyboard
Wireless Keyboard
- Pointing Device
Electro Static Touch Pad
- Video Interface
Output:
HDMI™ (High Definition Multimedia Interface)
DVI-D (through HDMI™ to DVI-D adapter)
Component (YPbPr)
- Optical Drive
DVD+R DL Write: 4x max.
DVD+R Write: 8x max.
DVD+RW Write: 8x max.
DVD-R Write: 8x max.
DVD-RW Write: 6x max.
CD-R Write: 24x max.
CD-RW Write: 24x max.
DVD±RW: yes
CD Read: 24x max.
DVD Read: 8x max.
- Audio
Sony® Sound Reality™ technology with DSD (Direct Stream Digital) support
- TV Tuner
1 NTSC Giga Pocket® MPEG2 Realtime Encoder Board with Composite Video/Audio, S-Video, Coaxial (VHF/UHF)
- inputs
1 ATSC over-the-air High Definition
- Ethernet
10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T Fast Ethernet (RJ-45)
- Expansion Slots
Multi-Media Card Reader
(Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO/Duo™, Compact Flash® Type I and Type II, SD/ MultiMediaCard™, SmartMedia, xD Picture Card®)
One x16 PCI Express (occupied by Graphics Card)
Two PCI (occupied)
- Expansion Bays
Three 3.5" (two occupied)
- Port Connectors
Composite Audio/Video Input(s): 1 (gold-plated)
Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s): 1
Ethernet Port: 1
HDMI™ Connection Output(s): 1
Headphone Jack: 1
i.LINK®5 Interface: 3 i.LINK® interface (1 4-pin Front/2 6-pin Rear on VGX-XL2A)
Microphone Input: 1
S-Video Input(s): 1 (Front)/ 1 (Back)
USB Port(s): 4 (2 Front/2 Rear) (2.0 compliant)
VHF/UHF Input(s): 2 (1 NTSC, 1 ATSC)
Composite Audio Output(s): 1 (gold-plated)
Composite Audio Input(s): 1 (gold-plated)
IR Output(s): 2
S/PDIF Output(s): 2.1
S/PDIF Input(s): 1
Coaxial Digital Output(s): 1
- Power Requirements
297 watts max. / 100-240V ~7A (50/60Hz)
- Power Management
ACPI 1.0 Compliant
- Integrated Wireless LAN
802.114 b/g
- Model:
VGP-XL1B - Media changer
Capacity for 200 CD/DVD discs
- Optical Drive
DVD+R Double Layer/DVD±RW2
DVD+R DL Write (4x MAX);
DVD-R Write (16x MAX),
DVD-RW Write (6x MAX);
DVD+R Write (16x MAX),
DVD+RW Write (8x MAX)
CD-R Write (40x MAX),
CD-RW Write (24x MAX)
- Supplied Accessories
IR Remote Control/IR Blaster (1)
Wireless Keyboard
HDMI™ Cable
i.link®5 Cable
S/PDIF Optical Cable
HDMI-DVI Adapter
Mini DVD Adapter
Wireless Antenna
AA Batteries (6)
Power Cords (2)
- Operating System
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Update Rollup 2
- Software
- Sony Original Software
Click to DVD™ - DVD Creation
SonicStage® Mastering Studio - Audio Mastering & Remastering
DVgate Plus™- Digital Video
SonicStage® - Digital Music
VAIO Media™ - Network File Sharing
Image Converter - PSP Transfer
Life Flow - Passive Entertainment Screen Saver
60-minute trial version of Wheel of Fortune®
60-minute trial version of Jeopardy®
- Supplied Software
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements
Adobe® Premiere Standard
Microsoft® Works 8.0 - Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Calendar, Scheduling, Contact Management, and Database
Microsoft® Office 2003 60-Day Trial171(Student/Teacher Edition)
Intuit Quicken® 2006 New User Edition (Previous Quicken Users may require additional upgrade)
InterVideo® WinDVD®
Roxio® DigitalMedia SE
- Anti-Virus and Recovery Software
Norton® Internet Security™ 60-Day Subscription - Norton AntiVirus®, Norton Personal Firewall, Norton Privacy Control, Norton AntiSpam®, Norton Parental Control
VAIO® Recovery Wizard
VAIO® Support Central
VAIO® Security Central
VAIO® Update
- Internet Services
America Online® (180-Day Subscription: For new users only)
- Service and Warranty
- Limited Warranty and Onsite Service
1 Year Limited Warranty with Onsite Service
- Telephone Support
1 Year toll-free technical telephone assistance, available 24-hours, 7-days-a-week7
- Online and Email Support
Support available from http://www.esupport.sony.com