Sony quick to embrace Intel Viiv

Sony has embraced the new Intel Viiv home entertainment platform, bringing out a Vaio PC designed to look more like a DVD player than a computer.

Aimed at being used in the living room, Sony claims that the VGX-XL100 runs totally silently.

It has a 250GB hard drive, which is small for a PC of this type, comes with both analogue and digital TV tuners, supports HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) for high definition DVDs and broadcasts and runs Microsoft’s Windows Media Center operating system.

It has rounded this off by using a stylish black and brushed aluminium case.

Based on a dual core Pentium D 920 CPU, it uses an Nvidia Geforce 6600 graphics card, which is low end compared to the latest cards available on the market.

Sony is claiming this is a ‘gamer’s dream machine’, but if that were so, it would at least use a card such as the Geforce 7800GTX, although this would present cooling and noise problems.

Generally, Media Centers don’t need high end graphics cards, because they are designed to run as machines used mainly for TV and music rather than gaming.

Sony is sending a mixed message with its VGX-XL100, by claiming it is a Media Center while talking up its gaming capabilities.

Viiv is Intel’s home entertainment platform. PCs using the technology will have dual core Pentiums, can be switched on or off instantly like you would a TV and also use Intel’s Express Chipset.