Review: Sony Vaio VGX-XL 100 PC

Sony’s background is primarily in consumer electronics, and has certainly made an effort to move as far away from conventional PC designs as possible with the Vaio VGX-XL 100.

The VGX-XL 100 doesn’t even have a conventional VGA or DVI interface that will allow you to connect it to a computer monitor.

What it does have – which will turn a few heads – is an HDMI connector that allows it to output a high-definition video signal.

It also supports component video output, which is great if you’re a home cinema buff who already has a high-end or high definition-ready TV set – if not, you’ll need to buy an adapter to use it with an ordinary TV or monitor.

Looking to the future is fine, but a Scart connector for an ordinary TV set would have been useful.

As well as the HDMI connector, the VGX-XL 100 has composite and S-video inputs, as well as Firewire interfaces for connecting it to a DV camcorder or external storage.

Analogue and digital audio inputs and outputs are included, as well as a ‘hybrid’ TV tuner that can pick up analogue or digital TV channels.

A 2.8GHz dual-core Pentium D enables the PC to handle digital audio and video recordings, and the Nvidia Geforce 6600 graphics chip provides pretty good 3D performance for games.

Our only real criticism – apart from the lack of Scart – is the XL-100’s design, which is uncharacteristically cumbersome for Sony.

The VGX-XL 100 is a bulky 430 x 400 x 129mm (w x d x h) and, to some eyes, lacks the style you normally associate with Sony products.

To be fair, however, it’s no bigger than a top-of-the-range A/V receiver and should sit neatly in a standard hi-fi rack.

Even so, its high-definition support, strong performance and comprehensive array of audio and video features make this an almost future-proof entertainment PC.

This is part of a group test on remote access software. Other articles a re:
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