Sony VAIO PCV-RZ44G Media Center Desktop (2.8-GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive)

by Sony

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 60 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000D8IRU
• Item model number: PCV-RZ44G
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,820 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 31, 2003

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vaio: Style...WITH substance., December 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCV-RZ44G Media Center Desktop (2.8-GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

VAIO...the name itself is so stylish (check out the history of the creation of the name on Sony's website), one wonders if the computer itself will be as cool. The answer, in short, is: yes, it is, without being embarassingly overpowered (if you are the kind who would feel embarassed by excess). This computer is, in essence, aimed at what used to be called a "prosumer" (someone who wants to do what the pros do but who is paying their own tab and must therefore choose carefully what they buy).

But let's start with the superficial stuff first. Starting on the outside: The case is about three-quarters as high as an older computer tower, and a bit wider. It is mostly dark grey, dull silver on the sides with the word VAIO embossed into it, and with what appears to be (but is not) a black strap pulling tight all around (giving the distinct impression that this computer is so powerful that it needs to be restrained). It is a wonderful case design to see. As far as hearing goes, this machine is very quiet. The back is made almost entirely of perforated metal so there's plenty of air flow, and the fan and power supply are quiet. Indeed what drew me toward the "RZ" series of Vaio rather than the "RS" series of Vaio (with the older style tower case) was that when I viewed each series at a store, I noticed the RS series' side panels actually vibrated from all the noise they produced. The RZ in contrast is more solid and more silent. Behind every door there are audio/video/s-video/firewire inputs, most duplicated on the back of the machine as well. Do you use a Dolby Digital receiver in your room to watch your DVD movies in 5.1 surround? If so, you'll be glad to know that this Vaio has a digital audio out (phono-coax, not optical) that will send the signal along just fine (once you find all the various soundcard settings that you'll need to set to engage it properly). (You'll only need that one audio cable, because both the DVD audio and the computer's own sounds all go through the same way). Alternately Sony also includes a set of presumably so-so speakers, which frankly they shouldn't, considering how many go straight into a landfill. I was surprised that there's only 4 USB2s...6 would have been nice.

On to the interior: professional reviews mention it is cramped inside the unit, but do they mention how easy it is to add a hard drive? The whole drive cage slides out for easy working, and slides back in easy as pie. Maybe that is standard now, but for me, who was upgrading from an older computer, it was fantastic.

My next thoughts are on the computer's ease of use. These thoughts are firmly entwined with how nice Microsoft's XP Media Center operating system is, which is not unique to Sony. If you're coming from an older operating system like Windows98 you'll love the way the new Windows Explorer gives you nice big previews of your files (photos, etc), and you'll hate the way that Microsoft is trying to prevent you from using any customized start-up screens. The general "look" of XP appears to basically be a rip-off of Apple, but with a bit less style. It is still an improvement over Windows98, aesthetically. There's still the usual Windows weirdness afoot, but less of it, and far fewer crashes.

Use the included remote control to fire up the Media Center in the evening to transform your computer into some kind of Tivo-esque dream machine. Very simple set-up, naturally, since all the Media Center functions are meant to be controlled from the remote control. It downloads a free tv schedule which you can use to tell your computer when to record your favorite shows. I've had tv on my older computer but never with this much ease of use. Press the Media Center button again and it all fades away and you're looking at a regular XP computer again.

Now about video editing and DVD authoring: This can do it all, but to do it well you probably won't want to use the bundled software Sony included, which hasn't won any raves (but is not impossible, as one review suggested). If you supply the better software, for example Sonic DVDIt or Adobe Encore, this Sony's hardware will serve it well.

One complaint about the way the system is set up: As delivered, the My Documents folder resides on the C drive. The hard drive arrives partioned into two parts - C and D. But C is tiny - it has just enough room for a variety of programs and the operating system. To have the My Documents folder there is stupid, considering that people who buy multimedia oriented machines tend to have voluminous collections of images, mp3s, etc.. So before you start compiling all your photos and documents and so forth, first thing you should do - and which Sony should have done for you - is to click on My Documents and opt to MOVE the My Documents folder to the larger D drive. Having done that, the computer is pretty much all set.

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You think you are going to edit video-and you would be wrong, November 23, 2003

By 

doppelganger "dvd-archive" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCV-RZ44G Media Center Desktop (2.8-GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

The Vaio is cool, it's got a ton of space and a real pretty light. Every connection you could want, except for Optical in/out (only on the newer model -1300bucks?). The problem is the software that comes with SONY products. In all my cases, they have been completely unusable. I've had NO success editing or even capturing video with SONY software. Even with a Vaio, SONY DVCAM deck, AND their lousy software. Their burn programs also refuse to burn wav files that weren't imported using their software, which is a bummer. They're horrible programs, ALL of them. If your going to get this computer, make sure your going to use good NON-Sony editing software that will work with the SONY hardware, which is practically non-existent. So, good luck with that.

As for the computer, The 160 Gig hard-drive is actually 144. 15 for C drive and 129 for "D" drive which is where your video is stored (roughly 10 gigs per hour of high quality video).

After loading programs, your C drive will be around 10 gigs which is half the required space of a two hour video. For some reason all video programs (I've tried 4) need to run the video through the C:drive to write to a DVD-R. So despite the fact that you have a gargantuan hard-drive, YOU STILL MAY NOT HAVE ENOUGH ROOM TO BURN A 2HOUR DISK. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO BURN DVD'S!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A trick to the small c: drive, March 18, 2004

By 

Sharon (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCV-RZ44G Media Center Desktop (2.8-GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

At first when I got this Sony computer, I was very dissappointed with the size of the c: drive. I mainly got this sony because I wanted to copy my vhs tapes to dvd. The click to dvd goes through both drives to work and c: did not seem large enough to do this. For reasons that was my own fault, I had to do a full recovery on the computer. To my surprize, while doing the recovery, the computer will ask you what size you want your c: drive to be. You have a choice between 15, 40,80. I choose 40 and am delighted with the results. It did not affect my D: at all and I have plenty of room to run and edit tapes on my click to dvd. Sony really should make this known that you can change the size of the drive. Every since then , all programs run great . the only downsize is that it takes a little longer for the computer to boot up. With how much improvement it has made on the computer, I am willing to wait the extra minute it takes to boot up.