Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC (Intel Pentium D Processor 920, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R Dbl Layer/DVD+/-RW Drive)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 7.1 x 15.2 inches ; 25.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 35.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000E0INW8
• Item model number: VGC-RB60G
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 20, 2005

Product Description

Amazon Product Description

The Basics Targeting multimedia enthusiasts and creative folk who relish the thought of manipulating photos, editing home movies, burning and playing digital music and building a library of all of the above, the Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC is in reality a capable and versatile machine that'll suit most any computing environment and task. Featuring excellent optical drive facilities, a new-generation processor tailor-made for multitasking, a large hard drive and ample memory, the system lacks only a top-notch 3D graphics card. Fortunately, those who need high-end 3D graphics will find a graphics card upgrade relatively painless and affordable, while those who don't can just jump right in as is. Regardless, the VAIO VGC-RB60G is a wise choice for those who need to do a lot with their computer but can't financially justify a pricey, top of the line machine.

Processor
At the heart of any computer lies the CPU (or processor), a massive collection of miniature transistors that governs the speed and capability of the entire unit. For the VAIO VGC-RB60G, Sony has turned to Intel and its new Pentium D 920 CPU. At 2.8 GHz, this processor's clock speed would have been considered state-of-the-art a little more than a year ago but is now a few steps removed from that. However, this isn't just any old Pentium. It features Intel's new dual-core technology, which in essence allows it to operate far more efficiently than a regular 2.8 GHz processor when running a "dual-core optimized" application or when faced with more than a single task. For those who want to watch a DVD movie in one room while they're burning a CD and perhaps fiddling with a spreadsheet in another, this CPU is an ideal solution. It's also infused with a whopping four MB of Level 2 cache and a generous data "pipeline" for faster access to a larger amount of the data you use most often. Ultimately, this is a solid processor for single applications but an amazing processor for those who regularly run several programs at the same time.

Memory
Computers typically store information on their hard drive, but they also keep frequently and recently accessed data in Random Access Memory (RAM) for faster retrieval. More RAM means more efficient computing, superior multitasking and less strain on your hard drive. Currently, 256 MB of RAM is suitable for a bare bones entry-level machine, 512 MB is considered sufficient for most applications and multitasking situations, and one GB (1024 MB) is standard equipment on high-end power PCs. The VAIO VGC-RB60G offers one full GB of extremely fast PC2-4200 533 MHz RAM.

Video
CPU's are usually so busy doing basic calculations that they need help translating visual output -- particularly the demanding 3D visual output of games and 3D animation packages -- to the viewing screen. This is the duty of the graphics card (or graphics controller). A graphics controller with "dedicated" video memory is preferable to a controller that's integrated on the motherboard and "shares" the system's main memory, as it will better handle complex procedures and display a more sophisticated, smoother image.

The VAIO VGC-RB60G features a relatively new style of video controller -- a hybrid of sorts between high-end standalone "dedicated memory" cards and less capable integrated "shared memory" controllers. It's called the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900, a component that is indeed fitted to the motherboard and shares main memory but features a more refined structure than older integrated controllers. It also commandeers more of the system's main memory -- up to 224 MB -- than traditional integrated controllers.

Ultimately, this controller is sufficient for all 2D and most 3D tasks (including many 3D games) and is superior to traditional integrated controllers. However, a dedicated video card with 256 MB or more of built-in memory is a smart upgrade if you want to experience a truly smooth frame rate and all the high-end visual effects of the latest, greatest 3D games.

Display:
Sony has not included a display screen, thus allowing you to continue using your current monitor or select from today's many alternatives.

Sound
The VAIO VGC-RB60G generates stereo and surround sound via an audio chip integrated on the motherboard. This arrangement doesn't offer the power or the sophistication of a dedicated sound card, but it's more than sufficient for the enclosed set of stereo desktop speakers.

Hard Drive
The days of the computer as a mere data processing tool are long gone. Accordingly, hard drives have now grown much larger to accommodate all the space-intensive multimedia files that users are creating and storing. This system's 250 GB hard drive may not be the largest on the market, but it offers plenty of space for files and applications and a comprehensive music, video/photo and multimedia library too. Furthermore, it's quick -- sporting a fast 7200-RPM speed, an 8 MB buffer, and the faster transfer rates and smaller cables of cutting-edge Serial ATA (SATA) technology. These are all comparatively recent innovations, each increasing the overall speed and performance of the system.

Optical Drive
An optical drive is essential in today's computing world. A "CD-ROM" drive allows you to install CD-based applications and play music CDs. A "CD-RW" drive adds CD "burning", so you can also backup your important files to long-lasting discs and create personalized music CDs. With a DVD-ROM drive you can enjoy all of the above plus watch the same big budget DVD movies you watch on your home entertainment system. And with a DVD-RW drive, you can also "write" home movies to durable discs and archive files to DVD (DVDs boast more than seven times the storage capacity of CDs).

This unit incorporates two drives -- a DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive for reading and/or playing your discs, and a Double Layer DVD+R/DVD+/-RW drive through which you can not only burn and play anything but also take advantage of new double layer DVDs (twice the capacity of traditional DVDs).

Connectivity and Expansion
The VAIO VGC-RB60G sports all the latest data connections, including six high-speed USB 2.0 ports (two on the front, four on the rear) for plug and play gadgets such as digital cameras and printers, two IEEE 1394 "FireWire" ports (commonly used for fast data transfer from digital camcorders), a multimedia card reader for uploading data from today's most popular memory cards, high-quality composite audio-video inputs, and an integrated TV tuner for watching (and recording) television broadcasts. It is not equipped with a DVI output for sending digital signals to DVI-equipped flat panel monitors. Communication options include an ultra-high-speed gigabit LAN interface for super-fast network and Internet interaction and a 56K data/fax modem for low-speed dial-up connections.

Operating System and Software
Sony will load the VAIO VGC-RB60G with Microsoft's multimedia-friendly operating system, Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition. Other applications include Microsoft's Works 8.5 productivity suite, Intuit's Quicken 2005 New User Edition financial suite, and a wide variety of Sony's own respected multimedia utilities.

Control
You'll control your system with a VAIO Keyboard and a hardwired USB optical mouse and a standard PS/2 mouse.

Product Description

Includes: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Update Rollup 2, Works 8.5, Roxio DigitalMedia SE, Intervideo WinDVD, Intuit Quicken 2005 New User Edition, VAIO(R) Keyboard, USB Optical Mouse, Speakers, Power Cord, IR Receiver/IR Blaster, Remote Commander. Sony VGC-RB60G RB Series Desktop PC - This desktop computer features Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system, which gives you a unique graphical interface that's been designed for use on a TV. Using the included remote, you can easily browse through audio, video and photo files from the comfort of your couch! You can even watch and record live television thanks to Sony's Giga Pocket MPEG2 Realtime Encoder board with TV tuner. But that just scratches the surface of what this powerful, and feature-rich desktop computer has to offer. 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 224MB of shared memory (memory is taken from the main system's RAM) Giga Pocket MPEG2 Realtime Encoder board with TV tuner Double Layer DVD Writer - (write speeds) up to 6x Double Layer DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 16x DVD+R, 40x CD-R, & 24x CD-RW Double Layer DVD Writer - (read speeds) up to 16x DVD-ROM & 40x CD-ROM 16x DVD-ROM Drive 56k v.90 Fax Modem Multimedia Card Reader - supports Memory Stick, Memory Stick(R) PRO, Memory Stick(R) Duo, Compact Flash Type I/II, SmartMedia, SD/MultiMediaCard, and xD Picture Cards Ports - 1 VGA Out, 10/100 Ethernet, 6 USB 2.0 (2 front), 1 6-pin Firewire (rear), 1 4-pin Firewire (front), 1 Composite A/V In, 1 S-Video In, 1 Parallel, 1 Line-in, & 2 PS/2 Slots - 1 x16 PCI Express (available), 1 x1 PCI Express (available), & 2 PCI (occupied) Bays - 2 5.25 Half-Height (occupied), 1 external 3.5 (occupied), & 4 internal 3.5 (1 occupied)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast PC, runs Windows XP well..., June 19, 2006

By 

D. Lloyd (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC (Intel Pentium D Processor 920, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R Dbl Layer/DVD+/-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

The VGC-RB60G is our fourth purchase of a Sony VAIO desktop computer, and replaces my wife's PCV-RZ32G. I currently have a VGC-RA940G, and my wife started out with a PCV-LX920.

The VGC-RB60G has a black metal case, with a black plastic front panel. I like the position of the silver buttons on the front-right of the case (two eject buttons for the DVD drives, and the power button).

Below the two DVD drives is a drop-down panel which reveals two USB 2.0 connectors, an iLink (Firewire 400) 4-pin connector, and four memory card slots (Memory Stick, Compact Flash, xD Picture Card, SD/MMC). There is an access light which flashes whenever a card is being read by the computer. There are no front panel audio/video connectors.

Unlike the PCV-RZ32G and VGC-RA940G, the case of the VGC-RB60G does not click open, you will need a screwdriver (two screws located at the back of the PC) to remove the side panel. It is also possible to remove the entire metal case (four more screws).

First, the technical bits...

Inside is an Intel manufactured motherboard, an OEM Pioneer DVR-110D dual-layer DVD-RW drive, and a Sony DDU1615 DVD-ROM drive. The motherboard has four SATA connectors, and three available internal drive bays for additional hard drives (but only two spare power connectors).

Note that unlike the VGC-RA940G, the VGC-RB60G motherboard does not support SATA RAID 0. The onboard NIC is an Intel PRO/1000 PM (the same as that used on the VGC-RA940G). Whilst it does support Gigabit Ethernet, it does not support "Jumbo Frames" (frame size higher than 1500 bytes).

There are two PCI slots on the motherboard (both of which are occupied), two free memory slots, a free PCI Express x1 slot, and a free PCI Express x16 slot for a video card. Also, unlike the PCV-RZ32G and VGC-RA940G, this computer does not have a floppy drive. After purchasing the PC, upgrading to 2 GB of RAM was inexpensive ($ 66 for two Samsung 512 MB PC2-4200 240-pin DIMMs). I also added an ATI Radeon X1300 Pro video card.

The lack of free PCI slots was a constraint for me. I removed both the supplied Agere modem and the Sony MPEG card, and instead used the two slots for a Wi-Fi adapter and a Promise TX2200 SATA RAID adapter, and also installed another SATA150 250GB hard drive for RAID 0.

The PCI Express x1 slot is a good choice for high-bandwidth cards, such as SATA300 RAID or Firewire 800 adapters.

Installing Windows XP Pro...

Personally, I never use the manufacturer pre-installed copy of Windows on any PC, and always wipe the hard drive(s) and install a clean copy of Windows XP Pro, SP2, all the latest drivers/patches/updates, etc.

If you choose to do this, the drivers for the PC can be found on the Sony Website. You must install the Sony Shared Library before any other drivers from Sony. I used the latest chipset and NIC drivers from Intel, rather than the Sony ones.

The Promise TX2200 RAID adapter (which was not originally supplied with the PC) required additional drivers during the installation of XP, and this requires a floppy disk for the drivers. This was not an issue as the BIOS of the VGC-RB60G fully supports the use an external USB floppy drive for this.

I have read complaints from others that the fans on this model are noisy. I have not installed any additional software to control the speed of the fans, and have not experienced any excessive fan noise. In fact, the PC is fairly quiet during normal operation.

Overall, installing Windows XP Pro presented no challenges, and the PC is fast and runs very well.

VAIO desktop computers in general...

We have been using VAIO desktop computers for many years, and generally have been very satisfied with them. We have encountered problems (of course!), but no more than I would expect from any other PC manufacturer:

VAIO # 1. PCV-LX920 - the LCD monitor/tablet started to develop rows of dead pixels after approximately 18 months and eventually became useless.

VAIO #2. PCV-RZ32G - after three years of use, the (ASUS manufactured OEM) motherboard failed. I was unable to find a new replacement board.

VAIO #3. VGC-RA940G - the chassis has bays for up to three internal hard drives. This worked well for a few months before one of the (brand new) drives failed. I replaced the drive with a new one, and a few months later another drive failed. The chassis definitely does not have sufficient cooling for three internal hard drives. I now run the PC with two drives.

VAIO #4. No problems so far with the VGC-RB60G.

My biggest gripe about Sony would be the lack of support/drivers/updates, especially if you install your own copy of Windows XP. Considering the fact that Sony have been manufacturing VAIO computer for ten years now, I would have hoped for more.

For example, it is not possible to flash the firmware on the (OEM) Pioneer DVR-110D drive with updates from Pioneer. The drive in our VGC-RB60G has version 1.10 firmware, and the latest version from Pioneer is 1.41).

I have never been able to get any applications, such Windows Movie Maker, to recognize the Sony MPEG Realtime Encoder card as a video capture device. This is true of the PCV-RZ32G, VGC-RA940G, and VGC-RB60G (all of these models come with a Sony MPEG card). I yanked the card out of the VGC-RB60G.

My other issue would be the lack of support for Gigabit Ethernet "Jumbo Frames" on the VGC-RA940G and VGC-RB60G models. This is something that the older PCV-RZ32G did support.

Sony also gear most their VAIO PC products towards Windows XP Media Center Edition (which is the version of Windows that is generally pre-installed on VAIO desktop PCs).

For example, the VGP-XL1B2 200 disc Media Changer only works with XP Media Center Edition, which in my view is a major limitation. A 200 disc Firewire DVD reader/writer would be a nice thing to have, but alas it is not supported with XP Pro.

I'd like to see future models of VAIO desktops include support for Firewire (iLink) 800, rather than just 400, and also have integrated Bluetooth.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC, May 9, 2007

By 

D. Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC (Intel Pentium D Processor 920, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R Dbl Layer/DVD+/-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

I love this computer. I bought it two years after the first Sony VAIO VGC-RB60G Desktop PC. Buying this new computer through Amazon allowed me to obtain a new re-furbished product which was no longer being sold by Sony. I needed another computer, which did not have the new Vista operating system.
The Amazon service was excellent, and the product is everything it should be.
I would buy another computer from Amazon again.