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Review of PCV-W10 Desktop by Sony
Anonymous Howard writes "Designtechnica has a review of Sony's Vaio PCV-W10 desktop computer. This computer is unique in the sense that not only is the computer built into the back of the monitor, but the keyboard folds up to cover the screen. Once folded up, this thing becomes a Clock/CD Player. Strange..."
The Icon 3 computers that were used in Ontario schools in the early 90's had the computer build into the back of the monitor. The whole back inch came off as a module so the computer could be upgraded without replacing the monitor.
Jason
ProfQuotes
I'm happy to see that Sony recognizes that a computer needs to be integrated into a home as a small, practical appliance. I gave my mother a computer and it's housed in a piece of furniture, with doors, that matches the style of her home. As a result of it being out-of-sight, it remains largely out-of-use. Unlike most Slashdot readers, she does not just think to turn the computer on to check e-mail, surf the web, etc. To her, it's a big, complicated device made up of multiple boxes (system unit, keyboard, monitor, modem, printer, mouse) and more wires than she can deal with. I have to wonder if she would use something like the Sony computer featured in the review...
a desktop computer which is present behind the monitor? a keyboard which folds up? that's sounds more like a laptop to me, folks...
It would be kind of cool to have Unix/Linux running on that thing. :) I might use Macs, but I like Visually Freindly Technology..
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The article makes no mention of the screen size... are we supposed to assume the W10 means 10"? A 10" 16:9 LCD is just far too small, especially with that price...
sig.
I'd hate to hit the snooze button and crash the server.
Have you seen one of these in a store? Have you seen the price? It's got the specs of a $500 emachine, with the exception of the folding keyboard and the big LCD screen (which, granted, looks really pretty). The form factor is cute, but not really a whole lot *better* than a whole lot of other stuff on the market. When you figure it costs $1000 more than a similarly decked out budget machine, it doesn't look to me like it panns out.
Now, this post is doubless going to attract some Apple iMac comparisons, but I think it won't apply. Why? Because I think with an iMac (which starts at around $200 less), you're getting a design that actually works better than the $500 emachine, not just that looks better. Just my opinion, though. I'm sure folks will disagree...
Narrative
So this is meant for people who are ashamed to own a computer?
Oh, wait, this is good. An actual quote from the review:
What I don't want to see happening is Sony start skimping on performance and overcharging the consumer all for the sake of selling a Lifestyle.
So who wants to break the news to him?
...where they have insanely high real estate prices, then you'll realise why everything has to be fold up and space efficient. Also looks pretty neat.
You know, when I saw that headline, I immediately read "Review of PDP-10 desktop by Sony". Imagine my surprise... ;)
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
Instead of concentrating on these things, we get a meningless comparative, as if it was a normal desktop. Better review at hardware central (IMHO).
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
From what I've seen (in this review and elsewhere), the Vaio W just fits into a horribly awkward spot in the market that will only suit a few people. If you just need a compact all-in-one computer, then Apple and Gateway undercut the price by a few hundred. Both Apple and Gateway also have AIO units that will be considerably better for both DVDs and some light gaming (especially with the 17" iMac's GeForce 4 MX).
The W is only for people who REALLY need to save space, or else appreciate the features of the keyboard-up clock and CD player.
Remember though, Sony is originally a Japanese company. I predict their next model will fold up into a giant walking robot with rocket launchers for arms.
I had a vaio laptop a few years ago (pentium iii 450 version) and there were a few things about it that made me decide to avoid vaio products in the future:
1. Proprietary drivers: Since I already owned a copy of Win2k from my last machine, I ordered the Vaio with 98 and planned to upgrade. No such luck. Sony wouldn't give me access to the drivers. I finally found someone who had the drivers but there was some kind of BIOS lock-out preventing me from installing them. It would have been worthwhile to pay the stupid $150 extra for the win2k machine in the first place.
2. Proprietary Drivers: Sony finally did release the drivers w/o the bios lockout, but it was about a year after I first got the laptop.
3. SLOW! The thing was designed to look nice rather than to perform. It had one of the slowest laptop hard drives I've ever experienced.
VAIO systems appear to be designed to look nice (which they do). They're not really performance machines, and Sony has some funny policies regarding releasing drivers, etc. Buyer beware.
Amazing magic tricks
I bought a Sony VAIO PCG-C1VE (PCG-C1VN in the states) a couple of years ago, and I would now advise people never to get a PC with a 16x9 form factor screen.
The screen is only 8 inches so the only really useable resolution is 1024x480. An awful lot of applications don't fit on this from top to bottom, and using a text editor, IDE or even surfing the web is very frustrating because you can view so few lines of text at a time. (Very painful if you're trying to write code!)
Having to continually right click on the taskbar and use the keyboard to move windows up to get at the buttons at the bottom of some app (because your mouse stops at the top of the screen) will very quickly drive you mad.
If you're going to extend the screen on a workstation you probably want to make it taller, not wider.
If the screen was big enough to use at about 1280x768 it might not be so bad. But I still wouldn't consider wide-screen an advantage for anything but watching movies.
I believe it's a 15 inch screen, so I'm really not sure how good it would be.
Never trust a man in a blue trench coat, Never drive a car when you're dead
For some reason it seems that every time a bigger resolution screen comes out, new applications are released with higher toolbars, keeping the usable vertical workspace constant. Of course I try and minimize the problem, using a windowmanager without any taskbars etc, but there's still work for application designers.
Then again, it might be that for most people the computer is a glorified game console and movie player, so a 16x9 screen makes sense. For the rest of us who actually work with computers, it's a lot different.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.