Sony offering living room convergence from two angles

We are all a sum of our experiences. So when Sony researched its product offerings for the living room of the early majority, it obviously decided that when the TV and PC merge, people arrive the convergence point from two main perspectives – people who are TV people first and PC people second, and vice verca. Both represent convergence at its simplest – Sony’s new VAIO VA TV-PC combines a fully-featured computer with an LCD TV running on a 20-inch display. Sony’s new VAIO XL1 DLS combines home theatre functionality with the brains of a PC.

The VAIO VA TV-PC

With the VAIO VA TV-PC you can do the normal PC thing, record your favourite TV programs with personal video recording, watch DVDs and TV, and the whole experience is enhanced with Sony's Sound Reality technology and a 2.1 channel speaker system. For archiving, there’s a DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW drive that records up to 8.5 GB of home videos, music or digital photos on one Double Layer disc. The keyboard tucks nicely underneath the screen in its own nacelle when you’re doing non-keyboard activities and there’s a handheld remote control for such occasions. It’s not for everyone, but it does offer design, performance and entertainment to even the smallest of spaces.

The new TV-PC sports a 20-inch display with Sony's original XBRITE LCD technology. You can watch live TV or record your favourite programs with personal video recording supported by Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. As a PC, the VA series provides powerful computing performance and it also offers room to grow with an open bay that can accept an additional hard drive. All of this is packed into a silver and black chassis with a floating display and easily accessible optical and flash memory drives, front and centre.

The VA also comes with Sony's own Click to DVD mastering software for creating professional quality DVDs. With the onboard DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW drive you can create or record up to 8.5 GB of home videos, music or digital photos on one Double Layer disc. SonicStage, Sony's music management software, allows you to customize your musical environment and integration with Sony's Connect online music store to purchase tunes.

The VA PC also helps to turn analog content into digital content. Sonic Stage Mastering Studio gives you the tools to master your own recordings or convert old LPs and cassettes to digital music. The units A/V and S-Video ports connect directly to your VCR or analog camcorder to help convert home movies to slick DVDs.

A multitude of analog audio and video inputs, a multi-card flash memory reader, i.LINK (IEEE 1394) and multiple USB ports make file transfer easy and flexible. Integrated 802.11 b/g wireless LAN provides Internet connectivity while limiting cable clutter.

The VA TV-PC will be available later this month for about US$2,000.

Pre-orders begin online today

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