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Better get used to it, the home hard drive in one version or another is set to become your new best friend in years to come. In association with Sony we look at what's on the market
Once upon a time it would have taken the processing power of a computer the size of a room to turn a simple domestic light switch on and off. These days a control panel barely larger than a light switch working in conjunction with a hard drive the size of a large cereal packet can effectively control the electronic workings of a whole house.
As technology advances it usually gets smaller, and a whole lot smarter. Technologies become redundant or combined to greater effect. Remember those massive top loading early video recorders used in schools and colleges? Today a combined VCR, DVD and hard drive recorder could probably fit into half that surface area.
It was always a fairly logical developmental leap to wish that our PC’s could act as TVs and vice versa after all they LOOK pretty similar. But while the capability to upgrade your PC with a TV tuner may be desirable for say catching up on the news or taking a break during the day, not many people would be happy staring at their boxy old PC display for a full evening’s viewing.
For a start the furniture we employ in a study or home office is geared around comfortable heights for keyboard use, not for someone pancaked out on a sofa with a fist full of Doritos and sugary pop. Wouldn’t it be better if instead of your PC aping a TV, a new, lounge-friendly TV employed all the benefits of a PC could be developed?
courtesy Sony
Sony VAIO PCVW2
Sony VAIO think so, that’s why their new PCVW2 is both TV and PC with a 17.5" wide screen, hard drive recording, DVD, CD Rom play and re-write capability, internet and e-mail access. More to the point it looks the part too, a snazzy, easy on the eye, thin slice of modernity with a discrete fold-away keyboard, in-built stereo speakers and sexy slim remote control.
It will sit admirably on the TV stand of your choice at the height of your choice, indistinguishable from any other TV until you decide to make use of any one of its exciting PC features. These include Microsoft® Windows® Home Edition, Adobe® Premiere 6.0 LE, VAIO Edit Components, Photo: PictureGear Studio v.2.0, Adobe® Photoshop Elements 2.0, Adobe® Photoshop Album SE, SonicStage v.1.6, MoodLogic, Adobe® Acrobat Reader v.6.0, Adobe® Acrobat Elements v.6.0, and Microsoft® Works 7.0. That’s not to mention WinDVD for VAIO v.5.0, Drag’n’Drop CD+DVD, RealOne Player v.2.0, and QuickTime v.6.1.
With a 160 GB hard disk drive and main memory of 512MB, the Sony VAIO PCVW2 is probably the state-of-the-art as far as PC-TV hybrids go. At last – a multi-media device truly worthy of the name.
