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Fuzzy Logic Sony’s Living Room PC – a better buy than a Blu-ray equipped notebook PC?
Fuzzy Logic Sony’s Living Room PC – a better buy than a Blu-ray equipped notebook PC? | Sony’s Living Room PC – a better buy than a Blu-ray equipped notebook PC? |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 04 March 2008 | |
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Page 3 of 3 Sony’s Living Room PC retails for AUD $2399, as we explained on page 1. That makes it cheaper than Blu-ray equipped notebooks from Sony which start at AUD $3399 – and have a Blu-ray drive that both plays and records Blu-ray discs, something the Living Room PC can’t do as it only has a Blu-ray player capable drive. Featured Whitepaper
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It would be possible to buy an AUD $1500 notebook with similar hardware specs, and add a Blu-ray player drive, but unless that notebook has an HDMI socket with an HDCP compliant video connector, and unless it is plugged into an HDMI equipped TV, you won’t be able to play Blu-ray movies at their highest quality. Sony’s cheapest Blu-ray equipped notebook computer costs AUD $3399, making it AUD $1000 more expensive than the Living Room PC, but giving you a Blu-ray burner and enhanced portability that can still be plugged into an HDMI equipped large screen TV. Sony’s cheapest internal 5.25-inch Blu-ray burner costs AUD $899, making a notebook that is then upgraded with a Sony Blu-ray drive fitted into an external 5.25-inch USB case cost much more than the AUD $2399 Vaio Living Room PC, although you will have Blu-ray burning capability. This means that, if you are looking for a home computer and digital media hub in one, that can also play Blu-ray discs, so you don’t have to buy an external Blu-ray player or PS3, and want that device to look very stylish, the Living Room PC is worth consideration. But if you can afford the extra $1000 for a Blu-ray burner equipped notebook from Sony, not only can you essentially get the same benefits, but you have a notebook computer than burns Blu-ray discs which you can easily take with you anywhere, although you’d likely have to supply your own USB HDTV tuner module to get the TV capabilities in the Living Room PC. There’s also the option of buying a $1500 notebook computer and an AUD $699 PS3, although then you’d still have two gadgets instead of one. Still, the PS3's allure is hard to pass-up, and some may well prefer this option as it also gives them access to PS3 games, although the Living Room PC with an NVIDIA graphics card would be pretty good at playing lots of games written to run on PCs too. Sony’s Living Room PC is a great device, with great styling, and will certainly appeal to those who want a no-fuss, yet advanced, computer and Blu-ray player in one. But savvier technology users will wonder whether they should spend their money on a Vaio notebook with Blu-ray burning, or if just for Blu-ray playback and some digital media hub capabilities, a PS3 instead. We can’t tell you what to do, but we can advise you think about it carefully. The Living Room PC certainly makes any living room stocked with a large screen HDMI-equipped Plasma or LCD look even more high-tech and 21st century, and if you’re happy to spend the money, you will undoubtedly impress your friends and be a happy camper, although eventually you will wish your Blu-ray playback-only drive could burn as well. But it’s likely that a Blu-ray playback and burning equipped notebook is a better choice for some consumers, some of whom are still reeling from the Blu-ray and HD DVD wars, recently ended in Blu-ray’s favour. All-in-all, a very interesting design, and one that will inspire copycats and sales to computing and AV aficionados, but whether it will become a runaway success is yet to be seen! |
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