Sony Shows a World of New Products

A DVD recorder for the living room, a home entertainment network receiver, and a slew of notebooks and desktops are on display at CES.

Anush Yegyazarian, PCWorld.com

LAS VEGAS-- To populate Sony's "World About U" vision, the company is readying a slew of new consumer products, previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show here.

Sony has announced a bevy of notebooks and desktops, a new DVD recorder for the living room, and a network media receiver so you can watch home movies or transfer shows you've recorded on your PC to the TV in your den.

DVD Recording

For the first time, Sony is releasing a DVD recorder for the home. Unlike models from competitors such as Philips, Pioneer, and Panasonic, the Sony RDR-GX7 can record both DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs, along with DVD-R (write-once) media. Scheduled for release in June, the unit is expected to be priced at $800.

Although Sony's multiformat drive, the DRU-500a, can handle DVD-RW/R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R formats, the consumer device can't. According to Bruce Tripido, DVD product manager, the DVD+R format was finished later than the DVD+RW format, so it was too late to support it in this iteration of the recorder. The RDR-GX7 includes the usual audio/video ports, along with Sony's ILink (FireWire). It does not have a Memory Stick slot.

Portable Power

Among the new Sony notebooks is the PCG-GRV680, which is the first to feature a dual-format DVD burner (DVD+RW and DVD-RW, as well as CD-RW functions).

For about $2400, the system comes with a powerful 2.6-GHz Pentium 4 desktop processor, 512MB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, a 16-inch display powered by the ATI Radeon 9000 chip, and 64MB of RAM. Like others in the VAIO line, it will come with Sony's Click to DVD software, as well as Sony's familiar set of video editing tools (among others).

The notebook provides all the usual ports, including an ILink and USB 1.1 ports, as well as built-in ethernet, a Memory Stick slot, and a host of wireless networking options.

Also unveiled is a new ultraportable that, in Sony's 505 tradition, makes no compromises. The new VAIO PCG-V505A series keeps the same size and weight that users have grown to love, but builds in a combo DVD/CD-RW drive.

It doesn't stop there: The sub-4.5-pound unit is the first ultraportable to offer Pentium 4 processing power. The $1899 retail model will feature a 1.8-GHz P4-M, but models can go as high as 2.2 GHz. Systems will offer a 40GB hard drive and a 12-inch screen, and will feature ethernet support, modem port, and the other usual ports. For $100 more, you can configure your own unit with wireless capability. And the port replicator is the first to offer output to DVI LCDs.

Both new notebooks are expected to become available in March. Sony is also preparing some mainstream notebook models priced below $2000 that will offer DVD-RW/-R drives.

Dual-Format DVD

Notebooks aren't the only systems to get dual-format DVD burners: Three new desktops will also boast the feature. A fourth will offer only a single format, and all are scheduled to ship by the end of January.

The top-of-the-line unit, the PCV-RX26G, will come with a 3.06-GHz Pentium 4 processor, 1GB of 333-MHz DDR memory, the dual-format DVD drive, and a 160GB hard drive. An NVidia Geforce4 MX-based graphics card with 64MB of RAM will power the unit's graphics. Without monitor, the system should sell for $2300.

Sony is finalizing the features set of the other PCs with dual-format drives, but expect both to offer Pentium 4 processors and hard disks ranging from 80GB to 160GB. Prices for the low-end PCV-RX22G unit should start at $1349 (sans monitor), while the midrange PCV-RZ24G should start at $1599 (also without monitor).

For $800, Sony will also offer an entry-level unit with DVD-burning capability. The PCV-RS100 has a Pentium 4 processor, 256MB of DDR RAM, and a 60GB hard drive. Unlike the others, however, this model will offer a single-format DVD burner: It supports DVD-RW and DVD-R (along with CD-RW/R), but not DVD+RW.

All four units should offer six USB 2.0 ports and two ILink ports, and the usual Sony multimedia software.

Networked Home

And, under the crusade of convergence as king, Sony's $199 RoomLink Network Media Receiver PCNA-MP10 is making its debut. It's designed to help you move your digital entertainment content from your PC to your living room.

The unit provides the transmission via a wired network initially, and through a wireless adapter (either 802.11a or 802.11b) in a version coming out later this spring. So you can listen to your MP3s, watch your home movies, or transfer shows you've recorded on your PC to your living room with minimal fuss. However, you must have a Sony VAIO PC running as a central server, although other types of PCs can be hooked up to the network and share content. The Sony server must be running Sony's GigaPocket software if you want to share video.