Product Reviews

Back in the January issue, we took a good look at Sony's VGX-XL202 media centre. Sporting one of the latest Blu-Ray drives for playing high definition movies, as well as a range of nifty design features, the XL202 is a highly desirable addition to any living room. Or at least it would be if you are lucky enough, and most importantly rich enough, to have a high definition TV or home projector. However, it's also very expensive and at £1,799, with just a single TV tuner installed, it's a bit too stingily equipped to be a Media Centre PC worth serious consideration.

Identical twin

The VGX-XL301 may look identical to the XL202, but there have been a few changes beneath the familiar surface. The most significant of these is Sony's decision not to include a super-expensive Blu-Ray drive. With a Blu-Ray drive costing around £500, it's a luxury that's only worth having if you've already got a high definition TV or projector.

Sony has instead opted for a dual-layer DVD writer, which is a far more sensible proposition, and with the XL301 costing just over £1,000, it proves a more economical choice too.

Apart from losing the Blu-Ray drive, the XL301 also differs slightly in a few other areas from its pricier predecessor. Gone is the XL202's Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 processor, replaced by a very slightly inferior E6300 model. With the difference between the two processors amounting to a couple of hundred megahertz at most, it's not a change that drastically compromises the XL301's performance.

However, the installed memory has grown from just 1GB to a far more sensible 2GB - a particularly wise decision when you consider that Windows XP Media Center Edition has been replaced by the more memory hungry Windows Vista Home Premium. With a score of 139% in our benchmarks, the XL301 proves that it can easily cope with the constant daily demands placed on a Vista-powered media centre PC.

The nVidia GeForce 7600GTL graphics card is pretty powerful too, and the Sony racked up a very reasonable 59% in our Call of Duty 2 test. If you want to play the odd 3D game now and again, and don't mind turning down the detail levels a little, it'll do the job nicely.

Pretty face

Although Vista Home Premium may be a little more demanding it does have its benefits - not least that it looks a lot prettier than the comparatively dowdy XP. For a PC that's going to spend its life connected to a fancy TV, the move to Windows Vista is a welcome one.

Vista's Media Centre software hasn't changed much, but it has had a welcome visual overhaul and with the supplied remote control it's still stunningly easy to set up and navigate. The timeshifting functions are as neat as ever and it's great being able to pause live TV while you leave the room, or just rewind a program because you missed something. Recording single programs or an entire series is just as straightforward - if you're used to programming a VCR then you'll wonder how you ever put up with the

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hassle!

We criticised the XL202 for only having a single TV tuner, but we were pleased to see that the XL301 has two hybrid TV tuners installed. This means you can record two programs at once, or record one in the background while watching another channel - another feature that makes the dependable old VCR seem even more outdated.

It's refreshing to be able to use the Sony's TV, DVD and music playback functions without having to resort to wielding a mouse and keyboard. However, even if you do want to surf the internet or tinker with something that requires keyboard input, Sony has a superb solution.

The keyboard is a wireless model that's slightly smaller than that connected to your average PC, but Sony has made room for a laptop-style touchpad. The addition of a touchpad to the compact keyboard is a masterstroke and one you'll particularly appreciate if you've ever tried using a traditional mouse on the arm of your sofa.

Unlike the infrared remote, the keyboard connects to the PC via RF radio frequencies, so you don't need to have line of sight between your sitting position and the XL301 - an essential feature for many living rooms. Unless of course, you don't mind playing musical chairs with your family each and every time you need to resort to using the keyboard and mouse.

Hook, line and memory card reader

One area where the XL301 really excels is connectivity. We've never seen a media centre PC with such a comprehensive array of inputs and outputs - well not since we saw the XL202.

Flicking down the front flap reveals a memory card reader, a couple of USB ports, a mini-FireWire port for hooking up compatible video cameras and even an S-Video and composite input for ferrying in video from older camcorders. On its rear, you'll find even more ports for getting audio and video in and out of the XL301, all of which buck the PC norm by being clearly labelled.

There are also analogue and digital audio sockets suitable for hooking the Sony up to the very latest home cinema and hi-fi equipment, as well as a couple more FireWire and USB2 ports. In addition to an Ethernet port, there's a discreet antenna for the built-in 802.11g wireless networking, which helps keep trailing wires to an absolute minimum.

The only slight stumbling block is that as there are only HDMI, DVI and component video outputs, you'll still need an LCD TV, TFT monitor or a projector to use with the Sony - there are no SCART sockets for hooking it up to older TVs. However, as the output from a PC is generally blurry and illegible when displayed on a traditional television, we can forgive this omission.

Sony's VGX-XL301 is an accomplished media centre PC. It may be a bit on the chunky side, but even this has benefits as it doesn't need a plethora of whirring fans to keep everything running nice and cool. Peek inside the Sony's case and you'll find the processor masked by a large heatsink to keep it from getting too toasty. The graphics card is also passively cooled to keep the noise levels down. Two quiet fans at the rear draw hot air out of the case and are only audible when the Sony is operating under severe duress - a rare occurrence for a media centre PC. There's even room for a couple more hard disks which is just as well as the supplied 250GB drive will soon fill up with recorded TV shows.

A well-considered design can make the difference between a gorgeous piece of junk and a functional and ergonomic delight - and while it's still a little bit on the pricey side, even without the Blu-Ray drive, the Sony VGX-XL301 is most certainly the latter.