Sony VAIO RA-104 review

It's all very well manufacturers talking about convergence and digital lifestyle hubs, but we've yet to see a convincing example of a practical system. It's clear that many companies are still finding their feet.

On the face of it, the Sony RA-104 is the most successful example of such an idea that we've seen. The case is custom designed with the prime objective of being as quiet as possible. Despite having the mammoth power of a 3.6GHz Pentium 4 Processor 560 strapped to the motherboard, this is a system you'll be happy to leave running.

There's no skimping on specifications either, with the Asus 915P Express-equipped motherboard offering everything we'd expect. There's a healthy 1GB dose of PC3200 RAM to keep Windows ticking over, as well as a gargantuan 250GB Western Digital SATA hard disk. That, in conjunction with Sony's DW-D18A dual-layer DVD writer, will provide you with a comfortable storage area for your media library. The case will support a further two hard disks, and with four SATA channels there's room for upgrading to a SATA optical drive in the future too.

Elsewhere, you'll find an ATi Radeon X600 XT graphics card. It isn't the first choice for dedicated gamers, although the sheer power of the CPU goes some way to making up for it. Our tough Halo test returned a respectable 24fps (frames per second) in 32-bit 1,280 x 1,024, with Unreal Tournament 2004 delivering 55fps at the same resolution. A Sony TV tuner card with video-encoding capabilities caters for television.

Sony supplies a surprisingly beefy pair of speakers, which are conveniently powered by a 12V DC supply from the back of the machine. They're good enough for a spot of music playback or a movie soundtrack, although the motherboard will support full 7.1 audio should you so desire.

It's all good, solid stuff, but it's on the outside of the case that Sony really goes to town. The fascia conceals three USB 2 ports, i-Link (mini-FireWire), and inputs for S-Video, composite video and stereo audio RCAs. There's a PC Card slot too. Another panel slides open to reveal readers for CompactFlash, xD, SD and Memory Stick media, as well as a floppy drive.

Once you've got all your photos, music and videos on board, you'll need a way to view and share them across the network. This is where the VAIO Media Server software and associated ancillary hardware comes in. The RA-104 comes with a VAIO Network Media Receiver box, designed to plug into a TV in a different room. The Media Receiver contains an embedded client, which connects over the network to the RA-104 running the VAIO Media Server software.

The Receiver and RA-104 need to be configured in a similar manner to pairing two Bluetooth devices. The remote control allows you to sit in comfort and stream media from the server. That's the theory at least, but it's cumbersome and complex to set up, even for those used to the arcane vagaries of wireless networking. The essential problem is that none of the hardware has integrated wireless ability, so Sony supplies 802.11g wireless Ethernet converters and an access point, which all need setting up too.

The client-side remote menu carves up your options into Video, Music, TV and Photos. You must then select the appropriate menu option, wait a short while, select the server you want to use (even if there's only one), scan for playlists, and then select the media you want to view. Hardly child's play.

The basic VAIO Media Server system is fine, but bizarrely it can't organise and serve media by itself. For that it has to rely on third-party applications, primarily SonicStage for MP3s and GigaPocket for TV and video.