Product Reviews

Sony's Vaio VGC-LT1S all-in-one PC is one of the cheapest Blu-ray PCs we've seen and looks more like a giant digital photo frame than a computer. It's sleek and is around the same size as a standalone monitor.

Our LT1S was unable to play back any of our Blu-ray movie discs until we applied a BIOS update. Sony has assured us that this problem has already been fixed in units available for purchase. After applying the update our Blu-ray films played back flawlessly, but the integrated 22in widescreen monitor is an odd choice as it can only show high-definition (HD) video at 720p due to its resolution of 1,680x1,050 pixels. Fortunately, the screen is bright and evenly lit, making it well suited for watching movies and image editing.

Telly addicts will appreciate the remote control and two hybrid TV tuners which let you choose between digital

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or analogue reception, so you can record one channel while watching another. The 320GB hard disk is a bit too small if you want to record lots of TV and store all your programmes and documents, though. The built-in stereo speakers distort slightly at high volume and sound a little harsh but are good enough for videos and games. For better sound, you can connect a surround sound amplifier using the S/PDIF port.

The LT1S is powerful enough for more serious tasks thanks to its Core 2 Duo T7250 processor and 2GB of RAM. It did well in our video- and image-editing benchmarks, scoring 215 and 172 respectively. You'll need to turn down the screen resolution and graphics settings when playing games, though, as the results of our 3D tests show. This isn't ideal if you want to play the latest games, but older titles should play fine.

Because of its compact size the LT1S doesn't have PCI slots like other desktop computers, but it does have CardBus and ExpressCard/34 slots so you can add devices such as an eSATA adaptor. You won't need to add wireless networking, though, as it's already built in. As with other Sony computers we've seen recently, the generous software bundle includes useful titles such as Adobe Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements.

The LT1S may be the cheapest Blu-ray PC we've seen, but it's still expensive. Unless you must have a Blu-ray drive, the almost identical Vaio VGC-LT1M costs £180 less.