Sony VAIO VGC-RB42G Intel Pentium 4 3GHz with 1GB DDR and DVD writer

A powerful desktop computer with every feature you could need from a multimedia PC, from a well-known company with an excellent reputation.SONY have been in the desktop and laptop computer biz for a while now and this computer is another one in it’s line of good deals.For a limited time it’s going at a super low price which is what alerted me to it in the first place.Features at a glance:Intel Pentium 4 630 3GHz with Hyper-Threading1GB of DDR memoryDual layer DVD writer + sperate CDROMIntegrated Audio and Graphics250GB SATA hard disk driveThe processor is a 600 series Pentium 4, in the socket 775 format. The 600 series failed to provide much performance improvement over the 500 series, despite giving it 2MB of cache as opposed to the 1MB of the 500 series. However they still manage to deliver in terms of performance.These processors run very hot. This plays against them as you then need lots of fans inside your computer to keep it cool, which leads to more noise. Not the end of the world, but a tad annoying for a quiet home office.The 1GB of memory is a definite plus. It will allow easy use of many programs at the same time. If you like to open many programs at the same time this will increase the performance you see within each program. The 1GB is two sticks of 512MB RAM which occupy 2 of the 4 slots available in the computer.SATA hard disk drive is another plus. SATA offers faster transfer of information from the hard drive than the older ATA. For those who are fussy about the internal look of the computer, the very small SATA cables take away from the clutter.250GB will be enough hard drive space for even those who like to save lots of movies onto their computer.The DVD drive supports every kind of DVD you can find, +R, +RW, -R and -RW all with dual layer capabilities. There is also a CDROM if you need the extra drive.Multimedia ports add a certain amount of ease to the computer. With the ever increasing number of different memory cards that are available, it can become a pain to have a reader for every one. The SONY incorporates a bay, where a CDROM might go, that has a spot for any memory card you might have. It also has the USB ports on the same panel.Integrated audio and graphics are standard features, but there is a TV tuner card which will allow you to get a TV input into the computer and also gives you better graphics.LAN support is built in and it comes with mouse, keyboard and two small speakers.Overall I like this computer. The price certainly makes it that much more appealing too. It’s ideal for home users, desktop applications like word processors and using the internet will do nicely. It can even handle video well. It will not however do for gamers, but with a 3D graphics card you have the perfect platform for a gaming PC.ProsFast processorPlenty of memoryDVD writerMultimedia portMany built in featuresPCI express slot for graphics card upgrades