Review: Sony Vaio VGX-XL202 high definition PC

The hype surrounding high definition (HD) shows no sign of abating and it comes as no surprise to see Sony continuing to beat the Blu-ray drum. Its latest HD device comes in the form of the VGX-XL202 - Sony's first Windows Media Center to have a Blu-ray drive.

It's hard not to be impressed by the design; a huge and heavy landscape-oriented box with a solid finish. Although whisper quiet, its presence would dominate any home entertainment setup.

Since Microsoft doesn't formally support Blu-ray in Windows XP, the VGX-XL202 is a mish-mash of technologies and you can't actually watch Blu-ray discs within the Windows Media Center software.

Instead, Blu-ray movies can only be accessed via the Intervideo Windvd software; this also means you can't navigate discs using the Media Center remote control.

Before we delve further into the computer's media credentials, it's worth covering the basic hardware specification. The 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo processor is backed by 1GB of Ram and two 250GB serial ATA hard disks. It powered the system to an above-average 5850 in PCMark05.

The Nvidia 7600GT graphis card is an excellent choice for the casual gamer, but a 3DMark05 score of 5,218 will disappoint those wanting to enjoy the latest 3D games at high detail and resolution levels.

The PC has a vast array of audio output and input ports front and back. Firewire and USB2 ports are rampant, as well as one digital and one analogue TV tuner.

The sole graphics card slot is occupied by the 7600GT, which has a single HDMI connection and no VGA or DVI. This means if you have a spare monitor lying about you probably can't use it.

A DVI to HDMI converter cable can be bought for £35 but monitors without rarely-included HDCP encryption don't work properly and the Windows desktop flashes on and off every two seconds.

We plugged the Media Center into three high definition TVs: a 720p 36in Samsung Cineos, a 1080p 46in Samsung and Sony's own 32in Bravia LCD TV. Oddly the Nvidia display options would only allow us to select 1080i and not 1080p on the big Samsung.

We had real problems with setting the resolution properly because of inconsistent overscanning. Overscanning is present on all HDTV sets and results in part of the picture being cut off on each edge of the screen.

With the analogue LCD days long gone we despaired at having to go back to the old routine of fiddling with the position options in the OSD (on-screen display). After hours of pondering the settings we were left with two viable options: run at a native resolution like 720p (720x1,280) and get the task bar cut off or select the Underscan option, which forces the graphics card to output at bizarre resolutions such as 1,216x684.

Choosing either option resulted in jagged text and widespread aliasing, making the VGX-XL202 poor for office tasks when used with a TV.

Office use aside, HD playback quality was good. We looked at three Blu-ray films and the experience was as impressive as when using the dedicated Samsung BD player we compared it to. The HD experience will always be limited by the content you view, and the VC-1 encoded Corpse Bride looked far better than the grainy Mpeg2 encoded Mission Impossible 3.

When watching a Blu-ray film on the Cineos display, switching to a Freeview channel and then back to the film resulted in the Intervideo software complaining that the resolution wasn't set correctly. It then wouldn't play the remainder of the film without rebooting Windows.

This appears to be an HDCP handshake problem and it's not something we've experienced with standalone Blu-ray players. We expect a driver update to fix this problem in the not too distant future.

Widespread niggles like overscanning, not being able to use the remote control for Blu-ray playback and a lack of video connectivity options will frustrate users wanting a simple HD system.

Sony offers some peace of mind by including a free Vista upgrade coupon with the system, but many of these problems won't be solved with the Vista Media Player since Microsoft won't immediately support Blu-ray or HD-DVD natively.

The bottom line is the XL202 packs a punch in many tasks but fundamentally fails as a Blu-ray player.

Little things, like the small display on the front being limited to showing hard disk access and power status when it could have been used to show film playback details, have been missed - suggesting the PC was put together in a hurry. When you look at the remaining mediocre components inside, £1,799 is high a price to pay.

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