CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 08/13/2003
- Updated on: 11/07/2009
Sony's VAIO PCV-RS320 is the company's lowest-cost DV-editing system. The system boasts fast features, such as a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor with a 800MHz frontside bus on Intel's latest chipset, a roomy 120GB hard drive, and a DVD burner. Unfortunately, cost-cutting measures such as integrated graphics and a slow memory hamper performance. Righting the configured wrongs, as well as adding a display (Sony sells that separately), will add to the VAIO PCV-RS320's $1,099 price, making comparable alternatives from Dell, Gateway, and HP more attractive. Still, those who are enamored with its clean design and are just getting into DV editing will find the RS320 perfectly acceptable--and they'll like its strong software bundle, too.
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 Drive expansion is limited to a single 3.5-inch bay, which you could use to add a second hard drive. |
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The silver faceplate framed by the soft edges of the cream-colored case, along with the matching keyboard and mouse, give the Sony VAIO PCV-RS320 a contemporary appearance, fit for any environment. The clean design includes plastic faceplates that hide the optical drives. The lone open bay is an internal 3.5-inch bay, which lets you add a second hard drive--something you'd do if you began to make a serious hobby out of digital-video editing.
The Sony VAIO PCV-RS320's connectivity excludes just a few legacy connections. The back of the VAIO PCV-RS320 sports only the traditional keyboard and mouse ports, as well as a connector for stubbornly parallel-connected printers. Four USB 2.0 and one iLink (Sony's word for FireWire) ports are the main gathering places for your digital devices. Two more USB 2.0 ports and a nonpowered (four-pin) FireWire port can be found on the front of the system, all tastefully hidden behind another drop-down panel.
 No DV-editing system would be complete without a FireWire port. The RS320 has one conveniently located up front, along with a couple of USB 2.0 ports. |
 You can improve the graphics by using the AGP slot to add a card. |
At the heart of the VAIO PCV-RS320 is a highly integrated motherboard based on Intel's 865G chipset. With no external cards needed for video, audio, or 10/100 Ethernet, the arrangement allows the respective ports to be clustered out of the way and also leaves the AGP and two of the three PCI slots available. A modem in a riser blocks the third, but there's still more than reasonable expandability for a 15.6-by-14.9-by-7.2-inch (WDH) midtower.
The pearl in the VAIO PCV-RS320 oyster is the 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor, which supports Hyper-Threading--good news for video editing and image management. The Toshiba SD-R5002 DVD-RW is a surprising and welcome addition at this price--even though it's the older 2X speed.
The Sony VAIO PCV-RS320 suffers from a mix of better and worse components. There are 512MB of PC2700 SDRAM installed, but the motherboard's 800MHz frontside bus begs for faster PC3200 memory. The Seagate 120GB hard disk is big, and its 7,200rpm rotational speed is fast. But the mere 2MB cache (buffer), while fine for mundane tasks, is insufficient for the rigors of image storage and retrieval. The Samsung SC-140C CD-RW is old news, with its 24X write speed; besides, we would have preferred a DVD-ROM drive for making disc-to-disc copies of DVDs. The integrated video and graphics share up to 64MB of the main system memory, slowing graphics performance.
 The 4X DVD-recordable drive and the 24X CD-RW drive aren't the fastest you can buy, but they'll do the trick. |
 This 15-inch LCD is dripping with Sony style. |
Sony included its SDM-HS53 15-inch LCD with our test system; it's sold separately, so it'll add a few hundred dollars to the overall cost of the system. This is the lowest-priced LCD option, and there are CRT choices, as well. The kindest thing to say about the supplied, powered speakers is that they are functional.
The software bundle is extensive, especially for an inexpensive PC. Sony's Click To DVD app comes preinstalled for creating DVDs. Sony's own SonicStage app manages music files, and PictureGear Studio does the same for photos. Both are novice-friendly, stressing ease of use over including more advanced features. A slew of Microsoft apps, including Works 7.0 and Money 2003, round out the bundle.
Application performance
Sony gives its entry-level digital video-editing system a good start with Intel's 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor and the 865G chipset. Using 400MHz memory, which the chipset supports, would have helped; instead, the VAIO PCV-RS320 uses 333MHz memory, which is part of the reason why it trails other 865G-based systems that we've seen recently. You probably won't notice a difference on basic office apps, but DV editors would certainly appreciate the extra oomph.
Application performance (Longer bars indicate better performance)
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To measure application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's SysMark2002, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop's performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver).
3D graphics and gaming performance
The VAIO PCV-RS320 wasn't built with gamers in mind, but 3D graphics performance also matters with digital-video editing, which taxes the processor, the memory, the hard drive, and the graphics subsystem. The RS320's poor graphics showing is indicative of the kind of performance you'll experience while editing your DV footage. Even adding an entry-level graphics card would go a long way toward speeding up this system.
3D graphics performance (Longer bars indicate better performance)
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To measure 3D graphics performance, CNET Labs uses Futuremark's 3DMark2001 Pro Second Edition, Build 330. We use 3DMark to measure a desktop's performance with the DirectX 8 (DX8) interface at both 16- and 32-bit color settings at a resolution of 1,024x768. A system that does not have DX8 hardware support will typically generate a lower score than one that has DX8 hardware support.
3D gaming performance in fps (Longer bars indicate better performance)
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To measure 3D gaming performance, CNET Labs uses Quake III Arena. Although Quake III is an older game, it is still widely used as an industry-standard tool. Quake III does not require DX8 hardware support--as 3DMark2001 does--and is therefore an excellent means of comparing the performance of low- to high-end graphics subsystems. Quake III performance is reported in frames per second (fps).
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:Dell Dimension 4600C
Windows XP Home, 2.8GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; integrated Intel 865G 64MB (shared memory); Seagate ST3120023A 120GB 7,200rpm
Gateway 500XL
Windows XP Home; 2.6GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; ATI Radeon 9600 128MB; Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB 7,200rpm
IBM ThinkCentre S50
Windows XP Professional; 2.66GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G chipset; 256MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; integrated Intel 865G 64MB (shared memory); IBM IC35L40AVV207 40GB 7,200rpm
Monarch Hornet
Windows XP Home; 2.6GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB; Seagate ST380013AS 80GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Sony VAIO PCV-RS320
Windows XP Home; 2.6GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; integrated Intel 865G 64MB (shared memory); Seagate ST3120022A 120GB 7,200rpm
Sony backs the VAIO PCV-RS320 with a meager one-year parts-and-labor warranty, handled through any local Sony reseller, but only when you register the computer. If you fail to register, the warranty lasts just 90 days. Toll-free hardware support is available for the length of the warranty, daily from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. ET. Software support lasts for only 90 days, regardless of registration. Documentation is spartan, mostly covering installation.
Sony's Web site offers a comprehensive suite of additional support resources, including driver updates, a searchable database of questions and answers, tutorials, a PDF quick-start guide, and a service locator. You can also e-mail questions to Sony support.
Check the Web site for this caveat: You should not use the Taskbar recovery disk-creation icon, because of potential errors in the disk image. You can order the latest version of Sony's Recovery Media Kit from its Direct Accessories and Parts Center Web site.
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