Sony updates Vaio X with 2 models

Sony has updated its “Tivo-on-steroids” Vaio X multichannel video recording computer with two new models and is demonstrating them for the first time at this week’s Ceatec Japan 2005 exhibition.

The new models offer distinctly different functionality and draw on features offered by the first Vaio X, which was launched at Ceatec last year. It could record up to seven channels of television simultaneously, packed 1TB of storage and was a fully functioning Windows XP computer.

The Vaio X Living, model name VGX-XL70S, is a living-room computer and brings together a Windows XP personal computer and video recording capability. It’s fitted with analog and digital tuners, so two channels can be recorded simultaneously, and users can choose between single or dual 500GB hard-disk drives. A wireless keyboard and remote control are part of the set.

The machine has the distinction of being one of the first devices from any maker to gain certification from the DLNA (Digital Living Room Network Alliance). Certification means that the device is guaranteed to be able to interconnect and exchange content with other devices that also have it.

The Vaio X Video Station, model name VGX-XV80S, differs with a higher video recording specification but no built-in computer. It boasts eight analog TV tuners and can accommodate up to four hard-disk drives for an impressive 2TB of storage. Like the original model, it can record all eight channels simultaneously and with all four hard-disks can store up to three weeks of video, said Yoshihiro Toyama, an engineer with Sony’s IT and mobile solutions network division.

The concept behind this is the same as last year: users don’t have to worry about setting the timer to catch a specific program because the unit can record all the programs all the time.

With no built-in computer, navigation of the unit’s video vault is possible via a network connection to the server from another computer in the home. Sony envisages a user sitting on the sofa with a notebook computer and calling up TV shows, which are then displayed by the Video Station on the TV.

Perhaps best of all, the new Vaio X machines are much cheaper than last year’s model, which cost ¥520,000 ($4,554).

The Vaio X Living will cost ¥179,800 while the Vaio X Video Station will cost ¥149,800. A four-channel version of the latter machine called the VGX-XV40S will also be available for ¥89,800. All three prices are for models with a single 500GB drive. A Video Station with 2TB of storage will cost ¥270,000, Toyama said.

Sony doesn’t have any plans to sell the machines outside Japan. The electronic program guide is an integral part of the system and the data format supported is only used in Japan so they wouldn’t work as smoothly outside of Japan without new software, Toyama said.