Sony VAIO VGC-LV250J/B 24-inch All-In-One Desktop PC

Jul 8 2009 - If you are looking for a desktop computer system that can double as a home theater system but not take up much space, then the Sony VAIO VGC-LV250J/B is definitely something to look into. With the built-in HDTV tuner, Blu-ray drive and 24-inch display, this system is great for watching high definition video. Performance is also quite good thanks to the use of a desktop processor compared to many all-in-ones that use mobile parts. The big downside is the speakers on the system are very underpowered and distort. Definitely look into some external speakers to use with it.

Jul 8 2009 - Sony's VAIO LV series is designed as a multimedia all-in-one desktop platform. The VAIO VGC-LV250 completes this multimedia by rounding out the high definition features that were missing in the previous entry level model. The downside is that all of these features do give it a higher price tag of between $1700 and $1900.

The full HD features begin with a large 24-inch display with a 1920x1200 resolution that can show a full 1080p video. It is very bright and colorful. The glossy coating of the display helps with this but it can cause a fair amount of reflections in certain conditions. Sony also decided to use a dedicated NVIDIA graphics processor allowing it to decode HD video without a problem and also be able to play some 3D games.

Displaying HD video on the system is quite easy thanks to the built-in HDTV tuner for over the air broadcasts and a Blu-ray combo drive that allows playback of DVD and Blu-ray movies. About the only downside is that there is no capability for built-in cable of satellite reception. Thankfully, Sony includes an HDMI input for use with tuners for both of these.

The VAIO LV250 is also a very capable desktop PC thanks to the use of an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 processor that easily outpaces other all-in-one desktops. It would have been nice to see them upgrade the memory to DDR3 but for the most part the DDR2 will work just fine.

The biggest problem with the VAIO LV250 is the speakers. With so many multimedia features, one would expect some high quality speakers. The problem is that they are underpowered for the purpose of the system and they distort the audio when used at higher volumes. I highly recommend using external speakers in place of the built-in ones.