Sony VAIO - RZ22G (1 Viewer)

[Bob Jr.]

I have a couple of questions about this PC. Can a DVD that is recorded on this PC be played in other DVD players?

Also, is the LCD monitor worth the upgrade? What benefits does it provide?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brian Ruth]

Bob: The DVDs recorded on the PC you mention SHOULD be playable in other DVD players, but you'll have to check with Sony to see if the DVDs are encoded as MPEG-2. If so, you'll be able to play them back in most DVD players.

As for the LCD - I'd say it really depends on what you value in a monitor. CRTs are a bit sharper than LCDs, but they take up more space. LCDs save you a lot of space, but they can blur when playing high-speed video or fast-paced games. This problem has been lessened recently, but it's still there on some of the cheaper models.

Unless you REALLY put a premium on space, I'd suggest sticking with a flat Trinitron CRT for the time being. The money you save can be put to better use on other parts of your computer.

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Bob,

I currently have an older Sony VAIO desktop (RX580) and it came with a DVD-Burner also. Mine does record DVD's that are playable in my Home DVD player (RP-91).

I'm currently looking at buying another Sony VAIO (I may even put the order in today) and I'm also kinda looking at the RZ22G myself. I will probably go for one with the P4 3.06 GHz CPU though - and skimp on a couple other things (Extra Hard Drive, etc).

The current Sony computers come with a great software for DVD recording (Click to DVD) - I have heard good things about it on the net - but I have never used it.

Here is some more info on Click to DVD:
Sony: Click to DVD

I think the ability to create DVD's hinges on the software you use. If the Click to DVD software isn't what you are looking for - there are a few others on the market that should do what you want. I'm pretty sure the Sony software will allow this though - but like Brian mentioned above - I would definitely call them before ordering if you can. They "SHOULD" be able to tell you - but don't count on it.

You might also try doing a google search for "Sony RZ22G" and visit the links that come up - sometimes you can find reviews/previews of models doing this.

Good luck - let us know what you find out.

Mike

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Bob,

I just did some more research (your welcome ) and found this quote:

"Users can easily shift home movies onto DVD discs, edit and then play back in nearly all DVD-video players and DVD-ROM drives," said Mark Hanson, vice president and general manager for the VAIO PC business at Sony Electronics. "With Click to DVD software and the VAIO's universal format DVD burner, you can have any flavor DVD you like."

 

[Bob Jr.]

Thanks for the excellent feedback. I did do a search and found a Sony news release that said "Users can easily shift home movies onto DVD discs, edit and then play back in nearly all DVD-video players and DVD-ROM drives". With that question answered, I now need to do an in-store comparison of the monitors.

 

[Bob Jr.]

Michael,that's too funny!

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Haha! Well, at least we both know for sure now! Good luck with the Sony! I can't decide what I want to do (order one or not).

 

[Bob Jr.]

Okay guys. I bought the RZ22G and also picked up a 17" digital LCD monitor. I tried to copy some home movies to DVD last weekend and I would get about twenty five minutes into the process and then get an error message saying that it could not write it to hard disc. The VHS tape I was transferring from is pretty old - Has anyone had any success burning DVD's from VHS tapes on this PC? Any suggestions?