Sony jumps into HD video editing with Vaio VGC-RM1

Blu-ray ain't just for gaming anymore, prosumer moviemakers. The new Vaio VGC-RM1 isn't just a decked out Vista box with a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, Nvidia GeForce 7600GT graphics, Bluetooth, loads of media slots (and a few inputs too), and, of course a 50GB Blu-ray writer -- it's also got a USB Jog Dial video shuttle. It's up for preorder now for a princely sum of $3500. Chump change, really, considering how much you stand to make when you sign that first Hollywood deal. Right.

[Thanks, Kev50027]

[bobbymelbourne @ Feb 23rd 2007 3:21AM]

Two things:

1) You pay 3,500 and no monitor included?
2) Good to see they included Adobe Premiere Pro also good it isn't a demo.

[lisa dublin @ Aug 29th 2007 6:18AM]

Hi:
Can anyone help? THe PRemiere pro version that came with the sony vaio vgc rm1, freezes every time we open it. Any suggestions why, and how it can be solved? A yellow box comes up around one of the palettes every time.

[e-mail]

[ByronGman @ Feb 23rd 2007 3:48AM]

Hey, maybe this is a solution for my Blu-Ray wohs!

And they said that a porn studio could never find an affordable route to Sony's disks...

I mean --- I can't wait to edit my home movies!

*ehem*

[die_ego @ Feb 23rd 2007 5:44AM]

good luck. i wanna see you burning 100000 blurays with a single drive. maybe until the end of your life isnt long enough to do that.

[Dennis @ Feb 23rd 2007 9:07AM]

its a HD video editing machine... not a production line... you need to burn one blue ray and then send it off to the production line for them to replicate.

[er8sed @ Feb 23rd 2007 7:11AM]

Come on! Only 2 bays, both occupied? 4 hard-drives? Jeez, that's alot noise and heat compared to 2 500gigs. 667mhz RAM? Weak, 800mhz is the new high end for retail systems. Should be seeing 1066mhz and faster soon. Like somebody else said, No monitor? A 7600gt? Why not a 7900? Better yet, why not 2?

Eh. I guess I stick to building my own.

[Joe Smith @ Feb 23rd 2007 7:18AM]

Better yet why not an 8800GTX?

[William McGough @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:34AM]

Well, for Video editors the graphics card does not matter so much - the system was not intended for gaming, and the 7600GT has supports 1 dual link display so it is sufficient.
They did however recognize that people might want to upgrade, so they made the PCI Express 16x a double wide lane so you can add an 8800 GTX no sweat even with the enormous heat sync.
IN regards to two graphics cards, the only way would be to use the PCI Express 4x which means you might be able to do crossfire, but probably not SLI, and not with any thing near a good card. This is because the other PCI Express 16x is removed as it is used to connect the "Access Unit" which is the box with the optical drives, memory card readers, USB ports, Laptop Style PC Card Slot, and Bluetooth module, which sits under your monitor connected by a thick cable to the main unit.

[er8sed @ Feb 23rd 2007 7:29AM]

Well, I was trying to keep it below the $3500 price tag ;)

[xVariable @ Feb 23rd 2007 7:31AM]

Does it come with a pro-level Non-Linear Editor that does MPEG 4? No? Well then WTF is the point? What idiot chooses Sony-branded crap over commodity hardware, when the latter can be had for a fraction less, and the former offers no additional benefits?

[William McGough @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:34AM]

The annoying thing about this really nice computer is that Sony decided only to ship one configuration to the U.S. while in Japan you can opt for Quad Core Processors as well as Dual analogue/Digital TV Tuners.
In japan a similar configuration costs about $500 less so it would have been nice if sony could have thrown in a CableCard TV Tuner and Vista Ultimate to make up the price difference (it comes with no TV Tuner and Vista Business).
One last gripe: It has 6 HDD bays, with 4 on sound insulated sleds which can be accessed by removing the front panel - really cool for upgrading right? Well, they decided to fill up all of those nice primary drive slots with 250GB HDDs. It may be a Terabyte, but in 250 GB Drives? Worst of all, once you fill up the other two 3.5" bays (which blocks the Processor's air flow so dont try overclocking), it will be a real pain to replace the 250GB drives because all 4 of them are in a RAID 0, and the operating system and all your files are spread in bits (no pun intended) and pieces across the 4 drives.

Besides that it is a very nice machine.

[Some Guy @ Feb 23rd 2007 11:02AM]

Strange that Sony includes Adobe video editing software when they now own the Vegas suite of HD-capable software. (sonymediasoftware.com) So much for synergy!

[Sean @ Feb 23rd 2007 1:30PM]

Or, you can just get a Mac Pro.

[Kev50027 @ Feb 23rd 2007 1:36PM]

The most cool thing about this PC is that it's in two seperate parts, one with the connections (USB, etc) and the other with the components. This makes it small, and efficient. I think it's a cool idea. Check the pic and you will see the box under the monitor. That's the connection box. The tower just has a few minimal connections.

[William McGough @ Feb 23rd 2007 3:10PM]

One deceiving thing about the picture above however is that it shows the unit with Analogue AV inputs on the front of the main unit. Unfortunately Sony does NOT even include the header for these ports so you could connect them to a TV Tuner card you would buy in the future.