Monday, October 24, 2011

Sony VAIO VPC L218FX: An All-in-One Desktop That’s Made of Gold

Sony's most up-to-date 24-inch all-in-one desktop can be a beauty--of course, 1 would anticipate practically nothing significantly less from a technique that is virtually plated in gold. We jest. The Sony VAIO VPC L218FX includes a robust loadout for a big-screen all-in-one desktop; nonetheless, at a steep $2049 (as of May possibly five, 2011) this Computer feels as if Sony obtained its areas and pieces from your SkyMall catalog. Even though we are huge fans of this all-in-one, we have to note that opponents supply a pretty similar set of functions, speeds, and capacities for a reduced cost.

Tucked inside this elegantly intended all-in-one pc is one of Intel's newest Sandy Bridge chips, the 2GHz Core i7-2630QM processor, which attributes 4 bodily cores that may leap to a virtual eight many thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading engineering. Automatic overclocking, or else generally known as Turbo Increase, can bulk the CPU as much as a mighty two.9GHz of electricity really should an application or game need that considerably juice. Those assets, merged with the 8GB of DDR3-677 memory that Sony stuffed to the L218FX, created favorable results on our basic efficiency benchmarks.

We were happy to view the L218FX provide a score of 116 on our WorldBench six suite of assessments. Still, that consequence is about 12 to 13 percent driving the category-leading efficiency of rivals this kind of as the HP TouchSmart 610 Quad. On leading of that, the HP 610 Quad that we examined is $200 a lot less than Sony's program, and has features that around match.

Adhering to the custom of most all-in-one PCs we exam, the L218FX is not great at enjoying current-generation game titles at its default 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution. We needed to dial again our Unreal Tournament 3 test to a resolution of 1680 by 1050 (higher top quality) to achieve a playable body charge. But when it really is any consolation, on that gaming benchmark the L218FX delivered one of the greatest results of any all-in-one we've experimented with, producing 67 frames per 2nd. The image top quality may possibly experience a little as a result of downsampling, but you are going to take pleasure in great gaming in any other case.

Of course, an all-in-one desktop is not only about raw numbers--it's also concerning the user experience. And in that regard, Sony has planted some uncommon capabilities in the L218FX. Our favourite? A thick black bezel measuring about one.5 inches in width surrounds the 24-inch show. No, that doesn't audio awesome, until you recognize which the border by itself can be a navigational factor: Depending on exactly where you contact the black strip, you are able to kick off applications and execute numerous system capabilities.

Our principal critique of this novel usage of house is always that you'll need a sharp memory to generate the very best usage of the attribute. The L218FX provides absolutely nothing to tell you what may well occur when you touch any portion of the bezel--you just sort of have to know.

The good quality in the display is powerful: We liked the saturation and contrast which the L218FX delivers, which can make for detailed movie-watching in conjunction with the computer's built-in Blu-ray combo generate. The multitouch panel is really a tiny inclined to glare due to its glossy surface area, one thing to keep in mind when you are positioning this Pc in a very residence workplace or living place. Our only gripe is the display's white level could stand to become brighter; the search wasn't adequate to influence our perception of detail in scenes, but it is a minor quibble depending on our common use of the system.

As for the all-in-one's built-in sound, two phrases can come to head: Cherished it. We appreciated the general consistency from the audio among its higher and very low ends--the top sounds just nearly as good as the bottom, along with the latter even incorporates a bit of a bass kick which is typically missing in all-in-one desktop speaker setups. Better yet, the L218FX's gorgeous acoustics envelop you, as though you were proper inside the center of an acoustic shell. It is typically difficult for an all-in-one to offer satisfying sound good quality total, however the L218FX will not disappoint within the slightest.

The L218FX arrives filled with connections for an all-in-one desktop. A multiformat card reader joins two USB 3.0 ports within the side, together having a mini-FireWire 400 port and headphone and microphone jacks. The rear with the L218FX supplies 3 USB ports, a coaxial-cable input for your integrated Tv tuner, gigabit ethernet (furthermore to built-in Wireless-N help), separate HDMI input and output ports, and composite-video input. The swath of rear connections permits the L218FX to remodel right into a full-fledged television, to be an easy screen for any linked machine (this kind of as a set-top box or even a gaming console), or to serve as anything in between. It ships with a wireless mouse and keyboard.

The Sony VAIO VPC L218FX provides a excellent mix of features, presented that you simply have use for them all (as well as the PC's 2TB of storage capability, for that make a difference). In case you can belly a drop to 1TB of house, the HP TouchSmart 610 Quad (at $200 more affordable) is really a lot a lot more compelling provided that furthermore, it delivers sturdy picture top quality, Blu-ray help, plus a host of connections on the aspect. The L218FX is a good system, do not get us wrong--we just wish it ended up cost-effective, way too.

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