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Sony debuts dual-box HD-editing PC

One unit for you desk, one for under it

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

20th June 2007 11:04 GMT

Sony has taken the wraps off a desktop system that contains not only system unit but two, one for the bulk of the PC's innards, the other for the optical drives - one of which is a Blu-ray Disc unit.

Sony Vaio RM1N HD PC
Sony's Vaio RM1N: one unit for you desk, another for under it

Aimed at HD content editors and dubbed the Vaio RM1N, the PC packs in a four-core Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor, 2GB of DDR 2 memory, a pair of 500GB 7200rpm SATA hard drives configured in a RAID 0 set-up for speed, and an Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card.

The system unit has room for up to four more SATA hard disks, and there are three open PCI-Express slots capable of taking full-length cards.

The main unit also incorporates Gigabit Ethernet, which is realistically something you'd connect and leave. Not so the front-facing four USB and one four-pin Firewire ports, so you're either going to be reaching under the desk every time you want to connect a USB key or digital camera, or you're going to want the system unit on your desk too, which kind of defeats the object of the split design.

Still, the system does come with a pair of colour-coordinated speakers and a standalone jog-dial control to use with the bundled Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 video editing software. The RM1N runs Windows Vista Business.

Available any day now, the Vaio RM1N will retail for around £2500 ($4972/€3705).

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