Wayne N. Kawamoto
Managing Editor, www.smallbusinesscomputing.com
Sony announced two new VAIO notebook models: PCG-NVR23 and PCG-FXA63. The VAIO NVR23 and FXA63 notebook PCs are powered by the AMD Athlon XP 1800+ and Athlon XP 1600+ processors, running at 1.67 GHz and 1.4 GHz respectively. The company says that its new notebooks provide ample performance to run educational applications and make the most of the limited space in student housing.
The VAIO NVR23 notebook PC offers a hot-swappable multi-purpose bay that accepts an included rumbling subwoofer to punctuate music or enhance a DVD movie played on the on-board CD-RW/DVD combo drive. The bay also accepts an included 10-key touch pad that provides an ergonomic full-size feel to the keyboard and an included standard 3.5-inch floppy drive. The notebook features a 15-inch XGA LCD display, 30GB hard drive and 256MB of RAM.
The VAIO FXA63 notebook offers a 14-inch screen, 256MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, a 3.5-inch floppy drive, and an integrated CD-RW/DVD combo drive and dual battery capability.
The notebooks come with Sony software that includes DVgate, MovieShaker and SonicStage applications, that let users design and create personalized music CDs, manage and manipulate digital photos, and edit digital video to share with family and friends. Standard on each notebook is Everquest, Sony’s popular multiplayer online game.
The NVR23 and FXA63 notebooks come with connectivity options that include USB ports and an i.LINK (IEEE1394) port for the high-bandwidth transfer of digital content. The Memory Stick media slot on the NVR23 PC may give students an ability to connect to Sony’s Memory Stick products that include camcorders, digital still cameras, handhelds, printers, voice recorders and more.
Pricing and Availability
The Sony VAIO NVR23 and FXA63 notebooks are available in stores and through www.sonystyle.com. The VAIO NVR23 notebook is priced at about $1,500 and the FXA model is about $1,400.
