Sony VAIO VGC-RM1N HD workstation

Graphics are powered by a nVidia GeForce 8600GTS card

The second box holds the two optical drives behind a drop down door; a Matshita (Panasonic) BD-MLT SW-5582, one of the first generation of Blu-ray drives burning BD-R and BD-RE discs at 2x and reading BD-ROM at the same speed, as well as 4x DVD +/- DL, 8x DVD +/-R, 8x DVD +RW, 6x DVD -RW and 5xDVD-RAM.

Sitting next to it is a Sony DVD RW AW G170A DVD burner that burns discs at 18x DVD +/-R, 8x DVD +/- R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM. Next to the optical bay drop down door there's a smaller drop door, behind which lurks a 8-in-1 card reader, two USB 2.0 and two audio ports, and a 4-pin i-Link port.

On the rear panel of the chassis are two more USB 2.0 ports, another 4-pin i-Link port, and a PC Card slot which is designed to take a DVCPRO P2 card – a special solid state memory card. The main unit doesn't lack for ports either; four more USB 2.0, six audio including two optical, a 6-pin i-Link port, modem and LAN (10/100/1000 Gigabit) ports.

As you might expect, the RM1N comes packed with software. Deep breath, here we go; for audio editing, SonicStageCP 4.2 and SonicStage Mastering Studio 2.3. For Video and TV work Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, DVgate Plus 2.3, VAIO Edit Components 6.0, and WinDVD BD 8.0 for VAIO and for working with your photos, Photo Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.

Disc burning is taken care of by Easy Media creator 9 and Click to DVDBD 3.0. For everyday office work there is Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.0, Adobe Reader 8.0, Microsoft Works 8.5, and a 60 day trail version of Office Ready 2007 STT. Last, but no means least, Norton Internet Security 2007 with a 90 day free virus update.

Verdict

Sony's VAIO VGC-RM1N is an impressive system, but then again for £2,500 it should be. It has some very clever design touches, and mention must be made of the front drive bay and its cages - whoever at Sony designed that needs a pat on the back. The idea of using two system boxes is novel and if you are tight on space kind of makes sense, but you could get all the hardware in any one of the huge number of full size cases currently available. If you are in need of serious HD editing and encoding capability then look no further, the VGC-RM1N has it in spades with powerful performance, a great feature set and all the software you need to get up and running, as well as all the storage you'll need for the results of your editing - with the potential to add even more at a later date. On the other hand, if all you are looking for is out and out performance, there are other systems out there offering better value for money.