VGC-RT
This page is currently WIP.
Overview
The Sony VAIO VGC-RT series is a series of All-in-one desktop released by Sony in 2008. Announced alongside with the VGN-AW laptop, it was the highest-end VAIO desktop at the time, replacing the tower-style VGC-RM series as the new VAIO flagship. The model is targeted at media professioanls, with the ease-of-use for such applications being the main design goal.
Equipped with a 25.5" 1200p display, the model is the largest all-in-one desktop Sony ever released, and it is the largest display to ever put in any VAIO-branded product. Next to the display are a pair of 5.5W speakers with a 11W subwoofer at the back, while all frequently used ports, card reader and disc drives are placed at the side of the machine. The machine is also capable of being a monitor as it is equipped with an HDMI input port. The model was sold in Japan in 3 packages: "Photo Edition", "Video Edition" and Custom-configured on Sony Style web store. An interesting addition to the machine is a monitor hood, which was bundled with the "Photo Edition" bundle and optional for other configurations, while the "Video Edition" bundle includes the USB Jog Dial, same as the previous VGC-RM series. Both are the same machine differing only in bundled software and minor specifications. Notably, this model is the last Sony VAIO computer without the option of a built-in web camera.
The machine is powered by the Intel Core 2 series processors, which can be configured up to a Core 2 Quad Q9550S for the best performance. The machine also has 4 DDR2 RAM slots, which accepts up to 12GB of RAM. In terms of graphics, the machine uses the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics chip with 512MB dedicated memory, which was located on a MXM-II style daughterboard. Unfortunately, according to the engineer from Sony, it was mentioned that this machine does not comply to the MXM standard, so there is no way to upgrade the graphics of this machine. The machine has 2 3.5" SATA drive bays, accessible from the top and the back of the machine respectively, which is quite rare for an AIO to have 2 drive bays. Being the final iteration of the VAIO R series, it continued the series' tradition of running disks in RAID mode from the factory for the maximum disk performance. A tray-loading Blu-ray drive is also built in and located at the right of the machine.
Detailed Specs
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400/E8500/E8600 or Core 2 Quad Q8200S/Q9400S/Q9550S
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 512MB decdicated video memory
Chipset: Intel P43 Express
Memory: DDR2-800 DIMM (4 slots, 2 user accessible, 2 pre-installed with 2GB DIMMs), up to 12GB
Display: 25.5" WUXGA (1920x1200), matte, 96% Adobe RGB coverage
Storage: 2x 3.5" SATA hard drive bay; BD-RE/BD-ROM or DVD-RW depending on configuration
Weight: ~18.8kg
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate (SP1, 64-bit) depending on configuration
MSRP: Around 400,000 yen (in 2008) or US$4000 (in 2010)
Daily Usage Today
The machine is perfectly capable of doing many daily tasks e.g. web browsing, 1080p YouTube playback, document processing and even can run some 2000s games without much issue thanks to its top-end spec at the time and high RAM ceiling. Sadly the graphics card cannot be upgraded so it could not handle modern power-hungry applications e.g. Photoshop and Lightroom, but it still has plenty of power to do the daily stuff mentioned above.
This machine can run Windows 10 without issue, but be aware that drivers from NVIDIA websites will not install on this machine at first (a typical VAIO issue). You will need to follow the guide to edit the INF file in order to let the driver install correctly. Apart from that, everything runs smoothly on Windows 10, especially if you install an SSD (or even 2 for RAID 0 crazy speeds) to this machine.
If your machine has the Blu-ray drive (if it works), this is your ultimate All-in-one Blu-ray player as you will be amazed by its high-quality display and great sounding speakers!
Resources
The recovery discs are currently unavailable for this model. A set of recovery discs for this model will be uploaded by our moderators in the future.
Credits
An article by AV Watch about the series
ASCII.jp's interview with the engineer and designer of the series