Sony dishes out VGF-HS1 VAIO home server
Like seemingly every other tech company, Sony has been trying various approaches to bridging the gap between the living room and the PC, whether it's the VAIO VGX-TP25E Home Theater PC or the KDL-52WL140 HDTV, which can stream media via its Internet Link module. Now it's released another device for this space, the VGF-HS1 VAIO home server, in a very low-key fashion on its Sonystyle.com Web site.
The VGF-HS1 has the same hockey-puck shape as the VAIO VGX-TP25E, without a lot of the computing guts that make that an expensive PC. Instead, this $599.99 unit (which will start shipping on Monday) comes with a pair of 500GB hard drives, along with three USB ports and a memory-card reader. It can stream media files to a DNLA compliant device, like—surprise, surprise—a PlayStation 3 console, and features a Gigabit Ethernet port to access your home network. Thus connected, it can perform backup duties for files on your networked PCs.
Though it's listed under home theater PCs on Sony's site, there are no HDMI ports or anything particularly home-theater-esque about the VGF-HS1 other than its design. You really have to like that design, though, to pay $600 when you can get more full-featured network storage for about half that price. If nothing else, it gives Sony a chance to get rid of any excess round PC cases it had around laying around.
[Via Sony Insider]