Power & Spectacle Collide in the Sony Vaio JS250J Desktop: Review

Though it lacks the instant appeal of a touch screen and Net-top machine, I still think the Sony Vaio JS250J Desktop is one of the most visually stunning on the market. The first time I used the Sony Vaio JS250J I sat in awe of it for the first few minutes before even turning it on. Though I think it falls just short of the Apple 20-inch iMac, the Sony Vaio JS250J shines above most of the competition in price and features. Also exclusive to the Vaio JS250J is a Blu-ray disc drive.

As opposed to a mid-tower machine, the all-in-one generally forces the owner to trade away the expandability and performance of traditional computers. Fortunately, the Sony Vaio JS250J desktop makes the compromise very minimal in comparison to any other all-in-one desktop on the market.

The Sony Vaio JS250J desktop is a second generation of its kind in Sony's all-in-one line. The latest model, in September of 2008, was reviewed and awarded the Editor's Choice award. Unfortunately, the Sony Vaio JS250J desktop does lack a bit in performance yet this is merely a blip on the overall radar. Most consumers in the market for an all-in-one desktop generally are not terribly concerned with performance.

Design

The Sony Vaio JS250J is similar in design to the JS100 line. With a few color choices, this desktop features all the classics expected from Sony. The Webcam on the JS250J desktop is highly desirable. Not only does it sit toward the top of the screen, it also allows you to adjust the motion and position with merely a touch of the foot of the camera. My biggest annoyance was that the camera does not have an optical drive with slot-loading capabilities. The Blu-ray drive on the Sony Vaio JS250J desktop certainly makes amends for this shortcoming.

Numerous competitors exist of for the Sony Vaio JS250J. The HP TouchSmart is priced at $1,149 for the 22-inch model. The Dell Studio One 19-inch has numerous optional features which could bring the price up to $1,200 but a base price of only $699. The model we received was configured at $1,024. Even with the touch-input abilities of numerous all-in-one desktops on the market, the Sony Vaio JS250J provides the best bargain for screen size and price comparisons. The Apple 20-inch iMac has a base price of $1,199, merely $100 more than the JS250J.

One of the biggest advantages of the Sony Vaio JS250J is the Blu-ray disc drive. It's pretty surprising that more desktops have yet to adopt this amazing technology. I give Sony major credit for staying ahead of the curve.
The Sony Vaio JS250J desktop also features a significantly larger hard drive. Unfortunately, Apple's wins in performance due to the Mac OS X operating overhead in comparison to Vista. The Sony Vaio JS250J also lacks in performance capabilities due to the 2.5GHz Core Duo chip compared to the Apple iMac 2.66GHz chip.

I'm confident most consumers would be thrilled with the Sony Vaio JS250J as a desktop because it provides excellent performance and multimedia capability. The Blu-ray integration sold me more than anything on this computer. But if you're able to resist the Blu-ray craze, then perhaps the Apple iMac is the desktop for you because of its slightly better performance.

Sources:
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Sony_VAIO_JS250J_B_All_In_One_Desktop/VGC-JS250J_B/p/1559831
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGC-JS250J/B