Sony VGC-RA820G manual

V AIO Digital Studio® Computer V GC-RA820G Ser ies V GC-RA920G Ser ies Quic k Star t[...]

2 Notice © 2004 Sony Electr onics Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohi bited. All rights reserved. This manual and the so ftware described herein, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced, translat ed, or reduced to any machine-readable form without prior wri tten approval. SONY ELECTRONICS INC. PROVIDES NO W[...]

3 The International E NERGY S T AR® Office Equipment Prog ram is an international program t hat promotes energy saving through the use o f computers and other office equipment. The program backs the development and dissemination of products w ith functions that effectively reduce energy consumption. It is an open system in whic h business proprie [...]

4 Safety Inf ormation and Caution Y our computer ’ s install ed optical drives may vary , depend ing o n the system configura tion you have purchased. See the online specifications sheet for detail s on your installe d optical drives. For q uestions regarding your product or for the Sony Service Cent er nearest you, visit the Sony on line s uppor[...]

5 ❑ Pour prévenir tout risque d’incendie ou d’électrocu tion, garder cet ap pareil à l’ abri de la pluie et de l’humidité. ❑ Pour prévenir tout risque d’électrocuti on, ne pas ouvrir le châss is de cet appareil et ne c onfier son entretien qu’à une personne qualifiée. ❑ Ne jamais effectuer l’in stallation de fil mo dem [...]

6 Regulatory Inf ormation If you have questions about this p ro duct, write to Sony Customer Informatio n Service Center at 12451 Gateway Blvd., Ft. Myers, FL 33913, USA, or vi sit Sony Customer Service on the Sony Online Support W eb site at http://www .sony .com /pcsupport. Model No.: PCV A-IMB5A (For model s equipped with Giga Pocket fe atures) [...]

7 FCC Pa r t 68 This equipment compli es with Part 68 of the FCC rules and the requirement s adopted by the ACT A. On the modem card is a label that contains, among other information, a product identifier in the format US:AAAEQ##TXXXX. If requested, this num ber must be pr ovided to the teleph one company . This modem uses the US OC RJ-11 telephone[...]

8 T elephone Consumer Protect ion Act of 1991 (United States) The T elephone Consumer Protectio n Act of 1991 makes it unlawful for any person to use a computer or other electronic device, including F AX machines, to send any me ssage unless such message clearly contains, in a m argin at the top or bottom of each transmitted pa ge or on the first p[...]

9 Disposal of Lithium Battery Y ou can return your unwanted lithium batteries to your ne arest Son y Service Center or Factory Service Center. For the Sony Service Center nearest you, call 1-888-476-6972 i n the Un ited States or 1-80 0-961-7669 in Canada. ✍ In some areas the disposal of lithium batteries in household or business trash may b e pr[...]

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11 Contents Getting Started ..........................................13 Unpacking Your Computer . ....................... ............... 14 Locating Controls And Ports ...................17 About the Front Panel ......... ....................... ............... 18 About the Back Panel .......... ....................... ............... 22 About th[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 12 Setting Up Media Center ........................... 49 Getting Started with Media Center ............ ............... 50 Setting Up TV Connections .... ................... ............... 51 Connecting the Remo te Sensor and Remote Sensor Control(s) ... ....................... ............... 57 Conne[...]

13 Getting Star ted Congratulations on yo ur pur chase of the Sony V AIO® computer! Y o ur new , high-performance, multimedia co mputer combines state-of-the-art computer functionality with the late st audio, video and information technology featur es.[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 14 Unpac king Y our Computer Y our computer may not be supplied with all of the accessories shown, depending on the computer configuration purchased. For details on the accessories supplied with your computer, see the online Specifications sheet. *This accessory is only availabl e with certai n computer [...]

Unpacking Y our Computer 15 Manuals ❑ V AIO® Computer Quick St art — Provi des basic information on setting up and registering your computer . The Quick Start also provides resources for technical support, safety guidelines and ow ner information. ❑ About RAID Systems — Contains an overview of RAID-0 and RAID-1 levels, along with b asic in[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 16 ❑ VA I O S o f t w a r e — Provides specific information on certain preinstalled software on your computer . T o access this online software information: 1 Click St a r t in the W indows® taskbar . 2 Click W el come to V AIO life . Hard Dis k Drive Recovery Y our computer is equi pped with the V [...]

17 Locating Controls And P or ts This section is intended to familiarize you with the controls, ports and jacks on your computer and supplied accessories. Y our computer may not be equipped with all of these har d ware fe atur e s or accessories. The location of the contr ols, ports, and jacks may vary fr om the illustrations shown in this section.[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 18 About the Fr ont P anel The front panel of your V AIO® Computer enables access to drives, memory card readers, ports and jacks that enable you to connect compatible peripheral devices. Y our computer may not be equipped with all of these hardware features or accessories. The location of the controls,[...]

About the F ron t P anel 19 1 Optical drive 1 See the online Specifications sheet for optical drive information. 2 Optical drive 2 See the online Specifications sheet for optical drive information. 3 Floppy disk drive Reads and writes data from and to a 3.5-inch floppy disk. 4 xD-Picture Card™ memory card r eader Reads and writes data from and to[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 20 10 Optical drive 2 eject button Ejects a disc from Optical drive 2. 1 1 Floppy disk eject button Ejects a floppy disk from th e floppy disk drive. 12 Memory S tick® memory card reader Reads and writes data from and to Memory Stick®, Memory Stick Pro™, and Memo ry Stick Duo™ me dia. 13 Secure Dig[...]

About the F ron t P anel 21 T o open and close the op tical disc drive doors Y o ur comp uter is equipped wi th one or more optical disc drives that have a drive eject button located on the drive door . ❑ After pressing the eject button, wait for the drive to stop reading the CD. It may take a few moments for the drive tray to eject. ❑ Gently p[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 22 About the Bac k P anel The back panel of your computer contains the ports for suppli ed and optional accessories. The icons on the back panel locate and identify the ports on your computer . The location of certain ports a nd jacks may vary from the illustration, based on the comp uter model purchased[...]

About the Back P anel 23 1M o u s e p o r t Connection for a PS/2® mouse. 2 Keyboard port Connection for a PS/2 keyboard. 3 Printer port Connection for a parallel device, such as a printer or scanner . 4 i.LINK 6-pin S400 port (IEEE 1394) Connection an d power for a compatible digital device, such as a Sony Digital Handycam® camcorder . 5 Univers[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 24 1 1 Ethernet port Connection for a 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T Ethernet . (The port marked with (Network) is for LAN con nections only .) 12 Speaker DC Out jack Connection for the speaker power cab le (supplied 2-channel speakers). 13 Composite audio R In jack Connection for an au dio cable (option[...]

About the Sub-w oofe r 25 About the Sub-w oofer Certain V AIO® computers are su pplied with a sub-woofer unit to enhance your computer ’ s sound capability . The sub-woof er is compatible with the speakers supplied with your V AIO compu ter . See the section, “Connecting the Speakers” on page 35, for instructions . For information about s up[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 26 About the K eyboar d This section describes the special and standard fu nctions available for your keyboard. V AIO keyboar d with Media Center features The V AIO® keyboard suppli ed with your computer has a standard key arrangement with ad ditional keys and controls that support Microsoft ® W indows[...]

About the K eyboard 27 MY VIDEOS Op ens the My V ideos window of Media Center . INTERNET Starts the assigned Internet browser . MAIL Starts the e-mail software program. HELP Starts the M edia Center Help , if Media Center software is running. (If Media Center software is not running, the Help and Support Center is started.) REC Records TV programs.[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 28 KEY DESCRIP TION Function The 12 function keys along the top of the keyboard are used to perform certain tasks. The task associated with each function key may vary between software programs. Numeric keypad Use the numeric keypad area to type numbers or to perform basic math calculations. Press the Num[...]

About the Remote Control 29 About the Remote Contr ol The Media Center remote control is supplied with V AIO Digital Studio® computers that are equipped with the Mi croso ft® W indows® XP Media Center Edition operating system. The rem ote control can start and stop video recording and playback, select channels, and se t viewing preferences. This[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 30 1 MY MUSIC button Press to view and listen to your music playlists. 2 MY TV button Press to view the My TV menu. 3S T O P b u t t o n Press to stop media playback or TV recording session. PA U S E b u t t o n Press to pause media playback. Pr ess again to resume playback. FWD button Press to fast-forw[...]

About the Remote Control 31 10 ST ANDBY button Press to place the computer in S tand by mode to redu ce power consumption. 1 1 MY PICTURES button Press to view pictures or a slide show . 12 MY VIDEOS button Press to view videos from your video collection. 13 MORE b utton Press to view additional options th at are available for Media Center features[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 32 Setting up the remote contr ol 1 T urn the remote control over . 2 Press in the tab and lift the battery cover up. 3 Insert two AA batteries (supplied) in to the remote control as shown. 4 Align the battery cover to the remote control. 5 Press down until the cover clicks into place. Inserting bat teri[...]

33 Setting Up Y our Computer Y our computer may not be equipped with all of the har dwar e featur es described in the section. The location of the contr o ls, ports, and jacks may vary fr om the illustrations shown. S ee the online Specifications sheet for your computer's specific har dwar e configuration.[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 34 Connecting a Displa y (Monitor) 1 Plug the display’ s cable into the appropriate monitor port. 2 If necessary , plug the display’ s cable into the rear of the display . T o connect a display ✍ Install your eq uipment so that you can e asily reach the power outle t in the event of an emergency . [...]

Connecting the Speakers 35 Connecting the Speaker s Y our V AIO® computer is supplied with 2-channel speakers. Certain models are supplied with a sub-woofer unit or 5.1 channe l speaker systems * . T o connect the 2-channel speaker s (supplied) 1 Plug the cable attached to the back of the left sp eaker into the Speaker(L) jack on the back of the r[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 36 2 Insert the yellow plug of the speaker power cable into the DC In jack on the back of the right speaker . 3 Insert the black plug of the speaker pow er cable into the DC Out jack located on the back panel of your computer . 4 Insert the mini stereo plug of the cable that is attached to the right spea[...]

Connecting the Speakers 37 2 Insert the mini stereo plug from th e sub-woofer unit’ s cable into the Headphones jack, located on the back panel of your com puter . 3 Plug the sub-wo ofer unit’ s p ower cord into a grou nded AC wall outlet or power strip. ✍ Y ou can also plug the sub-woofer’ s mini stereo plug into the headphones jack locate[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 38 Connecting 5.1 (6-Cha nnel) Speaker Systems Certain V AIO® computers that are configured-to- order (CTO), are supplied with a 5.1 channel speaker system, or you may wish to use your own 5.1 (6-channel) speaker system. T o set up the speakers with your computer: ❑ Match the color of the mini stereo [...]

Configurin g Software f or Y our Speaker System 39 Configuring Software f o r Y our Speaker System When using 5.1 channel (digital or anal og) speaker systems, certain software programs require setting changes to enable proper audio performance. T o configure RealT ek® Sound Effect Manager software For 6 channel-analog spe akers 1 Click St a r t i[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 40 T o configure Media Center software Y our computer ’ s factory default settings fo r audio can be changed using the Media Center Settings feature. Y ou can sw itch between 2-channel, 6-channel, or S/PDIF output modes. 1 Use the Media Center remote control, your keyboard, or mouse, to start the Media[...]

Configurin g Software f or Y our Speaker System 41 6 From the section, Audio Speaker Configuration , select 6-channel speaker (5.1 Home Theater) or the desired speaker configuration. T o enable S/PDIF , go to Audio Output Config uration and select Digital (S/PDIF) out to External Processor . 7 Click Ap ply , and then click OK . ✍ InterVideo® so [...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 42 Connecting the Ke yboard and Mouse 1 Plug the keyboard cable into the keyboard port on the back of the comput er . 2 Plug the mouse cable into the mouse port on the back of the computer . T o connect the keyboard and mouse[...]

Connecting th e T elephone an d Modem 43 Connecting the T elephone and Modem Y our computer is equipped with a single modem line jack to connect yo ur installed modem w ith your telephone wall jack. T o connect the modem 1 Unplug your telephone from the wall jack and set aside. 2 Plug another telepho ne cable (optional) into the modem line j ack lo[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 44 2 Insert the telephone’ s cable into o ne of the jacks on an optional “1 -to-2” jack adapter device (splitter). 3 Insert one end of a second telephone cable (optional) int o the other jack on the splitter device. 4 Insert the plug end of the splitter device into the wall jack. 5 Plug the second [...]

Connecting the Po wer Cords 45 Connecting the P ower Cor ds 1 Plug the power cord into th e back of the computer . 2 Plug both the display and compu ter power cords into a grounded AC wall outlet or a power strip. T o connect the power cords[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 46 T urning On Y our Computer When you start your computer for the first time, your comput er may detect new equipment and display a dialog box that prom pts you to restart your comp uter . Respond to this prompt immediat ely . 1 Press the power button on the computer to turn on the power . 2 Press the p[...]

T ur ning Off Y o ur Computer 47 ❑ Limited warranty — Protect your investment. See the Limited W arranty Card for more details. Y ou are prompted to register your computer the first time you turn on th e computer . Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the registration p rocess. If you are not able to regi ster your computer during the [...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 48[...]

49 Setting Up Media Center Y our V AIO Digital Studio® computer has the Micr osoft® W indows® XP Media Center Edition operating system to enhance yo ur computing experience. Media Center pr ovides you with a wide range of TV , DVD, and video viewin g, as well as music r ecordin g and playback. This section describes how to set up your TV , set-t[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 50 Getting Started with Media Cent er There are several tasks to complete befo re you are ready to use Media Center features. After setting up your hardw are connections, review this checklist before you begin using the Media Center software program, to enable full use of all the features. ❑ Set up you[...]

Setting Up TV Conne ctions 51 Setting Up TV Connections The best method of connecting your comput er , TV monitor or display , and TV programming access, is determined by th e type of cable service connection available in your home. Y our comput er ’ s hardware configurat ion may vary from the illustrations shown in this section . See the online [...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 52 2 Connect the TV coaxial cable (supplied) to the doubl e-connection side of the splitter adapter . Connect the other en d to the VHF/UHF port on the back panel of your computer . 3 Connect a third TV coaxial cable (optional) to th e double-connection side of the splitter adapter . Connect the other en[...]

Setting Up TV Conne ctions 53 Connecting to a standar d antenna (air) system Y ou can connect yo ur computer to an in door/outdoor antenna system, using Option 1 or 2 from the previous sect ion, “Connecting to standard cable access (CA TV)” on page 51. The antenna system in y our home may require a VH F/UHF RF combiner/tr ansformer (optional) t[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 54 Option 2 1 Connect both ends of the antenna’ s twin lead cable to the screw-type grips on the combiner/transformer . 2 Connect the TV coaxial cable (supplie d) from the combiner/transformer to the VHF/UHF port on the back panel of your computer . Connecting a Cable or Satellite Set-top Bo x Y ou can[...]

Setting Up TV Conne ctions 55 2 Connect a second TV coaxial cable (opti onal) to the Out jack on your set-top box. Connect the other end to the si ngl e-connection end of a splitter adapter (optional). 3 Connect a third TV coaxial cable (supplied) to the d ouble-connection end of the splitter adapter . Connect the other end to the VHF/UHF port on t[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Sta rt 56 2 Connect a second TV coaxial cable (op tional) to the Out jack on you r set-top box. Connect the other end to the VH F/UHF port on t he rear of your TV monitor or display . 3 Connect one end of a st ereo A/V d ubbing cable with tripl e RCA plugs (optional) to the V i deo Out and Audio-OUT (L/R) jacks[...]

Connecting the Remote Se nsor and Remote Sensor Control(s) 57 Connecting the Remote Sensor and Remote Sensor Contr ol(s) The remote sensor communicates with the Media Center remote control, enabling you to change channels and to perform other functions. If you are using a cable or satellite set-top box, you can attach the remote sensor control * to[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 58 T o connect the remote sensor contr ol 1 Plug the remote sensor control’ s cable in to either jack (1 or 2) located on the back of the remote sensor . 2 Remove the adhesive tape cover , located on the bot tom of the remote sensor control. ✍ When you attach the remote control sensor to a cable or s[...]

Connecting the Remote Se nsor and Remote Sensor Control(s) 59 3 Press the remote sensor control onto the set-top box near the infrared port, without covering th e port. ✍ If the remote sensor control covers the infrared port on the set-top box, you cannot use the remote control supplied with the set-top box. Attaching the remote sensor control ca[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 60 Connecting Other Devices This section illustrates how to conn ect other devices to your V AIO Digital Studio® computer . Y our computer has both audio and video connection capability . Y ou can locate the appropriat e connections on the back panel or behind the lower bott om panel on the fr ont of th[...]

Connecting Other Devices 61 Connecting a de vice with a stereo A/V dubbing cable 1 Connect a stereo A/V dubbing cable with triple RCA plugs at each end (optional) directly into the composi te video port, composite audio L and R jacks, located on either the front or back panel of your computer . 2 Connect the other ends of the stereo A/V dubbing cab[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 62 3 Connect the single-jack end of an audio cable (option al) to the Headphones jack located on the front or back panel of y our computer . Connect the double-jack end of the audio cable to the Audio-In (L/R) on you r TV monitor or display . (The Audio-In jacks may be located on the side or rear of your[...]

Star ting Media Center Software 63 Starting Media Center Software Y ou can instantly open Media Center feat ures using the My V ideo s, My Pictures, My TV , or My Music buttons on your Media Center remote control or keyboard. Y ou can also view recorded TV conten ts, by using the Recorded TV button on the remote control. T o use the remote contr ol[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 64[...]

65 T roub leshooting This section describes how to r esolve common start up problems. My computer does not start. ❑ V erify that the computer is plugged into a power sour ce and that it is turned on. Check that the power indicator is lit on th e front panel of the computer . ❑ Confirm that a disk is not in the floppy disk drive * (unless you ar[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 66 If your computer does not respond or the software program does not close: 1 Save and close any open files, if possible. 2 Press the Alt+F4 keys . The Shut Down W indows window appears. 3 Click the drop-down list box and sel ect Restart . 4 Click OK . The computer turns off a n d restarts. If the Shut [...]

67 Suppor t Options Sony pr ovides several options to help solv e common pr oblems or to locate support for your V AIO® computer . This section describes all available r esour ces and offers suggestions on how to access this information for maximum r esults. Immediate Help and Suppor t Y ou can locate helpful informati on immediately by consulting[...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 68 ❑ V AIO® Computer User Guide — The online User Guide provides information about configuring, maintaining, and upgrading your computer . This support resource offers a variety of available topics, enabling you to quickly view specific information usin g contex t-sensitive search features. T o acce[...]

Resources for Additional Help and Suppor t 69 3 From the menu bar , click Help . The software program’ s Help appears. ❑ VA I O S o f t w a r e — This feature provides specific information on preinstalled software on your computer . T o access this online software information 1 Click S tart in the Windows taskbar . 2 Click W e lcome to V AIO [...]

V AIO Digital Studio Compu ter Quic k Star t 70 Sony Customer In formation Services Center If other support options do not reso lve your issue, you can contact a Sony Support representative directly . Before making a call to the Sony Custom er Informati on Services Center , have this basic information readily available. 1 V AIO® computer type. 2 M[...]

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V AIO Homepage http://www .vaio .net © 2004 Sony Electronics Inc. Printed in USA F or customer support info r mation, go to: http://www .sony .com/pcsuppor t *231872301*[...]