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  • Sony to Sell Notebooks Capable of Editing Motion Pictures
  • February 2, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Sony Corp. announced the release of two A4-size VAIO notebook personal computers that allow users to edit motion pictures.
    The two models are powered by Intel Corp.'s mobile Pentium II microprocessors.

    The PCG-888 has a 366MHz Pentium II microprocessor and the PCG-887 runs on a 333MHz Pentium II. Both models are equipped with a 13.3-in. thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) monitor (1,024 x 768 dots), with about 16,770,000 colors.

    With the use of a special docking station, motion pictures can be processed and edited after the images are captured from digital video (DV) devices.

    The VAIO line's highest-end model, the PCG-888 is equipped with a 4x CD-R drive for writing and a 20x drive for reading (at maximum speed). Users can save edited motion pictures on the CD-R drive.

    Preinstalled software for editing motion pictures includes Sony's "DVgate motion" and "DVgate still" software as well as Adobe System Inc.'s Adobe Premiere LE-J. High levels of processing capabilities are featured, including the ability to insert subtitles and some special effects, according to Sony.

    The main memory is 96MB and a total of 192MB is available. The hard disk drive has a capacity of 8.1GB.

    A docking station, which is sold separately, is necessary for connecting to DV devices.

    The PCG-887 is equipped with a 24x CD-ROM drive, instead of the CD-R drive. The main memory capacity is 64MB as standard, which can be expanded to a maximum of 192MB. The capacity of the HDD is 6.4GB. The docking station is required for connecting DV devices and other VAIO products.

    Adobe Premiere LE-J is not preinstalled, but it is available to registered users at a discount price of 9,800 yen (US$85).

    The PCG-888 will be released Feb. 27, and the PCG-887 on Feb. 6, a Sony official said.

    Sony expects that the PCG-888 will sell for around 500,000 yen (US$4,330) and the PCG-887 for 380,000 yen (US$3,290).

    Related story: Sony Debuts Note PCs with Enhanced IEEE1394 Functions

    (BizTech News Dept.)



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    Updated: Mon Feb 1 15:16:57 1999 PDT