GADGET: PLM-S700 PC Glasstron

Baldwin Louie — Mon, 01 Nov 1999 14:00:00 -0800

Remember virtual reality? Head-mounted displays for "complete immersion" in computer-generated worlds made waves in the early 1990s thanks to wide-eyed futurists. Then the technology trickled down into arcades and users suffered sore necks from the bulky A/V helmets, besides being underwhelmed by the graphics and gameplay. The idea of VR sunglasses vanished into cyberpunk fiction until Sony (dossier) re-engineered it into the PLM-S700 PC Glasstron.

The Glasstron lets you do exactly what your mother always scolded you about. Two 7-inch LCD screens in the eyepiece create the illusion of looking at a 30-inch, 843-by-624-pixel monitor suspended in space with a 28-degree horizontal field of view. Meanwhile, stereo bud-style headphones pipe audio directly into your ears with Mega Bass resonance. Of course, the Glasstron isn't a 3D display and it can't track your head movements like VR gear does, but the 4.2-ounce headset is foldable and compact enough to stow in your laptop case.

And that's the idea: During an airplane trip, you can plug your laptop PC or Powerbook into the SVGA/VGA input jack on the battery-powered Glasstron's control unit (AC adapter included, batteries not) and enjoy for-your-eyes-only e-mail or a round of Quake. A useful feature is the see-through mode, which increases the transparency of the LCDs so you can see both the PC image and the world around you. Perfect for driving while surfing the Web. (Just kidding!)

While the image is crisp, staring at screens that close to your peepers does induce eye-strain, so breaks are recommended. Also, Sony warns, "individuals with eye or heart disease or injury or high blood pressure should consult a doctor prior to use."

Keeping aware of headaches, you can also watch DVDs or videos movie-theater-style via the composite and Y/C input jacks on the PLM-S700. But if that's all you want to do, we suggest Sony's new PLM-A35 Glasstron. Designed for NTSC video inputs rather than VGA, it's smaller, lighter and about one-third the price of the PC Glasstron. After all, the PLM-S700 is best-suited for PC game players and paranoiacs.

The Details

Score (1-5):
Utility: 3
Design: 3
Est. Lifespan: One year (until smaller and cheaper models come to market); 20 years for a display that projects onto your retinas
Price: $2,599
System Requirements: SVGA/VGA output from your PC (Mac adapter included)

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GADGET: PLM-S700 PC Glasstron