Sony teases the VAIO P's keyboard and tracking nub
By Nilay Patel 
posted Dec 29th 2008 10:44PM
posted Dec 29th 2008 10:44PM
[Via Pocketables]
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riveting.
The tracking ball does look pretty neat though.
I only see some black hole in the middle of the keyboard, that honestly doesn't look like a trackball.
That ball in the middle reminds me of what happens with people's Blackberrys scroll ball after they use it for a long time... it turns black from dirt and such.
the tracking pad in the keyboard looks similar to the type they use on the psp handheld... can't wait to see this thing.
Perhaps rather than a conventional little stick thing, it's more of an inverted optical mouse sensor that you just drag your fingertip over to use?
I miss my IBM red dot...
It's still there...
On Lenovo's Thinkpad
yeah, whenever I'm not using an external mouse with my thinkpad, I'm using the nub.
trackpads suck compared to the nub
I know they still have it, but I miss it when I use my macbook :(
The ugliest thing I've ever seen on a computer. I could see the most amazing computer in the world but if it had that big, ugly red dot in the middle i wouldn't buy it.
The nub is amazing.
I totally miss it when I'm using my MacBook as well (my other laptop is a ThinkPad).
I really wish Apple (and ALL) companies would put a track point on their laptops. For those that take a few hours to actually learn how to use it, it's the best. For those that are too lazy to learn how to use it, they can just go back to using the crappy trackpad.
Used to hate the red dot when I first bought my IBM Lenovo X16.
Now, after using it for a good two years I hate the track pad which I still use with my Netbook. I'm guessing this P-series is going to be an quisi-full size keyboard area that intrudes on the area that would normally be filled with the track pad which is why its using the nub and it's longitudinally shaped. If this thing isn't insanely expensive like other VAIOs I'm sold, but I'm not paying anywhere near a grand.
i use a fujitsu T2010. i love my trackpoint and (though a mean thing to do) watching people puzzle themselves when they cant find the trackpad (my tablet is quite particular, the battery is in the front, making it look like a massive trackpad. btw, the 9-cell one is a really good armrest).
trackpoints are definitely much better than trackpads, if you play around with it for a few days after you just got it (hey, who wouldnt?)
my laptop's perfect for what i do...now if only they start making drivers for the external graphics booster....
The trackpad is a lie. The nub is forvever!
That red dot is the reason why I hated laptops until they invented the trackpad. Controlling a mouse cursor with a tiny joystick is the pits.
The trackpoint (red dot/nub) is the reason I can't buy a non-Lenovo laptop. It's totally awesome.* And great ergonomically as you don't need to move your fingers off the home keys to move the pointer (if you can't touch type, that's your problem!)
And just FYI for those people who haven't taken the time to lean how to use one, it's not at all like using "a tiny joystick". It's based on stress patterns in the device so you sort of "lean" into it.
The main annoying thing with Thinkpads is that they now also include Trackpads for the uninitiated, and I have to remember to disable them so I don't bump them while typing...
Here's hoping the patent expires soon so everyone can include them.
...oh, and "Don't call them G-Spots in front of customers, even though the red nipple is located on the G key"!
(*Awesome for everything except 1st person shooters)
mmm talk about awkward for people with big fingers using these partial keys.
awkward??? these keyboards are so damn comfortable to type on...it completely blows away the usual keyboards
YES! YES YES YES YES! Finally a TrackPoint on a netbook!
Maybe this will prompt Lenovo into making a Thinkpad netbook with the original nub.
Yea I've been waiting and waiting for a nub to get added to a netbook. Seems like a complete nobrainer for such a small form factor. Why try and stuff a stupid trackpad in when you already have limited space? Hope this solution is well implemented and all the other companies get the memo.
Whoa, chiclet keyboard! And eraserhead mouse? I'm sold.
wookin pa nub
in all da wong paces.
is it just me, but the keys don't have any lettering...
dude, why would you need lettering?
you have a nub..
ima take guess there is a transparent plastic on top of the keys to prevent the letters from wearing off . therefore the light doesnt catch the letters from that angle
I'm guessing the photo model didn't have any lettering, since this will no doubt be released in different countries, each using a different keyboard layout. And Sony, being respectful, wouldn't want to be biased toward a country. Even at this angle you could see the characters a little bit.
And I'm gonna guess this is a publicity teaser shot meant for the international market, so Sony didn't see the point of showing a keyboard with letters.
HP Jornada II
Seriously. That's what it is.
wow, what a nub...
Bah to mushy keyboards.
touchscreen? is the price affordable?
A NUB? Are you kidding. Yeah its great. Hold on, let me get my Jimmy-Zs on and grab my walkman so I can fit in. Jackasses.
Am I the only one who thought the keyboaard was coming at me when I scrolled down. Weird 3d effects. :S
also...inb4 sexual refrence to the red nub. :]
Tracking nipple.
Tracking clitoris.
That is all.
Tracking man tit?
Maybe Sony's next teaser will be:
$?,000
Lol....
I wonder how much profit (if any) the Vaio line makes for sony? I mean you hear all this talk of this or that division (gaming especially) losing loads of money. Is that the reason why they price their laptops so high?
To try and stop the bleeding from the losses they suffer in the other divisions? This is just pure guesswork on my opinion but it just occured to me that maybe they charge so much (in my opinion TOO MUCH) for their laptops and hdtv's because the money they get from them offsets the losses they incur in other areas...
No, they're going to launch another teaser site. "Guess the orifice"--a game in which you guess which orifice you'll be presenting Sony upon purchase.
@LordVesper
?
grow a dick man. Stop being such a tool Vaio's are actually pretty well priced well at least last time i went into a shopping centre a Vaio (which looks 10x better than the competition) costed like $100 more than the same thing in another brand of course the Vaio has a better warranty, look and reliability no question.
"I mean you hear all this talk of this or that division (gaming especially) losing loads of money"
I only heard that they are losing a bit of $$ per PS3 sold, but they definitely make it up with the accessories and games..
Has anyone notice the color of the keyboard NIce, " off white" !!
Is it me, or is everybody using the chiclet keyboard design now?
As Sony designed it in the first place I guess it's theirs to re-use.
That's the same keys and trackpoint as my World's Thinnest laptop (Sony X505)
Can we please not have a post about this unremarkable computer every single day? Please just one day?
People already bitch at Engadget non-stop for how Apple-heavy it is; if anything, an increase in posts about other brands will calm them down. That said, seriously, Sony? A MacBook keyboard with a nipple? Is there an industrial designers' strike in Japan we haven't been hearing about?
"Macbook keyboard"
Yeah, sure.. Not like Sony designed it.. Apple never steals ideas right?
poor little bitches...
No.
My bad, I wasn't aware of the design's origin. If Apple were going to rip off a design cue, though, you'd think they could at least pick one that didn't suck so bad. Sigh. Oh well, just gonna stick with a PBG4 until the next design refresh I guess.
Funny, that looked black to me...
Holy cow!
Whats purpose of these peeks?
To create comments like the one directly above mine.
Touche.
But seriously whats the marketing purpose? To make people talk about already finished but unreveald product? They can put it on their website and everybody will talk about it too. They doesnt make big announcement shows like Apple so everybody is just pi**ed. In early phase of designing product it can be considered as collecting ideas but in this situation? Are they afraid of empty "stall" at CES ;)
I like where this is going. If I can put Ubuntu on it, you've got me sold.
Why shouldn't you be able to put Ubuntu on it?
I think he means preinstalled from the factory. Then he'd probably say something about Microsoft Tax.
Macbook Air FTW!
Adamo FTW!!
STFO or GTFO!
well, I'm not impressed. I went over to dynamism to check out the latest offerings there and fujitsu has a tiny ass full featured totebook or whatever that even converts to a tablet. It's over two grand. Whatever sony drops is no big deal to japan and china. those tiny notebooks with all the bells and whistles have been a staple there for years.
When will Sony start selling their keyboards standalone like Apple? I'm about to get one of the new Apple aluminum keyboards because they're so damn cool (just stuck between the wired version or the Bluetooth without the numpad), but would prefer the classic PC arrangement of keys. From what I've seem in stores, Sony laptop keyboards would be awesome as a desktop keyboard.
screw you engadget for all this sony coverage. geez your favoritism is disgusting
I wish the Fujitsu U820 had a nub like this
I find it "amazing" that companies start to follow this trend after Apple released it's new last generation macbooks...