More VAIO P specs leak out

Sony's not playing it too coy with the upcoming VAIO P -- some more detailed specs on the widescreen netbook have leaked out, and they're just about what we expected: a 1.33GHz Atom Z520, 2GB of RAM, standard HDD with optional SSD, GPS, and a 3G WWAN card, all for about €700 ($974). No word on that crazy rumored 1600 x 768 display resolution, but apparently that sexy Photoshopped VAIO TT pic we saw is close to the real thing, trackstick and all. We'll see -- for close to $1000, this guy had better run Vista a hell of a lot better than the similarly-spec'd ASUS R50A UMPC Portal just trashed in a review.

[Via UMPC Portal, image from Pocketables]

[YpoCaramel @ Jan 2nd 2009 9:49PM]

Eh? I thought Euro to USD conversions were dangerous indicators of US price since electronics were more expensive in Europe?

[KarlW @ Jan 3rd 2009 6:23AM]

Right. Europe pays higher taxes.

That €700 for a netbook is just insane (with current pound-euro parity). If this thing costs £700, good luck trying to sell a single one.

[Félix @ Jan 3rd 2009 10:20AM]

you're right and it's not about the taxes.
It's called rape of the european customer.
Cowon S9 16Gb $240 in the USA turns 279 euros in France.
That's $400 ++

More than 70% price increase. And I've never heard of a 70% taxe in any country in the world.

[OneLove @ Jan 3rd 2009 1:41PM]

I might actually buy this is its $1000 or under. OMG!

[Valicore @ Jan 3rd 2009 2:14PM]

That's the one thing that kills me when I go to Europe is how expensive everything is there. The last time I got back from Italy I got something at the airport in Atlanta. I felt like I'd found a great deal, a bucket of coke and three meals worth of food for 5 bucks lol.

Anyway, I think besides VAT, aren't there tariffs and shipping costs and this that and the other? I know my friends in Brazil get SCREWED when it comes to electronics (The Cheapest stand-alone Blu-Ray player over Christmas was about $2,000, I nearly had a coronary, considering the PS3 is only about 1000 bucks for the 40 gig version lol).

[WILLIAM @ Jan 2nd 2009 9:51PM]

is the P model is close to what the TT is then its not going to do well, also being close to 1000 it will def fail as a money maker for sony. looking at some of the specs this netbooks is close to whats out there but yet double the price. sony will never learn thats why i stopped buying sony products like 8 years ago

[ronald mcdonald @ Jan 2nd 2009 9:59PM]

I love Sony products, but unless they're still hiding an ace up their sleeve, I think you're right. Especially with the state of the economy, this just doesn't make any sense.

[Shinigami @ Jan 3rd 2009 12:31AM]

@WILLIAM
Its a Sony.

[Saad Rabia @ Jan 3rd 2009 4:03AM]

It will not be called "VAIO P". That "P" thing was just some lame photoshoped pictures. Wait and see.

[Chuckles McGee @ Jan 3rd 2009 4:25AM]

It's a glowing prism of ever radiant light- it's so awe-inspiring that I'd go so far as to call it divine. What netbook would Jesus use? This one.

[CT A @ Jan 2nd 2009 9:56PM]

Isn't it the Atom Z520?

We shouldn't yet criticize on the choice of OS since that 2 GB of RAM is the real difference between the Asus's R50A and Sony's Vaio P

[Patrick Perez @ Jan 3rd 2009 1:01PM]

*if* it is in fact an Atom Z520, then either:

A) It maxes out at 1GB Ram like the Asus -- if using the only Intel chipset available for the Z520 (SCHUS15W) http://ark.intel.com/cpu.aspx?groupID=35466

B) it is using a 3rd party chipset -- NVidia 9400M??? I don't know if it is possible yet, though NVidia has certainly made noises to the effect that they want in on Atom action

[sony meh @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:01PM]

atom = epic fail

[sinjinn @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:24PM]

low power consumption , silent and no heat=fail ?
then i would rather fail

[you @ Jan 2nd 2009 11:10PM]

@ sinjinn


i bet your used to failing too.

[Saad Rabia @ Jan 3rd 2009 4:06AM]

@you: I bet you're used to being a fuckwit, eh?

[Valicore @ Jan 3rd 2009 2:04PM]

@sony meh:

you = epic dumbass.

[metal @ Jan 2nd 2009 9:58PM]

1 grand for a netbook? I find that hard to swallow.

[quiksilv3r @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:48PM]

this isn't a netbook, its a UMPC, they're different.

[Mark @ Jan 3rd 2009 1:26AM]

How is a netbook different from a UMPC when they share the same specs and are about the same size?

[bhtooefr @ Jan 3rd 2009 2:51AM]

Netbooks tend to use the midrange Atoms, UMPCs tend to use the high-end ones. (The only difference being power consumption.)

Oh, and UMPCs are about $500 more than netbooks. ;)

[BobTurbo @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:01PM]

Sony used to be the leaders of every single category imaginable, now I can't think of a single category where I would want to buy their products.

[CT A @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:02PM]

Sony has one of the best sounding music players.

[Anku Madan @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:20PM]

Ummm... Their tv's and portable speakers are pretty beasty, though quite overpriced.

[BobTurbo @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:28PM]

Yes I can read cnet too.

iPod sound quality is fine and it completely destroys Sony when it comes to ease of use and all of the iTunes stuff.

[Skazer @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:44PM]

Many people swear by their mp3 players, P&S digital cameras and DSLRs still now. They've recently started making much better products in those areas.

[Alan Partridge @ Jan 2nd 2009 11:02PM]

Sony make the best PSP's!

[Aaquib @ Jan 3rd 2009 12:37AM]

PS3 FTMFW.

[Boards of Canada @ Jan 3rd 2009 1:01AM]

I would not say no to a nice BRAVIA display...

[Jeff @ Jan 3rd 2009 1:22AM]

They are expensive for a reason generally. I'm willing to bank on that this will be the best looking and most useful portable work netbook out there.

[Dave Chappelle @ Jan 4th 2009 9:12AM]

Well they are just the first to everything. You cannot always be the best though even Ipod's will one day go down (not in quality but market share) possibly the only thing that will not go down is Microsoft Windows.

Personally for game consoles, all in one computers, Laptops and obviously TV's i see Sony to be STILL TEH ONE!.

[you @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:01PM]

is it going to be hard on the batteries?

you know, with the whole glowing case thing...

[t-o89 @ Jan 2nd 2009 11:36PM]

you have a good point although i have to say it does look shooped

[vance @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:02PM]

$900 and I have to use Vista? No thanks. Sony can't play the netbook game, it seems.

[Game_playa @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:42PM]

What the fuck is wrong with Vista?

[Sean @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:53PM]

What you should really be asking yourself is what is right with vista.

[Stereotype @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:55PM]

Why don't you go back to your rock that you've been under for the past couple years... :P
Get with it man!


Actually....I really agree with you.....that was just sarcasm. :P

[Aaquib @ Jan 3rd 2009 12:36AM]

"What the fuck is wrong with Vista?"

The fact that it's Windows.

[Boards of Canada @ Jan 3rd 2009 1:02AM]

Windows is the more productive OS. I make tons of money on it cause my softs cant run on anything else.

[El Taco @ Jan 3rd 2009 3:42PM]

Vista is great for regular laptops, but with the low specs of netbooks, it would be frustratingly slow to use (IMO)

[kidcanuck @ Jan 4th 2009 2:49AM]

I'm just curious, if not Vista (and by extension in most of the comments, windows as a whole), what operating system would you rather it run? Sure, Linux would be great but that lacks mass appeal and the certain je ne sais quoi of something a little more polished. I'm sure everyone here would shit a brick if they used OS X, Vista sucks, and XP seems like it's just a compromise. So what operating system would you have it use?

[linderman @ Jan 4th 2009 12:35PM]

XP Pro with at least 2GB of RAM would be a nice start!

[JZ @ Jan 4th 2009 4:35PM]

I wonder how many of those who claim Vista sucks recently actually touched Vista. I remember when it got introduced and pretty much nothing worked while it ate away all the resources it was crappy but lately with the updates it goes well. It kinda reminds me of another OS..Y. Anyways yes XP would do for most and certainly at low-powered hardware it would be more convenient but slowly MS will make sure you can't get around Vista, be it with WM10 or sooner or later the IE releases and new software. The neat thing is for us techies we got an explanation but Joe the plumber grabs his mobile and calls 0900-Sony and asks wtf is wrong with it. Better deliver something a tad slower but for sure future-proof then something speedy and risk a lot of calls.

That said, calling something with so much low-power consuming high-end hardware a netbook is kinda odd. You don't call a cake-slider a netbook while this won't be that much slower. This seen the price/hardware fits more between the netbook/laptop ie its a UMPC. I kinda wonder though what Sony is going todo with it as their UX 50 might be sweet but didnt seem to hit the market so well. And for a little more I rather buy a Sony TZ.

[Rex @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:04PM]

It's probably going to weigh 1ounce!

[Dean @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:08PM]

Obviously.

I mean, look at how it's levitating in that guy's hands.

Light as a feather, I say.

[Poom @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:18PM]

This is probably the most anticipated Vaio so far... Sony has done well with all the teasers given how many Engadget articles have been about them. Free advertisement.

[raj @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:29PM]

1 grand? I could get 2 netbooks of close specs for that!

Wow

I hope this thing is as awesome as the price tag proclaims.

[loosely_coupled @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:35PM]

This thing should have been turned into an ultraportable.Take that form factor and keep the awesome screen, perhaps make it LED backlit as well. Use carbon fiber and/or aluminum for the case and more importantly use a 1.4Ghz Core 2 Duo ULV and a fast/expensive 64GB SSD. It could compete well with the Macbook Air if they can make it real thin and keep that unique footprint.

As it is now, it's too slow (I won't even look at netbooks until they get a dual-core ~2Ghz nano/Atom) and way too expensive for the market it is trying to capture.

[bob @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:40PM]

It's going to run Vista Home Basic, so performance should be decent.

[Graham Wellington (formerly tyrone washington, or marsha goldberg) @ Jan 3rd 2009 2:51AM]

i just had to say your avatar is fucking awesome. everytime i see this avatar i'll automatically +1 vote it