Sony VAIO P hands-on
By Paul Miller 
posted January 7th 2009 8:11PM
posted January 7th 2009 8:11PM
posted January 7th 2009 8:11PM
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Nice... but this isn't a netbook.... but a pricey gadget!
At least in a netbook you could do some work. Not with this thing though! The aspect ratio sucks big time. I still cannot see why someone would tottaly kill vertical size! Vista is a deal breaker also...
If I want a premium, an exclusive netbook... I would definatelly go for Mininote. It's alu, it's nicely speced, it's reasonably priced... u can't go wrong.
It's a gorgeous looking netbook and I understand the necessity of the nipple but I hate using them on computers, women are the only place I find them nice or useful. I would have loved to see one with a trackpad off to the side or something, it probably wouldn't compromise the design too much.
This 'netbook' basic model's retail price is £850 in UK (EU) which is about 1250 USD
..... day light robbery by Sony
Secksy! I would have prolly bought this if it had come out a bit earlier, I already have a netbook.
decomposed Vaio P
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/0901/08/news043.html (Japanese)
If Sony had made the P like this Toshiba device, they would sell bucketloads at $900...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33829657@N02/3177481725/
I still think Macbook Air is the best.
the frame for the screen is a little thick for my taste, but other than that, its a must buy!
Say no to the nipple.
What does P-Series stand for? Perky?
It is expensive, but it also looks to be less rubbish than the EEE or Aspire One.
One thing I can't figure out though is why Sony thinks it's wise to stuff all kinds of hardware switches and LEDs onto such a small body. It wastes space and is screamingly annoying when those buttons are touched mistakenly. Clean up!
Great product, now if it only ran Mac OS!
Great product, typical fine Sony Vaio Style. The question is: Do I need such a netbook? To take it somewhere f.e. to play music I can use my iPhone or other mobiles like this. For work, the screen of a netbook is too small, so normally I have everything with my "real" laptop and a small touchscreen mobile phone. And, for sure, the price of 900 Dollar in the US means than for us in Europe 900 €......
btw, maybe Sony should use their Vaio Designers also for their newer Audio/TV products. There´s no typical Sony design anymore, f.e. their current USB-MP3 Player looks like a cheap Chinese no-name product. Their older USB-players look great and typical Sony but nobody bought it because of the terrible SonicStage Software.
Too bad this will be €899 or so. At €660 one could almost think about it. If the keyboard is nice to people who actually type on it, it would be the perfect mobile writer's/blogger's machine. Just wait until someone puts OS X on it.
The new Asus tablet seems like a better choice. On the UMPC tip, go with the Fujitsu U820.
Euhhh... Crisis??? (old one)
But hey, Windows Vista???
Come on...
Ok guys -
1.) It's not a nipple, it's a trackball, like on blackberries (which means it's slightly better than the IBM POS nipple, but not a lot)
2.) The price is for the form factor and the screen. This sucker has double the resolution of most netbooks. 60% wider and almost 30% taller. That's a ton of screen realestate that you just dont get with other netbooks.
3.) Stop crying about people misusing the term netbook. There is no official definition, and Sony themselves even tried to say it's not a netbook. Just as in all definitions, there are gray areas.... is the Miata a sports car? My mother would say yes, a porche owner would say no. I think we have to stop saying that anything that's more than $500 is not a netbook, since even on the standard netbooks (EEE etc), there are options that'll push it way over that.
Now for my commentary - thank god someone started putting a decent screen in one of these things. 1024x600 is just not good enough. However, I'm pretty disappointed with the battery life. 4 hours on a standard battery? Boo. I guess that's what you get for not having the physical space for a bigger battery. There's an extended battery for 8 hours, but I don't know what it'll look like on the machine.
it is a nipple. fucktard.
In Japan they are selling these with a 1.86Ghz processor - at 40% faster, this becomes a much more attractive proposition, though Dynamism is asking nearly $2k for one.
Design had come a long way.
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/20000410/np_c1_1.jpg
Looks very sexy. Everything looks nice, but that screen...1600x768? What kind of ****ing resolution is that? And it comes with Vista? Yuck. Good thing Windows 7 will run on most Netbooks.
As I look at the size of it, why don't they build in a UMD drive, and maybe it will get popular again.
@Nate.
Take a look at the specs on Sony's site... Pointing Device : Pointing Stick
That doesn't sound like a trackball
I do not like thick computer because it has no trackpad.
I **love** the trackpoint. I love how they move the keyboard to the front of the laptop. That is such a better use of space than the frigging trackpad. The last laptop I had that had a nice setup like this is my Fujitsu P2120, and before that a IBM ThinkPad 560e.
This thing is as small as it can be, with a totally usable keyboard+pointing device combo.
Solves my number one problem: when I am between bigger computers, all I need is something to type on. (How fast does it need to be to run cc?!?) Even a MacBook 12" is too big, and the iPhone is too small.
Bingo.
Just to clarify, this isn't a netbook, it's a handbag PC :p
But on the serious side, they should have invested in Nokia's "water" concept and used that instead of a Keyboard and trackball, it would have looked like a big widescreen NDS but it would look better and be more practical.
I've seen this little besides to another one that looks way sexy:
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/0901/08/news073.html#l_tm_0901pre_06.jpg
It's the same model, you fucktard.
lovely, Lovely and even some more lovely! what a wonderful little vaio! Cute, cool and would realy impress all your mates! :-)
When is this glossy, oily, crappy smudgy-ness gonna end???
Nice machine...but.... why lousy Vista ? Why not Windows XP ? Or mx7 ?
Mouse...hmmm... why not SLIDEPAD from Poland !?!? - http://www.frazpc.pl/b/225436
Some other comments about new Sony Vaio P series :
Why all notebook producers don't want to make a super machine 7" to 10" display for travellers with all features like :
- very strong processor,
- nice amount of RAM,
- excellent OLED display with super graphic card,
- new SSD Harddrive,
- slots for CF card and SD card or mayby other ones
- Bluetooth 2 ,
- 802.11 n ,
- GPS ,
- good battery life 5-7 hours
- and of course SLIDEPAD - http://www.frazpc.pl/b/225436
In one sentence...
- I'm looking for a notebook small and strong...meantime all those machines ( for me ) are the j u n k s.
Yay a netbook with a laptop price!
Is it just me or does this thing look really small?
I heard that Sony P support only 3 hours web surfing. Have you heard of Viliv S7? It last 7 hours web surfing. I should buy S7 for actual use.
I am officially dubbing this as a "netvertible" form factor...I am a hardcore Intel/Nvidia fan, although intels current lineup all appear to have the same amount of power as this(wheres my effing dual core and my ion)...I am going to end up spending about the same as I would for this but will unfortunately be getting AMD/ATI at this time in this market. As a greedy power hungry user, I could never get enough power with the sony P and have decided to get a Raon Digital Everun Note....take heed intel and give me some power!!!
Guys, if you are a road worrier - *travel often", you will appreciate the design and robustness of SONY. i give a thumb up to SONY finally released these model which following market trend.
Don't compare Lotus & Gallardo!!!
Ordered & on the WAY....
Yeoow!$2400 Australian from Sony. They cannot be serious!
i want one
Finally a replacement for my Vaio Picturebook!
I like the looks, and have enjoyed many Sony branded products. This one however will no make the cut at $900 bones. The specs are underwhelming to say the least. 1.33mhz and trying to run Vista? uggg. There is a boot time video up already on Youtube and it clocks in north of the 2m15sec mark... I would have forgotten what I needed to login for by then... seriously underpowered imo.
If this was a $400 or $500 machine I'd probably have to check it out and deal with it's slower processor and Vista shortcomings but as it's configured now, no thanks. I have always enjoyed a small form factor computer and tested out the MSI Wind, and the Asus model. The keyboard size is the deal killer even thought the performance was ok. As someone said, Sony is not Apple and will never get that kind of premium for their design due to putting MSFT OS on it.
Great looks, poor specs, horrible OS.
The more I see crap like this, the more I think Apple are right. Even in their ad the thing keeps slipping out of the pocket. Give me portable or don't. What's the battery life? How slow is it? How much screen jiggling do I have to do? Full power laptop? NO. Put it in your pocket? NO. CRAP... Get an iphone and a desktop for the same price. And I'm not an apple fanboy. CRAP CRAP CRAP
Get an MSI wind. Or get with the times and buy an iphone. Who can afford this crap should buy it. Sony needs the money, Apple doesn't. Go on, buy an underpowered crapbook to go with your overpowered SUV. Sucker
"Impress your mates". By paying heaps for crap. Guess I better get a home loan from Fanny Mac. What is with America these days? Listen closely... Buy what you can afford to get the job done. Bring back the depression please, where we learn to darn our own socks.