VAIO P vs Eee PC... fight!
By Paul Miller 
posted Jan 9th 2009 1:47AM
posted Jan 9th 2009 1:47AM
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Boy that makes the eee look even more like toys for my nephew.
I have to admit it, i think im going to buy one of these vaio Ps
weird long netbooks FTW!!!
just remind you that vaio p is $1000 atom netbook
I think it looks like a swelled up Xperia X1...but it is hell gorgeous
Sony has once again proved that there are people with more money than brains.
@ProfessorDex: Having two engineering degrees myself (BS and MS in Electrical) I happen to think I have a bit of brains, but I do like stylish electronics. That right there is stylish electronics.
Some people would spend that much or a lot more on an analog Rolex watch, I'd instead spend it on a Vaio P which is both stylish and a lot more functional than a watch.
Wow the VAIO P looks awesomme.. but breaking news? Really? Engadget!?
Endgadget does, what Engadget wants, and yes the vaio P looks awesome.
It's this or another iPhone article... your choice...
knee to the groin there's been like no iphone articles lately, shut the hell up
Which is best explained as why we have this article. You see how it confirms itself?
Why are all Sony laptops so overpriced? From my past experiences with Sony VAIO's don't even have good build quality.
for me its Vaio P or OQO 2+. FIGHT!
It would be nice if you already had the further impressions rather then teasing us with kibbles and bits.
We're trying to actually use it a little first -- you can read our hands-on from yesterday if you want snap impressions.
Cool!
God dammit... I know I'm going to end up buying one of these despite my wallet protesting.
There is one thing I am truely wondering, what the hell is pulling me towards this thing?
I love it's size and the nubby thing is not such a bad thing I think. The trackpad on my Compaq Mini 700 sucks so need to sell that.
Hmmm.. I guess I'm buying a unibody macbook. Unless windows 7 would rock on this? Cause how can this run Vista fast enough without driving me crazy.
Nice, but no trackpad?
A nubbin should be enough for the gentleman.
That's exactly what I thought. Gorgeous piece of kit, but a nipple mouse in 2008?!
My first thought was, "a thumbstick?! No touchcreen? What is this, 1999?"
A thumbstick is COOL. My T61 has a thinkpad and i got it last year!
I will never buy a trackpad PC, having used ThinkPads and TrackPoint keyboards for years.
There is a small nubby button that is a miniature track ball....check it out!
I look forward to your impressions!
Hopefully I'll be able to pick up one of those little Vaio P Buggers.. I've got some cash to spare (after I sell my N810, and Mylo 2, that is) that I'd love to spend on one of these, or a CS notebook ;)
I love the asthetics though, so please provide full details on how the day-to-day tasks work out, and how well it can play videos. (my girlfriend's c2d was apparently unable to play 720p mp4 in quicktime that I recorded from my camera without 3 different conversions... -.-)
Thanks! I'll be glued to this ;)
I think the vaio P is pretty innovative in terms of its design (whereas the eee pc looks like it was made in the late 90’s). But really, its an engineering exercise, something that will let sony say, "yeah that totally just fricken happened, we built a freakishly thin netbook". However, the real appeal of a “netbook” is not only its small size, but its low price. The price is really what defeats the purpose of the vaio P.
The eee is really a pc i would use along side my laptop, Its a computer i can take to class and write notes, or something i can carry in a messenger bag during my commute (while not having to carry around the laptop). For lack of a better term, it really is a "disposable computer", So if it breaks, no big deal.
However, with the vaio P, although it may be smaller and lighter, i would be afraid to carry it around with me for fear of bumping into someone and shattering the screen or breaking the notebook, which would end up costing a hefty $900. (and with that $900 i would rather have an actual notebook, such as dells new 13 inchers)
Well, Seeing as how the Vaio P isn't a netbook, no biggie.
That's why an article interview talking about the mini notebook revealed that their target market probably "doesn't even know what a netbook is"
I simply love the portability, and the freedom to be able to put this in my coat pocket, and walk to class without having to carry around a bag.
If I'm going to be carrying around a messenger bag anyway, there's no point in not getting a full-fledged laptop by that logic, so why get a netbook? The Ogio ubuntu messenger bag can fit up to a 17"- and with things like the new macbook pro and the 24 hour dell laptops and such, why get a measly 5-6 hour netbook with low power, when you can get a portable computer for a bit more? Price.. pfft. Learn to save money and balance finances, if something's worth buying, you find a way to buy it.
I already paid 450$ for my N810 internet tablet, if this can easily out perform that, then I'd easily be satisfied (it's a spankin' lil machine)
asus eee 10" is a heck a netbook. i got mine in august only paid $345 for it. cant beat it 160 gb 1 gb ram,fast 26 seconds to restart ,3 usb's etc.i mean $900 for sony netbook ,no thanks, i paid $1050in september for my new sony vaio 17" laptop that plays blurays n has a 1080p screen with hdmi output.,exactly.
"I think the vaio P is pretty innovative in terms of its design (whereas the eee pc looks like it was made in the late 90’s)"
Strange, I wouldn't have said it looks that innovative; in fact, the VAIO P's form factor reminds me of Handheld PCs (like the HP Jornada 720), which were in fact produced in the late 90's.
However, I agrre that all in all this is a very limited interest PC. I don't see Sony selling that many, certainly a small fraction of the number of Eee PCs sold.
and really i recall Sony having a small laptop a few years back, i think it was only like 10 inches or so, way before Netbooks became a term. you remember that, just this one is more wider.
Indeed, it was called the picturebook series.
They also cost approximately 4 grand, so this is cheap in terms of price compared to those, and this has better specs to boot ^_^
Those 10 inchers you can still get they are the Sony TZ line which costs you around 1400 euro for a starter so probaly 1400 usd as well. That said I wasn´t so trilled but when my gf saw this in a neat red colour she wanted to order it right away, shame it isn´t avaible yet in the Netherlands. The big difference between this and a netbook is that my gf touched a netbook and she figured out the keyboard is way to small (even while her hands are already rather smallish) and that the default OS ins´t her thing. She wants something stylish with an OS she knows how to handle. Those who buy a Sony TZ/P/cakecutter whatsoever aren´t the target group of the netbook users and visa versa. This won´t sell as mayor as an EEE but still for Sony will do just fine.
(Besides comparing an EEE with poor specs with poor upgrades to this.. still is a nogo to me. You don´t compare Powerbook with a Latitude either.)
I wish the keyboard were an inch wider. It would be a shame to pay $800 (or whatever this costs) and not able to touch-type well on it...
People can say what they want about the VAIO P, they'll continue to diss it simply because it's out of their price range. It's certainly out of mine, as well, but it's no secret that VAIOs are luxury-minded, and the VAIO P is an awesome product for those who are fashion-conscious and want a small, capable PC to carry with them anymore. And that screen is just awesome and pretty much justifies the price.
That thing is soo cool, if its affordable I'm going to buy one and hackintosh it.
I would say make sure that that's possible, first.
How well does OSX run on a 1.33Ghz Atom w/ integrated graphics at 1600x768?
We shall see..
OS X runs pretty well on a 600 MHz ARM processor with 128 MB of RAM and an 8 GB SSD.
No, don't put your disgusting OS on this beautiful Vaio P!!! ; D
OS X run shit on my G3... I bet the win7 beta is the best for that small wonder.
Makes the 7" Eee look old and fat ... incredible. I'm no fan of Sony, but they get a gold star for the design of this one, if nothing else.
Their design is generally always great, however I think their fit and finish leaves a little something to be desired. I remember that I was so pissed off with Apple and my white MacBook breaking I was thinking of leaving the Apple cult. Apple sent me one of the new aluminum MacBooks but I was still thinking of selling it before I opened it, so I went and checked out some VAIOs. They looked great, but handling them was a different experience ... they were very creaky and plasticky. I don't know why it bothered me so much, but the plastic the bottom of the computer was made out of felt like absolute garbage.
Hopefully the VAIO P feels a bit more substantial!
Unfortunately, it's utterly expensive for a netbook-specced non-netbook.
I was so sold on this when I read that it was a touchscreen on some other site. While it does look really pretty; Oh,, my god. This is just like when I backed the psp over the nin ds. Not again sony, not again. This time I'll go with the one that looks like a toy, maybe I'll have fun with it, rather then just look pretty. nub? Really? Without a touchscreen?
heu... why a touchscreen?! its a laptop, not a tablet...
How do you expect two laptops to fight with each other? They're laptops, they aren't fighting robots. Besides, what would they fight with? The sheer force of opening their lids?
Clearly there's lasers coming out of the Vaio P...
Some of the side shots look like the bottom of an iPhone 3G with the curved black back and the silver trim haha. The P reminds me of a PSP too, same colour scheme and similar plastics. It's so Sony.
if you think about it, it got a built-in GPS with what looks like a MS maps and streets (I forgot the exact name), and that will be about a 90$. An LED display costs more too, but the thing looks freaking awesome. Too it's out of my range.
the vaio p is a firecracker. touchpad or not.
Am I taking crazy pills? This thing is USELESS! People, look at the damn screen, you don't see anything. It's too small and much wider than most any site you'll encounter. WHAT is the point of this thing?
Seriously, I cannot believe the positive nods the P gets from people.
Again, the screen is TOO SMALL to see anything and to add insult to injury the resolution is TOO HIGH which makes everything even smaller. Do people not get that?
Oh and by the way - I generally LIKE SONY a lot. Just not the P.
you know you can turn.... up.... the font size? or do you get angry when you see 1080p on something smaller than a 50" Plasma HDTV?
diggit is an idiot.
Vista and win7 can upscale icons and typography. you adjust everything at your confort level. Better resolution mean you can run application too large for normal netbook. Its all good. I want to make music with Reason on that little marvel in the train..! Racks at the right, sequencer at the left..! should be very fine!
And you dont look as showoff as if you put out your big laptop...
Boards of Canada - Reason running on the Vaio P? That would rock so hard it wouldn't even be funny anymore...
To 'Diggit
'
Yes Mr Diggit, I have to agree, small 8-inch screen on a ''pocketable-PC'' is bad-idea, coz people always have large 15-inch pocket on their shirt, and ''high-res'' is always bad technology, people should stick with CRT screen, its huge and friendly for senior like your goodself :) to kick back and enjoy ''Dumb and Dumber''.
Now, to shorten the debate on whether VAIO P is worthy or not? This P here is the netbook for the ''plentiful'' fashionitas, these people would rather die than using a cheap Eee like everybody else, oh no! Eee is for the public and this VAIO P here is finally a netbook worth of their purse/Murse.
And...I dig VAIO P!!
i working in ngo
Wonder how it'll look next to a X1
John, you are correct about upping font size. But hey...Do you love to scroll? I mean, a lot? Because that's what you'll be doing on the P. Regardless of the font size you'll select, fact is the screen's dimensions are so that you cannot view web pages without scrolling.
And the more you increase the font the more you'll be scrolling. Because then less fits on the page. See how that works?
Comparing this with a TV is like comparing apples to oranges.
Ever seen a web page on an iPhone?
Okay, imagine the same but with about another 3rd of the page or so chopped off (from the bottom). And then imagine a bunch of useless unfilled space to the side of the page.
Is that how people want to surf the web?
That's what page up/down is for. Also, it's an 8" screen. I am currently on a 10" (give or take) laptop with XGA (1024x768) resolution. The VAIO is 1600x768, or ~8/5 the width:height ratio of my present screen.
Given that my screen is a 4:3 ratio, that means that the VAIO is 32:15, so (32*k)**2+(15*k)**2 = 8, or k*sqrt(32*32+15*15) = 8, which is ~= k*sqrt(5*5*5*5*2) = 8, reduces to 25k*1.4 = 8, or k = 8/35, so the screen is 15 * 8/35 or 3.42" tall
My laptop's screen is 6" tall (it's a pythagorean triple; 6, 8, 10), so I lose ~2.6". As I write this comment, there is easily that much stuff I'm not looking at. Additionally, I lose zero vertical resolution so I technically lose nothing. I just bumped up the font two ctrl plusses in Firefox and it's not pissing me off much, and I would love to have two terminals open in this so I could actually get some effective coding work done. In short (pun intended) the resolution is hardly a hindrance unless you are dead set against using page down. Its small form factor makes it the srt of thing where you can just pick it up and go, and unlike an internet tablet it has a full keyboard you can be comfortable typing on. Obviously, I would try it out to make sure there's no horrible issues before I bought one (bad mouse nib, too small keyboard, etc) but purely on specs I see no reason to rule it out.
heh, john I just found the dimensions for the screen to see how a 1600 x 768 OS X desktop would look in real life. It's really small. But yeah I used trig and I got 7.21218 x 3.46185"... You sure your work is right? But then again, what would I know, I'm only a high school sophomore.
hey engadget-
what lens did you use for shot 8 with that tight DOF?
I've noticed this quite a bit on this site. I asked one time and I forget who did the article complained about the poor light and bumping the f-stops to what I can only assume is max. For something like this I would expect something like a f1.4 or something. I mean like 2 keys are in focus. Really kind of a pointless photo. Yes you can tell it is dark in there, so you can only work with what you got, no flashes allowed? I would hope they'd atleast have a a D40 or equivalent.
I'm a huge Sony Fan and a happy owner of an old Vaio TX670 looking to upgrade, but this "nipple" controller really turns me off, probably why I never bought any of those otherwise good IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads.
did you tried it? I've never touch one but im always piss off by normal track pad... I think it'll be way better! (at least most users think so)
Dude for a laptop this small it will not matter to grab a small usb mouse as a peripheral is you are so worried but after a month or so you will be using this 'nipple' (lol) almost as efficiently as a mouse on your desktop.... and then u will get cocky and try starcraft against a Korean beast or C&C against a so called 'teh_ownerer'.. (Jeremy, Pure Pwnage)
Engadget seem to be in desperate need of finding good dSLRs and photographers... Seriously, what`s with shots at THIS quality in one of the biggest tech blogs???
How can any one resist a beauty the like the vaio p
From the pix it looks like they discovered a long lost warehouse of IBM "chiclet" keyboards -- unsold inventory from their early PC that failed dismally. Hope they fixed the feel.
Okay,
I'm ditching my plan to get a MacBook and I will get this one instead.
What is the real spec on this thing? Sonystyle website only says 1.33GHz intel processor. Well, that's not detailed enough. Is it core 2? Atom? Celeron? The 512kb L2 cache makes it look like either an old celeron or an atom processor, which means the price Sony charge is too expensive. Not much info on the intel GMA used either, hopefully it's not the sucky GMA950, especially for the price. GPS built-in is sweet though.
IMO, I would wait until Windows 7 comes out, simply due to the increased performance over Vista on light-speced machines like this and netbooks.
I guess the age of $1000 Atom devices is coming. Talk about high margin products.
Here in the UK they are advertising a 1.6 Ghz processor:
https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/b2c/productdetail/(xcm=PCM_b2ccrmstandard&layout=15_114_61_48_115_119&uiarea=2&Z_CONTEXT_RECOMM_TYPE=recommendations&ctype=areaDetails&carea=%24ROOT)/.do?productguid=494BBA937A23005FE10080002BC29B85490035842E3500C5E10080022BC29B73&productarea=494BBA937A23005FE10080002BC29B85&scenario=recommendations&detailScenario=recommendations&forward=showcua&bc_search=rhome
The price on this product is a joke...More overpriced sony BS. You can get a macbook for just a little more. Solid aluminum. Thin and portable. Core 2 duo processor. Extremely portable. Mac OS X. Nvidia Chipset etc etc etc. Or a sony device with a tiny screen, no touchpad, and an underpowered atom CPU. Tough decision?
exactly a macbook would be a much more better choice for the price range, or any other fully loaded notebook.
a macbook is also significantly wider and heavier and is not really the same kind of product at all
The Macbook is STILL more expensive?
Wow, talk about a rip off.
This is worth TWICE any Macbook.
Ah, the irony! An Apple fanboy complaining about overpriced laptops.
Of course, you're ignoring the fact that the small size of the Vaio is a feature and that this level of miniaturisation costs money. Ultraportables are always more expensive despite the fact that their specs aren't as good as larger laptops.
Basically, Sony have released the netbook that Apple fans have been craving but went one step further and created something really innovative. Perhaps Apple will get around to copying Sony soon. After all, it didn't take them too long to copy Sony's chiclet keyboard.
EeePC + VAIO = VAEeeO
http://goteking.web.infoseek.co.jp/jyank/va-eee-o/va-eee-o.htm
Fat VAIO P
http://goteking.web.infoseek.co.jp/jyank/not__vaio_p/not__vaio_p.htm
Although the Sony P is not even a fourth of the size of the Macbook Pro, Engadget is comparing it to, both show almost the same amount of pixels!
Macbook Pro: 1296000px (1440x900)
Sony P: 1228800px (1600x768)
Another interesting thing I noticed is that the Vaio's keyboard loses very little in terms of area when compared to the Macbook Pro. That's some smart design; in all aspects, this computer is incredibly efficient with the space that is there.
Vaio P + Asus Eee + Asus Eee = Pee? :P
That P looks very stylish, but I still think the aspect ratio and also the lack of a touch pad will take a while to get used to. And for near $1K, I would probably just take a full size laptop (since mobility is not my no.1 concern).
The VAIO looks great, but i think the VAIO vs Eee PC is a little unfair. The Eee Pc is a netbook, and i think the term netbook describes something that is low power and cheap. The VAIO in my opinion is more an ultra mobile computer. For those with money to spend, the VAIO will make a great gadget and mobile computer, but for mobile sales people and people who just need web, email and standard office sotware on the move, a cheap netbook is very hard to beat. I have a Asus Eee Pc 904 HD and use Windows XP to do mail , web , word, excel and Visual Studio on the move.. simply unbeatable for the £250 odd that i paid for it!
Ben - contact@netbookexpert.co.uk
http://www.netbookexpert.co.uk
Reminds me of the NEC MobilePro line. Hopefully it's a little more impressive.
Exactly. I have 3 NIB MobilePro 900's, because it is ideal for some of my uses: INSTANT ON, Word is running 1 second later. And it is the perfect size for me. I also love my Sony U101 which is WAY smaller.
The vaio p looks sweet, but for $900+ I could get 2 or 3 netbooks..... I think I'll probably get a HP Mini 2140 or Asus T91 someday.
OK, but would you actually buy 2 or 3 netbooks?
...That's what I thought!
I like the size and weight, although I'm not keen on Sony's shiny plastics and flat-top keys (I have a Vaio TX). If I didn't already carry a MacBook Air, I'd be strongly tempted to take a P. :-)
EeePC wins easily:
1) It has a vendor supported Linux port
2) It has a dedicated Ubuntu port (EeeBuntu)
3) It has multiple size options
4) It will soon have a convertible/tablet version
No points for Sony.
I will buy the Sony P as soon as I can find it. But I wish it was downgradable to XP and I'd be even happier with Linux.
if only the processor of the sony vaio p was a dual core (what they use in the other models) , that would make my dream machine, i know some people defend a netbook is just for mobile computing and some light work but i don´t want 2 computers, i just want one exactly the way vaio P looks , that i could use as my mobile device and when i need to work i could plug to a monitor .. almost there, almost there!
FINISH HIM!!!
....FAILTALITY!!!
with out a doubt the P is nice looking but if i can do the same job with an eee pc or hp mini and still have performance close to to the P i would prefer the others then the P the 900 doller price tag just does not make sence yes its a sony but come on sony your getting to the point where people dont want to buy your products because we know your takeing more money just because of your brand not because your give something better
Actually I have one on pre-order. The price of the P has a lot to do with the size and design. If you can find me a $400 ~ $500 netbook that is this small, this great looking with same or better specs and quality (I've owned several Vaios in the past and they have all been very well built machines, I currently own a Macbook Pro though) Ill cancel my pre-order right now.
A lot of people are not getting it....its the same difference between getting a Rolex or a Timex. To a lot of people (me included) gadgets are no longer just a functional thing, they also have to have a level of design. Just like clothing, would you rather wear some nice looking clothes or a potato sack? If your worried about function only, then wearing potato sack may work just fine.
Too small and Sony makes crap anyway. Totally unusable.
WTF do you know?
I would like to know how much time you have been using the new Vaio P before making your judgement.
I can't know how good or bad the Vaio P is because I've never tried, or even seen it in a tridimensional world, but I have owned and used daily a Vaio TT for a few months and every time I switch it on I still marvel at how good, practical, beautiful, well built, and fast it is.
It's only drawback can be the price, but if you can afford it it's going to make you happy, just like it makes happy me and every other TT owner I spoke to.
If this new P is as good as my TT, I'm afraid I will not be able to resist its charms, I find the possibility of putting such a device in the inside pocket of my coat hard to resist.
What do I know.. I know Sony makes C R A P- and expensive crap. There's a reason Best Buy has cabinets full of returned Sony products. They're CRAP LOL Who's batteries were exploding???? SONY's! And now it's had to announce a recall of several digital camera models.
It is widely known that Sony's quality is lacking to say the least.
Generally, with regular notebooks, I wouldn't necessarily say that since all notebooks are manufactured by one of three companies in Taiwan/China therefore the reliability ratings are equal. Any other Sony product is JUNK.
Perfect size, netbooks are too big. Sony's quality is far superior to most vendors.
I can't believe that, of all the comments here, almost no one is commenting on how this thing is too small. I have pretty small hands, and my EEE 701 is just at the limit of what I'd consider usable. Any smaller, and it would have to be a handheld with a thumbboard for it to be practical. Yeah, this thing is pretty stylish, but seriously, I don't buy my electronics to just sit and admire.
Though I admit, it would be nice to have that screen on the 701. I just can't see spending $900 on something I would hardly use.
This has a larger keyboard than the eee 701
@ cduran01 COMMENT i agree with you to a point but the way i am looking at it is that its a NETBOOKS i am aware sony is not calling a netbook but all in all thats what it is. as an owner of the HPMINI 2133 and the eee pc 701 the 900HA and the 904HA i just feel that sony is entering a marekt where people and shoppers of NETBOOKS are not going to give sony a look because of the price . i used to have the sony picture book and the sony 505VE which i loved but being that sony is entering a class where the price range is so low i feel that it will fall because it will not sell as many as other NETBOOKS and as much as i am complaing i might even buy one just because i like new toys . :) lol