Sony doth protest too much: don't call the VAIO P a netbook?
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted January 20th 2009 8:53PM
posted January 20th 2009 8:53PM
The keyboard: Sony claims the size of the keyboard gives the P non-netbook bragging rights. We'd almost agree -- the length of the keyboard is impressive -- but actually the keys are Lilliputian in scale, and not much easier to tap away on than similar netbooky models.
The screen: They mention that the screen is backlit. We're not sure if that's an attempted dig at other laptops in this class or not, but every netbook screen we've seen is backlit. Every. One. We'll give them this though, the VAIO P destroys the competition when it comes to resolution. Unfortunately, you pay for those pixels, and reading text on this super high-res (yet super tiny) screen is not... er, not super pleasant.
The core: It has an Atom Z processor. They pretty much all have an Atom processor these days, though it's interesting to note that the Z chips are actually considered MID or UMPC processors, though are functionally the same in comparison to the more oft-used N series. Also worth mentioning: the VAIO P's CPU speed is clocked slower (1.3GHz) than most of its competition on the market (1.6GHz). Next!
The wireless capabilities: You're touting the WiFi? Really Sony? Moving briskly along, the VAIO P offers EV-DO on Verizon's network. Nice touch. Of course, for an additional $125, you can snag 3G connectivity on the Dell Mini 9 and 12, and it's built right in to HP's Mini 1000 (accessible with a little driver magic). Those aren't the only options -- and there's plenty more on the way. Really looking for a staggering price difference? Buy a 3G-infused Mini 9 for $99 (tied to a two-year contract). At least you're not dropping $900 plus the contract.
GPS: Now it's true, there aren't a ton of netbooks on the market with GPS, though the new LG X110 will sport it (and HSDPA) for far less cash than the P, and for those willing to get their hands a little dirty, you can strike navigation gold on the Mini 9 with a little hack. Still, the VAIO P comes loaded with GPS, no muss, no fuss, and you can't take that away from it.
Dual OS: Ah yes, the dual OSs of Microsoft Windows Vista and... Sony's Xross Media Bar interface? Listen, we love the XMB Sony, but that ain't no OS. We do like the instant-on option here, but we're just not sure you can properly refer to it as an operating system. And of course, quickboot options are available on numerous other laptops in this class.
The options: The VAIO P offers SSD options on top of traditional hard drives. For lots more money. So do other makers. Plus, there are myriad third party options to add an SSD. This point is bunk on many levels, particularly because an option that adds a huge cost to the laptop doesn't count as a basic point to distance it from netbooks. You can pay a lot of money to get an SSD in a lot of laptops, netbook or not.
Which brings us to our final -- and perhaps most telling -- point. Price. Rick boasts that the VAIO P starts at an "ain't cheap" $900 and goes up from there. And let's be honest Sony, this is really your hook, line, and sinker in the "it's not a netbook" argument. It simply costs more. A cost which, as you stated in your press conference at CES, you want users to "aspire" to pay. That may be fine for the few who don't mind getting taken for a ride when there are plenty of viable, less expensive options, but in an economic climate where jobs are being cut by the thousands every day, this point is borderline offensive.
You want to sell a netbook as something else on the merit of its cost, and that's fine by us. Just don't expect an informed public to go along for the ride.
Well, that's what iBois do. They buy their stupid glowing fruit book to look cool at the coffeeshop. Anyone buying this for the right reason will use it at home, in bed, or near the TV remote to be able to check a few things while watching TV, basically for little things that a nice small and light machine could be useful for at home. Preferably matte black is an option.
I'm inclined to agree with Sony PR this time: the VAIO P is not a netbook. Not with the features and price tag it has.
You have to hand it to them. Sony has successfully created a new market segment by introducing the world's first nutbook.
The Baio Pic , pun intended, was precious.
Simply think of it in these terms:
The PS3 is not a console, b/c it offers soooooo much more in features that the competition doesn't.
.aaaaaand $499 and $599! (when it came out)
"They mention that the screen is backlit. We're not sure if that's an attempted dig at other laptops in this class"
what other laptops in this class? this is unique... and I don't like it.
I call NETBOOK!
bullseye Josh!
you have no clue how many fanboy mails i got after the sony vaio p bash video, robert scoble did with me during CES.
It's just important to really point out these facts, that's the only way Sony can learn from its' mistakes. And hell, i would have love to see a cool Sony netbook. This little thing is just not useable!
For sure isnt a Netbook. $900 is the reason why.
I do not understand what the controversy is, about calling it a netbook. Who honestly cares one way or the other. A portable computer is a laptop. Period. All this fuss seems to me like a marketing scheme which showcases the Vaio P more than any other "portable computer" shown at CES.
Don't get me wrong, I do like the asthetics/features of this computer, but the gripe about what to name this computer? Call it a laptop.
notebook: HAS optical drive.
netbook: NO optical drive.
sorry sony your P is netbook in mybook, same to you miss AIR don't you think you are a notebook or even a macbook.
Um. no optical drive = netbook? are you being serious or just had to include a comment for no other reason than to create some sort of on-line presence for yourself.
my (old) toshiba m200 tablet pc comes without an optical drive (at the time i suppose the level of tech sophistication didnt allow to include one and keep it as light weighted as they wanted it to), and i would definitely (as im sure the rest of the world) consider it a notebook.
unless you have a comment on how the m200 should be considered a netbook, please refrain from such useless comments that do not add to the discussion.
Some future netbooks are said to have an optical drive. Does it make them notebooks?
IMO Atom / Neo CPU = netbook. Those can't play back 720p movies at the moment. As soon as they can, I'll call netbooks "ultraportables with small price tag", at the moment they're internet browsers.
If Sony generate this kind of buzz over their claims... then they are WINNING!!
whining?
If anyone ever doubted Joshua's readyness to take over for Ryan Block, this little write-up should set their minds at ease. Good for you, Joshua, and boooooo Sony!
AH````` MY GOD!! It's an Ultra portable notebook, OK? ENGADGET~~ if you love netbook, why not call your dear Apple to make one for yoiu? YOUR Apple can give U the greatest, only U know!
Cost and size defines netbook to me.
Its got the size, but the cost is WAY to much. Therefore, Ultraportable. Not netbook.
Wow im surpirsed no one specifically stated the exact obvious reasoning for SONY's denial of the Vaio P being a NETBOOK. Its quite simple, being that almost every single gadget site in existence is all over netbooks especially since major companies like DELL have entered the market. There is one glaring statement of fact that all of these sites share, THE PRICEPOINT. I know alot of people keep saying its an expensive netbook, but thats really what SONY doesnt want you to think. The second someone hears the word NETBOOK< the first thing that comes to mind is SUB-$500 price point. So how could SONY possibly justify calling the VAIO P a NETBOOK with a pricepoint that is nowheres near NETBOOK status. Order a Fully tricked out Netbook from just about any company right now and you wont be getting any wheres near the $900(TO START MIND YOU) price point. Its almost like the argument about HDMI cables that sites like CNET make all the time. You have companys like MONSTER cables charging upwards of $150 for a PREMIUM HDMI cable, that does absolutely nothing different than its much much much cheaper competition, but if you expect people to pay those prices for the same old thing you need to justify it somehow. By calling the VAIO P a Netbook theres no way they could possibly get you chumps out there to buy one cuz now that the market is saturated with netbooks how stupid would SONY look to have the only Netbook to break the $1000 price point while offering little more than a future excuse to wear bifocals. PUH LEAZ
well technically the cables have different speed ratings designed for different resolutions, color bit rates and Hertz ratings, but, no your right a yaris is just as fast as a stock car my mistake
/s
Let's face it, the definition of "netbook" is still wide open and changing.
Still, I know one when I see one, and the VIAO P isn't one. It's too small, too highly engineered. Laugh if you will, but I consider it a clamshell MID.
@mike - Apple doesn't have a netbook, troll.
Re-read my post. I never said they did, do, or ever will. SJ correctly notes that the iPhone/iPod touch can do almost everything these POS's can. What on Earth are you responding to?
Your title says Sony protests too much?
Pot meet kettle... you're both black.
You guys do of course realize that real people who have a life don't give a shit.
Obviously it should simply be called a Pocketbook.
Bottom line. Why pay twice as much for a system with the same specifications as a less expensive device? Thats just plain arrogance of Sony and flat out stupid. Hey let them call it what they want lets see how many units they push. Just like there PS3 it sweet but it has yet to outsale te Xbox or the older PS2.
I give it 3 months until Apple releases something like this for around the same price, in white and black, makes it a few mm thinner or wider or smaller (somehow), calls it iSomething or Macbook Micro. Sounds it off as the revolutionary [insert something that compares it with a netbook, but it's def. NOT a netbook, like Sony is doing] and everyone will love it and buy it.
Poor Sony, they can't catch a break.
Also, I think it's a netbook too although there's a thin line...I mean, the MAIN difference between UMPCs/MIDs and netbooks right now is that UMPCs remain relatively small compared to netbooks and generally consist of a touchscreen and tablet like experience. Maybe if the Vaio P managed to break that stereotype somehow it could emerge as a UMPC.
Very good point (although I give it 5 months...just in time for Apple's next big event)!
Job seemingly can't do no wrong while spewing similar marketing hyperbole. Next time, Sir Stringer should ask Tom Hank to communicate this to the public wearing his Forest Gump outfit...maybe that'll make easier for general public to accept.
Very good point (although I give it 5 months...just in time for Apple's next big event)!
Job seemingly can't do no wrong while spewing similar marketing hyperbole. Next time, Sir Stringer should ask Tom Hank to communicate this to the public wearing his Forest Gump outfit...maybe that'll make easier for general public to accept.
the vaio looks like a nice machine, but im not going to listen to some dude on a blog, i know its a netbook, but its a f**kin sweet a$$ netbook at that.
This isn't a new idea for Sony - the idea that you 'aspire' to their rather more expensive hardware...
The other product most obviously touted in this way is the PS3 which is - err - 3rd in a 3 horse race as people 'aspire' to get a 360 and a Wii in rather larger numbers (and both for the price of a PS3 even!) :)
You don't need to be a Sony-hater to see that they've made an attractive-looking and 'different' take on the Netbook here - and people will pay a little more for that for sure - but not the THREE TIMES more it's looking like a Vaio P will be (here in the UK) over the best current Netbook.
Sony need to lay off the arrogant 'genre creating' nonsense and what amounts to 'marketting lies' and get back to making desirable kit at a price which doesn't insult the consumer but simply stuns them a bit instead - because that's worked for them upto now...
well in my opinion, its a netbook
heres why:
1: its really small, so small that they decided to chop a mouse pad and go with a stick just to make it smaller and the point of netbooks is to be as small as possible - for example the hp mini with the mouse buttons on the left and right of the track pad to save an inch of size
2: its not a powerhouse but it is capable of doing office work for advanced uses, again - the hp mini is capable of doing office work and programming with large IDEs such as visual studio 2008 (i know because i own one and thats what i do)
3: even though its more expensive than other netbooks it is still cheaper than a (new) decent laptop
4: one of its features is that it has a near full sized keyboard, all newer netbooks make this a feature
now lets see why it isnt a "UMPC"
UMPC = ultra mobile personal computer
We need to understand the word "Ultra" here being a prefix to the word mobile we can examine it as either the prefix or an adjective meaning "Going beyond what is usual or ordinary; excessive, extreme, immoderate." according to the oxford english dictionary.
so what counts as being "excessive" when it comes to portability? most any desktop is "portable" in that it can be moved about and all laptops and notebooks are portable
I suppose "excessive" portability comes with a machine that can be easily and effectively used for its intended purpose while moving...something like an OQO, perhaps?
You CAN whip out your sony P while your walking and start typing away but i dont believe it would work very well but an OQO would work just fine
anyway, that's really it i suppose
so, whos first to start bitching about how stupid i am because you disagree with me?
Could i say Sony VAIO P'enis on that blog? Dont know... ;-)
If Sony has the audacity to blog these points, they deserve The Rock-type jabroni smackdown. I'm so sick of these corporations thinking that the public are gullible (Uhh, wait, Bush was voted to the office two terms. Paris Hilton became famous for being a vacuous party whore...Ok, they may have have their point).
Hey Sony, you tend to make well-designed product that appeal more to the emotion than logic (just like Apple). I'm one of the suckers who repeatedly buy your stuff. Yes, I have a Vaio laptop. Leave well enough alone.
Instead your knee-jerk reaction in trying to convince journalist (and well-informed public) to buy your BS reaction is more likely to backfire. Yes, I was seriously considering the buying the Vaio P. Thanks to your blog, it actually supplied me with enough logic to realize that it would be money mispent.
If not for my pending project with Apple, (which would most likely force me to buy a Mac notebook) it would be HP DV2 all the way for me baby.
and THAT'S why Josh T is da man!... after Ryan B.
Lay the smack down, Josh. lol
It's simply arrogant of Sony to claim "it' not a netbook". whatever though.
Introducing the Sony Vaio PWND Book!
I dont think it should be called a Netbook, when I think of Netbooks, I think of lowprice, small laptops. This is just a small laptop. If I was going to spend $1000 on a laptop it wouldn't be this.
@mike - You believe the iPhone / iPod Touch can do everything a laptop can do? You're a true Apple fanboi and cannot be reasoned with.
The high resolution is fantastic. Start thinking in terms of DPI, and everything becomes MUCH easier to read. This type of screen should be in every netbook.
couldn't agree more with this article. Those defending the P must like to be ripped off... Kudos to engadget for telling it like it is.
I call netbook.
Atom processor
Intel graphics
single axis hinge separating screen and keyboard
full os
The Vaio P is a Del Sol to the standard netbook's Civic, if anybody here is old enough to remember the Del Sol. A little smaller with some premium features, but at the core the hardware and functionality are unchanged.
2 doors and a t-top does not a sports car nor a luxury car make.
its not a netbook, its a LIFESTYLE....err...whatever thats supposed to mean.
this must be a way to cover up the fact that the computer is lower spec-ed and more costly than most netbooks.
I love you sony, i have an SZ 650N, and i can afford this, but stop this nonsense! :( Sony, breaking my heart!
I'm just waiting for Sony to do away with proper names and just label everything "Over-Priced Sony Product"
I don't blame Sony for trying to distance themselves from the term Netbook - seems to be pretty much a premium product which certainly isn't suggested by that term.
Noone here seems to argue that an iPod is actually an mp3 player/DAP? Yet people throw that term around like it's no tomorrow and listed under separate headings on sites. And if questioned, Apple would probably do the same as Sony - argue that it's a better product than the usual DAP etc etc
Having said that, it is still just a premium netbook and they are just shooting themselves in the foot by openly trying to argue it rather than letting the brand and product do the talking.
Hasn't it got LED backlighting? I'd say that it's a typo on their part in the header for the screen.
Sony needs to stop hyping up this NETBOOK. If I wanted a "powerful" and "elite" mini notebook I'd rather save my $500. Besides who really needs GPS anyways? That's what my blackberry storm is for. Honestly if someone is willing to shell out the $900 they are only doing it to look pretentious. Save your $500 because using that money you could get a Blackberry storm or an Iphone and pay for service for half a year. And guess what? You can actually CALL ppl using those.
Besides the point of an ultra- portable is to be able to do the basics while on the go. If I want a "highly engineered" piece of machinery I'd buy a real computer. At least then I can actually read and type on the thing. Thanks Sony... but nice try. It's too small to be a real computer and too expensive to realistically buy.... unless you're just a prick.