Another challenger enters the ultrathin notebook arena. This time it's NEC, prepping its lightest and daintiest edition of the UltraLite line, the Type VS. Its thickness ranges from 15.8mm to 29.9mm, comparing unfavorably to the 19.4mm
MacBook Air or the 16.51mm
Adamo. But, its 725g weight (about a pound and a half) definitely undercuts the competition, and its three USB slots, Ethernet port, and SD card reader give reasonable connectivity without external adapters. Its 10.6-inch screen has a resolution of 1208 x 768, the CPU is Intel's 1.86GHz Atom Z540 (the same as found in the higher-spec version of the
Vaio P), 1GB of RAM is on tap, and a 64GB SSD keeps things persistent. Solid specs for sure, and with an asking price of around ¥99,750 (a little over $1,000) it should be reasonably solid value when it hits Japanese retailers in July. Just don't go wasting your summer waiting for these to appear domestically.
Update: That ¥99,750 is actually a special promotional price for those who pre-order directly through NEC. The device's MSRP after that will be nearly double, ¥176,000 ($1,850), and while we're guessing it'll sell for something less than that, it still won't be nearly the bargain early-adopters will receive.
[Via
PC Watch]
posted May 26th 2009 7:11AM
looks like the Sony Vaio X505zp
yes it does! cant believe u remember the model number! ahha
That's what I was thinking too. Although, you can't really compare this with the Air or Adamo as this device is more like a netbook than whatever you call the offerings from Apple and Dell.
i dont know who really cared about thinness. all i ever cared was the weight/screen size. for a 10incher, this aint bad at 1.5 lbs
Maybe - but what is it made of?
Sorry Vista, but I've moved on... Wait till July next year, maybe then.
Oops, not the SP1 post after all. Grrr, where is the edit/preview button, eh Engadget?
you really should apologise. However, July next year you will be happier using Windows 7
If its Atom powered, compare it to other netbooks, not ultra-portable. Both Air and Adamo have better cpu than Atom.
I agree with you on this one... mind you the lines are beginning to blur more and more between the different classifications. I suppose so long as there is a relatively harsh difference in processor and grfx chipsets there will be reason for distinction... However I would not be surprised if in the relatively near future there is a complete gradient of screensizes, weights, and performance cababilities at relevant pricing.
On a side note, thumbs up for Boards of Canada, nice band
Thicker but lighter than air?
That's...what, Nitrogen?
this is (almost) it ! i´ve been waiting for a netbook wich design would appeal to me, sony vaio p was close but for me the pefection would be a sony vaip p in a 10 " screen (talking about netbooks) , so i see this is under sony influence (the design). i know i will wait for something like this or a sony vaio p with a 10" !
Would buy in black.
Thin and light it may be, but geez it's been hit with the ugly stick...
God damn thats ugly.
And its not an ultrathin notebook, they have *real* processors.
This is a netbook, 10" screen, atom processor, 3 usb slots, ethernet and a card reader. Its a netbook.
Wow. $1850 for a fractionally lighter netbook, which it likely achieves by being made out of recycled cardboard. And 1GB RAM (not expandable) for Vista? And no trackpad?
I think they're onto a winner here!
For $1600 you can get a new Panasonic R8. Just a tiny bit bulkier and heavier, and you get real notebook guts. Not really seeing the attraction of this netbook...
Hmm, not sure why that ended up as a reply. I thought I undid that. Oh well.
It looks bizarre
It may look odd, but the specs are pretty awesome.
Admittedly, it has pretty much the same processor as every netbook, but a decent resolution 10.6" screen in a 765 gram machine is pretty impressive, definitely UMPC territory. The only comparable product really is the Vaio P, and from where I'm standing, this seem like a much more attractive proposition.
Shame the keyboard is in kinda the wrong place, but maybe there is a good reason for that.
If there's going to be all that extra space, there's no point in making it similar to the Vaio P, especially when it doesn't have a chiclet keyboard which gives the vaio p a nice look. It clearly has space for a trackpad and mouse buttons :\
But anyway, the Vaio P looks like it can fit a slightly larger screen in the top lid if they removed more of the bezel; it could be at least 9" instead of 8." It'd make that high res screen more bearable.
I really like the design of this personally, but I don't see it being a big seller as it will be so pricey. This makes me think netbooks are finally going to evolve into something I'd purchase though. The reason the keyboard is placed there is because if they shifted it higher on the unit it would make the unit thicker because they'd have to place it overtop of the motherboard area. You can see this well in the side shots.
If this were $600 or maybe even $700, I'd buy it. For that price, I'd rather have a Mac Air... As sad as that is.