VAIO P gets whole new lease on life with Atom Z550 processor, SSD and WiMAX

A whole new day is dawning for the never-ever-a-netbook Sony VAIO P -- those new processor and drive upgrades apparently have the little PC churning through benchmarks at twice the pace of the original. Most of the benchmark help comes from the SSD drive, but the Atom Z550 doesn't hurt. Meanwhile, Japan is getting a WiMAX version to churn through stereotypically Japanese websites in record time. We'd be jealous if only we lived under 1,000 miles from the nearest WiMAX signal.

Read - VAIO P gets WiMAX
Read - VAIO P benchmarks

[youngstunna @ Jun 13th 2009 10:52PM]

ive still never seen one fit into a pocket.

[arsenal27 @ Jun 13th 2009 10:58PM]

try wearing a xxxxxl jeans

[darkmax @ Jun 13th 2009 11:41PM]

i have. Even tried one in my jeans pocket.

[Absolute92 @ Jun 14th 2009 1:29AM]

thats what she said..........
someone was going to do it

[Ian @ Jun 14th 2009 2:26AM]

Ok, now it's a really fantastic "netbook".

[Kevin @ Jun 14th 2009 3:52AM]

Atom Z550 is a 2ghz proc! NICE!

[Kelvinyam @ Jun 14th 2009 5:08AM]

It will fit nicely into a purse.

[Blaine Oliver @ Jun 14th 2009 8:11AM]

More like whyyymax...

[msalivar @ Jun 14th 2009 8:10AM]

It's still a single core, in order processor. No thanks.

[mirakutea @ Jun 14th 2009 4:53PM]

Pfft you can just sew your own pocket thats big enough.

[AoMoe @ Jun 14th 2009 7:59PM]

This is kind of an interesting ad by Sony. Contrived, yes, but still interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lw0HIIguKE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdK2vF54I7c

I still think it is to small.

[AoMoe @ Jun 14th 2009 7:59PM]

This is kind of an interesting ad by Sony. Contrived, yes, but still interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lw0HIIguKE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdK2vF54I7c

I still think it is to small. More that the screen is too long for its height.

[Amrosorma @ Jun 13th 2009 10:55PM]

"We'd be jealous if only we lived under 1,000 miles from the nearest WiMAX signal."

How far away is NYC from Baltimore anyway?

[chuuchdizzle @ Jun 13th 2009 11:14PM]

I can tell you it's not 1000 miles

[rhcpsfan @ Jun 13th 2009 11:19PM]

About 200 miles. I'm not sure where he got 1000...... :?

[darkmax @ Jun 13th 2009 11:42PM]

i think he meant the nearest Japanese WiMax

[Micah @ Jun 14th 2009 12:09AM]

No, I think he purposely exaggerated it because whether it's 200 or 1000, what's the difference? wimax is only available to a sliver of the US population at the moment.

[kwikit (aka tikiwk) @ Jun 14th 2009 10:09AM]

You guys are far too forgiving, or I'm on a cusade... but I think it was a lapse in memory. The statement was meant to exaggerate, obviously, but they forgot Baltimore has WiMax. I know I did.

The device is still far too wide and far too short. The display is like one of those found on those single line word processing type-writer replacement machines I was fortunate enough to use in the 80's... man that sucked. I will never buy a laptop / netbook / electronic device that has a 16:1 screen ratio (yes, I am exaggerating). The horizon is just not that important. I should know, I have 2 24" monitors in span mode now, and that's a literal pain in the neck. 44" of screen x 14" is a little too disproportionate and so is this monstrosity. I've decided that dual monitor configurations just should not be comprised of wide format displays... the only kind available now. :( Dual monitor configurations should be made with 4:3 ratio screens. Otherwise, it's just too friggin wide. And so is this lil bastard. Yuck.

[lens42 @ Jun 14th 2009 12:00PM]

Yes, monitors ARE too wide! I have to laugh every time I'm in a meeting where some document is posted on a big screen, and still no one can read it because the page is a vertical band in the middle of a mostly-empty the screen. Wide monitors are a scam in that a 24" wide screen uses less glass than a 24" 4:3 monitor, so they cost less to make. It like when Nabisco quietly reduces the amount of crackers in a box - you don't realized you're getting ripped off. Manufacturers should have to designate monitors by screen area, or at least some makers should recognize that the best screen shape for movies is not the same as the best shape for work.

[John @ Jun 14th 2009 6:05PM]

you are entirely missing the point of widescreen monitors. I use two 16:9s (24" and 23"; the 23" is actually the higher res at 2048x1152) and will generally have a browser & AIM on one, 3-4 screens of code on the other. It's for multitasking, not for looking at a single word doc. 4:3 is less optimal than a single 16:9 because documents are rarely wider than they are tall, and if you split it in the middle to look at two things at once you don't have enough horizontal space left over. While the move from 16:10 to 16:9 could be said to be motivated by cutting down costs (it could also be said to be an industry standard as defined by content makers and not display producers), the switch from 4:3 to 16:9 was for many good reasons, including that it's easier to look side to side than up and down. 5:4 monitors are closer to square than 4:3 but they aren't clamored for because a square monitor isn't easy to partition into multiple workspaces.

/rant.

[kwikit (aka tikiwk) @ Jun 14th 2009 9:25PM]

John,

I know, I've had dual monitors for probably 12 or so years. Your usage pattern is different from mine. I use them for 1 application with various pallettes, and Help files / tutorials, extra web browsers.... Multi tasking as well as uni tasking.

My point wasn't that I was spanning a single document across the screens, the point was that there wasn't enough Vertical information to go along with the Horizontal information, plus, regardless of what information is on each display, I find 2 monitors at 24" each to be too wide. Not every application benefits from a predominantly horizontal format... and I know I can rotate the monitor for a vertical orientation so I could work on a skyscraper if I want.

I use it for 3dsmax, so the main workspace is on the left and tool panels are on the right. I use it for Photoshop so main window is on the left and the tools are on the right. I use it for multiple documents at the same time, many on each screen. I use it for Indesign, split workspace. I use it for Sonar, split workspace. All of that still leaves me with the same feeling... 2 20" monitors in a 4:3 ratio would probably please me more than the 24" monitors. However, I'm used to my monitors enough that I will not replace them soon. They're the original 2407 Dell's and they work great otherwise.

Regardless, I do not want a machine that has a screen that's almost 3:1.

[in5ane @ Jun 15th 2009 5:42AM]

to the guy whining about word documents on a widescreen: flip that mutha to portait!

I have dual wides now... at first I thought it was too wide, but now i think it's way better than two 4:3s. I'm still using sqaure shaped windows for most things (browsers) then filling in the extra space with msn, sidebar/gadgets etc.

[sr @ Jun 13th 2009 11:00PM]

That is the best "couch computer" in the world. The best for checking stuff while watching TV.

[htd @ Jun 13th 2009 11:05PM]

a little too small and too expensive for that purpose.

[John @ Jun 13th 2009 11:13PM]

too expensive? maybe.
too small? I guess you haven't had some hands-on time with a vaio p yet.
I'm...I dunno, I guess 'dumbfounded' could describe it when it comes to the ergonomics of the vaio p.
By all means that thing should be a PITA to work with, but it isn't. Really impressive.

[Ahmad @ Jun 13th 2009 11:41PM]

My Nokia N800 was perfect for that sort of thing. The pages load a bit slow with MicroB but once I put a WebKit browser on there it was great.

[sr @ Jun 14th 2009 12:56PM]

Too expensive is your problem, but too small is no such thing for a couch computer.

This thing with its trackpoint and 1.4lb weight even beats my Thinkpad X200s for the purpose. I generally hate Sony computers, but this one has me giving credit where credit is due.

N800/810 etc. is okay also, but nowhere near as powerful as having a whole Win 7 machine around. Access to my homeserver and control over anything in my network. I want one.

[Ethos @ Jun 13th 2009 11:05PM]

I dunno there little rubber mouse thing feels odd I dunno but I think I would've preferred a scroll ball like on BB's but obviously much more sensitive.

[Awjvail @ Jun 15th 2009 1:05AM]

Clit sticks have been around for ages. I love em.

[Ghatid @ Jun 13th 2009 11:07PM]

What an awesome netbook!

Oh shoot! Sorry Sony...

[DBrim @ Jun 13th 2009 11:17PM]

Can you please refer to processors by their specs and not by their model number? It gets confusing, especially since there's more than just N270 now.

[WINNER! @ Jun 13th 2009 11:20PM]

I am SO getting this when I start charging my kids rent.

[Samboini @ Jun 14th 2009 4:04AM]

Everyone's a winner baby.

[loosely_coupled @ Jun 13th 2009 11:22PM]

I know it is small, but surely it could house a 45nm Core solo CULV @1.4Ghz, right? The CPU has a 5 watt TDP. Couple it with Nvidia ION, and we have a deal!

[Ethos @ Jun 13th 2009 11:32PM]

And drop the price from $1899 AUD to maybe $1399...or am I asking to much =/

[Barry @ Jun 13th 2009 11:33PM]

I'm not touching a netbook until ION comes out.

[Noah @ Jun 14th 2009 1:28AM]

b/c you want to play Crysis on it and watch HD movies?

[tothamax @ Jun 13th 2009 11:56PM]

I just don't get why manufacturers aren't even using the 2 GHz Atom for netbooks.

[Icello @ Jun 14th 2009 3:53AM]

Because of the MS requirements. If it's over a certain spec level then it has to run Vista, which would be really bad on a 2GHz atom and 2GB of ram and awful integrated graphics. Of course, this does run Vista already, so????

[finder0 @ Jun 14th 2009 1:12AM]

Not a bad product

[blankoboy @ Jun 14th 2009 1:28AM]

Still no ION based graphics? For get that...IGP sucks.

[Jake @ Jun 14th 2009 2:28AM]

Is it a nipple or a clitoris???

[Maxwell Ash @ Jun 14th 2009 3:11AM]

No, It's a really small computer.

[Frostblade10 @ Jun 14th 2009 3:58AM]

Meh, they both have a button that turns it on. >:D

[GingerFox @ Jun 14th 2009 7:56AM]

waaaaaaaaaaay

[Frostblade10 @ Jun 14th 2009 4:00AM]

Ugh i got my hopes up.

This is that Japanese-only upgrade that was posted a while back? I would LOVE to have 2GHz and 256GB SSD; I'm sure everyone else would too. I have fantasies of this thing sitting in my lap with a 360 controller in it playing Super Metroid. *drool*

:(

[Anticrawl @ Jun 14th 2009 4:42AM]

OMG, I just had a nerdgasm.

[Carniphage @ Jun 14th 2009 6:40AM]

Does it come with magnifying spectacles?

Seriously, running a desktop UI on a pocket-sized screen is beyond pointless.

Someone should put Sony's engineers back in the gimp-box and stop them running around, off the leash as if they know what they are doing. Stop it. Stop it right now and put some designers in charge, who have, at some point in their lives, have had personal knowledge with a real life clue.

C.

[bob @ Jun 14th 2009 8:35AM]

The P series isn't a netbook because the netbook is coming out later this year.

[bob @ Jun 14th 2009 8:36AM]

Oh, and the US version of the P will only have the Z540 as tops for now.