New 1.4-pound, Super Widescreen Netbook Sony VAIO P Hands On

[LeftNutOfGowd]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/Passport_Red.jpg

Sony's much-hyped Vaio P Netbook has finally come out from under wraps, weighing under 1.4 pounds, sitting under an inch thick, and packing in an 8-inch screen with a 2.08:1 aspect ratio (1600x768!).

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/pocketmain.jpg

The keyboard? It rocks. The screen? Beautiful. The trackball is just the right amount of gritty, so your finger sticks to it and doesn't slide off onto the keyboard. The instant-on OS? Classy.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/pocket.jpg

The keys are small, but just the perfect amount of small—you'll only have a problem if you have fingers the size of fried carnival pastries. It took me about 15-30 seconds of mistyping to adjust and type just about perfectly, though your hands won't feel as loose as they are on a full size keyboard by means. They're really punchy, though shallow, too. Overall, good. The trackball is a little oversensitive, but adjustable too. What I do hate are the mouse buttons. They're too small and not distinguished enough, so easy to miss. Oh, and it's a smudge magnet.

The form factor looks weird in the press shots, but in person, it works—incredibly well. It's very clearly a Porsche (http://i.gizmodo.com/5125904/sony-vaio-p-is-a-14+pound-super-widescreen-netbook-dynamo?skyline=true&s=x) compared to the Chevy-esque standard netbook. In fact, Sony guys insist it's not a netbook, which is true. It's officially throw-it-in-your-bag-and-forget-it-sized, which netbooks are not.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/_MG_4759.jpg

I like the instant-on OS. It's essentially a Sony XMB that gives you access to photos, internet and movies, much like other instant-on OSes, but the P's seems exceptionally classy.

Every SKU has the same 1.33Ghz Atom inside (the Z series not the pokier N)—not incredibly speedy, and 2GB of RAM, which lets them all run Vista okay. Screen is, duh, gorgeous thanks to that incredible pixel density. The built-in 3G is Verizon only, and they wouldn't comment on a GSM version. Oh, and that $900 pricepoint? That's for Vista Home Basic—you've gotta drop a grand to get real Vista. Otherwise, the 4 different SKUs vary based mostly on storage—60GB starting up to a 128GB SSD in the $1500 model.

You'd almost think you could work on it, but we're not so convinced yet—that'll take some much more extensive hands on time, a couple days at least. At the very least, you'd have to widen and shrink your workflow. But we're definitely curious to find out. Overall, it's certainly an interesting machine—not a netbook, UMPC or laptop, but something in between all of those. What exactly that is, we'll have to figure out in the longer haul.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/pppp
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http://i.gizmodo.com/5125904/sony-vaio-p-is-a-14+pound-super-widescreen-netbook-dynamo




:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

[stiizy]

Maybe i'll get one of these for my girl once tax season rolls around..

nice find Ru

[SimpleS14]

Cute. I've been wanting to see better pics of this product.

Thanks.

[BustedS13]

sick.
i'd still rather have an EEE. but sick.

[LeftNutOfGowd]

^^OH MAN ME TOO me too

[DUFFM4N]

looks like a woman's pocketbook, hide it away when carrying it around....no way you could be taken as heterosexual if you're walking around simply holding it in your hand :keke:

[svensko]

Added to my grad school wishlist. :eek3d:

[atom]

Rather get the Raon Everun Note, even though it's way uglier than the P. Typical $ony, way overpriced.

[turtl631]

Who would spend a grand on a netbook?

[TheWolf]

sony says "ITS NOT A NETBOOK"....

"That type of customer probably doesn’t even know what a netbook is. The customer we are targeting is probably not going to do product comparisons; they are going to look at this product and say “that is unbelievable.”"

Even more crazy sony quotes available here...
Sony: VAIO P Will Make You Forget About Other Netbooks (http://blog.laptopmag.com/qa-can-sony-convince-you-to-pay-more-for-vaio-p-series)

My favorite at the bottom is sony's response to installing tons of crap/bloat ware.
"We are laser focused on the customer experience. We are not just mindful but we have an entire team dedicated to the improvement experience, and one of the top priorities is boot up and clean install. We have eliminated a gigantic portion of what you would typically experience with a full size version of VAIO from consumer retail versus what you would experience with the P Series. The reason why is because the architecture and processor we are using does have some limitations, and we want to make sure we don’t weigh the performance down"

Translate. Shit didn't run so we had to trim it. We still load down our vaio's but since your already paying a premium for this crap device, we'll leave it off.

at over $900 I'm inclined to agree..

[svensko]

Rather get the Raon Everun Note, even though it's way uglier than the P. Typical $ony, way overpriced.

Yeah, should I buy Sony for $900 or some Chinese netbook I've never even heard of for $800? Tough choice. :ughug:

[atom]

Yeah, should I buy Sony for $900 or some Chinese netbook I've never even heard of for $800? Tough choice. :ughug:

So you concentrate on the name more than the specs? Typical Sony buyer, just one notch below the Apple freaks. LOL

BTW Sony has only one model at $899 without a SSD. The next cheapest model? $1499. Have fun.

[svensko]

So you concentrate on the name more than the specs? Typical Sony buyer, just one notch below the Apple freaks. LOL

BTW Sony has only one model at $899 without a SSD. The next cheapest model? $1499. Have fun.

I'm actually an Asus fanboi but currently own a Acer Aspire One, and IBM X40. I agree that Sony is overpriced crap but at least I've heard of the brand. :hyper:

Also, you realize that most SSDs have lower write speeds than HDDS, right?

Finally, the last Sony item I owned was a PSP that I played for ~10 hours. Before that was a PS2 that I played for ~20 hours.

In conclusion, :fruit:

[lflkajfj12123]

am i the only one yawning about this shit?

[TheWolf]

Yeah, should I buy Sony for $900 or some Chinese netbook I've never even heard of for $500? Tough choice. :ughug:

fixed........

[svensko]

fixed........

everun note - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=everun+note&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a)

Look at the prices right in the search, the range is $660 to $850. You must have some mad hook-ups playah. :wan:

[Matej]

McBooks r better [match my individuality] /more 'culture' @ my fav local Starbucks.

[ALTRNTV]

am i the only one yawning about this shit?
Nope, I am as well. Figures since we have Macs.

:trogdor:

[kyoru]

looks like a better PSP lol...but yeah I only use 15" notebooks I can't stand these tiny netbooks