Sony VAIO P First Look

As previously announced at CES, the new Sony VAIO P is an Atom-based ultraportable notebook with a high-resolution 8-inch screen, a gorgeous design and a starting price of $900. We got our hands on a fully-equipped, pre-release version of the VAIO P and after spending a few hours using it on the road we're ready to tell you what we think.

Sony is no newcomer in the ultraportable PC market. When they released the VAIO UX Micro PC in 2006, the idea of an extremely compact (almost pocketable) computer was revolutionary and warranted a high price tag ... an $1,800 MSRP at the time of launch.

The Sony VAIO UX-series Micro PC from 2006.

Fast forward to 2009 and the notebook industry has been turned on its head. The introduction of "netbooks" in late 2007 with the ASUS Eee PC completely changed the price point of ultraportable computers. Now, consumers can get a mobile notebook for less than $500. So when Sony announced the VAIO P this week with a price tag of $900 it was only natural for many members of the press to wonder, "What is Sony thinking?"

Well, we'll answer that question for you in just a little bit.

First, let's talk about the technical specs of the new VAIO P notebook. The VAIO P is powered by the Intel Atom Z processor which is clocked at 1.33GHz with 512KB Cache. It features an amazing 8-inch glossy display with an impressive resolution of 1600 x 768. Compare that to most 8.9-inch netbooks with a resolution of only 1024 x 600 and you can start to understand how much extra resolution this screen offers. The super-thin chassis weighs a modest 1.8lbs, making it one of the lightest ultraportables on the market. This super compact notebook uses a 60GB hard drive for storage and has 2GB of built-in RAM that is soldered to the motherboard, so you won't be opening up the tiny case to upgrade this little guy. On the plus side there are two flush-mount memory card slots on the front, one for SDHC memory cards and one for Sony Memory Stick cards, so you can use one or two memory cards to expand your storage options or take advantage of Windows Vista ReadyBoost to improve performance. You can also connect external hard drives to either of the two USB ports located on the left and right sides of the VAIO P.

Sony offers the VAIO P in four colors: Onyx Black, Emerald Green, Garnet Red, Crystal White. Our review unit has the Emerald Green chassis and I have to admit the fit and finish of this little notebook exceeds my expectations. We've seen a lot of low-cost netbooks in our office, and none of them have a paint finish that looks quite like this. It's more like a quality automotive paint job than just cheap colored plastics. Sony will also offer the VAIO P with both standard 4-cell and extended-life 6-cell batteries.

As stated, although the screen is small at just eight inches, it offers the unbelievable 1600 x 768 resolution. This does have the side effect of making small text difficult to read, but Sony was smart enough to design a very functional "magnify" tool that allows you to increase the size of what you're reading without changing the screen's resolution setting. Just press function (FN) and F10 keys and small text instantly becomes readable. The screen is a glossy XBRITE-ECO variety so expect some reflection under strong indoor lighting or direct sunlight.

If you're wondering what that weird application is that you see on the screen in the image above, that's the new Sony XRoss instant-on interface designed for the VAIO P. Although the VAIO P runs Windows Vista, Sony recognized that many business users and travelers would want to be able to access things like email, the Firefox web browser, a photo gallery, or instant messaging applications as quickly as possible. So, if you need to use your VAIO P as quickly as possible you can press a small button located next to the power button and you'll be ready to get online in roughly 20 seconds or less. Unlike most "instant on" operating systems we've seen over the last year, the Linux-based Sony XRoss interface feels genuinely snappy and might be a viable alternative to Windows Vista when you need to get online, share photos, or listen to some music quickly while on the road.

The VAIO P is crammed with wireless options, including Wi-Fi 802.11n, BlueTooth and Verizon WWAN (subscription required). Our review unit came equipped with an activated Verizon WWAN card and the reception was quite good, allowing us to stay connected to the internet even in places where WiFi wasn't available.

As many news agencies have mentioned, Sony doesn't want to call the VAIO P a "netbook." While the size would suggest this device fits into the netbook category, their may be some valid reasons why consumers shouldn't lump the VAIO P in with your average $400 netbook. First, despite the 8-inch screen, the VAIO P is significantly more compact than most netbooks with 8.9-inch or even 7-inch screens. However, despite the small size the keyboard is remarkably easy to use and comfortable enough for hours of typing. Rather than using a generic touchpad, the VAIO P uses a trackpoint or pointing stick similar to what you find on many high-priced business notebooks. Below are a few photos comparing the size of the VAIO P against an Acer Aspire One netbook and a Dell Latitude D630.

The VAIO P has such a small footprint and is so thin that you can actually fits in the inside jacket pocket of my suit jacket. That's a fantastic feature for business travelers because it means you don't have to worry about another piece of carry-on luggage ... as long as you're wearing a suit jacket.

The $900 Question

Let's face some hard facts. Although the VAIO P is pretty amazing, it's going to be sold on store shelves sitting right next to netbooks that have some of the same features and that cost less than half as much. You're probably asking yourself, "Why would anyone spend $900 for this today?" After spending a full day using the Sony VAIO P I feel like I can safely answer that question:

Because the Sony VAIO P is not your average netbook.

There's a reason why so many Americans drive Toyota Camrys and Honda Civics ... because we want products that give us as many features as possible for as little money as possible. Americans appreciate a good value. At the same time, not everybody wants to drive a boring beige Camry. A few of us want to drive something that's small, feature-packed, and sexy ... and they're willing to pay just "a little more" for something that's unique.

The Sony VAIO P is like a Mini Cooper in a world full of Camrys and Civics. Sure, it costs a little more, it's not the biggest, and certainly doesn't offer the absolute best performance, but it offers premium features you won't find in the competition, sexy looks, and helps you stand out in a crowd full of boring look-a-likes.

More To Come

We'll have a full review of the Sony VAIO P with performance benchmarks and more details very, very soon. Stay tuned to NotebookReview.com for more on this innovative little machine.

 

Wheres the touchpad? im too lazy to read

 

Looks like it has a pointing shtick. Unless Sony mounted on the bottom or something

 

Very cool, and I dig the amazing 1600x900 screen resolution. It is impressive Sony was able to fit in a usable, good keyboard as well. My biggest requirements when buying a notebook computer are a good keyboard and screen - this theoretically would be a consideration for me.

However, $900 and weak hardware - not for me. I can see the usefulness for some people though.

 

Yeap!it looks great,but I have to agree with Chaz...900 is just too much...

 

The black dot in the middle of the keyboard is your "touchpad."

I'm with Sony and wouldn't classify this as a netbook. I'd put it in the same category as an OQO, Wibrain, or Ideapad U8.

 

I want to custom tailor my suit to handle one of the w700ds models.

 

Great first look Jerry! Like you, I also see that this is so much more than a "Netbook". I don't view this as overpriced. It is a premium product with high build quality and cutting edge engineering, i.e. the BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Acura etc of computers.

Can't wait for the pre-orders to start shipping, but am really looking forward to your full review. Don't forget to tell us how that standalone GPS functionality works. If it can replace my 4" Garmin with an 8" screen, all the better.

 

Only a 1.33 GHz Atom for Vista? I dunno man... I'd wait for at least a 1.6 GHz chip.

 

I personally wouldn't buy it.

If I want something small to access the internet, I will just use my cellphone.

If I want to really use the internet, I would rather have a laptop with a bigger screen.

I would buy the Lenovo U110, but that floral design is preventing me from doing so.

 

Agreed. Looks nice, but it's a bit pricey for the outdated hardware components. Neat though!

 

I love your analogy on Mini Cooper vs Civic / Camry.

The one thing I am confuse about is $900 = $899 or $999. I mean if its $999, then in Canada its going to be at least $1199 or similar.

 

The pre-order on the Sony US site was for $899 for the 60Gb model. They are also offering 30% off P-series accessories like the 6 cell extended battery.

 

1.8 pounds???

Every other reference I've seen puts the HDD model at 1.5 pounds and the SSD models at 1.4 pounds.

 

too expensive. this "netbook" makes apple products looks affordable

 

Conics.net have both 1.6 and 1.86 as custom configuration.

 

Yes, heck, even for that price I'd go with the Fujitsu U820 UMPC.

 

I don't know why all these companies developing and releasing netbooks don't just skip Windows all together? I am sure Sony could develop a nice simple Linux based OS without the need to run Windows at all. Something with that specs can likely run the small Xcross OS extremely easily and efficiently, I say develop that much further. Just include the essentials an slowly but surely add more and more useful Apps. Or just find ways to take already developed Open Source Linux apps and have them nicely incorporated into the OS.

Sony P looks cool though, not something I would need, but cool nonetheless. It seems like Netbooks aren't going to last long at all though, as phones are just as capable if not already more capable.

 

Why? It is basically the same hardware and weight, has a much smaller screen and is much, much more difficult to type on. Like the Sony P, much of the price of the U820 comes from it being built in Japan.

I just don't understand the idea that the Sony P is "overpriced". Is a 6 cylinder BMW or Mercedes "overpriced" above a 6 cylinder Chevy? I don't get why people are comparing it to built to be as cheap as possible "netbooks".

The U820 is at least a proper comparison for features, build quality and price to the P, but it is outclassed in useability and aesthetics.

 

OK, maybe this isn't the best comparisson, but, the thing here is these kind of notebooks (Sony P) or UMPC are just simply gadgets, we all were hoping (Well, at least I was ) for a real netbook from sony, with decent features like i.e. Samsung NC10, but a little bit more slylish if you like. I'm not saying this is a bad product, as some others have appointed, it will fill a niche market, still there are some thing I don't like, one is the form factor of this NB, it looks like a french bread to me lol, is just too wide...

I must admit that the touchpoint is a nice feature, some other manufactures should include this in their Netbooks.

 

If I wasn't a gamer this would be great for me, but yea that price is kind of high.

 

I said I "dig" the resolution, which means I like it. I don't think it is too high.

I am a high-res junkie.

 

Maybe he was referring to the price tag?

 

Guys, the resolution is 1600*768, not 1600*900
Which makes it excellent for watching movies.

Jerry had it right though.

 

It's kind of nice. Would be a perfect new toy for that rich business user-who-apparently-likes-pointing-sticks-better-than-touchpads [is this why most business laptops have both pointing sticks and touchpads?]. But for regular, non-rich PC users like me, it's just not worth it, even if I could live with the high resolution [and the very small text and squinting that comes with it]. But yeah, it's such a nice little toy.

 

I agree about wanting a nicer netbook; my main gripe with the current crop like the NC10, U100 and HP Mini 1000 is the screen resolution being limited to 1028 X 600. This is of course due to Microsoft forcing them to comply in order to use XP instead of Vista.

I'm sure this is why Sony is running Vista on the P instead of XP. It is also probably why HP is delaying the hi-res version of the HP Mini 2140 until April 09 or later when Windows 7 should be available to them. From a marketing perspective, I can see that Sony didn't want to wait to announce the P-series until Windows 7 is out. They can gain marketshare now and send Windows 7 upgrades out later.

2009 could be really exciting with Windows 7 and the VIA Nano being (hopefully) in wide use. We would be free of some of the arbitrarily imposed limitations on "netbooks" by Intel and Microsoft.

 

When I do business travel, I have a PSP specifically for the purpose of watching movies and TV shows, but I also have to lug around a GPS unit and a portable computer. With the P-series, I can combine all three into one. With the Xross system and Memory Stick Duo slot, it will be just like using my PSP, except with a bigger screen.

 

Sony makes premium products and charges a premium price for it, this is no news. I'm not sure why many are surprised at the higher than your average netbook price tag when Sony doesn't really make anything on the low end.

Look at the Xperia mobile phone made by Sony. Price is $800, which is almost as expensive as this notebook! You can buy a MUCHER better phone with better specs less than half the price, however, it won't have the style or the name which carriers a big premium.

Comparisons like I can get a bigger notebook with better specs for cheaper simply do not apply.

 

yeah, i never owned a sony laptop, mostly because they cost too much, but they have always been on my wanted list...

 

Sounds like you're determined to keep your head in the sand. Sony is the Apple of the pc world - overpriced and overrated, but pretty. Yes, I've owned a Vaio AR670 and speak from experience. Not worth the money unless you have more than you could ever spend.

 

Who, me? You must have a heck of time finding suits.

 

This thing is nuts......skirting very close to iPhone/iPod Touch territory IMO. Wonder what you'd actually use this for besides net browsing/music/video......in any event, would make a nice addition to any technophile's collection.

 

The Japanese version has a lot more options and configurations. Conics.Net has it up for order:

http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=401

More expensive than buying from Sony here in the U.S., but if you want the 1.6 or 1.8Ghz models, they're available.

 

If it get released in canada with the option of Telus EVDO WWAN. then I will buy this in a heartbeat.

 

I think the problem with doing that is the VAIO P is going to be marketed as a business tool, moreso than a $400 netbook that's consumer targeted, and a lot of business users simply have to have Windows for various common applications (Outlook, Word etc.) and other custom apps companies have written for them on a Windows platform.

 

gamespot

The second to last video has some minimal hands on footage of the P series, as well as some other cool stuff coming from Sony. Like that $4k Bravia...

 

Jerry it would be great if you could test this netbook or whatever it is with the large battery. For me to be interested in this netbook I need it to have really very good battery life.

If does not then i personally don't see it as being worth the money and premium over other netbooks.

 

It is almost perfect in terms of the form factor... but the Atom and the lack of a touchscreen / touchpad just puts me right off.

If it had a Core, then I would likely have rushed out for it. XRoss aside, the reason I don't run some crippled netbook is that I need full-fat Windows even on an ultraportable, and to me XP is no longer worth using. I see the UK version tops out at 1.6Ghz but that will barely keep up with my existing, ageing UX's with Core (2) Solos.

By the way, the only UK specification I'd remotely consider buying runs £1,368.99 inc VAT - that's roughly $2.5K. I'm sorry, but with an Atom inside that's just not going to happen, even for me.

 

Quick question, is that a tracking point (like the traditional red dots on thinkpads) or a "ball" like on the blackberry pearl?

 

Did you test out the video playback performance, it sports the media accelerator 500 which decodes VC1/H264, so may have enough power to play back a blu ray movie, if you send me the device I will do a proper review of it, like I said before if you want a technical review then i'm your man..., did NBR even mention it sports a new graphics chipset?

 

it looks like one of those electronic dictionaries.
I would want one if performance and price are more acceptable for me

 

It's too slow, the pixels are too small ... and yet I want one

 

If it could play WoW on low settings Id sell my HP for it in a heartbeat. Basically if it could do that then it could handle all the tasks I throw at my ultraportable.

 

Probably not the best choice for WoW or other graphically oriented MMORPGs, but the HP dv2 or possibly anything running the Nvidia ION or AMD Neo combinations would fit the bill. I plan to use my P for traveling as light as possible and play legacy games, but will definitely get something with an Ion or Neo when they come out around summertime for stuff like Call of Duty 4.

 

I really want to like the vaio P... but it just really fails to impress me, esp at the 900 dollar price point.

 

Not to insult your car tastes, but I'd much rather have my old '97 Civic sedan and spend the difference in price on an exhaust system, body kit, spoiler, and racing tires. Rice burners ftw!

OT: I would seriously consider this if it was $700 and had a 1.6ghz Atom.

 

The 1.33 GHz Atom Z520 processor is slow, but the real kicker is that the machine can only use 1 GB of RAM maximum unlike most of the other netbooks. The Atom Z-series uses a different (CMOS vs. GTL) frontside bus than the Atom N270 typically used in netbooks. Thus the Atom Z-series will NOT work with anything but the Intel US11/US15 "Poulsbo" chipsets, which only support 1 GB of RAM maximum, whereas the N270 works with any P4/Core chipset like the 945GSE that supports 2 GB RAM.

Now an Atom Z520 with 1 GB RAM would run okay with Linux (albeit at a pace similar to a ten-year-old Pentium III), it'd struggle big time with Vista due to the lack of RAM. Sony would have done much better in putting a Core 2 Solo ULV with a massively underclocked GM45 chipset or a 1 GHz Athlon Neo with the RS690M chipset just to get more RAM capacity. It IS a $900 unit after all, it should perform like one.

 

The US15W chipset for the Z500 series Atoms have had their max RAM increased to 2Gbs.

 

So you're saying Sony stuck in 2GB of ram onto the P-series for laughs?

 

As Phinagle said, the US15W has been increased to 2Gb. Here is the PDF with the description:

http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/embedded/prodbrf/319545.pdf

Sony likely wouldn't have wasted the resources soldering 2Gb onto the mainboard if the system could only take 1Gb.