Today we got a Vaio P [Portal page] review unit from our friends at Dynamism. This is the high end model running a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 CPU, 2GB of RAM, Windows Vista, and a spacious 128GB of SSD storage. Have a look at the unboxing, and the first thoughts below that.
Unboxing
First Thoughts
The Vaio P is impressively small. It is one thing to cram the necessary computer components into a device and make it run, but it is another entirely when you make a device that is tiny but actually usable. Despite all the marketing that tried to convince us that the VAIO P is pocketable, it is not. However, it is really light and thin. One might think that the keyboard would be hard to type on considering the initial footprint of the unit, and the fact that some key real estate was lost with the chiclet style keyboard, but it is incredibly usable. I have had no issue immediately typing like normal on the VAIO P. One thing that absolutely frustrates me though, is that the keyboard layout has a small right shift key. This is the biggest mistake they could have made after engineering a tiny but wonderful keyboard. I’ll map out my review for the VAIO P in the next few days and start laying down the content. I’m excited to use the VAIO P as I’ve enjoyed the VAIO UX180 [Portal page] for several years.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Sony VAIO P unboxing and first thoughts http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=6101
March 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Lack of touch pad and outrageously small text on the high res screen really just makes me not wanting to buy this one, but yes I looked at it in person today, and yesterday and
March 6th, 2009 at 10:57 am
To be frank, the Vaio P may currently be the least interesting new device for me. Amazing engineering for sure, but it’s a combination of a productive keyboard with a very mobile weight without a mobile enough battery life and form factor.
March 6th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Give it a Pixel Qi sunlight readable and low power screen with a 5 fold increase in battery life per charger (of course the first Pixel Qi screens will be 10 inch ones so a bit big for this device, but they will go smaller and larger with the screens in time), and with touchscreen, and a fix to your Right Shift key issue… add LINUX to this (I like CrunchBang due to the speed of the OpenBox Window Manager, as I don’t need a screen that spins around and stuff to get work done)… when all this is added up, what do you have? Hmmm? could be as close to netbook perfection that you can get?
Chippy Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Pixel QI screens won’t bring 5x battery life improvement.
If the screen went to zero drain with Pixel Qi, you’d see about a 25-30% increase in battery life.
Steve
March 6th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Make it a touchscreen tablet convertible, boost the battery life to Viliv levels, then maybe I’ll consider it.
EC Reply:
March 6th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Aah why not buy the Viliv instead then??
kyuss Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 10:54 am
are you sure? because it will be around 2500 euros then
March 7th, 2009 at 1:17 am
..Sony VAIO P unboxing and first thoughts | UMPCPortal – The Mobile Internet and Computing Reference Site – http://is.gd/md64
March 7th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Well the trackpad is a deal breaker for me… that and I’m waiting for a windows 7 multitouch netbook… i don’t exactly buy a netbook every year…
EC Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Even if you DID buy one every year, you could still be on you first one as they’ve only been around for a year and a half or so and really only hit it big a lot less than a year!
Walle Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Not entirerly true – I bought my last Kohji more than two years ago in Akihabara, so I would rather say 2 and a halv year, but the early models never reached outside east Asia.
EC Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 7:53 am
We’re talking about Netbooks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook
Kohjinshas aren’t really Netbooks, more like UMPCs.
EC Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Just to clarify the Sony VAIO isn’t a Netbook either, according to Sony.
Genjinaro Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 8:32 am
On that same note, some Kohjinshas are now in upper netbook price ranges. ($530-$580 USD) Nice to see UMPCs greet the cheaper UMPCgeeks wallet…:p
EC Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 8:35 am
It is true that the “lines” between Netbooks, UMPCs and MIDs are getting less and less defined, including the prices.
March 7th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I’d love to see a backlit keyboard on the next edition of the Sony Vaio P
Chippy Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Backlit keyboards should be standard on all mobile devices IMO!
JP Reply:
March 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
True!