Note: UX above is show sitting it its dock.
In a surprising move, it appears that Sony is getting ready to unveil the newest model in the UX series [Portal page], which will include a mini-CD drive. While we thought that Sony was done with the UX series, they never gave any official discontinuation, and apparently for good reason. The aptly named VGN-UX491-MCD will remove the EDGE module to make way for a mini-CD drive which will accept 8cm ‘mini-CDs’. The unit is identical to the UX490 in all ways (48GB SSD, 1.2Ghz Core 2 Solo, 1GB of RAM) except for the new drive.
Mini-CDs, if you will recall, hold around 200mb of data, and are otherwise identical to the larger 12cm CD other than in size. Luckily the diameter of the hole in the center of the mini-CD is the same as a full sized CD, this means that mini-CDs that you use in your UX will also be able to function in most standard CD drives. The drive will be able to burn mini-CDs (no word on speed yet), and this will finally offer an out-of-the-box option for UX users to burn their own recovery disks. Users will be able to use the recovery software that comes pre-installed to burn their recovery disks which will fit on 23 mini-CDs.
The drive will most likely use a non-powered eject (no motors to eject the drive, just a ‘pop’ similar to many laptop drives). No word yet on pricing, availability, or if non-US CF slot models will see the same treatment.
This information comes from the UX491-MCD flash tour which seemed to have mistakenly gone up early on SonyStyle.com in place of the UX490’s flash tour. It looks like Sony has already caught their mistake and removed the flash preview of the UX491-MCD, I’ll keep these images mirrored here for future reference.
April 1st, 2009 at 11:13 am
New article: New Sony VAIO UX UMPC to include Mini CD drive http://cli.gs/PdGRDU
April 1st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
*points at calendar*
April 1st, 2009 at 12:18 pm
What the heck? Why can’t Sony get it in its head that people do not want more Proprietary media! Sure there are mini disc’s out there, but they are rarely used! What are they trying to accomplish here? The disc drive just takes up more space and battery power then it’s worth! They are better off adding a full PCI-xEpress card slot and SD card slots like the other netbooks since its becoming the new popular media….
I am still very excited about the prospect of a new UX, but I sure hope they offer a option with out the Mini Disc drive.
Techni Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Mini cds are not proprietary, moron
I like ketchup on my ketchup Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 4:16 am
Mini-cds are (or at least *were*) very widely used in Japan. About a decade ago I lived in Tokyo for quite a while and the mini-cds seemed to be at least as popular as the full sized ones for music, among my friends…
April 1st, 2009 at 12:19 pm
A dockingstation DVD drive isnt all that stupid you know.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Haha…..01/04/2009 nice one!
April 1st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Is it April again?
April 1st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
How long did it take you to mock this one up Ben?
If Sony were to have some optical drive capability I am sure they would put Blu-ray in the docking station!
April 1st, 2009 at 1:42 pm
This one is a rather obvious joke… Especially when you know that Sony is not going to bring out a new UX model.
And the first picture is a rather bad manipulation. The drive is actually moving out not in parallel with the UX, and its going slightly backwards ( in other words, the original picture was taken under a angle ).
Sokonomi:
Yea, this joke might have worked better if they made it a docking station drive ( and make it looks more professional ).
But at leased this is harmless. Try having a college subscribing you to a pron magazine. One off those demo subscription, where you only expect to get one. But end up with half a dozen. Try explaining that to your family. *uch* Or the new people who now live in that house *lol* … What must they think of me
At the same time, its amazing how easy it is, to send people crap without any verification.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I believe I saw something like this on the Sony micropctalk forum a couple of years ago.
April 1st, 2009 at 2:46 pm
There’s a Sony Vaio P with a UMD drive (from the PSP) in the pipeline too, I hear.
April 1st, 2009 at 2:50 pm
i thought April Fools was an American holiday?
i knew JKontherun would do an April Fools, but i firgured UMPCportal & JKKmobile would be above that sort of thing.
April 1st, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Micropctalk.com did this last year for april fool’s. I’m pretty sure those were the EXACT same photos too
But, in going with the april fool’s day spirit…woo hoo, I want one!!!
and HAHA to everyone who bought into it! Especially this guy:
“What the heck? Why can’t Sony get it in its head that people do not want more Proprietary media! Sure there are mini disc’s out there, but they are rarely used! What are they trying to accomplish here? The disc drive just takes up more space and battery power then it’s worth! They are better off adding a full PCI-xEpress card slot and SD card slots like the other netbooks since its becoming the new popular media….
I am still very excited about the prospect of a new UX, but I sure hope they offer a option with out the Mini Disc drive”
kornel Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
thats because ben wrote this post originally for micropctalk where he wrote (and still does i think)… should have updated it with something even more pointless such as UMDs
Techni Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 10:07 pm
You kidding? Umd would be awesome if it could burn them or play psp games
Brian Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
ahh ok, i forgot that Ben made the transition over to umpcportal a while back. i do remember himm posting about the move back on micropctalk.com
April 1st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
respect where respect is due. I can never be bothered to put together an april fools joke so well done Benn. Next year ill announce that i’m selling the portal to amd!
April 1st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Haha, you had me up to the recovery disc thing. Well played indeed
April 1st, 2009 at 5:27 pm
noo noo, dont do that Chippy, no April Fools next year! the reason i like you & JKKmobile is because your sites have much more of an “enthusiast blog” feel to them. unlike someplace like JKontherun which has become far more commercial since hiring Kevin/merging with Giga & littering the site with tiny meaningless PDA software-like stories.
i really did enjoy JKontherun back in the day though when it was only James & he did 2-3 stories per day (basically just like you & JKKmobile). dont get me wrong i like Kevin (VERY nice guy), just not the direction the site has gone.
April 1st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Thanks for the comments guys, yeah I wrote this for last years April Fools at MicroPCTalk, but this morning I felt the urge to get into the April Fool’s spirit. The old post on MPCT was never widespread so I figured it was still fresh : P
Brian Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
did you mock up the photos too Ben?
April 1st, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Sony is penny pinching here. For the same dimensions they could include a miniDVD drive (with the same dimensions) that holds 1.4GB. In addition miniDVDs are more often avilable because they are used in camcorders. And if it could also write miniDVD-Rs (like any camcorder can), even better.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Im hoping someone tries MobileHome today, heh heh
Ben Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Saywha?
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:27 am
Ahh Dang, it was not April 1st when I posted that! Dang Time zones, haha
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:45 am
Yes, amateur photoshop job : P
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:32 am
This is a pretty bad April fools joke……
Even Sony aren’t stupid enough to add a drive to a device that holds less data than Maccy D’s mp3 player.
April 4th, 2009 at 5:47 am
I’m thinking it’s just a April joke.