Hands-on with the Vaio P
Sorry, Sony. It's definitely a netbook. But that's O.K., because that fact that it's the best netbook is almost absurdly obvious to anyone who sees it. And as stiff as $900 might seem for the category, by your standards, it's a steal.
I had a go: not a long one, just a few minutes. In that time, a few things can be known for sure. Firstly, the keyboard is easy to type on. The track-nipple isn't as troublesome as it could have been. The display is beautiful, even if the pixel density was a little tough on the eyes under those harsh Vegas lights. But most of all, it's the sheer tininess that works: less than 1 1/2 pounds, it's less than an inch thick and slips into a (large) pocket. It is, of course, beautiful.
What's not known: performance. I opened a couple of browser tabs, but you can't get much done with a crowd of baying journalists behind you pushing in to get their own turn. Battery life is also a mystery; Sony claims up to 6 hours with the extended life option, but if anything's vague in laptop marketing, it's the damned battery life. How's the WWAN performance on Verizon Evdo Rev. A? Is there really a point to GPS in a laptop?
And, of course, $900 would buy you a used MacBook or two Eee PCs.
The fact remains, however, that this is easily the hottest item to come out of CES so far. We'll have a review up as soon as one of us has thought "screw it" and impulsively bought one.
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This really isn't helping my insatiable need to find a netbook to blow money on.
My wallet says no, but my heart says DO WANT.
Do you have a photo that shows a hand resting on the keyboard, as opposed to the keyboard resting on a hand? It's hard to get a sense for just how touchtypist-hostile the thing is from these photos.
(I start to wonder whether it's time to revive the old IBM one-handed "chord keyboard" concept, which might pack useful typing speeds into a pocketable device... at the cost of having to learn a new way of typing, admittedly.)
@Techno: http://blog.laptopmag.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/vaiop.jpg
gahhh yummy.
This one will be hard to resist.
Vista seems a little bit pointless, but maybe this just means it will fly when you install linux on it.
Yes it's sexy LOOKING but it could be the best looking clunker out there!
Okay, okay I know it's a Sorny. It'll rock.
But still...
;)
This is so close to my ideal second computer. Too bad it costs twice as much as similarly spec'd machines. I hope a more budget friendly company copies the form factor (maybe adding some pressure sensitive stylus input while I'm dreaming). While I'm sure the screen is awesome I think I could do with a bit less pixel density.
Looks cool. But Sony seems to find a way to bungle some part of everything they do. This is no exception.
Super sexy enclosure marred by a fat power connector that under the wrong circumstances can be broken right off. Really? We can't do any better than 1985-style plugs? Credit to them, at least, for putting that crap on the side instead of on the back, Dell style.
900$ (I guess, it'll cost 1800 in my country). It's a Sony. =) The screen might be bigger, but the keyboard looks perfect.
Danilo, given Apple's failure rate of their non-magsafe connectors, I'd rather stick to this style. Magsafe would probably be better, but I bet Apple has a nice patent on that for a while.
@DCulberson: I figure they do have it patented -- Apple's connectors sucked really bad for awhile, I'm sure they enjoy having their connector be the most clever for a change.
But really, there has to be a better way to do this stuff than a perpendicular cylinder stuck in the side that practically begs to be broken off. I don't know, a charging cuff that snaps onto the back, a snap-on rectangular connector that doesn't have to protrude so far. Something. It just boggles the mind to put so much effort into a superb industrial design and then decide that this "minor" detail, the cable that the user will plug in more than any other and that is most prone to breakage, isn't worth making better than it was 20 years ago.
I also rage at the design of modern USB connectors, so ignore me as appropriate.
Pretty sweet thing. Makes me think what an incredibly cool gadget it could be if it would run Mac OS X ... hopefully sooner than later someone will post their experience with Leopard on this machine.
Someone has already mentioned installing Linux on it - but I would think that there has to be someone out there doing prep work on getting OSX on the thing. Install OSX, take a little bondo to the sony logo on the back, and POOF - we have the missing Macintosh Netbook.
Fingerprint magnet
I mean that baby is going to fly with Debian or Gentoo :]
why would it fly with linux? it's got the same exact cpu as a thousand other netbooks (1.3GHz Atom). Actually a bit lower, some of them have a 1.6GHz Atom in them.
droooool; drooooooooool.
Sony? I dunno. Everything that I've bought by Sony has broken in a few years, I know they used to be good, but I've stopped buying Sony stuff, and I'm happy.
@Danilo: Personally, I like such simple power plugs. While I've had them break, I've had magsafe plugs break just as often. The difference is that the simple perpendicular cylinder plugs can be fixed temporarily by soldering or even taping the wires to the cylinder and central lead. Temporarily fixing magsafe adapters, on the other hand, is extremely difficult: I can remember having to send emails with one hand holding the makeshift adapter in place, whereas the makeshift cylindrical plugs could last for weeks of careful use. And when one might not have access to replacement parts for a week or so, that capability is important.
In fact, my least favourite feature of my MBP is the magsafe adapter. When my laptop is plugged in, I would prefer that it remain plugged in, instead of becoming unplugged whenever the cord is touched, and with sufficient force, I've found that cylindrical plugs detach without pulling the laptop with them, making the magsafe plug rather pointless and annoying.