Official Sony VAIO P-series Owners thread

Sony Style site for ordering in the US:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=8198552921644608896&parentCategoryId=16154

Some P-series reviews:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4795
http://www.slashgear.com/sony-vaio-p-slashgear-review-2031218/
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/44085/review/vaiop.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/computers/?p=316
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_details.php?id=17381
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/sony-vaio-p.aspx?page=1

Excellent P-series coverage:
http://pocketables.net

My first impressions:
For some perspective, my most recent netbook was an HP Mini 1000 that I had for about two months. Once the Sony P-series was announced, I pre-ordered and sold my HP Mini 1000. The Mini 1000 was a nice and well built little machine with an excellent keyboard, but two things kept irking me: the resolution of 1024 X 576 kept cutting some windows off and the camera always defaulted to too dark a setting. I made do again with an Asus EEE 900A running Ubuntu until my P arrived.
The various reviews that came out over the past month or so of pre-production units gave me pause. They almost uniformly complained about the performance of the P-series under Windows Vista. So I made a jaunt to check them out in person at the Sony Store at 57th and Madison in NYC. What I found was that they seemed to be running perfectly fine with one or two applications open. I went home feeling better about the performance.

When my VGN-P530H/Q arrived on Friday, I was quite giddy with anticipation. It arrived in a non-descript brown box with no indication of the Sony name anywhere. The inside box was exactly the same as you will find on the pocketables site, so I won't rehash them. Besides Jenn took better photos than I ever could.
My first impression was an overwhelming smile. This unit is light, slim and built well. The hinge operates perfectly smoothly, like it is on bearings. I plugged it in and waited for the battery to fully charge before powering up.
I thought I would try the XMB interface first and pressed that button. Instead, it brought me into Vista set-up. Total set-up time was less than 10 minutes. Shut down happens in about 20 seconds. Start-up to the Vista log-in screen: 60 seconds. I don't know what Sony did differently in these production units, but I have no complaints about start-up or shut-down time.
I made my recovery DVDs using an LG external DVD burner that was detected and installed with no issues. That took about an hour.
Using the unit feels quite responsive. It is not going to break speed records, but it is perfectly usable. The screen is bright, beautiful and very clear. Type is tiny, but my eyes are able to pick it up with no problem. The touchpoint is a might sensitive and like others, I kept activating it's button press feature. I played around with it a while and now have the knack for not activating it accidentally, but it is easy to turn off.
The XMB interface starts the P in about 20 seconds. I loaded a Memory Stick Pro Duo from my PSP into the P and it was recognized right away. Unfortunately, my H.264/AVC encoded videos were not recognized. I found out later on that the XMB OS doesn't recognize that video format. I hope Sony corrects this with an update in the near future. Compatibility with my PSP video formats would be great.
Touch typing on this unit is no problem at all. The separated keys do exactly what they are supposed to. Running Firefox, Skype and MS Word at the same time did not cause any slowness for me. I am unlikely to have much more than that running at one time.
Overall, my first impression is a positive one. It performs perfectly well for my needs in a form factor that allows me to carry this computer everywhere. I didn't expect Core 2 Duo performance, but it is running just as well as my Mini 1000 did with XP and my EEE 900A with Ubuntu. I am quite pleased with my acquisition.

What are your impressions on your production P units?

 

I got my VGN-P598E on Friday as well. This is my first SSD laptop and I am happy of it so far, still playing with it so I ll add more comments later, but so far I like the size and weight....also very nice build quality.

The only thing is that Vista after the update is taking 26.5 GB and I unistalled all the unnecessary apps in there, I really wanna try the Window 7 but I hate seeing keys that are not working....I cannot find the drivers for the hotkeys yet, it seems that the official site have a bunch of drivers but I haven't seen the one that control the buttons like Volume, Brighness etc....

 

Hi there,

Thank you for your first impressions, Lemon !

Small questions :

1. Do you know if there is a way to make the recovery disks using an external hard drive or USB key. I don’t own an external DVD burner. Why Sony doesn’t provide recovery DVD. Asus does for its netbooks without DVD burner?
2. Does XMB runs without Vista loaded in memory? If Yes : (2a) is XMB located on the hard drive or in a Vaio P flash memory ?
   Is the Internet browser provided with XMB good ? (2b) It is compatible with Adoble Flash ? (2c) Can it play Yutube video well (in full screen) ?
3. What is the battery life ?
4. About the webcam : it is not on the top center of the screen. It is a problem ?

Thank you very much

 

I picked up my Sony Vaio P a couple of days ago. I've already removed Vista and replaced it with Windows 7. Everything now runs much better and smoother.

Has anyone gotten Aero Glass to work? I'm positive I saw a demo unit in the Sony Style store running it, but I can't get it to work with mine. I've downloaded the latest video drivers from Windows Update. (They work with both Vista and 7.)

 

Please tell us what the performance is like watching videos on YouTube in HD with the 1.6GHz version.

Thanks in advance!

 

@Lemon

Great thread and nice first impressions!

One curiosity: You own the HD model with the 1.33 ghZ CPU?

I'm also debating about the colour...do you all pick up the black one? I quite like the white one, wish was offered with SSD.

 

Sorry to ask this over and over again but: has somebody actually tried playing iTunes videos/TV shows/movies on their P-series? If yes, how good or bad did it work? I would also be interested if it was the HDD or SSD model. Thanks.

 

Congratulations lelety! I'm also torn about Vista vs Windows7. I strongly suspect that Sony intended this unit to run Win7, but did not want to wait to release it mid-year since they had the CES planned out and production ramped up. In this current economic climate, getting units out and providing a Win7 upgrade later makes more business sense.

 

1. I used the VAIO Recovery Center app to burn DVDs. There did not appear to be an option for USB or HD back-up. Of course any enterprising person could make an .iso from discs for those who don't have an external drive. External DVD burners are pretty cheap these days though. I got an LG model from BestBuy for $99 that can burn +/-, dual layer, has lightscribe etc. I'm sure it is cheaper online too.

2. XMB boots up on its own when you press the XMB button with power off. Vista is not loaded, but there is an option to launch Vista from within XMB. When Vista is running, pressing the XMB brings you into that interface for media launching, but is not exactly the same as when you boot into XMB.

2a.Whether this is two different apps, or one app behaving differently under certain circumstances, I do not know. There is an XMB application installed under Windows on the hard drive, but that does no rule out a flash version.
The browser is some flavor of Firefox; I think 2 since it doesn't have the options of 3. I have not tried to install add-ons yet.

2b. Haven't tried Flash, but will when I next get a chance.

2c. Youtube videos play fine in windowed mode or full screen at standard resolution. HD causes lags.

3. I haven't used it enough to get a gauge on battery life. I'm not using it regularly yet until I have a padded case to carry it around in.

4. The webcam works fine. You have to move the P around to center yourself, but it is much better than the cam that came on my Mini 1000.

 

Yup, I got the base model with HD rather than SSD. I figure when SLC becomes mainstream, I can always upgrade to a newer P and sell this one to a uni student.

I got the gloss black version, but my first choice would have been flat black. The glossy surfaces pick-up fingerprints like crazy. I cut down on that quite a bit with Klearscreen though.

 

If my TZ werent running so strong, id definitely be in the market for this.. with Win7 and 128GB SSD... and a higher spec Atom.

 

Yeah, I would also like a mate black P. But I'm sure it will come sooner or later in some refresh. I am very curious about the battery life as well. Is the screen of the P in the same level of TT/Z or is little worse?

 

You can't directly compare the screen of the P to the TT and Z lines, but it is higher density and to my eyes plenty bright and sharp. Text is small due to the 1600 X 768 resolution, but it works fine for me. I also have to turn the brightness down because at times it is too bright.

 

Can somebody post a few photos of this model with a good "personal" review.. my boss is looking at compact laptops for a new project at work.

 

I'd be happy to answer any particular questions you have but for pictures, it is hard to beat Jenn's comparison of the VAIO P to just about everything else on http://pocketables.net/

 

Jenn notes on her site the mass of typical Sony software pre-installed on the P. I only have the small HD so want to get rid of stuff I don't need. Specifically here is the list of questionable software. Anyone know what I really need?

# Sony Video Shared Library
# Vaio Care
# Vaio Content Folder Setting
# Vaio Content Folder Watcher
# Vaio Content Metadata Intelligent Analyzing Manager
# Vaio Content Metadata Manager Setting
# Vaio Content Metadata XML Interface Library
# Vaio Control Center
# Vaio Data Restore Tool
# Vaio Entertainment Platform
# Vaio Event Service
# Vaio Help and Support
# Vaio Media plus
# Vaio Media plus Opening Movie
# Vaio My Memory Center
# Vaio OOBE and Welcome Center
# Vaio Original Function Setting
# Vaio Power Management
# Vaio Presentation Support
# Vaio Survey
# Vaio Update 4
# Vaio Wallpaper Contents
# Vaio Window Organizer
# Vaio Wireless Wizard

 

I was interested in the P, but it looks like it's better to wait until the P comes with Win 7 preinstalled.

 

Probably. But 99% of the notebook works fine on Win7. It's just a few minor things I can't get working. But that should all be remedied once Sony puts all their driver downloads online.

 

I notice in the manual (P129) it mentions reducing the partition of the SSD set aside for recovery and describes how to do it. It doesn't mention how much to set it at however. I think the suggestion here is you don't need it with a solid state drive. Anyone care to illuminate?

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing...Do you have any idea when this will approximately happen?
I heard that Microsoft is not going to release a Windows 7 Beta 2, so the next step is the real and complete OS.

 

To the already owners of the P:
Can you guys tell something more about the battery life? Standard and Large...
@rwillking

I would keep only:
Sony Video Shared Library
Vaio Care
Vaio Control Center
Vaio Power Management
Vaio Data Restore Tool

Wow, how many apps Sony put inside in such a small laptop! I counted 24...!

 

Can you guys advise what each application does?

 

I've read rumors about a possible summer release which wouldn't surprise me given the stability of the current beta.

 

You expect people to sit here for hours describing what each and every app does? You never did your own homework either, right?

 

Honestly, you won't need any of them. There's nothing that these applications add to a stock Windows installation other than bloat. Why would you need a third-party Wi-Fi manager when Windows works just fine?

 

My white one (VGN-P530H/W) is coming tomorrow from Amazon via next day. I can't wait to get it. It is my belated bday present!

 

Thanks for your productive post. I didn't say write an essay, only a short description for everyone's benefit.

Google "Vaio Event Service" and you can see that you don't get a description of it.

 

Congrats!

Can you post some pics please? I am between the black and white one. But I don't want to take the 1.33 ghZ cpu, I will have to import if I choose the white one.

 

Hi
Question for owners -

Can anyone verify that the SD slot is fast enough to support ReadyBoost in Vista or Win7?

That would go someway to improving performance with only 2GB RAM

- I bought a TZ90 last year and was staggered to find that the SD controller was not man enough for the job!

 

did this person really install windows xp on the vaio p?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5C_13zJQCQ

the description says

it just shows xp booting up but that doesn't exactly prove all the drivers were installed though.

 

Right....i bit the bullet and ordered the UK base version...hopefully ill have it within two weeks.

Any one know what the ETA on these things are in the UK?

 

I dont see a reason why XP would not be able to install on vaio P. But I think functions keys will not work, but everything else will.

 

i'm worried about more than just the function keys not working properly. the drivers that come with xp might not fully support ethernet, wifi, wwan, gps, gpu, audio, etc. some of these things may not even work correctly on a fresh install of vista without installing the drivers from sony's site (last i checked there are only vista drivers there).

 

Unless sony is the only one that uses this hardware, you dont need to worry. Usually there are drivers for XP that comes directly from manufacturers.

Check intel.com for chipset, ethernet, wifi and gpu drivers. wwan might be harder to find.

 

Do P owners find that the P gets very warm? I finally got a chance to check one out today at the local Sonystyle store.. it was much warmer than i thought, esp. the LCD/lid part.

Anyways, the screen is crasy high rez... it would take some getting used to. The KB looks and feels awesome though.

 

You're right about the function keys. They don't work with clean installs of either XP or 7. And unfortunately, it's up to Sony to provide the drivers, which they haven't done yet, as they aren't up on their site. But assuming they do provide appropriate keyboard function keys down the road, they should work fine with any Windows NT operating system.

BTW... Be sure to check the Vaio P product page, as Sony has uploaded 10+ drivers over the past couple of days.

 

I've been using my Vaio P since last Thursday... And I've not noticed it getting warm at all. At least, no warmer than any other small-form notebook. Honestly, compared to my other notebooks, the Dell XPS M1330 and Apple MacBook, the Vaio P runs the quietest and coolest.

Or, just check Windows Update. I did, and I immedialy got Intel's latest drivers for the GMA 500. Almost all the Vaio P hardware drivers are going to be available at some point or another via Windows Update. Simply a matter of time.

That's correct. Microsoft is jumping straight to the RC stage with the next public release, and all signs now point to a 2009 RTM, as early as June or as late as October.

BTW... I can confirm that the Sony Vaio P does in fact support and run Aero Glass, regardless of the model. I've tested out all three models in the Sony Style store, and all share the same processor and GMA. (Intel Atom Z5230 @ 1.33 GHz; Intel GMA 500.) (The stock $899 runs Home Basic, however.) It doesn't run great, but it runs. However, I checked Device Manager and was surprised to find that there are no special drivers installed... Just the generic Intel GMA 500 driver.

So, for those who are running Windows 7 like me on the Vaio P, I can only suggest getting the latest drivers from Sony's site and hope they work. The hardware support is clearly there, it's just a matter of drivers. (I should also note that Sony's own drivers on the demo units are terribly buggy, constantly crashing and restarting.)

 

i was hoping someone already searched for xp drivers, oh well. as for windows update for xp, it hasn't worked for me very well for other computers i had but i'll try that if/when i install xp. i have been checking sony's site for drivers. they seem to be adding more drivers for vista each day. hopefully they'll start adding xp drivers.

as for temperatures, there's a review that has measured temperatures for the vaio p.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4795

as for mine, it does get warm. the review shows 109 degrees Fahrenheit which is, at least to me, is pretty hot. so far my macbook pro gets hotter than the vaio though.

 

when i was experimenting with windows 7 on my Asus F9SG certain things like you all mentioned the hotkeys didnt work. so i tried the regular vista drivers and all went well. got all my hotkeys back and even the osd worked. just throwing that out there.

 

I was goiong to try this XP this weekend when I have some time but here is a link to XP drivers for the Vaio P and a few other links related to the P and XP. You can translate these from Japanese.

http://74.125.47.102/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.call-t.co.jp/blog/mt/archives/entry/009368.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsony%2Bvaio%2Bp%2Bxp%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26cr%3DcountryJP%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26as_qdr%3Dw&usg=ALkJrhhY9t8k-fngzZJG3sYLOXOgSphSnQ

Getting instant mode to work.


http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://higi.cocolog-nifty.com/higi/2009/01/vaio-type-p-xp-.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsony%2Bvaio%2Bp%2Bxp%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26cr%3DcountryJP%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26as_qdr%3Dw


http://74.125.47.102/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://vcl.vaio.sony.co.jp/download/EP0000173249.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsony%2Bvaio%2Bp%2Bxp%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26cr%3DcountryJP%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26as_qdr%3Dw&usg=ALkJrhg6c0Rkx0ple8xxE7oZU7S7GD-LbA

Brightness
http://74.125.47.102/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://sourcerian.blogspot.com/2009/01/xpvaio-type-p.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsony%2Bvaio%2Bp%2Bxp%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26cr%3DcountryJP%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26as_qdr%3Dw&usg=ALkJrhi4Ni5ZZOoByzeiYKblLN_5w6EjEQ

I have backed up my system with Acronis so the restore should be painless. If someone else want to try please post results!!!
Ishman

 

Yea I did consider importing the white+SSD+1.6 but I couldn't justify the extra cost. I figured I can get the SSD for $399 at Sony Parts, but I don't know about the CPU.

 

I am happy of how my P598 is running. Vista seems to run pretty fine on the 128SSD at least to me. I upgraded to Windows 7 to tried it out and they are booting almost the same time. I went back to Window Vista since I have to exchange my unit. My right side speaker is not working properly, maybe it on for 5 sec and then it pops and no more sounds!!

The bad part is that Sony Store had on 1 unit which was mine and no shipment of the 128ssd till next week ... now I am stuck till I can exchange.

 

@Quillz, k8t

Can you guys post what models you have (CPU, SSD or HD) to understand wchich model gets warm. A lot of reviews posted in the first page from Lemon report this issue with the P.

@outie

Thanks for the pics man, it seems amazing. I am leading to white towards black right now. I have the impression that the glossy black will be a real fingerprint magnet.

 

Thanks for all the impressions posted, it's really great to get so much detailed feedback from you guys. I'm quite enthusiastic about the Vaio P and am currently evaluating my options. Unfortunately it's not so easy to find my preferred configuration (at least 1.6GHz, SSD, WWAN, green or red - can't quite decide on the color yet). Here in Germany the highest spec'd model (1.6GHz, 128GB SSD, 3G) comes only in black with a price tag of around 2.000 USD. Unfortunately there is no other color option. After looking at prices in the US, Hong Kong or Singapore I thought I considered buying there, but the slower processor (US) or lack of 3G (Asia) is the deal-killer for me.

Through this forum I found Conics.net and my preferred configuration (1.86 GHz, SSD, WWAN, green/red) would sum up approximately to what I have to pay in Germany. Until very recently I have never heard of this store so I was wondering if some here have made some experiences with ordering laptops there or have some general feedback on Conics.net? Would the WWAN card work in Europe after it has been activated? Or could I alternatively just plug in a 3rd party WWAN module in the Vaio P.

And are there already any comparisons between the 1.6GHz and 1.86GHz model in terms of the power consumption/battery life and heat generation?

Thanks alot!

Cheers

 

Just want to say that I have been very satisfied with my net shopping experience with Conics.net, when I bought a Vaio TZ to Norway for more than a year ago.

 

I can confirm the very good quality service that Conics offer.

I am in the same position as you...living in Europe I absolutely need the 3G. Conics is good because they offer the configuration that you want, all the kind of CPU and colours and HD or SSD. But the prices are becoming the same of the european countries (the yen is pretty high), and if you add the 20% VAT that you have to pay for importing...then you realize is not so convenient.

About the WWAN/GPS it should work in Europe.

 

Hey I got curious with you post and I control Conics...

Here is the ideal configuration:

Sony Vaio Type P90

- 1st Battery Sony Large (5 - 8hrs)
- Case none required
- Colour Green
- Complete System Backup Applications & Drivers only
- Connectivity LAN & Display adapter cable
- CPU Atom(TM) Z540 [1.86GHz]
- Hard Drive / SSD 128GB SSD (SATA 5mm)
- Head Phones Not Required
- Keyboard US English
- Memory 2GB
- Networking Wireless LAN a/b/g/n
- Plug shape Adapter Direct wall mount (USA)
- Warranty 3 year warranty
- Web Camera 310K Pixel Motion Eye Internal
- Windows Version English Vista Home Premium
- WWAN (HSDPA) & GPS Internal WWAN & GPS [see note for unlock]
1,711.51EUR

OMG! And without shipping and VAT...In France the same model, but with 1.6 ghz is around 1300 Euro.

 

Yes, without the 3G it's pretty much useless. I would consider buying directly with Sony in Germany but that they only offer the black model with the higher configuration is holding me off from doing so. I'm currently waiting for the Vaio P to show up on the Dutch Sony (I am located in Amsterdam at the moment) site to see if they have anything different...

Read in another forum that one guy ordered with Sony Style in the US and that they would officially provide him with an unlock code for the WWAN module, so he can use it in Germany - but reading about the blocked sim card slot at pocketables.com, I'm not to sure about that option. And again the slow processor I would like to avoid.

Does Conics.net configure the laptops on their own account or is it normal for Vaio's in Japan that you can customize them to your own liking?

I guess I will wait a few more weeks to see if the WWAN card can really be unlocked (I also never heard of the dc-unlocker.com site they are referring to). Yes, with the high YEN and shipping + VAT the price is pretty much on a European level. , why has it be so difficult?...

 

@Ishman
thanks for the links. the translation is a little hard to understand. i'll probably wait on installing xp since i might misunderstand something if i go by those sites.

@armadilo
mine is the US 1.33 GHz with 64 GB SSD. it only gets what i would consider too warm after i view videos for a while and/or when it's plugged in. i hear netbooks are generally warmer than larger notebooks. add to that the fact that the vaio p uses passive cooling (no fans) which relies heavily on heatsinks (ie. using the case itself as a heatsink) which would normally increase temperatures.

 

I have the basic, $899 model. It has the 60 GB HDD, 1.33 GHz Intel Atom and Intel GMA 500.

I'm not saying it DOESN'T get warm after extended periods of use, but it certainly doesn't run any warmer than any other notebook I've used in the past. If it's getting excessively warm for you, you likely have a defective unit. Perhaps the HDD is spinning up more than it should be?