New VAIO P coming 9th of January

for this from canada and interested

 

I was really looking forward to the release of this machine when Sony was teasing it, but my first impressions are not very good:

1. The side bezels are insanely huge. Watching 16:9 video content will add even more wasted space on the sides, resulting in a tiny viewing area in the middle of the screen. And forget about watching 4:3 content..

2. XBRITE-ECO? For anyone used to the higher quality Sony LCDs, this is one of the biggest disappointments of all.

3. Restricted to 1.33ghz in the US? This is the worst kind of feature-creep, and it sucks. Even tho Japan has the 1.86ghz cpu, Sony USA wont release it until a refresh or two down the road.

4. No HDMI output. VGA max output 1600x1200.

5. Did they hire a bunch of middle-school girls to paint these things? Whats up with the super glossy colors and glitter finish? Matte black, please!

6. Say what you will, this is not how something fits in a pocket: http://www.notebookjournal.de/storage/show/image/image496611cbe80e9

 

While it may not be the best and most powerful - Sony had to think about cost and sales price in these economic times.

- just on a side not - please don't take offense, but I hope you haven't just signed on to complain.

 

Eh. Can't please everyone I suppose, but then there is no such thing as a perfect machine.

There will be a Vista Business SKU that will be Matte Black. Don't worry.

But I laughed too. I love reading first posts. Here's a guy who went through the pain of registering to .

 

Does that mean there will also be XP support?!

 

A video hands-on is up at Akihabara News:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-17303-Sony+Vaio+P+Hands-on+video+and+press+conference.html

Can't wait to get my hands on a P of my own! And the configure-to-pre-order over at Conics looks very nice; I think I'm going to have trouble resisting.

 

I am confused

Is it a netbook or a notebook. Its a mighty fine peice of engineering, and with a 1.86 GHz CPU / 2 GB ram and 128GB SSD option.. i am beginning to drool, but when I really think about it..... no. Just can't convince myself.

I love the TZ series to much.

 

Thats great news. Now you could really make my day and tell me a refresh with HDMI output is in the works! It's already supported by the chipset thru SDVO.

You're right that no machine is perfect, and perhaps my expectations were too high after the month-long tease, but a 1.86ghz matte black P supporting 1080p output would be close enough for me to overlook the screen bezel and Eco panel

 

It's a high-end netbook or an extremely portable notebook (rather, I don't think Sony would classify it either way).

I was previously considering a TT/TZ, but the problem was that it was far too expensive for the base model. $900 for the base P is a much more attractive option, and I have no need for an optical drive while I'm out and about anyway. Sure the P is just using an Atom and not a Core2 like with the TT/TZ, but 1.33ghz is slow no matter what and portability is the key. For performance, I'll be saving my pennies for a top-configured Z.

 

The light and thin aspects of the P are enticing, but I'll hang on to my TZ too... at least until the new R (G series replacement) is announced.

 

ITs VAIO - be like no other.

 

You know what.. ya right there!

All my work colleagues have Dell's and I just love the look on their faces when I pull out the TZ wraped in its leather cover. It looks like a book.

I wonder if they will do one for the P series.

 

If only. So far from what I've heard, no.

 

http://www.sony.co.nz/corporate/pressroom.jsp?articleid=1414&articlepagenum=1

 

For a pocketable device it looks quite big. Anyone agree?

 

Hi nixon do you know if the current models @ SS are complete? It really annoys me that the green and white colors are only available for the $900 models, but not the $1199/$1499 SSD models.

 

It seems perfect to me! I cant imagine using any smaller keyboard, unless some weird one, like the one at OQO.

And screen cannot be any wider, that would be a real kill.

 

I wouldn't imagine it better too... Sony did a great job here. With the exception that I would like a carbon fibre model-mate black. Is too shiny imo. Anyone knows if the P of dynamism offer 3G-HSDPA or Verizon?

 

unfortunately it could be a tad to expensive for a netbook (999 euro in Europe) and the screen could be 1" bigger but then it would be too close to the TT. therefore it's understandable why sony chose this size. built quality looks great. gps is great. if it will be around 600 euro it's for my the perfect alternative to my Z.

love sony.

 

You know there is only GPS in the US and Canadian releases of this netbook (Well not sure about Japan, they probably have it as well).

The UK release has 3G for HSPDA but no GPS. I suspect the model released in the rest of Europe will be the same as the UK minus keyboard changes of course.

So I guess the GPS is built into the CDMA modem used in the US but not the GSM 3G modem that the UK and Europe use. Sucks.

Still nice bit of kit, I've never worried about large res on small screens before but this res would worry me a bit. I'd need to see it.

Also a bit of a let down on the battery life front....

And also Vista doesn't seem to make much sense from a speed point of view but the few video bits I've seen of it running suggest it's actually not too bad at all speed wise.

Such an amazing bit of kit though. To buy or not to buy... Mmm

 

Another P video:

<object width='425' height='344'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YhhhL4fVPXQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YhhhL4fVPXQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height='344'></embed></object>

 

The Japan model has it as an option, either HSDPA/WWAN+GPS module or 1seg TV tuner module (or neither, of course).

 

What HSDPA bands - worldwide, or ...? A 1.86Ghz with GPS and US/EU HSDPA support would be booty-stomping indeed.

 

Sony Vaio-P Weight Simulator

 

How difficult would it be to swap the 60gb hdd for an ssd?

 

Personally I'm wondering how difficult it is to swap it with a 200gb HDD xD.

edit: tracked down the specs on the hard drive (off the japanese dis assembly , google translated), and its a non-standard sized hard drive. My upgrade dreams are shot.


I can make do with 60gb I guess xD

 

Swapping the HDD shouldn't be too difficult, they appear to be standard 1.8" drives (which currently have capacities up to 120gb HDD afaik).

The trouble is that the HDD version uses a standard ZIF connector, while the SSD requires/includes a SATA adapter. Have a look halfway down this page:
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/0901/08/news043_2.html

If you get the HDD model, you will have to get the SATA adapter through other means before you can swap in a SSD for storage.

 

Sony lists the 60GB drive as being UATA. Conics lists the SSD drives as being SATA i do find this a bit odd that a computer can take one or the other.
I also wonder SSD drives they are using. The price of the SSD seems a little cheap if they are using Samsung.
It would have been good if Sony would have offered up 32GB and 64GB SSD drives as well.

 

I just had a HORRIBLE thought... I hope to hell they're not using any of the SSDs with the JMicron controller... AUGH!

*shudder*

Err, I mean *stutter*

Given Sony's quality control, I would hope not.

 

From what I read, while the SSD version uses SATA, the adapter mentioned above is needed to convert the SATA to the PATA interface on the motherboard. In essence the SSD also connects to the system thru PATA, which is limited to 66MB/s.

The SSD is Samsung MMCRE64GFMPP, and it's a MLC.

 

Yes, if you look at the dissection pictures, you will see the SSDs come with a PATA->SATA adapter, whereas the HDD uses a simple ZIF cable.

The WWAN card on the Japanese models are for use with NTT DoCoMo's FOMA network, which is HSPA 2100mhz. It is almost certainly network-locked, so you would need to get it unlocked to use elsewhere. Conics suggests an online unlocking service, but I can't identify the specific WWAN card to know if unlocking services support it. Moreover, I'm not sure if the card even supports other HSPA bands.

However if you have money to spend, you might just want to pick up a 3rd-party WWAN card like this:
http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=385

According to this dissection: http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/0901/08/news043_2.html (the 3 pictures just above the section on HDDs)
The half-length mini-PCIe card is the WiFi a/b/g/n card, while the full-length is for WWAN (or in Japan, the 1seg option). So you should technically be able to add in your own mPCI-e card at your own expense.

 

Photoshopped 9" LCD for the next revision.

 

Some people on Japanese forums are having fun making comparison.

 

is that good or bad?

 

Commercial that is now running in Japan:
http://www.sony.jp/cm/vaio_p/index.html

And a couple comparisons with the older Picturebook:
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/200/200755/img.html
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/200/200756/img.html

 

Engadget has a gallery comparing this beauty to two EEE models and Macbook Pro/Air. It truly makes the EEE look like a toy with its sleek design.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/vaio-p-vs-eee-pc-fight/

 

Hi there,

I don’t know if the link has already been posted here, but the user’s manual can be downloaded on FCC website:

• Vaio P Operating Instructions @FCC

 

Not that good, but still faster than HDD.

Hey that's my comment @ engadget

 

For me, as a professional writer, the location of the right shift key is essential. It seems to me that this key has been differently located on the US keyboard and the UK keyboard:

On the US keyboard the right shift key is located "in between" other keys, that is: left of the arrow up key. For me, this is a cumbersome location, and many misprints will occur. The Enter key is also smaller.

On the UK keyboard, however, it seems that there is a bigger Enter key, and the most important difference is that it seems that the right shift key is located on the right side of the arrow up key, that is: The right shift key seems to be located nearest the right edge of the keyboard, and this is a much more comfortable location, IMO.

Can anyone confirm this, for I have not yet been able to get a definitive view of the UK keyboard?

 

In other news related to the HDD/SSD issue, SanDisk has announced a series of SSDs (MLC chips) in both SATA and UATA/ZIF formats. Although there's no word on street prices yet, they're apparently trying to bring the prices down to parity with current 2.5" HDDs.
http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4460
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2009/0109/ces07_09.jpg

This means you might just be able to grab a base P model and swap out the HDD for an SSD without having to worry about the special adapter or its SATA controller.

 

Will that be possible? Because HDD in P is 1.8" and new SSD discs for "general use" will be 2.5".

Or?

 

I didn't see any specific measurements in the press release, but judging from the photograph, the samples looked like 1.8" drives ( note the size of the SATA connector compared to the SATA SSD found in the P). It looks like Sandisk simply "halved" the drives, perhaps as a "feature" for getting their drives into smaller formfactor devices (one Japanese press release suggested they are targeting the $200-300 netbook market).


Also:

It looks like the SATA adapter is using a Marvell controller, so no need to worry about JMicron:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2009/0108/ubiq_204.jpg

 

SLC drives in terms of reliability and life-span they are meant to be superior in this area. There are some SLC drives that also have a very low power consumption. SLC drives also have an MBTF (mean time between failures) rating up to 2,000,000 hours compared to MBTF MLC drives 1,000,000-1,200,000 rating.

In terms of performance there are some MLC and SLC drives that are very good performers. There was a problem with some MLC drives and stuttering but things are improving in this area. If you are using a Samsung MLC drive then you should be fine though and have nothing to worry about.

I still though prefer SLC drives because of the reliability aspect.

outie thanks for your reply to my previous post.

 

it's very slow
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=89fxZvBBoSQ

 

This seems awful.

 

From the pics floating around on the web, the US keyboard has the smaller "enter" key, while the Japan and German keyboards have a big "enter" key and corresponding "right shift" change. I'd be surprised if the UK keyboard is any different than the US though, as you use the same language (albeit with extra letters for words like colour )

 

UK also have the \ and | left from the Z, while US dont.

Thats the only different.

 

I found this interesting site about different keyboard layouts on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout

However, my initial question still remains, it seems to me: Is the right shift key on the Sony P model, with UK keyboard, located on the left or right side of the arrow up key?

 

Bad news about the battery life:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/noteb...009--Sony-Reveals-P-Series-Battery-Details/p1

I mean who will take a device with this crappy battery life when should be the biggest pro? 2.5 hours with standard battery and 5.20 with the extended?? Ehhmm next!

 

Then it just be 2 and 4 cell battery

The good thing is, this can easly be upgraded with larger battery. Sony will probably just want to sell models with this kinda specs first, then maybe upgrade in future.