Vaio P 2010 series disappointment...

So after agonizing about getting the 2010 series Vaio P I finally pulled the trigger and bit the bullet. Not only did I take the plunge, I splurged and bought the 2010 spring Signature series version that had 2Ghz Atom, 2GB ram and 256GB SDD hard drive.

Being the top of the line spec for US models I was expecting it to be awesome...

Much to my disappointment, it could barely handle skype call with video in full screen mode, the video quality was scaled back, so pixelled and audio was choppy. Youtube could only handle 380P in window mode and when it was full screen 480P was so choppy and out of sync. 720P was an epic fail...

Funny thing was running Photoshop CS5 ran well considering, office 2010 behaved well... so the day to day function of browsing, word, email and light graphics was quite functional.

The multimedia side of this on the other had was quite the disappointment. I understand its an ATOM cpu and is using the ever aging intel GMA 500, but I'm not expecting much. With flash 10.1, I thought there would be hardware acceleration for flash and that would make the video playback bearable. The reviews from many "reputable" tech blogs stated that they were able to run 720P full screen, but I have yet to see any smooth results.

Playing a standard TV/dvd rip avi file locally is perfect, but will stutter and lose audio sync with anything that is HD.

All in all, for something that is in the netbook class I think it does perform for those tasks such as word, email etc, but the fact that the communication/media side of things like skype and youtube not performing up to par makes this my biggest gripe with the unit. Being marketed as a on the go device adds insult to injury...

So I thought I would post these thoughts and would like to know if anyone else has experienced this? 2 weeks left before my 30 days are up to return it... I'm trying my hardest to convince myself to keep it because it is such a sexy gadget... but alas, unless there is a miracle I think it's going to have to go back...

Would love to hear your thoughts...

 

Your experience echos mine with regards to netbooks (I have an Asus netbook). It seems ok almost all the time, but, sometimes, just enough to bug you, it doesn't work as well as you like. And for me, those 'sometimes' were enough to make me spend more.

You could try using more efficient codecs (I'm no expert though), but at some point, you have to accept the fact that it won't work as well, and be able to live with that. If you can't, I would return it if I were you.

 

Two things MPC-HC, DXVA.

I see an Vaio P user playing a 1080p file here using DXVA from flash 10.1 -> YouTube - Sony Vaio P with Intel GMA 500: Full HD (1080p) video playback. Are u sure u updated to the latest graphics driver from the intel website (since flash 10.1 support is only there since a couple releases back)?

2nd use MPC-HC for local playback with DXVA, you should be able to play at least 720p with the GMA500.

 

Can I suggest CCCP (Combined Community Codec Package); see my sig.
Search for it on google.

THE lightest codec package (...coughing at K-lite...), and it comes with MPC-HC with DXVA support. That lets me play 720p on a 1.6GHz Celeron with 512MB RAM and 256MB graphics RAM (only just though)

I don't know how an ATOM will fare with a hardware accelerated stuff though; it's hardware is, as it is, rather dismal... You are seeing good Word, Photoshop performance because of the SSD, which, with the system paging since you only have 2GB RAM, should be a huge advantage in terms of loading times over the conventional HDD versions. The only real bottle neck on your P is the ATOM and the GMA500

 

The GMA500 has full hardware acceleration of ALL HD formats up to 1080p. I hate the program, but PowerDVD's proprietary codec for DXVA acceleration is bar-none the best IMO. MPC-HC has to be configured correctly for it to be a smooth experience, and I've never tried the CCCP package. Here's a list of what extensions are HW accel'd.

MPEG-2 Acceleration VLD+iDCT+MC
VC-1 Acceleration VLD+iMDCT+MC+LF
AVC Acceleration VLD+iMDCT+MC+LF
FULL MPEG-4 Accel.

Might I suggest a graphics driver update from Intel? I have the GMA500 paired with the Atom Z520 in my Viliv S5 and I can play 1080p flawlessly, even high-bitrate 1080p.

 

Didn't think about the video card driver update... I did everything through the Vaio Care update and there wasn't any video card ones.

Alas, I've packed it up and shipped it off. Would've loved to have tested that to see if youtube streaming improved. I doubt that it would've assisted with the skype video conferencing performance though.

I did already have CCCP codecs, divx etc installed, and that was fine for local video playback.

At least this information is out there for the next person to tweak the performance.

Maybe the next generation will be the P for me... haha

Such a sexy device... If only they had the TZ/TT performance in the P form factor... I would be all over that in a heart beat! Thanks for the comments...

 

I know right. If somehow they could squeeze a Intel SU3500 into the P, I'd take 3 right now. Ugh. I really detest Atom's.

 

I wouldn't suggest even looking at the atom processors... their ability to run youtube videos is finicky at best. I tried some laptops with CULV processors and even those had issues with 1080p video. And by issues I mean it really wasn't watchable. I once considered CULV or Atom small laptops but I realized the weak CPUs would drive me insane. I already have a Dual Core making me grind my teeth... don't need more of that, LOL.

 

Yeah wish they would do a refresh on the TT series... like not just a spec bump... full design review...

offering it around the world other than Japan would be nice too...