Sony VAIO P: First Impression

Sony VAIO P: First Impression

Roydon Cerejo, Jan 27, 2009 1810 hrs IST

Compact, lightweight and extremely stylish - that's the best way to describe this beauty

Expert Review

Windows Vista on an Intel Atom, Why?

Two versions of the VAIO P will launch in India soon. The P15 and P13 both carry the same configuration, except for a slight variation in the Operating system, storage capacity and bundled accessories.
The P15 (which we had) the full blown version comes with Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 64GB SSD and couple of accessories like Noise cancelling headphone (MDR-NC021LP/BM2) and Display/LAN Adapter while the P13 has Vista Home Basic, a 60GB hard disk and no accessories.

Sony is using a slightly different processor than the regular N270 Atom, instead it's an Atom Z530 running at the same 1.6GHz. This Atom processor has a smaller footprint and also consumes lesser power required for a device this small.
Booting the VAIO P is very similar to the PSP with a slider like power button. Sony has chosen to install Windows Vista on the VAIO P, which as you would expect, slows it down terribly. Even the 2GB of RAM cannot help it here. It takes quite a while to boot and even once on the desktop, it takes another minute to settle down before you can actually use it.

Navigation is a breeze thanks to the pointing stick making it very easy to use without having to move your finger at all. The buttons have sufficient gap around them allowing you to differentiate the keys quite well. The resolution of the screen does pose a bit of a problem since 1600 x 768 makes viewing text and web pages unreadable at times even if you have a 20-20 eyesight.
Just like the Asus Eee PC S101, Sony incorporates a Lithium Polymer battery instead of Lithium-ion that gives a much longer battery life up to three hrs. With our short stint with the VAIO P, we could not test that out, so hopefully when we get a sample for review we'll be able to tell more about it.

Special function keys

Window Arrangement Button

In case you have many windows open at the same time and want to view them quickly, then pressing this button automatically fits the windows in a grid format. It's a handy tool to quickly see what Windows are currently open.

Instant Mode

This is essentially the Cross Media Bar seen on the PSP and the PS3 that lets you quickly browse through files and access the internet. You can boot directly into Instant mode or even access it through Windows. One thing we noticed was that even after booting directly into Instant mode, it wasn't that smooth, which is surprising since it is based on Linux and should not need a lot of resources.

Conclusion

The Sony VAIO P is no doubt the sexiest Pocket PC out there and nothing comes close to its style and function. If you have been looking for a pocket sized computer with the functions of a Netbook, then the VAIO P should fit the bill.
Be warned though, living on the cutting edge of technology comes at a price with the base model starting at a whooping Rs.50,000 and the full blown version retailing for Rs.65,000. If you're looking for a practical solution then this would not be your best bet, the reason being the sluggishness of the system, which I'm sure people looking for productivity will not appreciate.

Sony themselves have said that it's a lifestyle product and solely aimed at young college kids or anyone who loves to flaunt the latest gadgets.

Basically if you have the cash to burn and productivity is your second or third priority, then you might want to check it out when it launches next month.

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Tag keywords

First Impression Of The New Sony VAIO P pocket PC lightweight compact CES 2009 netbook QWERTY keyboard Atom Z530 Window Arrangement Button Instant Mode.

Discussion Board

(4) Comments

Mohit gulati

,Pune, on Jan 29, 2009 04:01 PM

Sorry guts but at this price this PC is just not worth it !!! It's suppose to be a Internet device like the Asus Epc n Aspire one. N here we have this higly priced junk from SOny which is sinking day by day in the international market.