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First Worthy MBA Competitor

tubbymac

tubbymac

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 6, 2008
1,074
1
Alright, not quite an MBA competitor but it's the first non terrible netbook/laptop crossover machines I've seen. This will be of interest to those clamoring for an Apple netbook but not willing to wait for one.

It's called the Sony Vaio P. Much better than the MSI posted before. Is about 3x lighter than the MBA (1.2 or 1.4 lbs can't remember). Has a 1600 x 768 resolution display they managed to cram into 8 inches (that will most likely make you go blind from squinting) and the option of an 8 hour battery. Starts at $899 and looks like so:

sony-p-012.jpg


It comes in a bunch of fruity colors, like red or green. Here's an idea of how small it is compared to a hand:

p_overview5.jpg
 
iBookG4user

iBookG4user

macrumors 604
Jun 27, 2006
6,595
2
Seattle, WA
I wonder how fast the processor is. That looks interesting but I've always hated that version of the mouse that they use, I can never get used to it. I'll still take my MacBook Air over that though, even if Apple made it I'd still prefer the current MacBook Air.
 
NT1440

NT1440

macrumors Pentium
May 18, 2008
15,089
22,155
Isnt this a netbook?

If so then why is it in direct competition of the MBA?
 
mcdj

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,970
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Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)

NT1440 said:
Isnt this a netbook?

If so then why is it in direct competition of the MBA?
Click to expand...

And doesn't it run Windows? :p
 
NT1440

NT1440

macrumors Pentium
May 18, 2008
15,089
22,155
mcdj said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)



And doesn't it run Windows? :p
Click to expand...
yea, that too:p

Tho I have to say, i had been following this since rumored, and deffinatly way sleeker than I figured.
 
kastenbrust

kastenbrust

macrumors 68030
Dec 26, 2008
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North Korea
Its got a core 2 duo processor and 2 gigs of RAM so its not really a netbook, but it doesnt look as sexy as the MBA, doesnt run OS X and doesnt have a multi touch track pad, has a crappy vga webcam, tiny keyboard for midgets and kids, and has a screen you need a magnifying glass to do any real work on.
 
dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,160
4,152
5045 feet above sea level
kastenbrust said:
Its got a core 2 duo processor and 2 gigs of RAM so its not really a netbook, but it doesnt look as sexy as the MBA, doesnt run OS X and doesnt have a multi touch track pad, has a crappy vga webcam, tiny keyboard for midgets and kids, and has a screen you need a magnifying glass to do any real work on.
Click to expand...

seriously, it does not have a core2duo, it has an intel atom z250 cpu @ 1.33 ghz.......

and yes its a netbook. exactly why it doesnt have all the features of a laptop lol
 
iBookG4user

iBookG4user

macrumors 604
Jun 27, 2006
6,595
2
Seattle, WA
dukebound85 said:
seriously, it does not have a core2duo, it has an intel atom z250 cpu @ 1.33 ghz.......

and yes its a netbook. exactly why it doesnt have all the features of a laptop lol
Click to expand...

1.33GHz Atom? Then that is definitely not a worthy competitor of the MacBook Air, not mentioning that it is a netbook. I still don't see why some like to compare the MacBook Air to netbooks, it really doesn't make much sense to do so.
 
Trishul

Trishul

macrumors regular
Oct 27, 2006
141
1
Sarasota, FL
looks cool, though would have to see how well the nipple mouse works, i always though they were a cool addition to laptops, but i could never imagine using them outright. Maybe someone could make a slightly larger space bar and somehow incorporate a touchpad into one user assigned half, (i preempt regret if someone actually uses that idea and buys Luxembourg as a result)
 
mattcube64

mattcube64

macrumors 65816
May 21, 2006
1,297
115
Missouri
Personally, I think it looks pretty slick.

In my opinion, just as sleek as the MBA, but it has a different aesthetic for sure.

Anyway, I think I'd take the plunge if it were in the $600 range. But for $900, I would rather just get the MBA and have OSX, a better CPU, and a better GPU.

However, I bet that screen looks SHARP in person.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this... While looking at it earlier, I thought to myself it would be AWESOME if Apple were to introduce something like this (similar size), but the screen swiveled at it was their long-rumored tablet as well. I'd buy one for sure.
 
tubbymac

tubbymac

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 6, 2008
1,074
1
I'd still take the refurb rev A Macbook Air for $999 over this. For that $100 price difference I think it's a no brainer which one has more value.

Still, this Sony is an impressive feat of engineering and design. How they crammed a hard drive, the ram, the wifi card, the BATTERY, and then had room left over for the logic board... all in an 8 inch diagonal frame... impressive.

The weight and the optional extended battery life is neat. But too small for my tastes. And why on earth they would run Vista on something that small is kinda funny.
 
kastenbrust

kastenbrust

macrumors 68030
Dec 26, 2008
2,890
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North Korea
dukebound85 said:
according to this
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/010809-sony-rolls-out-atom-powered.html
Click to expand...

sorry i didnt realise it was an atom, i just remembered reading somewhere that they were thinking about a core duo version.

and it still sucks anyway. just thought id reitterate that :p my thumb could cover 1/4 of the keyboard, its ridiculous. Its just a flashy gizmo for rich kids who need the latest gadget to add to their lineup. The sony campaign advertises this as "the revolutionary new product that will change your perception of mobile computing forever"

what a joke, at least the Japanese have a sense of humour.

Although I have to admit it would be really sexy if someone hackintoshed it and installed Kalyway or Iatkos MAC OS X on it :)
 
Sesshi

Sesshi

macrumors G3
Jun 3, 2006
8,113
1
One Nation Under Gordon
Santa Rosa said:
1.33 Ghz Atom and Vista. Looks nice, but that has Fail written all over it.
Click to expand...

That is my primary problem with this as well.

And I'd say this is not an MBP competitor: It's for someone who has a Matroushka doll arrangement of desktop, mainstream or lightweight laptop - and was looking for something lighter than an ultralight as a ubiquitous companion. In many ways the P exceeds the scope of the crippled, ultimately quite rubbish ultralight for posers who do nothing of consequence on their machines that is the MBA.

I thought it might make a nice UX replacement, but I'm not so sure given the Atom. If it's the Atom which I think it is then even my oldest Core UX's will run rings around it.
 
fteoath64

fteoath64

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2008
215
0
Santa Rosa said:
1.33 Ghz Atom and Vista. Looks nice, but that has Fail written all over it.
Click to expand...

Agree if Vista were the OS. Now it looks more like Windows7 in it. Then its a worthy AIR successor. The 1.33Ghz Atom might be slower compared to C2D 1.6Ghz but Win7 is very zippy and compensate for the slower processor. If one can put Hackintosh OSX in it, it might be the iNetbook:apple: people are hoping Apple to delivery. The screen is just amazing and would be worth the $999 price, if that were true.
 
Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa

macrumors 65816
Aug 22, 2007
1,051
0
Indiana
fteoath64 said:
Agree if Vista were the OS. Now it looks more like Windows7 in it. Then its a worthy AIR successor. The 1.33Ghz Atom might be slower compared to C2D 1.6Ghz but Win7 is very zippy and compensate for the slower processor. If one can put Hackintosh OSX in it, it might be the iNetbook:apple: people are hoping Apple to delivery. The screen is just amazing and would be worth the $999 price, if that were true.
Click to expand...

I think even OS X would be a bit pokey on that. It would be better than Windows Vista (which is what it is definitely running in the posted picture, not Windows 7.) but it still wouldn't be great.

The only thing I can see that running reasonably well is a light distro of Linux. Maybe VectorLinux?
 
A

alphaxono

macrumors member
Dec 4, 2008
37
0
I had a Sony Z21VN for about a week. The screen was beautiful, you could almost taste the colors. 13 inch with 1600x900 resolution.
The text was soooooo incredibly small and unreadable that I had to change the DPI to 125%. This made everything look a bit off. So ended up giving it back.

Now this type of resolution on an 8 inch is gonna give you one big headache.

Japanese people have clearly better eyes, you will need 20/10 vision for this:D
 
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