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Sony Vaio P (wow)
- Thread starter neiltc13
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I like the way the keyboard looks...the thing doesn't look half-bad in terms of design...but the specs! 1.33GHz??!!! Seriously why are 1-point-anything-GHz processors still around (Sony VAIO P, Acer Aspire One, Mac Mini, MacBook Air)???!!! 1.33GHz plus 2GB of RAM? Those specs are from 2003...there is no way. 
I like the way the keyboard looks...the thing doesn't look half-bad in terms of design...but the specs! 1.33GHz??!!! Seriously why are 1-point-anything-GHz processors still around (Sony VAIO P, Acer Aspire One, Mac Mini, MacBook Air)???!!! 1.33GHz plus 2GB of RAM? Those specs are from 2003...there is no way.
Wow, you have no idea what you're talking about, do you? Go back to your 3ghz P4, okay?
I like the way the keyboard looks...the thing doesn't look half-bad in terms of design...but the specs! 1.33GHz??!!! Seriously why are 1-point-anything-GHz processors still around (Sony VAIO P, Acer Aspire One, Mac Mini, MacBook Air)???!!! 1.33GHz plus 2GB of RAM? Those specs are from 2003...there is no way.
It's a netbook. They're not going to have 2 GHz Core2Duo Processors in them. Netbooks are meant for internet browsing, email, and office applications. Those specs are perfectly fine for that kind of stuff.
Don
i like it. i think the price is a little high for me though, or i would seriously consider getting it.
does it use a normal 2.5" SATA hard drive? if so, i might consider getting it and just upgrading the hard drive myself
does it use a normal 2.5" SATA hard drive? if so, i might consider getting it and just upgrading the hard drive myself
Very unlikely... it's probably got the same 1.8" drives found in the MBA and Vaio TT.
I want to try out the input device, but I think the screen resolution and size may have sold me. It comes close to the 15" MBP for number of pixels. The small size means it could fit upright in the one of the secondary pockets of a bag.
The keyboard also looks much better than most of the netbooks. I want to see it first, but after a long break I may be getting another Vaio.
The keyboard also looks much better than most of the netbooks. I want to see it first, but after a long break I may be getting another Vaio.
The green model (RRP: £750) was just on Amazon for £300 misprice. No way they will honour that when push comes to shove though. Still placed my order just in case!
For those who believe Sony makes good computers:
I had a huge 16,1" Sony Vaio GRX 316G (2,700 Euro) before I switched. On the very day when the manufacturer's guarantee ended the CD/DVD drive stopped working. One year later one of the RAM banks got loose (soldering; a common known GRX/GRT/GRS-series fault but never acknowledged by Sony).
Four years after purchase the LCD backlight was kaputt. Estimated repair costs: 600 Euro, has to be sent to France (6-9 weeks). The Sony software is crap. The pre-installed and bloated Norton crap and "antivirus"-apps slowed down the system significantly. The power adapter is about six times larger and heavier than Apple's. The device was loud. The battery was on 60 % after one year and on 20 % after three years (replacement: 250 Euro). Compared to MBP the whole system was instable. When I tried to wake up (not booting) the Vaio it needed up to three minutes until you have full power. Wow.
A friend of mine has a smaller and cheaper Vaio since three years. 1.5 years after purchase the hard disk drive had to be changed. The extremely glossy screen is really hard to kept clean.
With my MBP I had a display change within 24 hours and a Main Logic Board change within 3 days (all under warranty) here in Vienna at the official Apple Service Provider just around the corner.
I had a huge 16,1" Sony Vaio GRX 316G (2,700 Euro) before I switched. On the very day when the manufacturer's guarantee ended the CD/DVD drive stopped working. One year later one of the RAM banks got loose (soldering; a common known GRX/GRT/GRS-series fault but never acknowledged by Sony).
Four years after purchase the LCD backlight was kaputt. Estimated repair costs: 600 Euro, has to be sent to France (6-9 weeks). The Sony software is crap. The pre-installed and bloated Norton crap and "antivirus"-apps slowed down the system significantly. The power adapter is about six times larger and heavier than Apple's. The device was loud. The battery was on 60 % after one year and on 20 % after three years (replacement: 250 Euro). Compared to MBP the whole system was instable. When I tried to wake up (not booting) the Vaio it needed up to three minutes until you have full power. Wow.
A friend of mine has a smaller and cheaper Vaio since three years. 1.5 years after purchase the hard disk drive had to be changed. The extremely glossy screen is really hard to kept clean.
With my MBP I had a display change within 24 hours and a Main Logic Board change within 3 days (all under warranty) here in Vienna at the official Apple Service Provider just around the corner.
Apple copying build quality and product engineering that's not all hot air from Sony would also be nice.
But... I'm noticing some Apple-apeing negativity in terms of cost saving builds while fobbing off consumers who don't know better in the very latest VAIO's - although I have to say they still work a lot better than any Apple I've had recently.
I'm not hugely tempted by the P. Partly because I don't like trackpoints, but mostly because it's Vista running on an Atom - and I don't want to use XP whenever possible. I'd rather stick to my year+ old UX's which will be faster than possibly the fastest of the P's. It strikes me as a nice size to have especially when compared to my TT's and the UX's though. I think this is one VAIO I'd definitely have to try before I buy.
I was pumped up by it too, but my issue with it is more the price. I could even learn to get used to the trackpoint, or even suck it up and bring a wireless mouse, but paying $1000 for it and it's supposed to be a netbook makes me have to really think about what the other options are.
I read on Engadget that the Windows 7 Beta actually ran on it a lot smoother than Vista. I would be more interested in running W7 on it, but I can't get over that trackpoint and price tag.
Though, I have been waiting for my time to own the TT. Moving up to that from the Air has me waiting another year to get it, so says the venerable wife.
i think this laptop seems very nice. the price is a little high though, and like said before, if i got it, i'd have to update the hard drive. how hard to you think it would be to get a bigger hard drive and actually get it in the machine?
Well - like anything you pay for portability. My UX's were about $3,000 each when I bought them in the US. The P is a ~600 gram machine with a very nifty form factor and premium Sony build quality instead of the plastickiness of most netbooks. To people who can't tell an Atom from a Penryn, it's a statement object too.
Let me be more specific about the new Sony's since you mention the TT. Part of me is regretting having changed wholesale from the TZ's to the TT's. I bought a mix of the 1.2 and 1.4 machines, it is a more advanced machine, the new CPU's do make it noticeably snappier especially on the lower models, runtime is decent and once you get used to the reduced pitch, the keyboard feels so much better for fast typing than the Air... but although it looks slightly better in styling terms, it definitely feels - and once you get past the superficial styling elements, looks - noticeably cheaper than the TZ.
So I'm not feeling the Sony love as much this time around - although of course, with nowhere near the ridiculous defects / lack of engineering sense of Apples it's still a better option.
The same could be said of the Z, despite the fact that it's arguably more of an engineering feat than even the TT. I really liked the SZ's performance in general and I think it looked very crisp and dignified. The Z, once again although it's a better machine in terms of hardware just doesn't feel as solid and look close-up as well built as the SZ did.
For me, the TT was a much more necessary purchase so I replaced all of my TZ's. I haven't had the same compunction, given my above qualms, to do the same for the SZ. So I still only have the Z's I bought to evaluate.
I was hoping for a direct descendant of the UX in a more keyboard-involved form, so I was disappointed that the P didn't have a touchscreen. Perhaps I'll replace my UX's when the next revision of the P comes out - but probably not this time. The P hasn't been clothed in 'carbon fiber' and I think it looks all the better for it. Carbon-reinforced plastic is in engineering terms a very good material for this purpose, but especially with the finish on the new flagship VAIO machines it looks chintzy.
As dumb as this makes me look, I did not even notice they were not running XP. I just assumed because of the hardware specs.
I am definitely going to want to see one in person.
I am definitely going to want to see one in person.
It's a netbook (but not in terms of price), not a mac pro with 4 hard drive bays with 1TB each. 60GB is ample. It's designed for web browsing, email, etc. Maybe some word processing, powerpoints, etc.
You have no idea what you're talking about. The MBA is for ppl who want a ultra portable but still want some power. No netbook with any number of ports will match the MBA's power. Netbooks (and Sony P) all use the Atom SINGLE-core processor running at a LOWER clock speed. The MBA has a Core 2 Duo DUAL-core processor running at HIGHER clock speed.
Macs are really cheap compared to the bloated POS that Dell/HP/Sony churns out each year. The Dell XPS One (AIO) and iMac (AIO) cost roughly the same, but the iMac has discrete graphics (ATI and nVidia) compared to the Dell's Intel GMA 4500HD.
The HP uses Intel GMAs (not sure about model) and you can only get the nVidia chipset when you buy the high end configuration. Notebooks are the same, Dell/HP/Sony all uses Intel GMAs unless you bump things past 1.7K.
MacBooks uses nVidia (which pwns any Intel GMA) for 1.5K (that's the high end 2.4GHz model too). Not to mention you can get educational discounts, free shipping, ships the same day, and the best customer service (wins awards year after year).
Oh did I mention how sucky Vista is to OS X? Or build quality? Ives godly designs? Plastic to Aluminum?