At last, a Sony mini laptop is here, the Sony Vaio P Series. Although not in the form some originally expected, an adapted Via Openbook, the Sony Vaio P series has all the size and weight credentials that a netbooks should have. It weighs a minuscule 638g, that's colse to two thirds the weight of the former netbook; the Asus Eee Pc 701. Like the heavenly thin MacBook Air, the P-series is also under 2cm thick at 19.8mm and only "slightly larger than an office envelope."
Sony Bravia
But the impressive specs don't stop there...
The Led backlit screen, 8 inches over and in a widescreen format, has a surprisingly high 1600x768 resolution (compared to 1024x600 for your daily netbook). At that resolution, it's unlikely you'll ever need much side-scrolling again, since most webpages aren't that wide. Battery life is stated as 4 hours for the suitable model, or 8 for the large capacity battery - sufficient for a full days work.
My jaw hit the deck when I saw how much Ssd drive storage the P series is gift - up to 128Gb. Ssd or Solid State storage requires no enthralling parts and is thus very durable. But it's very costly to furnish a large storage Ssd installation which has meant most netbooks have had colse to 16Gb tops. A hard drive version is also available gift 60Gbs storage.
Sony has incorporated some genuinely clever extra features. Firstly, a Gps which needs no internet connection (in the Usa and Canada only - more of that later), Windows Vista - a first for a computer this small and an array of connectivity options; Wireless Lan 3G Broadband, 802.11n Lan and Bluetooth so you're related wherever there's movable phone signal. Other more suitable features like the 'Motion Eye' webcam and microphone are also included, not to forget the Sony 'xross media bar', coarse with the PlayStation 3 and Bravia Hdtv range.
The inclusion of Vista is interesting. Most netbooks haven't strayed above 1Gb of Ram whereas the new Sony has 2Gb. Processing power is a bit on the light side however since the P series will only come with a 1.33Ghz processor from Intel, not the Intel Atom coarse with most netbooks - maybe suggesting how much Sony wants to disassociate itself with the "cheap and cheerful" netbook look. As we previously mentioned in our description on the Vaio Tt - try searching netbook on Sony's Vaio site - nothing.
Of course, it's only just been made available in the Usa (today 8th January) - starting at 9 which works out about £600 at todays (painful) transfer rate. And here's the good bit...
It hits the shelves in the Uk as well as in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia in February. We can't wait to get our hands on one.
The Sony Vaio P Series - The Debut Sony Mini Laptop
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