Japan's Sony Corp plans to launch the world's lightest 8-inch notebook PC, taking aim squarely at a rapidly growing market for ultra-portalbe personal computers.
The new Sony Vaio PC will come with Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system, supporting all the software programs found in full-sized notebooks, and sell for about $900, setting itself apart from Netbooks.
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Jeez, are you guys living in the past or what? The Toshiba Libretto hasn't been updated since 2005. The lightest Libretto now weighs 2.15 lbs, (compared to the to 1.4lbs for the Viao) the keyboard is far from full size, and the hard drive sucks up power.
Linux on a subnotebook? Sure, great. But where ya' gonna find the drivers?
Get a Mac--Sony is toast-----this is a copy off of Apple's back . no originality here
Oh, I see that Sony has (re) invented the Toshiba Libretto.
Who do they think they are taking credit for other people's innovations... Apple?
Here is a more usefull article:
http://www.crn.com/hardware/212701343
and more pictures
http://i.gizmodo.com/5125930/sony-vaio-p-super-dont+call+it+a+netbook-hands-on?skyline=true&s=i
The keyboard is nearly full size and there is an instant-on OS for basic tasks and so you only have to load vista for when you need to use full blown apps.
considering that it has two gigs of memory and 128 gigs of flash drive (that is where most of the extra money is going) the price is not that unreasonable.
Vaio is not a good computer. I've had two of them, and they last only two years when you travel with them. Bad trackpad response, hard drive overheats, the fan gets loud after a while, and the wireless card went out on both of the units I had within six months. Terrible customer service also. Don't buy Sony laptops; if you do, don't say you weren't warned. If you have to get a PC, I'd recommend Toshiba. I have had one for four months now and have had no issues with it whatsoever. It came with Vista Ultimate and I've had no problems with it, either.
All that being said, I still prefer my iMac when I'm at home. Mac OS is more intuitive and easier to use, but Vista Ultimate has been very stable.
$900 is redonkulous for a netbook. That's 2-3 times the industry standard.
This from the company that deigned to give us a $600 gaming device with the ptich, "Why wouldn't you buy it?"
I am sticking to my MacBook Air thank you very much!!!
Vista? I thought they said it was "light?"
And what is the logic behind a $900 laptop stuffed to the gills with windoze bloatware vista competing with a $300 laptop that will run circles around it with linux? Are people still really that dumb? windows is like, so 80s. :p
Nobody told Sony that peoples buy smaller netbook because they are a cheaper alternative than full blown laptop. The netbook trend started because these laptop were cheaper but I see computer maker increasing the price to cash in on the trend and I have a feeling that all they are going to do is kill the trend.
When will they figure out that you don't make a usable netbook by cramming full Vista into an even more unusable space?
Apple will as usual eat their lunch when (at the point when the market justifies releasing it) they release a netbook (and probably netpad) that uses the properly scaled OSX version designed for this kind of device (essentially an extention of the iPhone/touch OS). Optimized for the screen size and with a good touch (and probably voice/ handwriting enabled) inteface.
Shoe-horning Vista into everything will fail just as all other MS-based solutions has.
I absolutely hate these tiny machines. Used to own a Sony Viao and my hands would cramp up because of how tiny the keyboard is.
After initial excitement about them Sony notebooks died for me when after installing Winzip on a brand new Sony machine the Windows OS was irreversibly damaged and had to be completely reinstalled. I have never seen this on any other brand of machine (and I must have installed all versions of DOS and Windows except Vista on at least three dozen different PCs in my life) and can only assume that it might have had something to do with a Sony rootkit or similar "modification" that was on the original HD image.
Thanks. But no, thanks.
Why don't you install Linux instead? It runs much better than Vista on these tiny little machines.
I have Linux running on a quad processor machine which I use for my EDA work. Works like a charm. The machine I am talking about was a Vaio loaner laptop which I got five or six or seven years ago from a friend. I tried to install the software for a science project of ours and the OS basically got killed by something. Back then I didn't know what a rootkit was and after reinstalling Windows (which we needed) it worked OK, although it wasn't exactly high performing for the price of a Vaio back then. Since then I have a no-Sony policy. Which is kind of sad because Sony used to have excellent high end audio products (my Dad's CD player still works like a charm after 15 years and sounds better than most new products). But that was a long time ago.
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Reuters | January 8, 2009 01:10 AM