NetbookTech

A small little editorial for you to consider when it comes to the VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC.

I wanted to share portions of an interesting conversation that I had with a Sony representative on Saturday. The conversation involved the new VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC or what I thought was.. Sony’s new “netbook”. Understand that going into this conversation, I had no idea what the price was for the system, and what made it “different” from say a normal netbook. Looking back on the conversation and the system now, I can’t help but laugh at how Sony is doing everything possible to disassociate the device from the netbook market. Why you might ask? To justify a consumer spending $900+ dollars on a device that practically offers the same “experience” that a regular netbook would provide at half the price.

Let’s just to the start of the conversation. Right off the bat, I asked the rep “what’s the processor on the inside?” Should be easy to answer right?

Sony rep: “It’s an Intel mobile processor running at 1.33 GHz”.

Me: “Oh, so is it a Core 2 Duo? A Celeron M?”

Sony rep looks at me, notices the press badge and proceeds to say quietly – “It’s an Intel Atom inside”.

OK.. now we’re talking. Atom processor on the inside which means it’s a power efficient environment… which also means we know what kind of performance to expect from it.

But.. why not come out and say so? Why so secretive? Why whisper this to me? If you don’t believe me – just go to the SonyStyle website for the Lifestyle PC. Notice Sony refers to the processor as a “1.33 GHz Intel Processor”. That’s it. Something fishy going on here right?

So I continue..

Me: “Oh so this is basically Sony’s first netbook entry..” I get cut off instantly by the rep. I think I hit a nerve.

Sony rep: “No..” (he seems annoyed now) “this is NOT a netbook. It’s a lifestyle PC. It’s a fully functional PC. A netbook allows users to check the web, check email, write some notes. The Lifestyle PC is a fully functional PC running Windows Vista and capable of running Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even Photoshop.”

Now I’M ANNOYED. I stood there somewhat flabbergasted. I thought to myself.. “Wait a second.. you’re telling me my netbook isn’t a fully functional PC? You’re tell me I can’t run those very same applications? HELLO.. My netbook can do all of that and perform even better thanks to the higher clocked processor. Heck, I can get even better battery life than the P – all in a package that’s not much larger thank you very much.”

Ah alas..  I never got a chance to those such words because the rep continued on.

Sony rep: “The Lifestyle PC provides that full PC experience which is why we bundled Windows Vista instead of Windows XP. Windows Vista has gotten a lot of bad rap in the media – much of which is not justified.”

OK.. I agree that Vista has gotten a bad rap in the media but there’s also a reason why people prefer XP over Vista on Atom based systems. XP is light weight when compared to Vista. When you have a lightweight processor such as the Atom, it makes sense to go with a lightweight OS such as XP (did I really just call XP a lightweight OS? Wow). Will XP not give the “full PC experience”? Of course it will. Heck, it only powers the majority of Windows installations out there. Come on!

Yet I stood there, content on letting the Sony rep have his way. Why? Because there was no changing his opinion. He had been brainwashed that the Lifestyle PC was in fact a full blown PC whereas a netbook was more of a utility device. Worse yet – he was disseminating this information to the CES public that was ooooing and awwwing over the sexy design of the VAIO P. Win them over with sex. Great.

Of course, this very same rep proceeded to show me how small the PC really is – sliding the device into his front pants pocket. Awesome.. I’ve always wanted to carry a full blown PC in my pant pocket. Tell me – how many of you would be willing to carry a $900 dollar PC in your front pocket? Yeah.. I didn’t thinks so.

This leads me to the price. Yes.. the base configuration costs $900 dollars ($899 specifically). That’s easily a $450+ premium over something like the MSI Wind. If you want even better performance, get ready to pony up $1499 (which simply provides the solid state drive options). $1499 for a device that can fit in my pocket that can provide the full PC experience. Gee.. I don’t know.. what the hell was Sony thinking here?

AND that’s when it all clicked in my head.

Sony is doing everything possible to disassociate the Lifestyle PC from the netbook market in order to justify the high price tag. Genius.

Yes there are certainly innovations to be found in the VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC. The display is beautiful; it’s incredibly thin and lightweight; it forgoes the touchpad with a trackpoint device; and it comes with EV-DO support from Verizon Wireless. But really now.. isn’t this just a glorified netbook system? Do the comparison yourself. Compare this up against a standard netbook (say the MSI Wind) and realize the specs are nearly identical except for the processor speed (1.6GHz on the netbook vs 1.33 GHz on the VAIO P), display resolution (1024 x 600 on the netbook vs. 1600 x 768 on the VAIO P), hard drive capacity/speed (120GB/5400RPM on the netbook vs. 60GB/4200RPM on the VAIO P), and mobile broadband (none on the netbook vs. EV-DO on the VAIO P).

Which leads one to wonder – what exactly are you paying for?

• Perhaps you’re paying for a better PC experience thanks to the larger display. However, I would argue that it’s actually harder on the eyes. Have you ever really tried to use a 1600 x 768 display on a small 8 inch screen? PC Magazine claims you could put three Windows Explorer windows side by side.. but how small would the text really be? You better have some good vision!
• Perhaps you’re paying for the small form factor? Yes it weighs 1.4 pounds which is incredibly light but please consider… that’s ONE POUND or so less than a typical netbook. Is the reduction of one pound worth the price differential??
• Perhaps it’s the full PC experience of Windows Vista? OK.. if you’re in love with Vista – go ahead and get it for your netbook at half the cost.. but be aware Vista is a memory hog which is WHY the VAIO P comes with 2GB of memory and not 1GB like netbooks. Netbooks need only 1GB to provide an excellent experience under Windows XP.
• Perhaps it’s because the system features a small Linux kernel that you can boot into for quick media playback or surfing the web. Yeah that’s cool – but is it worth $900 dollars?? Umm no.

Thus what you’ve seeing here from Sony is a slight wave of the hand. By pressing the media to not call this system a “netbook” but rather a PC, it’s justifying the near 100% premium in price over comparable systems. By not outright stating it uses the Intel Atom processor, it’s sidestepping questions from folks as to why one should pay this much for the system.

What we have here folks is an incredible wave of the marketing magic wand. Position the system in such a way as to make it seem like it’s worth much money than it really is. Genius.. just don’t fall for it please.

To Sony, it’s a Lifestyle PC. To me, it’s just an underperforming netbook err.. fully functional PC that looks sexy.