NetbookTech

A few more tidbits regarding the new updated Sony VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC we announced yesterday thanks to today’s press release:

• Trackpad and left/right buttons are built directly into the LCD bezel
• Mobile nav grip to make it easier to access content on the go
• Weighs 1.4 pounds and is about the size of a business envelope and as thin as a cell phone
• WEB button brings you directly into a web browser – available even when the PC is turned off and without a full boot of Windows
• ASSIST button launches Sony’s VAIO Care software which lets you tune-up, maintain, update, and troubleshoot your PC
• 1600 x 768 LED backlit 8 inch ultra-wide display

The SonyStyle blog site has first-look impressions of the new P Series here.

The new VAIO P is available for pre-order with prices starting at around $800 dollars.

[Check it out]

Here’s another interesting tidbit from the folks at Sony Insider – Sony Japan will soon begin to offer a Windows XP model of the Sony VAIO P known as VGN-P50 (guess Sony got the hint when the reviews weren’t all that spectacular for the VAIO P and its use of Vista).

The new model will also be available in several new colors including Garnet Red, Crystal White, and Peridot, and Gold. Specs to VGN-P50 include:

• Windows XP SP3
• Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor
• 8 inch display
• 1GB RAM
• 80GB HDD
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 2.1

The new model should be hitting the Japanese shores around June 6th for a price of Y85,000 (approximately $900 dollars).

[Check it out via Sony Insider]

Could SonyStyle Japan be providing a sneak peek into what the Sony VAIO P will look like this fall here in the U.S.? The website is now offering new options for the slim VAIO P including a new 2GHz Intel Atom Z550 processor as well as a 256GB Solid State Drive option – all in a new model known as the VGN-P91. It does appear that everything else remains the same including the 2GB of RAM, the Intel GMA 950 graphics, and the use of Windows Vista. Will a 2GHz Atom processor change impressions of the VAIO P? Too early to tell but you can be sure the system will still be expensive.

But remember – don’t call this a netbook!

[Check it out via Sony Insider]

While we all know (and hopefully agree) that the new Sony VAIO P-Series Lifestyle PC is a work of art, what we really don’t know is how the device performs.

Of course, a quick look at the specs and one could easily surmise this system would be an under-performer – even when compared to standard netbooks available today. Just look at the ingredients of the VAIO P Lifestyle PC – an Atom Z520 processor clocked at 1.33 GHz; a 60GB HDD with a rotational speed of 4200 RPM, Intel integrated graphics powering a 1600 x 768 display, and finally, Windows Vista as the operating system. Yes… all ingredients for a possibly underwhelming system.

Luckily, the folks at Akihabara News managed to get their hands on a new Lifestyle PC, and as a result, have confirmed what we’ve suspected. Quoting the article now – the “the Vaio P sucks… BIG TIME ! And at least with the stock version…”

Ouch!

I’m not kidding – that’s what they said. While they didn’t actually run any formal benchmarks on the system, they arrived to this conclusion simply by using the system.

Their main observation? It takes a long time to boot. The desktop comes up in about 1.02 minutes but it’s far from usable. It takes a minute or so more before the system is actually usable. Of course what we don’t know is how much crapware might be installed on the Lifestyle PC. Sony is notorious for installing loads of crapware.

Now to be fair, Akihabara News does get a few things wrong in their posting.

First off, the most glaring error occurs when the author claims the VAIO P has a dual core CPU. The Atom processor in the VAIO P is in fact a single core processor with hyper-threading enabled which means you get two “logical processors” – not two physical processors. Hyper-threaded enabled processors can perform anywhere between 15 to 30% faster than non-HT enabled processors – but it’s very dependent on your use case scenarios.

Secondly, the reviewer states “ATOM CPUs just sucks big time unless they are properly integrated like on the Ion platform (NVidia)”. Actually the Atom processor performs quite nicely given the energy efficiency of the platform. However this particular system couples a 1.33GHz Atom with the wrong OS – Windows Vista. Vista is a resource hog – plain and simple. If one must run Vista on the Atom, then replace the integrated graphics with a real GPU – say the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M from the Ion platform.

Now back to the main issue at hand – the Lifestyle PC’s performance. Yes, it does bite the big one under Windows Vista.. but was it really any surprise? Our first hand use of the VAIO P at CES 2009 convinced us that we were looking at a performance handicapped system. There were response time delays when you clicked on menus, started up applications, or ran video clips. Even that video clip we attempted to launch was choppy at best on the Lifestyle PC (I wish I took a video clip of that).

Of course, things might look slightly different if you couple the VAIO P with a solid state drive – boot times and application launch times might be faster – but so will be the asking price of the system. 

Ahh.. the VAIO P Lifestyle PC – it’s downright young and sexy on the outside but slow and geriatric on the inside.

[Check it out]

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.