Comments on: Hands on: Sony VAIO P Series

By: rob

rob — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:19:21 +0000

Shocking exploitation of us Brits yet again, I’d totally fed up of why WE have to pay more for everything than most of the rest of the world, and glaringly so much less than USA despite being a significant market. It’s total nonsense to have to pay DOUBLE the price Americans pay for an item made by Japanese companiies. As usual better to buy something overseas and bring it back and stuff the declaring nonsense. No extortionate VAT then.

Yea looks pretty but, the UK price of this is a joke for a travel device.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:25:31 +0000

I have a thought…..

The p-series does look like a nice piece of kit, but has anyone thought about the practical use of a 1600×768 resolution on a 8 inch screen. i run 1680×1050 on a 15 inch laptop, and although its very nice when working on pictures and documents, i wouldn’t want the screen size any smaller.

Plus as normal us brits get to pay through the nose for it, unlike our friends in the US.

By: zargotron

zargotron — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:10:09 +0000

I guess what we are all thinking is…

Buy a cheap plane ticket to New York for a weekend and come back with a Vaio P for almost EXACTLY the price of just buying one in the UK! So what’s the point in buying one here? You could even buy one over there and get worldwide insurance/cover and it would STILL be cheaper over there!!!!

It’s shocking that sony are attempting to sell you the very product that enables you to see how much cheaper it is in other countries.

By: jtwoodfield

jtwoodfield — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:26:22 +0000

It is hard to make meaningful comments on something as personal as a laptop from a review alone. Save as to the price – where one can only hope that Sony UK are reading the responses. One would have thought that the old days of equating a pound to a dollar were over.

However, one observation might safely be made: I am delighted that Sony are using a trackpoint and not a pad. The latter might be fine for children and other games players but likely to be a complete nuisance for anyone who wants to actually work. There is nothing more annoying than the pointer skating across the page of text because the pad has been brushed and trackpoints are far faster and more accurate to use. Especially on a train or plane.

In the past I have bought ThinkPads party for the trackpoint. The fact that Sony is using one might induce me to have a look. Otherwise they could forget it. Whatever the price.

By: RIP_tractorboy

RIP_tractorboy — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:40:22 +0000

No apology from me on this one Tim. You’ve lost it.

Quite apart from the ludicrous price, the screen size/shape renders it a pointless curiosity given that the web-browser is the single most important application that most of us run. Browsing the web on this would be hell in a handcart. And that would be just the start of the misery.

I predict that as soon as you’ve got over the great Sony unpacking experience and build quality, the minute you visit the PC-Pro website you’ll be banging your head against the nearest solid object.

Also, just because it’s neat doesn’t mean that we all forget it doesn’t have a trackpad and lovingly embrace a pesky trackpoint.

Regards,

Tractorboy

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:18:09 +0000

A very attractive piece of engineering. The inclusion of 3g HSDPA module makes the Sony Vaio P a real web ready device in a way the classic netbooks such as the ASUS EEEPC and the Acer Aspire One were not.

But £899? A supplementary notebook?! Moreover, I wonder if the 128GB SSD drive will survive Windows 7 if it is using NTFS? The MacBook Air has the same sort of drive and has a journaled operating system. (Journaling kills SSD drives quickly unless it is switched off.)

By: Komalan

Komalan — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:22:41 +0000

It’s more of a collector’s laptop……I must say it’s beautiful; HOWEVER, THE PRICE IS A JOKE…….WHY IS IT 900$ IN THE USA AND WELL OVER 850 POUNDS IN THE UK????????
SONY SUCKS WHEN THEY DO THESE THINGS. AT LEAST MAKE IT THE SAME PRICE AS IN THE USA….I THINK THAT IF I BUY IT ONLINE, I’LL GET IT SHIPPED FROM JAPAN OR THE USA……………………….. TAKE THAT SONY ;-p

By: Peterwgtennant

Peterwgtennant — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:54:29 +0000

I agree with you Paul, it’s a niche product. Sony are clearly aiming the P-series at the second device market (a portable alternative, for when you’re travelling). But who can afford £800+ on a SECOND laptop, I thought I was being indulgent paying £800 for my first (and only) laptop. Although larger, existing netbooks are still more than sufficiently portable to satisfy most people’s ’second laptop’ needs, and given the tremendous price differential (you could have 3 Samsung NC10’s plus money to spare for the price of a single Vaio P) I just can’t see this having a wide appear.

By: Paul Ockenden

Paul Ockenden — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:05:02 +0000

> What immediately sets it apart is its size.

Sorry Tim – what immediately sets it apart is the price!

I’n issue 173’s Mobile & Wireless column I wrote: ““those awfully nice Sony people” (for those who remember the John Cleese adverts) seem to have at last woken up to the popularity of the netbook and are said to be working on one of their own. Of course, one of the main attributes of the netbook category is “cheap” (nowadays, creeping toward an added “-ish”), so it will be interesting to see where Sony prices its models. If it can keep them in the credit-crunch-friendly low hundreds while maintaining the flair, innovation and style that oozed from the UX50 and U101 then it will be on to a winner…”

Methinks they failed.

Don’t get me wrong – my credit card is already twitching, but I think the pricing is going to make it gadget-fan jewellery rather than a mass market success.

I’d be interested to know what other readers think…