Hardware Sony Vaio P-series netbook (VGN-P11Z/R)

Only thing I'm confused about is opening this article with "most amazing pieces of technology we've ever laid eyes on" and ending it with an average score of 2.8.

So it's small; Besides that, I'd rather buy 3 EEE pc's than one of these for the price. Not enough performance for the money.

 

wow.. ouch... too bad this isn't a real netbook .. that pricetag just tosses it out of the netbook class .. if this were, it might actually improve my perception of Sony .. .but alas, they still managed to f#$% it up *sigh*

 

Oh yeah, because i REALLY want to ditch Vista and use another shiny, idiot-centric OS installed on a idiot-centric and overpriced piece of crap. You made my day.

 

Like many others here, I wouldn't sit still as regards the software. It would have been helpful if bit could have considered this and tested the product after formatting and installing Ubuntu for example.

 

They're probably not allowed to do that, seeing as it's a testing model. I wouldn't buy one even if I had the money. Ubuntu would probably run faster though.

 

Stuart is right - it's difficult to start installing other operating systems on hardware that ultimately has to go back to the manufacturer. Ubuntu/XP should be much less of a problem though - it's the questionable software choices that really cripple this device - I have no idea who thought Vista would be a good idea!

 

No sign of any psychological issues in that post
"MacBook Air or similar" e.g. another ultraportable, maybe one of the Sony range, who knows? who cares?

 

that last version of black xp is really nice to run on netbooks.. or you can take the home version and turn off most of the services- tweak xp to adjust the cache.. ghost and load it up with apps

 

That's more like it size-wise. Can't believe the price though : O

 

PANDORA Cheesecake

 

People who like shiny-ness. Sony, Sony, Sony...

 

A. Looks really nice.
B. Concept is cool.
C. Way overpriced.
D. Bad OS choice.
E. I see this model as more of a beta test of what can be done. As a demo... good. Unit sales... not so much.

I just don't understand the target audience/purpose of this device? Instant messaging and casual web surfing? I'll stick to my Blackberry for that. It can't be document editing while traveling with a screen that small. I'll stick to my normal sized laptop to perform tasks like that. According to the review, video playback is a problem as well so it's no replacement for a portable DVD player.

Maybe I just don't get it.

 

A cool little gadget, looks like they rushed it out a little bit though.

 

I do 24x7 on call support, so I've recently bought one of these for when I'm out and about. Therefore I'm not using it for video or any of the things it's not very good at. I've tried the EEE before, but it wasn't quite good enough, and was still too big to carry about easily. This actually fits in a jacket pocket and has a high enough screen resolution to show the systems I am supporting.

While I haven't got round to installing Ubuntu on it just yet, I have installed VMWare. I have to use some very old Windows client software in my line of work, and it doesn't run on Vista, even in compatibility mode. The bit that really amazed me is that this machine runs a Windows 2000 virtual machine brilliantly (Windows NT 5 also).

Two points for prospective owners: make your recovery discs, and then uninstall all the rubbish that comes with the machine - that will speed things up a lot. And also for the integrated 3G, the GlobeTrotter device comes with windows software that's not great, but the drivers are fine, and you can just use it through a standard Windows Dial-up networking connection, and it works much more reliably.

 

Microsoft...

I thought XP isn't to be sold on devices overexceeding certain hardware limits... (resolution...2 GB RAM)

 

I reckon Windows7 would run alright on it.

 

The PC Pro guys tried it and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as Vista... but it was still a little slow, but not a laggy, horrible mess. But then I guess it'll be like that on any netbook

 

It really bugs me when reviewers trot out the old "higher screen resolution is no good because it makes text harder to read" line. Windows has a very easy to use DPI setting (in the Display settings in XP) that lets you increase the display size of text and icons. Higher resolution makes everything crisper and easier to see; how large you want text to be is up to you. I used to have a Dell laptop with a gorgeous 1600 x 1200 screen, but needed to bump the DPI up to make everything usable. Hardly a big deal - you just set it once and forget about it. ON the other hand, there's not much you can do to improve a screen when the resolution is too low.

 

If this device was shown to 2005/2006 me... my jaw would drop. But 2009 me thinks it's over priced How crazy is that.

I'm still waiting for the "perfect" netbook. Once Windows 7 comes out it might show itself. At the moment no one has quite made me an offer I can't refuse. Anyone seen that advert on TV for the £299 PC world laptop....? I don't get how they can do that but still fail to tick all the netbook boxes. Call me when I can get....720p 10inch screen, 10 hour battery, HSDPA (sim slot), 2GB of RAM, dual core atom, 32GB+ SSD, HDMI out, small GPU for 720p video/Aero.. for £300-350. Done... Sold!

 

OQO has been cranking out little amazing things for quite some time.

http://www.oqo.com/intl/products/model2+/specifications.html

But I doubt you'll find anything with those specs you want for £350.