Preview of Sony VAIO P – Pocket Style PC

I received an invitation from Sony just last week, and part of the invitation states “It’s light, it’s slim, it’s handy and it fits in your pocket. Find out what it is at the exclusive unveiling of this mysterious product brought to you by Sony Malaysia….”

It’s SLIM – HANDY – FITS IN YOUR POCKET, it’s a Sony VAIO P – Pocket Style PC.

Take note that it’s not a POCKET PC but rather a POCKET STYLE PC. It fits in your pocket, well not exactly because you need a really damn huge pocket to begin with. 🙂

Yeah, pocket-style. Please don’t do that in public though, at least not in Malaysia unless you want to lose your precious VAIO P. (give it to me better la.)

Here are some details from the Press Release.

Sony Malaysia today took the wraps off a brand new form of 8-inch notebook – the new VAIO P “Pocket style PC”. VAIO P is a full-featured notebook PC captured in pocket size, and it is small enough to be gripped with one hand. Combining premium design and wireless network function, VAIO P commands mobility, style, and usability.

Pocket size mobility

About the size of a business envelope and roughly as thin as a cell phone, the VAIO P weighs just 594g with SSD / 620g with HDD and is small enough to slip into a pocket or handbag while integrating full-PC features. However, engineered to provide the feel of a common notebook, the VAIO P model provides a convenient typing experience by extending the keyboard to the perimeters of the chassis maximizing the typing area, together with the isolation keyboard to help reducing typing mistakes.

The model incorporates a high-resolution 1600 x 768 LED backlit, 8-inch ultra-wide display, making it easy to view two full web pages side by side. It also incorporates the LCD technology that produces images in brilliant detail, whilst the anti-reflection coating, reduces light reflection and provides razor-sharp viewing on-the-go.
The style for enriched life

Stylish to take anywhere, the unit is available in an array of premium glossy colours; Garnet Red, Olivine Green, Obsidian Black, Crystal White. The colours are painted on the magnesium body with multiple layers, and hand-polished on top to achieve the glossy top and bottom surface like the look of polished mineral ore.

The high-grade quality in every piece of the design, including the full flat surface, the screw less bottom, the torque-hinge, and the capsule shape, provides a smooth-feel touch for total PC enjoyment. In addition, the matching carrying cases and Bluetooth® colour-coordinated mouse are available to complete the look.

The new mobile experience

VAIO P has Instant Mode that directly launches into Sony’s Xross Media Bar interface for quick boot up and access to music, video, photos and the Web.

VAIO P incorporates Windows® Vista, which supports various software routinely found in full-size notebooks. Moreover, the window arrangement utility has been installed for organizing all open documents or websites easily with one touch, and positioning them neatly alongside each other on a single screen. For the ultimate mobile experience, VAIO P also comes with a built-in webcam, noise-cancelling technology/headphones (only VGN-P15G), built-in wireless LAN 802.11b/g/Draft and Bluetooth® feature.

Ok, so there ya have it. Details of the product could also be found at the Vaio P Product Page.

My Thoughts on the Sony VAIO P

I had the chance to fiddle around with some of the VAIO P models. No, not the girls. I’m referring to the display units. 🙂

The VAIO P is a really HOT looking device. Slim and light, certainly mobility at its best and the black version really reminds me of the PlayStation Portable.

And just how big is the VAIO P?

Yes, that’s my goldfries.com calling card on a neck-strap card / ID holder. It’s THAT small. There’s no touch-pad, just a track-point a.k.a. nipple. It certainly proved to be challenging to navigate the mouse cursor in attempt to be pin-point accurate, much like a wrist / finger exercise routine, consider that I’m a person who uses the mouse a lot.

I thought it to be yet another Netbook but was informed during the press conference that it wasn’t. 🙁 And it’s not low-cost either. The entry level is priced at RM 2,788 while the high-spec model is at RM 3,788 – a shocker to me. I thought it’ll be great to have it priced closer to like RM 2k – RM 2.5k at most.

The products come with original Windows Vista Home 32bit. Basic for the entry, Premium for the high-spec version.

The high-spec version also comes with an add-on device (no pricing at the time of this article).

It adds VGA and RJ-45 connectivity to the VAIO-P. I personally would’ve hoped for a DVI / HDMI output. I wonder how would a 16:9 ratio movie look on a 1600 x 768 resolution monitor, I suspect there’s going to be black bars at the side as 1600 x 768 is just 16:7.6.

Below is the RED version of the VAIO P, photographed along with the VAIO P pouch and also VAIO P mouse. They comes in colors that match the VAIO P.

Keen on the VAIO P? I think that the general impression on this device would be that it’s rather pricey for something that works pretty much like a Netbook. For RM 3,788 that you pay, you could get a few units of MSI Wind or ASUS Eee PC. So basically you’re paying a premium for something of lesser size and weight, and a bunch of other goodies.

Oh, and also I pre-order of the VAIO P is now open. The period is from 13th January to 14th February. You’ll get Levi’s voucher (worth RM 100), a VAIO P pouch (worth RM 249) and a Free “GO With It” workshop (worth RM 150) along with the pre-order.

*SONY is very clever when it comes to marketing, having the pre-order just before Valentine’s Day.*

🙂 What do you think? Any of you plan to order it?