A little over a year after launching the Vaio P mini-laptop with its 8 inch, 1600 x 768 pixel display, Sony is giving the Vaio P line a refresh. The new Sony Vaio P features the same small size and high resolution display. But it has a couple of new features, including:
- There's an optical touchpad built into the screen bezel (Don't worry, there's still a pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard as well).
- Sony has added an accelerometer that lets you rotate the display to read web pages or documents — or tilt left or right to move forward or backward in the web browser.
- The top of the line model now comes with a 2.13GHz Intel Atom Z560 processor, while the base model still has a slower 1.6GHz Atom Z530 CPU.
- You get a choice of colors including black, white, orange, pink, and white.
Sony has also added Playstation3 remote play functionality. That will allow you to stream music and movies from your PS3 to your Vaio P mini-laptop.
Like earlier models, the new Sony Vaio P will have 2GB of RAM, run Windows 7 Home Premium, WIFi, and optional 3G mobile broadband. The device uses a solid state disk instead of a hard drive, and while the original Vaio P topped out at 64GB of storage, the new model will be available with up to 256GB. The mini-laptop measures 9.7″ x 0.8″ x 4.7″ and weighs 1.3 pounds.
The new Sony Vaio P will be available starting in June for $799 and up. That makes it pretty expensive by netbook standards, but actually about $100 cheaper than the price Sony charged for the first generation Vaio P which was introduced last year.
Engadget has the first detailed review I've seen for the new Sony Vaio P. Engadget's Joanna Stern seems to like the new case design, which looks a bit like a paperclip when closed, and which comes in several distinctive colors. But she says the laptop's small size made it hard to actually use on your lap. And the lack of a palm rest can be a bit disconcerting — the computer is virtually all keyboard (and screen and screen bezel). She also echos a concern I've had for a long time: super high resolution displays on small screens will just give you a headache — at least assuming you're using Windows 7 or another operating system that doesn't simply scale the graphics and instead just makes everything look extraordinarily sharp… and tiny.
For more details on performance, battery life, and other goodies, make sure to check out Joanna's full review.
You can find more images after thebreak.
Post from: Liliputing
Sony launches updated Vaio P mini-laptop for $800 and up
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