Sony Vaio P unveiled locally, Price starts at P49,999
Along with other media folks, we got to witness first hand the unveiling of the Sony Vaio P here in the Philippines. It lives up to the Vaio brand name and is definitely a thing of beauty. There are basically two models to choose from: the VGN-P15G and the VGN-P13H.
Both models come in at a mere 19.8mm in thickness which makes it probably the thinnest and lightest ultraportable in the market today (not counting the Macbook Air, of course). 2GB of RAM, an 8-inch wide UWXGA 1600×768 TFT display, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11 b/g/draft N, MS Duo and SD Memory card slot, 2 USB ports, headphone jack, IO connector, motion eye webcam and an Intel GMA 500 graphics chip are the other specs that are common to both models.
They differ in the processor, storage type, OS and weight as the VGN-P15G touts an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz processor, 64GB SSD, Windows Vista Home Premium, and weighs 594 grams while the VGN-P13H comes with an Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor, 60GB HDD, Vista Basic and tips the scale at 620 grams. The VGN-P15G is pricier at P69,999.00 and comes bundled with noise-cancelling headphones similar to the ones packaged with the Vaio TT. The VGN-P13H, on the other hand, will retail for P49,999.00. It’ll be released in the market on February 25, but you can pre-order yours starting January 30th via the Sony Philippines Vaio P microsite.
While many will classify the Vaio P as a netbook, Sony officials are quick to note that this is not a netbook by any stretch. It is more capable and full-featured than a netbook, and given its price, we’re more than inclined to believe them. However, while it does seem to offer more in terms of performance, it does lack a lot of things that we’ve grown accustomed to in most of the modern ultraportables of today.
Here’s a quick rundown of what the Vaio P is missing:
- VGA out (display/LAN IO adaptor can be purchased separately)
- LAN port
- Trackpad (replaced by trackpoint)
- User replaceable RAM/HDD
- Microphone jack
The keyboard is actually not that bad as it can challenge the HP Mini-Note 2133 anytime of the day in terms of usability, but as the case is with most under 10-inch displays, reading text on it can be quite a challenge due to the high resolution and small display size. It also features a quick-on mode that boots up to a PSP-like interface familiar to Vaio fanboys as the Media Xross bar granting users quick access to media content and the internet.
At the end of the day, we’re still a bit skeptical especially since it’s worth a hefty sum of money. We’ll postpone passing judgement on the it until we get to play around with one more thoroughly, but as for our initial impression, it’s a hit and miss for the Vaio P. Sure, Sony has probably struck gold in terms of a coming out with an ultra-compact laptop, but it also sacrificed a lot of essential features that are pretty much standard in today’s laptops.
I still maintain that these little notebooks are useless until they become much more affordable. This things is about $1,500 American. I can buy a normal laptop for about half of that with all the same gear, plus some things. I just don’t see the advantage yet, it may be small and compact but completely impractical if the price stays the same.
It is a cool little device though. Regards!