Review: Sony Vaio P-Series

Source: Ian William (V3.Co.UK)



The Sony Vaio P-Series proves that dynamite really does come in small packages

Sony has a habit of differentiating itself from the competition by creating unique devices, and the Vaio P-Series is no exception. Unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the tiny but fully functional device sits somewhere between a netbook and an ultra-portable laptop.

Measuring just 245mm wide, 120mm deep and 20mm high, the P-Series can just about fit into a back pocket, and will happily live inside a handbag, briefcase or small backpack. Even the power adaptor is not much bigger than a couple of matchboxes stacked together. It also weighs next to nothing, coming in at under 700g including the power adaptor and the LAN/VGA block.

Its tiny stature means that some functionality is limited, and it's supported by a connector port for attaching peripherals such as an optical drive. Because of the lack of space along the chassis, a LAN port and VGA port are set into a separate block that connects this way as well when required.

The P-Series includes just two USB ports, one on each side, and the right slot is positioned very close to the connector port which can make plugging and unplugging devices a little tricky. On the left is a power socket and a speaker jack. There is no microphone jack, but there is a built-in microphone and a USB microphone can be added if needed. The front houses the power slider, wireless switch, and SD and Sony Memory Stick Duo slots.



Display
Sony has made sure that its leadership in display technology has been put to good use in the P-Series. Although the 8in screen is smaller than on most netbooks, the picture is crystal clear and packs in a resolution of 1,600 x 768. The downside is that this makes for a rather odd aspect ratio, and the icons are tiny. Even with perfect eyesight, you'll find yourself straining and turning the font size up a few notches when working on documents.

Communication
What the P-Series lacks in slots and sockets it makes up for in wireless connectivity, packing in the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth along with GPS and a 3G modem, so getting online should never be a problem. The SIM card slot lives behind the battery, which can be slightly annoying if you're using the same SIM card for different things and need to swap it out regularly.




Keyboard
As with most of Sony's Vaio laptops, the isolated keyboard is a pleasure to use. The keys are a decent size, nicely spaced and have a good tactile feel so typing at full speed is not a problem. It's a bit tricky, but you can even hold the device in your hands and type with your thumbs if you're stuck on a crowded train and need to get that all important email sent off or check directions to the meeting.

The full-sized keyboard means that there is no space left for a touchpad, so Sony has opted for a small 'joystick' nub nestled in the centre of the keyboard to handle controlling the pointer, with mouse buttons along the base. The little nub works quite nicely but can take some getting used to if you've never encountered one before. When combined with the high screen resolution, navigating can sometimes be tricky, so you'll probably want to invest in a small USB mouse if you do a lot of pointing and clicking.

Under the hood
The P-Series offers a generous 2GB of DDR2 memory, shared with the Intel graphics card, and either a 1.33GHz or 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor. Storage ranges from a traditional 60GB hard drive to a 128GB solid state drive, depending on which model you go for.

If you want to make video calls, the P-Series includes a pretty reasonable 0.3-megapixel webcam, although it is rather oddly placed to the right of the screen and not angled slightly inwards, so during calls you have to place yourself slightly off to the right of the device if you want to be in the centre of the picture. Not only does this mean you're constantly looking off to the left to see the person you're talking to, but it can be uncomfortable if you're trying to type or navigate at the same time.

AdvertisementThe built-in microphone is perfectly good for most requirements, and the speakers are clear and should manage basics like video calling.

Operating systems
Unfortunately, the P-Series runs Windows Vista by default which, considering the netbook level specs, makes it annoyingly slow sometimes. Also, as useful as some of Sony's pre-installed applications are, such as the smart network and power manager, these do add extra bloat which slows the machine down even further. Performance should be improved by upgrading to Windows 7, and Sony is already promising free upgrades to the upcoming operating system with new purchases directly from its online store.

For those desperate to avoid Vista, the P-Series can also quick boot into a slimmed down operating system based on Sony's cross media bar (XMB) interface. Anyone who has used a PlayStation Portable or a PlayStation 3 will be familiar with this. The interface is up and running in just under 20 seconds (compared to the 90 seconds or so it takes to boot into Vista) and gives access to photos, music and movies, as well as a Firefox-based web browser, Skype and Pidgin, a multi-platform instant messenger application. The XMB doesn't support the 3G modem so, if you want an internet connection, it will have to be through Wi-Fi or a wired LAN connection.

Battery
To keep the device as light as possible the P-Series ships with a small two-cell battery which lasts for a rather disappointing two or three hours, depending on how hard the machine is working. There is a larger four-cell battery available for some models in the P-Series which lasts twice as long, but it's double the thickness, alters the profile of the unit and adds around 120 grams to the weight.



Prices
Sony is not known for being cheap, generally opting for quality over price, but even with this in mind the price tag may come as something of a shock. The P-Series starts at £750 for the entry level model, and tops out at a whopping £1,370, over four times the price of a similarly specced (but much bigger and heavier) netbook from just about any of the competition.

There is no doubt that the Vaio P-Series is an impressive technical achievement and its portability is a major plus, but the display's super high resolution actually works against it because everything on the screen is so tiny that navigating through the operating system can be difficult.

Although it's got enough power for most day-to-day business applications, at this price most people are going to expect a lot more from something like the P-Series, so unless minimal size and weight is an absolute necessity, you'd probably be better off splashing out the extra for a TT-Series, or saving some cash and waiting a bit for the recently announced W-Series instead.