First Look at Sony's Tiny Vaio UX180p

An anonymous reader writes "MobileTechReview has posted a first look at the Sony Vaio UX180P Micro PC and comparison of it with UMPC and OQO. "When I first heard about the Sony UX series, I nearly dismissed it because I just couldn't imagine that 1024 x 600 on a 4.5" screen could ever be readable. Yes, the price is certainly another issue-- consumers don't flock to spend twice as much on a "notebook" that's less than half the size of a standard ultralight. At least not in the SUV-lovin' US. Well, happily I was wrong. That tiny XBRITE display is easily readable, despite the number of pixels squeezed into close company""

Re:Scaling of pictures and text

[DeafByBeheading]

Opera scales its images with font size changes.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:IBM T221

[zalas]

I actually work with it in the lab. It was quite fun trying to read the tiny little terminal windows on the screen. Eventually, I just kicked the font size up and it looked beautifully crisp. Unfortunately, for some reason, MATLAB had defaulted to the super large font size, and made it temporarily impossible to use now that I switched back to a smaller dpi display.

Re:Screen Resolution

[darkmeridian]

LCDs become fuzzy when set to a non-native resolution. Furthermore, most operating systems display things using a pixel-based rendering system as opposed to a "real-life" size, so the icons become either tiny or huge. Vista should have vector-based rendering so that everything is rendered at the "right" size regardless of the resolution of the display. I can't wait, because my laptop has a 1920x1200 15.4 display. Of course, it probably can't run Vista. Dang.

Re:Scaling of pictures and text

[AnyoneEB]

The Zoom Image extension has a similar option for FireFox, although I think Opera's works a bit better.

Re:IBM T221

[dfghjk]

I think plenty have heard of it. I own two.

A couple corrections. The display is 22.2" diagonal and 13HZ is the slowest refresh when using a single DVI. There several versions of the monitor but all can do at least twice that refresh rate. I operate mine at 30Hz.

I've played with it

[iconeternal]

I'm an electronics salesman at staples, and we got them in today. We're one of the few stores in the nation to carry them, and even staples only has a few in.

I played with it for a bit today, and I have to say I love the design. The screen is crisp and clear with a high framerate, the two cameras are amazing, the touch screen is very responsive, and even the thumbstick is nice. The fold out qwerty keyboard is nice, but it takes some getting used to.

What strikes me is HOW small this thing really is. The original Origami concept was massive compared to this. It is barely bigger than two IPAQs glued together, and it weighs 1.4 lbs.

Not to mention it comes with EVDO support.

I'm impressed. Not 1700 dollars worth of impressed, but impressed none the less.

Japan

[frankyfranky]

In my oppinion the resolution isn't really an issue. You can read standard 10 point with no real problems. You have to consider that this is a handheld device and so it would be held closer to your face than say, a laptop. They've had these things out for quite a while here in Japan. My biggest gripes with it is the size and price. The thing is really thick (bulky) and I just can't justify spending that much money. However, considering that's it's ligtweight and generaly easy to use it seems to be a good all around portable machine for those of us with deep pockets.

And yes, it can run Linux.

Re:I've played with it

[Anonymous Coward]

It has EDGE not EVDO. EVDO is faster and is for CDMA networks not Cingular's GSM network. But it does look very sweet- I'm tempted to get one!

Re:it's the keyboard, stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

As someone who has used a Samsung Q1 for a month, the first true UMPC on the market, I can tell you it is an upgrade from a PDA because it has a full Windows OS, namely the Tablet version. With the different options available, including ink, you don't really need a keyboard or a mouse. (And if you bought it for that kind of activity, I'd have to wonder why you bought a UMPC.)

The point is to free you from being tied to a place for using a computer, and it is does this admirably. Even small laptops are bulky and heavy. I can couch potato with the Q1 and do email and web surfing, or I can take it to bed with me and watch the last bit of the game or whatever as I nod off (via SlingBox).

I didn't learn to write on a typewriter or a keyboard, and I suspect most people don't/didn't, either. The keyboard is a paradigm, and one in need of shifting. (Handwriting recognition is very good, and in the UMPC community, many who own and use them claim to be "hen scratchers" with very little problem writing on the screen.) The Q1 even has a voice recorder, and with its 2 mics, captures all but the softest speakers, or those on the phone, in conferences.

As for the Sony's (three UX versions, 50, 180, and something else, I forget), they aren't UMPCs in the ture sense, so the touch-pack doesn't come with them. Check the reviews, as some people complain about the cramped keyboard. (Which if true, doesn't seem to make much sense to have it, but it's probably a "YMMV" thing.)

Some future models (not yet released) are purported to have cell (voice and data) capabilities built in, but none of the current releases (Samsing Q1 and TabletKiosk eo 7110 in the US so far) have that. If you haven't tried it, I'd highly recommend you test out a UMPC or one of the Sony's. They won't replace your workstation, but you might find with one you don't need a PDA or a laptop any more. I know I did!

Does it ...? Yes, it does!

[slashflood]

Linux on UX180p [mobilitytoday.com]

Video Review at CNet

[sootman]

available here. [cnet.com]

Looks like a neat little unit. Pretty powerful, but the keyboard isn't super. If course, on any portable, there is a tradeoff between overall size and display & keyboard size.

That said, I miss my Libretto. :-)

... and why is it locked to fucking Cingular?!

[b0s0z0ku]

Having a laptop that can't be used on other countries' mobile data networks would seem to be a pretty severe disadvantage for the business traveller.

-b.

That's debatable

[IANAAC]

Here's a list of things that work and things that don't:

Working features:

1. Keyboard
2. Mouse
3. Screen (doesn't fill the screen yet)
4. USB is detected (obviously because we booted from it!)
5. CardBus chipset (which houses the Cingular WWAN adapter).

Non Working features:

1. VAIO button
2. Fingerprint scanner
3. Intel WiFi card
4. Zoom buttons
5. Touchscreen (this might work if I look into it more..maybe later)
6. Camera's DON'T work

Would you be happy spending that much money and discover that half of the hardware that makes it useful doesn't work?

Re:I've played with it

[Achromatic1978]

A call to Sony will get you the unlock code for no charge.

Re:... and why is it locked to fucking Cingular?!

[b0s0z0ku]

Does anyone know if this hardware is now fast enough to do any of the cellular networks protocols in software?

Doesn't matter. With GSM/Edge, a SIM card is required, and if the SIM isn't a Cingular SIM, the wireless modem will refuse to play. Maybe there's a way of unlocking the thing, like you can do with many cell phones.

-b.

Re:... and why is it locked to fucking Cingular?!

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

Yeah.

Call Sony and they'll give you the code to unlock it. Imagine that, reading the goddamn article.

Re:Screen Resolution

[Gnavpot]

"LCDs become fuzzy when set to a non-native resolution." Not inherently. By my calculation this screen has a dot pitch of 4.5/sqrt(800^2+600^2)*25 = 0.1125. A dot pitch of 0.11 mm is smaller than any CRT I've seen, so this LCD screen should scale a raster display better, not worse, than a CRT.

On a CRT, you can never hit each dot precisely, so every resolution will appear fuzzy. CRT users are used to that fuzziness.

LCD users running native resolution with a digital video feed are not used to such a thing, so the fuzziness that appears when running non native resolutions can feel quite disturbing, even if the dot pitch is equal to that of a typical CRT.

Re:Target Market

[VdG]

For me, a traditional PDA is of very limited use. All I really want in a package that small is diary and contacts stuff, which is already on my 'phone. (Along with loads of other things I hardly ever use.)

Something like the Vaio is clearly not as useable as a proper laptop or as portable as a PDA but it gives something of both. I can sling my U71 in a briefcase, satchel or whatever and it offers me much, much more than a PDA.

I use it for Internet radio and for taking notes. It's also a good portable library: shift the display to portrait and it'll show a page of a manual quite nicely. You could read a novel on it if you wanted, I guess, though I don't.

This is a machine I can take with me when I'm travelling on business without having to take extra luggage, and still have access to all my personal stuff - email, usenet, banking: things I can't use my company laptop for.

I also use it for RPG stuff, so I can have all my notes in one convenient package.

It serves as a photo album: most of my holiday snaps are on it now so I can show them to my parents without having to cut CDs or worry about storage.

It's powerful enough for use as a workstation but if you were doing that you'd want to hook it up to a proper monitor and keyboard. But that's no different to the way I use my work laptop.

I don't think anyone could say that this - or any of its competitors are cheap, but it does fill an interesting niche. I could live without my U71, but I do enjoy having it.

Yes

[slashmojo]

http://mozy.org/vaio/ [mozy.org]

Re:VAIO quality

[Bill_the_Engineer]

I call bullshit!

While you may have played with a few VAIO's, I actually own a VAIO laptop for 4 years. I have not experienced any of the deficiencies that you have cited. I work with fellow VAIO users who have the latest notebooks, and they are happy with their purchase.

Out of the 4 years (so far!), I only had two problems.

1. Hardrive died on the 2nd year and was easily replaced.

2. My cat clawed off the keyboard and turned the laptop into an expensive paperweight. A call to Sony and 72 hours & $80 dollars later, I am back in business with a new keyboard. (I will go on record that I did scream, but the cat remained unharmed).

Because of my experience with #2 above, I am now a loyal customer of Sony.

But don't let the facts get in the way of you trying to show your coolness by being an Apple fanboy.

Bill