RSSSony's first netbook, the Vaio W: What goes around finally comes around
By Tim Conneally | Published July 7, 2009, 12:02 PM
After all the noise Sony made about avoiding the term "netbook" with the release of its Vaio P ultraportable, and the statements Senior Vice President Mike Abary made about the Eee PC before that, it was beginning to look like Sony was never going to release a device in the netbook/mini-note form factor. But that has changed.
Today, Sony officially launched its first netbook. The 10.1-inch Windows XP-based Vaio W runs on a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280, has 1 GB of RAM, and a 160 GB SATA HDD. It's equipped with 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, a built-in Webcam, and offers 1366 x 768 screen resolution -- higher-than-usual for netbook screens.
Unlike many other companies who are aligning with mobile broadband chipmakers and network operators to make their products truly mobile, Sony says the Vaio W is for use in the home as a secondary or maybe even tertiary computer.
To retain the traditional Vaio emphasis on multimedia, the W comes with Vaio Media Plus streaming multimedia software, which lets the netbook interact with DLNA-compatible household devices, such as a PC, PlayStation 3, or HDTV. But since it is a netbook after all, it is being touted less as a media portal, and more as a creature comfort.
The company paints the device as an Internet companion suitable only for the most superficial tasks. Sony's introduction of the Vaio W in Europe says, "While watching TV or reading a magazine, you've probably experienced the urge to look up something on the Internet that you've just seen or read but couldn't be bothered getting up to your desktop PC..." That's where the Vaio W is useful.
It's quite emblematic of Sony's attitude toward netbooks. The $999 Vaio P offers a smaller footprint, is equipped with GPS, mobile broadband, and the same Vaio Media Plus software mentioned earlier, but is absolutely not a netbook. The W, which Sony calls a "mini-note" in English language releases, and an "Internetbook" in Japanese language releases, is stripped of most of its mobility features and is being marketed as a mostly superfluous and unnecessary device. After all, Abary did say if netbooks caught on, "We're all in trouble. That's just a race to the bottom."
If you can be bothered to get up off the couch and buy one, the Vaio W will debut in August for $499, and can be pre-ordered at Sonystyle.com.
Sony can go ...
While their hardware is very nice, it's way way way overpriced for the slight quality enhancement. Their s*** breaks only a few months after the rest... Laptop batteries still die after two years or so...fans start giving way just after warranty expires...so why on EARTH pay 40% premium?
If you want a netbook, wait a little bit for deals to come up...like this one (expired) for a $200 Dell Mini refurbished...
http://gizmodo.com/51428...ell-inspiron-mini-9-177
F Sony...
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|*comes pre-loaded with Windows: Sony Rootkit Edition.
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|They make super televisions, and naff computers. So if you want to watch a bit of telly get a Sony, if you want a good computer get a Dell. I've got two Sony televisions, never go wrong, great picture quality, highly recommended. I've got three Dell machines, never break, great value for money, highly recommended.
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|"They make super televisions"
That maybe used to be true back in the tube tv era...now they're just overpriced slightly above average sets.
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|good TVs?? Really?? Yes they make AWESOME 80K pro HD camera's! But TV?? you must be confused with Samsung..
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|""While watching TV or reading a magazine, you've probably experienced the urge to look up something on the Internet that you've just seen or read but couldn't be bothered getting up to your desktop PC..." That's where the Vaio W is useful."
...or any number of 1000's of portable devices out there ranging from laptops to iPhones.
Seriously...this is their marketing? I never thought anyone could actually have worse marketing than Microsoft, but these guys are really going for it.
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|While i agree that their marketing sucks, i think Sony makes good hardware, and in Asia, it is just as famous (if not more) than Apple hardware in America.
And its true, i like the way they make their stuffs so sturdy and the hardware feels firm in your hand, but Sony needs to learn some new marketing tricks if they want to further promote their stuffs.
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|The only GOOD HDTVs are Pioneer Kuros. All others are just OK.
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|Do people seriously use the iphone to look at websites when they're alone at home? I'm not too sure. I check the net' on my phone if I'm in the car, or you know out and about with no other internet device available. Generally you do that in public, to say "hey, hey, hey you over there looking at me in your peripheral vision - I have an Iphone, and I'm surfing the internet on it...can YOU do that on YOUR phone?" (in my best Stewie Griffin voice)...but in your home I'd think you wanted something a bit, more. So I think he has a bit of a point, just a bit. That's the sole reason that I'd get a netbook. Total and utter unapologetic laziness. Too lazy to lug walk to and retrieve my 6lb laptop from the bedroom or office or bag on the sofa across from me....too lazy to get up, period. Unless getting up only includes stretching to a table or adjacent couch, or too comfortable to break my posturing at all, much less to go sit infront of my PC, and too interested in whatever's on TV to switch over to my htpc. Then there's that lifesaver netbook sitting on the personal table, just begging me to be used. For $500 they can forget it though - I'll bargain shop for a $250 One or Eee.
Been waiting forever for one. If anyone knows of a dual core cpu netbook with the ion platform for sub 300, let me know!
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