By Nimish Dubey
A few days ago, I saw a notebook that would make a Macbook stop and check its appearance in the mirror (heck,higher praise than that I cannot give). The Sony Vaio P series notebook is perhaps the sleekest laptop I have ever clapped eyes on.
Would I love it as a gift? You betcher! Would I buy it? Er…
Don’t get me wrong - the notebook has lots going for it. It has got an incredibly compact form factor and can easily slip into one’s coat pocket. It has an absolutely dazzling exterior which subtly changes shades in the light, a wonderful, spacious keyboard and a stunning display.Under the hood are lots of RAM, GPS, an Intel Atom processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and plenty of storage space to spare.
“You just might plan your wardrobe around it,” claims Sony on its website. Loony though that may sound, I would not contest it - the notebook is a dazzler!
The problem is that I am not really sure that I would shell out approximately Rs 50,000 for it. Even though Sony officials have gone blue in the face denying that the P series is a netbook, the fact is that most people are going to view it as such. After all, it seems to have the classic netbook features - a small form factor, portability, and no optical drive. The one netbook feature it does seem to lack is a low price - it starts from around Rs 50,000. Now, that makes it thoroughly “ouch!” territory for netbook lovers, who are accustomed to devices that cost about half as much while offering similar horsepower; and too close to Macbook territory for style conscious users (a Macbook begins at about Rs 56,000).
What also might really put many users off is the presence of Windows Vista on it - the P series we saw clearly struggled even with 2GB of RAM onboard. Yes, it does have a quick access mode too that allows users to access certain functions without having to boot into Vista, but its very existence proves that Sony realised a bitter truth - the P Series is painfully slow. And four hours battery life and just two USB ports are not really par for the course for ultraportables, I am afraid.
Sony says that the device (which it calls a “Lifestyle PC”) is targeted at those who want portable computing that they can flaunt. Honestly, I still think I would get more from a Macbook in terms of style and more from a netbook (I use an Asus 1000h) in terms of functionality.
That said, I am still asking Santa for it for next Christmas!
