Economic downturn? Never heard of it! Recession? Bah, humbug! Or so it seems with the launch of the latest entrant into the Sony VAIO family. In a market where other manufacturers are heavily promoting low-cost sub-Rs 25,000 10-in netbooks, clearly, Sony has chosen to go against the grain and stand alone with the VAIO P series. If the minuscule footprint and snazzy looks don’t make your jaw hit the floor, the price certainly will. At Rs 64,990 for the premium model of the P series, it’s just as well that Sony steers clear of badging this a netbook PC, opting for a mildly confusing ‘Lifestyle PC’ concept.

Now, despite the use of an Atom processor, it’s easily evident that the design of the Sony VAIO P is quite unlike anything we’ve seen, netbook or otherwise. It’s incredibly small — almost like a cross between a smartphone and a regular netbook, only more ‘oomphy’ than both put together. At under 600gm, the VAIO P’s dimensions have to be seen to be believed.

Combine this with glossy plastics and a liberal dose of smooth rounded lines, and there’s no doubt that the VAIO P will be a head-turner whenever you whip it out of your bag or suit pocket. This baby oozes class in the way very few products can. Diminutive as it is, the VAIO P is not fragile by any means, and solid construction means you can toss it into a bag or shove it into a back pocket (but please, don’t sit down!).

Booting into Vista Home Premium took about as long as you might expect it to take on a similar specced machine, but it’s worth the wait. Once done, you’re treated to the glorious grandeur of the outrageously wide 1600 x 768 pixels, 8-in LCD screen.

Websites and documents render just fine, in fact, rather well on this resolution, and there’s even a custom button letting you view two (or more) automatically re-sized browsers side by side.

At this resolution and screen size though, you’re bound to be up close and personal with this laptop. I’m all for massive resolution displays, but on this screen, after sufficient use, I was running to the control panel to change font and icon sizes so that I could sit back and use this without squinting.

Which is just about right, given how much the keyboard redeems this laptop. Although it is clearly smaller than a standard sized keyboard, it is extremely well designed and is a pleasure to use. The soft, springy keys meant that I started using the VAIO for my e-mail within the first day itself, and this entire review (and more) has been hammered out on the very capable VAIO P keyboard. I’m not the biggest fan of the Thinkpad-style pointing device in the middle of the keyboard, though, and that’s down to personal taste, really.

Now despite the latest Atom CPU, a speedy 64GB solid-state drive and generous 2GB of RAM, there are some times when you wished that Sony offered this notebook in an XP version. Vista is still over the top for this hardware, and I for one, cannot wait for Windows 7 to come along and deliver us from this pain.

And let’s be honest — while this is not being termed a netbook, and its performance may well exceed that of the average sub-20K cousin, this is not a machine for heavy Photoshop use and the like. While regular activities like web browsing and document editing were unaffected, high-definition video stuttered, as did playing back some large DivX media clips. Oh well, you can’t have everything…

Of course, should you feel the need to quickly access your music, photos, videos or do some light web surfing, Sony outfits the P series with the PS3-style Xross Media Bar. Accessed by booting up into a custom version of the Linux operating system (hidden cleverly under the garb of the custom Sony interface), it takes about 15 seconds to be up and running, and is rather snappy and response in its limited area of use.

This is undeniably one of the most beautiful pieces of kit I have seen in a long while, but I can’t imagine too many forking out the big bucks needed for this baby. It’s very prohibitively priced, even considering the quality of the product and the fact that you get an add-on device that adds VGA and RJ-45 connectivity to the VAIO P. Funny thing is, much like the MacBook Air, its looks and design can make most turn a blind eye to its flaws. Can I afford/justify one? Probably not. Do I want one? Totally.

Quick Specs

Sony VAIO VGN-P15G/Q/W/R/G

• Processor: Intel Atom Processor Z530 (1.60 GHz, HT technology supported)

• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit with SP1, Instant Mode

• Chipset: Intel System Controller Hub US15W @ 533 MHz

• Memory: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM on-board

• Storage: 64GB (Serial ATA) Solid State Drive

• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500

• Display: 8' wide (UWXGA: 1600 x 768) TFT colour display

• Interfaces: 2x USB 2.0, 1 x Stereo mini jack, 1 x Memory Stick Duo slot, 1 x SD/MMC/SDHC memory card slot, 1 x proprietary input/output slot

• Connectivity: Integrated Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b/g/Draft , Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

• Included: VGA webcam, Built-in stereo speakers and monaural microphone and display/LAN adapter (with VGA Monitor Connector, RJ-45 Network Connector

• Power sources: Lithium-ion battery, upto three hours of use

• Dimensions (W x H x D): 245 x 19.8 x 120 mm

• Weight: 594gm (including the supplied battery)

• Rating: 7/10

• Price: Rs 64,990

• URL: http://www.sony.co.in/microsite/vaio/index.html?hpid=VAIO:home:MCF

Music to the ears

Finally, a product which marries form AND function! While Sony’s new MDR-EX36SC headphones may well be another in-ear pair with 9mm drivers, it’s the case they come in which makes them totally worth your while. When it’s not storing your precious headphones, it doubles as a passive speaker, piping out your tunes in some-what reasonable quality, enough for casual listening at the very least.

• URL: http://www.sony.com
• Price: $40

Power on the move

Portable power, anyone? The name ‘Wrist Band Portable Battery’ says it all — it’s a wristband packed with a lithium-ion battery for charging any of your portable devices while you’re literally…on the move! Claimed to manage about five hours of back-up, it comes with seven different adapters for different devices, and the laptop-style LED indicators tell you how much battery life is remaining. Perfect for those who seem to have their cell phones permanently attached and in use!

• URL: http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/wrist-band-portable-battery/
• Price: $25