Sony VAIO P-series laptop - First Look

Following the launch of Sony’s 8-inch P-Series ultrportable AT CES last week, Sony today took me to Paris to have a proper look and play with its latest product.

Even with a Eurostar table filled with food, newspapers and other stuff, there was enough space for the tiny P-Series, and it’s truly one of the smallest laptops I’ve seen to date. Design-wise, it looks like the lovechild of a Psion organiser and a regular VAIO laptop, with styling dominated by the keyboard and ultra-wide layout.

The keyboard will be familiar to existing VAIO users, with keys protruding though individual holes in the chassis. The most striking feature is the lack of palm rest, making this machine nearly twice as wide as it is deep.

With no space for a touchpad, control of the P is achieved with a pointing stick in the centre of the keyboard, with two tiny mouse buttons on the front of the chassis. It’s not as conventional as a touchpad, but it’s accurate and usable.

The 8-inch display features an incredibly high resolution for its size – at 1600 x 768 pixels, and may actually be too sharp for some users, with tiny icons and text. That said, you’ll have no trouble working with multiple windows, and it’s a pleasure to watch movies on.

The tiny dimensions help to make this one of the most mobile ultraportables available, with a weight of just 638g. Putting it in a bag makes hardly any difference to the overall weight, and it really is something you can take everywhere you go.  Staying in touch with the office when you are out and about is also made easy, thanks to the inclusion of integrated 3G/HSDPA.

Comparisons between this laptop and the current crop of Netbooks are inevitable – due to the use of an Intel Atom processor – but Sony was emphatic in distancing the P-series from these machines. That won’t be too difficult to achieve, as the £849 price tag will put it out of financial reach of many Netbook buyers.

How the public takes to the P-series remains to be seen – cross between Netbook and ultraportable, with a price to match, only time will tell if there’s a market for it. On first impressions, we’ve no complaints about comfort, portability or style, but we need to live with it for a while to see just how much it has to offer.
 
We’ll be reviewing the P-series in the next couple of days, so keep and eye out here for a full review.