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Sony Releases Smallest VAIO Yet
ephidryn writes "Sony Corporation has released their new VAIO laptop in Japan. The PCG-U1 is even smaller than their previous sub-notebook the C1 PictureBook. Measuring in at 7.3" x 5.5" x 1.4" and weighing a mere 1.8lbs the 6.4 inch XGA screen does 1024x768. The laptop uses a Transmetta Crusoe TM5800 processor and can house up to 384 megs of RAM." As a Picturebook owner, I can't imagine how a keyboard any smaller can still be usable, but this little guy offsets that with thumb controls to make input easier.
That's small. Really small. I'd call it more of a palmtop than a laptop. Looks like they've sucessfully breed a palmpilot/laptop hybrid.
...I'll procrastinate tomorrow...
What I'd really like to see is a PC laptop in an iBook form factor. Where are all the cheap smaller laptops? This is fina and small, but it'll probably cost like $2000, which isn't cheap.
--------- Beware the dragon, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
I suppose some people would like it, but I don't usually carry around a briefcase. So for me, this PC is too big to carry in my pocket, but too small to fit the features I want in a main machine. Sorry Sony, I'll stick with the full-sized Vaio I bought last year. :-)
this has become a prerequisite of such a story but here goes. IMAGINE A BEOWULF CLUSTER OF THESE! now that it's done and over, please no more beowulf posts :)
This has been out for MONTHS (I have one I got 2 months ago).
/. ever...
Check out the NEW version, the U3, here: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/PCG-U3/
Wow, that was teh most out of date story I've seen on
Sony has always made really cool electronics. No other company in the world has such talented designers and engineers. Their products are not only top of the line, but also beautiful.
I wish I had enough money to make my house strictly Sony.
if memory serves me correctly this was discused some time ago PCG-U1
When you get that small, you might as well go for a PDA. I'm sure the battery would last longer (where do they PUT it in that thing?!) and those small devices have evolved to be the most convienent for their size. That thing looks like it's running a regular version of windows, and no matter how high that screen resolution goes (doesn't look big) everything is still going to be way to small to make big use of.
Sooner or later, the computers will have to occupy inverse space in order to keep up with progress. And then how can the geeks build them in stuffed animals and desks and corpses and stuff? Since, obviously, stuffed animals, desks, human bodies, et al., are inferior technology and not able to be easily miniaturized.
What's nice is that while the built in screen is limited to 1024x768, it has the ability to pump out 1600x1200 to an external monitor.
--------- Beware the dragon, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
It seems the mouse and buttons are above the keyboard which is strange but could be practical.
I used to have a picturebook in my previous job and I loved it. I have small fingers so it the keyboard size was not problem and I also have very good view so the size of the screen was not a problem either. And linux runs perfectely well on the old crusoe-based sony picturebook! (Not like on my current dell C400)
I'll do it for cheesy poofs.
we're definitely at a turning point as far as miniturization vs. usability.. our toys / technology can only get so small before it becomes impractical to use. It will be interesting to see what is innovated on besides speed once this hurdle is passed. Per John Carmack we're almost at a similar point in video cards functionality wise.
Is it possible to get one here in the US? Usually Japan uses its own population as a test before selling anything to the US. Also there isn't nearly the market for really small stuff in the US.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
But every VAIO I've used/seen has felt like a cheap hunk of plastic. A friend of mine bought one about a year ago, and within 3 months it had to be sent in for various parts breaking twice. I think they should focus on making these tiny suckers durable, I mean, with something that small, it's bound to find itself in undesirable situations.
Have you been stalked by Seth today?
I was in Japan in July for the IETF meeting there, and this was for sale then. I was very close to buying one until I realised my fingers were too big for the keys...
I made the mistake of buying a vaio assuming that the battery would be at least ballpark useable (eg. sales literature says 1-2 hours, I figure at least 1.25 hours doing text entry). Wrong--the wonderful BP1-A half-empty battery could barely keep the screen lit for 40 minutes.
I ended up having to buy a decent battery (BP-71A) on ebay for $200 extra.
Not a happy camper when people say Vaio.
Remain calm! All is well!
Sdo now my fgat finfgers.. Will ptress even more ketys tjhan they needf to.
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
The description includes :
"1x Biology U-Port"
What kind of beast is that?
{{.sig}}
My colleague here in Japan has had one of these for months...
It is a really small device and at first I wondered if it's too small to be usable for serious work.
..But then I remembered Nokia Communicator and I realized that even small devices can be very powerful tools.
I know I read Japanese very poorly, but what I gather from this is:
a) This came out April 1, 2002?
b) Has shortcuts for use with the thumbs, called Thumbphrase.
c) Has a Standby button to prolong battery life. At one touch, even.
d) A zoom in button? I didn't get much of that section. I think you can change from 1024x768 to 800x600 with one push.
e) It supports some wireless card from some company, 'cause I guess it has a PCMCIA slot. Well, they call it 'PC card slot.'
f) It can have 802.11b compatibility with a Sony card.
g) Connectivity between itself and a desktop through a port. I think ethernet. You can drag and drop file copy really easily. (Flying Pointer)
h) Adobe Acrobat ebook crap.
I hope that helps. And just asking... is there a Sony site in English that I just don't see?
20GB, XP Home
867MHz Crusoe(TM) TM5800 processor with LongRun(TM)
Power Management
10.6" wide-format SXGA TFT
256MB memory
20GB hard drive
DVD/CD-RW Combo drive
External USB 3.5" floppy drive
Built-in multinational 56K4 V.90 modem
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet
Quickpoint pointing device with scroll button
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Model P2110, FPCM20091
$1,499
sheesh the *BSD trolls are trolling to non-BSD threads now
can you run linux in one of this things?
Top ten ways Linux (and OSS) hackers can adapt to this keyboard:
... Profit!!
10. Cut down on those Starbucks Venti Moccha Frappucinos
9. Make like a yakuza and chop-chop-chop your way to smaller fingers
8. Develop appropriate mouse-gestures for your favorite language keywords
7. Finger train to slim fingers with other than hjkl keys
6. Stop hacking with this keyboard. You're violating the DMCA anyway
5. Keyboard? Who needs a @#$(*& keyboard...it's an Apache server!
4. Don't buy it. Sony's the enemy this month. Er, I think.
3.
2. Ssh in from your desktop via your XBox Linux via your Sony PS2 Linux box
and the number one way Linux (and OSS) hackers can adapt to this keyboard:
1. Take your fat ass out for a walk instead of that debugging session
Kevin,
I wish you would stop posting this crap and just move on with your life. I'm sorry that things worked out the way they did, but you gave us no choice. As it was, I spent a lot of time convincing Jon and Bill not to have you brought up on criminal charges. I even managed to get you a week's severence.
Instead of being grateful that they gave you a break, you have become obsessed with trying to sabotage their business -- but your *BSD is dying posts are just childish and silly. We move more product now than when you left. No one is cancelling orders because of your anonymous messages on Slashdot.
I think that you could still have a bright future, but if this keeps up, Jon and Bill are going to get pissed off and have you brought up on criminal charges. Is that what you want? How many jobs will you get when potential employers see a criminal record that includes the theft of company computer equipment? Jon still has the laptop that he bought back from the pawn shop along with the company's original purchase records for it. He still has printouts of the ads you put up on ebay for the DLT auto-loader and the RAID array. There are records showing that your badge was used to gain entrance to the building at 2:13AM on the day that the equipment was stolen. On top of the thefts, we also have logs showing your attempts to break into the servers using your ID the evening after you were let go.
Do you want to end up being some guy's bitch in prison? That's what may happen if you keep this up. If you think that your shopping mall karate classes are going to do you any good there, you are in for a shock.
Tim
P.S. Please don't bother with denying this, who you are, and so forth. This started practically the day after you were let go. The writing style and the Kreskin reference leaves no doubt as to who's posting this. (Like someone else is going to go to that much trouble to discredit BSD and then not sign their name! Get real.)
To get them now, in the US: dynamism
:P Personally, I want the Panasonic they've (dynamism) got, as it has the cook hira/katakana keys. :)
Japan has such the coolest shit.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
But then again it's one of the big ones so there's probably a bit more room for a solid structure than in these tiny beasties.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Forgive me for being cynical, but I can't see many uses for something of that size. It seems to me to have all the functionality of a PC, while having all the UI woes of a handheld.
Now, I can think of things like being a portable place to dump picture files, and *maybe* to take notes on if you have small enough fingers. Other than that, I can think of nothing. Would someone mind enlightening me as to why this uber-expensive gadget is useful?
--I hate big sigs.
Notice it has no built-in wireless. You need to plug-in a PCMCIA wireless card with an external antena, which increases the footprint considerably. Personally, I hate external antennas, as they break very easily. IMHO, without wireless, the usability of one of these will be close to nil in about a year.
Does anyone have experience on what refresh rate / colors can you have achieve with the ATI Mobility Radeon-M 8MB in X? At quick glance this seems as the only possible big weak point of the device - atleast for me who is used to having too many terminals open and don't utililize the virtual desktops a lot :)
Why is this story reposted 5 months later?
/. reader's long term memory. If no one notices, they'll start posting reviews of Redhat 5.2 on the next slow news day.
1. This submission's been stuck at the submission queue for a long, long time.
2. dude, this is Slashdot. There's no reason for reposting old stories, they simply do.
3. An experiment to test
4. Go pick up a newspaper tomorrow morning, it should say May 9th 2002. Congrats, the Beowulf cluster inside your Delorean finally did something.
5. Michael's been the one making the Cowboyneal entries for the poll, and Cowboyneal unchecked Michael's name for stories (hey look a Cowboyneal reference that's actually a legit option!)
Has anyone tried this yet?
"Do something man. Right now."
They might as well just call this a deluxe PDA
I go to Japan twice a year. When I went in late April the PCG-U1 was out and I *so* wanted one, but it was about 150,000 yen and I didn't have the money.
I swore when I went back (which was last week) that I would take enough money to buy a U1. However, I figured, since the U3 would be coming out about a week and a half after I left that the U1 would have got cheaper- not so- it was still 150,000 yen. They had 2nd hand ones in Sofmap (A big computer hardware shop), but they were like 120,000 which was a bit pricey for 2nd hand I thought.
In the end I couldn't really afford one so I ended up buying a shitload of anime products, manga, a DVD burner (1/2 the price it would have been in the UK) and an expensive Go board instead.
My brother has got a job in Japan starting next week though, so I will be able to get constant news from him about new Vaios and their prices.
Sigh. Oh well.
graspee
I just had a flashback, there used to be some type of laptop where when you opened it up the keyboard would expand past the sides of the notebook to give you a larger more usable keyboard. Was it the old thinkpads? I forget. Anyways, I think that this Vaio could do with doing something like that because that keyboard is just rediculously small. I mean, if you're getting something that small you might as well give up and make it use a stylus like a PDA or one of those Fujitsu tablet computers because that would make it way more useful. The only problem I see with the expanding keyboard idea is that it would increase thickness and the whole vaio notebook line prides themselves on how thin they are and with this super small vaio that would matter the most. I think it's stupid really, you end up paying twice as much for that thing as you would for a larger, but faster, more flexible and really more USABLE regular sized laptop and the only advantage you get is that it's small (not even *that* small, most pants pockets couldn't fit it so you'll need a bag for it anyways!
Now, if only I could find the damn thing again...
-- Serge K. Keller
s a Picturebook owner, I can't imagine how a keyboard any smaller can still be usable
Easy CowboyNeal. Loose a couple hundred pounds.
oddly enough, it's also smaller than my penis.
And it's probably been handled by fewer Asian men.
My vaio picturebook (the small one) has been extremely durable. I've taken it all around the world in my backpack, opened it up to upgrade the hard drive (30 GB now), and left it all around the house to be bumped, skidded, and generally treated it about one notch less harshly than my cell phone, and all it has to show for it is some scrapes on the magnesium alloy case.
The " bio U " and it was coAs for " bio U ", body size of approximately width 184.5× height 30.6 *1 x depth 139mm. Even in a state where the battery of attachment is installed approximately 820g. In the Windows XP Home Edition on-board type worldwide smallest * the *2 which actualizes most light weight . The compact, the stamina drive *3 of maximum approximately 4 hours is possible with the battery of attachment.
*1 As for battery applied part 46.1mm.
*2 As of April 1st of 2002, the SONY investigation.
*3 Battery drive time differs depending upon usage condition and the like.
While it had with the both hands you adopt the Mobile grip * style which can be operated lightly. You adhered to the arrangement of the button which it is easy to operate. In order to be able to operate the pointer smoothly, it turns, the ??????? which * you push and with the wide stick which attaches the dent, being can do operation with respect to the right arrangement. It arranges the left button and the right button which can do click operation with respect to the left. In addition, the software " ThumbPhrase which has input estimate conversion function (the sum phrase) " it can start it equips " the ThumbPhrase " button to direct. With " the ThumbPhrase " corresponding key and operation of the ???????, like the portable telephone speedy letter input is possible.
" ThumbPhrase " corresponding key
Stand-by button
It equips the stand-by button which with one push becomes stand-by mode. If you use briskly, it can hold down the consumption of the battery. In addition, starting immediately from stand-by mode, it can use.
In perusal of home page and when et cetera checking the mail, with ZOOM IN button picture enlargement * . You saw to be, information and small letter is indicated easyly to see. It can reset to also original size with the one button.
* Resolution of liquid crystal display is set to the 1024×768 dot usually. When it expands indicates, resolution becomes the 800×600 dot. It indicates in all the picture territories with smoothing processing.
" The AirH (AH-G10) " " of the DDI pocket it corresponds. Installing in the PC card slot of the substance, if you use, high-speed data communication of the 128kbps is possible. Because it corresponds to packet transmission, it is connected to the broadband pleasure easily without designating connection and cutting as the air.
* Regarding " the AirH the inquiry
//www.ddipocket.co.jp/
* Proposal * area of utilization / tip of inquiry of service 0077-775 (free call) Acceptance time: Weekday / 9:00 - 18:00 earth / 9:00 - 17:00
* Regarding data communication the tip of the inquiry 0077-7-157 (free call) Acceptance time: Weekday / 9:00 - 17:30 earth * day * holiday / 9:00 - 17:00 *
Home page: Http:
It conforms to the standard IEEE802.11b system of the wireless LAN, the 2.4gHz wireless LAN PC card " of the Wi-Fi " certification being completed (the PCWA-C150S and selling separately) corresponds. Being the cable unnecessary, it actualizes the high-speed communication of the largest 11mbps, of the ADSL and the cable television circuit et cetera connection is possible to broadband. Installing the wireless LAN PC card, ahead going out if, wireless LAN access point such as coffee and hotel and station (the IEEE802.11b) the facility which is installed (the hot spot) with, it can enjoy the perusal of mail transmission and the home page. In addition, if the wireless LAN access point of selling separately (PCWA-A200) it installs in the home, from the place where we like in the house in Internet connected possibility. Other things bio * with using the network inside home, also it can exchange the data and it can share the printer.
* Wireless LAN functional on-board biology or the biology which installs the wireless LAN PC card. nnected with the ic.link or the ethernet, bio * with with, the SONY original software " FlyingPointer which the file can be transmitted easily (the flying pointer)" attachment. When " the FlyingPointer " is started, way the file which we would like to send the picture is penetrated, the drug. The feather it grew, when the pointer " of the FlyingPointer ", appears in the desktop of the partner side, drop does the file is copied automatically. For example, from the main machine, copying the file to the " bio U ", when liking to bring up easily and the like, it is convenient.
* To from the CD-ROM which belongs the " bio U ", it is necessary to install " the FlyingPointer ". The Windows XP Professional, the Windows XP Home Edition, it corresponds to the type which loads the Windows 2000 Professional, but as for use please go on customer himself responsibility.
" The Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader (??? acrobatic * I - the book leader)", quality of the book and the high accuracy which reproduces design faithfully the software which can read the electronic book. In little time ahead going out, cartoon and the novel and the picture book et cetera can be enjoyed with the bio U. In addition, the page the ? also it is possible with the ??????? to come. " The bio U " original electronic book trial contents 8 types it has belonged.
* It is possible to purchase the electronic book of eBook Reader correspondence with the book store sight on Internet.
TWIMC (to whom it may concern)
I'm not sure if you're a troll or for real, but keep those replies up, don't take dude to court, court sucks and the only ppl that win there are the lawers.
Sony used to make some of the best consumer electronics around. The Sony TV, video and audio gear I bought 10 years ago was superb.
Unfortunately, the Sony TVs, VCRs and audio gear I've bought in the last two or three years has been absolutely awful!
They seem to have exchanged quality and performance for features and gadgets.
My 1990-model Sony VCR gave a markedly better picture than the 2000 models I bought to replace it just three years ago. The difference was so marked that I actually took the first unit back thinking it was faulty.
Not only that but the VCR bought in 1991 gave almost 10 years of perfect service -- one of the units I bought in 2000 has already died and isn't worth fixing. And I'm not talking the cheapest machine in the range - I'm talking about the more expensive units.
Likewise the Sony TV I bought back in 1991 is still chugging away and delivering a great picture. The one I bought three years ago now has an inferior picture with poor geometry and what appears to be the sound subcarrier affecting the picture on some lowband channels (again I returned the first one I bought unit thinking it was faulty). What's more, it has just developed an intermittent fault.
When I asked the Sony service techs they admitted that the consumer electronics (TVs, VCRs, audio) that Sony sellings today simply isn't engineered to the same quality standards as it was a decade ago.
Up until recently all my consumer electronics were Sony but I've decided that it's simply not worth paying a premium price for quality that's no longer there. The DVD player I bought a couple of months ago is a no-name Chinese unit that works superbly and was just half the price of the cheapest Sony equivalent. Even if it breaks in 18 months it will still have a lower total cost of ownership than Sony's gear (based on recent experience).
It strikes me that Sony have started resting on their laurels. This, plus their atttiudes to things such as DRM have made me an ex-Sony advocate.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap!
If it goes to court, it will not be my choice. If the managers he worked for get wind of just how many posts like this he's made, they'll take him to court. That's why I keep replying. I keep hoping that he'll read the reply and take it to heart.
Imagine a B...
XOff...Beep...Beep...Beep...
"If You'd like to make a call please hang up and dial aga.......
While I like my Pilot and think these things are cool, they miss the point for me. I want something portable I can type stuff into. I don't care about portable multimedia (there are far less expensive devices for that) - I care about battery life and the ability to run emacs.
:)
If I could get something like the Psion7/Linux cheap, and it could boot into a 'real' emacs (ie anything that can do cc-mode, not just something with the same keystrokes) I'd be happy.
Besides, on a keyboard that small, I reckon I could finally hold down escape-meta-alt-control-shift-windows-clover with one hand.
I have one of the first librettos(30) (20 was actually the first but not widley made available outside of japan). I admit that it is a lowly spec these days, but it is the same size as a VHS tape when the lid is shut. It also has the BEST laptop mouse pointer device I have ever used. The battery was pretty poor tho, it even runs down in 24 hours with the power OFF! (if you pull the battery it lasts much longer than this)
If you really want to try a tiny Linux or FreeBSD notebook, get a used Libretto first - to be had for around $300 on eBay these days. These tiny palmtops are just cute as hell, they fit in your pocket, they even attract girls -- but they are very difficult to work with, even after you're used to the keyboard. Don't plan on getting much work done very quickly with one of these.
:-0
On the other hand, if you're after a Because I Can toy, don't let ME stop you
If they were so superb 10 years ago ? Why did you need to buy new ones in the past 2-3 years ? ;-)
ROFL, because mentioning Asians makes even the lamest blue joke funny. Ooh, ooh, fmaxwell, do the Frenchies next!
You've got race relations DOWN, my brotha.
or you could get a roll up keyboard to carry around with it. Another option is just to type one handed. If you can span the whole keyboard with one hand, why not? I do it with my 3com audrey's little IR keyboard, and that old-school GoType!/LandWare keyboard for the PalmIII (right before they came out with the sexy folding ones). It's not as fast as two handed touch typing, but it's not like your'e wirting a novel on this thing, right?
I would like to see laptops, especially the ones like this where you probably don't get many ports, with Logitech or IR peripheral receivers built in. It can't take that much space in there.
My Toshiba Libretto CT110 is a 64Mb 4.3gb 233mhz monster in a package 210mm X 130mm X 35mm.
And it's not the smallest Libretto.
Fran
:):):)
1st 1st Poster of the new Millennium!
It was a joke (that got modded up). Get a life.
I would have *loved* to see a 16:9ish format screen on this, like on their Picturebook. I've run my screens in a similar mode lately, by using panning, and I find it's amazingly useful. It has a much more "desktop and paper" like feel to it. Great for movies too (well, without the panning...)
;->
Otherwise, this looks sweet... but what's that "c: 10gb, d: 10gb" thing they mention in the specs?
mindslip
Positive moderation now serves as validation for idiocy?
Get some sense. What, are you French?
Yeah it's cool that it weighs 1.8 pounds, but is it functional? Forget the keyboard being unusable... the screen is *tiny*. Compare the DPI of various screens:
. sh tml?products/notebooks/tech_specs/p1000_summer02_t s
. sh tml?products/notebooks/tech_specs/p2000_summer02_t s
. sh tml?products/notebooks/tech_specs/s_series_fall02_ ts
Inspiron 8000
15.1" UXGA
132 DPI
Fujitsu P1000
8.9" 1024x600
133 DPI
Fujitsu P2000
10.6" 1280x768
141 DPI
Sony Clie T665 PDA
3.1" 320x320
145 DPI
Sony PCG-U1
6.4" XGA
200 DPI!!!
The DPI is significantly higher than even the Clie PDAs!
I'm surprised that Fujitsu laptops are often overlooked; they have many well priced models of various sizes:
The widescreen format of Fujitsu's smallest laptop, the P-1000 Series, provides a fairly usable keyboard. It also has a *touch*screen and costs only $1100. Weighs a bit more at 2.2 pounds. A newer version is rumored to be released next month:
http://www.fujitsupc.com/www/products_notebooks
The P-2000 mentioned above has *internal* DVD/CDRW,is only 3.4 pounds (2.8 pounds with weightsaver in place of CD drive), has battery options to get up to 14 hours, and costs $1500. A newer version is also rumored to be released next month (933 MHz CPU). Check out the P series forums at http://www.leog.net
http://www.fujitsupc.com/www/products_notebooks
If you want a lightweight full-sized notebook, the S series has a 1.2 GHz P4-M CPU, 13.3" XGA, weighs 4.5 pounds, and costs $1500 (personally I wish this one had a 1280x1024 screen).
http://www.fujitsupc.com/www/products_notebooks
http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PCOM/PCG-U1/I mages/wallpaper_pop_02.jpg
what the heck is 1 x Biology U Port.
i wonder if it's like, really big.
I'm a big fan of small computers, and am glad to see some manufacturers resisting the touchpad, which is a huge space hog on small units. I do wish the new U1 went with a trackpoint, or a libretto-like mouse on the screen. Having it where they located it on the U1, almost makes it necessary to pick up the unit to use the mouse, which is unacceptable.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
I feel like I must not be using my laptop correctly or something, or perhaps it is just my big hands.
All I know is that as the screens are getting larger (Sony has that newish 16" screen now), I'm pleased as punch - but the small laptops are totally unusable to me - I just can't use anything on the screen (at least not without head splitting annoyance).
So I'm assuming there is some other use for these things that I don't use mine for - perhaps bringing to presentations where everything is projector driven anyway.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
It's a nice device, and it should run emacs great, if you don't want the setup hassle finding all the right drivers the good folks at emperorlinux will ship it to you properly setup for a small fee I bet. But it's hardly cheap. Over $2k no matter how you get it.
You can pick up a new iBook for about $1200, you get longer battery life and a better keyboard, emacs comes standard on OS X now, and you can wipe it and install Debian if you want anyway. Downside, of course, is that it's a bit larger, but it's still quite small really.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
.. so the rest of the world understands what you're talking about. You know, even the united federation of planets uses the metric system.
I have a sony PCG-U1 which i bought from here
;-)
it works well, execpet the battery life is kinda short, but if you run it on max power save you can get about 2 hours on it.
THe best use ive found for it so far is concealed war walking, get netstumbler on it, plug in some earphones and place it in your bag. it even fits in my fanny-pack. You can walk anywhere with it no-one would even think you have a computer in your fanny-pack.
plus, it's a lady killer
Sun is Warm, Grass is Green
See Ben Brown's switch commercial for the demonstration.
What I should have said was nothing.
PCMCIA has gone the way of the buffalo.
You (and I) are showing your(our)years by reffering to its old name.
Now, I understand that PC card can mean ISA(yechh!), Microchannel(yechh!), PCI, PCMCIA, etc.
but definitley with laptops PC card = PCMCIA.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Did you look at the picture?
It's not as small as anybody's penis.
It might be as wide as someone's penis is long, but it definitely isn't as small otherwise.
You're an idiot. It's a computer for the Asian market. Hence Asian men handle it. Understand?
Before making such stupid comments again, think for a while which is better:
a) a Beowulf cluster of Sony VAIO laptops
OR...
b) Sex with a mare?
see subject
It doesn't fit into my jacket pocket. I miss Psion. (this is a hint for any manufactorer out their ;-))
My 1990-model Sony VCR gave a markedly better picture than the 2000 models I bought to replace it just three years ago. The difference was so marked that I actually took the first unit back thinking it was faulty. You bought 2000 different models just to replace one VCR?!?!?! DAMN! You must be rich!
As a Picturebook owner, I can't imagine how a keyboard any smaller can still be usable
The Japanese, on average being smaller than Americans, would likely have smaller hands and fingers and could tolerate a smallker keyboard.
-- yawn. --
That smell is the transmeta crusoe radiating several magnitudes more heat than it was ever designed to handle.
This notebook is called the "MY Little Vaio" and has been on the market since about march of this year. Actually this was posted way back on May 8th see http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/05/08/223020 4&mode=thread&tid=100
Am I the only one who thinks that computer size should be goverened by practicality and not always by technology? I'm tired of needing a thumb tac to type an email.
People in Japan type really, really, slow, especially when they're doing key-combos to form kanji characters, so the small keyboard is probably something less of a big deal there. -Chris
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
http://www.ottaky.com/linux/vaiou1.html
Geez, guys, this has been slashdotted over 6 months ago. PCG-U1 is not a new product. I've had mine for months (typing this post on it). Pitty it is only available in Japan, and only with a Japanese version of Windows.
s tems /vaio_1.shtml
I got mine mail order from http://shop.conics.net and even wrote a review of it on
http://www.ripnet-uk.com/RipNet_v2/reviews/sy
Amazing piece of kit...
At 1.4" thick it is almost twice as thick as my Toshiba Protege 3015 which is about 0.75" thin. Mine is about 3 years old but people still look at it and go 'wow that's tiny'. At least I can type normally on my Toshiba.
Look at the main picture in the gallery.
What's with the multi-sided dice? Trying to appeal to the ex-D&D-now-Linux-crazed geeks out there?
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
According to the produce description, this sub-sub-sub-notebook has:
"Mega Bass with Theatre sound"
Methinks Sony's marketing staff needs beat over the head with reality. (:
Okay, I'm not a small person, I'm 6'0" (a touch under 2m for you metric-type folks out there,) 185 lb. (again, about 80kg for you metricies.) I have slightly larger than average hands, although since mine are in the form of longer fingers, not wider, maybe it's just me.
But, I find that the U1's keyboard is most likely NOT too small. I can touch type just fine on my Sony PictureBook (80-100wpm,) and I used to own a Hewlett-Packard 200LX, which has 'calculator keys' in QWERTY layout, and I could type 50-60wpm on it. (Hell, I could type 25wpm on my 48SX, which truly did have a calculator setup, with an ABCDEF layout.
Of course, I have yet to actually SEE a U1, so maybe the keys are too close together to be useful, I don't know. (The 200LX had small hard plastic keys that weren't touching each other, so I could easily hit one with the very tips of my fingers without hitting its neighbor. They also clicked nicely. Man do I wish a company would release a real x86 palmtop that size again. I used to do all my programming classwork on it because it was faster than the lab's machines! Imagine a little one, with maybe a Crusoe 600, even, 128 (or even 64)MB of RAM, a small 640x480 or 800x640 screen, one USB port (maybe even a FireWire port that could also charge the palmtop!) I'd buy one in a heartbeat.)
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
Wrong, it's made for the Japanese market.
Understand? JEEZ, too many fucking Frenchmen on slashdot, I swear.
Yes, keyboard is tiny and not really useable, but that doesn't matter for Japanese, as very few of them can type. Most of them pecks the keyboard with their index fingers.
As with the Thumbphrase goes, they got the idea from the cell phones they make in Japan. Most people enter their text with their thumb when they use their cell phones to send e-mails in Japan.
"I'm sure the battery would last longer (where do they PUT it in that thing?!)"
It hangs underneath the back. Like a stand. Totally destroys the simplicity of the design, like an afterthought ("What, we need a battery?" - wonder how you say "D'oh" in Japanese.)
If they were so superb 10 years ago ? Why did you need to buy new ones in the past 2-3 years ?
Maybe because I wanted one for the bedroom and one for my home-office. Likewise with the TVs.
My original Sony VCR did die a short while back anyway but it did give 10 years of good service -- having lasting three times longer than the rather expensive one I bought more recently.
Listen to me now and slashdot me later Mr. Girlieman, stop being such insensative clod. Hans and I like our properly pumped up finger tips even if it means that it means we can't get your website girleeeeeeman.com. Yah! -Franz
ok PG-U1 has been my ideal laptop and I have been in love with that for almost a year. Is so old that I think there are already releases and patches to put Linux on it.
:)
And americans can get it from sites such as dynamism. I think you are a tech tv viewer since they just put the plug about 2 days ago on Tech Live. Well still cool, anyone 'with money' tell me how was ur experience and if you were succesful running linux on it.
The JZA
I also have not had bad luck with Sony products in the last few years. The process to get them repair was not easy, starting with find the phone numbers! There are many 1-800-xxx-SONY phone numbers and no one in Sony seems to know which one is the right number so they just keep give you different numbers to try. Please forgive my bad English but I feel I need to warn people. * DCR-PC1 MiniDV Cam: stop working with an blinking unrecoverable error code. * PCG-F190 VIOS Laptop: LCD went dark after about a year. Since warranty had just ran out, Sony agree to repair it for free. I was told the thing broke because the LCD driver IC was bad. * PCG-F270 VIOS Laptop: likes to turn itself off after about 5 minutes. Out of warranty, will cost at least $699 to repair. * Desktop VIOS PC: hard drive failed after just a few months. I've to sent to entire machine to San Diego. It's been over a month already and still not back yet. * DPP-SV77 Photo Printer: stop working with error message "Printer Cartridge Finished". The repair took over two months. It's having the same problem again. * DSC-F707 Colors look very fake; it has just too much red. I wonder what Sony is thinking in creating this garbage.
you have got too much shit. and stop buying sony.
For those of you who want more pictures, I found that there are a few of those up for sale on Ebay with a nice collection of pictures
Check out http://www.tnl.net/blog
iBook are WAY TOO BIG (even those with 12 inch screens). Apple, Dell, HP, and other US companies just do not know how to build small. This is a job for the Japanese and Chinese.
Acer also has some nice small laptops (Travelmate 360) Ther are much cheaper than Sony laptops.
It's been out in Japan for about 4-5 months.
I thought this was a NEWs site.
Under a kilo; lovely 800 by 600 pel screen.
I got one a couple of years ago; at the
time it had a 233Mhz CPU, 64Mb RAM and
a 4Gb HDD... A FEW YEARS AGO. Next model
had a fatter HDD. But the beautiful thing
is the ease of use. A nice keyboard that's
small but easy enough to use (and a USB
port etc etc) for a bigger one.
A touchpad, cf. SONY/IBM's awful clitoris.
A class act:
Check them all at http://www.casio.co.jp/mpc/
BTW never buy a Toshiba.
Their international warranties are worthless.
I know I'm way late posting this, but oh well. This is incredibly old news. I bought one these when I was in Japan 3 months ago (I was in the market for a new laptop so I had the money). The little thing is slow at times. The hard drive in particular seems to be a bottleneck. But I still love it. It's very durable, and even fits in the pockets of some of my pants. I also bought the firewire DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive for it which, while loud, works very well. Only other problem is while it has a Radeon Mobility, it only has 8MB of RAM. It was pathetic when I tried to play UT2003 on it. But Ragnarok Online works beautifully on it so I'm happy (or will be happy when they come back online)