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.

Comments

External monitor.

[CMU_Nort]

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.

Uhhh, what for?

[beowulf_26]

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?

Re:Great..

[d-rock]

Well, I actually like the idea. I don't have huge hands, but I'm not a small guy (6'4"). I used to have a Toshiba Libretto (even smaller) that was the best thing ever for me. I am currently a network engineer and I basically built a troubleshooting kit on the Libretto with RedHat: TFTP server, emacs for ACL editing, sniffers, analyzers, IDS, ROM images, configs, etc. It even had a serial port so I could console into routers,etc. So when we had problems at our offices around the country, instead of having to lug around a huge laptop I could just throw the little thing and a couple of cables in my backpack and head out. I really miss it. The keyboard may have been small, but I wasn't using it to type a novel.

Derek

Dynamism

[PhotoGuy]

Dynamism.com has been selling these for months. Not a new release.

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.