Sony VAIO U50 Reviewed In Depth

LabRat007 writes "PDA Buyer's Guide reviews the Sony VAIO U50/U70, the hybrid PC/PDA that has beaten both the FlipStart and OQO to market. The short version? They like it, but it's too expensive. Editor in Chief Lisa Gade provides the typically in-depth review, with pictures and words and everything." The design looks great, but the price -- yow!

Comments

"but it's too expensive."

[thing2b]

Is't the best technology expensive?

Re:"but it's too expensive."

[Trent05]

Is't the best technology expensive?

Yes, but here you are also paying heavy for the name. Which makes no sense since I doubt Sony makes there own boards and a lot of other hardware is most likely made by other manufacturers. With laptops and PDAs being relatively cheap nowdays, I'm curious if they'll sell enough to make a profit at a $2,000 price point.

Re:"but it's too expensive."

[Anonymous Coward]

No.
Exotic and esoteric technology is expensive because it requires research and development, but the heart of the problem for the PDA market is that it is a great idea as long as it is cheap.
That last part is where every OEM who has bought into this dumb idea has failed it. People who need small at all costs can afford to pay more, but for the mass market the assumption is that there will be these tiny things that will replace PCs AND --and this and is the part that is being missed-- they will be cheap.
If they're not cheap compared to a PC, then being small is absolutely irrelevant for the mass market. That's not to say there are no niche markets, but again, that's not the point.

Not small

[Anonymous Coward]

enough to be a PDA, and not big enough to want to sit in front of for a long time.

A 12" Apple Powerbook would perhaps be more useful, and leave plenty of money for ice-cream.

Re:Not small

[Anonymous Coward]

The base prices don't differ much. But the point is, any time something like this comes up someone will bring up Apple portables, as if nobody else makes good notebooks.

Expensive

[IrresponsibleUseOfFr]

I will never understand the "wow, that computer is cool, but soo expensive" mentalality. I paid about $3000 for a laptop about 5 years-ago. I was happy with that machine. This one is more powerful, has a better battery life, and is cheaper in terms of actual dollars than the laptop. Should I pissed off that I bought my laptop now?

If you want the vaio, and have the expendable income, buy it. Who cares if you can get a better desktop for a tenth of the cost. The most powerful computer in the world isn't worth the money if you aren't happy with it and don't use it.

Anything that you buy is worth the money if you are satisfied with it. I really hate to see the put-down mentality of some people that take otherwise happy customers and make them feel stupid or cheated for their purchase. Absolutely, no good comes from that. You discourage people from buying products they would enjoy. You hurt companies that produce something cool, which causes them to raise prices on their not-so-cool items. In the end, for what? Your ego? Get a grip.

Re:Expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

The point of the reviewers is that the computer is not worth the money. That the benefits do not justify the cost. That the features are nice but the price is ridiculous. Whether you want to buy it anyway is up to you. Maybe for you the benefits outweigh the cost, or maybe you just like new technology, or, maybe you wipe your ass with hundred dollar bills.

It's like ordering a $1000 omelette. It might be the best tasting omelete in the world but most people are still not going to order one. The omelette is cool but the price is too expensive. Whether or not they have the expendable income to afford one is besides the point.

Why do you think that these people are attacking you? Because you bought something that wasn't worth the money and hate being reminded of it? If you really are happy with your purchase then these people should not bother you. You sound very insecure. Get a grip.

suweet (sorta)

[Suchetha]

its nice in a "ooh i'm shiny buy me" kind of way. if you DO have the cash to pay for it (usd2200 - USD2700) i may even be a nice toy. but i guess for most people all this would be is primarily an entertainment unit and a secondarily a pda.

as the article states

Don't expect this to be a desktop replacement, but do expect it to be more than adequate for MS Office, email and web browsing as well as video playback and light gaming. It's truly a portable movie player in addition to being a full Windows PC.

of course if you put a lower footprint version of windows (say 2k) on it, it may handle things better. i should also PROBABLY run linux

but for me i would personally prefer a larger laptop for half the price (and i tend to put things down and forget them) or better yet a PDA for PDA work/email and a good portable DVD/VCD/MP3/CD player for entertainment. a 5" screen is just too small for my shortsighted eyes

of course this may be a big hit in the gadget crazy japanese market. but at the risk of getting a LOT of flaming i will ask "but what use is it? especially at that price!"

i am sure i will get a lot of responses, but i still think that this is a solution looking for a problem

Suchetha

Hopefully this niche will thrive

[copponex]

I'm not a big fan of the price, but this is heading in the right direction.

I hope in 3 to 5 years there are a lot of these palm or hip tops, because it's really where computers start becoming more of an assistant than pain in the ass. I'd like to grab breakfast while browsing the web, turn off the screen for mp3 playing, maybe turn it on again to check e-mail halfway to work or if I stop somewhere. Then when I get to work plug it into a dock for a full keyboard/mouse/display for the workday routine. I just want ALL of my data with me ALL the time.

In retail situations, bringing your pricelist in your pocket will be big business as soon as the price point goes down. With all of the new credit card verification stuff, I don't see why we won't be checked out as soon as we buy something. Just pick up the receipt on the way out the door.

Re:Help! My wallet's been VAIOlated!

[CymorC]

The only reason people think Harleys are any good is because that's what they've been told. With a Harley, you're paying for an underperforming, overpriced name that only means something to nonbikers. Go to any AMA motorcycle group and you'll see that real bikers overwhelmingly prefer Japanese and European bikes to Harleys.

this is ...

[curator_thew]

Exactly the type of portable webpad I need:

(a) around the house, to look up stuff, browse the web, check movies, etc;

(b) at work, to pull up files and email during meetings, etc;

I would buy one today if it were a better price.

Also, I think that they could trim the specs and still have a marketable product: grunt power and number of ports are not important for this style of product.

Why would anyone want Win XP in a PDA?

[labourstart]

PDAs are things you boot up quickly, and shut off with the click of a switch. They're incredibly useful when you need to look up a detail while standing somewhere. The 'instant-on' feature is, I think, one of the strongest points of PDAs as opposed to laptops. So what's the point of making what is essentially a PDA with all its disadvantages (small screen, for example) without its main advantage of instant bootups?

This is what I want!

[Bodhammer]

Take:

1 Newton 2000 for handwriting

1 Zaurus SL-C860 for display, keyboard, Linux

add

Ethernet, Bluetooth, and 802.11b (or g)

6 hrs battery life with replacable batteries

Support and a vendor supported dev. community

Stir Vigoriously, pour into a sub $600 package

Sell hundreds of thousands of units!!!

Prediction: Product without a market to fill

[illumin8]

My prediction is that these type of products will fail miserably. They are not useful as a PDA at all due to the fact that they run Windows XP. Read the following from the article:

Despite appearances, the Sony Vaio U50 and U70 are indeed Windows computers. They can run Windows software, and take as long to boot up or resume from standby as any notebook PC. So if you're looking for instant-on, quick access to data, and don't need to run Windows PC software on the device, consider notebook-like PDAs such as the Sharp Zaurus C860.

Can you imagine trying to get someone's contact info at a business meeting with one of these?

Let's see, open the lid, wait 5-10 seconds for Windows to wake up from standby mode.

If it's not booted, you're waiting 2-3 minutes to boot.

Now, enter your username and password to login to Windows.

Now, open Outlook by double-clicking it's icon.

Choose what folder you want the contact in (business/personal). Maybe you even have to establish a network connection to place the contact in a shared folder.

Now click "New Contact" and try to figure out a way to input their data without a keyboard!!! WTF, no keyboard for data input?!?!

Guess you'll be using Windows XP's on-screen keyboard to enter all their data, hunting and pecking with your stylus or fingers on the little tiny on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Better go to Start|Programs|Accessories|Accessibility|On-Screen Keyboard. 5 clicks later and you can actually type!

Type in contact name and phone number painfully slow while hunting and pecking on the on-screen keyboard.

Click save.

By this time you've probably wasted 5-10 minutes of your business associate's time and he's already handed you a business card or written his info down on a piece of paper and handed it to you. Not to mention he thinks you're a total wanker for using technology that just doesn't fit the purpose.

Compare all this with my Palm enabled Treo phone?

Open the flip.

Click the "New" button.

Type in their name and phone number and hit "Done."

Total time on the Palm enabled phone? 30 seconds or so.

So basically, this is just a smaller than average laptop. I still have to carry around a PDA, cellphone, and every other device I always had to carry. These devices might be popular in Japan where there is a demand for very tiny portable computers, but here in the US they will fail miserably.

It seems like they're trying to capture a small percentage of the already tiny PDA market, by marketing a device that doesn't even function as a PDA... Fucking brilliant. Someone ought to knock those Sony and OQO executives that greenlighted these products upside the head with a clue-by-four.