[Reprinted from NetbookTech.com] Sony finally unveiled their mystery notebook product at CES 2009 this past week. Dubbed the VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC, it’s the lightest 8 inch notebook out on the market weighing in at a mere 1.4 pounds and measuring a mere 0.78 inches thick (full measurements are 9.65 x 0.78 x 4.72 inches).
The Lifestyle PC is definitely filled to the brim with features and specs including:
Intel Atom processor running at 1.33 GHz - 8 inch LED backlit display with a resolution of 1600 x 768 and XBRITE-ECO technology
- Up to a 60 GB hard drive as well as up to 128GB SSD
- Approximately 4 hours with standard battery or 8 hours with the large capacity battery
- A max of 2GB of RAM
- Built-in GPS
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n via Atheros chipset
- Bluetooth support including Stereo A2DP profile
- WWAN support
- Memory Stick PRO (Standard/Duo) media slot with MagicGate functionality
- MMC slot
- SD memory card slot
- Intel HD Audio Sound System
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator
- Built-in MOTION EYE webcam and microphone
- Windows Vista Home Basic for the base model. Windows Vista Home Premium for the higher end configurations
- Available in garnet red, emerald green, onyx black, crystal white and classic black
The Lifestyle PC also has a one-button quick-boot option allowing you to boot into a small Linux kernel. This mode features Sony’s xross media bar interface and provides access to web (Firefox browser), email, photos etc. A Sony rep told me the boot time for the quick-boot option was timed at around 17 seconds. It’s a great way to access your system without jumping into Windows (especially since Windows Vista is running on this device). Here are shots of the interface
Curious about the keyboard design? Here are shots of the keyboard:
Here’s a welcome change – there is no touchpad on the Lifestyle PC. Sony chose to go with a trackpoint-like device. Smart decision – I’ve always been a fact of trackpoints.
The base model sells for $899.99 and features the Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor, 8 inch display, 2GB RAM, 60GB HDD, GPS, integrated mobile broadband, Bluetooth and Windows Vista Home Basic.
The next model up sells for $1199.99 and replaces the hard drive with a 64GB SSD and replaces Vista Home Basic with Vista Home Premium.
Finally, at $1499, the 64GB SSD gets upgraded to a 128GB SSD.
Not exactly netbook-like pricing is it? Oh wait.. it’s not a “netbook” … it’s a “Lifestyle PC”. Sense a bit of annoyance on my part? You bet.. but more on this later on. For now we’ll stick with the product announcement on the Sony netbook err.. VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC.
