I have been holding out on announcing new VAIO U, but quiet a few info pieces leaked as well as pics, so I thought I would post it on here.
As some of you might have been following new VAIO teaser Sony has posted a few days ago at http://www.sony.com/vaionew it was revealing some pics of upcoming AR series notebook - first Blu-Ray HD ready notebook as well as some shots of upcoming UX model.
Check it out here: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/
There IS a God and the BIG GUY loves Vaios just like us!!! Man, its about time. Ive been following the same thread Vaiofreak. I even told one of the TR forum members here yesterday and he was like a kid outside a candy store.. ‘‘want it now”..
Ive heard that this new bad boy is gonna have bluetooth, maybe blu ray( judging from the flash teaser) Wifi. Lets hope there is a whole bag of goodies that itll come with. Im selling blood if i have to to get one. I wonder if the sales of this thing are gonna go up considering the first U did’nt sell all that well.
Cmon you U freaks, put your two cents in..or are you all waiting for the 16th when the curtain is finally dropped along with my jaw.
Let’s wait until we know exactly what this is before we start selling firstborn for it. From the form factor it’s not obvious what OS this thing runs or the price they’re gearing for.
If it’s meant as a hand-held web/email thing, I wouldn’t pay more than about $500-$700 (maybe!) for it, even if it ran full-blown Windows XP. I can get a Nokia 770 or an HTC Wizard class device for under $400. Although I don’t have personal experience with the 770, my MDA (T-mobile’s Wizard device) handles web browsing duties just fine as long as you use a decent browser like Opera 8.5. And my MDA is my phone.
I’m sure I’ll have more to complain about when I know more.
I need some more info, but i’m pretty keen. I’ve been waiting since the U101 for an integrated keyboard (just didn’t really like the U50/70 because i don’t like the lack of keyboard.
Might be enough of a reason to sell this brick of a TX though
here are some more tidbits from engadget comments:
“The UX180P is set to be released in the U.S. for $1,799.99 around June. It will have a 4.5 inch 1024x600 touchscreen with XBRITE, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Windows XP Professional, 1.2GHz Core Solo processor, 512MB RAM, 30GB hard drive with shock protection, 802.11a/b/g, WAN (Cingular EDGE), Bluetooth, dual cameras (VGA on the front, 1.3 MP on the back) with a microphone, and a biometric fingerprint sensor. There is 1 USB port, a Memory Stick slot, and headphone and microphone inputs. The weight is 1.1 pounds with dimensions of 6” x 4” x 2” and the battery will last from 3 to 7 hours. A stylus and a case will be included, as well as a docking station which adds 3 USB ports, 1 Firewire port, and VGA/AV outputs. You can view the screen in portrait or landscape modes with the ability to zoom with dedicated buttons. GPS will also be supported through Bluetooth and pre-installed software.”
Assuming this is a UMPC….what the heck happened to the $500 price point they were supposed to have? I don’t think one vendor has released a model in that supposed price point. All the companies are releasing “high-end” configurations that don’t make sense for most consumers.
[quote author=“gr00vy0ne”]Assuming this is a UMPC….what the heck happened to the $500 price point they were supposed to have? I don’t think one vendor has released a model in that supposed price point. All the companies are releasing “high-end” configurations that don’t make sense for most consumers.
I thought that the $500 Origami price point was just a rumor. Besides, how much of the materials cost for these things is just the OS? You’re definitely right about the price being too much for consumers. Judging from cell phones, DAPs and game systems, $300-$400 US is the portable gadget sweet spot. On the other hand, if the stated specs are accurate, it’s got some very impressive hardware for a UMPC.
For those of you that are excited by this device (like I said, it’s pretty cool as far as a UMPC goes) what exactly do you plan on using this thing for?
For those of you that don’t like this device, what would it take for you to buy something like this? Is the whole concept flawed?
Yeah, the $500 price point was the “ideal” price point but it seems most companies aren’t releasing these base models. I was just shocked by Sony’s $1800 price. Granted, it comes with a lot of stuff and it’s Sony but that’s a high price to pay.
I look at a device like this as the ultimate travel companion. You can check e-mail, use the Bluetooth to check your location, dump pictures from your digital camera onto it while out in the field, watch/listen to media files, or maybe an occasional game here and there. If it can fit in my MURSE (MAN+PURSE) then even better.
My Tablet PC sorta does this for me now. The only problem is that it’s larger and thus needs a backpack. The battery life is going to have to get better though. 3-7 hours isn’t very impressive and will need to get 100% better before I can really consider it.
My MDA does most of that now except for the digital photos part. I can definitely see a UMPC being useful for something like that. Mobiletechreview had a nice little post about using the Samsung Q1 for blogging using Photoshop CS2 and Dreamweaver 8. It’s stuff that would be hard without a full-blown OS or large, complex apps.
I don’t have much storage space on my person. I don’t do the carry bag thing and I don’t have a car (New Yorker :wink: ) so I’ve done some gadget soul-searching over the past two years and I’ve pared myself down to a smartphone and my iPod nano. One goes in a belt clip the other in my pocket. That’s also why I tend to be pretty hostile to “portable” gadgets that are bigger than the average pocket.
