Sony U-70 review- is that a PC in your pocket?
Japan has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile devices, especially computers. Importers such as Dynamism, Kurns & Patrick, iCube, and Kemplar have stepped into the void for these innovative devices that US consumers crave. While Japan has been producing very small laptops for a few years a lot of interest has been sweeping the internet recently about ultra-portable computers. Slightly bigger than a PDA but much smaller than even the smallest laptop, UPCs have been anxiously awaited by consumers. Devices like the OQO and FlipStart have been vaporware for years and yet they stay in the news and anxiously awaited by many prospective buyers. The manufacturers of both device are claiming they will be released late this year.It was into this climate of consumer clamor for ultra-portable devices that Sony entered and surprised everyone with their announcement of their U-50 & U-70 UPCs. Slightly larger than a PDA yet packing an entire Windows XP powered laptop smashed inside it’s small case, the two Sony UPCs were not only announced without prior information leaking but Sony has actually released the devices in Japan. The first units hit the market in Japan months before the other two UPCs mentioned above are expected to be released. Unfortunately, if you don’t happen to live in Japan then you’ll have to obtain one of these little PCs from an importer like the ones mentioned above.I have been using a U-70 for a few weeks now, and I have been totally impressed with the thoughtful design Sony has put into this computer in almost every way. So, can you use one of these UPCs in your everyday mobile lifestyle? Read on to see how it works for me.Photos and screenshots of the Sony U-70
What you get in the boxThe Sony comes in two flavors, the U-50 & U-70. There are three differences between the two models which are otherwise identical. The U-50 comes with a Celeron 900 MHZ processor, 256 MB of RAM, and Windows XP Home Edition. The more powerful U-70 comes with a Pentium M processor running at 1 GHZ, 512 MB of RAM, and Windows XP Pro Edition. Of the three differences noted above the amount of RAM is probably the most significant, as anyone running Windows will certainly attest to. The different processors might exhibit different battery consumption too, but I don’t have two devices to compare. So what do you get in the box? The specs:U-50 / 70Internal:20 GB hard diskCPU (one of the two mentioned above)256/ 512 MB RAMAround the sides:Compact Flash slotMemory Stick Pro slotHold switchStandby buttonCtrl-Alt-Del switch1- USB 2.0DC inDocking connector:Hold switchWiFi on/off switchPower switchHeadphones jackFront of the device:Three mouse buttons (L, M, R)Three indicator lightsZoom buttonRotate button5″ LCD screen (landscape orientation default)Scroll pad with Enter buttonTrack point stick with Enter buttonTools buttonLCD brightness buttonNextText buttonExternal:1800 mAh standard battery Docking cradleI/O connector4 – USB 2.0 ports1- i.Link port (fire wire)DC in Plastic stylusMini surf board style VGA/ Ethernet dongleFontopia style headphones with remote control (LCD display)Sony AC adapterFold-up USB keyboard (Japanese and English) SoftwareUnless you are in Japan the Sony is usually purchased through an importer, such as Kurns & Patrick (who provided my device), Kemplar, Dynamism, iCube, or Sonnibee. The preinstalled software varies slightly from importer to importer because they take a stock U device, which has a Japanese version of Windows XP and Sony software, and then do an English conversion which involves installing an English version of the operating system. Some importers supply the buyer with a hidden partition that contains the original Japanese OS for emergency recovery procedures, and some provide it on a separate CD. The U only has a 20 GB hard disk so I immediately put the recovery partition to CD and removed it from the disk. This freed up 2 GB of space on the U. I will only address the software preinstalled by K&P on my device.Kurns & Patrick installed:English conversion for WinXPIBM Touchboard (on screen keyboard that also appears at boot time for login purposes)PenOffice (demo)- handwriting recognitionritePen (demo)- handwriting recognitionSony installed:Do Vaio (Japanese only- not really useable in English)- multi-media server and player packagePenPlus- on screen sticky noteVaio Launcher (Japanese but useable)- launcher bar for starting programsMemory Stick utilities- formatting, etc.NextText- handwriting recognition. Works in English but designed for Japanese text entry.Vaio Synchronizer (Japanese only)- some sort of utility to synchronize the U with another desktop system by pushing the sync button on the docking cradle.
First LookThe operating system on the U-70 is a complete install of Windows XP Professional. When the device is booting you can access the BIOS screen by pressing the ROTATE button on the lower left of the front panel. The BIOS screen is a typical Phoenix BIOS setting screen with the neat feature that lets you use the stylus and touch screen. This makes it easy to change settings by pointing and clicking on the screen, something you can’t even do on your desktop or laptop BIOS screens.The device boots up like any other WinXP device, with the exception of the IBM TouchBoard on-screen keyboard (K&P devices) that lets you tap in your password to login. Once you’re logged in you have a vivid, SVGA (800×600) desktop that looks very familiar and has no surprises. It’s very nice being able to use WinXP with the stylus instead of a mouse, just tapping exactly where you want the cursor to be. The touch screen is just sensitive enough without registering errant touches on the screen. You can easily use your fingertip to select things on the screen, provided your finger is not too big. The included plastic stylus that comes with the U looks like a little surf board and while it’s small and easily carried around I quickly replaced it with a combination pen and stylus. The little Sony stylus just felt too weird for me to use very much.One of the key tests for an ultra-portable PC like the U is how quickly it enters into Standby mode. When you’re out and about you want to be able to resume from standby quickly, do your work, and then go back into standby quickly. The U doesn’t disappoint here, with a Standby button on the top of the device that puts the U into standby, and also resumes it. It takes maybe two seconds to either enter or resume from standby mode by hitting this button. It’s lightning fast. Hibernation mode only takes a few seconds longer with my unit entering or resuming from hibernation in less than 10 seconds. This makes the U a nice device to use on the run.Since the Sony is a full WinXP device you can plug virtually any peripheral into it you want. I have successfully used a couple of USB keyboards, mice, USB hub, iPod, Pocket PC, and an i.Link DVD-RW drive. All work as advertised and are plug and play. I should point out that I have replaced the Sony included keyboard with a Fellowes Stowaway USB keyboard which works wonderfully. The Sony keyboard is a Japanese keyboard and many of the keys are in a different position than on English keyboards. I am a touch typist and the Sony keyboard drove me crazy looking for some of the keys I wanted to hit. Other than that the Sony keyboard is a nice one and folds up to a small form and fits in a nice little pouch that is included with the U. It even has an integrated trackpoint and two mouse buttons.The U also comes with a pouch-type case that closes with a draw string. This case works very well for carrying the U around and even has a belt loop, if you want to put it on your belt. It’s pretty big though, so you’ll definitely look like a geek if you do. The case doesn’t provide much padding or protection so you’ll have to carry it around inside another bag. There is an optional case that Sony sells that includes a removable stand with a flip-out leg that lets you use the Sony with the keyboard without the dock. It holds the U at the perfect angle for keyboard use and closes with Velcro, and accommodates the U with both the standard (included) battery and the extended (optional) battery. I have both batteries and the case works very well. I recommend this case for the removable stand alone.On-screen Navigation, Video Resolution, and ButtonsThe U is very well designed by Sony to take advantage of multiple input devices and also to provide easy cursor manipulation if you don’t want to pull out a stylus. It has a very accurate and easy to use track point device and 3 buttons on the front of the unit simulating 3 mouse buttons. Augmenting that is a scroll pad just above the track point that lets you scroll in 4 directions without having to get the cursor in a program’s scroll bar. Web browsing and scrolling through long documents with the scroll pad is just a joy. It is very easy to use the U without a stylus at all which surprised me and makes it very easy to play games.There are several very useful buttons on the front panel that enhance the user experience and I should mention these. The most useful for me is the ROTATE button which instantly switches the screen and all the buttons from the default landscape to a portrait orientation. This orientation is very nice for reading ebooks and browsing web pages that are long and narrow. The switch back and forth between the two orientations takes maybe a second, it’s that fast. Another useful button is the ZOOM button, which switches quickly among 5 different screen resolutions, 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024, and 1600×1200. The native screen resolution for the built-in LCD is 800×600 but if you want to zoom things bigger you can select the smaller 640×480 and everything is bigger. Selecting the other 3 resolution settings without an external monitor connected generates a virtual panning desktop. I have used the U extensively with a 17″ LCD monitor attached to the dock and the U drives it nicely at 1280×1024. The U would drive it at 1600×1200 if the monitor could handle it, but it doesn’t. The 64 MB of video memory (shared) of the Intel integrated graphics has handled everything I’ve thrown at it so far with no hiccups.The three buttons on the lower right of the U provide brightness control (both on-screen setting and it also toggles between full on, full off, and medium), system settings, and access to the included NextText application. NextText is a handwriting entry and recognition program that is predominantly Japanese and I didn’t find it useful at all. Most new U owners are installing either PenOffice or ritePen, both fine handwriting recognition programs. K & P included 30 day trial versions for both programs. I am using a different solution which I’ll touch on later in this review. There is a power slide switch, the afore mentioned standby button, and pin hole Ctrl-Alt-Del button around the sides of the device. There are two buttons on the docking cradle front, one that apparently syncs the U to another computer (it’s all in Japanese) and one that switches between the internal screen and an external monitor. The Sony Notebook Setup program (which is in Japanese but some enterprising U owners have worked together and converted it to English) lets you set the U to always come up in a default screen resolution when you switch to an external monitor which is nice.Fun StuffThe U ships with the Do Vaio multimedia environment which unfortunately is Japanese only. This package is a complete media solution that even offers streaming capabilities. It is not useable unless you read Japanese so some importers are removing it during the English conversion. There is information that Sony is going to release an English version of this package in the near future so stay tuned for more on this. The headphones that come with the U include a remote control with a tiny LCD display that when used with the Do Vaio software will display the name of the song that’s playing, along with providing full volume and music browsing controls right on the remote. The good news for those of us unable to use the Do Vaio software is that the remote works perfectly with both Windows Media Player and iTunes for controlling the player. The only feature you lose is the ability to see the song title. Not a bad tradeoff overall as I’m able to use my favorite player- iTunes.The small form factor of the U-50/70 makes it perfect for playing games anywhere. Since you don’t have a CD drive built-in (the U is smaller than the drive) you can install most games with a virtual CD program like Virtual CD. These programs create an exact image of the CD on the hard disk and then simulate a CD drive. Most games require the game CD to be in the drive to run as a form of copy protection but this requirement vanishes with the virtual CD.A list of games that I have run successfully on the U-70:Warcraft 3 (both versions)Starcraft (all of them)Allied AssaultCall of Duty- (turn graphics realism way down and it runs but has trouble during intense scenes)MAME gamesRise of Nations- this game runs fine on an external monitor but will not run on just the U’s internal screen. My guess is that RON requires at least a 1024×768 resolution to run.Traveling with the SonyThe U-70 is so small it’s a joy to travel with. Using just a small bag I carried the U, keyboard, and A/C adapter. The built-in WiFi lets you take full advantage of available hot spots (802.11g), and when WiFi isn’t available I can use my cell phone as a USB modem to tap Verizon’s Express Network. I’ve taken the U-70 on two trips so far, including a week long trip to Vegas, and the U was just so nice to have. Slightly bigger than the PDA I usually carry, I could keep it on me at all times and never lost unexpected free time to write, check email, or read ebooks.Smallest Tablet PCIt seemed to me the U-70 would be perfect to install the Tablet OS on and convert it into a true Tablet PC. The Tablet OS has been designed from the ground up for mobile pen and ink devices and the U certainly fits that bill. The only way you can obtain the Tablet OS to install on the U is through an MSDN subscription. I have a membership so obtaining it was no problem. The Tablet OS is a superset of the Windows XP OS and the installation is just like a typical OS install. Microsoft has released a public RC of Windows XP SP2 which included a major enhancement to the Tablet OS for those devices that have the Tablet OS installed so after installing the basic Tablet OS I installed SP2. Once that finished I installed all the Sony drivers and programs that are specific to the U-70 and everything works like a charm. The only caveat for anyone installing a clean OS on the U- Sony includes drivers for the Synaptics track point that take over the USB ports for any device you try to install after the Synaptics. The workaround is to install all USB devices you want prior to installing the Synaptics ones. If you want to install other USB devices later you can uninstall the Synaptics drivers from the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS utility, install your USB device (and driver), and then reinstall the Synaptics driver.My U is now a genuine Tablet PC with a 5″ screen and I must say the work that MS had done on the Tablet OS is quite nice. The Text Input Panel (TIP) works well on the U and the handwriting recognition is so accurate it’s scary. The Windows Journal is a very good way to capture information and printing from any application to a Journal page is just super. The Tablet extensions make OneNote come alive by adding handwriting recognition to that program, thus allowing you to take full advantage of OneNote’s inking capabilities. There are a number of Power Toys for the Tablet PC available from the MS web site that further extend the usefulness of the OS. Without a doubt the most used for me is the Snipping Tool which lets you “snip” pieces of the screen and save them for inclusion elsewhere.The Tablet OS has turned the U into an extremely powerful and mobile tool for my hectic lifestyle. Since I’ve installed the Tablet OS I rarely take the keyboard on short excursions as the handwriting recognition is so good.Battery LifeI switch between the standard and extended battery all the time, depending on how long I expect to be out and about. Sony has a nice power management utility that is in English and let’s the user customize the power management for virtually everything. There are several preset configurations and I usually leave the U set for “Ultimate Battery” with the LCD set to level 4 while on battery. With this setting I get around 3 – 3 1/2 hours with the standard battery and almost 6 hours with the extended. This is far better than my big laptop and I haven’t run out of juice yet. The batteries are rated at 1800 and 3600 mAh.Online ResourcesThe user community has sprung up for U owners and there are several key sites for information, help, and utility downloads that you should not miss:Vaio U-70 User’s GroupBeyond The TechKemplar U Support ForumTabletPC Buzz (if you install the Tablet OS)There is a lot of useful information on these sites and some enterprising U owners are even converting some of the Japanese only programs into English and posting them on the Beyond The Tech site.ConclusionsSony beat everyone to the punch by sneaking this machine out to market long before the competition. The small size and weight of the U make it an ideal device to carry around all the time. While some feel it’s a PDA killer, I believe it’s really a laptop killer. Since I have been using the U-70 I have not carried my laptop with me once. It’s that good at what it does. The U is expensive as imported devices usually are, but if it replaces a laptop for the consumer then it’s not so expensive in the end. When docked and connected to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc., the U can even be used on the desktop like any other PC, which gives it a utility that most sub-notebooks lack. I have used the U instead of my desktop fully 95% of the time at my desk. That makes the price much easier to swallow. The prices vary among the importers but the U-50 is currently around US$1850 and the U-70 around $2450.
Hey JK,
Great review, I really like you adapation to the tablet O/s. It sounds like a sweet device.
Do you have any comments on the weight/size of the U-70? As I picked up from the review that it is larger than a PocketPC (twice the width/weight?).
Is it possible to see a photo of the u-70 held in the hand to give a representation of the size?
Do feel the U-70 would be more/less comfortable to write (tap on) while on the go for extended periods e.g 30-40 minutes at a time?
Hey Addic. The weight of the U-70 is about 1.2 pounds with the standard battery and about 2 pounds with the extended battery. It’s heavy compared to a PDA but not uncomfortable, which surprised me. I can use it for several hours without discomfort but that will probably vary per individual.
You got me on the phote- I fully intended to put a couple of photos of the U in hand and just forgot. I’ll add them later today to show how it fits in the hand. The cool thing about that is the U makes it so quick and simple to switch from portrait to landscape that it’s easy to use it the way you need.
I also forgot to mention the entire review was produced on the U, both with the handwriting and a keyboard.
The U70 is abour 4.5″ X 6.5″ X 1″
If you line up two dollar bills, one above the other, slightly overlapping, maybe 1/4″ at the seam, that marks off roughly the area of the U.
I added a photo of the U-70 in hand in portrait orientation so you can get an idea of the size vs. a PPC.
Thanks for the great review. I am planning on getting a u50, I want to install the Tablet OS as well. What cd-rom did you use to boot on the u70? I know that some sonys have problems booting on certain cdroms.
Thanks
I am using a Sony PCGA-DDRW2 drive because it’s bootable. There is a list of bootable devices being compiled on the Kemplar forum, along with a list of non-bootable drives.
dude, fix your un-ended STRONG tag! ARGH!
I must admit to only scanning through, but I didn’t notice anything about hardware movie decompression. I know some of the smaller VIA chipsets do this, but is there anything here to help out the battery life when playing files such as mpg’s?
Kevin Ford
mpgs will work the way they do on any WinXP laptop. Intel has information on their web site about the integrated graphics chip (I don’t have the link handy).
spoonyfork- what unended STRONG tag? I don’t see one.
spoonyfork is talking about this:
Mini surf board stylebr
strong VGA/ Ethernet donglebr
Fontopia style headphones with remote control (LCD display)br
Near the following words:
VGA/ Ethernet dongle
Browsing in Mozilla or FireFox will show the entire article after the above in bold type.
Will it run LINUX?
The body of your review up to your features list is unbolded, then after “Software” ALL of the text is bold.
Will it run LINUX?
Does it play Doom 3?
Ctrl-Alt-Del switch!!!!!!
Now why the hell dont they make these for all windows baced machines?
This one:
[strong] VGA/ Ethernet dongle[br /]
is that better?
Camera? Bluetooth?
::will it run linux?::
Not actaully owning one, i’d guess the answer to be yes. I don’t know if linux handles touchscreens (i’d be suprised if it didn’t) so i don’t see any reason why it couldn’t. Whether it could use all the features of the U is another question entirely.
::will it run doom 3?::
*shakes magic 8 ball*
“All signs point to no”
How much was the U70 when you brought it?
What doesn’t run linux? The real question is how well does linux run on it and how is the hardware support? That, however, seems out of the scope of this article.
Will it run Doom 3? Of course not! Right now, we’re just lucky to get full-fledged computers in our palms. Phone manufacturers are just now looking into 3D acceleration capabilities. Let’s give the industry some time before we demand that the latest games to run on our PDAs.
Hmm lack of PCMCIA support kills it for me … I just bought a Sierra Wireless access card and have been using my notebook everywhere. If this thing supported PCMCIA, I’d be pulling out my CC right now.
Pity.
You don’t need a wireless card, it has it built in. Unless you mean a card to connect to a cell network, in which case you just have to link with a phone like (almost) eveyone else.
What is the rated capacity of the batteries, in mAh and voltage?
Various replies: (forgive the brevity but since the review was /.ed it’s killing me)
doom 3? Haven’t tried it yet but don’t see it happening.
Sierra Wireless. I too use one on my laptop and was sad to see it go. Now I access the Express Network via my cell phone and cable with the U.
Linux is next on the install list.
No camera nor bluetooth. I’ve added BT via CF card though.
Someone using Mozilla/Firefox please let me know if the BOLD problem is gone for you. Thanks.
I’d bet the compact flash 802.11b wireless adapters would work with it. next best thing to pcmcia.
It’s got 802.11g built in.
I use FireFox and the bold problem is fixed for me. Thanks!
I’m using Firefox 0.9.1, and the problem with formatting here is completely gone. Thanks JK!
Page looks fine, no bold problems.
Interesting device… But I still like my Tungsten|T3 w/BlueTooth phone!
Of course the real question is linux support.
I wish they’d offer it as an alternative, I really don’t want to pay $150 for an OEM XP Pro license that isn’t transferrable (even to another pc) and that I have no intention of ever using.
Looks cool – was looking at the UX50 – the hand held PDA…but this looks much cooler if not a little more expensive.
Could you list the URL’s for the suppliers – I know dynamism and some of the others…but not the ones you got it from.
The line with “VGA/ Ethernet dongle” in the html. From that point on everything is strong/bold.
What about DVD playback? Is it fast enough to do this glitch free?
Is there any way to connect to an external monitor without using the docking station, for use giving presentations, for example?
Various replies:
the U comes with a dongle that contains both a VGA out and a RJ-45. This is perfect for presentations.
DVD playback has worked fine for me.
The HTML problem was fixed hours ago but the review was mirrored by a /.er and maybe that has something to do with it. What browser are you using?
What program did you use to generate the photo album? Reminds me of one that i have been hacking on. If it’s good enough I might switch.
URLs for suppliers:
http://www.kemplar.net
http://www.kurnspatrick.com
http://www.dynamism.com
http://www.icube.us
The photo album is provided by my site host and not available otherwise. Sorry.
If this thing can run Linux and Linux can make full use of the HW then it’s a fantastic deal. It’ll replace my desktop, laptop and PDA. Damn near the Holey Grail (if it did cell phone it would be the Grail and the Ark!)
Linux compatibility would be great! I understand Sony’s conflict with SD, but I would much rather have seen an SD slot than a memory stick slot. I don’t use Windows anymore either, so the option to avoid the cost of the useless license would be ideal.
Maybe I missed it, but what about the screen outdoors. Viewable or not?
The Sierra Wireless card of which I speak is one of these :
http://www.sierrawireless.com/ProductsOrdering/pccards.asp
– it’s not a 802.11* card.
Unfortunately I don’t have a cellphone I can use to connect to the Express Network — my “phone” is a sidekick … so obviously I’d want to replace that with this nifty device, if only it had a constant half-way decent connection to the Internet.
I figure in two years you’ll be able to get a full PC that’s somewhat smaller and lighter than this with an always-on connection with enough bandwidth to run a VoIP client.
Man, kids these days are so spoiled. Why, in my day if you had a 300 baud modem you were king of the hill!
silly question, but where did you locate the drivers to complete the tablet install?
The drivers are the Sony drivers. All WinXP drivers are installed during the installation.
These drivers should be in a folder or CD that your importer supplied you called Drivers & Apps.
Thank you.
JK,
I’m trying to track down the problem with our drivers that you observed during your testing. Can you contact me directly?
am I correct in saying that there is no built in mic or jack, so VoIP can only be achieved using USB port?
There is no mic or jack for one so USB is the way to go. Or bluetooth with a CF card.
If there will become a Linux installation report available, I would like to know of the URL, to link to it from the TuxMobil – Linux Laptop and Notebook Survey – http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html .
Great review.
I will try to install Linux SuSE 9.0 this weekend.
See http://www.mattdm.org/misc/u101/
very helpfull site especially http://www.mattdm.org/misc/u101/hardware.html
although for U101.
And also http://popies.net/sonypi/
Best regards,
Vadim V.
What is msdn subscription for adding Tablet OS to U 70 and which version is the required one and how much does it cost ? What is the procedure if you do get a msdn subscription, for adding tablet os to U 70. Your detailed input would be appreciated, since I am very much interested in converting my U 70 OS from XP professional to a Tablet one. Thanks.
The minimum MSDN subscription you need is the Operating Systems subscription which is around $699. Once you are given access they send you CDs or DVDs, or if you don’t want to wait you can download any OS image you need. For detailed instructions on the install check out the Vaio U70 users group on yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaioU70/
I loved this review and looked into pricing as soon as I read it but for now I need to see prices come down. As it is I have never seen anyone else with a tablet PC although I know they are out there. Regarding the Linux questions Lycoris produce a version of Linux designed for the TPC ( http://lycoris.com/products/tablet/ ) Ive not tried it but it might save a lot of problems – might!
Also what about other OS? WinXp Media Center for example, Im not sure of its specific qualities but it seems to me that the screen size and resolution combined with the inbuilt remote and 20gb hard drive would blow many iPod killers out of the water, especially given the ability to use office applications.
Does this use a standard 2.5″ HDD? Is it possible for an end user to replace the 20GB HDD with an off-the-shelf disk?
How about RAM? Can that be upgraded beyond 512 MB?
I believe the U has a 1.8″ hard drive which is thinner than the 2.5, in addition to the overall smaller size.
512MB is the maximum RAM you can put in one. It’s a special proprietary Sony RAM due to it’s small size.
Just received the sony u70. installed Franklin Covey software for XP. It also syncs with outlook. It along with pen office works great!
What do you like best about the FC s/w?
Thanx for a brilliant review!
Do you know if the AC adapter is universal – 100 to 240 Volts or is it just 100V? I’m going to Japan to buy the U70 and as Sweden uses 220V I’m concerned…
Thanks! AC is 100 to 240 volts and 50 – 60 hz.
Brilliant!
Where to buy this awesome machine(u70). I am from Singapore. thank u
There are links in the review (first part) to several companies that sell the U70. I got mine from Kurns & Patrick who are located in Tokyo.
I also have had a Tablet PC. The Fraklin Covey software makes it act just like a Tablet without the extra software. Handwriting recognition and sync with oulook.
Yes, it runs Doom 3
Next test: VMWare for running linux.
What did you have to set the video settings to get Doom 3 to work?
Hello JK:
I took the plunge!!! Obtained a MSDN subscription, downloaded the Tablet OS and installed it on the U70. No problem with the install. However, I don’t know how to install the drivers for many of the devices that are not functioning, including the wireless capability. How do you install the drivers? I have to assume they are included in the recovery disks provided by Sonibee (they all contain files labeled “Kurns & Patrick U70 Image”. But I do not have a clue as to how to extract the drivers out of these. Any advice??
Thanks,
Fernando
Fernando, welcome to the Tablet OS! Unfortunately, you should have made sure you had the Sony drivers before wiping out your disk drive with the OS install. But, hopefully we can get you working again. I’m not familiar with Sonnibee’s distribution but the K&P distribution is created with Symantec’s Drive Image program. If you have this program installed you should be able to browse the disk image they gave you. Hopefully, it is an English disk image and not the Japanese one. There should be a folder somewhere in there called Sony Drivers or something like that. All drivers are in there. I installed them by going through the device manager and installing the drivers one by one for all devices that showed the ? symbol.
Dear Fernanado,
This is Lawrence Camera from Kurns & Patrick (www.kurnspatrick.com). The image disks you received from Sonibee were COPIED from Kurns & Patrick ILLEGALLY and WITHOUT PERMISSION. I would very much like to get in contact with you to find out more information about the images you received and your purchase at Sonibee. Could you please email me at lcamera@kurnspatrick.com so I can talk with you directly.
After we have been in contact, I can supply you with a link to our Sony U70 drivers and apps as well as instructions for their proper instillation.
Also, if anyone else has purchased a computer from Sonibee with Kurns & Patrick image files I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me so that we can pursue this mater further.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Regards,
Lawrence Camera
Director
lcamera@kurnspatrick.com
Kurns & Patrick
Level 18, Yebisu Garden Place Tower
4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Japan 150-6018
Tel: +81-3-5789-5911
Fax: +81-3-5789-5757
Mobile: 090-9813-2428
http://www.kurnspatrick.com
this Sonibee Illegally using windows images Sounds to me like the “Iguanastone Illegally using ICUBE ” windows images Senario …
but wait Sonibee [registered domain April 2004] is just Iguanastone with a new name ?
UGN-U50,
Did you purchase unit from IguanaStone and see our image on the computer? If so, could you contact me at muliadi@icube.us?
Thank you
JK,
I seem to be the only one considering this computer for my car (to manage a digital music collection, GPS nav, etc.) Mobility distraction issues aside – one concern I have is with the heat of the unit and whether or not it needs ventilation (if so how much, etc.). Basically, would installing it in the dash cause the unit to burn up?
Hard call on the car install. The U has several vent outlets and while they can get warm not unbearably so. The heat of a car though could be another matter so I personally would be nervous to try it. A Pocket PC might be a better fit for me and cheaper in the event it couldn’t take the heat.
JK,
Wow, thanks for your quick response. I’ve looked into the possibility of a pocket PC, but the issue I keep running into is lack of storage. Is there any way that you know of to use an external hardrive with a pocket PC? The music collection is pushing 60 GB, so I’m not sure how I could use a Pocket PC. That’s why I was so attracted to the U50 solution. USB would allow me to attach bigger drives as well as DVD drives, etc. The navigation system on the car I’m looking at is running $2500 and isn’t even DVD based. I thought I’d substitute the U50, get GPS, 100 GB of storage, DVD Movies, a nice interface, and a cool gadget, all for just a little more. The heat definitely concerns me though and it looks like (if I go the U50 route) I’d have to install it so that the vents had room to breathe – probably so that the unit sticks out from the dash a bit. Currently, I’m using a 40 GB iPod for the tunes, but I’d really like an integrated solution. Any advice that you would have though that might help me in my quest for a computer based auto solution (either U50 or PocketPC related) would be GREATLY appreciated. I too live in Houston (although rarely there) and would be more than willing to buy beer or your drink of choice in gratitude.
Thanks again for all your help.
sid
Hi Sid, I’m no expert on putting PCs in cars but I think no matter how you try to go you’re going to run into a temperature problem with any hard disk you put into the car permanently. I could be wrong about that but I think it’s a potential problem. I think I would put a PocketPC GPS setup and augment that with some kind of slick dock for the iPod.
Thanks for a great review. I would like to ask the author and others on this list if there is anyone who might be able to assist me in purchasing one of this nifty machines, and installing the tablet pc OS? I am an old doctor, who needs to be able to take notes while people tell their stories, and then print and edit pretty quickly. I have been looking for years for a little tiny tablet pc.
Please email me if you could help,or know an importer who could do the whole thing at the factory. Thanks, Judith
Hi Judith. I have asked Lawrence Camera, the owner of Kurns & Patrick, to get in touch with you directly. They are the importers I got my U-70 from and they can help you out, I’m sure. The Tablet OS is not available for distribution with the U-70 but Lawrence Camera can probably come up with a suitable alternative for you. You should receive an email from him shortly.
JK, Thank you so much! I’ll look forward to hearing from Lawrence, and will report back to the list if we can come up with something good. This could be a huge boon to my whole profession. As physicians, we need to be able to be present and available to our patients, but also do a tremendous amount of documentation. Having templates that could be done inobtrusively while the patient is present, and then print out quickly would be a huge improvement. Take care, and thanks.
Judith, it indeed could be a powerful platform for physicians and other healthcare professionals. I haven’t heard anything from Lawrence yet so hopefully he will get back to you soon.
If you haven’t seen it yet you might be interested as a physician to see my “from the heart” article on this web site. It’s my first person account of having a triple bypass 3 years ago and I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from others in the same boat. Might give you the chance to see this process from the patient’s eyes. Take care, JK
Thanks for the excellent and thorough review. I’m not familiar with the Tablet PC version of WinXP. Could you tell me if there’s a built-in or third-party software that will allow to jog down quick notes during class? I want the system to be very responsive in converting to text and be able to keep with my writing speed. Thank you!
Tablet PC gives you Windows Journal which lets you take notes as fast as you want. I use OneNote for taking notes which I find very organized. Both programs let you convert handwriting to text later so it doesn’t slow you down. For students I recommend GoBinder 2005 which is a great note taking, scheduling, and filing program. All the programs above require the Tablet OS except OneNote, which you can still use with the Sony through PenOffice or ritePen.
In my constant struggle to get a decent PC into my car I gave the UX70 a shot. My project report can be found at http://www.synapps.de/synapps/bin/view/Main/PortableMusicCenterForMyCar
JK: Great review!
Dear All,
I have got Linux SuSE 9.1 running on my U50 parallel to Windows Pro. To be honest, it wasn’t that hard.
First thing leave unpartitioned space on the harddrive. I left 5GB for SuSE.
i. Start installation with Sony Keyboard pluged OUT! Installation hangs if pluged in. To choose installation from CD use pointer.
ii. Plug in the Keyboard as soon as you come to YaST dialoge.
iii. Choose language, confirm with Enter.
iv. Accept installation with F10. In the Yes/No dialoge use Tabkey to choose, since up-down-left-right will not work.
From here it is really autopilot.
Star Office is on the 2nd SuSE 9.1 CD.
Beware!!! On the first boot of SuSE OS DO NOT use the touchscreen until you have saved the screen settings. But touchscreen works from there on.
For special Sony keys try: http://popies.net/sonypi/ Linux Sony drivers.
Well I think that is it!
Best luck for all of you.
With kind regards,
Vadim V.
Rafael, interesting attempt to get the U running in your car. Here in Houston heat would be a big factor.
Vadim, great post for me as Linux is next for me to try in a dual boot configuration. Did yo, get drivers for all the h/w in the u?
Vadim, What CD drive did you use to boot the Sony for the installation? I am using a standard USB keyboard and not the Sony one so do you anticipate a hang up if it’s plugged in during the install?
does it have the capability of running the new Verizon wireless internet adapter, and will it run other high end games like lineage II and other games that require the new Nvidia Ghaphics cards?
I’m not sure which adapter you are referring to. Verizon has two different PC card modems for use with the Express Network. The U only has a CF slot so the only easy way to use the Express Network is with a cell phone. I use a v710 and a Blue tooth CF and connect that way.
As for games. the U will likely not play the latest games very well as it uses the Intel integrated graphics.
JK, I am searching for a winXP device that I can carry in my backpack and that can be charged with a solarpanel. Most laptops need 18-21 volts to charge, could you tell me what’s the input voltage of the U50/70 and at what current it is charging?
Your answer is highly appreciated!
Reghards,
Marc Blom
Johnathan,
Your PCMCIA Verizon card won’t work in the U50/U70, but there are 3rd party CF cards that will. Just Google for a GSM Compact Flash card.
For those of you using 3G/WCDMA data plans, there are a few CF cards for connecting to those netowrks as well.
Joe, which CF cards are you referring to that will work with the 1xRTT network of Verizon? I’m not aware of any that will work on a CDMA network and would be very interested in one.
Is there any way to convert the u70 machine to English from Japanese by yourself? I’m thinking of going to Japan (vacation) and just buying it there while touring…Any thoughts? Is that a good way to go?
As long as you have the apps and drivers on a separate disk then you can just install English Winxp on it.
JK,
Maybe you missed my question (21-08) so I try again.
I am searching for a winXP device that I can carry in my backpack and that can be charged with a solarpanel. Most laptops need 18-21 volts to charge, could you tell me what’s the input voltage of the U50/70 and at what current it is charging?
Regards, Marc Blom
Hi Marc,
Actually I have asked one of the importers if they can find the charging voltage information you are looking for. I don’t know the answer to your question and all the technical literature for the U is in Japanese so I asked someone in Japan and am waiting for them to get back to me.
JK, thanks so far for your inquiries.
I didn’t realize everything is actually in japanese
Can you clarify “apps and drivers on a separate disk” inorder to install an English version of Windows? I would really appreciate it.
Most importers that sell the U are supplying a separate CD with all Sony drivers and preloaded applications. If you don’t get that then you can find a lot of this information on http://www.beyondthetech.com
jk, do you know if you can have dual monitors when docked? can you have the vga dongle that extends from the u70 support one monitor while the vga port on the back of the dock supports another?
The VGA dongle has to plug into the dock connector on the U so you can’t have both at the same time. You can configure the U screen and an external monitor to be a dual monitor setup if you wish.
Please try my online talking Russian dictionary for handheld devices. I need to know if the sound files load and operate properly using the Sony U70. Please e-mail me with results. I have over 8,000 words with sound, all free, no advertising. http://www.livelaughlovelearn.com/treo
You have good site.
How you get sony drivers from tabletpc from?
Which ones you must install?
Danke.
The Sony drivers are supplied by the importers who sell the U. They are the same drivers for WinXP and the Tablet OS.
James Rivard, I don’t hear any sound on my U-70.
Great information! Question: Will the CF GSM GPRS card sold by Convergent Technologies work in the U? They claim it works in computers and PDA’s and is unlocked, and works with any GSM provider. I really need a small computer that has full size access to the internet. Just tested the PPC Mobile verson (IPAQ 6315) and was very disappointed. Thanks for your help! Joyce
I don’t know of anyone who’s using the Convergent card in the U but I see no reason why it shouldn’t work. All other CF cards I’ve tried in the U work fine so this one should work too. It would make a very powerful “always connected” mobile device, too. Please let me know how it works for you if you go that route. Thanks. JK
Joyce, just thought of another thing. The U has no microphone jack so you likely couldn’t use if for voice calls if that’s one of your intentions. There is a standard headphone jack, however.
jk:
I’m going to Japan in 2 weeks; is there a cost savings in buying my u-50 there, then buying a cd drive and trying to install an english OS? Do you think the importer’s benefits outweighs potential savings?
Thanks.
Alejo, to install an English OS version you will need all the Sony drivers and utilities on a CD or something so you can install them after installing the OS. The standard Japanese U doesn’t come with those easily useable but if you buy from one of the importers you will get that, plus the U will already be converted to English. There is a premium in cost for this but you will also have a way to use the Sony Japan warranty should you need it. You won’t be able to use the warranty from the US, I don’t believe.
i need bay one of this sony u-70 how can i am lave in sadia arabia you can help me tank you for help and if you can gave me tlephone no any contry i call hime
iam sory abut my langu very bad tank you salat
in the end is it worth it?
juz, I can only speak for me but the answer is yes. It’s the most capable and most mobile device I’ve ever used. It means a lot to be able to carry the U at times I would normally leave a big laptop at home.
Hi JK:
Great site and a great resource. Thanks for sharing so much information. I’ve got a demo lined up with Dynamism in Chicago tomorrow. First, do you have any info on these guys that would be helpful to know? I envision using this computer in my airplane for displaying GPS moving map information via a bluetooth GPS and overlaying XM Radio weather images via the USB connection. I can do this with my iPAQ 5550 now. What I can’t do with that PDA is display instrument approach plates from Jeppesen which are embedded in a Window’s program. This computer would be mounted via a RAM mount from the instrument panel in a padded clamp. There would be normal aircraft vibration. Will this unit withstand that kind of vibration, turbulence, etc? I really want to somehow connect this computer to Verizon Wireless’ Express Network. Problem is, my mobile is a Treo 600… no bluetooth. I don’t want to carry two cell phones and I love my Treo. The USB cord connection would be a hassle, to say the least. Any way to make a connection to Express Network any other way? I have their PCMCIA card I use in my laptop, but that’s useless in this unit. Lots to consider and I greatly appreciate your thoughts.
KS, Thanks. Dynamism is a topnotch outfit and you won’t regret dealing with them. The vibration issue is not an easy one to answer as I am not familiar with how strong the vibration might be. The Sony is very sturdy if that helps. I use the Express Network with a BT phone. I used a USB cable before but it was no fun. Be sure and discuss the vibration issue thoroughly with Dynamism. Good luck!
Friends,
Has anyone used the FrogPad with the U-70?
It seems that the universal complaint about computers without keyboards or with small keyboards is that they are useless for doing real work, which almost always involves keying in information.
Of course, learning a new keyboard is yet another hoop to jump through, but it might be a solution. I have ordered a FrogPad to see if I can make the conversion.
If so, then a U-70 is next.
Thorpe
Hi,
Understand that the Sony U-series is now discontinued in Japan and is out of stock, any idea where can I get it now?
Thanks
Adele
JK,
Thanks for the reply. The guys at Dynamism gave me a demo of the U70 last Friday. It is everything you say it is, indeed. I wanted to follow up with some of the things I will be doing to make this work for me. I will be installing this in my airplane to display both GPS moving map and XM weather images. The GPS unit and the XM receiver are both Bluetooth, so I will be using a Socket Bluetooth CF card that has the ability to talk to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously. When the U70 isn’t in the cockpit, I told you I needed to have internet access, but that my Verizion PC card was not an option. I found that Sprint offers the exact same deal for wireless data Verizon offers. But they can do it on their CF 2031 CF connection card. This little bugger will work in a CF slot, or with the adaptor that’s included, will work in my notebook computer’s PC slot. I’m just stuck with Sprint Customer service again. UGh. But it is a solution. Thanks again for recommending Dynamism. They really treated me well. finally, have you updated your XP software to SP2? If so, has it worked out ok? Any issues I should be aware of? That’s the first thing I’ll be doing with it when it comes, tomorrow. Thanks again! KS
The Sprint card is a nice solution for the U but like yea said it’s Sprint. I think that card also has an external battery pack if I remember correctly. The SP2 upgrade installed cleanly for me. Keep us informed of your impressions of the U when you get it.
I was wondering, do you think the U-70 would be able to support games like metal gear solid 2 PC edition, or halo or even the next generation of games like halo 2 or half life 2 even on minimal graphics settings, ive seen people say theyve used halo on their U but im wondering on what quality it was.
I haven’t played many games on the U but I have installed Doom3 . You have to set the video settings down but it still looks pretty good. It slows down when the action gets intense. I have never tried Halo.
Fantastic information. Having picked up a U70, I have a couple of questions:
a) Have you successfully booted the device from a CD/floppy drive? I can’t get USB attachments to provide boot support (not that there’s any indication that USB boot should work, but if it doesn’t, am I then restricted to the hard drive & unable to back it up?).
b) My importer failed to provide a useful compilation of the system drivers on a convenient CD. Are there few enough that it makes sense to go hunting myself?
thx,
kzt
a. There’s a good list of bootable drives on Kemplar:
http://www.kemplar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6&sid=a657924b02a4eeaa3825df72dd6b5e8f
b. a complete collection of downloadable drivers is here:
http://www.beyondthetech.com/downloads/sonyu70/VAIO%20Installers/
Also, there are several bootable drives available from Sony that are Firewire drives and thus only work when docked.
JK,
I mentioned to you that I was going to try to get Sprint’s CF card to work in my U70. You suggested that it might have an external battery pack. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just got the CF card from Sprint and when I opened the box, right on top is a warning which states, “WARNING FOR PDA USERS You must connect the accompanying battery pack to your card at all times when using the card with any personal digital assistant including all pocket PCs. Failure to do so may result in fatal damage to the PDA and a loss of all installed programs, data, files, and settings.” Yikes! The instructions in the manual do not say you need to use this battery pack if you are installing it to a laptop with Windows XP or 2000. So I guess I can install this into my U70 without the battery pack. But their warning is so severe, I’m a little leery about proceeding. The battery pack is terrible! It’s big and clumbersome. If I have to use that battery pack, I think I’ll just send this back to Sprint and wait for Verizon to get a CF modem card. Do you have any idea if I must use that battery pack on a U70? It seems by the installation instructions that the difference between using it and not is the operating system on a pocket PC versus Windows on a laptop. However, they do not make this clear. Thanks.
KS, I don’t think it would be dangerous to the Sony to use it without the battery pack. It would be more likely that the modem might not get enough power to work properly. I heard from one user who tried it with a PDA and it just wouldn’t make a connection without the battery pack. Try it and see if it works OK with the pack and if so then try it without. CF slots don’t provide much power and cellular modems need lots of power.
JK,
I gave it the good old college try with the Sprint CF modem card, and after much frustration, it finally got the best of me. With Sprint’s technical-best helping along the way, we tried three different CF cards, with and without the battery, and we just can’t get the device to work with my U70. They suggest that there is an internal conflict that they cannot figure out how to resolve. It seems that the card looks for the operating system to determine if it needs the battery, or not. Since we have a hybrid, PDA-like power to the CF slot, but Windows XP software, it cannot figure out how to use the battery pack, even when installed. The U70 just doesn’t have enough power to make it run properly. We got close, but in the end it simply failed. I sure wish there were a way to make my Verizon Air Card work in my U70. I was told today that there is no such portable device that can convert a PC card to USB. Maybe Sony will put a PC card slot in their next model. We can only hope. For now my U70 remains tied down to a wired connection to the internet… which is ironic in such a portable device. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
KS
I use a BT phone for my wireless connection. I too have a Verizon Air Card in my laptop which is nice. I think the power problem with CF slots is why there are few options for CF wireless.
JK,
I have a bluetooth card in the U70 and it works great. In fact, it can handle two blue tooth devices simultaneously. The thing is, I have a Treo 600 that’s only a few months old. I’d been waiting for Verizon to make the Treo available for a loooong time. The Treo 650 which Palm just unveiled last week finally has BT. The problem is, it will probably be another long wait for Verizon to offer it. When it does, this will be the solution I’m looking for. Thanks!
KS
Verizon and Bluetooth are like oil and water, unfortunately. I waited for years for the first and only BT phone offered by Verizon. I’ll make a post a little later today but Palm has announced they will offer Windows Mobile versions of the Treo. That will be a killer gadget!
JK,
I love Love LOVE my Treo 600. If Verizon moves quickly to the Treo 650, it will solve my connection problem with the U70. Are you using the V710 to connect via BT to your U70? How does that work? Is it a similar connection to the Air Card 555 I use in my laptop? Is there anyone offering a connection kit that can hardwire my Treo 600 to the USB port on the U70 so that the Treo can act as a modem? How do you otherwise like the V710, if that is indeed what you have? I’d hate to lose all the Palm apps I have on my Treo, but could shelf my 555 and buy a V710 as an interim solution until Verizon starts handling the 650. Thanks!
KS
KS, That’s a hard call if you really love your Treo. I do use the v710 to connect to the U via BT and it works great once I got a BT solution for the U that worked. I was hoping to use the Socket CF card I already had for my PPC but it didn’t work. There’s an article about that here:
http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2004/10/why_socket_blue.html
I am currently using the v710 with a Belkin USB dongle on the U. It’s unwieldy as it sticks out the side of the U pretty far. I have a Billionton CF card on the way which I hope will work with the v710. As far as how the connections work to the EN with the v710 it is as good as my AirCard 555. It is a sweet phone for connecting to the web. I will post a review of the Billionton once I get it.
JK,
I have the Socket CF card. I purchased it from a vendor that is in the business of creating wireless solutions for the commercial aviation business. He sent me the Socket CF card, prepackaged… but he also sent me a CD. His instructions were very clear. DO NOT INSTALL THE SOCKET DRIVERS. Instead, he said to use the drivers on the CD he sent seperately. I did not know the issues you’ve been dealing with and I’m thankful this guy had a workaround already in place! Anyway, I installed the drivers from his CD and went through the setup with the card and without any problem at all, the whole thing worked the first time I tried to connect my BT GPS unit to the U70. I took both units into the car and drove around a while to make sure there weren’t other issues. Nope. Worked perfect. So the real test was in the airplane, and it worked beautifully. I have some great pictures of the installation of the U70 in the airplane. It’s fantastic. Part of the appeal is the wireless connection to the GPS. This vendor now tells me that he will retrofit my XM weather receiver in the airplane so that it will talk to the U70 via BT at the same time. This will eliminate the USB cord I currently have to plug the U70 into. He also sold me a neat power converter. On one end is a cigarette lighter adaptor (or pigtail for hard-wiring) and on the other is a plug that goes into the U70. This way I keep the U70’s batteries fully powered while flying. Anyway, if you would like to contact me privately, we can further discuss your driver situation. I think I have a solution. Thanks.
KS
KS, done.
KS, I sent you an email to your email address above.
What do you think of the new US release by SONY the U750P?
jkOTR was the first to break the story of the U750P:
http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2004/11/sony_bringing_t.html
This is good news for existing owners of U50/70 devices as the apps and drivers will now be available from Sony in English. The U750P is the same as the U70 with an updated CPU. Basically it is Sony deciding to bring the U70 to the US. I also think Sony is trying to kill off the OQO, which they might do if they price it aggressively enough. I’m pretty sure OQO is sweating heavily over this announcement. They probably thought their main competition would be from the FlipStart which should appear next year. This can’t be good news for them.
JK,
What kind of USB adaptor do you use for using the Verizon Express card. This computer does not have a PC card slot, right?
Thanks,
Peter
Peter, I use my BT cell phone to connect to the Express Network.
Does anyone know when/if these units will be made available in the states?
In December- check out this news item:
http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2004/11/sony_bringing_t.html
JK-
Do you know if the u70 “wakes up” if an Outlook alarm goes off if it’s in standby?
No it does not. I’m not sure that WinXP will wake up ANY device in standby.
The only software that I’ve seen that can wake up a device from suspend is proprietary software from Sony in their desktops.
I have a Sony desktop from 2 years ago and it has a Sony wake up timer software. I set it to wake my Sony desktop about 5 minutes before a show and I use an All-in-Wonder Radeon PVR card to record shows.
The only other software that I’ve seen that wakes up PCs from suspend are Fax software.
Just wanted to say your review on the Sony U70 was very good and probably has persuaded me to buy the device. I’ve been in search of a handheld for years that was smaller than a sub-notebook but bigger than a PDA with the functionality of a Tablet PC. The U70 appears to have all of these features which is why I’m willing to pay Sony $1,999 now that it’s available in the US.
Since installing the Tablet PC OS SP2 have you had any issues of any kind? If so what were they and were you able to overcome them?
Is the standby mode very usable?
When installing XP Tablet PC Edition did you just boot from CD using USB CD-ROM?
Thanks for you time
Bill
Thanks Bill! There are no issues with the Tablet OS and it works just like any Tablet PC. The passive digitizer of the U means there is no hover mode like real Tablets but there is no loss because of it as far as I can tell. Please be aware of an important fact: The U will only boot from the Sony firewire drives that are sold by SonyStyle. It will not boot from USB drives so it is important to get the right drive for booting. This also means that the U will only boot from an optical drive while docked. This has not impacted me at all.
Since the U-750 is coming with ritePen bundled I strongly recommend that new users try working with the U for a while without installing the Tablet OS. ritePen is very good and it might be more than sufficient for most users. I am working on a thorough review of ritePen for publication soon.
jk,
Looking forward to your review of ritePen. Will it be specific to using it on the “U”? I Just ordered the U-750P from SonyStyle and I agree that the inclusion of ritePen may mean I don’t need to install the Tablet PC OS.
Todd, it is being reviewed on the U since that’s what I have.
JK, found your site while researching the u750 and LOVE IT!!! Sorry it’s too late for me to cast my vote for blog of the year or whatever. Went to the link and it said “see the results”, so guess I’ll just have to support you next year! In the meanwhile, I look forward to reading more about uses for the U! Thanks for your info, it’s invaluable (and a large part of why I actually bought one, Sony should fund your site or something).
Thanks Wendy! If Sony funded my site then I wouldn’t be very objective.
JK,
your blog inspired me to get the u750, and i love it. i have a msdn license and i downloaded/installed tablet edition 2005 on my u750, however the US version doesn’t have the drivers in organized folders on a recovery cd- its now part of an image. (also you have to burn your own recovery cd, it doesn’t come with media) do you know where i can download all the drivers?
thanks!
dmoon, I just sent you an email.
Just a quick reply to Thorpe about the frog pad. I have a U70 and Blue tooth frog pad that works fine (once I’d read enough of the instructions to charge it first!).
I have to say, the U70 is just THE BEST!
Hi JK:
After installing the Tablet OS on the Sony U, do you remember how to bring back the functionality of the Zoom and Rotate buttons? I did the upgrade to TPC2005 OK, but these two buttons do not work. Everything else seems to be working dandy…
Thanks in advance for any help.
Fernando
Hi Fernando. You need to install the Vaio Event Services which should bring this functionality back.
Hi JK,
great site…got myself the U71P and had also in mind to install Microsoft Tablet PC 2005…however, what I don’t understand is, how I install it from the software. I got myself the Microsoft Tablet PC 2005 package and it looks just like XP without any Tablet support. Do I need to install the Tablet OS further after I installed the XP from Tablet PC 2005 software? Or is there under control panel something that I need to activate? Any help is really appreciated…thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Thorsten
When you activate the install with the Tablet OS key you got with the MSDN download it will automatically install the Tablet extensions from the 2nd CD.
Hello JK:
One quick question: what do you use your Memory Stick slot for? Is there an use for it besides memory. It seems like such a waste with all the other multiple formats (CF, SD, stc) that are compatible with other devices besides Sony’s.
Thanks once again.
The memory stick slot is only good for memory, as far as I can tell. No peripherals will work in it unfortunately.
Hi JK,
got Tablet PC 2005 running on my U71p…and I have the following question…I want to assign the button, with which the keyboard from sony pops up, the Tablet PC Input Panel…but I don’t know the path to the file. Would you happen to know it?
Also you say the CF slot is only for memory? Are you sure? Because I had in mind to buy a CF-GPS for navigation in my car. But if it does not work, then I won’t.
Hoping to hear from you soon and thanks in advance.
Your site rocks. Best informative site for the Vaio Sony Portable device.
Regards,
Thomas
Thomas, check your email.
hey JK
thanks for great review.
I got the U750 US version. it comes with hidden partition which includes recovery stuff, and didn’t come with any cd. so i checked the website you listed, and the site is there anymore (not available)
do you have any other sites where i can download drivers? or image of the recovery cd?
another question is, if i get USB floppy for booting purpose, after i boot using the floppy, how do i install fresh winXP? is USB cdrom going to be recognized after booting from USB floppy?
Thanks
The Sony U750 web site for ordering the recovery disks should be back up shortly, I suspect. There is no other way to get them at this point.
A list of bootable drives that will work with the U is on the Kemplar forum:
http://www.kemplar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6&sid=4cc59b9de1215485c8896c14490a3060
Once you boot from the USB floppy it should recognize the CD just fine for normal purposes. The easiest way to install WinXP is from a bootable CD drive (of course) but you can also do a network install from another system.
BTW – For anyone loading Tablet on the new U750P – I found the best way to do this was to do an “upgrade” over the existing install from Sony. I tried a clean install (using the other partition) and reloading drivers but ran into a few snags that seemed like a hassle to work out.
Running the “upgrade” using a Tablet product key worked great as far as I can tell. Make sure you recalibrate the touchscreen with the orig calib program, not the one that comes with the Tablet install.
Since I had made a set of recovery disks, and even a full copy of the C: partition, I used Norton’s Partition Magic to recombine the two partitions after I was pretty sure things were running ok.
Disclaimer: I’ve only been running Tablet for a few days, so I might of missed something, but so far all apps, tools, etc seem to work as orig provided by Sony.
YMMV
Thanks for the detailed instructions, Terri. For those with a Japanese model (U50/70/71) you may find a clean install easier in the long run as it removes all remnants of the Japanese OS. You do need a set of drivers from your retailer to do that.
Very important point for real use!! I just read some research that I agree with strongly. It says that ideally you want to be able to access anything within 4 seconds (10 seconds at the most) to really use it on the go.
Is the following info correct? Does it vary?:
Standby time and resume – 2 seconds
Hibernate and recover/resume – 10 seconds
What is total standby time for standard and larger battery?
What is your average boot/start up time?
Thanks for noting the standby/resume time. This is a buy decision point. I don’t mind a little extra weight but would like to keep it in standby mode so I can have quick access when I am on the go. Do you/did you keep your U70 in standby when mobile?
Thanks for making an important point on real use.
Those Standby & Hibernation times are accurate. I always leave it in Standby when mobile and it is always a 2 – 3 second resume, depending on what might be running. Battery life is as stated in the article. I have not calculated a “wall clock” battery life as it wouldn’t mean much but standard use for me is 3 hours / 5.5 hours for the standard/ extended batteries.
JK great blog- Ive visited the sony hong kong and singapore sites and they have the vaio u for sale- I assume they are the english versions installed by sony- is there a way to access the english version rather than a converted version by US importers?
Mick, if you have the Sony drivers you can clean install WinXP and have a totally English OS.
JK,
Ken Sutton sent you some drivers that worked with his Socket CF card. Would you please zip them up and send those to me via email? I’m dying to get this thing working.
Matt,
Since I picked up the Billionton CF card Ken never sent the drivers to me. They were too big to email and I stopped him from shipping it to me since I didn’t need them.
I was about to purchase the “U”. I have noticed that with the advent of touch screens Biometric security is starting to show up on some PDA’s aka: HP. Do you know of any software that can be purchased independently & installed on a “touchscreen” pc that will allow the owner to use biometric security features?
I think you’d have to go with a USB device like this one:
http://www.i4u.com/article1222.html
JK,
What’s the deal with the Sony U71P. I called Sony today to buy one, and was told that Sony pulled the U71P from the market. The Customer Service Rep. told me they sold out, and that line is discontinued. Do you have any additonal knowledge about this situation? Do I have to get the japanese version?
G
Gerald: The U71P IS only aa Japanese model.
The U750P is the English model. They did indeed sell out and haven’t had any for the past few months, but they should be back in stock in places quite soon.
-arebelspy
After checking today’s YahooGroups mail, iCube is reporting the following:
Message 3841 of 3843
From: “Muliadi Jeo”
Date: Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:30 am
Subject: Re: U750P Availability?
I can confirm that Sony USA is no longer offer U750 anymore. We got this announcement directly from Sony USA Marketing department (We are a Sony USA authorized reseller).
Muliadi Jeo
ICUBE inc.
That’d be a shame if true.. so far everything’s been rumors. My favorite one is the idea that they did the limited production run of the U750P, it was so popular (sold out fast) that they’re making the next model with better specs and going to release that in the U.S.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
-arebelspy
Shrink It Further And It Will Sell Yillions.
I am very seriously considering buying a U71P. I wanted to installed Tablet OS 2005, for all reasons mentioned here and I wanted to use Frankiln Tablet Planner on my U71P. But unfortunately, I do not think I can afford an additional $699 for a MSDN subscription after spending $2400 for the U71P.
Does Ritepen allow you to write directly into program like Excel and Word?
Does anyone know if you can use Franklin Tablet Planner without Tablet OS?
If you can use Franklin Tablet Planner without Tablet OS, can you use ritepen with it?
Does anyone know if Microsoft plans to relase Tablet OS a more affordable rate, like a normal OS?
ZJ
ZJ, ritePen lets you write into any program you can type text into. Unfortunately the Franklin Covey Tablet Planner will not install on computers without the Tablet OS. However, FC has two programs that bring the same functionality to non-Tablets. PlanPlus for Outlook integrates all the power of the Tablet Planner with Outlook and it works great with ritePen. If you’re not an Outlook user FC also has PlanPlus for Windows XP which works the same. If I’m not mistaken FC is phasing out the Tablet Planner software in deference to Plan Plus anyway.
HI
I have a sonny U 50, it’s a Japanese version want to
switch it to English, but I can’t. I have recovery CD
of U750(English version) CD player for u50. I can’t
fix it I tried but I can only get to windows xb my
computer doesn’t accept my recovery CD. Please who
ever know how to fix this please help and show me hi
to fix it step by step. Thank you
khosrow
Follow this link for your answers and drivers:
http://thatsfresh.com/downloads/sonyu70/Vaio%20Installers/
The guide is good to get you installed.
YahooGroups has additional installation info to install everything else.
I am going to to buy a Sony U71, and I want to install Tablet OS, because of your success story. Is there a distributor that you would recommend base on support and the way the recovery CD is packaged, since the price seems to be the same. Also I it has been said that rite pen seems to work well with tablet OS. Hopefully the distibutor packages rite pen so that it can be installed after the conversion to tablet OS. Any infomation anyone could provide would be helpful.
Thank in advance for your assistance.
ritePen is not bundled on the Japanese versions of the Sony but you can buy it from EverNote. It’s not expensive. Dynamism is probably the main distributor for the U71 and has great support. Note that the Tablet OS is not obtainable as a purchase nor install. You must have a MSDN subscription to get it.
Thanks for your quick response. I was planning on purchasing the MSDN subscription in order to get the Tablet OS.
I checked with dynamism, and they said that all of their recovery material is a Norton Ghost Image and cannot be used to get the drivers or rite pen for the Tablet install. With their recovery disk it is all or nothing. Therefore, I would be unable to use the software that comes with the U71P from Dynamism already or any of the drivers for the Tablet install. Do you know of any other distributors that have a recovery disk in which the drivers, the os, rite pen, and all other software are separated, and can be used after the Tablet Os install.
Thanks again
Have a look here: http://thatsfresh.com/downloads/sonyu70/
Also, you should check this post in the jkOnTheRun forum:
http://forum.jkontherun.com/viewtopic.php?id=24
will it run linux
It is a phenominal world with which we live when we can have things like the U dawn our pockets. Throw yourself ten years into the future and that will be very outdated. It is a great concept from sony and there is no doubt there will be more to come from the rest of the pack.
Regards and take care,
PS great writing!
Brian
relationship advice guy
http://valueprep.com
Will the U70 run battlefield 1942 on the LOWEST settings?
I have a U-70 with Tablet PC installed and have been noticing a problem when I try to input data by pen. It seems like the input panel does not recognize when I finished writing a word and connects a line between my last word written and my next word. This happens only when I am script writing and not when I write with letters. Has anyone else experienced this problem and is there a work around?
Thanks,
Eric
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Hey guys,
Thanks for a great review, and a great site! I am a confirmed Mac user. However, my 12″ Powerbook is just a little bit too big, and of course it doesn’t sync with my HTC Universal… Also, I run a number of Windows only applications for work. I used and intel Mac for a while. However, it was just too large and hot!
So, I decided to take the plunge and bought a secondhand U50 (in fact it is a VGN-U8). It is a great little machine. I have just ordered the high capacity battery so that it can run (hybernated, with some time on) throughout the day. I connect to the internet using a bluetooth dongle and a Nokia 6680 3G cell phone.
Regards,
Dion
http://www.spirituality.org.za/blogger.html
Hi,
I have a set of MSDN tablet PC installer that comes on 2 CDs. When i checked the 1st CD its a XP installer, on the 2nd CD its Tablet PC i386 and Media Center i386.
When I booted on the CD1 it started the installation and finshes with XP Professional installed. Problem is ITS NOT TABLET PC.
Can you please help me how to install the TABLET PC using the MSDN Table PC installer that I have. How to will i use the 2nd CD when it did not ask me for 2nd CD during installation.
I know this post is old but Your help is highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
my nokia6630 the power switch, i need the diagram of nokia6630.abey nokia company should try and hlep me out.
thanks you
Sony is good brand….Recently I bought Samsung Q1U-ELXP 600MHz processor Win XP tablet PC from PC Connection(http://www.couponalbum.com/coupons/pcconnection.htm) store……!