Refreshed Sony VAIO P Sneaks Into FCC Labs
When James and I caressed the “I am not a netbook” Sony VAIO P in a video this year at CES, we walked away generally impressed. But since we only had a few minutes to finagle with the device, we obviously couldn’t determine how well it would suit mobile device users’ needs. There’s sure to be some very happy VAIO P owners, but the general consensus is that it’s too overpriced and underpowered for many. James later tried an evaluation unit, and while he enjoyed using it, he felt that it struggled with Vista.
Sony has a chance at changing that perception, and it looks like it’s taking it. Sony Insider found that a new VAIO P is running the FCC gauntlet for testing. While there’s no guarantee that a tested device will appear on retail shelves, it’s pretty likely that we will see an updated VAIO P. A product refresh that undergoes testing is a safe bet.
The question now is: What will Sony be changing? More importantly, what would it have to change for the device to interest you?
I think it’s pretty unlikely to see a major change in the form factor, and most, if not all, of the updates will be under the hood. Windows 7 support is surely going to be there. But the device really needs to gain an identity, too: Is it a “small notebook” as Sony claims or is it a netbook? At first, you’d think that doesn’t matter, but I think it does.
If Sony is positioning this as a full-featured, but small notebook, it needs to offer better performance — the $999 base model currently uses a 1.33GHz Atom CPU meant for MIDs. If instead, the VAIO P is meant to compete with netbooks and upcoming smartbooks, Sony could simply go low end on the inside — maybe even use an ARM platform — and whittle the price down to $300 or less. Sony is a premium brand, so I suspect that it’s better off going with the former router as opposed to the latter. And the bottom nameplate on the FCC image still references Microsoft Windows. Still, I like the VAIO P form factor for a cheap, smartbook. We should know more by October, which is when most of the FCC documents drop their confidentiality terms. Oh, that’s around the time when Windows 7 launches, too. I’m sure that’s not coincidental. 
I have the Win 7 RTM on my P 64GB SSD and it is a whole new machine. But obvious things Sony could fix:
SSD needs to be running SATA into the motherboard! Right now Sony cripples the SSD by running it through a SATA to PATA convertor that takes away much of it’s raw speed.
Sony needs to unlock the VT-x support in the Z520 so we can use Windows XP Mode! Right now Sony’s premium Lifestyle PC saves $1.98 with Intel by going out of it’s way to permanently turn off VT-x (for which Intel then apparently cuts them a break on the Z520 chip price).
Sony needs to step up and kick in some $$$ for a real GMA500 driver. Even the production Win 7 RTM driver has some irritating issues that take some of the polish off this gem of a mobile device.
Why on earth did they put in a Gobi chipset and then lock the silly thing to Verizon? Set my P free!
Fortunately I had an ancient Apple Firewire AC wall brick that I believe came with my 1st gen iPod. I was able to use the removable fangs from that brick to use them with my P’s AC brick. Having a set of retractable fangs to carry around has been a very nice addition, Sony really should include these themselves (especially for the price they’re charging.)
Instant On OS should use VT-x. If Sony had stolen VT-x to implement a backgroundable Instant On OS I would have forgiven them. But they didn’t. It would make this device far more “Life Style” for me if the Instant On OS used VT-x mode to run as a peer OS and let me flip back and forth between it and work mode to control my “personal” media I’m enjoying whilst in work mode.
Change that proprietary video/ethernet connector for HDMI 1.4. A “Life Style” PC should be able to jack right into my wall panel no adaptor required right? And HDMI 1.4 allows for Ethernet down the HDMI connector.
I agree with your comments on this, the VAIO P has so much potential!