Here’s hoping Sony has a trade-in or upgrade program for UX-180P owners! The UX-280P is now appearing on Sony’s site at a price of $1999.99. Perhaps this is the “business class” UX handheld since it’s featured on Sony’s Business Solutions site, and not the consumer oriented SonyStyle site. The form factor is the same: 4.5-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen that slides up to reveal a keyboard, EDGE, WiFi and Bluetooth support. Apparently the difference (other than a digit in the product code) is under the hood. The UX-280P has a 40 GB hard drive, which is slightly larger than than the ancient model, and the RAM is now doubled to 1 GB. No change to the CPU, which is an Intel Core Solo at 1.2 GHz.

Reader Brian Schneeberg pointed out to me that the Sony UX180P Micro PC that was just released in the US last month has disappeared from the SonyStyle website. I have been searching high and low on the site and Brian’s right, the UX180P is no longer there. There are a few peripherals that show up when you search for it but that’s about it. I hope this is a temporary thing but if you recall this is EXACTLY what Sony did with the U750P, discontinued it right after launch in the US.

-jk

I received an email this morning from Raphael Salgado from SonyStyle detailing a sweet deal from Staples for the Sony UX180P.  The UX180P is the Sony with the integrated EDGE from Cingular.  Here’s what Raphael had to say about the Staples deal:

Staples is selling the Sony UX180P for $1599 after $200 in instant savings (no rebates!)  That’s a few dollars better than my Sony employee discount on these bad boys!

http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=151512&cmArea=SEARCH

Offer expires August 5, 2006.

Of course, Staples’ warranties are a little more expensive, so I suggest people get their Sony notebooks protected directly through the Sony…

Sony Extended Services Plans with Accidental Damage from Handling Protection (ADH):

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/EW_ViewExtendedWarranty-Detail?CategoryName=Notebooks

• $199 for 2 years, $299 for 3 years, $399 for 3 years
• Onsite service
• Accidental Damage from Handling Protection covers screen damage, liquid spills, and everything in between
• 24/7/365 access to service representatives
• Genuine Sony product and backing
• Available for any Sony item purchased in the last 60 days
• Cost reimbursement if product is discontinued, otherwise new replacement issued (not refurbished)

Tax-free purchase if you are a church or similar organization…

Thanks for the tip, Raphael!

-jk

Earlier this week, those crazy kids down at Geekzone got the Ubuntu flavah of Linux on their Sony UX-17 handheld and today Brenda at Coffee.Geek.NZ shares the details on how to get the touchscreen working. There appears to be a little trial and error involved to see which "eventX" device actually produced visible output on the screen, but the best things in life are usually worth working for, right? Along the way Brenda shares the driver source used as well as some calibration tips. I’d expect this general approach to work on any of the various Sony UX models, but as always: you’re on your own if something goes wrong. Is it just me or is New Zealand quietly becoming the Ubuntu capital of the world?

-kct

Mobile enthusiasts in the UK have been waiting for word from Sony that they will sell the Sony UX Micro PC in that country, but so far that word has not come.  Today we offer confirmation (sort of) that SonyStyle will be selling the UX in the UK later this year in the form of an email to jkOnTheRun reader Jonathan Balkind:

Dear Sir,

The UX was released in the US on July 4th.

At this present moment I have no further information as to the release date of this product in the UK. (maybe 3 to 4 months but that is just a guess)

Sorry I am unable to inform you more.

For further information, please contact the UK Customer Information Centre on 44(0)870 5111999.  You will not need to choose any options from their automated phone system, simply hold the line and wait for the next available agent.

We trust the above information will be of use to you.

Kind regards,

Sony Style UK
www.sonystyle-europe.com

Thanks Jonathan!

It feels like just last week we were discussing Linux on the Samsung Q1; oh, it was! This week’s "Linux in your hand" feature comes courtesy of Kiwi-land and Geekzone. Looks like the Sony UX is marketed in New Zealand as the UX-17, but it’s the same li’l squirt of a handheld we all know by its many other names. There aren’t any detailed steps along the way of the installation, but there are plenty of pics to drool over for fans of the Sony UX and Linux alike!

One question I have for any ultra-mobile PC owners (current or prospective) out there: are you now or planning to run a multi-boot system? At one point, I had a Vista build on the Q1, but pulled it to reclaim some disk space. Then again, the newest build is pretty stable….I think I feel a W?BIC project coming on again.

-kct

Akihabara News has produced a 14 minute video review of the new flash memory-based Sony UX90PS and they like what they see.  The UX90PS is Sony’s model of the Micro PC that uses a 16 GB flash drive instead of a physical hard drive, a move to provide faster speeds and better battery life.  Check out the video to see it for yourself.  I personally think 16 GB of principal storage is not enough but with 32 GB (if it becomes available) would be nice.

-jk

GeekStuff4U is now taking pre-orders for the flash drive version of the Sony UX although there’s no shipping date just yet. The base Sony VGN-UX90PS with a flash-based storage system in lieu of a standard hard drive starts at $2,154 but is lacking in some specs since besides the basics, it includes:

• 1.06 GHz Celeron M
• Linux as opposed to a Windows XP setup

I added Windows XP Pro and a 1.2 GHz Core Solo U1400 CPU to the spec and that bumped the price up to whopping $2,625, which is bit much. Although you’re getting better battery life and faster "disk" throughput with the flash drive, you’re also giving up a good chunk of storage capacity since Windows XP alone will take roughly half of your available storage. Sony, the idea is great and I’m sure we’ll see the price drop along with a storage increase, but….where’s the Tablet PC Edition?

(via Akihabara News)

-kct

Jenn Lee recently picked up a Sony UX180P and is posting some good information about the little PC that includes a lot of pictures.  She has posts that discuss portrait mode vs. landscape, screen protectors and more.  It’s not just Sony information that you’ll find there, it seems Jenn is a neophiliac so there are posts about other gadgets too.  All of the articles are well written so pocketables has been added to my RSS subscriptions.

(via Mike Cane)

Eagle-eyed jkOTR reader Bob just passed along some nice words about our blog (thanks Bob!) and also spotted the Sony UX180P user manual on Sony’s site. There are also pages for FAQs and driver downloads, but we figure you don’t need those just yet (do you?!?) I haven’t run through the whole manual just yet, but I’m already very impressed with Sony engineering. Just look at these two pictures that show how Sony designed the wrist strap. In showing how to rotate the device (because nobody outside of Japan actually rotates devices correctly), it appears that the wrist strap automatically moves from one corner of the device to another. How DO they do that?

Anyway, you know your reading list is a little light and the American Idol season is long over, so hop on over and hit the books, would ya?

-kct