Sony Vaio P-Series Netbook Review

When Sony created the Vaio P-Series Netbook, I was pleasantly surprised and excited. I recently purchased this netbook, and found I like it...but was still not convinced its for me. I am on a quest, much to my wife's chagrin, for the perfect Netbook. I love Netbooks. So small, so light, and so cheap! They do everything a regular notebook does, minus a few amenities, such as larger hard drive, screen, and usually RAM. However, in the Sony P530H/Q, you get the small size, with alot of great things!

The elegant VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC delivers your entertainment and computing into a single, go-anywhere design. As thin as a deck of cards, featuring an 8.0-inch extra-widescreen display, an Intel® processor, 2GB of pre-loaded memory and Windows Vista® Home Basic 32-bit operating system.

Details

• Display: LED; 1600 x 768; 8.0''; XBRITE-ECO™ technology
• Memory: 2GB/533Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
• Processor: Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 500; total available graphics memory: max. 760MB
• Hard drive: 60GB; G-Sensor™ shock protection; serial ATA
• Built-in MOTION EYE® camera and microphone
• Built-in real-time GPS
• Multimedia card reader: one memory stick Duo™ media slot with MagicGate® functionality, one secure digital (SD memory card) media slot, Multi-media Card (MMC) slot
• Networking/modem: integrated stereo A2DP Bluetooth® technology (2.1 + EDR), Verizon wireless mobile broadband built-in, Atheros 802.11 b/g/n network connection
• Inputs and outputs: 1x DC-in, 1x headphone jack, 1x I/O port, 2x USB (2.0 compliant) port
• Pre-installed software: Microsoft® Windows Live™ OneCare™ trial version, genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Basic 32-bit, Microsoft® Works SE 9.0 w/ 60-day trial version of Microsoft® Home and Student 20075, VAIO® Media plus - multimedia streaming software
• Dimensions (wxhxd): 9.65"x 0.78"x 4.72"
• Weight (approx.): 1.5lbs

The Pro's: Bright screen, very clear and crisp, usual for Sony. The keyboard is large and not too compact, although I do have some issues with the shift key sometimes. The built in GPS, and also built in wireless WAN. The size is great, so small and compact. Also like that it has a built in Webcam. Also, like that it has Vista, and 2GB of RAM. Found though that it does run smoother and faster with Windows 7. So, I would prefer it with either XP or Windows 7.

The Cons: Small Screen size. I would have preferred it to be a little bigger than the 8 inches. Small hard drive, I wish it could have come with a larger capacity hard drive, but enough for what it is for. Vista is both a pro and con for me, I enjoy Vista, however, it does not run that fast, so I prefer Windows 7, which I loaded on and runs fabulously.

All in all, its a great Netbook, the best so far, but, I am still searching.....my next one will probably be the Acer Aspire One with the 11 inch screen.

Until next time....