It’s taken them a bit longer than a lot of other companies but they’ve done it at last, Tokyo based Sony has finally produced its first Netbook and the latecomer is the Vaio W Series Netbook.
If any of you thought that the Vaio P with the 1.33 GHz Atom processor and tiny 8 inch display screen that Sony released in January was a Netbook, then think again, Sony doesn’t call that device a Netbook, it refers to it as a “lifestyle PC”.
So does the Vaio W Netbook have what it takes to compete in the fiercely competitive Netbook war? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, if you’re interested, it features a standard 10.1 inch LED back-lit display screen but it does have a pretty high resolution as far as Netbooks go of 1366 x 768.
The pre-installed operating system is Windows XP.
It includes a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280 processor, 1 GB DDR2 Memory, and 160 GB Hard Drive.
Now the keyboard on the Vaio W carries the “Chiclet” keyboard that is becoming more popular on laptops and Netbooks. It is an 86 key QWERTY keyboard 1.2mm stroke and 16.5mm pitch. There’s also the Electro-Static touch pad.
For connectivity you have stereo Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and a 10/100 Ethernet Port.
Other features include an inbuilt “motion eye” webcam and microphone, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 VGA, Microphone input, Headphone output, an SD expansion slot and a Memory Stick Pro Duo with MagicGate functionality.
The battery, well there’s something that might let this little device down, it comes with a three cell battery that will give you only a couple of hours usage away from a wall socket. Not ideal.
The Sony Vaio W measures in at 10.54 x 7.07 x 1.28 inches and weighs 2.62 pounds.
Included in the package is the Vaio Media Plus Multimedia Streaming software which allows you to stream audio and video directly to your play station 3 or any other compatible device.
As for colours, you can choose one in Pink, White or Brown and prices start at $499.
According to Sony the new Vaio Netbook will be available in 54 countries around the world from August.
Sony will no doubt be hoping to re-establish itself in the market after forecasting its first back to back annual losses in fifty years. The Netbook market is currently the fastest growing segment of the PC industry worldwide.
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