In my quest to travel as light as possible, I finally broke down and purchased a Sony VAIO P notebook or netbook or UMPC (whatever…). I waited until 1.6GHZ version became available in the US. As with Apple products, you pay a hefty premium for the "privilege" of owning the VAIO P but against my better financial judgment, I took the plunge. With the US 1.6GHZ model, I was forced into a 128GB SSD (a 64GB would have been fine) but the 18 month no interest deal sealed the deal.
I have had the unit a couple of weeks and after some tweaking, including the purchase of the extended battery I have to say that I am pretty pleased with its performance. Make no mistake this is not a blazingly fast machine, but it handles Vista well and does a good with job with browsing, Outlook 2007, and even SlingPlayer (with some tweaks).
The first thing I had to address was the pre loaded bloatware, which is not excessive but still a pain. Sony actually has a utility to help you remove the add-on software, but you will have to download the VAIO Applications Uninstaller Software. I am not sure what the difference is between this application and control panel/programs and features but I used to make sure things where uninstalled properly. I got rid of all of the bloatware including Norton, I currently use OneCare until I move to Windows 7 (OneCare did not work with the RC1 I tried, I don't know what I will use). I really like OneCare and would love to know why MS killed it. Yes, they are going to provide free Anti Virus protection, but they could have used AVG tactic to provide the basic Anti Virus free, and a paid full feature product.
I did file for the free Windows 7 upgrade but am still waiting for confirmation of my submission.
One of the first configuration changes I made was to the screen's DPI (Dots Per Inch) setting. The screen resolution is great, but it is tough on my eyes so I increased the DPI to 120. To change Right click on the desktop/personalize/Adjust Font Size (DPI)/select large scale 120 DPI and reboot. Although you lose some screen real estate, it makes reading much easier. I also use a zoom of 125% in IE8 which helps with sites like wsj.com and nytimes.com.
A good forum for VAIO P owners is the Pocketables VAIO P forum which has some very helpful information.
From my internet reading; the Solid State Disk is definitely a different animal, than a hard drive. While Windows 7 is SSD aware, Vista is not and requires some tweaking. I will discuss this in my next post.
The Coming E-Reader Debate; E Ink vs Backlit LCD
Over the last year, I debated which E-Reader I should purchase. It was clear that the Kindle was way ahead in the ECO system war, however when Sony announced its Daily Reader with a 7" E Ink touch screen, 3G connectivity, and EPUB book format; this was the E-Reader I wanted. Although pricey at $399, I went ahead and ordered it as a Christmas present to myself. Sony did not disappoint by delivering it on December 22nd.
I love the Daily Reader for its size, battery life, built in protective cover and touch screen (being able to turn the pages with my thumb enhances my reading experience), Apple threw a wrench in the E-Reader world by announcing the iPad. This is a major upheaval in the E-Reader world which was originally conceived as a single purpose device with a specially design E Ink screen which provides paper like contrast and allows reading in direct sunlight. Apple is now touting its In Plane Switching LCD screen as the answer to the E Ink technology with color, high contrast and the ability to read in direct sunlight (I want to see this for myself). In addition to the E-Reader functionality of the iPad you get a Touch iPod on steroids with a 10" screen. Who would not want this type of functionality?
My first impression of the iPad was that it may fail as an E-Reader because of the backlit LCD screen and my assumption that backlit screen might cause eye strain. After doing some research, this seems to be an inaccurate assumption on my part and well described in this February New Times articles entitled "Do E-Readers Cause Eye Strain?".
My big problem with the iPad, is that at 10", I want it to do more since it could replace carrying my Sony VAIO-P and Daily Reader while traveling. The biggest issues I have are:
Apparently that is not what most people think; last week, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky released survey results showing pent up demand for the iPad (via MacRumors).
This was a WOW moment for me, shows the strength of the Apple brand and what people think about their products trusting them to provide the right mix of functionality.
In the end the HP Slate with Windows 7 might be the better choice for my use, but given the lack luster performance of Netbooks, will it perform? Adobe is not waiting for the June release of the HP Slate; it has launched a salvo with this video (via engadget):
This should be interesting year for the E-Reader world...
Posted by sskarlatos on March 09, 2010 at 09:04 AM in Apple, Commentary, e-reader, Sony | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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