The

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Vaio P series is a range of ultraportable

subnotebook Subnotebook, also called ultraportable, superportable, handtop, mini notebook or mini laptop, is a type of laptop computer that is smaller and lighter than a typical notebook-sized laptop. Types and sizes As typical laptop sizes have decreas ...

computershttp://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644608896 launched in January 2009. It was marketed as a "lifestyle PC", although they share many characteristics with

netbook A netbook is a small-sized laptop computer; they were primarily sold from 2007 until around 2013, designed mostly as a means of accessing the Internet and being significantly less expensive than regular-sized laptops. At their inception in l ...

computers.

Description

The Sony Vaio P series features an 8" LED-backlit display with native resolution of 1600x768, coupled with

Intel GMA The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) is a series of integrated graphics processors introduced in 2004 by Intel, replacing the earlier Intel Extreme Graphics series and being succeeded by the Intel HD and Iris Graphics series. This serie ...

500 integrated graphics, an

Intel Atom Intel Atom is a line of IA-32 and x86-64 instruction set ultra-low-voltage processors by Intel Corporation designed to reduce electric consumption and power dissipation in comparison with ordinary processors of the Intel Core series. Atom is m ...

Silverthorne Z5x0 CPU with Intel Poulsbo US15W chipset, and up to 2GB of DDR2 memory. Notably, the P series sports non-upgradeable RAM that is soldered to the motherboard, with some models including just 1GB of RAM. It uses a

pointing stick A pointing stick (or trackpoint, also referred to generically as a nub, nipple or clitmouse) is a small analog stick used as a pointing device typically mounted centrally in a computer keyboard. Like other pointing devices such as mice, touchp ...

in the keyboard as its pointing device. Exact specs vary by region. An integrated "Motion Eye"

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in Videotelephony, video telephony, live streaming and social media, and Closed-circuit television, security. Webcams can b ...

(optional in some models) is located on the upper right corner of the display bezel. Built-in GPS (some models), Bluetooth,

802.11 IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer c ...

b/g/n

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

and 3G or

HSDPA High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...

mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile network, mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartp ...

comprise its connectivity options. Like most ultraportables and netbooks, an internal

optical drive In computing, an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disk drive, disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some driv ...

is not present. At launch, the pre-installed operating system was one of the 32-bit versions of

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

, which has lower resource requirements than Windows Vista. Several people have succeeded in installing various versions of Linux on the Vaio P, most notably Ubuntu Linux (Version 9.04, Jaunty). Ubuntu is arguably the best alternative due to its ease of installation and configuration, and the fact that it allows for full 3D graphics to be utilized. Since the release of Windows 7, the P series now ships with that OS installed. The P series has been criticized for poor performance in part due to the excessive pre-installed software, but also because of the poor performance of the integrated graphics. Compared with most other Intel Atom-based

netbooks A netbook is a small-sized laptop computer; they were primarily sold from 2007 until around 2013, designed mostly as a means of accessing the Internet and being significantly less expensive than regular-sized laptops. At their inception in l ...

, the P series was considerably more expensive. However, the Atom Silverthorne platform adopted by the P series sported lower power consumption and higher-clocked processor options compared to the more common Diamondville platform. Later models of the Vaio P included these faster CPUs. In addition, the P series is the lightest device in its class, weighing roughly the same as the Apple

iPad 2 The iPad 2 is a tablet computer, tablet developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Compared to IPad (1st generation), the first iPad, as the second model in the iPad line, it gained a faster multi-core processor, dual core Apple A5, A5 processor, a ...

tablet and less than all 10" netbooks, and the 7"

Asus Eee PC The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive (S ...

models. The 1600x768 resolution of the P series' 8" display is also comparable to that of much larger laptops, such as the 12.1"

Thinkpad ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop and Tablet computer, tablet computers produced since 1992. It was originally designed, created and manufactured by the American IBM, International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation. IBM Acquisit ...

X200s and its 1440x900 resolution.

Launch specs

The Vaio P was launched in five colour options: Dove White, Emerald Green, Glossy Black, Gold, and Sangria Red. Dependent on the model, storage was a 60GB or 80GB

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

, or 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB

solid state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a type of solid-state storage device that uses Integrated circuit, integrated circuits to store data persistence (computer science), persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-stat ...

. Minor model updates included Windows 7, larger SSDs, and faster Atom processors.

May 2010 update

The VPC-P11 series launched in May 2010 featured a refreshed exterior, an

accelerometer An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...

to enable switching from landscape to portrait mode, a tiny 16mmx16mm

touchpad A touchpad or trackpad is a type of pointing device. Its largest component is a tactile sensor: an electronic device with a flat surface, that detects the motion and position of a user's fingers, and translates them to 2D motion, to control a Cu ...

built into the LCD bezel, and a choice of five colours - 'electric orange, neon green, hot pink, icy white and classic black'. In addition, a button was added to instantly switch the screen to 1280x600 resolution, in order to make text more readable, as well as a digital

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

, ambient light sensor, and higher-capacity battery (2500mAh). The 2010 revision was the last iteration of the P series, with Sony discontinuing the product in 2011. The P series clamshell format was incorporated in Sony's Tablet P, which was released in November 2011.

Specifications

*Dimensions: 9.65"(W) x 0.78"(H) x 4.72"(D); 24.5 cm(W) x 2 cm(H) x 12 cm(D) *Weight: 1.3 lbs (589g, VPC-P11 series); 1.4 lbs (635g, at launch with SSD), 1.5 lbs (680g, at launch with HDD) *Processor:

single-core (with Hyperthreading) Z520, Z530, Z540, Z550 or Z560, at 1.33, 1.6, 1.87, 2.0, or 2.13 GHz; Z560-equipped models were not released in the US *Graphics:

500 *Memory: 1 or 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM running at 533 MHz *Storage: 60 or 80 GB 4200 RPM PATA HDD, or 64 GB, 128 GB or 256 GB

SSD A solid-state drive (SSD) is a type of solid-state storage device that uses Integrated circuit, integrated circuits to store data persistence (computer science), persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-stat ...

*Connectivity:

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

802.11 b/g/n, Integrated Stereo A2DP Bluetooth technology, wireless broadband (technology used varies by region, including WiMax, HSDPA and 3G), GPS (model-dependent) *Display: 8" 1600x768

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

TFT active matrix backlit display, 0.3 MP webcam *Expansion Slots:

Memory Stick The Memory Stick is a removable flash memory, flash memory card format, originally launched by Sony in late 1998. In addition to the original Memory Stick, this family includes the Memory Stick PRO, a revision that allows greater maximum storage ...

(Standard/Duo) media slot, SD/SDHC memory card slot *Interface: 2 USB 2.0 type-A ports, DC-in, Display/LAN Adapter port, headphone jack *Battery at launch: standard 2100mAh (145 grams), extended 4200mAh (263 grams) *Battery for VPC-P11 series: standard 2500mAh (155 grams), extended 5000mAh (250 grams)

USA models

(note color codes: /G - Emerald Green, /Q Glossy Black, /R Sangria Red, /W Dove White, /N gold, /P /PI pink, /D white, /B black)

Launch dates

VGN-P500 series - January/February 2009
VGN-P600 series - July 2009
VGN-P700 series - October 2009
VPC-P11 series - May 2010

References

External links

Official Website

Full Sony VAIO P review

Hands-on review from engadget
{{Vaio Subnotebooks Netbooks Computer-related introductions in 2009