Sony launches Vista laptop Vaio VGN-UX1XN

By: Stefan Hinum

Sony has launched the first Vista-based ultra-mobile PC which it hopes will appeal to business users looking for mini laptops. The price is about £2,000 or $3,800.

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The matt-black Vaio VGN-UX1XN, or UX1 for short, measures just 95x 50.2x32.2mm with a slide-screen. It weighs in at less than half a kilogram and is running the business edition of Vista. The specification is 1GB RAM, Intel’s 1.33GHz low-voltage U1500 Core Solo chip, onboard 802.11g Wi-Fi, an Intel-based graphics chip, a USB port, Bluetooth, a Memory Stick Duo port, and sockets for a microphone and headphone, a shrunken screen, a 4.5 inch, 1024x768 X-Black LCD, and the slimmed down keyboard, which has its own blue backlight to aid use in low light. There’s no hard disk however and users having to make do with the built in 32GB flash drive. The screen folds over the keyboard when not in use, reducing the unit’s bulk. The UX1 has integrated support for a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and a fingerprint recognition system. There are two cameras, a 1.3 megapixel one on the machine’s rear for taking snaps, and a 0.3 megapixel one by the screen to help with video-conferencing.

Comments:

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 is an onboard integrated video chip and can be called a faster clocked GMA 900 (on Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset, which is available only starting with Core Duo/Solo). 2006 it is the most often used graphics solution and is classified in the weakest third of mobile graphics solutions. So it can only be used for elder games. For office applications and surfing it is without any doubt sufficient.

Intel Core Solo is a successor of the Pentium M and a single core version of the Core Duo with less current consumption than the Pentium M (maximum 27 Watts). The performance is slightly better than with an equally clocked Pentium M. These processors also are apt for subnotebooks due to the low current consumption.

This subnotebook is one of the most lightweight of all notebooks and can be carried very easily.

Sony is a notebook manufacturer of medium size according international market shares. There exist a lot of reviews about Sony notebooks. The total ratings and price/value ratings are good above average.