Eight reasons why the Sony VAIO P Series may, or may not, be a netbook

Sony is at pains to point out that its new VAIO P Series ultraportable is not a netbook – it said so at CES, and now it’s saying so again on the Sony Electronics Blog. The post kicks off with “We had a lot of fun… telling people why the new VAIO P series lifestyle PC is not a so-called netbook computer”, but we sense some gritted teeth.

Sony blogger Rick lists eight differences between the VAIO P Series and other netbooks, but they don’t all add up...

First, Rick cites the keyboard – “much closer to a larger notebook size keyboard than what you see on most netbooks”. True, the P Series was designed keyboard-first, but there are lots of 10in screen netbooks with 90-odd percent full-size keyboards.

The 1600 x 768 screen is certainly a distinguishing feature for the P Series, but the HP 2133 Mini-Note had a 1280 x 768 display, which isn’t far off. Nor is the Atom Z processor that different from the Atom N processors of other netbooks, although we’ll concede that the P Series is the first fanless, er, un-netbook we’ve seen.

We’ll dismiss the P Series’ “wireless capabilities” for obvious reasons – all netbooks have Wi-Fi and some have HSDPA. The new Asus Eee PC T91 has GPS too, so Sony hasn’t stolen the march on that one, either.

High capacity SSDs aren’t a USP either – the Asus Eee PC S101 was similarly equipped – and nor is an instant-on Linux mode (ditto).

Rick does make a very strong final point, though – price. The VAIO P Series starts at an astonishing £849 in the UK, rising to £1,369 for the top model, and that’s far more than any netbook we’ve seen so far.

But we think both Rick and Sony are protesting too much here. While there’s a risk of the VAIO P Series being perceived as poor value if it attracts a ‘netbook’ tag, one thing is cetain – it's in a class of its own. Yes, it’s over-priced in the UK (US prices start at $900), but there’s no denying that it’s a stunning ultraportable and no matter how many netbooks you look at, you won't find anything enevn remotely comparable.

[ Sony Electronics Blog]