1.86GHz Vaio P Netbook In America? You Wish
As it seems is always the case with technology, Japan’s got it better than we do over here at the moment. This tendency exists in the netbook world too, as we’ve found out in the recent case of the Sony Vaio P.
At CES 2009, Sony said it would shift the Lifestyle PC with an 1.33 GHz Atom processor. Apparently this isn’t the complete story, as Engadget saw something shocking on Sony’s Japanese site: Japan’s getting 1.6 GHz and 1.83 GHz chip options as well!
What!? Sony followed up with this e-mailed statement:
“We do not comment on future product roadmaps…. The P Series is the ideal companion PC, allowing users to take it with them anywhere and everywhere for the ultimate computing on-the-go experience. We wanted to make sure the balance between price and performance was fair and after rigorous testing the Intel 1.33Ghz processor seemed to be the ideal candidate.”
However, one spokesman at CES said the Lifestyle had a smaller CPU to address heating issues. Either he was mistaken, or something isn’t as it seems. For now, Sony doesn’t seem to keen to explain, so we can only hope that we don’t have to wait too long for the Vaio P netbook to get some more options for us netbookers over in the States.
Via Engadget.
CES: The Future Of MSI
PCWorld recently published an interview with Andy Tung, MSI Computer’s VP of sales. The subjects? The future of MSI, the new technology it will use, and the company’s plans for 2009.
One big topic was the dual-core Intel Atom CPU – an update of the single-core version we’ve seen so much in the netbooks of 2008. Thankfully, Tung says the Atom “is not in MSI’s future.” He believes using a dual-core Atom would drive prices up past $500, which isn’t the strongest category for MSI.
According to him Intel seems to understand this. For now, most netbooks will be sticking with the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 or the 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z530.
Another subject was the MSI Wind U115 Hybrid, the interesting new netbook that houses both an SSD and a HDD. Bouncing off this topic, PCWorld wondered – what technology is next?
Tung says it’s touchscreens. Apparently MSI has been messing around with a touchscreen prototype, and once the multi-touch Windows 7 is out this could mean some interesting things. They aren’t attempting to replicate the swivel screen ASUS tablet, the Eee PC T91 – they want to take their own interpretation on the subject.
We couldn’t believe our eyes a few days ago when we found an image of the MSI Wind U115 at CES with a display mentioning 9-cell batteries. It seems this was no mistake. Andy Tung says that “The U115 netbook will not only have 3-cell and 6-cell batteries, but we’ll be shipping a 9-cell battery that will easily get you over 12 hours on a single charge.”
Wow. Check back soon for the latest on netbooks and CES 2009.
Via PCWorld.
