Computer.co.uk

Netbooks are the new craze.  They are like pogs, beanie babies, and Nintendo Wii… only pocket sized, and with a bit more computing power.

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The Sony P series isn’t marketed as a netbook, but a netbook by any other name is… well…  a netbook.  In this case Sony and their clever marketing team decided to market this as a; get this, POCKET sized computer.  Now, this is only funny if you’ve ever held one.  Then, and only then would you know that in order for this to be pocket sized, you’d have to be a Kangaroo.  These might be some of the smallest fully functional computers that I’ve ever seen, but they definitely aren’t pocket sized.

Now, rants aside… they are a very attractive package for those on-the-go, have-to-check-facebook types.  But for the cash, can a netbook.. cough..  a pocket notebook ever live up to it’s big brothers?  No.

For starters, it’s a netbook.  I’ll be glad when this craze passes.  Netbooks are nice, but they aren’t nearly as convenient as one might imagine. It sort of takes you back to the days before you learned to type.  You see, typing on this sucker is about as uncomfortable as it gets… so you might as well renew your love with the hunt and peck (one finger) method.

As far as specks go, it’s not terrible.  My only real gripe here is the 1.33ghz processor.  2gb of ram is quite impressive in such a small machine, but the processor really leaves something to be desired.  It says that you have the ability to dual boot Windows and the Sony netbook OS, but why would anyone ever want to?  With such a slow processor, it’s going to make startup times horrendus, and dual booting is going to be a task that you wish you’d never attempted.

The 60gb hard drive definitely does the job.  Remember, this is a NETBOOK.  You won’t be running the Adobe Creative Suite on it.  60gb will suffice.

Another gripe of mine is it’s ability to cool itself.  These things get HOT!  So if it WERE pocket-sized (which it’s not)… you might just set your pants on fire if you were to carry it around in your pocket.

In my professional opinion, netbooks simply aren’t ready for the mainstream.  At a lofty price tag of £849, you can buy two Toshiba laptops which are about triple the size, with 10x the specs.  It’s your call, but at £849, this gets a pass from this computer reviewer.