Sony Vaio C1MW PictureBook Review

daanger0us writes "There is an excellent review of the Sony Vaio C1MW PictureBook that uses the Transmeta Crusoe CPU and has a built in camera so you can capture all those special moments. Here's an excerpt: 'Size is not the only identifying attribute of this VAIO. The built in Motion eye camera is really the most intriguing part of the design - and probably the selling feature. The camera is built in on top of the screen and can flip to point to or away from the driver. The software loads at the push of the capture button and live video begins showing up within seconds. JPEG shots or MPEG2 video can then be recorded and replayed quite easily. With the included 30 Gigabyte hard drive a quick calculation shows that about 10 hours of streaming video and audio can be recorded at a time before running out of room.'"

What a dissappointment.

[rindeee]

I own one of the original VAIO Picturebooks (C1VN). There is very little difference between mine and the new model. You would think that given 2 years Sony could have really done something with it. I like my P-Book, but don't consider it a real laoptop either (which helps emmensely in the learning to like it deparment). In reading the review on the new one, I found myself feeling like I was reading a review on mine. Yes, the resolution's a bit higher, HDD a bit larger, it does MPEG2 now, etc...but big deal. These are things that I felt were "missing" in the original two years ago. Oh well. I find the Fujitsu P2000 a much stronger contender in the "man that's small but feature packed" mini-notebook division.

ER

.

Missing reviews

[BrookHarty]

Really, if Im going to buy a new hardware id like to see some benchmarks. 3DMark would be nice, just for the hell of it.
Also noticed it only has MMX support, wheres SSE?

Also, if your going to run linux on it, is there any compiler flags to make it faster for the cursoe chip? Also noted it had 0k level 2 cache, ouch.

Drop the Camera and Price....

[Dante333]

and I would seriously look at getting one. Seriously, how practical is that camera. It's only 640X480. The form factor and size is enough to get me to consider getting one. The only other thing I have to ask is how easy is it to get linux on that thing without a Sony CDROM Drive.

Marketing and competition in Japan

[ChronosX]

I prefer my computing devices to have full-sized keyboards so that I can touch type on them. I prefer my cameras to take high quality pictures. This product wasn't designed for people like me. I still, however, think the picturebooks are spiffy.

On the other hand, Sony didn't really design the picturebook for people like me. This design originated in Japan with Japanese people in mind. In case you didn't know, the Japanese are absolutely crazy about little electronic devices, especially if they take pictures. The size and style are more important than the sheer power and functionality.

I'd estimate that nearly 20% (conservative estimate)of all new cell phones [nttdocomo.co.jp] in Japan have high-res color screens and cameras built into them. I'm most curious to see how the picturebook fares against competition from these phones, which are even smaller and more stylish.

Advertisement

[Anonymous Coward]

Honestly, this is blatant advertisement. I saw design technica's ad earlier on in another story and now this. I dont know how else slash ought to operate, but ads disguised as reviews is so Cnet.

Faraz

Re:Why not just get a digital camera

[FelixCat]

I agree. The resolution of the camera is not much better than a cheap webcam. Sure it's nice to have the camera integrated into the laptop, but it's really not much more than a novelty. I had one of these for a few weeks, and I found the video was really bad in low light conditions, and the resolution wasn't very good either.

I far better option is to get a Fujitsu P Series [fujitsupc.com] The native LCD resolution is much better, it doesn't cost as much, and it has a built in DVD/CD writer. Plus it too runs Linux.

Re:Why not just get a digital camera

[Mr. No Skills]

Sit in a coach seat for a few flights and you'll see the advantage. This laptop is much smaller that a typical 12 inch screen laptop (the screen is a letterbox format, not the typical screen proportions). If you wanted a separate camera and laptop, you still might want to give this form factor a look because it is so small.

I wouldn't compare this device to a laptop as much as I'd compare it to a PDA. A PDA that doesn't really fit into a pocket, but has the display you wish a PDA would have and the ability to look at a spreadsheet or document and comprehend it. Problem is -- it costs as much as a laptop.

The camera (at least at one point) was really sold for portable web-conferencing and not for video production. The ability to record MPEGs is more of a function of the newer processors. There's a firewire jack if you need to plug in a better camera.

I have one.

[Wakko Warner]

I use it for taping concerts (and nothing else). It's very, VERY slow. Slower than any other modern laptop. The Crusoe chip REALLY is nothing to write home about. It's probably as fast as a PII-500, if that. The screen is tiny but it's sharp. The hard drive is slow, but quick enough to record audio.

Like I said, all I use it for is taping, mostly because it's tiny and the battery lasts forever. It doesn't seem to be a very practical day-to-day laptop. I have another laptop (PII-266) that I use as my "actual" laptop.

- A.P.

Re:Alternative Vaio PCG-U1 (prototype??)

[tombou]

The U1 is a produstion machine...soon the U3 will be out ...here is the Japanese site http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/PCG-U3/

The specs are here in Japanese
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/PCG-U3/spec_ ma ster.html

crusoe - - sony - - fujitsu

[audioplaster]

wow,
i'm shocked by the negative comments about the Crusoe.
My lab partner and I both have the fujitsu ultralight with transmeta crusoe 5800 processors (same as the sony).
i have NO problems with the cpu. i get 4-5 hours using one regular battery. i get 10 hours with the additional extended battery.
THERE IS NO FAN. which is critical for us who attend regular meetings.
the machine is plenty fast enough. i regularly program, use mathematica (wolfram, inc.), word process, solid model (truespace, caligari.com), create macromedia presentations, play games, do advanced video editing... lots of reasonably processor intensive functions. i have a 30gig HD and 390 meg of ram. of course, it's not as fast as my dual athlon mp1900 desktop, but heck, i can't stuff my dual athlon into a butt-pack!
it doesn't appear sluggish at all. in summary, i love my fujitsu/crusoe. it's awesome, and all my friends are completely jealous:)

my question is, how many of you who claim to hate the crusoe 5800 actually have one ??

maybe you are confusing with the older crusoe chips that were not so good.

my 2c,
ap.

ps. the fujitsu is only 1500 bucks and it has a built in DVD player and CD burner (yes). i'm not sure why anyone would want the sony, unless they need the camera.

Fujitsu Lifebook 2000 anyone?

[styxlord]

This review would have one assume this is the first device of this form factor. Fujitsu has been selling the very similar Lifebooks for a while now, but are better in many respects.
- ROM drive is internal
- Can accept high capacity batteries and the ROM drive can be replaced for up to (so they claim) 14 hours of life
- Built in Wireless networking
- Substantially cheaper than the Sony

Check it out here [fujitsupc.com]

8-10 hours of battery, and not just a toy

[Quinthar]

I have had one for the past six months and absolutely love it. The portability is just incredible, to the point it's been about my only luggage on my trip around the world [360togo.com]. With the quad-battery upgrade you can pretty reliably get 8-10 hours on a full charge (nowhere near the 15 advertised, of course). And, though the transmeta is a bit sluggish, it's entirely adequate any non-gaming task (I do contract technical writing as I travel and it's paid for itself a couple times over). Furthermore, though not DoomIII-compliant, the ATI Radeon mobile is suprisingly quick and has been sufficient for me to continue 3d graphics programming while traveling. The camera is a pointless, granted (low res, takes ages to initialize, only digital zoom, manual focus), but the laptop itself is a godsend.

I think the biggest benefit of this laptop is that it's finally found a combination of speed, portability, and battery life such that you no longer have to ask yourself "should I bring my laptop today?" Instead, you just always have it in your bag, charged up the night before, to whip out at cafes or plane rides.

I can't recommend it enough.