MaximumPC 2004 10

Reviews

74 MA XIMUMPC OCTOBER 2004

W

e’ve seen and even previewed

a few prototypes of palm-top

PCs capable of running the

full desktop version of Windows XP,

but whenever we ask for reviewable

units, all we hear are crickets chirping.

So when Maximum PC operatives

in Japan tipped us off

about Sony’s VAIO-

U50, we turned to

importer Dynamism.com

to arrange a test drive.

We’re so enamored

of Sony’s shiny little

bauble that we’re

hanging on to our

cargo pants just so

we’ll have a place

to keep it.

It’s bulky for a

handheld, but no

other handheld

busts out with

both 802.11b and

802.11g wireless

connections,

and the huge

6.5-inch screen

won’t force you

to view web pages as

a single, interminable column. You

can click on links with the pointing

stick (a—pictured above right) and

mouse buttons (b), or with the

included stylus. You can also click

on the Rotate button (c) to switch

the VAIO-U50 into portrait mode

for a full-page view (above left) and

use the extremely cool four-way

scroll button (d) to move around

within windows without having

to use scroll bars that may be off

screen. A Standby button puts the

VAIO-U50 to sleep and awakens it

in just seconds.

When you want a desktop

system, just drop the VAIO-U50

into its dock and connect it to your

external monitor and keyboard.

Although the native resolution is

fixed at 800x600, you can extend

this into a scrollable virtual desktop

of up to 1600x1200.

If you’re traveling or running

from the law, you can take along

the lightweight, sturdy, folding

USB keyboard (lower left) that has

its own pointing stick and mouse

buttons. There are even Memory

Stick and CompactFlash slots, a

handy Ctrl-Alt-Del button for crash

recovery that doesn’t require the

external keyboard, and utility but-

tons (e) for adjusting brightness,

volume, etc., without having to

drill through Windows XP menus.

This wee PC can even function

as a portable entertainment center;

imagine watching Scary Movie

on the beautifully sharp screen,

and pressing the Zoom button (f)

during Carmen Elektra’s epic sprin-

kler dash. You also get excellent

earbuds and a corded remote for lis-

tening to music. We found the bat-

tery life adequate—the VAIO-U50

is able to continuously play back a

movie at maximum brightness for a

little more than two and half hours.

In Standby mode, we’ve been able

to get as much as two days worth of

frequent use in between charges.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise

that this is not a gaming rig. Inside

is a 900MHz Celeron proc with

256MB of RAM (the VAIO-U70

upgrades you to a 1GHz Pentium M

with 1MB of L2 cache and 512MB of

RAM). Both models have a modest

20GB hard drive, and 64MB of

video RAM is shared with the main

memory. And although the VAIO-

U50 scored a humble 92 in SYSmark

2002 , that’s only 9 points lower

than Sharp’s thin-‘n’-light Actius

PC-MM20 with a 1GHz Transmeta

Efficeon (reviewed August 2004).

For what it’s worth, the VAIO-U

seems extremely responsive, and

applications launched quickly even

when three or four were already

open and running.

For the time being, Sony is mar-

keting the VAIO-U series only in

Japan (it’s available here in the US

through importer Dynamism.com ),

so a number of software features,

such as a streaming media play-

back service, are unavailable. But if

you’re not a gamer and don’t mind

that the bulk of the VAIO-U50’s

documentation is in decorative but

unhelpful Japanese, dig into your

wallets: Sony has delivered the

palm-top PC that other companies

still have under lock and key.

—LOGAN DECKER

Sony VAIO-U50

The future of handhelds? We think so

in Japan tipped us off

about Sony’s VAIO-

won’t force you

to view web pages as

4.25“

With an external backup drive, it really can replace

your laptop and PDA.

MR. ROPER

MR. FURLEY

Tiny hard drive. Documentation and hardware-

setup config screens are in Japanese.

MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 9

The VAIO-U50

particularly

sparkles in

portrait mode,

thanks to the

four-way D-pad

for navigation

and scrolling

within web

pages.

6.5

”

A hinged middle lets you fold the keyboard for

easy transport.

Sony’s palm-top

PC may be expensive, but its

price could be offset by replacing your laptop, handheld,

and desktop, not to mention all the necessary software for each.

f

c

b

d

a

e

$1,900, http://www.dynamism.com

11.75”

4.375