Sony’s Vaio UX: Pretty, But Pricey
Would you pay $2,000 for an exceptional piece of eye candy? After checking out Sony’s stylish 1.2-pound Vaio UX series of so-called ultra-mobile PCs, I almost reached for my checkbook. Almost.
Like most of the new ultra-mobile PCs coming to market from the likes of Samsung, OQO, and others, the Vaio UX series looks great. Ultimately, though, it feels like a work in progress more suited to early adopters than mainstream technology users.
That’s not to say Sony’s engineers didn’t put a lot of thought into making the Vaio UX usable. It’s one of best designs I’ve seen in the category, offering a solid feel in your hands and a hideaway keyboard that’s revealed when you slide up a bright 4.5-inch touch screen.
Sony sells two versions of the UX, the 380N ($1,999) that includes a 40GB hard drive and the 390N ($2,500), which offers 32GB of flash memory and is more resistant to damage from dropping.
Logical Layout
Every control button seems to be laid out perfectly, with none of the awkwardness of some rivals. On the left front, there’s a larger button close to the top, with a smaller button directly below that serves as left- and right-click buttons of a mouse. Depressing the button below while using the mouse control lets you scroll down a page quickly. A fourth button can be programmed as a quick-launch key for music, video, and many other functions. The left side offers a single USB 2.0 slot.
A pointing button to the right of the screen helps you easily navigate around the screen. With my large fingers, I found myself opting more often for these controls over the stylus and touch screen. Below the pointing button are controls for enlarging and shrinking on-screen images and a power switch and hold key to keep the device from…
