After using the Sony Vaio P on and off for about a week now I can say it’s a very stylish and small computer, which suffers from poor performance. The screen’s amazing resolution is just a bit too much for the small size and everything on it ends up being too small and you have to zoom in and out all the time and that gets frustrating. I guess Sony wanted to impress by putting Windows Vista on the P but it just doesn’t work. It’s substantially under powered for that, XP would have been a better choice. Personally I don’t like the little trackpoint but the keyboard is very nice to type on, on a flat and solid surface that it, the P is too small to use on your lap. As stylish and small as it is, there are better choices if you want something small and light.
It’s been very interesting trying some of the latest notebooks to hit the UAE, including the Dell Adamo, Acer’s Timeline, and now also HP’s Pavilion dv2. It’s a 12.1-inch notebook with a glossy, shiny black exterior (you can get it in white as well). It’s small, thin, and light enough to go with you almost anywhere. HP took out the optical drive and made it external and they’re nice enough to include it in the box. The AMD processor gives enough power for average tasks on the go and Vista runs, if not as snappy as you might want it to, with perfectly acceptable performance. Price starts at AED2599.
I might not have been quite awake yet when I saw it scrolling by in Google Reader this morning, but I thought I saw something familiar, which as it turns out was the Nabaztag, one of the items I reviewed in today’s The National newspaper.
I’m really excited about the possibilities that opens up when reaching the audience of a national newspaper. For next article I’m already working on looking at some of the recently released thin PC notebooks, including the Dell Adamo. Even though I’ve never really completely given up using Windows computers it’s nice to in a sense get back in the game again. Being a gadget lover, I like trying anything, not just Apple stuff 
If you don’t have a paper copy you can read the article online.
Yes I’m a Mac-man at heart and I’m not going to give up my MacBook and Mac Pro anytime soon (unless there are new models from Apple, of course) but I do try to keep up with what’s happening in the PC world. Hopefully in a day or so I get to use the Dell Adamo and yesterday I got the Acer Aspire 3810T, one of the models in the brand new Timeline series from Acer. It’s main selling point is a battery life of 8-9 hours on one charge, thin and light design, all at an affordable price. I can tell you that their claims of battery life are about right and the speed is okay to comfortably run Windows Vista and the typical applications for most users. It runs very quiet and surprisingly cool. You can very comfortably keep it in your lap, same can’t be said for all notebooks. The 3810T is going to go into my computer backpack and will be a companion to my MacBook for the near future at least.
There are three models, 13.3, 14, or 15-inch display (I have the 13-inch version). Here are the specs:
- Processor and chipset: Intel® Centrino® 2 / Centrino® processor technology, Intel® Core™2 Duo ultra low voltage processor SU9400, Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5150 Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™ dual-mode module
- Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
- Memory: Dual-channel DDR3 SDRAM support, Up to 4 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, upgradeable to 8 GB using two soDIMM modules (requires 64 bit Operating System)
- HDD: hard disk drive up to 320GB
- Storage: 160/250/320/500 GB or larger hard disk drive or 80 GB SSD drive, 5-in-1 card reader, supporting Secure Digital™ (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick PRO™ (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card™ (xD)
- Optical Media driver: N/A
- Display: 13.3″ HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, high-brightness (200-nit) Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD, 16:9 aspect ratio
- Graphics: Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset with integrated 3D graphics, featuring Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (Intel® GMA 4500MHD) with up to 1759 MB of Intel® Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0 (64 MB of dedicated video memory, Microsoft® DirectX® 10
- Audio: Optimized 2nd Generation Dolby Sound Room® audio enhancement, featuring Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Natural Bass and Dolby® Sound Space Expander, S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers, MS-Sound compatible, built-in microphone
- Communication: Acer Video Conference: Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam supporting
enhanced Acer PrimaLite™ technology; WLAN: Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED network connection, featuring MIMO technology, supporting Acer SignalUp with Nplify wireless technology or; Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™* Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5150 Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™ dual-mode module, supporting Acer SignalUp™ with Nplify™ wireless technology * depending on network availability; WWAN GTM382E module: UMTS/HSPA at 900 MHz/2100 MHz and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) upgradeable to 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA (for 3G models); WPAN: Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate); LAN: Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
- I/O ports: 5-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD), Three (Four on AS5810T) USB 2.0 ports, HDMI™ port with HDCP support, External display (VGA) port, Headphone/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support, Microphone-in jack
- Security: BIOS user, supervisor, HDD passwords, Kensington lock slot
- Power: ACPI 3.0 CPU power management standard: supports Standby and Hibernation power-saving modes, 62.16 W 5600 mAh 6-cell Li-ion battery pack: Acer PowerSmart 3-pin 65 W AC adapter, ENERGY STAR® 5.0
- Special keys and controls: 103-/104-/107-key keyboard, with inverted “T” cursor layout (model 5810T) - 86-/87-/91-key keyboard,, with inverted “T” cursor layout (model 3810T & 4810T), Multi-gesture touchpad pointing device supporting: Circular-motion scrolling, Pinch-action zoom, Page flip; 10 function keys, four cursor keys, two Windows® keys, hotkey controls, independent standard numeric keypad (only on AS5810T) , international language support Acer PowerSmart key, Easy-launch keys: Acer Backup, Communication®, touchpad lock, Media control keys (printed on keyboard): play/pause, stop, previous, next
- Dimensions and weight: 322 (W) x 228 (D) x 23.4/28.9 (H) mm - 1.6 kg ( 3.5 lbs.) with 6-cell battery pack
- Price: AED2799
Yeah to people who don’t secure their home wifi networks! Where were staying for a week they don’t have broadband or wifi so we were obviously concerned how we were going to survive the week. But here’s to people who don’t secure their home networks. Two neighbors have unsecured wifi with broadband 
How many of you have ever used Wikipedia??? I just love Wikipedia, because I can always find the information that I need no matter what it is. So if you have not checked out Wikipedia, you should. But that is not what this post is about, it seems that the founder of Wikipedia, has decided to give the software and all you need to build your own community. I just wonder what wonderful communities are going to be formed from this. Read more about this at US Today.
Free software is about to get freer. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Monday his for-profit company, Wikia Inc., is ready to give away — for free — all the software, computing, storage and network access that website builders need to create community collaboration sites.
Wikia, a commercial counterpart to the non-profit Wikipedia, will go even further to provide customers — bloggers or other operators who meet its criteria for popular websites — 100% of any advertising revenue from the sites they build.
Started two years ago, Wikia (http://www.wikia.com) aims to build on the anyone-can-edit success of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. Using the same underlying software, called MediaWiki, Wikia hosts group publishing sites, known as wikis, on topics from Star Wars to psychology to travel to iPods.
“It is open-source software and open content,” Wales said in a phone interview. “We will be providing the computer hosting for free, and the publisher can keep the advertising revenue.”
That could prove disruptive to business models of websites that provide free services to customers but require a cut of any resulting revenue in return.
Wikia gives away the tools and the revenue to its users. It requires only that sites built with the company’s resources link to Wikia.com, which makes money through advertising.
Wikia calls the free-hosting service “OpenServing” (http://www.openserving.com). It runs on an easy-to-use version of MediaWiki software developed by ArmchairGM.com, a sports fan community site Wikia recently acquired and plans to extend.
Wales is betting the plunging cost of computers and networks can help Wikia support the free services offer. “It is becoming more and more practical and feasible to do,” he said.
Chris Pirillo writes:
Right now, we’re enjoying Maryam’s coffee and sitting around the living room - each on our respective laptops. We’re not saying a single word to one another, although every other minute someone will pipe up with “Hey, so-and-so is doing this.” I’m peeking over Robert’s keyboard and watching him populate his linkblog. So, I guess this kind of silent friendship activity is called scobleizing? Ponzi just sent me an IM a few seconds ago. This is… quite… an exciting Friday night.
When I read it I thought - that seems just like what we do
After using the Sony Vaio P on and off for about a week now I can say it’s a very stylish and small computer, which suffers from poor performance. The screen’s amazing resolution is just a bit too much for the small size and everything on it ends up being too small and you have to zoom in and out all the time and that gets frustrating. I guess Sony wanted to impress by putting Windows Vista on the P but it just doesn’t work. It’s substantially under powered for that, XP would have been a better choice. Personally I don’t like the little trackpoint but the keyboard is very nice to type on, on a flat and solid surface that it, the P is too small to use on your lap. As stylish and small as it is, there are better choices if you want something small and light.
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