Vaio U71 Import

[Mr.C]

I'm thinking about getting a U71, which is only available in Japan. I've found an importer, but want to know if anyone else has got one & what they think of it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not too sure."

[seb21__]

2,5?

My Vaio was died after 1 hour.
But my Vaio is faster.:smileywink:


I think a real Tablet PC is better as a U71. But that's my opinion.

[William]

I was very very tempted to buy a U71 but compromised and got the TR5 in the end, which I am very pleased with :smileygrin:

William

[kee-lo_]

Yeah tavlet PCs are cool

[Mr.C]

Dynamism say that only the Sony Firewire DVD drive can be used to boot from should you ever have to use the recovery disks. The Optical Drive is the same that ships with the X505, so if you've got one, then great, if you havent then a further £169 (DVD-R) or £229 (DVD-RW) might be an essential extra - things soon add up!

I like the idea of using it to surf the net on the move, but there's no mention of built in Bluetooth so a USB dongle would be needed for Mobile Phone connectivity. No built in 56K modem is a drag too, so WiFi or a CF modem would probably be the best alternatives.

All of that considdered, I am still very interested in getting one
and it's made even better that I won't pay VAT - Pehaps I should buy a few and sell others to fellow Club Vaio users

[kee-lo_]

I think Sony want more and more people to use WIFI to connect to the net now.

[Akanksha]

Pehaps I should buy a few and sell others to fellow Club Vaio users 

Yeah sure, I was going to buy it off you, only that I know the dealer and the nitty-gritty too!

[Foxhound]

2 and a half hours is respectable.

2 and a half hours are not respectable if you are flying frequently having stop overs in dubai and other international hubs.
With the latest centrino models 3 hours plus has become the standard.
You also should keep in mind that the specs a company gives you are usually max specs. Meaning with minimum payload and definitly not on the brightesst display setting.
Now my expierence is that under normal use the battery life is about 30% less then the specs given.
Take for instance the specs for the S series. At the Sony site they give a five hour battery life. My S serie never made it, My max is about 4 hours. So I asked Sony. The answer was that 5 hours is reachable by setting it to extreme battery life setting: which means dimmest display brightness, optical drives turned off, CPU fan control to level 1, these are not normal settings you use for everyday work.
Say let's say the give an 2.5 hour spec, you can only expect 2 hour battery on normal payload which isn't very long for an ultra portable pc like the U71. Portability means nothing if you haven't got the battery life to justify it. That's way I bought the X505 for those long trips. I just want the comfort off being to able to work and not have to carry adaptors and car adaptors around. It doesn't look professional if you come on customer meeting with a 5 kilo bag just for your laptop.
In my work sometime I often have too work 6 hours without access to a power outlet. I will need my pc to work with me for atleast 50% of this time, meaning 3 hours. 2 hours maybe respectable for the job you do Keelo but for a lot of professionals it isn't enough.

[kee-lo_]

Good luck in finding something that can do > 3hrs

[Foxhound]

I have. The X 505. But thanks anyway

[kee-lo_]

Really, thats cool [8)]