Hands-on with Sony's VAIO W Netbook

With Windows 7 freshly launched, several  PC vendors have updated their product portfolios with new solutions designed to provide consumers with full support for the latest operating system. Such is the case with Sony, which has recently announced its product lineup for this fall, with new models designed with the latest technologies and boasting the aforementioned OS. On that note, we were recently at a Sony VAIO press event, where the company showcased all of its latest products, including the small and compact VAIO W, the company's first netbook product. We had a few brief moments with the said VAIO and we can provide you with an insight on what to expect from the small machine.

As a quick reminder, the specifications of the new Sony VAIO W netbook are pretty much the same as those of the majority of today's netbook PCs, especially since this is a PC that is based on the popular Intel Atom platform. The netbook is featured with an Intel Atom N280 CPU, clocked at 1.66GHz and coupled with 1GB of RAM and the Intel GMA 950 graphics chip. Additional features include the USB 2.0, LAN, WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/ Draft n and Bluetooth connectivity, a 10.1-inch LCD with X-Black technology and a weight of 1.19kg, battery included.

The overall feeling of the netbook is of a high-quality product. The keyboard is easy to use and all the connectivity options are easily accessible. The VAIO W isn't the thinnest design in its category, but it does make up for that with high-quality materials and a software bundle that is designed to enable users to have an overall better computing experience.

The system is, obviously, running the Windows 7 operating system and also comes with a number of Sony's own software applications, including the VAIO Gate we pictured below. This provides consumers with a faster access to some of the most used applications on the computer system. Although it runs on the much-appreciated OS, you should not forget that we are still talking about an Atom-powered netbook, which means performance isn't that high.