Sony's VGN-UX280P Is a Complete Success

The Sony VAIO VGN-UX280P makes the micro PCs a lot more attractive. When comparing it to older products you'll find that a lot more power and capability sleeps inside its 5.91" x 3.74" x 1.5" case. At a weight of only 1.1 lbs, the micro PC from Sony's Vaio line is in fact both lighter and smaller than a similar sub-notebook but comes with about the same configuration.

Because I got to the performance part already, let me point out that the UX280P is built around an ultra-low voltage Intel Core Solo ULV 1400 CPU, which runs at 1.2 GHz. It also includes a rather small 40 GB 4,200 RPM Ultra ATA hard disk, along with 1 GB of PC2-3200 533 MHz DDR2 SO-DIMMs. And although it is not a great performer, it will run Vista and even its dreamy Aero interface.

The ultra small computer features a 4.5" SVGA touch screen with a native resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, powered by the Intel GMA 950 chipset that can use up to 128 MB of dynamically allocated RAM. The micro PC also offers an Intel Pro 3945 ABG wireless graphics chipset, with a V.90 integrated modem, 10/100 Ethernet RJ45 interface, Bluetooth, and the ever-present 802.11 a/b/g wireless LAN support.

Built-in into the tiny Vaio, an electrostatic touch pad serves as a mouse, along with a smaller than usual but still functional 82-key QWERTY keyboard, plus two digital cameras (a 0.3 M pixel camera on the front - probably for video chat use, and a larger 1.3 M pixel camera on the back). UX280P comes with Windows XP Professional SP2 pre-installed, plus trial versions of Norton ISS, Trend Micro Anti-Spyware, Microsoft Office 2003 and Sony Games. The software bundle also includes full versions of Microsoft Works 5, Microsoft Streets & Trips, Pen Plus, and many more usable software products.