A Sexy litl Number!!! (Sony Vaio PCG C1XS)

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Product:	Sony Vaio PCG C1XS
Date:	28/01/03 (672 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice Look, fast 4 its size

Disadvantages: Expensive, small Hard drive

Having already owned both the Sony Vaio Picturebook PCG-C1X (266Mhz) and the PCG-C1XS (P2/400Mhz), I eagerly awaited for Sony to release the new PCG-C1VN model. While I was initially leary of the use of the Transmeta Crusoe chip, I figured Sony must know what they are doing. Big mistake! The new machine, while faster in megahertz (400 vs. 600), the new Picturebook is actually SLOWER than the older Pentium II-400Mhz model! (I would estimate about 15-20%; I could actually see the machine pause and think while it did it's internal conversion to Intel instructions). Yes, it does get a little faster on repetitive tasks, but still painfully slow. Again, while on paper the C1VN is a better bargain (128MB RAM vs 64MB; 8MB Video RAM vs. 2.5MB on the C1XS), you don't get a bundled USB floppy like the C1XS. Something to think about if this is important to you. Another minor flaw is the use of Windows ME vs Windows 98. Klunky! (why no Windows 2000 Sony?)

In the end, I ended up returning the C1VN. It's a shame. Overall, it's a great machine. Small, compact, excellent 8.4" Wide-TFT screen, Trackpoint-like pointing device (listen here ThinkPad users), built-in camera (though the use of it grows old after awhile). Battery life was about 25% longer with the standard Lithium battery included.

If you're just using it for email, maybe you'll be able to deal with the lag delays in processing, then it would make an excellent traveling companion. Otherwise, I'd recommend either finding a discontinued C1XS or waiting till Sony and/or Tranmeta works out the processor performance issues.



Recommended
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2295.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: 501-600
RAM: 128
Hard Drive (GB): 9-12

Summary: