First impressions of Sony VAIO TR1A

[Ioman]

Well, I recieved the Sony VAIO TR1A today for review and have had a chance to play with it. My initial reactions are that this is going to be an instant hit. Everything you can think of is packed into this little system including a camera (ala Sony picture Book). The screen resolution is extremely high and small so if you have bad eyes, this is certainly not the laptop for you.

The LCD display is incredibly sharp and bright. The material they used for the glass/screen on the LCD display is the same as the PCV-W20 it makes the display look enhanced, and sharper for some reason. There is an exposed USB port on the right hand side of the unit, as well as another USB/FireWire port on the left side behind a protective cover.

The battery is 4300mAh which is incredibly large for a notebook computer of this size. Because it comes with a Centrino 900MHz CPU, I am guessing the battery life will be incredibly long, only testing will tell. Despite being a relatively slow processor, the system feels relatively fast no doubt due to the 512mb of memory.

The keyboard is OK, a tad small (to be expected) and smooshy, although I have been able to type "designtechnica" without looking at the keyboard or without spelling errors, so that is a plus hehe.

One gripe is that while trying to open the TR1A laptop, I slipped on the camer integrated into the disply and flipped it around lol. Poor design, the camer should be locked somehow while the lid is closed. No biggie though...

Here is the TR1A next to my VPR Matrix 200A5

[Ioman]

Another picture:

[sonyman]

Ioman

Have you tried using the camera for a picture yet?
Also, what are the pictures stored as? jpeg, bmp?
Lastly, does the laptop seem practical for everyday use in and out of a bag, etc? In other words, will this laptop hold up over the course of a year?

[Aku]

Thanks Ioman....

This makes me even more anxious to receive mine.... :P

[Ioman]

Originally posted by sonyman
Ioman

Have you tried using the camera for a picture yet?
Also, what are the pictures stored as? jpeg, bmp?
Lastly, does the laptop seem practical for everyday use in and out of a bag, etc? In other words, will this laptop hold up over the course of a year?

I have not tested the camera yet (charging the battery now) as I literally recieved it this morning. I am pretty sure it will save the picture in JPG format as I have yet to see a digital camera that will save a picture in BMP format.

I took this laptop to breakfast with me this morning and I literally put it into a laptop bag and threw it in the car seat. I think the TR1A will be a durable little laptop. It feels pretty sturdy and solid from what I can tell. There is very little in the way of loos parts or covers other than the CD-Rom drive so I do not see why it would have problems. The display glass cover and keys suggest this laptop can go through pretty rough use. The keys are a hard rubber versus plastic and the display screen is pretty thick compared to most laptops.

[sonyman]

Thanks Ioman. Nice work as usual. :cool:
Keep us posted on your testing experiences, please. I considered pre-ordering this unit, but I wanted to obtain a little 'real world' feedback first. Does your test version have XP Home or Pro?

[sonyman]

One more question....How many gigs of free hard drive space shows up? I just want a barometer on how much space the pre-installed software takes up on this particular model.

[Ioman]

The TR1A comes with Windows XP Home Edition.

What is very interesting is that the hard drive is partitioned into two 14GB partitions. There is 8.9/13.9GB free on the main partition and 13.9/13.9 on the second partition. They are both in the NTFS file format. Only reason I can think of is that Windows XP does not support drives over 30GB without SP1 installed (I think that is correct).

[Aku]

Man, on Sony's SonyStyle site, the TR1A's shipping date has been moved back to August 25th..... :eek:

[sonyman]

Don't quote me on this, but I think there was such a high demand for the TR1A that Sony could not fill all the orders. I actually contacted Sony and they told me the only way to obtain a TR1A would be to pre-order and then the ship date would be July 11th. Since then, the website does not even list a price for the laptop. I don't know if Sony was expecting such a response. While at first glance the numbers may not seem impressive on the unit they are very sufficient, if not more. I seriously doubt anyone will buy this 10.6" lappy for gaming. With that being said, most will use it for a very light and portable business machine. IMHO, the processor and memory are actually ideal for MS Office, occassional net browsing, and writing and reading.
I am anxious to hear what Ioman has to say about the battery life on the TR1A as well. Keep us informed Ioman!

[Ioman]

According to Sony there is an incredibly high demand for the TR1A which is why they are having trouble keeping up with production. Heck we were lucky yo get one for review.

[Ioman]

I am typing this from the TR1A btw hehe, typing is not as bad as I thought it would be although the keys do not have much travel to them.

[neuroking]

Originally posted by Ioman
The TR1A comes with Windows XP Home Edition.

What is very interesting is that the hard drive is partitioned into two 14GB partitions. There is 8.9/13.9GB free on the main partition and 13.9/13.9 on the second partition. They are both in the NTFS file format. Only reason I can think of is that Windows XP does not support drives over 30GB without SP1 installed (I think that is correct).

I'm pretty sure this is standard Sony practice. They try to have ppl use the second partition for documents, so if anything goes wrong, they can easily just wipe teh first partition. They leave some space for programs to be installed. Every Sony laptop I've seen has had a similar setup.

And XP must support over 30 GB. I had 100 GB on my win2k machine before xp was even introduced. Maybe there was some odd bug.

Looks sweeeeeeet.

Brandon

[bb330i]

I just received mine on 18 July. It is an amazing little notebook. I would have prefered the TR1P (with XP Pro) but there was not even an estimated ship date so I settled for the TR1A (XP Home). Sony is going to sell a ton of these I'll bet. I think the HD partition was created for video and still image storage. I am going to use it that way anyhow. I travel with a Nikon D100 and will use the second partition to download files from my microdrive. If anyone has any questions PM me.
EDIT: Or post to this thread.
I will try my best to answer. BTW, great site.

[Archon]

aww! its so cute!

[bb330i]

Originally posted by Archon
aww! its so cute!
Cute wasn't the first thing that came to my mind however, if it had a chubby little cheek attached one might be tempted to give it a little pinch. :)

[Ioman]

haha that was funny. I am installing the benchmarks as we speak and will be running tests today.

[bb330i]

Originally posted by Ioman
haha that was funny. I am installing the benchmarks as we speak and will be running tests today.
I'm looking forward to your results, thanks. For my needs this little thing is almost perfect. My only two complaints so far:
1) The cover requires two hands to open. (No big deal)
2) The keyboard is a bit cramped. (That's a given)

[Aku]

Hey.. I ended up canceling my order at Amazon.com and picking up my TR1A at Circuit City today.... :D

[dang]

Ioman, xp should support 30+gb w/out sp1. It does not support large partion sizes in FAT32. This is because they want people to migrate to NTFS

[Archon]

NTFS is better, so what does it matter?

[Ioman]

Originally posted by dang
Ioman, xp should support 30+gb w/out sp1. It does not support large partion sizes in FAT32. This is because they want people to migrate to NTFS

ah ya, thats right.

So I am STILL in the process of testing, took me over 3 hours to drain the battery lol. its recharging then the testing will start.

[sonyman]

Ioman, what kind of tasks were you doing during the 3 hour battery life?

[Ioman]

Originally posted by sonyman
Ioman, what kind of tasks were you doing during the 3 hour battery life?

It is the Mobile Mark 2002 conditioning test. It runs photoshop, MS Office, Netscape, IE and other programs simultaneously to simulate a real life work environment.

[neuroking]

I jsut got to play with one for a couple minutes at Circuit City. Damn that thing is cute, and very responsive. If anyone has concern over weight, keyboard, etc., I would suggest giving your local CC a run to play with it.

I think this may be the first sign of whether Sony plays to try the U series laptops over here. From what I understand, the subnotebook market here is pretty minimal, so maybe this is testing the waters to find out what people want in one.

Brandon

[Aku]

Maybe it's just because I'm Asian and I have thin fingers, but the keyboard really isn't that bad at all... I remember seeing a pic of the Japan spec one, and the backspace key was even smaller, as was the space bar...

I haven't been having any troubles with it at all..... I can still type just as quickly as before...

-Aku

[Ioman]

I dont think the keyboard is that bad for its size either. I wish there was more travel to the keys though.

[Ioman]

I just finished the battery tests and I was able to get 249 minutes out of the TR1A notebook. Thats 4.15 hours folks! Unbelievable!!

[Aku]

Originally posted by Ioman
I dont think the keyboard is that bad for its size either. I wish there was more travel to the keys though.

True... a little more travel would be nice... Sometimes it's hard to determine whether you hit the key or not....

I like the screen, too.... At first I was kind of weirded out by fact that it seemed so shiny; almost glassy. But it's really clear, and it seems as though there's a lot more leeway in terms of the angles of visibility.

-Aku

[sonyman]

I just got back from the CC store. My first impression of the TR1A was....hmm...I like the keyboard. To me, the keyboard has a better quality and feel to it than any Sony 505 model lappy. CC let me play with it for a while uninterrupted. I guess the gang recognizes me by now. Anyway, the motion eye camera attached to the TR is of better quality than the old Sony picturebooks too. I like the camera swivel and I also liked the control to focus the camera. I took several pictures while I stood there and played with the TR. Most pics averaged 13.9 kb in size in jpeg format.
Moving on, I opened up Works and typed around for a bit to get a better feel of the keyboard. Typing was a breeze. All you have to do is just barely tap the key and bam...instant words. The keyboard flowed nicely.
What else? Oh yeah. Ioman, a question for you. When I right clicked on computer properties to check out the processor and ram specs I was a little surprised. Ram was right on the money basically. This particular TR showed 508. However, the processor, which is a 900mhz-M only showed up as 589mhz. What about your test model Ioman? What does your TR show in computer properties?

[Ioman]

Originally posted by sonyman
I just got back from the CC store. My first impression of the TR1A was....hmm...I like the keyboard. To me, the keyboard has a better quality and feel to it than any Sony 505 model lappy. CC let me play with it for a while uninterrupted. I guess the gang recognizes me by now. Anyway, the motion eye camera attached to the TR is of better quality than the old Sony picturebooks too. I like the camera swivel and I also liked the control to focus the camera. I took several pictures while I stood there and played with the TR. Most pics averaged 13.9 kb in size in jpeg format.
Moving on, I opened up Works and typed around for a bit to get a better feel of the keyboard. Typing was a breeze. All you have to do is just barely tap the key and bam...instant words. The keyboard flowed nicely.
What else? Oh yeah. Ioman, a question for you. When I right clicked on computer properties to check out the processor and ram specs I was a little surprised. Ram was right on the money basically. This particular TR showed 508. However, the processor, which is a 900mhz-M only showed up as 589mhz. What about your test model Ioman? What does your TR show in computer properties?

Yes, it does. The Intel mobile processors utilize speed step technology which will underclock the CPU to save power. The Speed Step works depending on the settings you define. For example if you go into the BIOS and tell it to run in performance mode, it will run the CPU at full speed. If you tell it to run at automatic, it will run fast when your computer is plugged in and then underclock the CPU when the computer is running off batteries to save power. Windows also can affect the Speed Step technology depending on the power settings you define, for example Laptop/portable. Make sense?

[sonyman]

Ahhh. I see. Thanks Ioman. Just wanted to compare the two to check for inconsistencies. BTW, the screen is very glossy. It almost reminds me of those covers they used to sell for big screen TV's years ago to make the picture clearer. All in all I am pleased with my first encounter with the TR. Let's just wait and see what other individuals have to say about the TR...

[Unregistered]

You guys should take a look at the Sharp Actius MM10. It is a pretty sweet little unit. I have one, they're even lighter, about the same screen size (but not widescreen), but don't have a CDROM. They're Transmeta 1ghz rigs, and are about half as thick. I'm really satisfied with mine, and the optional extended life battery puts it out in the 8 hour batt. life range.

http://www.sharpsystems.com/tmplproduct_mm10.asp

[Unregistered]

One thing I'd like to see is an evaluation of the screen's performance in daylight. I'm looking for a small subnotebook to use while mobile (I'm a volunteer firefighter and have the entire center console section of an Expedition full of communciations equipment, so a laptop wouldn't be out of place!) and one of the big issues is how the screen's visibility holds up under sunlight.

The best solution would be something like Motorola's MW800 with a transflective LCD, but I don't want to throw that much money at the problem.

Any thoughts?

[sonyman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
You guys should take a look at the Sharp Actius MM10. It is a pretty sweet little unit. I have one, they're even lighter, about the same screen size (but not widescreen), but don't have a CDROM. They're Transmeta 1ghz rigs, and are about half as thick. I'm really satisfied with mine, and the optional extended life battery puts it out in the 8 hour batt. life range.

http://www.sharpsystems.com/tmplproduct_mm10.asp

Yeah, and after checking out the specs for that Sharp MM:
Transmeta Crusoe™ 5800 1 GHz processor
256 MB standard
High resolution 10.4" XGA TFT LCD display (1024 x 768)
Integrated Wireless 802.11b
Available external DVD/CDRW/CD Combo Drive
15 GB HD
Optional extended life battery

An EXTERNAL DVD/CDRW/CD Combo Drive on the Sharp?
A Transmeta processor?
The resolution?
15GB HD?

I don't even know if we are comparing apples to apples with this Sharp v. Sony. I like Sony's two-spindle design with the CDRW/DVD-ROM built in. I mean who wants to have a laptop as small that Sharp and still have to buy an external DVD/CDRW to lug around? I would imagine that accounts for most of the weight difference as well. And Sony did use the Transmeta Crusoe processor in the old picturebooks, but I like the new 900-M processor with that beefy 1M L2 cache as well.
In the end, it's all personal preference my friend. Thanks for taking the time to share the Sharp link with us. Hats off to you! I hope you enjoy your Sharp MM. It looks like a fine machine!
:) :)

[Unregistered]

I've been using XP for quite some time now, and it supported my 240 GB drive without any problems (I dont use SP1, its given me several problems)

[neuroking]

Originally posted by sonyman

An EXTERNAL DVD/CDRW/CD Combo Drive on the Sharp?
A Transmeta processor?
The resolution?
15GB HD?


I have to say, a Crusoe CPU is basically about as fast as a 1 legged dog. I have an 866MHz one in my U1 and it bare runs at acceptable speeds. From playing with the TR1 at CC, I would estimate real world performance at nearly 3 times that of my Crusoe.

I used to be all for Transmeta, but then I saw the real world performance, and I was very disappointed. Hey, the story was posted on /., so I assume there will be more posts of this sort. (btw- I got most of my Crusoe info before I bought my U1 from /., so I'm not knockin them)

Brandon

[bb330i]

Originally posted by Ioman
I just finished the battery tests and I was able to get 249 minutes out of the TR1A notebook. Thats 4.15 hours folks! Unbelievable!!
When you complete your testing do you weigh in “cool factor” ? This thing not only works hard but it should be considered an icon of industrial design along side the iPod .

[Ioman]

Originally posted by bb330i
When you complete your testing do you weigh in “cool factor” ? This thing not only works hard but it should be considered an icon of industrial design along side the iPod .

Of course man! This is Designtechnica afterall , design is ALWAYS a factor in a review.

[bb330i]

Newbe
Looking forward to your follow up reviews. :o

[torquemada]

Very important question for me before buying ;-)

Has anyone every tried installing any kind of Linux on this cute little machine?

[Aku]

How's that review coming along Ioman??

[Unregistered]

to me the only two open questions are (besides the linux question) how easily i can get a tv out attached to the machine (does it have a dockingstation?) and how fast it will play 3d accelerated quakeworld

[Gio]

as a newbie to the forum, I have to say that I am not incredibly impressed by what i read bout this new Vaio. A 12" Apple PowerBook sounds like a better deal on better specs. I don't like my portable throttling back my CPU when unplugged .. it sort of negates the extra battery life as it needs more time to process things

[neuroking]

Originally posted by Gio
as a newbie to the forum, I have to say that I am not incredibly impressed by what i read bout this new Vaio. A 12" Apple PowerBook sounds like a better deal on better specs. I don't like my portable throttling back my CPU when unplugged .. it sort of negates the extra battery life as it needs more time to process things

You can configure the power options however you want. If you don't want it to throttle the CPU back, it won't. Everything can be customized, including the SpeedStep activation.

Brandon

[Dawnfading]

I'm not sure if you somebody still got a TR1 handy, but it would be very informative to see an actual screenshot of just the TR1 screen in real size. It would tell a lot how usuable the screen is. Further, there are already some reviews out there, but I still have many wonders about the keyboard & screen.
The keyboard size is of course a tradeoff for the compact design, but based on the picture here, I noticed it doesn't seem all that smaller than the bigger laptop...

tell me more pls,

Dawn

[Unregistered]

It seems that EmperorLinux is going to sell the TR with Linux pre-installed, I guess that answers the question of whether or not this thing can have Linux on it.

http://www.emperorlinux.com/kiwi.html

It's not on their front-page yet so I assume they don't yet have it. It's short on details though. I would mostly like to know if the camera works in Linux and how to use it (which software, does the snapshot button work etc...)

[Unregistered]

1. already shipping in japan. up to 3 weeks delay in taking receipt due to heavy backlog of orders.
2. absolutely killer subnotebook. i bought one for my daughter for school. has everything built in. the sony proprietary software to run itunes-like music program and iphoto-like digital photo ware is ok. very user friendly digital camera/movie camera hardware and software. amazing.
3. designtechnica article states it is centrino. however, it is not centrino. it is pure pentium 4. it does have wi-fi and bluetooth, preinstalled.

[nedlyj]

Originally posted by Unregistered

3. designtechnica article states it is centrino. however, it is not centrino. it is pure pentium 4. it does have wi-fi and bluetooth, preinstalled.
According to Sony's website, the TR1 comes with:
"Intel® Centrino™ technology (Ultra Low Voltage Intel® Pentium® M Processor 900 MHz)"

That definitely is not a "pure pentium 4".

-n

[Unregistered]

Did you guys check out Fujitsu LifeBook P5000? Almost the same size and identical specs minus the camera. However it's much cheaper:

http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P5

Not sure which one to get!!

- Jay

[dang]

the fujitsu p5000 is actually pretty nice. pretty much the same specs, except you can buy it w/out the combo drive, which brings the price down.

[Unregistered]

yeah unfortunate that they dont have bluetooth in the unit .. i can deal living without the camera though

but they even have 54mbit wlan support

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
yeah unfortunate that they dont have bluetooth in the unit .. i can deal living without the camera though

but they even have 54mbit wlan support

There is a PCMCIA expansion slot where you can throw in a Bluetooth card should you decide you want it. With everything else integrated in the unit, the only thing I see the PCMCIA slot valuable for is either 802.11g+ or Bluetooth. Of course having a card stick out doesnt help the over appeal to the systems look.

[Aku]

Here's a screen cap I took of the TR1A screen:

TR1A Screen (http://www.sakuma-restaurant.com/tr1a_screenshot.jpg)

EDIT:

Never mind... I used the print screen button, and it (obviously) ended up being the same for both... hahaa... Wow I'm stupid... :P

EDIT Part II:

Alright, so let's see if this is better:

TR1A Screen (http://www.sakuma-restaurant.com/tr1ascreen2.jpg)

TR1A Screen - Zoomed (http://www.sakuma-restaurant.com/tr1ascreen.jpg)

[Ioman]

Review is up: http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review310.html

Please post your user review if you have tried this laptop.

Discussion thread for the review can be found here: http://forums.designtechnica.com/showthread.php?threadid=2581

[Unregistered]

To Jay,

So what did you decide to get, the Sony TR1A or Fujtisu Lifebook 5000 series? I'm having the same dilemna. My sense from reading reviews online (i.e. I have no hands on experience with either) is that they are very similar except as follows:

Fujitsu good:
-- can get 40 or 60 gig hard drive v. only 30 gig for Sony
-- can get 802.11g v. only 802.11b for Sony
-- CD/DVD rom drive swaps out and can be replaced with nothing (weight saver) or second battery to get up to 10.5 hours, whereas Sony drive is not removable (though Sony battery life still good on single battery, over 4 hours)
-- slightly cheaper than Sony
-- don't have to wait weeks for your computer to come

Sony good:
-- slightly lighter and very slightly smaller than Fujitsu
-- good screen display whereas review I saw on Fujtisu said text was small, cramped
-- keyboard supposed to be great whereas Fujitsu review said keyboard okay
-- looks great, eye-catching, Fujistu looks good too, but not quite as stunning
-- Sony software included

So, if you're practical-minded, it seems Fujitsu is the way to go, but if you want something that looks great (not to say it doesn't perform well too), then Sony is the way to go.

Anyone else have thoughts on this? I'm especially curious as to people's thoughts on 802.11b v. 802.11g and if it's really worthwhile to get integrated 802.11g now or if the benefits aren't really that great.

Eugene

[neuroking]

Originally posted by Unregistered

-- Sony software included

So, if you're practical-minded, it seems Fujitsu is the way to go, but if you want something that looks great (not to say it doesn't perform well too), then Sony is the way to go.

Anyone else have thoughts on this? I'm especially curious as to people's thoughts on 802.11b v. 802.11g and if it's really worthwhile to get integrated 802.11g now or if the benefits aren't really that great.

Eugene

A couple things worth noting.

The Fujitsu maxes out at 512MB RAM, the Sony can go to 1GB.
The Fujitsu has a slot for every media card, Sony only Memory Stick.
The Fujitsu is actually heavier without the optical drive than the TR1. (3.4lbs, vs. 3.11 lbs)
The Fujitsu has S-Video out, not on Sony.
BOTH have Dolby Headphone.
(this is actually very nice and I've heard nothing mentioned from anyone on it. How bout it IOman? Pop on some cans and try a DVD!)

I think that when someone goes for a notebook like these, there is a decent contingent that DO factor appearance into the equation, and not as a minor variable. Since these bags of chips are being taken everywhere, the aesthetics become a part of teh equation, just like it has with cell phones. With the heavy desktop replacements, the point is just to take everything from one place, and drop it off as quickly as possible at another. But with the subnotebooks, they're ctering to people that like to carry them around almost everywhere they go.

Another thing. The Sony software is nothign to scoff at. I'd say i have never used about 50% of the Sony software on my VAIOs. BUT, about half of the software I do use, I use regularly, and find that it really come in handy in common situations. Again, it adds to the overall look of the computer. I really like that instead of that nasty MS Picture viewer coming up when I insert a memory stick from my camera, I get a smooth, well displayed, organic slideshow app.

Just a couple thoughts.

Brandon

[The Shadow]

There isn't a way to upgrade to XP Professional though :(. It crashes when you do an upgrade and if you do a fresh XP install you can't install any of the software that came with it.

Matt

[sonyman]

Watch your tone please. We want these forums to be a friendly place for people to visit.

[The Shadow]

You fool, the reason I got the home edition was because that's all they had at warehouse.com when I ordered it yesterday.

Anyway, I figured it out. If you disable some of the devices in system manager BEFORE upgrading it will work. Then enable them after the upgrade completes.

Matt

[Ioman]

Originally posted by The Shadow
You fool, the reason I got the home edition was because that's all they had at warehouse.com when I ordered it yesterday.

Anyway, I figured it out. If you disable some of the devices in system manager BEFORE upgrading it will work. Then enable them after the upgrade completes.

Matt

I apologize for Sonyman Shadow. Most of us are nice in here haha. Welcome to the Designtechnica forums. Please register and make yourself at home.:)

[sonyman]

Well thank you Ioman. I do appreciate your willingness to step in and speak for me. And to think I was the foolish one for ordering a laptop without the OS I wanted. Indeed, you are right Ioman. And let me apologize to our level headed unregistered poster that called me a fool. I don't know what I was thinking telling you to get a clue and get the system you wanted. Again, my sincere apologies. I only hope you can accept these apologies from a fool.

[Ioman]

Common now guys....why does there have to be a bad tone all of a sudden. This forum is for help and answering questions.

[sonyman]

I offer my most sincere apologies to our unregistered poster. I must have stepped out of line and misinterpreted or read into his post. Please forgive this lowly fool. I am but a lowly squire, I know it. Maybe one day I will be somebody...

Best Regards,
The Fool

[Archon]

here are some more dimension comparisons for the TR1A

[Archon]

and another

[blue9]

For those who are interested in Fujitsu's P5, take a look at this online forum dedicated to the lifebook:

http://www.leog.net/fujp_forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=18

[sonyman]

Thanks for the link blue9. I enjoyed the forums. I also like the fact the first amendment still holds water over there. I like a forum where speech is not censored because some egomaniac thinks he has to have the last word. I know I will continue to visit. Thanks again.

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by sonyman
Thanks for the link blue9. I enjoyed the forums. I also like the fact the first amendment still holds water over there. I like a forum where speech is not censored because some egomaniac thinks he has to have the last word. I know I will continue to visit. Thanks again.

What are you talking about? Do you mean some posts have been censored with clear disregard for the first amendment? I wonder if this one will be?

BTW, great link blue9 and great thread here on the Sony VAIO TR1A.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
What are you talking about? Do you mean some posts have been censored with clear disregard for the first amendment? I wonder if this one will be?

BTW, great link blue9 and great thread here on the Sony VAIO TR1A.

Hey now, we have been pretty good around here Sonyman. Posting as an unregistered user to make it look like you are a seperate person is fine (we track IP addresses).

We have always supported you here and consider you our friend. We will always censor name calling and delete useless flame wars.

You are welcome to stay around, but try to be postivie and make others feel welcomes.

Thanks!

DT staff

[sonyman]

I guess if you track IP addresses you know who is flaming me as an unregistered poster then Ioman? Yeah, I thought you would.
But you don't have to worry, there are a million forums on the internet. I will move on to find another forum that actually accepts differing viewpoints. Not that I'm calling you communistic or Saddam-like or anything like that. No, quite the contrary. This forum is an epitome of openness and acceptance. Have fun with it. Just like someone else stated. The top five posters think their views should dominate everyone else's. Yeah, that's good for business. But hey, it's all personal preference. I hope you enjoy my friends.

[Archon]

Originally posted by Ioman
Hey now, we have been pretty good around here Sonyman. Posting as an unregistered user to make it look like you are a seperate person is fine (we track IP addresses).

We have always supported you here and consider you our friend. We will always censor name calling and delete useless flame wars.

You are welcome to stay around, but try to be postivie and make others feel welcomes.

Thanks!

DT staff

I can vouch for this one...Yes you can! I am watching

[sdv]

does the tr1a work well for video games?

[V!|2g3d]

I played the half-life demo on the tr1a once in CompUSA at a reasonable framerate. It wasn't anywhere near liquid smooth, but I'm more interested to see how it plays quake 3.

[sonoronos]

here is a picture and a video made with the motion eye camera.

It's really far from what I think is high quality - but it's a fun little addition. By the way this little laptop is super duper. I'm typing this post from the TR1A's keyboard and I have to say, this thing (or whatever replaces it) is going to be my next laptop. The screen is great, the design is awesome, and it's light. I love this thing!! However, the keyboard is too small!

http://www.nd.edu/~ekang/dt/

[Unregistered]

yea thats what i wondering, how is the gamin on this...
this is the specs tat is given so far...

64MB vid card using a PCI bus.

i have no idea of the kinda of graphic card though, i think its a intel chip.......

anywyas, before i buy this.. just wonderin would i be able to play the latest games on here...

star war galaxy maybe??

let me know if u guys have tried a game on this comp...thanks...

~sNow

[dang]

I dont think this would be the best thing to play games on. It's a subnote, which means the cpu isn't that powerful, and neither is the graphics card. You get portability vs power. You will get much better performance on a more beefy laptop.

[LegalTender]

I've had some problems with my TR1A, which I'm sure are mostly my own ignorance.
The start-up pop-ups urge a VAIO update download. Every time I click yes, Acrobat crashes the system. You're asked to submit an error report to MSN, but that also doesn't work. Even if you try "Remind me later" there are about seven separate pop-up reminders, ads and advisories you have to individually cancel before you finally get a desktop. I don't want or need MSN Messenger, but I'll have to say so every time I use this machine.
The worst problem is the display starts off minimized (1/3). Two magnifications are needed. The first yields great resolution but tiny icons and text. The next gives you what you expect, but it's a bit blurred. The ten-inch LCD VAIO laptop I now have has no such problem.
The machine is ideal for video, but has shortcomings for other purposes.

[jiggles]

dropped my old boat anchor sony last week, so got lucky and found a tria at compusa for 2149. i love it, and almost went mac g3 till i saw this one. i AM going to use it for a primary, even though the cramped keyboard just makes spellcheck more important. i live most of the yesar in a very rugged environment, and every gram counts as something else to lug around. the screen is fantastic, even outdoors. i was sitting at starbucks hotspot in LA all day, chatting with friends in nepal using the camera as video phone...it was great. and i think that i'll ditch the clie...this is almost as light and i am sick of all that syncing anyway.

the only gripe i have is that sony forgot to add a composite video or svideo port! so i guess i have to find a scan converter solution - ick - but i gotta do those presentations... anyone have any ideas...something small and universal....

the battery lasts about 4.5 hours...so that's not too bad...i read somewhere that an enhanced battery, list 399, will be out in september...

well, i hope this forum continues to report on this interesting machine....thx
jig

[Ioman]

Originally posted by jiggles
dropped my old boat anchor sony last week, so got lucky and found a tria at compusa for 2149. i love it, and almost went mac g3 till i saw this one. i AM going to use it for a primary, even though the cramped keyboard just makes spellcheck more important. i live most of the yesar in a very rugged environment, and every gram counts as something else to lug around. the screen is fantastic, even outdoors. i was sitting at starbucks hotspot in LA all day, chatting with friends in nepal using the camera as video phone...it was great. and i think that i'll ditch the clie...this is almost as light and i am sick of all that syncing anyway.

the only gripe i have is that sony forgot to add a composite video or svideo port! so i guess i have to find a scan converter solution - ick - but i gotta do those presentations... anyone have any ideas...something small and universal....

the battery lasts about 4.5 hours...so that's not too bad...i read somewhere that an enhanced battery, list 399, will be out in september...

well, i hope this forum continues to report on this interesting machine....thx
jig

Hi Jiggles,

First of all welcome to the Designtechnica forums.

There is another forum thread focused on this laptop here: http://forums.designtechnica.com/showthread.php?threadid=2581

We reviewed the laptop on the site and I would like to encourage you to post your user review for others to read about. http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review310.html

Secondly I would look for a converter cable. While there is VGA output on the TR1A, it still uses a special VGA cable (without the secured screws) and there might be a VGA to composite out cable or box converter which would solve your problems. Unfortunately Sonystyle.com is down right now as they are updateing the website, but I would check it out when its back up.

Hope that helps!

[ium]

I have been looking for an ultraportable for school and I have been considering getting a Tr1a or a V505bx.

I am mainly going to use for internet, documents, Matlab and maybe a little programming. I wouldn't mind playing a little games on it when I'm traveling though.

Has anybody used the Tr1a and the V505bx? What are the advantages of both?

Thanks,
Alan

[Ioman]

Originally posted by ium
I have been looking for an ultraportable for school and I have been considering getting a Tr1a or a V505bx.

I am mainly going to use for internet, documents, Matlab and maybe a little programming. I wouldn't mind playing a little games on it when I'm traveling though.

Has anybody used the Tr1a and the V505bx? What are the advantages of both?

Thanks,
Alan

Hi Alan,

First of all, welcome to the Designtechnica forums. I am currently reviewing the V505BX for the site and will have my review up this week. Here is a linkto my V505BX impressions:

http://forums.designtechnica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2831

At this point in time, I would go with the TR1AB (with Bluetooth) if I was in your situation. I like the size of the V505B better than the TR1A, but there is so much lacking in it.

[ium]

Thanks for the quick reply,

I have been able to see the v505bx at the local stores; however, the tr1 has been sold out everywhere. Just from reading everybody's opinion about the tr1a makes me want to get it. I just haven't been able to find it anywhere. So do you personally think the tr1 is overall better? There is also a price factor.

Thanks,
Alan

[dang]

I've seen the TR1A at my local Frye's. If you have one in your home town I would suggest going there to play w/ it.

[alistheking]

Hi all,

First time here.

I was looking for a subnote recently and I decided to go with tr1a after comparing all other options (P5000, W2, MM-10,...).

For who is also looking at similar models:

1. Of all, I believe Sony may have better repution over Panasonic and Fujitsu in terms of all services (and satisfaction).
2. It seems tr1a has the longest battery life.
2. The screen of tr1a is just unbelievable gorgous.
3. I was looking to get a webcam, anyway.

Again, if you are also looking at the four models above, price is really not an issue since all of them are over-priced.

Also,

I have checked the Japanese Vaio website recently. It appears Sony-J sell a "external tv turner." You can feed in the video signal in thru coaxial, S-video or composite video port on the turner (thru USB2). It also let you record the video source to mpeg4 fromat. I will have the chance to visit Japan later next month and you bet I will definitely get a chance to take a good look at it if I have a chance.

http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/vaio/acc/acc.cfm?pd=13828#feat

BTW, Sony Japan just release tr2b (coming out later this month). As far as I can tell, 11g and the new P.M.-1GHz (low Voltage) are the major update. Just for some coincidence that sonystyle site no longer post the tr model. Some of you who might be interested in getting tr1a should wait and see.

[alistheking]

Another quick question,

It seems the japanese model comes with blue tooth built in. However, it doesn't seems to be the way for the tr1a here. Am I missing something here?

[techfreak]

I believe the TR1B was actually on Sony's website up until a while ago. Now there are no TR1 models on Sony Style at all, they must have sold out of them, or will be releasing a newer model that cost more money to meet demand. The TR1B has Bluetooth in it, I think that was the only difference.

[dLo]

the TR1A is still on the sonystyle site (if you search for TR1A) its just not listed under notebooks anymore. too much demand and no stock.

[jiggles]

Originally posted by alistheking

Also,

I have checked the Japanese Vaio website recently. It appears Sony-J sell a "external tv turner." You can feed in the video signal in thru coaxial, S-video or composite video port on the turner (thru USB2). It also let you record the video source to mpeg4 fromat. I will have the chance to visit Japan later next month and you bet I will definitely get a chance to take a good look at it if I have a chance.

http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/vaio/acc/acc.cfm?pd=13828#feat

BTW, Sony Japan just release tr2b (coming out later this month). As far as I can tell, 11g and the new P.M.-1GHz (low Voltage) are the major update. Just for some coincidence that sonystyle site no longer post the tr model. Some of you who might be interested in getting tr1a should wait and see.


Can anyone here read japanese? i cant. how much is this thingee and where could one find one? i am in thailand right now, and have not seen it. they are selling the same tr1a that i purchased in california...no bluetooth. i went and bought a rgb converter that plugs into USB, it does the job, it was 100$ at Frys, but the quality is not so hot...what you would expect from a low res converter....

[jiggles]

Originally posted by sdv
does the tr1a work well for video games?

I am not a gamer but I have Laura Craft - latest one - and it is really smooth when running but game loads slower than i have seen on other computers...for what that's worth!

[jiggles]

Originally posted by The Shadow
There isn't a way to upgrade to XP Professional though :(. It crashes when you do an upgrade and if you do a fresh XP install you can't install any of the software that came with it.

Matt

Could someone post which drivers need to be disabled before xp pro upgrade will work? i am about to try it...i hate being on a home system...thx...

[jiggles]

Originally posted by LegalTender
I've had some problems with my TR1A, which I'm sure are mostly my own ignorance.
The start-up pop-ups urge a VAIO update download. Every time I click yes, Acrobat crashes the system. You're asked to submit an error report to MSN, but that also doesn't work. Even if you try "Remind me later" there are about seven separate pop-up reminders, ads and advisories you have to individually cancel before you finally get a desktop. I don't want or need MSN Messenger, but I'll have to say so every time I use this machine.
The worst problem is the display starts off minimized (1/3). Two magnifications are needed. The first yields great resolution but tiny icons and text. The next gives you what you expect, but it's a bit blurred. The ten-inch LCD VAIO laptop I now have has no such problem.
The machine is ideal for video, but has shortcomings for other purposes.

its not real clear from this append if you got a new laptop and that solved your problems or not, but i have some comments and perhaps a few more issues to add to a list that i would like to see posted here...

Turning off the Viao Support Agent
Right click on the ambulance in the lower right task bar for options. I am not sure what this agent does but make Mcafee freakout - sees it as malicious when booting up...clicking on Update By Clicking On Server DOES NOTHING!!!!

Zoom Button
Does anyone know how to make it come up larger (zoomed all the way) by default. I am really tired of pressing the button everytime i boot up. It's really frustrating as there is a delayed reaction if other programs are coming online and you press the button...sometimes i press it 10 times to get it right.

Boot Up Time
XP booted very fast at first, but now that i have applications loaded, it crawls. Starting to remind me of an old 486 i used to have.

Video Out and Lack of Docking StationB]
I cant see where a docking station is offered, and the lack of a video out turned out to be more of a problem than i thought. trying to find a usb scan converter was harder than i thought it would be and finally got a TVview Micro which is small and light (if not chessy looking) and runs power from the usb port. Still, it's so disappointing to have to carry around something that looks like a small octopus just to watch dvds in hotel rooms.

[B]Screen and Display
Does anyone know how to clean this one? I tested with a damp soft cloth in one corner, and it leaves smudges and looks like it will scratch VERY easily. They are also very fragile, as the first one i had i closed the lid on top of earbuds, and the screen shattered. I was lucky and Compusa took it back no questions asked. I guess that's a plug for them.

I noticed that enabling Clear Type under Display Options / Advanced made the type much clearer and easier to read.

Overall, these are nits compared to the sheer joy of traveling with this machine...many hotels in asia now have free wireless and it's such a kick to pull this out of my pack to check my email while having a singapore sling.