Windows Phone Thoughts: The Gadgeteer Gets a New Look and Reviews the Sony Vaio VGN-U71P

"I've always been a huge fan of very small computers and have had several such devices throughout the years. A few notable ones come to mind... Remember the REX PC Companion? It was a PDA in a PCMCIA card form factor. What about the hard to find IBM PC110 palmtop computer? Then there was the Toshiba Libretto. I had those devices over 5 yrs ago or so. In more recent years, I've had the Sharp Zaurus C750 and then the Fujitsu Lifebook. The Lifebook was my travel computer, going with me to trade shows and on vacations. Last year, I took another trip down PowerBook lane, and bought a PowerBook. At that time, I ended up giving the Lifebook to my sister. After I sold the PowerBook, I was without a travel computer. Since then, I've been on the look out for the perfect travel companion. One that wouldn't weigh me down while jogging through an airport, but would be able to handle all the tasks I could throw at it without complaining. When I saw the Sony Vaio U71, I knew I had to get my hands on one as it looked to be the perfect combination of size and power."



The Sony Vaio VGN-U71P (gee, catchy name!) represents the latest effort from Sony in the ultra-portable computing category. It's an interesting device, but it doesn't particularly strike my fancy because it's still too big - if I need to travel light, I only take my Smartphone with me. If I need to do more data intensive work, I take my Pocket PC. And if I need to be really productive, I take my Fujitsu P5010D laptop with dual batteries and 10 hours of run time. A device like this Sony Vaio just doesn't fit into my work flow - what about yours?