Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGN-UX390N 4.5-inch Laptop (Intel Core Solo Processor U1500, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB Flash Drive, Vista Business)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've had mine for 2 weeks now and I love it! Most of the time I used it docked, connected to a 20" FP monitor at 1600x1200 and use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse (Logitech diNovo - also awesome product). Set up like this, it works like a regular PC, though obviously a bit underperforming for this price compared to a desktop. However, you can't expect desktop performance from something that fits in your pocket. Not yet anyway.

But, it is while away from the desk that it really rocks. I use it in the car when my wife is driving, in front of the TV during American Idol's many many commercials, waiting at the doctor's office, etc. In two weeks I have probably logged 16 hours on it portable and am more impressed as time goes on, rather than less.

I have the same feeling as the other reviewer regarding the resolution. It is right on the edge of where I can see it. When my eyes get a little tired, late at night, it takes a bit longer to focus them on it. But once they do, the screen is amazing. 1024x600 is awesome. Anything less than 1024 really won't do anymore. Most software and websites want that much these days, and I hate scrolling left to right.

Now, I titled this performance. Since Winows Vista has this nifty "Windows Experience Index", I believe that all PC makers' marketing stuff should tell you what this is for their machines so you can really compare one to another. For my VAIO, I get:

Processor: 2.9
Memory (RAM): 4.3
Graphics: 2.0
Gaming graphics: 2.7
Primary hard disk: 5.2

That Primary hard disk number is important, because I keep reading about how impressive this NAND drive is, performance wise. 5.2 is a great number. But just to compare:

My Dell laptop has a 7200rpm HDD and it gets 4.4
My Dell desktop (brand new) has a 7200 rpm HDD and it gets 5.3

So, significantly faster data transfer than the laptop (and, btw, most laptops come with 4200rpm drives which would be even slower) but about the same as a desktop. My point is that the NAND drive performance is impressive, but not revolutionary.

One last word, on battery life. I have gone from full to empty several times in the past few weeks. I never really timed it, but it seems like about 2 to 2.5 hours with just regular usage.

I've had a 380n (identical twin to the 390 but with a conventional hard disk) for about 2 months now, and am more impressed with it every week. Sony has made some major blunders with this machine, but they're fixable:

(1) The machine runs "okay" on Vista, beautifully on XP. If you're technical, rip out Vista and upgrade to XP. Sony won't help at all with the drivers, but you'll find them in a neat little package (along with a lot of friendly support) at micropctalk.com.

(2) Sony loads up the system with loads of Crapware. Uninstall it.

(3) Sony loads up the hard drive with a hidden recovery partition. If you're technical, create a backup disk (Sony says how, or buy it from Sony), then erase the hard drive and start over without the extra partition.

(4) Increase the display DPI setting to 150%. Makes everything bigger and more legible on the screen.

(5) Install "RitePen," a free and amazingly accurate stylus-to-text interpreter. Now you have a perfectly functional touchpad.

(6) Get an Igo bluetooth keyboard ($50). Now you have a fully-functional keyboard when you need to write that 20-page document.

Once again, a remarkable machine, with great potential. Go for it.

I just got my new Sony yesterday.

First impressions:

It feels amazing to have a whole Windows Vista machine in the palm of your hand. It's kind heavy though... it ain't no cell phone... don't plan to hold it up high for long periods.

The experience is what I think one day our cell phones will give us. In fact after a day with the machine, going back to my Windows Mobile 5 phone for a moment (HTC Hermes) felt like a major step back.

A cheapo case and the port replicator come in the box - so don't feel the need to add them to your cart.

I got the WiFi working immediately. Range seems to be good. Very nice to be able to connect to my main iTunes service and play music from the little device. Can't wait to try Google Earth.

I plugged a Cingular SIM card in with access to a data plan and I was running via my GSM/EDGE account within minutes. There's a lot of Cingular sign-up / activation stuff - I just skipped it.

The screen is very dense. You eyesight needs to be excellent to be comfortable. I just hit 40 and my previously excellent near vision is getting a little cranky. I feel like I'm on the edge of being a little stressed by how small it is..

I love the fact that it's a touch screen. This totally rocks. These days I find it really strange if I can't press a button on an LCD screen with my finger or a pen.

Vista sure comes with a LOT of extra stuff. A lot in a bad way. There's Corel Paint, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, etc. I started to wonder about all this when I saw that of the 32G of Flash there was only 7G or so left! Removing it takes a long time too - really long.

This is my first Vista machine. Now I get what the Apple v. Mac ads with the security guard are all about. Everything I want to do with /program files or /windows results in a pop-up. "someone wants to do X". Funny. And a little annoying when that someone is me.

Cameras seem servicable, but not great. Sadly I'm not going to be able to leave my actual camera at home. I'm sure it will be fine for Webcam / random snaps.

Performance subjectively seems pretty good. Eclipse bounces up and down OK.

Amazingly to me the fingerprint device works well. You don't need to type in your password to log in - just brush a fingers across the sensor and you're in.

Haven't checked DVD performance yet.

I got this machine so I didn't have to take my enormous laptop on a couple of trips I'm planning in March. I think this is going to work very well.

I always wanted the smallest possible computer. I owned an HP95LX and similar models, then graduated to the Toshiba Libretto that I absolutely loved, but in recent years there was nothing on the market small enough to attract me. I bought the Sony UX380 because it looked like the answer to my dreams. The unit I bought was mounted in a display that did not permit you to type on it or to do much more than just touch it. That was not an accident.
When I got this baby home, I was horrified to see all the unnecessary software that filled the harddrive. It took a long time to get that stuff off and then to install Office and One Note from Microsoft. I then took the UX380 on a business trip as my only computer. After the trip, I sold it.
I am an old guy. The screen resolution is fabulous, but it was just too darned small to work with. The zoom view is not helpful. If you zoom, you frequently can't enter data, so you have to keep going back and forth. Very irritating. The tiny keyboard is very hard to use. It is no where near as good as a Blackberry. You have no tactile response, so sometimes the letter does not appear, other times you get two or three. Two finger typing is the best you can hope for.
I love the idea of this machine, but I need a bigger screen. If you haven't looked at the Samsung Q1 tablet PC, you should. The screen is lower resolution but much easier for aging eyes to read. There is only a virtual keyboard, so you'll need to pick up an external one. It makes a definitely bigger package, but still quite friendly for travel. The Stowaway blue tooth or Samsung USB keyboards are both great.
I'll be using the Samsung until Sony or Toshiba come up with a tiny machine that I can really use.

I have read the reviews and talked to others, including my brother in law who got a free one and returned it.

Don't purchase this just because you wnat a small computer! Purchase it only if you need a small computer.

This computer offers everything I could possibly want, but only because Sony made a computer that you can carry on your belt without lowering your needs to carrying around a glorified hand held pocket PC or phone.

It is true that the screen is extremely small and fonts require me to put on my reading glasses. But how else can you put a fully functional computer into a 4.5 inch screen? It truly is as capable as Windows Vista can be on any computer that has a limited source of storage and memory.

I installed Windows 2007 Ultimate, Adobe CS2 and a library of bible software from Libronix. I still have 6 Gb of space available and purchased some Sony Duo memery cards at 4 GB each and have not yet needed them.

The computer does store a full back-up in hidden memory whivh cuts the 32 GB down quite a bit but when I did require restoring the system it came in handy.

This computer is for those who are on the go and can show presentations via Powerpoint by plugging it in at a remote work sight, connecting to meetings remotely or just wanting to read the newspaper while riding the bus to work.

As far as software, I always hate trial versions, but after installing Office 2007 I had no problem uninstalling the trial version and it went fairly quick. Why SQL Server? Well anyone who works in a professional environment knows the limitations of MS Access and will appreciate the SQL Server capability.

If you want a cute computer because it's small, then this is not for you! If you want a computer that is fully functional and able to connect to the Internet anywhere service is available, and if you are willing to work with the 4.5 inch screen as well as the two fingered keyboard, then seriously look into this model as it meets ebery expectation I had in fitting such a large package into such a tiny median.

If it was any larger I would not carry it with me every where. But I must add, even though I work in the IT field, this computer was purchased to meet personal needs, and that it does quite well if you understand the limitations Sony had to work with in making it so small.

It truly is a fully functional Windows Vista computer that will hook to you belt and every one thinks you are carrying some oversized cell phone or camera.

Just make sure you are prepared for the tiny fonts and limited screen capabilities. I had some trouble with CS2 buttons falling into an unviewable area and had to tab and guess at the function I was choosing.

It's really not meant for those who want cute, only those who want what this computer was really designed to provide...

The UX390N is a truly portable micro notbook in most of it's spec and features. The only problem to me is the disk space. SONY put too many junk 3rd party trial software in factory. Leave only 7GB free sapce. And also reserve 7GB to 10GB disk space for installer as hidden space. I had tried to remove the hidden installer for more disk space, but never can make it even SONY sent me a set of Installer DVD. Besides, you can only use fire wire DVD drive to do the wipe and reinstall task. Although I got everything just like the user's manual said, the wipe and reinstall software still can not remove anything. This is very annoying.

I would keep this ultra protable Notebook if the free space disk remain 10GB to 15 GB for me to store my files. Otherwise, it is more just like a internet browsing device which I can find some other in much lower cost. I guess my issue has something to do with Vista. Another office mate got a XP based UX notebook didn't have the same problem.

Also, SONY tech support could not help on this issue.

If you figure out how to clean up the UX390N disk, please post your know-how here! :)

So far so good - i am playing and learning. the system comes with an over abundance of programs and it takes a while to get all the extra junk off there - i only have 6gb of space until i get everything 'extra' cleared of. Battery life sucks - there is no other way to put it.

(+) very nice design
(+) touchscreen functions work well
(+) decent screen size. very nice screen with high resolution.
(+) provided accessories

(-) slow. needs cpu upgrade & faster disk. more RAM would be nice.
(-) weak antennas. needs "n" upgrade.
(-) have to carry peripheral devices, so defeat the small size.
(-) small & crampy keyboard. typing is hindered by the raised edge.
(-) feel thick in your hands. should be slimmer like the OQO-2
(-) I HATE SONY BLOAT WARES. had to format hard drive and reinstall everything (make sure you have all drivers when do so).
(-) short battery life. need extended battery.
(-) sliding screen scratches keyboard.


*** unless you absolutely are a technophile who love Sony products, i would not advise purchasing this UMPC. i had both this and the OQO-2. personally, i like the OQO-2 more. BUT i barely used these due to the slowness, the small screen size, and syncing data. having an EDVO-enabled WM cell phone takes away the ultramobility functionality of these UMPC.

Overall I am glad I purchased this device - others in my company are interested in it as well. This is a nice "all-in-one" device - computer/tablet, camera, (small enough to be a) PDA, media player; but it excels at none of these tasks. It IS a very cool device that most people can't believe is a full blown computer.

Some usability thoughts:
- You definitely have to look at the keyboard AND screen when typing.
- Since it is touch screen and not an actual "tablet" screen, the handwriting and other tablet functions are hard to use. But it is intuitive to just "touch" the screen to click on buttons, etc.
- The magnification function is fairly useless, so I remaped the buttons to "back" and "mute". Plus I set the middle mouse button to "stick Scrolling". Now web pages are quite nice to navigate (at only 600px high, you need to scroll web pages quite a bit).
- Battery life is pretty much as advertised when on the optimized setting - frequent sleeping and hibernating will help. I get almost 5 hours of actual useage with the extended battery.
- It fits fine into a cargo type pockets, not so well if you are wearing tight clothes, and a little heavy to hang off a belt unless it is pretty snug.
- It has OK/average speed running Vista, even with the "Aero" interface - similar to my 2 year old laptop. Probably would be zippier running XP.


Pros
- Hardware/special function buttons can be customized fairly well.
- While keyboard has very little tactile feedback, it is very comprehensive. Only needs a Shift key on the right side to be complete.
- Fingerprint reader is VERY helpful for logging in to Windows, web sites, email... no need to use keyboard then! :)
- It is portable enough to have with you "almost" all of the time.
- Solid state disk doesn't seem to slow down when it is "getting full", and no need to defrag (SHOULDN'T defrag, since SSD has limited # writes).
- The overall "feel" is very good - seems quite solid and robust, well built.
- Hi-res screen makes icons/pictures look really sharp.


Cons
- Hi-res screen makes icons/text really small. (I was able to make it pretty useable with Vista's large fonts - and you can disable this on individual programs that don't work well with large fonts!)
- Couldn't get Bluetooth to work with my older PDA.
- I will have to get a firewire DVD drive if I need to change/reinstall the OS.
- The quality of the two cameras is average (and lo res), and you have to remember to check the "focus switch" (near or far), as well as allow about 5 seconds between pictures, or 5-10 seconds for video capture to start (and about 30 seconds for camera application to actually load and be ready).
- As a PDA, it takes a long time to start up (basically same as a laptop). From hibernate it is about 30 seconds to logon. From sleep it is only about 3-5 seconds.
- And yes, lots of extra junk installed, although some appear to be utilities and tools for various functions of the device - I am unclear how much (apart from the obvious apps) I can uninstall. I was able to clear off enough that I could install Office 2007 Enterprise and a few other utilities, and still have 7 GB free (+1 GB for hibernate file).

It would probably be perfect if it had a 64GB SSD HD, 2 GB RAM, a discrete graphics chip, Core Duo CPU, higher res camera (with optical zoom), and some faster way to boot up. But I suppose it would be $4000+ then (of course that is close to what I paid for my first PC back in the day...). Something to look forward to in a few years, if this type of device can stick around. For today, I think this is pretty good, if a little expensve.

I really like the Sony UX-3x0N line of Ultra-Micro PC's.

Sony definitely improved on all the other ultra-micro PC's out there. Most followed the Microsoft "Origami" spec, which didn't include a keyboard (why?). Sony included a keyboard, but they didn't stop there. They added a fingerprint reader, two cameras, wireless WAN (via Cingular), an *extremely* bright display (the brightest I've ever seen - even in sunlight), Intel's latest ultra low voltage processor...

But wait, let's roll back the calendar to when Sony really annoyed its VAIO UX customers...

About a year+ ago, they released the UX180 line, which had a maximum of 512MB, and couldn't be upgraded. Still, a lot of people jumped on it. Within about four months, they released the UX280, which went up to 1GB, had a faster processor, faster video, and (I believe) had the same price. Many people were furious - that is, the people who bought the UX180. Wouldn't you be?

Anyway... So here we are in 2007. Althought the UX3X0 line still has a maximum 1GB ram limit, it does the job *really* well. The fingerprint sensor is fantastic. Once you use it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. If you use a Blackberry, you'll find that the Blackberry is actually easier than the Sony's keyboard - it's smaller, requiring less thumb travel. However, over time, it will become easier to use. Be sure to grab a Bluetooth mouse, though. Depending on your usage, a small bluetooth keyboard may be a wise choice. Perhaps Bluetooth stereo headphones? All are supported.

Now - on to the Crapware that Sony installs. Here's the big question - On a sub 1 pound PC, do you REALLY need Microsoft SQL Server 2005? Something tells me the answer is.. er... NO. Sony installs a TON of junk, including its media server, which uses SQL Server to store MP3 files and video. But that's the tip of the iceberg. Quickbooks lite (at a not too "lite" 900MB), multiple Cd burning apps, Napster software, and a bevy of rather large neutered applications - happily waiting for a credit card.

A "ultra-micro" system with a 32GB drive ends up with about 10GB free. This is because of the above software (the list above is only a subset), along with the 5GB "Management partition", which is also hidden. Here's another annoyance - the bluetooth stack. Instead of using the native Vista stack (which is *excellent*), they use the awful Toshiba stack, which installs about five services - and still can't pair with standard Bluetooth devices!! You can actually safely uninstall the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, and install ONLY the drivers. Vista will handle the rest. As for the 5GB partition, you can delete it, and extend your C: drive via the disk management console. If you aren't comfortable with this stuff, please backup your data and call Sony to have them walk you through the process. Or... have a qualified PC service technician handle the job.

To deal with all the garbage-ware, I recommend this application:
[...]

It's safe, clean, free for personal use, and does not include spyware, adware, trojans, etc. I am in *no* way related to this software, web site, programmer, etc. It's just a great tool that is updated (like antivirus software) with a signature database of commonly known garbage-ware. With this database, it cleanly removes the garbage.

Anyway, garbage-ware aside, I still give the Sony VGN-UX380N and UX390N systems a five star rating. The power management is excellent. They even provide a VAIO-specific extension to the standard Vista power management (which is already amazing). This supports components in the VAIO that don't exist in most systems (like the stylus reader). Also, there's an HD "3d" shock sensor, which can (supposedly) park the drive immediately before serious impact. Pretty slick.

In short, Sony has packed the latest cutting edge features into this VAIO - like 3d HD protection, power management that goes beyond Vista's extremely granular settings, solid state storage, etc. Many other manufacturers have done this with their laptops, but most laptops don't weigh under a pound.

Steve Hornby