Hands-on with Sony’s UX50 handheld PC

Sony has recenltly took the wraps off its UMPC, Vaio UX50. At a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, some lucky people had a chance to try out the latest Sony baby. The cutesy contraption is about the size of your garden-variety paperback book so it could fit easily in your bag or even jacket. As for the operating system, it runs the full Windows XP based on Intel Centrino processors.

The thingamajig is adorned with a 4.5in LCD with touch screen features. But if you don’t feel like it, you could always slide it up and it will reveal a QWERTY keyboard which is backlit that makes it suitable for using it in dimly-litted atmosphere.

Unfortunately, there has been feedback that the QWERTY keyboard is quite challenging to use. The entire keyboard measures 12cm wide which could lead to lots of typos in the long run. The position of the “Enter” key at the far right of the keyboard made it difficult to press maybe because the testers were disoriented about the keyboard setup.

As for its screens, it has 1,024 x 600 pixels resolution so full-screen web browsing is possible, but would be difficult for those with poor eyesights. According to the tester “everything in the Windows menus and input boxes was readable — nothing was so small that it became a mush — but I did find myself squinting at some things.” The zoom buttons on the Vaio UX50 was a great help, but its presence only shows how small things can be.

The same tester further added that “it’s difficult to hold the UX50 in your hands and not be impressed with the amount of technology crammed into it. It compares favorably with Samsung’s Q1 ultra mobile PC, which is based on the recently launched Origami platform, and will definitely draw looks when you use it in public.”

This baby will go on sale in Japan on May 27 and in the U.S. in July. In Japan it will cost around ¥170,000 (US$1,547) and in the U.S. will cost about $1,800. I could hear piggy banks breaking.

Sony has recenltly took the wraps off its UMPC, Vaio UX50. At a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, some lucky people had a chance to try out the latest Sony baby. The cutesy contraption is about the size of your garden-variety paperback book so it could fit easily in your bag or even jacket. As for the operating system, it runs the full Windows XP based on Intel Centrino processors.

The thingamajig is adorned with a 4.5in LCD with touch screen features. But if you don’t feel like it, you could always slide it up and it will reveal a QWERTY keyboard which is backlit that makes it suitable for using it in dimly-litted atmosphere.

Unfortunately, there has been feedback that the QWERTY keyboard is quite challenging to use. The entire keyboard measures 12cm wide which could lead to lots of typos in the long run. The position of the “Enter” key at the far right of the keyboard made it difficult to press maybe because the testers were disoriented about the keyboard setup.

As for its screens, it has 1,024 x 600 pixels resolution so full-screen web browsing is possible, but would be difficult for those with poor eyesights. According to the tester “everything in the Windows menus and input boxes was readable — nothing was so small that it became a mush — but I did find myself squinting at some things.” The zoom buttons on the Vaio UX50 was a great help, but its presence only shows how small things can be.

The same tester further added that “it’s difficult to hold the UX50 in your hands and not be impressed with the amount of technology crammed into it. It compares favorably with Samsung’s Q1 ultra mobile PC, which is based on the recently launched Origami platform, and will definitely draw looks when you use it in public.”

This baby will go on sale in Japan on May 27 and in the U.S. in July. In Japan it will cost around ¥170,000 (US$1,547) and in the U.S. will cost about $1,800. I could hear piggy banks breaking.