Sony VAIO UX380N 4.5" Notebook - Core Solo U1500 1.33 GHz - Silver

Great ultraportable PC--just dump Vista

Strengths: Just like a regular PC--only tiny and extremely portable

Weakness: Vista (duh)

This is a really amazing ultracompact PC, but I'm no fan of Vista, especially when it drags down performance.

If you're at all technical, you can "upgrade" this PC to XP very easily. Go to the micropctalk.com forums for info on installing XP drivers.

By riredale - Oct 8, 2007

Sony VAIO VGN-UX380N

Strengths: Small, portable vista business os!

Weakness: battery life

Its a great product for the price. The battery life is short if you watching videos but then again its a small device. This device has a bright screen and a pretty high resolution !!!

By alex_ny - Oct 1, 2007

Sony UX 380N

Strengths: Small and Compact. EDGE support for WWAN so you can be connected to the internet anywhere.

Weakness: Slow. Lots of preinstalled software that slows down the computer. Pricey

Even though the computer is pricey compare to other computer with the same specs the UX380N is really small and so it can be easily carried during travel. The included WLAN and WWAN allow connectivity everywhere. The computer is slow as it has alot of software installed. You should delete the softwares to increase speed and space. Also I would recommend you to add warranty as it only comes in 1...
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Even though the computer is pricey compare to other computer with the same specs the UX380N is really small and so it can be easily carried during travel. The included WLAN and WWAN allow connectivity everywhere. The computer is slow as it has alot of software installed. You should delete the softwares to increase speed and space. Also I would recommend you to add warranty as it only comes in 1 year.

By patrickwong - Jun 6, 2007

A masterpiece of miniaturization, just be sure you really want/need it.

Strengths: Ultra Portability, Great screen resolution for its size, bluetooth, wifi, A/V out and most of the bells and whistles of its bigger cousins, dual-monitor capability, external dock comes with it.

Weakness: Sluggish, comes with loads of useless software, small hard drive, not enough memory, keyboard difficult to use, price of add-on components.

First thing's first. I personally feel this micro PC is a great piece of hardware, but.... You need to be absolutely sure it's something you can really use. So, bad news first. If you have short stubby/fat fingers, you'll find that it's an impossible task to "type" on the keyboard. Even if you have long, slender fingers, the keyboard might as well be the kind you see on cell phones. It's TINY....
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First thing's first. I personally feel this micro PC is a great piece of hardware, but.... You need to be absolutely sure it's something you can really use.

So, bad news first.

If you have short stubby/fat fingers, you'll find that it's an impossible task to "type" on the keyboard. Even if you have long, slender fingers, the keyboard might as well be the kind you see on cell phones. It's TINY. There's very little feedback from the keys to let you know you actually pressed one, and you absolutely MUST look at the keyboard while typing. It simply isn't possible to "touch type" with this micro, much less type quickly.

My biggest complaint about this machine is that the hard drive is simply too small. 10Gigs of the 40GB is reserved strictly for the system restore partition and data. On top of that, all the crapware that comes preinstalled on this in addition to Vista is another 15GB or so, which leaves you with a miniscule 10 to 15GB left to install YOUR programs and data... Not much to brag about.

I ended up ripping my 60GB iPod apart and swapping the drives out. If you decide to undertake this task yourself... Be forewarned... It's not for the faint of heart, and it certainly isn't an easy task. It's actually quite difficult because the connectors that bridge the components together are EXTREMELY delicate and impossibly fragile.

The memory really should have been at least 2GB on this little guy to cope with Vista's horrendous resource usage. However, the fact that it DOES accept a Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo means you can activate Readyboost and leave the stick installed if you use one of the shorties like what goes into the PSP. Get a 4GB one and use it all... There really is a marked improvement in speed.

The system is INCAPABLE of running Vista Ultimate, so... DO NOT waste your money trying to upgrade it with the "Anytime Upgrade" option. You'll be sorely disappointed.

Although I have yet to travel by air with it yet, I have to consider how the TSA baffoons recently treated the Macbook Air, I fully expect the local airport "security experts" to detain me for fear it's a self-contained bomb with a small brick of C-4 planted in it somewhere... But I'll travel with it anyway.

Accessory prices... They're astronomical. A new battery will set you back a fair stack of cash, not to mention another dock so you don't have to carry the one that comes with it back and forth to work, home and/or school. So be prepared if you want to expand its capabilities and convenience of ownership.

Finally, unless you can read microprint on U.S. currency, you're going to have difficulty reading the screen. It really does have a high resolution for its compact size, and that means microscopic pixels, which further means you're going to be holding this thing up REALLY close to read the LCD much of the time.

Now, for the good stuff!

This machine is an amazing piece of technology. It's light, extremely small and many people I've shown it to believe it to be a Windows CE/Mobile device (PDA) right off and I usually have to prove to them it really IS a full-featured PC, and not some half-breed bastardization of one.

It comes with a full-featured port replicator that will easily allow you to use an external monitor and have the LCD still active in a dual-monitor type setup.

The addition of a memory stick makes a dramatic improvement in the speed of this little guy. Make the investment, it's well worth it if you get this PC.

The built-in wifi and bluetooth means you can use it wirelessly with ease and sync/connect to your various bluetooth devices. This is a GREAT thing, and something that's definitely worth having for anyone that's constantly on-the-go.

You can easily change the screen orientation so that it's in page-view, or wide-view. Great for reading documentation and such if you're actually using this thing as intended.

As many reviews I've read for this thing so far have said... Be sure you REALLY have a use for this PC. It's not something you can game on, so don't expect to load up half-life or Doom/3 on it and get anything playable. This is a purpose-built business PC, and it's a perfect fit in that role for those who really are always on-the-go.

Final thoughts... Create the restore DVD's then restore it without the system-restore partition. Keep the discs in a VERY safe place, as Sony *DOES NOT* offer key software for download that is required to regain full-functionality (fingerprint reader in particular).

Uninstall all the crap-ware from the system, then install all the updates from Microsoft and Sony (especially the BIOS!) Then, use the Vista backup utility and make a full "ready-to-go" image of the system. Use an external USB hard drive and when you have to restore it, you'll save HOURS getting it back to a usable state again if something should happen and you need to reformat it.

Get it and enjoy the hell out of it!

By rav3n - Apr 7, 2008

Sony is heavy and keyboard is difficult to use

Strengths: Screen is bright

Weakness: Weight, keyboard, screen size is small.

I got a the UX380 about two months ago and I find the keyboard horribly difficult. it actually curves up on the side of the device. It has WWAN, but beware, it is not 3G, but rather Edge on ATT/Cingular and is quite slow. I bought an OQO model 02 last week and it is much better. It is lighter, sleeker and the keyboard is much easier to use and the layout is more intuitive. Also, it has WWAN from...
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I got a the UX380 about two months ago and I find the keyboard horribly difficult. it actually curves up on the side of the device. It has WWAN, but beware, it is not 3G, but rather Edge on ATT/Cingular and is quite slow. I bought an OQO model 02 last week and it is much better. It is lighter, sleeker and the keyboard is much easier to use and the layout is more intuitive. Also, it has WWAN from Verizon and Sprint. I got the Verizon embedded module and it is EVDO mobile broadband from Verizon. Great product and really better value for the money than the sony UX series.

By qtip; - Aug 21, 2007