Sony VAIO UX180P Micro PC

**Ben74** · 06-08-2006, 03:02 AM

i am considering a car pc setup, and i discovered this gadget that's coming soon from sony.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...me=specs&var2=

http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/as...oks/ux_series/

looks like it would make a good car pc. it's got some sweet specs, and i like the fact that it would be easy to hide and/or remove from the car. i live in the city (SF) and i'm pretty sure any visible LCD would get my car jacked pronto. it comes with Streets and Trips preinstalled too.

thoughts?

**Puffanug** · 06-08-2006, 03:36 AM

Do some searching on here.. it's been covered....

**Ben74** · 06-08-2006, 12:57 PM

i did do a search. didn't find anything on the UX180P. it's not even out yet, so i doubt there are a ton of threads about it...

**Puffanug** · 06-08-2006, 01:05 PM

I meant there are a lot of threads talking about umpc units in general. There was a post on this Sony one, and I replied saying I would get one from work as soon as I could (for testing, wink wink). As soon as I do, I will do a detailed write up of what it can and can't do. I have seen these at the lab for months, they are neat. The screen is a little small, so text was hard to read, but i didn't change the font size or resolution yet. If anyone has specific questions on this product, let me know, I'll walk down the hall and ask the team that is working on it. Oh, in case you could not guess, yeah, I work for Sony...

**turbocad6** · 06-08-2006, 01:08 PM

the biggest concern will be visability in the daytime... if it has a transflective screen like pda's & cell phones then go for it... if it's the equivilent of a sony laptop screen it will suck during the day visability wise....

**billforde** · 07-20-2006, 12:46 AM

I am thinking of replacing my current CarPc setup with this. I figure i can leave the dock in my car, so that i can still use my 7 inch screen and usb devices.

**Rob Withey** · 07-20-2006, 02:17 AM

Sony Vaios

**Puffanug** · 07-20-2006, 01:10 PM

I aksed the engineers about it, it does have a transflective screen. I will try and get one from work and take it outside and see how the sunlight readability is...

**turbocad6** · 07-20-2006, 01:19 PM

yeah!!!

that would be the one thing that would make this super practical I would think...

**breaker021** · 07-20-2006, 01:31 PM

it's definitely a good candidate for in-car use but i, personally, like huge screens -
especially if you have to read a street name or highway name off of it - rather
than squinting, etc.

which is why i chose a tablet laptop for my setup. i considered going the
UMPC route (there are many sony models prior to the UMPC that are similar
in size, but are not labelled UMPCs) but i didnt like a lot of things about it.
screen size, battery life, no keyboard (i know there is an on screen keyboard),
and the price. why pay more $ for functionality that's not even equiv. to a
"decent" laptop?

the toughest thing i had to do in my implementation, which wasnt even that
bad at all, was figurin gout a way to mout the sucker. click on the link in
my signature to see what i've done - maybe it'll give you some ideas.

For example, psiek from scionlife.com has been running the following
setup in his scion xA for a while:

- sh00k