Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:55

Sony refuses to call its latest 8-inch mini note — the Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC — a netbook. Why? It’s a far more capable device than most netbooks, which justifies its price (twice that of most netbooks), Sony officials say. And boy, are they wrong.

If by "capable" they mean "stuff you can get done with it," then you’re going to need to learn a lot of hot keys. Because the worst part of this netbook (yes, I called it that) is its mouse. It’s a pointing stick. A device this puny is hard enough to use in the first place, and poking a piece of rubber to make selections is just God-awful annoying. And for clicking, there are two wide, silver buttons beneath the space bar; they’re positioned so awkwardly you’re going to pray you never have to right-click.