Sony VAIO P 1.86GHz Atom Z540 Video Unboxing

One of the more frustrating aspects of Sony's VAIO P, at least in the US, is the sole 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor choice.  It was enough to concern us in our first impressions of the "not-a-netbook" ultraportable and, after benchmarks and real-world testing, enough to mount a sizable criticism in our final review.  Happily there are 1.86GHz VAIO P units available from importers, and one of those has landed with jkkmobile.Unboxing and demo video of the 1.86GHz Sony VAIO P after the cut

Of course, the downside is the price.  Japanese versions of the VAIO P have different base specifications, so it's not just a case of switching to the higher-speed Atom Z540.  If you want the same webcam, Bluetooth, keyboard and LAN/VGA adapter cable, you're looking at around $1,300 – that's with the basic 60GB hard-drive.  Figure another $170 for the 64GB SSD, or $460 for the 128GB, and there's no WWAN option as comes as standard on the US model. 

That's a lot of money for an ultraportable, especially one so obviously intended to be a companion device.  We're waiting to see full benchmarking of the faster CPU, but it's hard to believe – at importers prices – that the performance boost will be enough to justify the price difference.