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Comment by dijit | Hacker News Reader

That laptop certainly looks revolutionary. But while we're on the subject of Sony ultra-portables: I am a little sad that there's been no update to the Sony VAIO P-Series of laptops which are literally pocket sized.

I had one, and aside from the screen refresh it was so crazy how absurdly portable it was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Vaio_P_series

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I really loved mine. The screen was actually fine, the main issue was that it used a Z series atom, with a powerVR gpu cribbed from early smartphones and absolutely abysmal performance. The screen was high quality, the system just couldn't refresh it worth a damn and stuttered on even 480p youtube

I would pay more than they want for that new Psion or the GPD pocket 2 for an updated vaio p with just a modern atom, or basically the specs of the GPD win. The rev2 with the trackpad on the screen glass was basically the perfect form factor.

I can't believe these still sell for what i paid for mine in 2011~ when it was barely old, which was about $400

The whole market for such flatlined as smartphones ascended, it seems.

Also, these days Vaio is no longer a part of Sony and thus likely can't chase niche markets as much.

Boy, i loved those! I remember browsing lots of japanese and hongkong sites to find one with EU-shipping. Does anyone know similar current devices?

There's a couple recent products that hit similar niches:

GPD Pocket: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-pocket-7-0-umpc-lapto...

GPD Win 2: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-win-2-handheld-game-c...

Ockel Sirius A: https://www.ockelcomputers.com/sirius-a/

I have the original GPD Win, and it's a surprisingly competent PC for being roughly the size of a Nintendo 3DS XL. The keyboard is terrible for typing on, but that's kind of expected with its gaming focus.

I got a pocket... the keyboard lets it down a bit, I hanker after the Psion 5 keyboard.

Unfortunately the team trying to bring back something like the Psion are the same people who are not bringing the Spectrum Vega to its backers, but instead seem to be spending the backers money on frivolous lawsuits.

I have a GPD Pocket too, and I concur with you - the keyboard is one iteration away from being acceptable. But, is it not still a kick-ass machine? I really love mine, and I look forward to any revision we may see from GPD in the future - and/or competition along similar lines. Finally a decent unibody not of Apple heritage!

What made the vaio killer was that it's super wide width allowed for an almost-normal keyboard(think 12in powerbook or old ibm X series, not some super micro thing like very small japanese laptops usually have). I wanted to love the pocket, but the keyboard just looks so awful comparatively

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