Japanese Have a Better Lifestyle PC Than Americans

Sony's hottest new netbook appears to be showing more love to Japan than the states.

In the United States, Sony launched the VAIO Series P Lifestyle PC — an 8 inch notebook that weighs 1.5 pounds — at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. At the convention, Sony said the Lifestyle would be shipping with a 1.33GHz Atom processor.

However, Engadget spotted specifications in Sony's Japanese site that list two options for faster processor speeds for the Lifestyle — 1.6GHz and 1.83GHz.

What gives? Are we getting those options here, too? Sony provided the following e-mail statement:

We do not comment on future product roadmaps.... The P Series is the ideal companion PC, allowing users to take it with them anywhere and everywhere for the ultimate computing on-the-go experience. We wanted to make sure the balance between price and performance was fair and after rigorous testing the Intel 1.33Ghz processor seemed to be the ideal candidate.

That's an odd response that conflicts with what Sony told me at CES, where a spokesman said the Lifestyle was powered with a 1.33GHz Atom to address heating issues.

Then again, considering this is a puny 8-inch netbook, I can't imagine customers would care that much about whether they're getting a 1.83GHz or 1.33 GHz CPU. Still, options are always nice, right?

Hey Sony, where's the 1.86GHz VAIO P for America? [Engadget]____

See Also:

• Just Why Isn't the Sony Vaio P a Netbook?
• Sony Launches 'World's Lightest' 8-Inch Notebook (Not a Netbook)

Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com