VAIO P : Yes the Vaio P70 has a Dual Core CPU (Hyper Threading), and Yes It Sucks with Windows 7 Score!

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 11:51 by bakavirus
Home Page:
If I may offer some words..
The z520 processor IS indeed a single core.
Vista is reading the hyper threading as an extra core.

Also, benchmarks do not usually reflect real world use. Please provide more thoughtful impressions before being so quick to condemn.
Eg. Impressions of responsiveness in windows 7 and Xp using day to day applications.

Sincere regards,
Bakavirus

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 11:52 by Badeu, ASIC Designer, Paris, France
Home Page: http://m-del.net
The Atom Z520 is not dual core but hyper-threaded, it's detected as two distinct CPU by the operating system but it's only a trick as old Pentium 4 was.

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 12:45 by timothy, Canada - Freezing Cold -20celcius.
Home Page:
^I'm pretty sure Badeu is correct. Performance monitor only thinks it is dual core, but just like P4 it is not. I could be wrong. I don't think Vaio P could run a dual core since it is passively cooled, with no CPU fan.

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 03:06 by DrEvil
Home Page:
Sad that its only hyperthreading and that the performance sucks so much

I handled one in Yodobashi Camera yesterday and it was so light and nice to hold. What a pity! Maybe only WinCE will run ok on it?

(or Linux!!)

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 03:29 by gs
Home Page:
did the 1.9 on windows 7 happen to be caused by a low Disk Data Transfer Rate? if so its a common issue on W7 and can be solved by disabling write caching on the drive

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 05:00 by Daimaou, Survivor, Tokyo - Japan
Home Page: http://www.akihabaranews.com
The 1.9 was caused by the HDD and the CPU which both had a 1.9 Mark

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 05:39 by Neil, Attorney, Arlington, VA USA
Home Page:
ouch !!!!
You just made a dummy of yourself

IT IS NOT DUAL CORE

check with INTEL if you dont believe us.

Hyperthreading may give 2% performance improvement - where as a real Dual Core Atom would give a 50%+ improvement.

Your readers deserve an appology.....

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 05:41 by Neil, Attorney, Arlington, VA USA
Home Page:
However

I do agree with your test results as it performs at the correct level for an Atom 1.3 running Vista with a 4200RPM hard disk drive.
Big mistake Sony - needed XP

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 06:38 by kanjikai
Home Page:
Again, this "review" does not give the reader and idea about real daily performance.

Fortunately, some good thech sites know how to test a computer.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4795

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 08:10 by dual_core, Haifa
Home Page: http://what-is-what.com/what_is/dual_core_processor.html
Who would put Window 7 on a Vaio anyway? Sony is a crap company that cares nothing for it's customers. Of course they give us crap.

Posted on Wed Jan 21, 09:31 by Virtua, Uk
Home Page:
I think Windows 7 should be completely discounted on the basis that it is BETA and nowhere near finished. Not far to MS or Sony.

There is a 1.6ghz atom available which will run Vista ok. The 1.8ghz chip is priced at a premium compared to the other chips too

And for the SSD - there is a 64gb version.

SSD is expensive - but this SSD is fast and with a first in the sense of 128gb being available.

Sony isusually more expensive than other brands - but opting for 1.6ghz and 64gb ssd will give the speed at a more affordabe price.

Posted on Thu Jan 22, 12:54 by Badeu, ASIC Designer, Paris, France
Home Page: http://m-del.net
I'm sorry to insist but you can't say "Dual Core CPU (Hyper Threading)", cause it's not an hyper-Threaded Dual Core CPU.


I will try to explain this with my poor english :

Let's imagine a simple CPU with one ALU and one FPU, in an hyper threading CPU, when an instruction uses the ALU, the FPU is free so the CPU will execute another instruction that only need the FPU if one is available, not dependant from the first instruction computed at the same time and will not impair with his computing.

Because it's not common, it explains why Hyper-Threading improves performance by 2%.

In an OS view, you are able to execute two instructions in the same time when it's possible, so it detects the CPU as two distinct CPU which it is not.

In a simple dual core CPU, you have two units of each (two ALU, two FPU, etc.), twice the amount of registers, so you can really load and execute two contexts at the same time, and it explains why a real dual core can reach a theorical improvement by 100%.

Posted on Thu Jan 22, 04:52 by disgrunteldreader
Home Page:
I think your readers deserve an apology..

Posted on Fri Jan 23, 12:38 by Whereistheapology
Home Page:
It cant take that long to confirm that it is a single core CPU
Please apologise and correct your article ASAP as it is very misleading.

Posted on Fri Jan 23, 01:15 by Keepthetrollinacage, Tatooine
Home Page:
Checking that the Atom Z520 is indeed single core should take only a couple of minutes.

Why would you persists in your error? This put a bad light on all your other reviews.

Also :
"The ATOM CPU sucks big time unless properly integrated like on the Ion platform (NVidia), and how dumb are Intel folks for not providing a similar experience, if NVidia did it how hard can it be"

How can you say that when the ion platform have not been released so far to any devices?

IMO this all look like some fanboy trolling in some bad forum.

Posted on Fri Jan 23, 02:47 by CurryToa, Student, Canada
Home Page:
just a slight mistake, nothing serious
why so serious?
anyways...the main point is that the P does not match the price tag base on its performance. Its not intel, sony, or any manufacturers' fault except the people who buy the P just for its looks, unless they are rich and have money to blow on luxurious items.

Posted on Sat Jan 24, 09:07 by Chainb
Home Page:
It is not just a slight mistake, the whole article is filled with misinformation, it does not lend well to the credibility of this site.
It is also insulting to many of the regular readers as it leads us to believe the author is too ignorant to consider his readers. This mistake should be fixed and an apology would be nice...

Posted on Tue Jan 27, 06:18 by Yuri
Home Page:
Daimaou, could you share screenshots showing Windows 7 ratings on P70? Those four you've posted above are all from Vista Home Basic and don't include detailed scores.