We finally have pricing details and specs for the much hyped and much talked about Sony Vaio P netbook. The design is, put simply, awesome and very impressive. The guys at Akihabara News were there first hand to witness the unveiling and called the overall design “stunning” and the keyboard “fully useable”, but weren’t completely comfortable with the pointing stick that replaces a more traditional touchpad.

The boot time was reportedly slow, but considering it is running Windows Vista, a hog on many desktops let alone netbooks, that isn’t too unsurprising, and Windows 7, the new “netbook optimized” OS by Microsoft, may be a better bet to install on the Vaio (or any other netbook for that matter). The long awaited list of specs are as follows,

- Microsoft Vista Home Premium
- Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz or Z530 1.6GHz or Z540 1.86GHz
- 60GB hard drive or up to 128GB SSD
- 2GB of RAM
- 8-inch UWXGA screen with a 1600×768 resolution(!)
- 802.11n, Bluetooth, 3G
- 1.3-megapixel camera
- 3-cell battery (4 hours life) or 6-cell battery (8 hours life, extra $129)

Much like Sony’s PSP and Playstation consoles, an instant-on feature is including that allows you to to load it up in “lite” Windows-free mode, just enough to give you access to your favourite web browser, music, or photos.

And the price? Well, here is the killjoy, as it is far above what you’d pay for the usual netbook. Pricing for 1.4lbs Sony Vaio P netbook begins at $899 and goes all the way up to a massive $1,499. The Vaio P is without doubt a hugely impressive netbook, but one has to wonder if the pricing will scare off what many look for in a netbook: a cheap, good value for money machine to do the basics on (web surfing, email, etc.).