UMPC VGN-UX1XN

[LionelSaph]

IS ANYONE FROM SONY LISTENING?

So, today I got my handheld/Vista toting/UX1XN today. Lovely.
Hmmm...
"We strongly recommend to create recovery discs immediately after your computer is ready for use" so the Recovery Guide says.
I agree, always nice to be able to do a "Factory Reset" if something goes very, very wrong...as it WILL at some point, we're talking Windows here.
Anyway, it turns out that the VAIO Recovery Utility will ONLY write to a CD or a DVD... er, the device has no optical disk drive (too small for one), it has lots of USB/Bluetooth/Wireless/RJ45 adaptors, all capable of shunting data out of the device very nicely thankyouverymuch but to do as is "strongly recommend"ed you've got to go out and buy an external USB drive.
Great... BUY, yes, BUY another device just because Sony are too stingy to send you a DVD with the device AND install a third party device before attempting a backup; Compromise the Factory Software installation before even getting out of bed. (Premium rate) VAIO telephone Technical Support confirm this.
So any suggestions anyone as to how I can proceed?
I'm talking to you, Sony.

[tonybeard]

Welcome to the club,
I had a recovery disk with my old K215Z and it got me out jail many times. Yeah it is a pretty rude not having one if you don't have an optical drive but at the end of the day I wouldn't live without my 250 gig external drive and I've seen them for as little as £50.

[Thalamus.]

BUY, yes, BUY another device just because Sony are too stingy to send you a DVD with the device

Hi LionelSaph

welcome to Club vaio..

If Sony were to supply a Recovery DVD with the UX, what use would that be to you if you don't have a CD/DVD drive to use it in.. :smileygrin:

However when starting your Vaio, at the Sony logo press F10 repeatedly this normally would start the recovery process and allow you to recover your Vaio and application back to the factory settings..

[kee-lo_]

Bit of a catch 22 thing here really, you can't use a CD DVD because it doesn't have an optical drive, yet they want you to make the disks? Does it definately allow you to make it on a USB hard disk?

Why not back it up on your desktop PC/laptop?

[LionelSaph]

Well, thanks guys for the suggestions.
Having ranted, I begged an external drive and, WooHoo! created the necessaries.

It's a pretty fab device, I find the keyboard very usable (yes, small but...), the keys are a ever so slightly raised and firm to press so finger touch navigation is easy.
The US keyboard key faces cause a pause to think when typing my UK characters. Prior to login, a US key layout is in force but after login the keyboard layout changes to UK (logical, I suppose). This caused a bit of swearing as my (masked, of course) password worked when logging in but when typing my (still masked, of course) password to attach to another computer, it failed until I realised that a character had moved to a different key.

Anybody know how to define keyboard layout prior to login?

It handles nicely and the screen is pin sharp (yes, small but...), there appears to be plenty of desktop. It is easy to carry and that slidey screen is soooooo sexy.
I was trying to steer clear of Vista until SP1 but as there's no option I've dived in and some simple things take hours to find but others work smoothly, typical of a new MS OS.
I haven't yet tried any entertainment media yet so DRM hasn't yet raised its ugly head. The Gawdknowshowmanygigabytes of VAIO software will take some understanding but I'm sure it's all very worthwhile 😉
Once I have uninstalled the MS Office trial, Norton Trial, MS Works and done necessary updates, tried running Vista in as "Classic" a mode as I can find ... phew ... I shall enjoy and impress all my friends.
It really IS small and clever.

[Thalamus.]

Hi Lionel,

Glad you managed to burn your recovery disc's, also I have to agree with you the UX is a fab device..

[kee-lo_]

Well done on getting it backed up.

The UX is too small for me to use.

[99Wakey99]

Regarding the keyboard language (the keytops being engraved with US layout but you and I wanting UK, primarily for £ signs). I don't know if this helps you at logon but I think it might: -

Click the start button and type "regional" in the search box, then select "Regional and Language Options". Under "Keyboards and Languages" click "Change keyboards..." button. Add United Kingdom and United States-international Keyboards under the "EN English (United Kingdom) installed services. You can then switch between US (as engraved) and UK (shift 3 = £) keyboards at will. How? Click the "Advance Key Settings" tab and look at the "Hot keys for input languages". Key sequence "Left Alt+Shift" will switch between the two keyboard set ups.

So, shift 3 gives £, but after pressing "Left Alt+Shift" it gives #. I have just typed this on my UX1. Well, to be truthful I just typed it from a Remote Desktop Connection session on a full size Logitech keyboard and gazing at a 22 inch Iiyama monitor but the keyboard switch still works the same.

I've had my UX1 since February. It's still nice but an hour of reading this forum on the 4.5 inch screen just now left my eyes smarting. I have to carry a bank ThinkPad around as well so size was important. It has been great to have on planes, in airports and hotel rooms for watching films and doing email. Having all my documents with me as PDFs is comforting, although I'm now down to 4GB free space. Using it to show photographs to friends etc. in a bar or in the office can be quite fun. I've added a bluetooth GPS + Garmin MapSource, which is nice to have with you but not as good as my dedicated GPS.

Hope this works for you.