There are many reviews out there about this particular Sony Vaio. How it’s not a UMPC, about how gorgeous or how fast/slow it is, and specs galore. This mini review is not about all those. It will focus on my experience with the Sony Vaio in the sporting environment be it training sessions, competition environment, technique correction or notational assessment of a match as a single unit that does it all from capturing to analyzing.
First opinion, it is a nice piece of hardware to lug around. Its small size allows for easy storage in any gym bag, sports bag, or even a handbag. Surprisingly so, the speed of the system is not that bad, even when running on Windows Vista. It does the job well considering the fact its running on an Intel Core Solo. The small screen is gorgeous and easy to see in sunlight while the zoom functions works really nicely to help find the things you need. It is nice and comfortable to hold for long periods of time. The adapter to connect to a projector thru the port replicator connector is a nice touch that allows you to connect and still have the freedom to roam around the training area, provided you have a long cable.
I was able to use the Vaio in a training environment for fencing and wushu with Siliconcoach Pro. I found its camera a tad on the blur side but the overall anatomy of the athlete were very noticeable and this should create for a pretty accurate reading of angle of joints. However, I was unable to use it to calculate speed as even though this thing was light, my hand were shaking, hence, I was not able to produce a decent capture for valid calculations since this does not have image stabilization. I could barely see where the blade of the fencers was during the lessons. So this rules out the possibility of using the camera on this device for technique analysis. I highly recommend using a DV Camera with fire wire on a tripod to get the best result. However, since the 1394 connection is not built in to the body of the Vaio, it creates another problem. You will have to lug around the port replicator, which would be okay since the replicator is light and small enough, but for some reason, cannot run on the batteries of the Vaio UX. This will require you to have a power source nearby. Use of the DV Camera and additional power source defeats the purpose of portability in my opinion though.
If there was one thing I like, it was the touch screen capability. It’s a bit on sensitive side, but you can adjust it to your liking in the properties menu. I love using this Vaio for notational analysis. For those not in the know, notational analysis is basically match analysis. You get data for how many passes, shot on or off goal, attacking movements, defensive movements, and etc. The back camera was able to display great video (not as clear as a DV, but clear enough) to actual do on the spot tagging using Utilius VS. It was easily tagged using the touch screen and I found it to be a lot easier especially when using the customized mapping icons. In general, it was a breeze as I found I was able to tag faster than I would with a normal laptop. Be careful though as the hands get tired, the video capture quality is reduced.
Issues with the Vaio UX, if you have read the reviews, are of course with the battery life. If you are planning to get this baby for sports, be prepared with multiple spare batteries. One session of notational analysis will go on average for 90 minutes, or in fencing, the whole day. The battery while using Utilius VS or siliconcoach Pro and TimeWARP was a mere 1 hour 15 minutes. And that is if it is fully charged at 100%.
All in all, the Sony Vaio UX58GN is a nice machine to use albeit the cost of purchasing one. I find it useful in notational, but rather lack lusted in technique analysis and corrections. It is suitable for combat sports and football/soccer, but not for small and fast moving object like hockey ball. So if you're looking for a nice, expensive look to your equipment, you found it. But if you're looking for something that will optimize your athlete's performance, it does the job, but not too well.
Pro: Touch Screen, Small size, Portable, Very light, Port Replicator.
Recommended for: Notational Analysis
Con: Battery life, No fire wire on body, Camera Quality, Can't run port replicator without additional power.
Not recommended for: Techniques Analysis
