T-Mobile Germany will begin selling the entry-level Sony Vaio P (1.33GHz, 60GB HDD) for 599 euros including 19% VAT with a two-year web'n'walk Connect L data contract. The retail price of the P in Germany is 999 euros, so although the long-term cost is higher because of the recurring contract fee and the P is the most expensive of T-Mobile's subsidized PC selection (see screen capture below), the upfront savings of 400 euros is pretty significant.
First shipments are expected in April.
This isn't the first time a carrier has been involved with the Vaio P, as Verizon Wireless offers a $200 rebate to US users who sign up for or extend their VZW Mobile Broadband contracts, but it is the first time that the Atom-based mini notebook will be sold directly through a carrier. If Sony didn't cripple the Gobi WWAN chipset's functionality in the American models and make an HSDPA hack necessary, maybe T-Mobile USA would've been next in line.
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I don’t remember the Gobi chip supporting the 1700MHz band that T-Mobile USA uses for 3G. Even the latest release I found for Gobi (Feb 2009) only mentions additional frequencies in the 800-900MHz range. I still cannot believe T-Mobile chose a completely different band for this.
I played with a Sony P at the Sony Store in San Francisco and I think the device is lovely. I just wish it had a backlit keyboard.
I spent 6 years in Freidburg, GE.
Discuss:
Hmm. I always assumed that people following the HSDPA hack/mod in the forum were using ATT and T-Mobile SIM cards, but in looking at the thread again, I see that only ATT is mentioned by people sharing their success. Surely *someone* who performed the mod is on T-Mobile and in a 3G area, right?
I doubt it, there’s so little HW support for 1700 so far, not to mention the network isn’t that great yet either.
So when will TmoUSA start offering these …books??
Not much DARK BLUE (3G) here http://coverage.t-mobile.com/default.aspx
Click on DATA COVERAGE!