Sony VAIO VGN-U50

Though it's an import item, the VAIO U50 is still covered by Sony's one-year warranty. Dynamism.com, the supplier of our test unit, covers the cost of shipping the unit back to Japan via FedEx if there's a problem that it can't fix. Dynamism also supplies toll-free telephone support Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT, as well as e-mail support and downloads on its Web site.

Mobile application performance  (Longer bars indicate better performance)

BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating

Sony VAIO VGN-U50

105 

Sharp Actius MM20

98 

OQO Model 01

53 

Battery life  (Longer bars indicate better performance)

BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes

Sony VAIO VGN-U50

163 

Sharp Actius MM20

148 

OQO Model 01

135 

System configurations:

OQO Model 01
Windows XP Professional; 1GHz Crusoe TM 5800; 256MB DDR SDRAM; Silicon Motion Lynx3DM; Toshiba MK2004GAL 20GB 4,200rpm

Sharp Actius MM20
Windows XP Home; 1GHz Efficeon TM 8600; 512MB SDRAM, Mobility Radeon 16MB; Hitachi DK14FA-40 20GB 4,200rpm

Sony VAIO VGN-U50
Windows XP Home; 900MHz Celeron; 256MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME 64MB; Toshiba MK2004GAL 20GB 4,200rpm