Micro PC Talk enthusiasts create ultimate modded Sony VAIO UX
I think I speak for many of us when I say the Sony VAIO UX series was and is one of the great UMPCs and I for one was disappointed to see it discontinued. However, that hasn't stopped many dedicated owners from continuing to use and support it through a strong enthusiast community. In recent years many of the more adventurous and technically minded members have gone about modifying and improving the hardware of their Sony UX machines beyond the original Sony specifications.
One member of the Micro PC Talk forums, Anh Nguyen, has now significantly modified a VAIO UX490N, originally released in November 2007, incorporating virtually all of the different upgrades the community has devised into a single device. These modifications include upgrading the original 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Solo processor to a newer 1.33GHz Core 2 Duo processor overclocked to 1.438GHz, and replacing the stock 48GB SSD with a new 128GB RunCore Pro IV SSD. But the more in-depth changes involve the incorporation of a 3.5G wireless modem with full support for voice calls and texting, a new a/b/g/n wireless card, and the ability to quad-boot into Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows Vista Business, Windows XP Pro, and Mac OSX Leopard 10.5.7!
No benchmarks are currently available, but the device is said to be able to hit 57K in Crystal Mark, making it the fastest UMPC ever especially considering its size/weight! The combination of hardware features and ability to run four operating systems has created a truly unique device combining a phone, Mac, and PC all into a small package. This is a really amazing product of ingenuity and engineering skill, and all credit has to go to Mr. Nguyen and the Micro PC Talk community.
I highly recommend heading over to the MPCT forum thread to read and see more of this ultimate UX. Now the big question is could this and similar projects inspire Sony to revive the VAIO UX series? How many of you are still proud UX users who would like to see a next-generation version?
