Welcome! Thanks for stopping by; this is a page for news and resources for the Sony VAIO PictureBook PCG-C1MV/M, PCG-C1MW, etc. News on them will go here; news on the C1VN and like models will still go here.

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Looking for the C1VN info? - Check out the all singing, all dancing, possibly world's best C1VN site.

News

4200RPM 100GB Drive Coming  April 22nd, 2004
  - David Watson notes this Toshiba press release. Thanks David!

Linux On The U101  May 25th, 2003
  - Matthew Miller notes his U101 Linux site. Thanks Matthew!

Sony TR...PictureBook Replacement?  May 14th, 2003
  - Kawin notes the appearance of a small(ish) Sony notebook with a camera. Sony, followup. Thanks Kawin!

7200RPM 60GB And 80GB 5400RPM 9.5MM Hard Drives Coming  May 14th, 2003
  - This summer, Hitachi unleashes the first 7200RPM notebook drive and an 80GB 5400RPM drive. Of course, I just ordered a 60GB 5400RPM drive...

Slack Demand For Vaios  May 9th, 2003
  - Buddy notes an article giving some reasons why Sony may have dropped the PictureBook. Thanks Buddy!

U101 Celeron Articles  May 4th, 2003
  - A News.com.com one and one from The Inquirer.

Sony R-Engine MPEG2 Linux Project  April 29th, 2003
  - Felix notes the new Sony R-Engine MPEG2 Linux project. Thanks Felix!

Tiny Tablets? PictureBook Replacement Rumor  April 6th, 2003
  - Ken Yashida sez Sony is replacing the PictureBook with a small Tablet PC. Thanks Ken!

PictureBook Victim Of Spring Cleaning?  March 29th, 2003
  - "sknyski" notes the Sony US site has 'No Picturebooks listed in "Ultralight mobility" section of web site. MW1 in "clearance" section.' Thanks sknyski!

Intel Plans Linux Support For Centrino...Maybe...Sometime  March 24th, 2003
  - This news.com.com story notes Linux support is working in an Intel lab, but release it, they may not.

U101 Celeron Misunderestimated  March 12th, 2003
  - Ken Nishikatsu notes the real story WRT this particular Celeron. See chart, Japanese story. Thanks Ken!

Sony Room, Er, U 101  March 12th, 2003
  - Says it comes with a...Celeron?? See it here.

MZX And U3 Go To Boot Prompt Hill  February 12th, 2003
  - (Name withheld in case Sony has a fit) says "the C1MZX and the U3 have been discontinued in Japan this week." Is Sony getting ready to launch a Centrino PictureBook March 12th? Thanks ...!

Build A Driveable Computer  January 23rd, 2003
  - Mark Comeaux (President) notes his mobile mounts, stands, glareguards, etc. for notebooks and PDAs Interactive Products. Thanks Mark!

Is This The Next PictureBook Camera?  January 9th, 2003
  - New Sony PDA has a tiny, rotating, 2-megapixel camera.

Hitachi 20/40GB, 1.8Inch Hard Drives  January 7th, 2003
  - allNetDevices says they will be available in April. Good news for U1/U3 owners.

New Stick Not Same As Old Stick  December 27th, 2002
  - Sony creates new, incompatible, higher capacity memorystick. I guess we'll see readers for these on new PBs whenever they are announced.

Crusoe Monitoring Utility  December 4th, 2002
  - "paulnerd" notes a Windows util for monitoring the Crusoe for a tablet; may not work on the PictureBook. Thanks Paul!

Move Over Lara, Now You Can Have Your Own PictureBook-powered Robot  November 10th, 2002
  - A US$599 robot kit to which you have to add a laptop here; Forbes review (free reg req'd) here.

Linux SPIC Daemon  November 6th, 2002
  - Prakash Shetty notes a Sony VAIO SPIC daemon here. (I have not tried it) Thanks Prakash!

Doing 80. Gigabytes, That Is.  November 6th, 2002
  - "stone" notes IBM has noted its ability to make 80gb drives in early 2003. Articles: one, two, three, four. Thanks stone!

Patch for LongRun on RedHat 8  October 27th, 2002
  - Des Johnston points you to this patch for LongRun on Red Hat 8. Thanks Des!

C1MW Review  October 8th, 2002
  - The review and Slashdot discussion of it.

What Do U3 Think You're Doing With Your Thumbs?  September 9th, 2002
  - Fabien Musty notes the Sony Japan U3 site. Thanks Fabien!

Sony And Nissan Unleash The Z  September 9th, 2002
  - Fabien Musty notes the Sony Japan C1MZX site. Thanks Fabien!

The Brussels Connection  September 9th, 2002
  - Fabien Musty is now doing Japanese laptops import as GWSD/Audioneird in Brussels. Good luck Fabien!

Linux on a U1  August 26th, 2002
  - Francois Gurin notes his Linux install instructions. Thanks Francois!

C1MW Linux Tips  August 20th, 2002
  - "Arctic Wolf" notes "The proper boot option is the following. ide2=0x180, 0x386 pci=conf2" and the sound option is "Trident 4DWave DX/NX, SiS 7018 or ALi 5451 PCI Audio Core". Thanks Arctic Wolf!

"One of these days I gotta get myself organizized." -- Taxi Driver  August 20th, 2002
  - Beverly Howard shares his method to Catalog Photographs using a PictureBook. Thanks Beverly!

Fix For ALi In 2.4.19-ac4  August 5th, 2002
  - Jörg Träger notes 2.4.19-ac4 has a fix for C1MV, C1MGP, etc. version PictureBooks, so no more (special) patching required. Thanks Jörg!

Seek You In September  July 31st, 2002
  - "squid" notes Toshiba's 60GB 5400RPM 16MB Cache 9.5MM hard drive 'available' beginning in September. Thanks squid!

Linux C1MGP  July 29th, 2002
  - Kai Engbert posted some information about Linux on the C1MGP and information on boot floppies for installing Red Hat 7.3. Thanks Kai!

Low Resale Value :-)  July 28th, 2002
  - The Inquirer notes a store "selling" C1VE models "faux" only 76GBP.

C1MV Framebuffer Mode Lines In Linux Kernel Patch 2.4.19rc3-ac2  July 23rd, 2002
  - Add Vaio C1MV mode lines to radeonfb.

MS XP Fix For PB Camera and Windows Messenger  July 19th, 2002
  - Cannot Use Sony VAIO PCG-C1MRX Internal Camera with Windows Messenger After You Apply Q316397. Thanks Dunqan!

5400RPM Drive Install/Case Mod  July 18th, 2002
  - A SteveBarr.com exclusive ;-) right here.

60 Gigs  July 18th, 2002
  - Fujitsu (German) and Toshiba.

Sony Goes Banias Over Intel?  July 18th, 2002
  - The Inquirer mentions rumors Sony may switch to Intel for the next PictureBook.

Design Technica On The C1MW  July 5th, 2002
  - Short article here.

W's Favorite PictureBook  July 5th, 2002
  - Zak Gulzar notes arrival of 867MHz C1MW to America's shores. Thanks Zak!

867MHz in the Haus! And Flat! And...  June 28th, 2002
  - Gabriel Chin notes the C1MAH Traditional Chinese 867MHz model; Fabien Musty notes the 867MHz C1MHP for Europe (French, UK, and German versions) at 3099 Euros with an August release date. Thanks Gabriel and Fabien!

Slow News Week  June 27th, 2002
  - Looks like Evan Williams, of Blogger fame, has a PictureBook (click last (7th) image).

Toshiba 40gb 5400RPM  June 18th, 2002
  - Wadim Belentschikow notes Toshiba has announced a 40GB 5400RPM 9.5MM disk drive. Thanks Wadim!

Windows 2000 on a C1MV  June 18th, 2002
  - Comply with corporate standards or whatever with these instructions.

Linux Has The BlueZ  June 8th, 2002
  - Roberto S. Tyley notes the Linux Bluetooth instructions and info. Thanks Roberto!

US Version of 867Mhz PictureBook  June 6th, 2002
  - Paul ("Paz") on the PB forum notes Micro Warehouse has a Sony VAIO Picturebook C1MW TC for sale. Thanks Paz!

60GB, Some Waiting  May 15th, 2002
  - Toshiba has announced a 60GB 4200RPM 9.5MM disk drive No word on a 5400RPM one. Thanks Umit!

Frijoles Returns  May 7th, 2002
  - Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List. Thanks Kevin!

Party Like It's 2000  May 7th, 2002
  - Dave's site on running Windows 2000 on a C1MV. Thanks Dave!

Sony Does OQO?  May 3rd, 2002
  - There's been press speculation Sony might be one of the makers of the OQO.

Frijoles Status  May 3rd, 2002
  - Kevin Lussie notes he lost the frijoles.com domain name; reach the site here. Thanks Kevin!

Suspend/Resume Linux Success  May 3rd, 2002
  - Read Bruce Howard's description of it for his C1MRX here. Thanks Bruce!

Sony C1MSX  April 18th, 2002
  - Fabien Musty (etc. etc.) new PictureBook Sony VAIO PCG-C1MSX. Soon the Port Replicator will be larger than the PB itself. Thanks Fabien!

Sony PB in Singapore  April 16th, 2002
  - Henning Reinhardt draws your attention to CNetAsia review of the Sony VAIO PCG-C1MT. Thanks Henning!

Two Rough Guides To Linux  March 26th, 2002
  - Drafts from Bruce Howard (Red Hat) and Michael Dreher (SuSE)! Thanks Bruce and Michael!

8 Page Review  March 22nd, 2002
  - Fabien Musty, taking a break from foiling international terrorism, points you to this 8 page C1MT review. Thanks Fabien!

Kondara Linux on a C1MRX  March 19th, 2002
  - Leigh Dyer draws your attention to Japanese install instructions here, XF86Config-4, and a cool screenshot. Thanks Leigh!

C1MRX Linux/X Success Story  March 17th, 2002
  - Michael Dreher notes his Linux/X success on a C1MRX. Thanks Michael!

C1MRX HD Swap  March 13th, 2002
  - "Kona Addict" points you to a Japanese site (with pictures) of a C1MRX HD Swap. Thanks Kona Addict!

C1MGP For EU  February 23rd, 2002
  - Fabien Musty (investigative journalist) points you to Sony Europe's: C1MGP (Be sure to rock the house with the MPEG2 Encoding flash). Thanks Fabien!

C1MRX MPEG2  February 12th, 2002
  - Japanese text, but lots of pictures: C1MRX (multiple pages).

C1MRX PDF  January 31st, 2002
  - This link brought to you by Fabien Musty: C1MRX. Thanks Fabien!

Linux On C1MRX - The Saga Continues  January 25th, 2002
  - Bruce Howard on getting Linux on the new C1MRX

A Look Inside  January 19th, 2002
  - Cybalion goes under the cover of the C1MRX. (Japanese)

New PictureBook Prices  January 16th, 2002
  - What a difference a year (and a recession) makes C1MV Prices

First Linux/OpenBSD Report  January 16th, 2002
  - Bruce Howard has a go at putting a *nix on the new C1MRX Thanks Bruce!

Sony's Updated C1MV Page  January 11th, 2002
  - Jesse Vince-Cruz points us to Sony's new and improved C1MV page. Thanks Jesse!

Kickin' It Taiwan Vaio Style  January 7th, 2002
  - Fabien Musty (again^2) points us to a Chinese review of the C1MR here with many images (and ideograms). Thanks Fabien!

Quick Start Guide  January 3rd, 2002
  - Fabien Musty (again) points us to Sony's guide for the C1MV pdf. Thanks Fabien!

Japanese, But With Pictures  January 3rd, 2002
  - Fabien Musty points us to ASCII 24's C1MRX review page 1 page 2, which in turn leads us to Sonystyle Japan link and AV Watch Review one and two. Thanks Fabien!

No Business Like Slow Business  December 3rd, 2001
  - Not much news a-poppin', folks. If Sony or Transmeta sends me a test unit, I'll let you know all about it. ;-)

Hexallent Six-way Memory Card Reader  December 3rd, 2001
  - The Y-E DATA Hexa Media Drive YD-8V14 reads memory sticks, and: "This product does not support any copyright protection."

Rumor No More: New PictureBooks Delayed  November 14th, 2001
  - The bad news and 1GHz speculation from The Register and just news from CNET.

Rumor: New PictureBooks May Be Delayed  November 12th, 2001
  - Ken Nishikatsu says Sony is delaying the Japanese launch until Jan 2002. The Inquirer says delays may be due to Taiwanese mfg. probs. Steve wonders if somebody got fired for not buying IBM.

Intel Compiles Crusoe Speedup  November 9th, 2001
  - New Intel compiler for Linux helps Crusoe; see story on Slashdot Thanks Bram!

The Big, Quiet Type  November 7th, 2001
  - IBM releases 40GN: 40gb 9.5mm quiet drive: press PDF spec

Transmetazone on C1MV  November 7th, 2001
  - Transmetazone article

New C1 Forums  November 3rd, 2001
  - Mr. Bojangles multiple C1 forums

December Due Date  October 29th, 2001
  - Jonathan Bojangles notes Sony says the new PictureBook will be available in the US in December. Thanks Jonathan!

US Press Release For New PictureBook  October 15th, 2001
  - "Sony has taken the new PictureBook model to the next level," said Mark Hanson, vice president and general manager of VAIO PC marketing.

New PictureBook Released In Japan  October 12th, 2001
  - Various Sony Japan Links (in Japanese): here, here, here, here, and here

New PictureBook?  October 3rd, 2001
  - "Mr. Bojangles" on the Web Forum notes that eCOST has interesting specs for a "PCG-C1MV." Dance, er, thanks Mr. Bojangles!

C1MV/M Specs

  - Sony web page and PDF.

  - Sony picture here
Highlights
Crusoe processor 733MHz (around 667MHz Celeron equivalent? Tests will tell.)
20GB hard drive
256MB DDR SDRAM
8.95" 1280x600 display driven by 8MB ATI Mobility Radeon-M
2.2 lbs. (1kg)
Integrated video/still camera
1 CardBus PC Card slot
Port "replicator" with Ethernet, VGA out and Video Audio Input / Output

Linux

Linux Links
  General
    - Security starters: Bastille Linux and Jay Beale's Linux/Unix Security Page
    - Linux on Laptops
    - Linux USB page
    - TuxMobil v3.10 Linux-Mobile-Guide German version
    - Linux Documentation Project web site
    - XFree86 ATI Documentation for 4.0.3
  PCG-C1MV* PictureBook Specific
    - Bluetooth instructions and info
    - Sony Programmable I/O here.
    - The Sony Vaio PCG-C1 Picturebook Project page
    - LongRun for Linux: FTP it from here
    - Motion Eye Camera software
    - Japanese instructions for Motion Eye Camera, LongRun, etc. here
  Debian
    - Joey Hess
    - Kryz
    - Felix Groebert
  Kondara
    - Japanese install instructions here, XF86Config-4, screenshot, install command line: "linux ide2=0x180,0x386 pci=off".
  Red Hat
    - Bruce Howard
  SuSE
    - Michael Dreher
  Sony U1
    - Francois Gurin's Linux install instructions
  Sony U101
    - Matthew Miller's U101 Linux site

Links

Various articles and pages about the PCG-C1MV/M
  - CNetAsia review of the Sony VAIO PCG-C1MT
  - CNet Review
  - 8 page C1MT review
  - ASCII 24's C1MRX review page 1 page 2
  - AV Watch Review page 1 page 2
  - Earthweb article
  - Creative pro article
  - Transmeta listing
  - ZD Net article

Sony
  - Sony's guide for the C1MV pdf
  - Sony media relations Press Releases
  - Sony C1VN Support Site
  - Sony Direct Accessories & Parts Center

VAIO PictureBook
  - A PictureBook goes around the world (nice site)
  - Mobile mounts and stands for notebooks a2z Mobile Office Solutions
  - USB-powered light Kensington FlyLight Notebook USB Light
  - A description of what a progressive scan camera does here, here, here, and here
  - USB to 9-pin serial converter.
  - USB to IrDA converter.
  - Ken Nishikatsu's VAIO Accessories Plus ebay store
  - Dave's site on running 2000 on a C1MV

Web Forum/Mailing Lists
  - PCG-C1 Web Forum
  - Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List
  - Linux (Open Source Vaio-pcg-c1-general Mailing List

Newsgroups
  - Portables comp.sys.portables
  - Linux on Portables comp.os.linux.portable

Cases
  - REI sells the Eagle Creek Padded Excursion Bag for USD45 (Item # 609781) (see picture here)
     Thanks to Doug Bagley; he recommends it on his page
  - cdProjects has a little STEEL case for CDs which will protect a PictureBook instead. Try CompUSA, BestBuy, etc.
  - Case Logic sells the Koskin Deluxe CD Player Case for USD20 (Model # KSDM 2).
     Thanks to Suzanne Baylor; she recommends it, noting it "is available at CompUSA for $20 and fits my brand new vaio, ac adapter, and portable CD perfectly."
  - 'fritzz' pointed out these Japanese PictureBook cases/bags here, here, here, and here.
  - Bram Stolk informs us of a leather Sony Vaio C1VE Case.

Please only recommend cases which are PictureBook-sized *and* have some cool feature. Actually being a case meant for CDs is not a cool feature. :-) Thanks for understanding.

Feedback

Looking For
  - Links to relevant sites and/or news, tips, hints, corrections...

Can't Answer Questions
  - I have repeatedly failed to answer the questions sent to me. If it's not up on these pages, I just don't know the answer. I will delete your message without responding.

Get Help With...
  - Windows 2000 questions: Try the PCG-C1 Web Forum
  - Linux questions: Try the Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List or the Linux (Open Source Vaio-pcg-c1-general Mailing List
  - Other PictureBook questions: Try either the PCG-C1 Web Forum or the Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List

You Were Warned
  - Basically, don't send me anything that would make me get lawyers involved at any point.
  - Except as noted, this page is copyright Steve Barr. Anything you send me may be posted at my sole discretion.
  - Relevant postings in a public forum may be paraphrased/quoted and posted, noting the author if possible.
  - The use of trademarks here is without permission, and does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of those properties.

Still Interested
  - You can reach me here. Thanks!