Sony's Unique Tiny Laptop Had a Unique CPU Too

Sony's VAIO computer line had a number of laptop models that were nothing like what the competition offered. But its Japanese-exclusive PCG-U1 and U3 subnotebooks were just as interesting on the inside.

Sources:
"Transmeta debuts Crusoe," InfoWorld, January 24, 2000.
PC Magazine, November 21, 2000.
"Transmeta chip may hold key for computing's future," Computerworld, January 31, 2000.
"The Truth About Transmeta," Maximum PC, May 2000.
"Troubles for Transmeta," PC Magazine, January 2, 2001.
"Transmeta Bets on LongRun2," InfoWorld, August 23, 2004.
"Intel takes on Crusoe with single-watt chips," InfoWorld, June 19, 2000.
"Why Transmeta Failed," Maximum PC, June 2005.

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[iansterling]

I worked for Transmeta from 2000 to 2002. It was an exciting time for sure. One thing the CEO pushed was that these systems weren't intended to be desktop replacements. Instead, they were meant as portable companions to a desktop PC, and never meant to be speed demons. Some of the hardware that used the processor was *very* cool though. I'm glad to have been employed there at the time.

[darkwinter]

These sorts of machines are quite useful for field servicing equipment that doesn’t have it’s own display. It doesn’t take much processing power to display a settings list, or flash the firmware of a machine… and being small is a big advantage when you have to haul it around along with a bag of tools.

[Lukeno]

The funny thing is people in the West often like to say the Crusoe failed. But it didn't - in Japan it was highly successful and quite a substantial number of different manufacturers used it, and whilst Western Crusoe-based machines do tend to be rare and hard to find, you can still find tonnes of different options in Japan.

[JanusCycle]

There were reports the Transmeta CPU would benchmark up to 20% faster on the second run through as the CPU adapted it's x86 emulation. I tested this with Quake on my U1 and sure enough the frame rate improved the second time. I love the black U3, always wanted one.

[mikerichards]

The VAIO silver and lilac colour scheme and high-quality finish was a breath of fresh air in a boring world of grey laptops - and it still looks striking today. 

I had one of the early magnesium VAIO 505 laptops and loved it to bits. Only my ThinkPad came close in the amount of work it did and abuse it took than that little machine.

[RPN]

I bought a U3 when I was in high school, it cost me most of my savings. I used it for a few months, but ended up selling it because it wasn't fast enough for what I wanted to do. Got my money back when I sold it and was happy to have experienced that little machine's uniqueness.

[juliawolf]

Funnily enough, the form factor isn't exactly dead. GPD made the Win Max and that gaming laptop looks quite similar to the PCG-U1. The Win 1 and Win 2 are a bit nicer to type on when held in both hands because they're smaller.

[DavisMakesGames]

That's funny, just recently I was watching a Cathode Ray Dude video about a similar Sony laptop with an integrated camcorder, also making use of the Crusoe CPU. The funny thing is, despite the whole point of that laptop being the camcorder functionality, the CPU was too weak to actually handle video encode which held it back quite a bit. Interesting to see this one also using it.

[hansoak]

I was working on a terminal doctorate at the time I first saw the U1 and U3. I wanted one so badly but being a student with wife and children meant money was super tight so it wasn't meant to be. It was awesome seeing one again in video. Thanks!

[Space_Reptile]

You mentioned how hard those software and driver disks are to find, I really hope you imaged those you have there and uploaded them to the Internet archive

[ToadyEN]

Japanese tech in the 80s and 90s was the best part of our timeline.

[Sb]

That CPU has some sorcery built into it, the more you run the same stuff the more it adapts and gets better at it, all while consuming much less power since it has less transistors.
Having grown up only seeing Intel and AMD it is very interesting to me seeing other x86 CPUs like the Cyrix, Transmeta and VIA. I suspect the same would be true for younger people and graphic card manufacturers.

[benoitvedrines]

I owned a PCG-U3 back in the day. This series was something else entirely. Exotic, extremely cute, with a crazy good display. I miss the times when such creativity was allowed. Thank you for this review which took me back !

[fungo]

6:35 This is how all modern Intel and AMD CPUs work like as well. Internally they are RISC, but they have an x86 front-end.

[Sanukit]

This is what I miss the most from the late 90s/early 00s... Originality. I imagine having a desing like that, with a modern hardware, that would be dope

[dmug]

Around 2004 a college professor of mine who also the creator of Kid Pix, has one of these variants of sub laptops from Sony. In the days of iPods and lampshade iMacs, it still exotic to see in the wild.

[visionsx]

Yes those were great times for micro laptops. I remember Casio Fiva also using similar type low-power CPUs. But my favourite will always be Fujitsu mini laptops, they don’t have that sticky rubber coatings or the crack screen like Sony laptops after prolonged storage.

[shirokuro]

oh my, what memories! I had a U1 when I used to travel to Japan often for work between 2001-2011. I bought a U1, and then later a U50 and later still a UX50 all when they were new during my years working over there. As much as I loved them for their beyond cool gadget factor, the practicalities of actually using them always eventually came to the fore, and I'd move back to using a more normal laptop. I remember sitting in an office using the U1 to write my reports to my boss. My colleagues would take great pleasure on teasing me over just how tiny my little machine was (ahem).... I remember a colleague sending me an email where he had purposely set the font size as large as he could. When I opened it on the U1, even just a single letter would fill the screen. Everyone thought this was pretty hilarious, and indeed it was :-) I gave soooo much money to Sony (and to Yodobashi Camera) during my years in Japan. Great memories (lighter wallet). Fantastic video, thank you for the memories! I don't have the U1 anymore, I think I sold it to a friend back when it was still quite new. The U50 and UX50 I think I still have somewhere though. No idea if they still work, but I should try!

[Sputnik]

In Japan in the 2000s, notebook PCs with a Crusoe were common, so I was surprised to find that they were not common in other countries.

[angryshoebox]

Another example of amazing consumer technology sold only in Japan. I vaguely remember Transmeta and their Crusoe CPUs.