Thursday, 25 September 2008

Sony VAIO Sheds Pounds

Sony recently announced an ultraportable VAIO notebook that includes a Blu-ray disc player, weighs less than three pounds, and is less than an inch thick.

The series will consist of four models. The top of the line, called VGN-TT190UBX, will present a 1.4GHz Intel SU9400 Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and dual 128GB SSDs in RAID setup. It will include a Blu-ray burner and HDMI output. Due to the new building system using a lightweight carbon-fiber chassis, it only weighs 2.87 pounds. The 1280-by-768 resolution is adequate for playing high-definition Blu-ray movies.

Aside from the VGN-TT190UBX, there will also be 3 other models available: the VGN-TT190EIN (in gold), VGN-TT190EIR (in red) and VGN-TT190NIB (in black), each with a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo SU9300 processor, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 160GB of non-SSD 5,400rpm storage.

The systems come loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium and feature a Web cam, Bluetooth capability, a CD/DVD burner, a fingerprint sensor, noise-canceling headphones and Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN. A Sprint Mobile Broadband card is available as an option.

The system will be available through Sony's online store and select retailers in the fall. The laptops will retail for about USD 2,000 and the high-end version will reach USD 2,700.