CES: Sony unveils ultra-light netbook

Vaio P Series weighs less than the rest

Ian Williams, vnunet.com 08 Jan 2009

Sony has unveiled what it claims is the world's lightest netbook, which weighs in at just 638g.

The new Vaio P Series measures 120mm x 245mm x 19.8mm, making it about the size of a business envelope and roughly as thin as a mobile phone. It sports an 8in X-Black 1600x768 screen that utilises Sony's Xbrite-Eco LCD technology.

The device, which was shown off at this week's CES event in Las Vegas, also boasts an Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM and a 60GB hard drive. The range includes a model featuring a 128GB SSD instead of a conventional hard drive, further reducing the weight to 618g.

Other features include mobile broadband, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS technologies with pre-installed maps for the US and Canada.

According to Sony, users should get about four hours of use out of a single charge from the standard three-cell battery and about double that when using the optional six-cell high-capacity battery.

The Vaio P Series will also give users the option of booting into Windows Vista or quickly accessing media features such as instant messaging, internet and music from the XrossMediaBar interface.

"The Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC is your portal to the world, delivering entertainment and computing in a head-turning device that's small enough to put in your pocket," said Mike Abary, senior vice president of Vaio product marketing at Sony Electronics.

The Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC will be available from February in red, dark green, black and white, and is expected to retail for about $900 in the US and from £849 in the UK.

See also: