Sony Showcases 655g Super-thin Vaio-X Notebook

Sony will release its extremely light Vaio-X notebook - which it presents as the world's lightest laptop - in the UK in November, a few weeks after Windows 7 is launched.

The laptop, which was presented earlier last month at IFA in Germany, weighs less than any netbook and yet packs significantly more firepower thanks to its carbon-fibre frame that makes it light and sturdy.

The two X-series version, the VPC-X11S1E/B and VPC-X11Z1E/X, are based on Intel's Atom processor. The later has the Z550 and the former the Z540 which should be faster than most of the Intel-based Atom netbooks currently on the market.

Both share the same subsystem - 2GB DDR2 memory and an Intel GMA500 graphics module - but the faster E/X model has a 256GB SSD while the E/B comes with "only" 128GB. The only other difference between the two is the colour with the E/X wrapped in a Champagne Gold finish.

The notebooks (which therefore shares a lot with high end Netbooks) has a keyboard that's 90 percent the size of a normal one plus Sony has judiciously integrated a 3G modem in there. 

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It is not as thin as the Latitude Z though at 14mm and we doubt that with the extended battery module, it would reach (nah, even come close to) Sony's claimed battery life of 17 hours (yes, 17 long hours, or 1120 minutes).

Throw in Bluetooth compatibility, a card reader, integrated Webcam and a 11.1-inch 1366x768 pixel display and you have a pretty decent business ultra thin laptop which prospective customers can buy for as little as $1300.