Sony's new ultraportable (officially) revealed

Sony's new Vaio TT ultraportable.

(Credit: Sony)

It looks like the leaks were pretty much dead-on, and Sony does indeed have a brand-new ultraportable laptop called the Vaio TT. It's a thin, lightweight 11-inch model, available in two different shades of black, plus red or gold.

We're especially interested in the Vaio TT because it's the successor to Sony's Vaio TZ line, one of our all-time favorite ultraportable laptops, and a reminder that even though they're similar in size, there's a big difference between what a $500 Netbook and a $2,000-plus fully featured ultraportable laptop can do.

Sony says the new system has a lightweight carbon-fiber chassis that weighs about 2.87 pounds and measures less than one inch thick. Unlike Netbooks, the Vaio TT (and other ultraportables such as the Toshiba R500) has room for an optical drive, and there's even a Blu-ray option. Yes, that seems rather pointless, but at least there's an HDMI output for sending the Blu-ray signal to a larger display. Solid state hard drives are also available, including dual 128GB drives (making for a sizable 256GB of SSD storage).

The basic Vaio TT runs about $2,000, while the Blu-ray version is $2,700. A version with a single 128GB SSD drive will cost $2,750. The system is available for order starting today, and should ship to retail stores sometime later this fall.

(Credit: Sony)

[dirty55409]

hmmm dual ssid drives??? Sounds great! I hope that more ssid options become available and become much more mainstrea/inexpensive down the road. I'm glad they did the dual ssid instead of one big ssid because they'll be quicker, think raid 0 for hdds

[TechnoMan475392]

Um...puncuation much?

[hameiri]

You are the second commentator that has called a Blu-ray option pointless. I can't understand this opinion.

Blu-ray has a much larger capacity than a DVD (You didn't say, but I'm assuming it's a burner) for backing up or moving large files, like HD movies.

Also, Blu-ray is obviously HD. Therefore, it will take advantage of a high resolution screen better than DVD.

Blu-ray is the future. Why, if you had the money, would you get anything else?

[drewthebrave]

Your point is valid, but the reviewer said Blu-ray is pointless on this laptop because the 11" screen doesn't make much use of the 1920x1080 resolution that Blu-ray movies provide.

[TechnoMan475392]

And, capacities are so high in blu-ray dual-layer discs they could work as a makeshift external hard drive. :-P

[nathanbase]

It would be pointless on an ultra-portable because of the battery that it would consume.

[ferretboy88]

That sucker looks thick.

[Composer_1777]

My 3rd vaio is oalready on its way to my house but if i had extra money i would get one of these too, very nice.