Up close with the ultrathin Sony Vaio X

A blade of a laptop: the Sony Vaio X Series

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)

Giving the MacBook Air and the Dell Adamo a run for their money in the thin/coffee-shop sexy department, the Sony Vaio X Series notebook previewed at IFA Berlin definitely has the looks to rise to the top. At less than half an inch thick and weighing 1.5 pounds, it certainly could be one of the thinnest thin-and-lights out there, and a carbon fiber exterior should help with durability. Internal 3G and an "all day and into the night" battery also sound nice.

As to price and specs beyond an 11.1-inch screen, we're as curious as you are. Until then, here are some up-close and personal shots direct from Berlin for you to peek at. Hope you like the color black.

Sony Vaio X Series up close

[tipoo_]

An all day an all night battery in something that thin? I suspect an Atom processor, unfortunately.

[TechnoMan475392]

I read somewhere else (I think engadget...?) that the tester Sony showed everybody was Atom, but the production would be a CULV Core 2...Solo? Something like that.

[clrgj2]

You never know, Sony might finally start innovating....

[TechnoMan475392]

You know it was Sony that pioneered the "island" keyboard, right? Not Apple.

[tipoo_]

The isolated keyboard was great but i don't think it was their greatest innovation, lol :-P

Sony does innovate, a lot...I don't know where your coming from, really.

[Neumenon]

Sony is (or was) an innovator clrgj2; some of their efforts have flown; others have flopped in the most interesting way into the trash heap.

I'd love one of these machines.

[raids1025]

i'll never trust Sony again for new tech...After they flopped on WEGA Rear Projection LCD TV and knowingly sold thousands of defective TVs, what else will you expect on this? I also got overheating VAIO before it reached 5 months.....

[fergusonchris]

Hi, Thanks for your posting. I want to make friend with everybody.

[vodkacola]

You make friend with me, not!

[QA_Tester]

Vodkacola
Stop drinking.

[KnowerofAll]

I just got back from the Sony Style store looking to get a TT (their high-end Core Duo ultraportable) that I noticed is not longer appearing on the sonystyle web site. They said the TT has been discontinued and its replacement would be the X, coming out in October.
All of the reviews I have seen suggest the X will probably have an Atom processor, so I do not see it as being even close to a replacement of the TT which is typically rated at three times the performance of Atom-based netbooks. So either Sony is getting out of the high-end ultraportable space that they helped create in the late 90s, the Sony Style bricks and mortar store employees don't know what they are talking about, or -- and I hope it is this -- the X will have more than a mere Atom processor and be a full-fledged laptop, thus reasserting Sony's pre-eminence in this space.

[BeatleMegaFan]

Supposedly there will be CULV option on the X. What a shame that the TT is going away... they were good looking.

This all might be a part of their rebranding process, which they could use a bit. Hope the price is decent.

-BMF

[ScottStein8]

We hope to get a more in-depth look here soon- we'll let you know as soon as it happens. And, yes, we've heard those Atom rumors too.

[lil-yankee]

This computer looks fairly decent, and its very thin. I will still probably get the air, because i like os x but i like the fact that sony is getting back at it. They have the best breed of ultra thin dating back to the tx and tz vaio's and i love their design. Hopefully this wont have an atom processor and it will give apple a run for its money, of course, if sony doesnt put it in the "premium" department like they always do.......

[ddiddy415]

looks sick.......I wish the sony store was still open in san francisco so that i could check it out first hand.....but its closed now......

[rhyno1]

Not bad, but not overly impressive considering the 11" screen. Not to hard to make a 1.5 lb. laptop with a screen of that size. Not a huge Dell fan, but the Adamo and MacBook Air both have 13" or real estate to use. Granted, they are a touch bigger and a touch heavier, but I would say the extra real estate is worth it. Matter of taste and need though.

[TechnoMan475392]

Well if it was the same weight-to-screen size ratio, the macbook air and adamo would have to have screens 22 inches. They weigh twice as much!

[KnowerofAll]

In terms of real estate, the Macbook Air has more physical screen size, but its resolution is poor. I almost bought one because I am a sucker for slick design and ultraportables, but the resolution is so poor on the Air I could not bring myself to buy it, no matter how hard I tried to. It's almost like the resolution of a netbook with a bigger screen. One thing Sony does really really well is high resolution screens.

[moneyrules]

I wonder just how much copetition apple just made

[play7]

Why would anyone buy a product ( specially Sony) that has nightmarish comments about service during the firtst one year of owning it? Over and Over again Sony has proven they wil not service a product that get ( even everyday use of water building up in the unit ). People pay 300.00 500.00 yet us monies an higher but at the end the product can`t be used. Sony will not service the unit they just give you a bill for the ( example unit cost 500.00 ....................repairs will cost the same cost of the unit ). Year after year do a search on cnet from 2000 to now and see how many sony products were refused fixing even under the 1 one year coverage...... Sony need to understand that their products created heat and that inturn creates moister in the device........Before even looking at small devices like this think about it? It even has a greater chance to beak within the first year because of carried, placed on tables etc where is and could happen.......Atleast try making product more water proof........!!!!!!!! But hey dont because they knew at the end you have to pay then service monies and that where the making of keeping the service men worth having..........

[drara07]

I can completely understand your feelins. I had a very similar experience with HP when my display driver blew off due to a faulty nvidia chipset...HP for some reason just selected a few bunch to offer free repairs, and left more than twice of the affected laptop. Thye are asking 400 to fix somthing which they themselves are to blame for. Really pathetic. Never going for an HP in my lifetime

[cheinyeanlim]

The Vaio X is the latest in a series of outstanding Sony designs. But, like the Vaio P, the innards of the machine could have been beefed up.

http://www.pupuweb.com/blog/sony-vaio-x-mobile-pc/#