Sony Vaio Z1 Laptop – Lighter, Thinner, More Powerful, And Pricier Than MacBook Air

Sony has unveiled in Europe and the U.K. a high-end, more powerful, and even lighter competitor for Apple’s hot-selling MacBook Air, the Vaio Z1.

This thin and light 13.3in laptop is aimed particularly at enterprise execs and other power-users who want a subcompact, ultralight laptop without sacrificing high-end performance, features, and connectivity.

The top-of-the-line Vaio Z1 is powered by a Core i7 processor running at 2.7GHz (with Turbo Boost to 3.4GHz), comes with 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, has 256 GB of SSD capacity in a Raid0 configuration, and a 13.1in screen with 1,600×900 resolution. A Core i5 model with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD is also available, as is an optional piggyback, thin, flat, lithium polymer “sheet battery” that can be charged separately from the PC and added without removing the internal battery battery that doubles battery life from a quoted seven hours to 14. There are two memory card slots, one for Sony’s proprietary HG Duo format, while the other supports SDXC. There is also optional 3G, a backlit keyboard (not available on the MacBook Air), an Apple-style ‘button-less’ touchpad, and a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

An optional media dock connects to the laptop via an optical cable through a proprietary Intel Light Peak interface with a USB 3.0 style port that can also be used to attach regular USB devices when the Vaio Z is not docked (Light Peak is known as Thunderbolt in its DisplayPort variant used by Apple) optical system, and can support a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card with 1GB of VRAM and a DVD or Blu-ray drive as well as having HDMI and VGA outputs able to support up to four monitors in total, including the laptop’s own display, plus Ethernet and USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports.

All in a machine that weighs 1.15 or 1.175 kg (considerably lighter than the 1.32Kg 11.6″ Macbook Air) and is just 16.65mm thick, with a chassis made of carbon fibre.

Carbon fibre provides a better strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum or magnesium without compromising ruggedness, but it’s nosebleed-inducingly expensive.

The Vaio Z, which can currently be pre-ordered in the UK, sells there for roughly the equivalent of $1,835 (the dock adds another $512 or so).The Vaio Z is currently available only in black, but blue, gold and graphite optional colors are reportedly to come. No word yet on North American availability or prices.

VaioZ Features In Summary

• Thin, ultra-light 13.1” notebook PC with innovative new Power Media Dock

• 33.2cm (13.1”) VAIO Z Series: less than 1.2 kg and 16.65mm slim with carbon fibre construction and smart battery concept

• Business-class power with latest standard voltage Intel Core i7 processors and fast SSD storage

• High-resolution (1600×900) anti-reflective VAIO Display Premium

• Optional sheet battery gives up to 14hr stamina1 with quick charge

• Power Media Dock 2 with quad video monitor support, AMD Radeon HD graphics, optical drive and extra ports including HDMI out

• Quick Boot gets you working in seconds