Sony enters netbook market Not resting on its laurels after launching the impressive and petite Sony VAIO TT, an 11.1 inch screen mini laptop with a battery life of 9 hours, Sony has jumped into the netbook market with its 8-inch VAIO Lifestyle PC.

Obviously, Sony must have felt that it’s high time it keeps pace with the rest of the gang by jumping onto the netbook market bandwagon which has seen competitors such as ASUS, Lenovo, HP, MSI, Acer and others entered the fray much earlier.

Like their ad says – Better Sony Than Be Sorry.

This week Sony unveiled their VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC at CES and thanks to WebProNews which was there to get a first-hand glance of the new Sony mini ‘wonder’ with this video clip.

Boasted as “the world’s lightest 8-inch notebook,” the device is less than 1-inch thick, weighs in at 1.4 pounds, and is small enough to fit inside a jacket pocket.

In this video, the Product Manager for VAIO Product Marketing explains how this notebook can truly change your life.

Xavier Lauwaert first stresses the portability of the laptop. As mentioned above, the device is small enough to fit into your pocket but not so small that the keyboard is inconvenient. The product could have actually been smaller, but Sony wanted the keyboard to be easy to use.

The second area the VAIO Lifestyle PC will change your life is its “ubiquitous connectivity.” Equipped with the latest and fastest version of Wi-Fi and built-in Bluetooth, GPS, and Verizon-powered mobile broadband – this laptop is sure to keep you connected. The notebook also runs Windows Vista operating system.

The device includes a 1,600×768 pixel display on an 8-inch LED backlit screen. The battery life is said to last four hours, but there is an option to purchase a higher-capacity battery that would last eight hours.

Pricing starts at US$900 for 60GB of storage and goes up to US$1,500 for 128GB of storage. Pre-orders are available online at www.sony.com/pr/pseries and will be shipped around the first of February.

It looks like mini-laptops are going to be the next ‘big’ thing. Since the introduction of the “tiny” and low-cost ASUS Eee PC 700 series last year which many thought were cute little wonders, 2008 looks like the year these little ‘uns are coming of age.

ASUS themselves have recently launched a second generation of mini-laptops or now popularly known as netbooks that are more in tune with the need for performance, usability and mobility.

Not to be outdone, other major players such as Dell, HP, Acer, MSI and others are jumping on the mini-laptop bandwagon, too.

Thanks to the release of the Atom processor by Intel which is designed specifically for such laptops, the floodgate is open to inundate the mini-laptop market segment.

MSI jumped into the fray in August with the Wind U100, being the first to incorporate the new Intel chip. Weighing in at 1.18kg, it’s a delightful little machine that your girlfriend can drop into her handbag while she’s on the move.

The Wind U100 comes with a 10″ Super-TFT screen and with a good-size keyboard you’ll be quite at home with your fingers. Running on Windows XP with a state-of-the-art Intel Atom N270 processor @ 1.6GHz, along with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Ethernet, and an 80GB hard disk to boot, this little wonder may not be a powerhouse portable, but for basic computing, it’s a great deal.

A buddy of mine, who likes to hang out at some cafes to do his surfing and writing, bought one — a black 9″ screen version — recently. It goes without saying that he was pleased with the Wind netbook. So far, no complaint.

Right now, I’m using a fairly new Acer Aspire 4530 that comes with a 14″ screen, but I’d think I may want to get an MSI netbook, too, with a 10″ screen which I can lugged about wherever I go. I like the “weightless” feel of it.

However, there is one snag at the moment. I was told MSI are only bringing in the white-coloured version when I checked at my favourite computer store. I’d rather prefer a black one. So I have to wait.

Enter the ultra-portable Lenovo

Now, the good news is that Lenovo are moving into the mini-laptop segment, too. They have just made available in Malaysia the IdeaPad S10 netbook which is priced at RM1,999.

This is a 10-inch netbook running the 1.6GHz Intel Atom chipset, same as the MSI Wind or ASUS Eee PC 1000H and it is preloaded with Microsoft Windows XP.

Guess I’m having some ‘evil’ thoughts about ditching the idea of getting a Wind and, instead, go for the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. It comes in three colours – white, black and red (or pink?).

Here’s the press release info on the IdeaPad S10:

• Integrated 1.3M Camera
• 2 stereo speakers
• Multi-touch Pad & near full size Keyboard (85% full size)
• Integrated Wireless 802.11 b/g,10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth
• Express card slot for WWAN expansion
• Up to 2-GB Memory
• 4in1 Multi-card Reader
• Form factor: 250.2 x 183 x 22-27.5mm, lightest configuration of 1.1 kg
• Large Panel 10.2” wide, LED backlight 1024×600 WSVGA
• Intel Integrated Graphics GMA 950
• Intel N270 CPU 1.6 GHz & Intel 945GSE Chipset
• Large HDD capacity 160G 9.5mm 2.5” SATA HDD (5400 rpm)
• Battery up to 3 hours with 3-cell battery, and up to 6 hours with 6-cell battery

And enjoy these two video takes about the S10: