Sony introduces new Vaio Z laptop in the U.S., includes dock with external AMD graphics card

When we last saw the Sony Vaio Z laptop, all 2.5 pounds of it, it was available in United Kingdom, but now it's made its way across the pond. Starting for a shade under $2,000, the 13.1-inch ultraportable notebook comes complete with the Power Media Dock, which not only includes an optical drive but also the AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card.

For the base price of $1,969.99, you get an Intel Core i5-2410M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid state drive, but no wireless broadband option. Prices go up from there if you want to equip the Vaio Z with an Intel Core i7 CPU instead, up to 8GB of RAM, up to a 512GB SSD, a 1080p display, Power Dock with Blu-ray burner, and/or wireless broadband modem. Fully decked out, this little laptop can easily set you back well over $3,000.

One thing you won't see Sony talking much about, but you'll find on both the Vaio Z and its Power Media Dock is a Light Peak-based port, which can power that external GPU. Sony calls it a "docking station port" and takes pain to point out that you can attach USB 2.0/3.0 devices to it. As This is my next… points out, the port will not work with the handful of Thunderbolt devices available (the trademarked name for Light Peak), and Sony doesn't plan any other Light Peak peripherals for the Z series.

Our sister site CNET already has a review of the Vaio Z to check out, and while noting its high price tag, reviewer Dan Ackerman does believe it delivers luxury and decent performance.