Sony rolls out latest Vaio laptops for business

Sony has rolled out a line of TT Series laptops aimed at the business market, offering very high specifications at a premium price.

The base model of the new Vaio range, with 2GB of memory, is the CS1 and comes in at £1,599. The top-of-the-range model, the Z2, has 4GB of memory and costs £1,999. The Z2 is also available in another version that includes full security with full disk encryption, but still costs £1,999. Sony said at the Tuesday launch that there were some other differences, but did not specify them, other than to make it clear that there are three laptops in the TT Series.

The TT laptops have all the Vaio trademarks, including very low weight (1.3kg, thanks to its carbon fibre structure), low voltage and low power usage, a slim appearance and an LED-backlit screen. Also included is a multi-standard DVD reader.

According to Sony, a typical user should get eight hours of battery life on a full charge, or four hours of usage from just one hour of charging. The low power use is a result of the Ultra Low Voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

Communications are through 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 2Mbps HSUPA and Wi-Fi, and the devices also have Motion Eye webcams.

The head of Sony's Vaio business in Europe, Nicolas Barendson, rejected the idea that the TT series may prove too expensive for businesses when compared with other compact laptops on the market and in view of the current economic problems.

"When you look at what we can do [in terms of] design and what we have to offer, we are the leader in the market," he told ZDNet.co.uk. "People come to Vaio because it has all of they features they need for their business."

"We differentiate ourselves with mobility, technology and security, but we could have a fourth one, which is about reliability," Barendson said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, Sony launched a new service, 'Vaio by You', which allows business customers to customise the specifications of their Vaios.

"As our customers' use of notebooks becomes more diverse, Vaio now offers the opportunity to ensure they can personally create a product that suits their needs," Barendson said. "'Vaio by You' is another way our customers can get more for choosing Vaio."

The three versions will be available from 14 November.