Sony Vaio T series ultrabooks, in pictures

Sony has introduced its first ultrabook devices in the Intel-defined ultrabook category but at least one of the models is heavier and thicker than Sony's existing ultra-thin Z series laptops.

The 11-inch and 13-inch devices were announced on Wednesday and will go on sale within weeks, Sony said. Sony had not responded to a request for pricing information at the time of writing.

"Smartly styled in tough magnesium and aluminium, the go-anywhere Vaio T Series is tailor-made to handle daily trips to the office or lecture theatre. Blending durability and performance, and loaded with the latest technologies from Sony and Intel, it's the first ultrabook to proudly carry the Vaio name," Sony said in a marketing statement.

The ultrabooks are based on the Sandy Bridge Intel Core i3- 2367M processor rather than the new Ivy Bridge chipset, 4GB of RAM and either a 13.3-inch 1366 by 768 pixel display or an 11-inch version paired with an integrated onboard Intel HD graphics 3000 chip.

Like its ultrabook rivals, such as the Asus Zenbook or Dell XPS 13, the T Series Vaio promises an up to nine-hour battery life on models configured to include an solid-state drive (SSD) for fast system boot and resume. Like its HP Folio and Apple Macbook Air rivals, the devices also come with a backlit keyboard.

However, to "provide the best of both worlds", the ultrabooks also offer a hybrid hard drive approach that includes a standard hard drive as well as an SSD. Unlike other manufacturers, Sony has restricted the use of the SSD drive to providing caching of data for quick boot-up and system resume; it cannot be used for data storage, according to Sony's marketing materials. (Nobody from Sony was available to clarify questions ZDNet UK had on this configuration.) The hybrid version includes a 320GB HDD alongside a 32GB SSD.

It also side-steps the port shortage of other ultrabooks by offering business and consumer users alike a selection of HDMI, VGA and ethernet ports, in addition to a multimedia card slot.

The 13-inch T series model measures up at 226mm by 17.8mm by 323 mm and weighs approximately 1.6kg with its standard battery. In contrast, the company's existing ultra-thin Z series laptops are actually a little lighter at around 1.2kg and a few millimetres thinner at 16.6mm.

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