Fresh from the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, the Sony VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC by far one of the smallest portable PCs ever seen as far as the mini-notebook goes. The company claims the device is small enough to easily slip into a jacket pocket or purse. Weighing 1.4 lbs, mini-notebook is roughly the size of a business envelope and as thin as a typical cell phone.

 

The ultrawide screen on Sony's new device measures eight inches diagonally with a screen resolution of 1600x768 pixels and images displayed with Sony's Xbrite-Eco LCD technology. The company claims the screen is big enough to view two Web pages side by side.

 

Equipped with a QWERTY keyboard that’s about 92 percent of standard laptop size Sony has tailored the spacing between keys to help reduce typing mistakes. Also, Sony revamped the keyboard for users with long fingernails.

 

"Designed for the fashionista in all of us, it's the ideal companion," said Sony Electronics Senior Vice President Mike Abary.

 

The product will be available in an array of colors, including garnet red, emerald green, and onyx black. Matching accessories are also available, including a color-coordinated mouse.

 

Replacing the standard notebook touchpad Sony went with a pointer stick in addition to a Bluetooth-enabled mouse for those who just can’t stand that little ball.

 

Built with a 1.33-GHz Intel (News - Alert) Atom processor with 512KB L2 cache; 2GB of 533-MHz DDR2 SDRAM; an Intel graphics media accelerator; a graphics memory capacity of 760MB; and a solid-state drive with a maximum capacity of 128GB, the device also integrates a built-in camera and microphone; GPS, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), and Bluetooth radios; wireless WAN 3G technology; two USB 2.0 ports; and slots for Duo media, multimedia and SD memory cards.

 

Already installed software includes Windows Vista Home Premium and a trial version of the Windows Live OneCare antivirus application. Other available applications include Microsoft (News - Alert) Works SE 9.0, together with 60-day trial versions of Office Small Business 2007 and Office Home and Student 2007.

 

An instant-mode option launches the user directly into Sony's Xross Media Bar interface, allowing users to rapidly boot up (in about 30 seconds) and access music, video, photos and the Web. Additionally, the new device integrates Sony's VAIO Multimedia Suite, which includes a wide array of music, video and disc-burning tools.

 

The mini-notebook comes with a standard-size lithium-ion battery with approximately four hours of operation off a single charge.

The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC will retail for about $900 at Sony Style retail outlets, beginning later this month or early Feb.

 

Not the most cost-efficient gadget coming out of the CES (News - Alert) regardless of the price, consumers, especially for women, based on Sony’s marketing approach, this new mini-notebook could potentially be one of the main attractions in 2009.