Sony favours Intel Atom over CULV for Vaio X ultra-portable laptop

 

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Posted on 8 Oct 2009 at 16:15

Sony has launched its Vaio X-series laptop that weighs just 800g.

Most ultra-portable laptops weigh between 1kg and 1.5kg, but Sony's new Vaio X weighs just 800g. It's an impressively slender and lightweight laptop, no thicker than 14mm at its chunkiest point.

Although the keyboard felt responsive when we tested out a pre-production model at Sony's Central London launch event, the keys were too small for our fingers. We also have concerns about the carbon fibre case which flexed a surprisingly large amount under only moderate pressure. It bent so much, in fact, that it caused the laptop to shut down.

Sony credits wafer-thin solid state disks (SSDs) and Intel's low-power Atom Z-series processors for the thinness of the Vaio X. Sony spokesman Robbie Duncan stated that the small size of the Atom processor, as well as the small amount of heat it produces (which therefore needs only a small cooling fan), were among the reasons it chose to use the Atom in the Vaio X instead of Intel's newer but apparently larger and hotter CULV processors. This sounds credible as the Z-series Atoms have a TDP of 2.4W, while CULV processors have a TDP of 10W. Duncan also stated that the CULV processors took longer to boot Windows than the Atoms when Sony was evaluating which processor to use in the Vaio X.

Sony claims that the Vaio's battery should last around eight hours, but it will also sell an extra battery that clips onto the bottom of the laptop to double battery life. Unfortunately, pricing and availability for this battery are not yet available.

The Vaio X will come in two versions. The VPC-X11S1E/B will have a 128GB SSD and a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 processor and cost around £1,400. The VPC-X11Z1E/X will have a larger 256GB SSD and a 2GHz Atom Z550 processor, but will only be available from Sony's online store at a price of around £1,700.

Both models will come with 2GB of RAM, Windows 7 Professional, an integrated Intel GMA 500 graphics chip, a built-in 3G modem and Draft-N wireless networking. Both will also have the same 11.1in display with a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels.

The Vaio X models will be available on October 22nd - the same launch date as Windows 7. We'll bring you a full review as soon as we can.

Author: Alan Lu