Sony will ship in the UK in February a new Vaio ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) weighing just 450g and running Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. The device carries a hefty price tag owing to use of Flash storage in place of a hard drive, but could still appeal to mobile professionals and vertical markets where portability is key.
The Vaio VGN-UX1XN, available from 12 February, weighs 480g and has a 4.5in 1024 x 600 touch-screen that slides up to reveal a small qwerty keyboard. With 1GB of memory, the mini Vaio is capable of running Windows Vista, and has 802.11a/b/g wireless and Bluetooth for connectivity.
Dipesh Sanghrajka, Viao B2B product manager for Sony UK, said the company expected many of the models to be sold to business customers, and so has pre-installed the UX1 with Vista Business edition.
"We've had a lot of interest from financial institutions, from people who have been using Tablet PCs but found them to be a bit too bulky. There are also healthcare trusts that are rolling out mobile applications for clinicians," he said.
The new device could also find a market as a mobile companion to a desk-bound PC for business executives. Sony includes a clip-on adapter that lets the UX1 connect to a portable projector to give presentations.
In place of a hard disk, the new Sony has a 32GB Flash storage module, which bumps up the price of the UX1 to about £1,700 + VAT. However, using Flash makes the UMPC more reliable than it would be with an easily damaged rotating drive, according to Sanghrajka.
"It's a lot faster to boot up and launch applications, and Flash makes it lighter and extends the battery life," he added.
The nearest rival for Sony's new Vaio is OQO, which unveiled its OQO Model 02 in January. This has a similar size and form factor, but uses a more traditional 60GB hard disk
The Vaio VGN-UX1XN is based on a 1.33GHz Intel Core Solo U1500 processor and has a fingerprint scanner and trusted platform module (TPM) built in. A docking cradle adds extra USB ports, Audio/video out, VGA, LAN and iLink (FireWire) connectivity.
