Sony has announced the VAIO W, the company's first proper 10-inch
netbook, but it it's not calling it a netbook, it has coined a new term
for it, 'internet book'. Obviously, we will still refer to it as a
netbook, as that's just what it is.
Powered by Intel's Atom N280/945GSE combo, the VAIO W ships with 1GB of
memory and a 160GB hard drive, but unlike most netbooks, it packs a
1,366×768 screen. This is nice, but it's still nowhere near enough for
us to stop calling it a netbook.
Sony went for the typical VAIO keyboard, which Apple stole, and Sony
stole back a couple of years ago. It looks great, especially in the
black/silver colour option. This is probably what a Cupertino netbook
would have looked like, had Jobs not decided against making a "$500
piece of junk".
The VAIO W weighs 1.19kg with a 3-cell battery, so we're probably
looking at over 1.4kg with a 6-cell unit, which is a bit on the heavy
side. It measures 267.8×179.6×27.5 – 32.4mm and Sony will offer it in
pink, white and black/silver colour options.
The bad news is that, for some reason, Sony thinks it can charge
punters €450 for it, at least in Japan. This is a shedload of cash for your
run of the mill netbook, and once more, it's starting to remind us of
what a Cupertino netbook would have turned out like.
You can check out some videos and find more photos at netbooknews.com.
Update:
Sony has announced that the VAIO W Series mini notebook will retail for about $500, and that it will go on sale next month.