VaioG1
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Sony's 12.1-inch VAIO G bunged with SSD
The ultimate in ultra-portable lust just reached a whole new level of sexy. Sony's VAIO G1 is now available with a 32GB Solid State Disk option. That's right; silent, durable, lickity-quick SSD making this the world's lightest 12.1-inch laptop at just 1.89-pounds. Hell, it even extends the standard 6-hour battery an additional 30 minutes or 12.5-hours off its fat, extended-use cousin. Of course, the SSD will cost ya: a ¥65,000 (about $545) price premium over the staid, 40GB hard disk option. But damn, it's tempting.[Via Impress]
Sony VAIO G1 laptop reviewed
Sony's sleek little VAIO G1 laptop may still only officially be available in Japan, but that didn't stop the folks at LAPTOP Magazine from getting their hands on one for a full review. As you'd no doubt expect, the laptop immediately impresses, tipping the scales at a featherweight 2.1 pounds and lighting things up with the familiar 12.1-inch display that some of us still find to be the best balance of size and portability, although it unfortunately doesn't get Sony's trademark XBRITE treatment. They found that the rest of the laptop's specs mostly delivered the goods as well, with the low-power Core Solo processor providing a reasonable trade-off between performance and battery life, the 80GB hard drive providing adequate storage, and the integrated DVD burner making a welcome appearance in a laptop this size. All but the least demanding users will probably want to opt for a memory upgrade though, with the standard 512MB unlikely to cut it for most, especially those planning on upgrading to Vista. Also coming up a bit short was the laptop's keyboard, which is about 90 percent smaller than the average laptop's and could take some getting used to. Of course, the price of all that portability comes at quite a premium, and you'll have to decide if $2,599 is too much to ask to lighten your load a bit.
