Another challenger enters the ultrathin notebook arena. This time it's NEC, prepping its lightest and daintiest edition of the UltraLite line, the Type VS. Its thickness ranges from 15.8mm to 29.9mm, comparing unfavorably to the 19.4mm MacBook Air or the 16.51mm Adamo. But, its 725g weight (about a pound and a half) definitely undercuts the competition, and its three USB slots, Ethernet port, and SD card reader give reasonable connectivity without external adapters. Its 10.6-inch screen has a resolution of 1208 x 768, the CPU is Intel's 1.86GHz Atom Z540 (the same as found in the higher-spec version of the Vaio P), 1GB of RAM is on tap, and a 64GB SSD keeps things persistent. Solid specs for sure, and with an asking price of around ¥99,750 (a little over $1,000) it should be reasonably solid value when it hits Japanese retailers in July. Just don't go wasting your summer waiting for these to appear domestically.

Update: That ¥99,750 is actually a special promotional price for those who pre-order directly through NEC. The device's MSRP after that will be nearly double, ¥176,000 ($1,850), and while we're guessing it'll sell for something less than that, it still won't be nearly the bargain early-adopters will receive.

[Via PC Watch]

Personally, we think the PowerMate P4000 and P6000 all-in-one machines are entirely more striking than the abominable NEC Mate MF all-in-one, but maybe we'd feel otherwise seeing it in person. All that aside, the PC-in-a-monitor includes a 17-inch panel (1,280 x 1,024 resolution), 2GHz Intel Celeron E1400, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, DVD drive, six USB ports and Windows Vista Business. Its partner in crime, the much more palatable UltraLite VC laptop (shown after the jump), checks in with a 12.1-inch LCD (1,280 x 800 resolution), a 1.2GHz Celeron 723 CPU (a Core 2 Duo SU9300 is optional and highly recommended), 1GB of RAM, 80GB HDD (SSD is again, optional), a fingerprint reader, SD card slot and your choice of OS. Both machines should be ready for consumption next month, with the starting prices pegged at ¥131,250 ($1,415) and ¥149,000 ($1,606) in order of mention.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Just in case it wasn't official enough already, mega-corps have ridden this green bandwagon way too far. Like, the wheels have fallen clean off. Nevertheless, NEC is hoping to guilt you into picking up its VersaPro VE with the dedicated "ECO button," which seems to act as a macro for activating the Energy Saver mode within Windows. Beyond all that, you'll find a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a GMA X3100 graphics set, 15.4-inch WXGA panel, an 80GB hard drive, CD burning combo drive, gigabit Ethernet and a pretty typical arrangement of ports. Those not satisfied with the listed specifications can customize the unit somewhat, but those happy as a peach with the base configuration can secure one for ¥186,000 ($1,770).

[Via ShinyPlastic]

NEC's latest VersaPro UltraLite Type VC won't appeal to any hardcore gamers or mobile movie cutters, but the casual joe (or jane) will likely find its hardware plenty capable of handling those everyday tasks. What's more is that this sucka claims a whopping 14.5-hours of life if you utilize the extended battery, which is pretty impressive for a 12.1-incher. Unfortunately, details are fairly slim on actual configurations, but word on the street has the VY10A/C-4 packin' an Intel U7500 Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive and your choice of Windows XP or Vista. Take a look at the oh-so-tough outer shell after the jump.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

NEC has an update to their rugged, UltraLite series of laptops in the chute with this, the VersaPro VC. In what should be an oxymoron of features, these ultra-lightweights start at just 970-grams (2.14-pounds) yet are rugged enough to withstand up to 150-kg of pressure to the case. The 12.1-inch laptop with up to a 1280x1024 pixel display can be configured with a 1.06GHz Core Duo U2400 or Celeron M 423 processor, Intel 945GMS Express graphics, up to 1.5GB of DDR2 memory and 100GB 5400rpm SATA disk, dual-layer DVD writer, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, and security via fingerprint scanner and FeliCa port. You can even squeeze out 14.5 hours off an optional battery if you don't mind the added weight. Pre-order now, nicely spec'd for about ¥271,950 or about $2,351 when these ship in late January.

[Via Impress]

It's not quite specced to kill, but NEC's new VersaPro YV20 laptop doesn't look too shabby, and it's a BTO unit, so you can always flesh out the spec sheet if need be. What counts is the 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor option, and of course the Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics shouldn't do much harm. There's also "256MB+512MB×2" of dual-channel DDR2 RAM -- which sounds a bit like 1280MB, but we're no math-whizzes. The laptop sports up to a 15-inch UXGA display in the VW edition, while the VR and VE types max out at SXGA+. There's just a 40GB HDD and a DVD/CD-RW combo drive on the low-end, but those can be bumped up to 100GB and one of those fancy "super multi drive" units, and the 802.11a/b/g WiFi and gigabit Ethernet should do just fine. The VR and VE units start at a competitive 130,000 yen (about $1100 US), no word on the VW, and we're sure they're all quite a lot more than that once their BTO specs are all maxed out.

[Via Akihabara]