Oh yes, it's a laptop processor war here at CES with AMD's new Fusion APUs and Intel's freshSandybridge CPUs gunning for core territory, but Sony's not pickin' sides when it comes to its new seriously mobile VAIOs. Kicking it off on the lower end is the 11.6-inch, 3.2-pound VAIO YB Series, which is being refreshed with AMD's Brazos E350 APU. Sony doesn't consider the YB to be a netbook -- in fact, it doesn't plan to continue with its netbook line after this quarter -- but like most of these other Fusion systems (see: HP dm1 and Acer AO 522) the Y promises long battery life along with really solid graphics. Actually, according to the product manager, the platform has been out performing Intel's Pentium processors. The system will be avilable with Windows 7 Home Premium, 320GB or 500GB hard drives, and 4GB of RAM -- as you would expect, the $549 base configuration only gets 2GB of RAM and 320GB of storage. The Intel-powered YA Series will still be available with a Core i5 processor option for close to $750.
So, what does Sony have in store on the more powerful ultraportable end? Well, it's the VAIO Z, expect it's now being replaced with the VAIO SA series, and not only is the 13.3-inch laptop being refreshed with new Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, it's been drastically retooled with a floating hinge screen design, a new cooling system, a USB 3.0 port, and innovative sheet battery. The latter, which will be available separately for $200, attaches to the bottom of the 3.4-pound chassis and can actually charge the primary integrated battery to give the system an extra 6.5 hours of endurance -- that means the entire system could run for up to 13 hours according to Sony's claims. Unfortunately, Sony wasn't up for removing that switchable graphics toggle -- nope, no NVIDIA Optimus here -- but its ATI 6630 graphics should provide a good amount of gaming muscle. However, Sony was able to manage cutting a few bucks off the price -- the regular hard drive version will start at $1,250, while SSD models will start around $1,800. Those looking for a more budget 13.3-inch VAIO can also nab the refreshed S Series, which packs Intel's first generation Core processors and the orignial WiDi. That enough for ya? We'll have hands-on impressions of the SA and others soon, but until then enjoy the shots and press release after the break.
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