Having unveiled the entry level of its Vaio notebook series just weeks ago – the below -Rs 30,000 Vaio W –Sony has brought one of its top-end models to India: The Vaio X is arguably the world’s lightest consumer notebook : a featherweight at just 655 grams for a 11.1 inch- LEd backlit screen machine that runs a full fledged Windows 7 system and offers a full sized keyboard.
Indeed, its ultra thin form factor ( 13.9 mm) and weight ( achieved by a combo of aluminium and carbon composite body) makes the Vaio X a direct competitor to Apple’s Mac Book Air .
Based on Intel’s Atom processor ( Z 540 at 1.86 GHz) and with 2 GB DDR2 RAM and 64 GB of solid state drive, the X packs in enough battery in its sleek interior for 3.5 hours of use.
A slightly heavier ( 760 gram) version offers 6.5 hours and uses a marginally faster ( Z550/ 2 GHz) Atom chip and has a larger storage – 128 GB. It also comes with a professional edition of Windows 7
While the basic Vaio X costs Rs 64,990, the heavier version costs Rs 20,000 more. But that would seem to defeat the USP of this machine: since one is paying a fairly stiff price mainly for the tremendously light experience – many loaded smart phones , weigh almost as much.

Like all Vaio machines, the “X” is a thing of beauty -- and a joy for as long as it takes Sony to come up with the next iteration in its classy series of portable computers.
- Anand Parthasarathy / Bangalore Nov 10 2009