Sony's VAIO X505 Extreme

Sony goes to the Extreme
Leading in wow factor is the Sony VAIO X505 (nicknamed the Extreme), which tips the scales at a scant 1.7 pounds. Sony claims this mini is the lightest notebook on the planet. This stylish little baby is less than an inch thick and comes with a Pentium M 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a 10.4-inch screen. It's the first notebook in the world made from a carbon hybrid material, and it's so thin that Sony didn't even include a Memory Stick slot. That slot can be found on the mouse, which comes bundled in the hefty $3,499 price tag.

Getting Ultra Personal
And speaking of tiny little devices, I got a rare glimpse Wednesday night of a hybrid subnotebook/handheld device from a San Francisco start-up called OQO, (pronounced O-Q-O) tentatively named the Ultra Personal Computer Model O1. This 14-ounce device measures 4.9 by 3.4 by 0.9 inches and features a 1GHz Transmeta Crusoe processor, a 20GB hard drive, 256MB of DDR DRAM, 802.11b wireless, Bluetooth, a FireWire port, a USB port, and a tiny 57-key thumb keyboard that hides when you slide down the 5-inch-wide screen.

The OQO device also runs Windows XP Pro or Home, meaning you can take all the regular Windows applications that you know and hate with you on the road rather than be limited by a specialized handheld OS. We've been hearing about the OQO device for a while, and the prototype has already changed a couple of times. The new prototype looks and feels great, but it won't start selling until the fall, so start saving your pennies now: the final price may be in the $2,000 neighborhood. Check back with us for a full review then.

Ultraportable, ultracool
Now back to Dynamism.com, which is showing a gaggle of products that you won't see on U.S. shelves except at CES, including these ultraportables:

• Toshiba's Dynabook SX

  Toshiba's Dynabook SX, which weighs only 2.19 pounds, features a 12.1-inch screen, a 1GHz Pentium M processor, 1280MB of RAM (maximum), and 802.11g/b wireless. The magnesium-alloy design includes a shock-mounted hard drive for durability. Toshiba claims it's the lightest computer in the world with a 12.1-inch screen.
• The Fujitsu T70E features a 1GHz Pentium M processor, 802.11 b/g wireless, a 60GB hard drive, and most importantly, Fujitsu says it's the smallest notebook on the market to pack a DVD-RW burner. The T70E measures 10.3 by 7.8 by 1.0 inches and weighs 3.56 pounds. The DVD-RW may be swapped for an extended battery or a weight-saving plastic insert.

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