Sony Vaio TT: Ultraportable laptop in 'not a car' shocker

Want a tiny laptop, but don't want to sully your image with a cheapo netbook? Wrap your eyeballs around the new ultraportable Sony Vaio TT series, which apparently has nothing to do with the iconic cars built by Audi. Well, nothing apart from the name, the rather high price, and that it looks like it was built for hairdressers.

Four configuration options are available, including the high-end 'premium carbon fibre' black model, costing $4,345 (£2,500), and three entry-level machines finished in champagne gold, crimson red or silk black, all costing $2,095 (£1,200).

The entry-level models all have 11-inch 1,366x768-pixel backlit LED screens, 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U9300 CPUs, 2GB of DDR3 800MHz RAM, 160GB hard drives, GMA 4500MHD graphics, Wireless N Wi-Fi and built-in DVD rewriter drives.

The top-spec TT gets a faster 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo U9400 CPU, 4GB of RAM, twin 128GB solid-state hard drives totalling 256GB, and a Blu-ray drive. Unlike the rather ill-conceived Vaio CS series, TT series laptops come with HDMI ports so you can output hi-def video to an external display.

Sony has yet to give us a final release date for the TT, or official UK prices, but we'll update the story when we get more info. In the meantime, start saving your pennies. -Rory Reid

Update: The entry-level TT costs $2,095 (£1,200), while the high-end model costs $4,345 (£2,500).