The 1.2 pound Sony Vaio U is powered by a 1.1GHz Intel Pentium M 733 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 20GB, 1.8-inch hard drive, Wi-Fi and Microsoft's Windows XP Professional operating system.

The Sony Vaio U stretches over a 6.6-inch wide, 4.3-inch high frame.

The Sony Vaio U features a 5-inch SVGA, or 800-by-600-pixel resolution, touch screen. It is scheduled to arrive in the United States in December.

Sony's Viao Type U on display at an electronics store in Japan.

Sony isn't the only company with a mini PC. Start-up OQO's model 01 is a 1GHz computer with a Transmeta chip and a 20GB hard drive. The unit is 4.9 inches long, 3.4 inches wide and .9 inches thin. It costs about $1,900.

Antelope Technologies Modular Computing Core comes with a desktop cradle, a foldable keyboard and a sleeve for easier handheld and portable use. It contains a 1GHz Crusoe processor from Transmeta with 256MB of memory. The PC's dimensions are 5.03 inches long, 2.9 inches wide and 0.74 inches thick.