Sony teases with Vaio S specifications that don't materialise

SONY UK teased us with remarkable specifications for a Vaio S series laptop but revealed a somewhat ordinary package that will be available soon.

The specifications that Sony tantalisingly teased The INQUIRER with were for an impressive Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon HD6630M GPU, a 128GB solid state drive and a Blu-ray drive. But Sony's briefing today let us down with the admission that these amazing features were for "a possible future model that we aren't 100 per cent sure on", according to Ruth Storey, Sony Vaio marketing manager.

The Vaio S laptop that Sony actually will be selling from March has a 13.3-inch screen with 1366x768 resolution. Sony claims the screen has a low-reflection coating. The keyboard is backlit to give users flexibility in different lighting conditions.

The actual specifications of the Vaio S series laptop include a more orthodox Intel Core i5-2410M, 4GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon HD6470M GPU, a 500GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM drive. The chassis is 24mm thick and weighs 1.75kg.

The only interesting innovation to the new Vaio S series laptop is the 'smart battery' that can be clipped onto the bottom of the unit for an extra 7 hours of use.

The laptop primarily uses an internal lithium polymer battery that provides up to 7 hours life. The 'smart' bit of the 'smart battery' is the option of a second battery that can be charged separately from the laptop.

Though this extra battery was not on show today, The INQUIRER was told it's about 12mm thick and is the width and length of the laptop. The laptop sits on top of the extra battery. µ