Sony Vaio Z Ultraportable Has Its Graphics Mojo Hidden in Light Peak-enabled Dock

Posted 06/28/2011 at 9:39pm | by Pulkit Chandna

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While still very rare, external graphics card docks for notebooks are nothing new. But Sony’s implementation of this idea is way more interesting than anything we have seen before. The Japanese electronics behemoth has just announced a new 13-inch ultraportable. Measuring 16.65mm at its thickest point and weighing a mere 2.64 pounds, the Vaio Z has been designed to receive an on-demand shot in the arm from its Light Peak-enabled Power Media Dock. Hit the jump for more.

The Power Media Dock packs an AMD Radeon HD 6650M (1GB VRAM) graphics punch and houses a Blu-ray drive. The dock connects to the ultraportable using the latter’s solitary USB 3.0 port, which is where all the Light Peak (aka Thunderbolt) magic happens. While the dock reserves one of the two USB ports on the Vaio Z for itself, it makes up for it handsomely by offering its three built-in USB ports (one USB 3.0) to the user.

Here is a quick rundown of the 13-inchers specs:

• Display: High-resolution (1600x900) anti-reflective display
• Processor: Intel Core i7-2620M 2.70GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz)
• OS: Windows 7 Professional
• Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333Mhz SDRAM
• Drive: 256GB SSD Flash memory (RAID 0)
• Optical drive:  Blu-ray Disc Drive with DVD SuperMulti (included with Power Media Dock)
• Battery Life: Seven hours (14 hrs with optional sheet battery)

There is no word on when the Vaio Z will be available in the States and for how much. However, the ultraportable, when purchased in combination with the dock, will cost around $3,000 in Taiwan. It will make its retail debut there next month.