Sony ships Vaio M Series mini-notebook

Sony's new notebook is retailing for £299 on Tesco's website

Sony today took the wraps off its new Vaio M Series mini-notebook, as it seeks to carve out a bigger share of the growing mini-PC market.

The new notebook is powered by an Intel Atom N450 processor, has a 10.1in LED backlit screen and a 250GB hard disk, and comes in either black or white.

Sony said that as the device weighs just 1.3kg and measures a compact 180mm x 33mm x 260mm, it is ideal for travellers or for use as a general pick-up-and-go product, which could see it prove popular among mobile workers.

The device also has a motion eye camera embedded in the screen for video use as well WLAN 802.11b/g/n capabilities. Furthermore, the device uses an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150, has Bluetooth functionality and three USB ports.

On the software side, the notebook runs the Genuine Windows 7 Starter operating system and comes with a range of pre-installed products, including IE8, Windows Live Essentials Suite, Adobe Reader 9 and trials of McAfee and Norton's Online BackUp.

Sony said there is also pre-installed software to "manage digital media collections, copy files from another PC and keep the Vaio running smoothly and get technical help when you need it".

No official pricing information was released by Sony, but Tesco's web site is offering the Vaio M Series for £299, which is pretty low compared with similar Sony models.