Sony unveils 'razor thin' Vaio notebook

Sony has unveiled a 'razor thin' Vaio PC, claiming that the device's carbon nickel casing and a motherboard the size of a MiniDisc make it one of the lightest notebooks the company has ever produced.

Available in June, the Sony Vaio VGN-X505 notebook is half an inch thick and weighs in at a little under 2lb (900g).

It ships with a 10.4in screen and Intel Pentium M processor, in addition to a 20GB hard drive. The company claimed that the lithium-ion battery delivers up to four hours' use on a single charge.

"Significant technological advancements went into making a PC this small," said Mike Abary, general manager of Vaio PC marketing for Sony Electronics, in a statement.

"In addition to pioneering the use of new materials for the casing we've pushed the envelope on motherboard design, shrinking it to the size of a MiniDisc."

The device, which is aimed at the high-end executive market, comes loaded with Sony's entertainment applications, including PictureGear Studio and SonicStage for management and sharing of digital entertainment content.

Standard accessories include a specially designed 802.11g wireless local area network (Lan) card, display/Lan adaptor and cleaning cloth. The notebook is expected to sell for about $3,000.