Now starting at $1,000 US (784 Euro) while offering the same functionality

Oct 3, 2011 09:40 GMT  ·  By

Introduced all the way back in May of this year, Sony's 13.3-inch VAIO SA series of notebooks has proven itself to be quite popular among business users and will soon become even more attractive as Sony has slashed $250 (183 Euros) from its starting price.

The Sony VAIO SA pretty much resembles the SB-series that we had previously took a look at, but is a tad thinner as its chassis measures only 0.95 inches (24mm).

Despite the more compact chassis, notebooks in this series feature the same highly resistant case built out of magnesium alloy as well as an advanced configuration that centers around Intel's Sandy Bridge processors.

Compared to other ultra-slim notebooks out there, Sony's creation is actually designed around regular voltage Intel mobile CPUs and can be configured to sport either the Core i5-2430M or the Core i7-2640M CPUs.

These can be paired with as much as 4GB of system memory, a pair of SSD or HDD drives providing up to 1TB of storage space, wireless broadband connectivity and a Blu-ray combo drive, while the AMD Radeon HD 6630M GPU with 1GB of dedicated video memory comes as standard.

Other features include a fingerprint reader and a TPM module, WiFi 802.11n, USB 3.0 and Bluetooth connectivity, Intel Wireless Display 2.0, switchable graphics and a seven hours battery life.

This, however, can be doubled with the addition of an extended battery that can be easily attached to the notebook, even while in operation.

Pricing for the Sony VAIO SA starts now at $1,000 US (784 Euros), while its slightly thicker brother, the SB series, also got a price cut and starts at $780 US (573 Euros).

In related news, Sony has also expanded the range of Sandy Bridge processor available in the 14-inch C and E series, while the 16-inch F series and L series all-in-ones now come with Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum, Sound Forge Audio Studio and ACID Music Studio pre-installed. (via engadget)