Sony's MacBook Air Competitor, the VAIO Z, Arrives in North America

After it made its official debut in Europe just a bit over two weeks ago, the Sony VAIO Z ultra-portable notebook has now become available in North America where it can be pre-ordered from the company's website with prices starting at $1,970.

Sony's latest creation is built around a 13.1-inch display that is housed inside an aluminum and fiber channel chassis with a thickness of just 0.66 inches.

This actually makes the VAIO Z thinner than the MacBook Air, while weight was also kept bellow that of its Apple counterpart (2.5 pounds for the Z vs 2.9 pounds for the MBA).

Two display options are available in the new generation VAIO Z, one featuring a 1600x900 resolution and one supporting 1920x1080 resolutions, but both are treated with a special anti-glare coating for added legibility.

The notebook is powered by standard voltage Intel second-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors, the fastest CPU available being the Core i7-2620M which features dual computing cores and a 2.7GHz base frequency (up 3.4GHZ in Turbo mode).

This can be paired with up to 8GB of system memory, a 256GB solid state drive and it includes Intel's HD 3000 graphics core.

The powerful configuration is seconded by a wide range of connectivity features, such as 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, optional 3G, USB 3.0 and HDMI ports as well as Intel Wireless Display 2.0 support.

Battery life is estimated at about 8 hours, but adding an extra sheet battery boosts this estimate to 16 hours.

Sony's VAIO Z series ultra portable notebooks are designed to work in tandem with a Power Media Dock that includes an AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card with 1GB of video buffer, a slot loading optical drive, a second USB 3.0 port, as well as HDMI, and VGA video outputs.

"This new Z laptop builds on the attitude that an ultra-portable can also pack high performance into a slim profile," said Mike Lucas, senior vice president of Networked Technology and Services Division at Sony Electronics.

"The Z Series is ideal for performance demanding road warriors who need excellent battery life," concluded the company's rep.

As noted before, pricing starts at $1,970 and the first Sony VAIO Z notebooks should start shipping on July 29.