Before the advent of Netbooks, the Sony Vaio T series and Fujitsu LifeBook P lineup gave glimpse of true mobility. With a petite form factor and long battery life, the Vaio T remains the premium model for the traveling executive. Though on the surface it may seem to compete with low-cost Netbooks, the Vaio brings the Core 2 Duo platform and integrated optical drive to the game. Sony further justifies its premium price tag by encasing the T series with a carbon-fiber chassis. The latest iteration, the Vaio TT series, ups the ante by offering dual solid-state drives (SSD) as well as a Blu-ray writer drive, a feature not seen in ultraportables before.

Upside: Though Blu-ray combo drives, which can read but not write to the next-gen format, are slowly becoming the standard in midsized portables, the Sony Vaio TT series is the first to feature a Blu-ray writer inside an ultraportable. At this time, Blu-ray data disks have not gained widespread popularity but being able to store up to 50GB of data on a single platter is a nice feature to have, if you can afford it. Another use of this drive would be to watch high-definition movies. No worries if you feel that the 11.1-inch screen is too small, as this laptop is also equipped with a HDMI output for hooking with external displays.

Like its predecessors, the Vaio TT is one of the smallest and lightest machines in the market thanks to its hardy carbon-fiber body. It tips the scales at a mere 1.3kg and is even slimmer than the Vaio TZ series. This is impressive considering that the new Vaio uses the latest Centrino 2 platform and has an integrated optical drive. Though it uses an ultra-low powered Core 2 Duo chip running at 1.4GHz while the cheaper Netbooks have a clockspeed of 1.6GHz on the Atom processor, don't be fooled. For one, the former is a dual-core silicon with 3MB of L2 cache (the primary data storage for the processor) while an Atom chip is a single-core model with a mere 512KB L2 cache. As such, we expect the Vaio TT to perform well enough to power the pre-installed Windows Vista Ultimate Edition.

Another interesting feature which also ups the price significantly is its huge solid-state storage. Combining two 128GB SSDs under the hood, the Vaio TT offers 256GB of non-volatile storage that has no moving parts and is hardier and more reliable than conventional spinning harddisks. This also increase the battery life as SSDs draw less power during usage. Another power-saving component is the ambient light sensor, which brightens and dims the LED-backlit screen depending on the environment. The Vaio TT also has a noise-canceling headphone jack which promises to eliminate surrounding sound with white noise and provides a clear audio experience with the bundled headphones.

Downside: Though it has yet to hit Asian shores, the price of the premium Vaio TT model is retailing at a heart-stopping US$4,344.99 (S$6,218.55) in the states, which is significantly costlier than top-of-the-line entertainment and gaming desktop replacements. At this price point, we'd expect HSDPA capabilities to be integrated under the hood. Unfortunately, the latter is not available, even as an option.

Unlike the lower-cost models that have conventional DVD writers and spinning harddisks and are available in a myriad of colors, the premium model only has one look--Premium black carbon-fiber. Though this handcrafted texture is unique to this model, it would have been nice if more shades are available.

Outlook: With its huge solid-state storage and Blu-ray writer drive, the VIAO TT maintains its reputation as the premium ultraportable for frequent travelers. However, we were disappointed that HSDPA capabilities were not included despite its sky-high price.