Rejoice: Sony Vaio M Series available this month

Sony has unleashed the (sort of) long awaited addition to the VAIO family – the M Series mini notebook.

Despite Sony’s insistence that it’s a mini notebook, it is really a netbook. “Light, easy to carry and simple to use,” says Sony, and “an ideal go-anywhere companion for web browsing, chatting with friends online or checking emails over a coffee.”

Weighing in at just 1.3kg, with 10.1 inch LED backlit display, the Intel Atom 450 processor, 250GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM it’s a netbook in all but name.

The only thing to set it apart from the crowd is the slightly larger 250GB hard drive, with most netbooks clocking in at 160 GB.

It is a netbook with the customary Vaio polish and style however. There’s good connectivity with 3 USBs, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth inside the little frame.

It comes in black or white colour finishes, though Sony Style finishes will soon be available.

The Vaio M comes pre loaded Windows® 7 Starter Edition, the second most popular netbook operating system, and one we’re fond of here at PC Site® Towers.

It also comes pre-loaded with a substantial amount of Sony software, which they say “makes it easy to manage your digital media collection, copy files from another PC, keep your VAIO running smoothly and get technical help when you need it.”

It may be blessing for less technically savvy customers or it will be a major annoyance for those who want their netbook as light as possible.

Sony told us that it would be available from March 2010, although there’s no sign of yet on the website.

• Intel® Atom™ N450 1.66GHz
• Genuine Windows® 7 Starter (32-bit)
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (667 MHz)
• 250GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
• 25.6cm (10.1”) 16:10 display (1024×600) with LED backlight
• 1.3kg (with supplied battery);
• D 180 x H 33 x W 260 mm
• All that software: VAIO Gate; MusicStation; PMB VAIO Edition; VAIO Media Plus; VAIO Care; VAIO Transfer Support; VAIO Update; VAIO Smart Network; Internet Explorer 8; Windows Live Essentials Suite; Adobe® Reader® 9; McAfee (60 days free virus update); Norton Online BackUp Trial
• WLAN 802.11b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; MOTION EYE® camera; stereo speakers plus mono microphone; 3xUSB;
• Black/white colour options