Sony's VAIO VGN-SZ series of ultraportable laptop computers are only an inch thick and weigh in at slightly more than four pounds, making them excellent laptops for business users constantly on the go.

But even at this miniscule size, Sony really delivers on the components. The central power of the VGN-SZ430N/B we looked at is provided by a high-end Core 2 Duo T7200 CPU with twin 2.0GHz processing cores on a single chip. Sony combines this processor with a whopping 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 memory, a healthy amount when running the included Windows Vista Business Edition.

The 160GB 5,400rpm hard drive provides a good amount of room for application installations or video and audio file storage, and the built-in G Sensor shock protection helps prevent data loss in the event of an accidental drop. The optical drive is a versatile DVD writer that handles traditional DVD and CD burns, Double Layer media with 8.5GB capacity, and DVD-RAM writes on disks that can be rewritten to up to 100,000 times. It's an excellent drive for repeated system backups.

A virtual rarity on ultraportable laptops, these VGN-SZ systems feature NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 graphics chips with 128MB of dedicated video memory. This gives them an extra boost when it comes to CAD work or even a little 3D gaming over the lunch hour.

As is custom on ultraportables, the display is a little low on real estate. These laptops feature only a 13.3-inch widescreen display. The image is quite crisp and bright thanks to the deep 1280x800 resolution, but it's a little small for having tiered applications open.

Sony includes a lot of extras with the SZ series that appeal to business users. The biometric fingerprint scanner adds another layer of security to data protection, and the built-in webcam and microphone make these laptops ready to go in terms of videoconferencing with the home office.

These are also excellent laptops in terms of connectivity. In addition to a modem, network interface (not gigabit Ethernet, unfortunately), and 802.11a/b/g wireless, the VGN-SZ systems also offer integrated wireless WAN for connecting to the Internet via cellular service and Bluetooth for synching up to your PDA or cell phone without wires.

Ports are also more extensive than expected on this small frame. There are two USB ports and a Firewire port for hooking up high-speed peripherals, a 5-in-1 media card reader, and both an ExpressCard slot and a PCMCIA slot for connecting older and newer card-based peripherals.

But packing all these components into such a tight, well-designed system comes at a cost. These laptops retail for two grand. We were able to find them at a few vendors for under $1,900, but that's still well above the average price for most laptop lines.

If you need the ultimate in ultraportable power, the Sony VAIO VGN-SZ systems are sleekly designed and about as thin and light as you can get and still have the full functionality of a laptop computer.


Pro: Very svelte, excellent components
Con: Small screen, high price

Warranty
1-year limited