Most of the big PC manufacturers have pledged their support to AMD's ultraportable Brazos platform, and now Sony is the latest to jump on the bandwagon.
Unsurprisingly, the new Vaio YB looks a lot like the other Zacate notebooks that we've seen. That means that the 11.6in lappy packs a 1,366x768px screen, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 500GB mechanical storage mated to the 1.6GHz dual-core AMD E-350 APU with a Radeon HD 6310 graphics-core. 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a webcam and an SD card reader also make an appearance, and there's the obligatory Memory Stick Duo reader as well.
Bizarrely, Sony's shipping the new Vaios with the 32-bit flavour of Windows 7 Home Premium, making the extra RAM a little redundant.
The entire package will tip the scales at 3.23lbs (1.47kg) and measures 1.25in (3.18cm) at the thickest point, which is pretty normal for an 11in Zacate notebook. The manufacturer rates the battery for a solid six hours at the default settings with the standard battery - which thankfully doesn't protrude from the chassis - or an impressive 13 hours if you opt for the extended life power-pack.
For the time being, it looks like the YB is only available in the US, with Sony selling it through its website in pink or silver for a hair below $600 (£470 inc VAT). For anyone looking to save a few pennies, Amazon has the notebook in silver with only 2GB RAM and a 320GB HDD for $550 (£430 inc VAT).
There's no news on international availability just yet, but we'd expect this one to filter through to the UK channel in the very near future.
