IBM, Sony to offer updated laptops

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- IBM and Sony will reportedly present beefed up versions of their smallest laptops to the U.S. market later this month.

CNETNews.com reported Tuesday the White Plains, N.Y.,-based IBM has already made its lightweight ThinkPad, the X40, available in Japan. The updated version is to be released in the United States this month, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.

It weighs 2.7 pounds, about 25 percent lighter than the already lightweight ThinkPad X3.

The notebook, costing between $1,800 and $2,000, has a 12.1-inch display, a full-size keyboard and an Intel Pentium M processor, sources told CNETNews.

Sony said it's updating its Vaio PCG-V505 and PCG-TR3A notebook lines. The company's latest Vaio PCG-V505, the V505EX model, is the so-called two-spindle machine, with a hard drive and an optical drive and a 12.1-inch display.

The 4.4-pound V505EX, uses Intel's Centrino chip bundle, and sells for about $1,900. Sony has also fitted its 3-pound PCG-TR3A notebook with a DVD burner. It will cost $3,000.