Sony’s Light Peak-Enhanced VAIO Hybrid Could Spur Trend in Laptop Rental Market

In a quest for dominance in the increasingly tablet-threatened laptop world, tier one manufacturers are striving to make their offerings thinner, lighter and more appealing to the next generation of buyers, who expect both mobility and performance.

This advance in development catches on among direct buyers and renters alike, because the latest technology tends to be the most desirable.

So when Samsung released its lightweight Series 9 laptops in a bid to compete with the famed Apple MacBook Air, it caught our attention. But even then, we knew Samsung wouldn’t be the only competitor to do so. Proving us right, Sony is now on board with a brand new VAIO “Hybrid PC” laptop.

“Hybrid PC? What’s that?” you might be asking yourself (and for good reason). It’s not a really a term we’ve heard before, but I suspect it’s one we’ll hear again. It’s essentially a laptop (or a smartphone) with the processing power of a computer – that can be docked to enhance its size and functionality as a desktop.

This hybridized technology deserves a catchier name, but I can’t quite think of anything that sticks. Hybriditop? Hybriditopus Rex? For now, we’ll stick with the boring old industry misnomer, “Hybrid PC” or “Hybrid Laptop” – depending on your preference.

No matter what they call it, Hybrid Laptops are here to stay – and they give tablets a run for their money.

Motorola shook the market up with its Atrix, an Android-based smartphone that docks into a laptop shell – it was the first ripple in the pond.

Now Sony takes it a step further, with a lightweight notebook that can transform in to PC via a second, docking station component.

According to Sony Insider, this lightweight, ultra-thin VAIO will pack an “Intel Wireless Display, SSD of hard drive flavor, i7 processor, no optical drive, HDMI output with 3D support.” Apparently, users can “…expect battery life to run from 8 to 16.5 hours and the thing should weigh around 1.13 kg.”

The second component, the “docking station” stands to add additional features, such as a discrete GPU, a Blu-Ray disc drive, HDMI and VGA outputs – and USB/RJ45 Ethernet capability.

One of the biggest highlights of the new hybrid VAIO will be that it features patented Intel Thunderbolt (i.e. “Light Peak” technology. Light Peak was developed by Intel, and is essentially a new, industry-changing connection technology capable of combining high-speed data transfer with high-def video – via a single cable.

Impressive stuff – but rest assured, no matter where the market goes or what it does, we’ll be standing by with all of the latest laptop rentals.