Sony Vaio goes Colourfull

Sony has introduced a new line of notebooks featuring eye-popping colours and a chic design -- Vaio CR series. Trimmed in silver, the CR notebooks come in what the company calls five "fashion-forward" colours: sangria, cosmopolitan, dove, indigo and black (matte finish). The notebooks will also have an LED light that pulsates when the machine is booting, shutting down or hibernating. Sony has long led the laptop-as-fashion-accessory movement (remember the C series models and the FJ series), offering laptops in varied hues when other manufacturers were just starting to experiment with colours beyond black and grey. The CR series is no different, featuring a case that is brimming with colour, right down to the touch pad. Completing the look, each CR notebook comes with its own funky VAIO branded wallpaper and optional colour-coordinated carrying bag and mouse. As for specs, the 5.5-pound thin-and-light laptops comes with Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform, with Core 2 Duo processors, integrated graphics, and an 802.11n wireless card. The 14.1-inch wide-screen display includes a fairly standard 1,280x800 native resolution, and the display bezel has room for a built-in Webcam and microphone. The laptop also packs Sony's LocationFree software that lets users watch live TV, access their personal video recorder or DVD player, and view that content on their notebook via the Internet. The six new CR series models start at $1,350 and will start shipping by the end of June.