Sony touts a big-screen notebook

Sony claims it has developed the biggest notebook display in the land.

The company on Monday introduced a new Vaio GRX notebook that sports a 16.1-inch display. Sony says it's the first PC maker to offer a display of that expanse in a notebook. The display offers about the same viewing area as a 17-inch CRT monitor.

The new Vaio GRX series, which is also outfitted with Intel's new Pentium 4-M chip for notebooks, high-end graphics and large hard drives, is designed to appeal to buyers who want to view or edit video and use other multimedia-oriented applications, but who also want to take their gigahertz on the road, the company said.

Many notebook makers have beefed up their high-end models with the introduction of the Pentium 4-M processor and new, speedier graphics chips. However, notebooks in this category generally offer 14.1-inch displays, with the option to upgrade to a 15-inch display. Gateway does offer a 15.7-inch display on its Solo 9550 notebook.

Sony is bringing three Vaio GRX models to market :-

GRX550, $2,099,
15-inch display, 1.6GHz Pentium 4-M, 512MB RAM, 30GB HD, combination CD-Rewritable/DVD drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500
GRX570, $2,499
16.1-inch display, 1.6GHz Pentium 4-M, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, combination CD-Rewritable/DVD drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500
GRX590, $2,999
16.1-inch display, 1.7GHz Pentium 4-M, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, combination CD-Rewritable/DVD drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500