Upping the ante by lowering the profile in the remarkably competitive anorexic-laptop space is Sony's latest, the Vaio X.

Clad in resilient but lightweight carbon fiber, the 11.1 inch (diagonal) Vaio X weighs in at a scant 1.6 pounds and is just half an inch thick. Within that, it sports a 1366 x 768 resolution (16:9 widescreen) LED screen and a built-in Motion Eye camera in its upper fold.

And while notebook ultra-lights designed for travel aren't exactly renowned for horsepower, the Vaio X looks to buck the trend by offering a 2.0 GHz Intel Atom Processor and 2GB of RAM - which is pretty spiffy for a wafer-book, far superior to the typical low-rent "netbook."

In terms of juice, the Viao X sports 3.5 hour, low-profile battery, but Sony is also offering a bulkier battery option for frequent flyers and road warriors that will reportedly extend X life up to 14 hours. So much for ultra-thin, which Sony spins as good for "propping up" the Viao X for better typing ergonomics.

Surprisingly, within the confines of its stock thinness, the Viao X manages to include a (seemingly huge) VGA port, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and the requisite Memory Stick Duo and SD Card slots.

The Sony Vaio X is available now for $1,299.99 in the US and is expected to retail in Canada for $1,499.99 in November.