Laptop Thoughts: Sony Ultraportable Shows Next Generation Dock

"The super-slim and super-light Sony VAIO Z wasn't just designed to take on ultraportables such as the MacBook Air and Samsung Series 9. This 2.6-pound wonder (starting at $2,000) attempts to take the entire category to the next level with a very unique dock that's powered by Intel's blazing Light Peak technology."

The Sony Vaio Z has all the standard accoutrements you would expect of an ultraportable. Slim styling, light weight, blazing SSDs and a peppy CPU. However, like most ultraportables, some compromises are made, usually in the form of expansion and ports. With something this anorexic, you cannot expect 15 USB 3.0 ports, a PCI Express 54 slot, Blu-ray drive and three modular hot swap bays. Well, maybe you can try to expect it, but be prepared for disappointment. Enter LightPeak. Laptop Notebook docking stations have been around for a very long time, but until recently, they either were custom made for specific series of computers, or were USB based and very limited in what they could do. Some weird magic is at hand here, as it supposedly uses a power and USB 3.0 port, but the end result is some nifty expansion. Worthwhile? Maybe, but LightPeak and its uses are still very new. I think waiting to see what else they can come up with would be worth the wait.