Sorry Gigabyte, before your ‘lightest notebook on Earth’ has become available, NEC have not only reduced the weight of their LaVie Z LZ750/HS, they’ve done it with a 13.3” screen. This is a stunning bit of engineering – just on weight alone.
The last time we reported on the NEC Lavie we had ‘official’ specs which have turned out to be slightly wrong in the weight department. NEC have succeeded in reducing the weight from an already impressive 999gm to a mind-blowing 875gm. How did they do it?
The Lavie Z is built with a lithium-magnesium chassis. It sounds expensive, it probably is. It also sounds like an airlines worst nightmare in terms of fire risk but we’re sure NEC have that covered! There’s also a screen which mounts directly into the magnesium casing and the same technique has been used for the keyboard. Well that’s what the marketing says, we’re wondering how small the battery is. NEC report an 8.1hr battery, but there’s that horrible word JEITA in the small print. JEITA is just about the lowest power test you can do on a PC without it being in standby. [I estimate 6W average drain in their testing scenario which means 48Wh battery – Chippy]
Obviously pricing isn’t being disclosed. Availability is August 23rd in Japan.
If you’re interested in buying it outside Japan, the good people at Dynamism (we have no affiliation, just years of good contact with the guys) have the NEC Lavie Z on their books. We’ve asked them to keep us up to date on global availability and to send one over for a feel if possible.
Update (Thanks Tsuki):
Lenovo also announced plans to sell NEC PC’s LaVie Z ultrabook, to be released in August in Japan, overseas. The 13.3-inch computer weighs only 875 grams, making it the world’s lightest laptop. Source.
More info below from our database which will be regularly updated with info on the NEC Lavie Z
Source NEC Press release.
Via Engadget
[embedsite same_height_as=”content” src=http://ultrabooknews.com/pullin/productdetails-pullin-generic.php?id=922]
Lenovo will be selling the LaVie overseas. Not sure if it will still be the NEC Z, or a rebrand by Lenovo.
source
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201207050036
48WHr would be ~7 hours if it was done using Intel’s Ultrabook standards. That’s a pretty good capacity for this size/weight. The problem is what if they are claiming 8 hours with say, a 42WHr battery?
I think we might be looking at well over $1500. That’s not too surprising though.
PCWatch has a review. Based on battery life, it looks like my estimates of a 42WHr might be spot on.