We took a thorough approach to durability while making it the lightest in the series, giving it greater stamina, and keeping the winning, stylish design of the VAIO   The VAIO TZ is the latest model in the VAIO subnotebook series, following the VAIO T and TX. However, it’s not just a slight retooling of the TX. You could call it a total redesign. What is the reason for such a dramatic change? Masahiko Suzuki, the leader of the development team, gives us the background on the new VAIO TZ. Suzuki: It was 1997 when the first VAIO notebook, the 505, debuted, spawning the boom in silver PCs and establishing a new market category of subnotebooks. Now, 10 years later, those of us on the development team had an idea of somehow giving shape to these 10 years with our own hands. With that, we thought about what we could do with the VAIO 505 if we were to make it with today’s technology. Why not make a computer that shows how far our abilities have progressed these ten years? As a fitting challenge for the occasion of VAIO’s tenth anniversary, we launched this development project.   Of course, it’s not enough to just wax nostalgic. The developers had to give this new model the power and flexibility it would need to face the challenges of the next ten years. That’s why Mr. Suzuki came up with the idea of “making it a new model that gives customers the same sense of wonder and surprise that they felt when the VAIO 505 came out.�Ebr> Suzuki: With the new VAIO TZ, before scrutinizing over the specs and everything else, our goal was to make the customers say “Wow!�Eat their first glance of the exterior. Then, to make them say “Wow!�Eagain when they open up the LCD panel, and then excite them again with its performance when they turn it on. The goal was to make a computer that combines ultimate performance with charm, to give the customers this type of surprise over and over, as well as the continuous enjoyment of owning it. What I put forth was the concept of “a PC with emotion�Ethat appeals to the emotions of its users, with a touch of class in its quality and compactness. On the design front, we further evolved the flat look of the original VAIO 505 and made it even thinner. And in terms of performance, we installed a Core(TM)2 Duo processor and flash memory to achieve incredible power in a mobile PC. With these two targets, we set ourselves some very high hurdles. A simple design with a touch of class, with all the fat trimmed away. Perfect for “a PC with emotion.�E/td> The “cylindrical design,�Ean element handed down from the VAIO 505, is shaped with the battery portion acting as a core.