Sony offers customizable Vaio S with discounted Core i5

Sony has announced that it will allow customers to customize their own Vaio S series notebook online instead of being limited to pre-configured models. The four pound, inch-thick machine starts at $875 with the 2.53GHz Core i3-380M processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB of storage, a DVD burner, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

For an additional sum, you can add the speedier Core i5-480M or i5-580M and drop Intel's IGP for the Nvidia GeForce 310M with 512MB of dedicated VRAM. Additional options include 6GB or 8GB of system memory, a 500GB 7200RPM hard drive or 256GB solid-state drive, a Blu-ray reader or writer, and Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

The S series can be outfitted with a backlit keyboard for $25 and a heftier battery boosts runtime from 5.5 hours to 8. All models feature a 13.3-inch 1366x768 display, HDMI and VGA-out, three USB 2.0 ports, an ExpressCard slot, as well as 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity. Versions with the Intel IGP support WiDi.

It's worth noting that if you go the personalized route, Sony offers $80 off the Core i5-480M and 580M processors when you order the system with Windows 7 Professional. Meanwhile, the pre-tailored S series notebook is $1,200 and receives a free extended battery upgrade, which costs $100 on the customizable system.