Sony Vaio S and C series laptops show off smart battery and dash of colour

Sony's new Vaio S-series laptops offer an extra squirt of juice right where you need it, while the new C-series models provide a dash of juicy colour when you're out and about.

S and C laptops all feature a Fast Boot option to start Windows quickly, or a special Web button that fires you straight on to the Internet without a full boot-up when you need to check a quick email but you're too impatient to wait for the whole thing to come on.

S Express

The Vaio S series models features a 13.3-inch display with 1,366x768-pixel resolution. Selected models offer 3G connection on the go with Vaio 'everywair' 3G. They all pack a backlit keyboard and ambient light sensor, in a frame measuring less than 24mm in thickness.

The S series offers a new Smart Battery idea for adding extra power when you're away from a mains socket. Instead of swapping your battery for a spare when it's running low on power, a second battery attaches for a power boost. Each battery offers 7 hours charge, for a total of 14 hours. Because you don't have to remove the original battery, the computer doesn't turn off, so you don't have to interrupt your work, game or movie.

A Dynamic Hybrid Graphic System switches seamlessly between the integrated GPU and AMD Radeon HD 6000-series graphics card.

The top dog in the S series is the VPCSB1V9E/B. The SB1 packs a Intel Core i5-2410M processor with AMD Radeon 6470M and Intel HD graphics. There's 4GB of 1,333MHz RAM and 500GB of storage. A DVD drive is built-in, along with 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB 3.0.

C the rainbow

The S series is joined by new colourful 14-inch entries to the C series, pictured below. They come in silver, orange, pink, black and green. The dayglo-orange and lime-green models scatter light from the screen to the translucent lid to make the laptop glow, apparently.

Inside there's an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and up to 320GB of hard-disc storage. Options include include Bluetooth, four USB ports -- one USB 3.0 and three 2.0 -- and HDMI output that supports 3D video and gaming.

Vaio ve vaiting

The Vaio S series will be available from the end of March. The C series will be on sale from 21 March in John Lewis and direct from Sony, with other retailers following at a later date.

Our man on the scene Luke Westaway is sorting his S from his C at a Vaio launch event this very minute, so keep it CNET UK for hands-on previews of the new models.