Sony's new 15-hour laptop, with Sandy Bridge & SSD

Sony recently announced a Vaio laptop that boasts up to 15 hours of battery life, when coupled with an optional "Sheet Battery" that forms another layer below the case.

Without the $100 sheet battery, their stated battery life is 7.5 hours.

Without the battery, the laptop is an inch thick and weighs 3.8 pounds. It has a 13.3-inch diagonal screen and a case made from aluminum and magnesium. It starts at $970 and is available in the spring.

The Vaio S can also be had with dual solid-state drives -- 128 gigabytes apiece -- but that adds a crazy $550 to the cost. If you really want to burn up the expense account, Sony also is offering a Blu-ray read-write drive as a $500 extra.

Dell's also rolling out new Sandy Bridge laptops, including an "ultraslim" model coming next week, and Apple's Sandy Bridge MacBooks surfaced on Feb. 24.