Sony Vaio Slate laptop tablet concept pictures: Looks like a Transformer Prime

Sony has hinted at a possible future direction for its Vaio laptop range, with one or two leaves perhaps taken out of the Asus Eee Pad book.

While the Vaio concept looks like a humble laptop at a glance, the screen portion actually slides back down over the top and doesn’t hinge open (like the Eee Pad Slider) and also detaches from the keyboard portion entirely (like the Eee Pad Transformer).

The Sony Vaio Slate, as it’s being called, is a concept piece and not a finished product. So don’t get too excited – it might not come out. But judging by how enthusiastically the Eee Pad Transformer Prime has been received its clear that there’s demand in the market for tablet-laptops.

Whether or not Sony nails its colours to the Android or Windows 8 mast (or both) remains to be seen. We’d expect to see follow ups to the S1 and Tablet P at some point but the keyboard

There was also a stylus hidden in the Vaio Slate’s body for scribbling and note taking action. A possible bonus for graphics designers or anyone who wanted to sketch out an idea on the move – it’s certainly cooler than jotting ideas down on a napkin or beermat.

Though not quite hands-on (the Vaio Slate was sadly encased in a glass prison) we got close enough to have a good look see. Would you be in the market for a Vaio tablet with a slide out/detachable keyboard? Click through for more pics and let us know in the comments.

Pictures by Basil Kronfli.

Ah – spotted the Windows key down the front there? That seems to answer our earlier question. Note also the stylus holder at the front of the keyboard dock.

The tablet portion of the Sony Vaio Slate concept – looking very slick indeed. If only this, or something like this, were coming out tomorrow.

It’s very thin and looks pretty sturdy. Shame we couldn’t have any hands on time with it to gauge its weight.

What looks like two full-sized USB ports sit round on the side; we love our USB ports.

What’s the point in adding a stylus if you’re not going to market a range of fancy colour variants? We particular liked the acid green ballpoint lookalike on the right.