ViewSonic’s 13.3-inch ViewBook Pro (VNB131) promises up to 8-hour battery life with the standard 6-cell battery but you can also swap out the built-in optical drive with an included 3-cell battery slice for an extra four hours of juice. That’s a nice touch for anyone who’s on the go a lot but still needs to be able to work with disc-based media from time to time.

The notebook’s specs include the following:

• Ultra low voltage SU7300 Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• 13.3-inch LED-backlit screen at 1280×800 resolution
• 320GB hard drive
• 2GB RAM
• Removable DVD burner that can be replaced with an included 3-cell battery
• Two USB ports, card reader, HDMI/VGA output, 1.3-megapixel webcam
• Aluminum enclosure measures an inch thick, body weight of 3.61 pounds

It’s available now for $949 from ViewSonic.

Viewsonic VNB131 [ViewSonic.com]