Unfortunately when I started to look for the Sony VAIO Flip, Amazon did not have them listed and only Sony or Best Buy had them. Although it is now listed on Amazon but you still end up at the Sony store. Regardless, I am giving my thoughts on the Sony VAIO Flip 13a here in Amazon after using it for a few weeks now. I'll give both pros and cons to each part if need be.
Design
Pros:
The Sony Flip 13a is by far one of the nicest looking laptops that convert to a tablet that I've seen in quite a while. While there have been numerous attempts at the convertible form factor it seems that Sony got it right with the unique hinge design that it functions as a laptop first and then either a presentation viewer or tablet second. All while protecting the screen when closed for portability. The Hinge is sturdy and is very well constructed and can really take the daily abuse of flipping from tablet, viewer and laptop when the need arises. It has a beautiful metal aluminum top with a separation line in the middle which hides the unique hinge. The keyboard area is also made of aluminum. The track pad is in the front where it should be and the size is big enough for portability while keeping the weight down as much as possible. The bottom of the device is plastic. Main ports are to the right of the keyboard area (2 3.0 USB, 1 HDMI and I SD Card. To the left of the keyboard are the headphone jack and power connector and the air vents for the CPU Fan. There are more vents in between the keyboard and the rotating keyboard/screen hinge. There are two speakers one on each side of the keyboard area. I did a tear down of the device and it seems easy to replace the ssd drive so long as one finds the correct drive type.
Cons:
The keyboard area overhangs a bit (sort of a lip) giving the impression of the device being thinner than what it actually is, but this also limits the view of the front power and battery light indicators. This overhang is also on the sides and can limit bulky USB connectors from being fully flush. Normal USB connectors fit fine.
Speaking of USB connectors, the two 3.0 USB ports are really close to each other and if you have two USB cable ends that are huge it may pose a problem connecting both of them.
When the device is in laptop mode, due to the thinness of the device the screen/display when pushed back will actually raise the keyboard area.
No Active Pen slot or holder. (Some of them don't even come with the pen included, mine didn't.)
Power on/off switch is flush, tiny and located to the rear right side of the keyboard. Since it is flush it is a bit hard to depress it to turn on or off the machine.
Likewise, there is an Assist button on the keyboard and some may think that's the power button but it really is for getting to the bios, and Sony VAIO Care Recovery.
Weight:
The Flip 13a is lighter than the 14a and 15a, and this helps in taking it around. No Cons that I can think of.
Laptop/Presentation/Tablet Modes
Pros:
Like most devices that transform from laptop to tablet and presentation viewer the hinge is what makes the device possible and thus its name. In laptop mode it is like any other laptop, but with a flick of a switch the screen flips back and turns into a presentation viewer which is handy for work or on a plane. Bring the screen forward and it falls into place as a tablet. It doesn't go flush to the keyboard due to the hinge design, but it's much better than the Acer S7/R7 tablet mode since it has less of a gap between screen and keyboard.
Cons:
Regardless of converting it to tablet or presentation viewer mode, it will be a two handed operation. It may be durable one handed but it takes much longer and is awkward doing it with one hand.
Display
Pros:
The display is gorgeous and way nicer than any of my previous devices. At first I wanted the higher resolution that's only available in the 15a, but due to availability I settled on the 13a with the usual 1900x1080 display. I'm glad that I did since with higher resolutions the icons and text on the display would be smaller. The colors are really nice and natural looking, text is crisp. I was able to connect to external monitors using Plugable UGA-165 USB 2.0 to VGA/DVI/HDMI Adapter for Windows, Multiple Monitors up to 1920x1080 / 1600x1200 Each (DisplayLink DL-165 Chipset) adapters via USB or directly via the full size HDMI port. I've notice no light bleed so far or pixel drop outs.
Cons:
Fingerprint magnet galore. Brightness at first was a pain since it never stayed at the level I wanted it, but after finding the setting its fine. But I'm placing it as a con since it wasn't so obvious finding the setting in the first place.
N-Trig Digitizer and Active Pen
Pros:
speaking of the display, it's an N-Trig digitizer. I've been use to Samsung Wacom digitizers for the last few years and before them a Lenovo ThinkPad (Android) tablet which also was a N-Trig. The one on the Flip is really nice and responsive. As usual with N-Trig digitizer if you really get up close and place the screen in a certain angle you see the N-Trig dots on the screen. But in normal viewing length and angles they are not noticeable.
The active pen was not included in the version I bought but I later obtained it directly from Sony and its works really well with pressure sensitivity. Although it doesn't have as much levels as a Wacom pen, with the type of work I do I wouldn't need those extra levels. Those that really ink and draw would probably need that many levels of pressure.
The Pen does not have an eraser at the end but one of the buttons when press can be used as an erasure. The Flip series also do not have a slot or bay for the pen. I ended up getting Targus Stylus Clip that keeps the pen attached to the tablet at all times and accessible when needed.
Cons:
As mentioned not many pressure levels but that depends on the type of work one does.
Pen was not included with the device.
Build Quality
I should place this with design, but feel it needs to be a separate section only because it neither warrants a pro or a con but somewhere in between or both.
I feel the build quality is really nice, feels like an expensive machine (which it is) and being light and thin. But due to that same thinness and aluminum the device has flex mostly in the keyboard area. Not so much that it would bend too much or break but enough to be noticeable when typing / pressing hard on the keys. Personally I don't find it that much of an issue since I don't bang on my keys but it could be a deal breaker for some.
The same can be said of the power connector which I'll mention in the Ports section below.
Ports
Pros:
Two 3.0 USB ports, although the 15a has three. A full size HDMI port and a full size SD Card slot.
Cons:
Being the smallest of the three versions available, it lacks an Ethernet/LAN port.
The power on/off switch is flush and to the rear right side of the keyboard area and it is a bit hard to depress to turn on and off the device. There is an Assist button on the keyboard and I've hit it by mistake which took me to the Recovery screens. The power connector/port is unique, tiny and different from the 14a and 15a. Not magnetic although it may seem or feel like it is. It feels flimsy at first but it is designed to easily detach in case you pick up the device so that it does not damage the port or the connector. But due to this unique design, it is quite hard finding a power plug that would fit in the slot. Most aftermarket charger/extended battery packs do not have that type of plug (yet).
Keyboard & Touchpad
Pros:
Even though the 13a is smaller than the 14a and 15a, the width of the keyboard is adequate and typing on it feels nice. It is backlit. The touch pad is big enough and I've had no issues with it following my cursor movement or clicking.
Cons:
If the keyboard is backlit and not placed in a normal typing level/height, you can see the backlights seeping through the bottom of the keys. Turning it off is not easily found and one has to go through the VAIO control center to do so.
Side Note:
Due to the thinness of the keyboard and materials used, there is some flex to it but if one is not typing down hard, it isn't noticeable.
N-Trig Digitizer and Active Pen
Pros:
I've dabbled in painting/sketching with my previous Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 device with Wacom digitizer and pens and the N-Trig one is quite similar. It allows edge to edge use and depending on the program being used, haven't notice any lag.
Cons:
There is no place to attach the pen to the device since there isn't a slot or bay for it. One has to rely on aftermarket holders such as Targus Stylus Clip I bought to keep the pen accessible at all times. I also don't like that the pen was not included with the device.
Side Note:
Wacom pens have more levels of pressure then the N-Trig one and yet I would never notice the difference so it's neither a pro or con, but wanted to point that out.
Wifi and Ethernet connectivity:
Pros:
With my previous laptops and tablets, I would have an issue connecting both inside the house as well as outside in the patio. This is the first device that connected from the get go and did not lose the connection.
Cons:
This version does not have a Ethernet/Lan port, the bigger models do. I did buy Plugable USB 2.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Wired Network Adapter for Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Linux, and Specific Android Tablets (ASIX AX88178 Chipset) lan accessory and it performs well.
Battery Life
Running simple battery tests and the device lasted 5 ½ hours on average for me. Once to 6 hours. It's been reported that removing the bloatware, antivirus increased the battery life to 12 hours. I may attempt to do that later on after I back up everything first.
Performance and Fan Noise
So far I've thrown everything I normally do with my previous desktops and laptops at the Flip and it so far handles everything well. There are 3 CPU and Fan settings: Silence, Standard and Performance. In Silence mode, the fan is basically silent, (and the CPU throttled). In Standard mode, the fan becomes noticeable and in Performance the fan gets louder. In both of these last settings the CPU is not throttled.
Now due to the apps I normally have open (numerous Chrome tabs, Office (Excel) and Bluestacks) I can leave the device on silence and not get any lag or performance issues. Running all these and downloading big files and I will need to put the device on Standard mode. And if I do all the above and do any streaming such as any Netflix/Google Play/Amazon movie to my TV via Chrome stick or use Photoshop and I have to place the system on performance otherwise the streamed movie will lag. While not a gaming device per say, it is quite capable of handling games that are not intense as long as it is in performance mode. Otherwise the 15a is more suited since it has a dedicated graphics card.
Side Note:
Some owners have expressed that the fan is too loud while others have experienced a noise like if the fan blades are hitting something. In the 3 weeks of having the device I did not experience outrageous fan noise on the two higher settings until yesterday. The device was turned on and it made a clack/click sound like the fan blades were hitting something. I tap the bottom of the device where the CPU fan is and it stopped. Since yesterday, the problem has not resurfaced but I wanted to point it out. Sony is aware of the fan noise issue but at this present time I am not sure if a fix will be out soon.
Settings
Settings for certain things are all over the place, some in Microsoft Control panel, and others in the VAIO Control Center etc. Placing links to them in a folder helps but at first glance/search it wasn't easy finding them.
Sound
There are two speakers one on each side of the device and they sound very nice. Lacking in base as most laptops but the sound from the headphones is full of bass and much louder.
Applications, Tools and Recovery
The Flip like most other devices of late have numerous applications which some may consider bloatware. Yet I found some of them quite useful. On certain versions Sony offers a Clean Install option (that is only available with the Win 8.1 Pro option) that allows removing applications you do not want included. This version did not have that option.
There is a free upgrade to Windows 8.1 but one needs to upgrade all the current software and drivers first before doing so. Also due to the way the internal hard drive is partition one of them is for the recovery, which can be put on an external USB or CD/DVD drive to reclaim that space.
Final Thoughts
having gone through numerous laptops and tablets in the past year alone, I finally have a device that is both capable of doing what I task it to do and still feel light and portable enough to be mobile. It's not perfect, nothing is, but it surely comes close. I give it 9 out of 10, and once Sony addresses the fan noise issue then it would be a 10 in my book.
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