In general, people don’t like sliders that much but when we tested the Sony Vaio Duo 11 recently we were really impressed by it’s ability as a pen-driven slate in easel mode. Sony might be ready to offer a larger version of the hybrid Ultrabook if a leaked video is anything to go by and we think it could be a Haswell-based 3rd-gen Ultrabook.
This 13-inch slider comes via a video posted on NotebookReview which has since been taken down but images remain. The poster has presented the following specifications which we can’t confirm right now.
- 2X USB 3.0 ports
- SD/Duo card reader
- HDMi port
- 10 Hour battery life
- Trilluminous 13″ 1920×1080 Digitizer display [More on Trilumnous here]
- Backlit keyboard
- Trackpad
- Thinner and Lighter than the Duo 11
- Exmor cameras
- NFC and GPS
The 13” slider has a different slider mechanism to the Duo 11. It has a slim trackpad in place of the optical mouse pointer on the Sony Duo 11. The Duo was on the limit of Ivy Bridge design size and weight so to have a 13” model that is thinner and lighter means it’s either using a Y-series CPU (lower power Ivy Bridge) or a new Haswell CPU. Even so, to get anything lighter than the 11-inch model means it’s going to built from high-end materials.
A 13-inch tablet at, say 1.1KG won’t be something for casual users but as an easel, possibly more useful than the 11” Duo. Digitizer input is confirmed.
Analysis – Likely Haswell.
The design is interesting. The claim of 10hr battery life is interesting too. For it to be an Ivy Bridge device with a true 10hr life you would need a battery that would be too big for this design in our opinion. Look at the sunken keyboard – there’s no space for a large battery under that because the mainboard and connectors take up all the space at the rear. With Haswell, this could be possible. 10hrs video playback is possible on about 40-50Wh of battery capacity with Haswell (based on our experience with CloverTrail – a very similar design in terms of power management) and there’s enough space behind the screen for that capacity of battery. With an efficient screen, maybe the battery is smaller than that and you’ve really got a 1KG 13” slider here. If the keyboard works well, it will be an extremely interesting device.
Everything points towards a Haswell Slider or a sneaky 10hr battery life, that isn’t. [may 10hr is with an extended battery?] The poster claims that it’s going to be released in a few weeks. Could this be the showcase Haswell Ultrabook that will appear on stage at Computex in just over 3 weeks?
Source Thanks John for the nudge.
Two thing I hope it will feature.. 16GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD (also an option on Vaio Duo 11) and im sold
Would this have the hd5000 graphics or something else?
“Haswell chips will have 3 power states, compared to two in its predecessor, Ivy Bridge. These will be Active, Sleep, and Active Idle”.
Good guess, Chippy!
Does this have a spot on the device for the pen? the 11 inch didn’t.