On first glance at IFA in September [article + video] I wasn’t overly impressed with the Sony Vaio Fit 13A Flip (let’s just call it the Sony Vaio Flip 13 shall we?) The wedge shape felt quite thick in tablet mode and the finish didn’t feel like quality. I’ve got a second chance to look at this 2-in-1 now though and it feels much, much better than the first time around. If you’re looking at the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus or even the ASUS Zenbook UX301, this is one convertible that should be on your ‘research this’ list.
These three very interesting products define the new PC. Highly dynamic, lightweight, touch-enabled, long battery life 2-in-1’s. Many of you have these three on your list. They are the #1, #2 and #3 most viewed Ultrabook alternatives and ride high in the Ultrabook and Ultra-Mobile PC category. The Sony Vaio Tap 11, Dell Venue Pro 11 and Surface Pro 2 are all excellent products and it’s tough to choose between them but there are definite differences. Read on…
At the Fujitsu Forum 2013 preview in Munich yesterday (and continuing for the next 2 days) I had the chance to get hands-on with a number of new Fujitsu products. The Fujitsu Stylistic Q584 might interest you if you’re looking for a very lightweight, waterproof 10-inch Windows 8.1 tablet on Baytrail but Ultrabooknews readers are more likely to want to know about what’s cooking on Haswell. The Stylistic Q704 is the successor to the Q702 that I tested at MWC this year. That was “the most complex and multi-faceted PC we’ve ever tested.” The Q704 follows the same path in offering fully-featured high-quality tablet or laptop-style productivity but this time in a waterproof and dustproof casing. The design is much improved, the keyboard feels better and Haswell will really improve the battery life.
I had hands-on with the new version of the ASUS Transformer Book at IDF13 this week and while it excites me to see Haswell pushing down into this form factor I’m of the opinion that, for now, Baytrail-based 2-in-1’s will better meet the average requirements in this space. Price is one factor but weight of tablet is a huge problem for consumers – the type of customers that should be targeted by 2-in-1’s to help turn round the PC business.
The Ultrabook project has been solely responsible for turning round the PC design and engineering business and by that I mean reducing cost and introducing design flexibility that allows OEMs to respond to changing customer demands. The Ultrabook project forced tighter integration of components on a smaller motherboard, reducing the number of upgradable/serviceable components and removing nearly all electro-mechanical parts. It drastically reduced the thermal energy generated by a typical loaded motherboard and introduced new heat-reduction technology. The combination of small motherboard, fewer options and lower thermals led to convertible and 2-in-1 devices which are set to become the post-PC solution. They offer a dynamic range of usage that beats any other design out there.
Cost is still an issue though and with Baytrail, OEMs can use this new knowledge to build Ultrabook-like products at much lower cost. Where does this leave the Ultrabook?
The Sony Vaio FIT Multi-Flip is another example of some of the innovation going on in the laptop market right now. It’s the Ultrabook platform that gives designers and engineers the flexibility to build designs like this. Once again, Sony include a digitizer layer and a feature-rich product.
With Haswell Y-Series, the Toshiba W30T has the right platform for the design. You’ve got a docking keyboard with battery and up to 256GB of SSD in the tablet (or 500GB hard drive if you want!) The screen resolution of 1366×768 is disappointing, as is the ‘punch’ of the display but we’re told that this hybrid is only 649 Euro. I want to see that in writing though.
