Pros
- Intel 4th Gen (Haswell) Processor – faster, more power efficient
![Sony VIAO]()
- Carbon fiber outer shell makes a great look
- At .68″ thick and just 2.3 pounds, it weighs less than a Macbook Air
- Full 1080p resolution and IPS screen create a nice sharp display for movies
- Touch screen works well with Windows 8
- Tested at nearly 9 hours of continuos battery life
- NFC, WiDi, and full sized HDMI port
Cons
- High end look and feel may not be for some users
- Does not perform well in gaming benchmarks
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Geek’s Take
With the Sony VAIO Pro 13 , Sony has brought sexy back to the Ultrabook. With an ultra-thin and ultra-lightcarbon fiber shell, SSD, and new 4th Gen Intel Core (Haswell) processor, the Sony VAIO Pro 13 rivals the Macbook Air in stylings and crushes it in performance. Add a 1080×1920 resolution touchscreen, close to 9 hours of battery life, and wireless options like NFC and WiDi, and you’ve got yourself the closest thing to a perfect notebook as we’ve found anywhere at any price. Buy this Editors’ Choice here at the Geeky Review guaranteed lowest price on the web.
Full Review
Performance
The Sony VAIO Pro 13 comes in a couple of different flavors with different SSD capacities and faster processor options. The model that we’ve taken a look at is the SVP13213CXS – Intel Core i5-4200U, 128GB SSD, and 8GB RAM, which we feel like is the best balance of value and performance. The newly released 4th Gen Core processor (Haswell to us Geeks) puts this notebook right on the bleeding edge. It’s a dual core with hyperthreading (meaning four virtual cores) which when paired with the 8GB of RAM, means this model of the Sony VAIO Pro 13 will run multiple programs at once – or multiple windows within the same application – without breaking a sweat. The SSD speeds up boot and wake times dramatically while launching programs quickly, giving the Sony VAIO Pro 13 a snappy and quick feeling overall. Perhaps most impressive, the Sony VAIO Pro 13 ’s “all day battery” really does last all day – close to 9 hours.
The Sony VAIO Pro 13 is a lot of great things, but what it’s not is a gaming or mobile workstation notebook. As quick as it is, the integrated graphics just don’t handle 3D games well at all at anything beyond minimum settings. For home and office tasks, you’ll be blown away but for anything video intensive, you may want to look elsewhere.
Design
Where the Sony VAIO Pro 13 really excels is in its design. Frankly, it’s remarkable. Sony has done a great job of drawing on some of the qualities that are so appealing in its main competitor, the Apple Macbook Air – namely the thinness and sleekness – while still putting their own spin on the Ultrabook genre. The carbon fiber finish makes the Sony VAIO Pro 13 amazingly light, weighing in at around 2.3 pounds, which is impressive even for a laptop that’s just .68″ thick, while the angular lines and backlit keyboard give the Sony VAIO Pro 13 a classy look.
Another notch on the Pro column for this device is the screen. It’s a capacitive touch with a full 1080p (1080×1920) resolution which at 13.3″ isn’t quite up to par with Apple’s Retina display in terms of ppi, but it’s close. The IPS screen also creates bright colors and nice viewing angles, a must for watching movies.
Your standard array of ports are available on the Sony VAIO Pro 13 as well – USB 2 x 3.0 (with an extra charge-only USB port on the power brick), full sized HDMI – something the Mac Air doesn’t offer – and SD card. Wireless options are plentiful too, with WiDi and NFC both standard and both unavailable in the Air.
Warranty and Support
The Sony VAIO Pro 13 comes with a standard 1-year parts and labor warranty along with phone support from Sony. The phone support is what’s to be expected when buying electronics these days, based overseas and almost definitely tiered, but adequate. Sony has made this support available 8am-12am M-F and 10am-9pm Sat-Sun, which we feel is above average.
Value
The Sony VAIO Pro 13 is priced at $1249 at the time of this review, placing it squarely in the premium product category. We’d like to see the entry level model we’re reviewing closer to the $1099 price of the comparable Macbook Air, but the additional features that the Sony Sony VAIO Pro 13 offers do even out the playing field. For all that you get here and all that the VAIO is, we don’t feel like the price is unreasonable.
Summary
The Sony VAIO Pro 13 is everything you want in a next-gen Ultrabook. It’s fast, power-sipping, and looks absolutely stunning. If you’re in the market for a premium Ultrabook, you won’t do any better that the Sony VAIO Pro 13 . It’s a clear Editors’ Choice and one you can buy with confidence.
