REVIEW
Sony
VAIO 15A Multi-Flip
Just when ultrabooks were beginning to seem scarce or stale, Sony’s latest VAIO Fit 15A flips itself on its head to impress.
T
he ultrabook looks similar to many others, except for one detail – a crease line running down the centre of the lid. This has its practical application, as you discover once you lift the lid. Much like on Acer’s R7, this hinge enables you to view the screen as one would on a traditional notebook or flip the screen and drag it over the keyboard to concentrate on web browsing, for example. Furthermore, users can also flip the display entirely so that it is facing the other direction, with the keyboard and trackpad behind it; particularly handy when watching a movie. Finally, you can use it in a tablet orientation for those who prefer to do everything using the touch interface. Build quality both looks and feels top notch (for the most part), and certainly conveys a sense of being a premium product.
First the good news Another area where this ultrabook stands out in the 15.5" screen, which is a pleasure to behold, thanks in no small part to its full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. What this means of course, is that the VAIO Fit practically begs
QUICK SPECS 18
Processor Core i5- 4200U
to be loaded up with photos and movies, and does a great job at rendering both. What’s more, movie buffs will be glad to note that the ultrabook is capable of seriously loud sound output that practically reverberates across the entire frame, although the audio does get a little distorted at the very top end.
The Fit 15A can be used in a tablet orientation for those who prefer to do everything using the touch interface. So how does it perform? Well, in general tasks, very well in fact. Indeed, this was hardly a surprise, since under the hood purrs the all too familiar Core i5- 4200U CPU, accompanied by 4 GB of memory (which is alright, although we would have liked to have seen more), while a Nvidia GeForce GT 735M handles the graphics and 1 TB drive caters for storage.
Memory & Storage 4 GB RAM + 1 TB
GPU Nvidia Geforce GT 735M
Now the bad Moving on, the chiclet keyboard itself is a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand, it boasts some lovely backlighting. On the other hand though, we found keypress to be particularly shallow, while the keys themselves seemed noticeably smaller than you would normally find. More disturbing was the sink that the keys were set in, which seemed to waver with the slightest touch. Two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port and an SD card slot round off the VAIO Fit 15A; yours for R16 000 for the i5 version and a pricey R18 000 for a Core i7 processor. [RN]
USB 2x USB 3.0. 1x USB 2.0
Display 15.5" with 1920 x 1080 resolution
December 2013 | TechSmart