GADGET GIZMO REVIEW .....................Sony Vaio Fit 13A

GADGET GIZMO REVIEW Sony Vaio Fit 13A PRICE 84,990 SPECIFICATIONS Intel Core i5 1.6Ghz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 13.3-inch touchscreen (1920 x 1080 pixels), Windows 8, 2 x USB 3.0, NFC, WiFi, HD webcam + 8MP camera, 1.31kg Impressively thin and light, excellent performance, 1080p touchscreen Surfaces attract fingerprints and smudges, display could be brighter We’re not through with laptop innovation. Sony has come up with a new take on multi-mode touchscreen laptops and they call it the Fit (Flip Series). It looks like any other thin and light touch laptop, save for the visible ‘break’ in the top lid. Once you open the lid, you’ll see a release switch. Slide it open and you can flip the screen around on a hinge till it magnetically locks to the other side. Therefore, the Fit gives you three modes of operation: like a touch laptop, a viewer (with the screen facing outward) and as a tablet. At 1.3kg and about 14mm at the thinnest point, this Vaio is also impressively thin and light. It still has full size HDMI, 2 x USB 3.0 ports (one of them supports charging with the machine off), an SD card slot and 3.5mm audio out. Our review unit has a 13.3-inch screen but the Flip Series is also available in 14 and 15-inch sizes. Performance is strong, thanks to the i5 processor and SSD. The screen is a weak point — not because it lacks in sharpness or colour depth. It has an ambient light sensor but even at maximum brightness, it is not bright enough to overcome harsh overhead lights. The screen also has a digitizer layer, which works in conjunction with a digital stylus (sold separately) for precise pen input. The digitizer layer has a distinctive mesh pattern which you can clearly see in darker areas of the screen. Overall, we’d like to think of the Flip series laptops as one last hurrah. Sony has since sold their PC business to a Japanese investment fund. Unfortunately though, this might put off buyers even though the company is not going anywhere and they’re promising to stand by warranties and service requirements. It’s a capable machine with a lot of attractive features and deserves a look if you need a Windows 8 convertible. Hitesh RAJ BHAGAT