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Up close with Vaio's latest laptop, the Vaio Z Flip (pictures)

The Vaio Z Flip hybrid laptop is much more than a fancy flipping screen. It also has one of the most powerful processors you can get in a laptop this thin. But you probably want to know how that screen works...

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Normally, the Vaio Z Flip looks like a sleek, thin laptop. The screen's flipping action comes as something of a surprise.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

The only real giveaway is this groove on the back of the machine.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

To unfold the touchscreen, you move this switch, which clicks into place and stays there. (You don't need to hold it down.)

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Then, push on the top of the screen, or pull on the bottom edge, to overcome the force of the magnets holding it in place. It'll flip over.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

There are more magnets on the other side to hold the screen in this position. The laptop's stereo speakers will automatically swap with one another, too!

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Then, keep folding the screen down flat into tablet mode, if you like. The whole process from laptop to tablet takes as little as 2 seconds.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Every Vaio Z Flip comes with an active stylus pen, for handwriting and annotation.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

The Windows logo at the bottom is actually a physical Start button, which you can use in the tablet mode.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Here's another way you could prop up the screen momentarily, but there's nothing to keep it in that position.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

As a laptop, the Vaio Z Flip has a pretty great keyboard and touchpad. The touchpad is particularly easy to use compared to many Windows laptops.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

The keyboard is fairly thin, but nicely spaced and very responsive.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

The vibrant, high-definition 2,560x1,440-pixel screen displays 100 percent of the SRGB color spectrum.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

The Vaio Z doesn't have any tiny undersized ports. You get full-size HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports and a full-size SD card slot that fully encloses a card.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

The lid and keyboard deck are made of aluminum, while the base is carbon fiber. It feels strong and well-built.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Every Vaio Z Flip also comes with a VGA adapter, should you need to connect to an old pre-HDMI projector, perhaps.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Only the $2,399 configuration comes with this dongle, which attaches to the end of the power supply. It's a miniature wireless router, so you can turn a physical Ethernet cable into a source of Wi-Fi Internet for your PC.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

Another look at the top of the Vaio Z Flip.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

A closer look at the Vaio logo. Vaio is its own company now, after Sony sold the brand to investors in 2014.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET

One last look at the Vaio Z Flip.

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Photo by: John Kim/CNET
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