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...

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

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Another look at the top of the Vaio Z Flip.

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

One last look at the Vaio Z Flip.