Why You Can Trust CNET Sony Vaio T13 Touch review: Sony's solid ultrabook gets dressed with a touch screen for Windows 8
If you like the idea of having a touch screen on your Windows 8 laptop, the Vaio T13 Touch isn't a bad way to go.
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The Vaio T series is Sony's line of 13.3- and 14-inch ultrabooks that start at a reasonable price of $669. When we reviewed a $799 13.3-inch version of it back in June, we noted that it really didn't stray far from other slim Sony laptops like the Vaio Z.
Sony Vaio T13 Touch
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
For the launch of Windows 8, however, the company went all out...by adding a touch screen.
Now, to be fair, it is a nice and responsive touch screen, but that and Windows 8 are really the only changes. Well, those, and a price bump up to $899 to get the touch screen and 2GB more of memory.
Basically, there are no surprises here; it has a good port assortment, performs well, and gets great battery life for its components. And it looks pretty good, too.
Design and features
With its brushed-aluminum chassis, wide island-style black keyboard, and edge-to-edge display, the T13 Touch does resemble a MacBook Pro as well as other Windows laptops that use the same combination of basic laptop design elements. Setting it apart from the others is the angular body shape with a strip of chrome along the back edge of the display and a large chrome Vaio logo on the lid among other things.
When closed, the T13 looks slim and flat, but at nearly 4 pounds its heft is more than you'd expect a laptop with Intel's Ultrabook branding to weigh. It's certainly not a back breaker, but if you want something super lightweight, this isn't it.
When open, the lid tilts back and under the rear of the computer, but the hinge isn't all that tight. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, however since it doesn't stiffen at any position there's a bit of bounce when you tap or swipe on the screen. As long as you don't poke too hard it's fine, but Sony includes a drawing and painting application, ArtRage Studio, which requires some pressure to use comfortably. And since the screen doesn't open all the way flat, either, you can't even turn it upside down to write on it that way.
The keyboard is large with generous space between keys. If you like a lot of travel to your keys, you'll definitely want to try typing on a T13 before you buy. The keyboard deck is shallow so some typists might find it jarring to work on. Personally, I had no problems with it. What I did have an issue with is that this $899 laptop doesn't have a backlit keyboard.
The touch pad is large, too, but if you like discrete mouse buttons, you're out of luck; it's just one big pad. The software for the touch pad allows you to add multitouch gestures for things like two-finger scrolling, rotating photos, or pinch-to-zoom enlarging.
Above the keyboard are a few dedicated keys: Assist, Web, and Vaio. Assist launches Vaio Care, a service for diagnosing and fixing problems, while Web launches your Web browser of choice and Vaio launches Media Gallery or PlayMemories, part of Sony's music and photo software that comes preinstalled.
Front-firing stereo speakers are tucked onto the Vaio T's thick front edge, emitting sound via a small hole on each side. Sound quality is thin and tinny, but the speakers do get reasonably loud. If you're going to be doing a lot of listening without headphones, I recommend getting a set of external speakers.
As to be expected, the T13 has a Webcam built-in above the LCD. Its 1.3-megapixel camera provided "good enough" video and photo quality in good lighting, but low-light results were predictably noisy.
| Price as reviewed | $899.99 |
|---|---|
| Processor | 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U |
| Memory | 6GB, 1,600MHz DDR3 |
| Hard drive | 500GB 5,400 HDD hybrid with 32GB SSD |
| Chipset | Intel HM77 |
| Graphics | Intel HD 4000 |
| Operating system | Windows 8 (64-bit) |
| Dimensions (WD) | 12.7x8.9 inches |
| Height | 0.75 inch |
| Screen size (diagonal) | 13.3 inches |
| System weight / Weight with AC adapter | 3.8 pounds / 4 pounds |
| Category | Ultrabook |
The 13.3-inch screen has the same 1,366x768-pixel native resolution as the other T-series models. It's just that now you can tap away on it with your fingers and it will actually do more than just leave fingerprints. Windows 8 really is more enjoyable to use with touch, even if it's just for things like opening the Start screen.
However, I still find it a bit unnatural to reach across a large keyboard and poke at the screen (it'll take some adjusting I suppose). On the upside, the touch pad can be used for several swipe commands for the Windows 8 style interface, so you don't have to use the touch screen.
The system I tested was the base configuration from Sony using a 1.7GHz third-gen Core i5-3317U processor, 6GB of memory, and a 500GB hybrid hard drive with an additional 32GB flash memory for quicker access to the operating system and other commonly used files. Sony does offer some additional component options should you want to configure your own, including solid-state drives, 8GB of RAM, and a Core i7 processor.
| Sony Vaio T13 Touch | Average for category [13-inch] | |
|---|---|---|
| Video | VGA plus HDMI | VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort |
| Audio | Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks | Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks |
| Data | 1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, SD/Memory Stick card reader | 2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, SD card reader |
| Networking | Ethernet, Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi | Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Optical drive | None | DVD burner |
Battery life
Considering it has almost the exact same components as the last T series we tested, it's not surprising that this one has same excellent battery life: 5 hours and 41 minutes. That's actually more than the life Sony quotes for the system.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Performance
Other than having faster memory and 2GB more of it, the $899 T13 Touch's internal components are the same as the T-series model we reviewed earlier this year. It's a good mix of components for everyday tasks and entertainment and it did well against similarly configured Windows 7 systems, beating or keeping pace with them in our tests.
The system also booted up pretty fast in less than 30 seconds. That's not as fast as SSD-based ultrabooks I've tested, but faster than a system running on a regular 5,400rpm hard drive.
Any additional demands that the touch display may have on system performance didn't seem to slow it down. Everything operated smoothly with no lag when quickly switching between Windows Desktop and Windows 8 style interface. Apps opened quickly and swiping between open windows was breezy.
The Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, by the way, can't handle mainstream PC games all that well, but for casual games, such as those available in the Windows app store, it's sufficient.
Warranty and support
Sony includes a standard one-year warranty with toll-free 24-7 phone support. Online and e-mail support is available as well
Conclusion
For the most part, the Sony Vaio T13 Touch is a fine laptop. Everything we didn't like about the non-touch-screen version is still here, including the lack of a backlight on the keyboard and the pedestrian resolution and quality of the display. It does have very good performance and battery life, though, and the addition of the touch screen does make using Windows 8 more enjoyable even if this isn't the most ideal design for it.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)