Sony has added a new model to its S series laptops, which at first glance looks similar to the discontinued Apple MacBook. Sony VAIO S13 is a combination of its SA and SB series laptops. According to the company this is the fastest model of this series.
Design:
S13 is a sleek and lightweight model made of magnesium alloy, and the matte finish gives it a sturdy look. Though it looks robust, the lid felt very thin and vulnerable upon opening. With both hands on either side of the lid you can easily bend it with little applied pressure. This might also imply that it would not withstand a slight drop on to a hard surface. Talking about its sleek design, the S13 is slightly thicker than the Ultrabook at 24mm and it weighs just 3.4 pounds.
Keyboard:
The keys in the S13 keyboard are spaciously placed and typing proved quite easy. The backlit keyboard was very comfortable to work with in the dark. If you look at the keys from any angle other than the top, it might look oversaturated.
The 4.7 x 2.5 clickpad is spacious and accurate. The cursor moves from one end to the other very smoothly. It is equipped with Multitouch gestures as in iPads, where two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom work effectively.
Display:
The 13 inch screen with a standard resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels is very bright. This resolution is suitable for watching 720p movies, images and texts. The viewing angles up to 45 degrees on both sides are very good, but beyond that the images are blurred.
Performance:
The S13 is packed with a 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processor and 6GB RAM. Compared to other light weight laptops in this price range, the performance of S13 was above average. The performance of S13’s processor is good enough to beat all Ultrabooks in the market. The performance of its hard drive falls short of expectations in this category of laptops. Slow file transfer rates add to the misery.
Graphics:
The Intel HD Graphics 4000 chip powered S13scored above average in graphics performance. It has the best graphics performance among its S series counterparts. A notable feature about S13 is the graphics switch that is placed on the dashboard above the keyboard. This helps in switching from high graphics display to low graphics display as all programs do not require the same display settings.
For those of you who are interested in powerful graphics, S13 with an Nvidia GeForce GT 640M LE graphics card is available at a slightly higher price.
Battery:
When it comes to the battery life, S13 beats most of the Ultrabooks in the market. S13’s battery lasted 6 hours and 20 minutes, which includes continuously surfing the Web over Wi-Fi. It uses a 4400mAh lithium polymer battery that can be charged independently.
Ports:
The S13 has standard port slots comprising of an Ethernet port, three USB ports, HDMI, SD card reader, memory card reader and a VGA on the right side. The headphone or microphone jack is provided on the left side.
The Sony VAIO S13 comes in three different colors, but the white S13 looks like the MacBook and hence, some might dislike it.
This is a guest post by Teyona Dame of xfinityonline, a site that offers savings and current information on xfinity, as well as xfinity.com services.