Sony VAIO T13 ultrabook

Sony has finally broken into the ultrabook market with its T series. The new Sony VAIO T13 is heavier than many of its competitors, weighing in at 1.6 kg.

Despite this, the aluminium MacBook lookalike is a sleek alternative to those who want to grab an ultrabook on a budget. But does it put up a decent fight against all the other ultrabooks on the market?

What we like best

The VAIO T13 boasts a battery life of up to 9 hours, very convenient for bringing it with you on the road. With a 320GB hard disk combined with a 32GB SSD, there is enough storage for applications, pictures and other files. Even if you have plenty of files, it won’t affect the performance levels.

The flat profile of the ultrabook leaves room for plenty of full-size connectors. There ‘s a 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack, SDXC/ProDuo card reader, HDMI, VGA and Gigabit Ethernet. But one of  our favourite features is the USB 3.0 connection which allows you to charge devices even when it’s turned off. Amazing for when your smartphone decides to die right before an important phone call. With both Wi-Fi N and Bluetooth 4.0, the only thing missing is 3G.

The Sony VAIO T13 ultrabook comes with a standard 4GB RAM, but if that’s not enough for you, you can upgrade to 8GB (for a price). As most Sony products, you can also customise your ultrabook on the Sony website.

What we like least

Although the design of the Sony VAIO T13 looks very much like that of a MacBook, it’s not as sleek. It’s a little bit chunky and the square edges do nothing for its visual appeal. The keyboard is also an issue. Although it’s large and well spaced, it’s a little shallow for comfort, which could get very annoying.

Another problem is the screen. Although the 1366×768 screen resolution is fairly standard, there is a bit of glaring and the viewing angles aren’t great, sometimes you need to tilt the screen really far back to see. If you’re not too fussed though, it’ll do.