Pages

Monday, October 21, 2013

Sony VAIO Pro 13 Ultrabook Review

With the introduction of the new Haswell chips from Intel, it’s now easier for notebook manufacturers to achieve the thin, powerful, and battery-efficient design that people crave on laptops.
Such is the case of the Sony VAIO Pro 13, the slimmest and lightest touch-enabled ultrabook in the market right now. I’ve been eyeing this laptop since two months ago and it really piqued my interest as a worthy consideration for an ultra-portable notebook with powerful specs.

Design

First thing you will notice when you see the VAIO Pro 13 is how slim it is. Second thing is when you pick it up, you will immediately notice how light it is. For a 13-inch notebook, at just 2.4 lbs, it’s actually lighter than 11-inchers out there including the 11-inch MacBook Air. The weight of the VAIO PRO 13 is due to the durable carbon fiber chassis.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 01
The lid has a brushed finish that doesn’t attract fingerprints and it has an angular edge and sharp corners with a silver metal strip on edge near the hinge for additional style.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 04
Opening the lid will force its edge to rest on the surface and raise the keyboard at a slight angle for a more comfortable use.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 03
As for ports, most are found on the right side which has an HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, earphone/mic combo jack, and an SD card slot. An HDMI to VGA adapter is included in the package. The left side has the AC port and the exhaust vent.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 05
The underside has some rubber strips to prevent sliding off the surface and also has catches to fit a battery slice for more juice.

Display and Audio

Opening the lid you will be greeted with a Full HD touchscreen display with Sony’s TRILUMINOS display which is found on their new Bravia TVs. TRILUMINOS allows for a wider gamut of colors especially on the reds, greens, and blues. You’ll see more hues as compared to traditional displays and it’s really discernible. It has excellent viewing angles and also bright even when outdoors although there’s the problem of glare on a glossy screen.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 06
I watched a 1080p version of Will Smith’s After Earth and the picture was just stunning. The film shows a lot of greens and the VAIO Pro 13 outputted lush greeneries not to mention sharp and detailed pictures including in dark areas. The display on this laptop really made viewing videos more enjoyable.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 07
On the inside edge of the keyboard near the hinge you’ll find the speaker grill. Although audio quality is crisp and detailed which we like, it lacks power so it’s really not made for blasting music for everybody in the room to hear. You might want to use portable speakers or headphones on this one.

Keyboard

On the keyboard area, there aren’t a lot of extra keys present. There’s the Power button on the upper right edge and the VAIO Assist button on top for troubleshooting.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 08
The keyboard offers full-sized keys except for the arrow keys which are quite small for my taste. It provides decent travel although the key press is on the shallow side. It also detects ambient light which switches the backlighting on when needed.
What I don’t like about is the lack of dedicated buttons for the Page Up, Dn, Home and End which requires the use of the Fn key together with the arrow buttons. Same with the volume control which should have their own keys instead of using it with the Fn key.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 09
The palm rest has that brushed aluminum finish and at the center is the generous-sized trackpad that was able to handle multi-finger gestures quite well. I did notice a bit of flex when pressing down on the palm rest.

Performance

The VAIO Pro 13 that I have here runs on 64-bit Windows 8 using a 4th Gen Intel Core i7-4500U dual-core processor with 4GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. The processor is of low-powered type and there’s only the Intel HD Graphics 4400 for your games to play with.
Anyway, here’s the Windows Experience Index for reference:
WEI
Not bad actually for a laptop with an integrated graphics. I tried a bunch of games and here’s what I found. Left 4 Dead 2 which is not exactly new played well despite going for Full HD resolution. Skyrim was choppy every now and then on Full HD medium settings. Metro Last Light was unplayable even on its recommended settings. Haven’t tried DOTA 2 or League of Legends but those should be playable in this machine.
The SSD here uses the PCIe interface by the way making it perform much faster than traditional SSDs. You can really notice it in how fast the laptop wakes up from sleep or from a reboot. It only took just about 10 seconds to do a cold boot before the login screen appeared (3 seconds from Sleep). Even applications install and opens really quick.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 10
What odd though is the fan which kicks in even when you’re just watching a video online or sometimes just browsing. The temp threshold seemed to be set really low so you’ll be hearing a lot of the fan while using this machine. I searched online and it seems to be a common problem for the VAIO Pro although a BIOS update fixed it for some people. The left portion under the keyboard gets comfortably warm under heavy use, not to the point that you can’t place this on your bare lap.
The VAIO Pro 13 also supports NFC and it’s located on the touchpad. However, it only seems to work with NFC speakers or headsets. It doesn’t support transferring of files like photos and videos straight from your handset.

Battery Life

Regular usage (surfing mostly) with Balanced power setting, medium brightness, and WiFi on nets me about 6-7 hours on a single charge. Pretty impressive for its size and power thanks in part to Intel’s new Haswell chips. I also liked how it only took about an hour before the laptop becomes fully-charged.
If you need more lasting power, you can purchase a battery sheet that you can attach underneath it to double the battery life.
A thing of note is that the charger brick has a USB port on it so it also acts as a USB power adapter to charge your USB devices. Cool!

Conclusion

The Sony VAIO Pro 13 is one of the first Intel Haswell Ultrabooks made available in the market and the size and weight made it really appealing for those looking after ultra-portability. What we don’t particularly like is the shallow keyboard, the soft speakers, and the fan issue. Other than that, it’s a pretty capable and powerful notebook for its class with exceptional battery life and really gorgeous display.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 11
The Core i7-4500U Sony VAIO Pro 13 with 4GB RAM is available in black with an SRP of Php79,999. A Core i5 version is also available in Black and Silver for Php59,999.
Sony VAIO Pro 13 Specs:
13.3″ Full HD IPS touch display with TRILUMINOS display
4th Gen Intel Core i7-4500U (1.80GHz / 3.00GHz) dual-core processor
Intel HD Graphics 4400
4GB DDR3 RAM
256GB SSD
Windows 8 64-bit
1.0 MP HD Web Camera powered by Exmor R for PC and microphone
Intel High Definition Audio with ClearAudio+
HDMI, 2x USB 3.0, SD card reader, mic+earphone combo jack
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
2.4lbs
SRP: Php79,999 (Php59,999 for Core i5 version)

Gaming excellence with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series graphics cards

When it comes to pure blazing fast performance, there is only one line of graphics cards that set the standard: the GEFORCE GTX series. For years now, the GeForce GTX series of graphics cards for NVIDIA have kept on raising the bar when it comes to absolute performance and with the latest iteration of this series, we see NVIDIA’s most powerful GPUs yet.
gtx-700-series
The GeForce GTX 700 series introduces the GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770 and the new kid on the block: the GeForce GTX 760. With over a thousand reviews online and in print garnering numerous awards, the GeForce GTX 700 series adds another notch in NVIDIA’s dedication in leading the visual computing race. Get to know the new weapon of choice for gamers. Read on and find out about the GeForce GTX 700 graphics cards… blazing fast gaming certified.
NVIDIA graphics cards offer all the gaming technologies one needs in order to have a great gaming experience without burning through their budgets: full DirectX 11 support, Adaptive Vsync, and NVIDIA PhysX®, NVIDIA® FXAA, NVIDIA® TXAA all come together for a problem-free visual experience and with NVIDIA’s excellent and unrivalled driver development and support, consumers can rest assured the company is providing the best effort to maximize their products. Add to that unbridled performance brought to you by NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 and SLI enables the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series to drive stereoscopic 3D display with NVIDIA 3D Vision NVIDIA 3D Vision® and quad-monitor support for gaming in 5760×1080 resolutions for true visual immersion.
NVIDIA’s Adaptive Vsync technology reduces tearing and stuttering for a smooth gaming experience. This technology disables Vsync when the frame rate is low and enables it when the frame rates go higher reducing those distracting screen tears and stutters for problem-free graphics.
v-sync-1
V-sync-2
See V-Sync in action:
NVIDIA® FXAA is an NVIDIA technology to reduce those jagged edges in games. Traditional anti-aliasing takes up a lot of system resources which could slow down and affect your gaming experience. NVIDIA® FXAA is a post-processing technique that creates anti-aliased edges without taxing the GPU resources.
FXAA-1
NVIDIA® TXAA steps up this technology to produce crisper edges. In contrast to NVIDIA® FXAA which provides better performance, NVIDIA® TXAA produces better quality in exchange of performance but ultimately leads to a much better picture, highly suitable for highly demanding gamers that want utmost visual quality.
MSAA-TXAA
NVIDIA PhysX® is a prime technology from NVIDIA, delivering lifelike physics simulation in games that support it. This technology is an NVIDIA exclusive and as you can see the comparison above, you’re missing out when you have NVIDIA PhysX® disabled. Smoke effects, flames, water, etc. all of which are vibrantly delivered by NVIDIA graphics cards.
PhysX-1

GeForce Experience

All of NVIDIA’s latest graphics cards are compatible with GeForce ExperienceThis application allows you to fully optimized your games based on your hardware for zero-configuration gaming. No more worrying about which Anti-Aliasing level to set or how much Anisotropic filtering you need for that smooth experience, NVIDIA GeForce Experience will optimize your game with one click. Featuring support for all the hottest games past, present and future thanks to NVIDIA’s close relationship with game developers, GeForce Experience ensures the best gaming experience every time, all the time. Stream your games to NVIDIA Shield or record your games with ShadowPlay to fully maximize your gaming experience.
Immortalize Your Greatest Gaming Moments
Gameplay vids are taking the online world by storm and many Youtube channels are dedicated to gameplay videos featuring strategies, great kills, and just down right humorous videos. Normally you’d have to pay for recording software or buy a stream box but NVIDIA’s giving you all you need to record your games and capture those gaming moments with NVIDIA ShadowPlay.
Shadowplay
ShadowPlay leverages the H.264 encoder built in Kepler GPUs (GeForce GTX 600 and GeForce GTX 700 series or higher) to record high quality, 1080p gameplay footage on the fly and because it uses a dedicated hardware encoder, your frame rates won’t drop. Shadow Play also features Shadow Mode,which lets you set a defined amount of time to disk. Got an insane kill streak in-game? Just press the hotkey and your gaming moment is immortalized for sharing!

Introducing the GeForce GTX 700 Series

The GeForce GTX 700 series is another step in the continuous evolution of gaming. With the advent of the GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770, and GeForce GTX 760, NVIDIA aims to step-up the gaming revolution providing pure performance coupled tried-and-tested technologies for the most engaging gaming experience ever in today’s hottest games.
GTX-games
Aside from the existing NVIDIA technologies mentioned above, the NVIDIA GTX 700 series feature exclusive functions only available in this premier series of graphics cards. NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0, NVIDIA® TXAA, and NVIDIA SLI® all come together to complement the abovementioned technologies for a smooth visual experience with details cranked all the way up. This is the next step in the high-performance gaming revolution.
The NVIDIA GTX 700 Series line of graphics card includes the GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770 and GeForce GTX 760. All of which are based on the Kepler architecture which delivers high-performance with great efficiency.
The GeForce GTX 780: The Titan Jr.
Based on the GK110 GPU, the GeForce GTX 780 is the sole kin to the GeForce GTX Titan, packing an imposing 2304 CUDA cores complemented by 3GB of memory on a 384-bit wide bus. To give you an idea of how immense that is, the GeForce GTX 680 has only 1536 CUDA cores with 2GB of memory on 256-bit bus.
GTX-Titan-Jr
All those cores mean immense performance of up to 35% than the GeForce GTX 680 and up to 64% against the HD7970. Check out the graph that follows which shows the power of the GeForce GTX 780.
battlefield-3
The graph above shows the performance of the GeForce GTX 780 in varying resolutions, compared against the GeForce GTX Titan and the HD7970 Ghz Edition. Notice that the HD7970 trails in all of the resolutions tested in the game. In higher resolutions, the 3GB memory makes the GeForce GTX 780 the clear winner. Check out the chart below;
battlefield3
With more memory on a wider bus, the GeForce GTX 780 leads the pack in high-resolution games and with the 4K revolution; you need a powerful GPU for a blazing fast gaming experience.
Crysis-3
The GeForce GTX 770: A Legend Reborn
gtx770
The GeForce GTX 770 is based on the same GK104 GPU as the GeForce GTX 680, the same 1536 CUDA cores can be found on the GeForce GTX 770 and both 2GB and 4GB configurations are also available both on a 256-bit wide bus. Though technically the same specs-wise, the GeForce GTX 770 has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it gets a speed bump of 1046Mhz core clock, 40Mhz higher off the gates than the GeForce GTX 680. Another thing that gets bumped is the memory clock, which comes in at an incredible 7000Mhz.
gtx770-battlefield3
The GeForce GTX 770 sits nicely below the GeForce GTX 780 and still manages to show why it can hang with its GK110 big brothers. The HD7970 trails behind both GeForce GTX models.
battlefield3-gtx770
The GeForce GTX 680 used to be the Performance King, and the GeForce GTX 770 proudly takes over that mantle and still continues the legacy of the Kepler architecture in the GeForce GTX 700 series cards.
Introducing the GTX 760: Gamers’ Weapon of Choice
GTX-760
The GeForce GTX 760, like its bigger brother the GeForce GTX 770, is based on the GK104 GPU silicon with a slightly less CUDA core count coming in at 1152 shaders. Clocked in at 980 MHz, the GeForce GTX 760 can boost to 1033 MHz when needed and NVIDIA was kind enough to clock the memory at the same specs as the GeForce GTX 680. What’s more enticing is that the GeForce GTX 760 is priced at around $299, making it a more sound alternative to the competition. Setting it in SLI will easily rake you in performance close to a GeForce GTX Titan so it’s a very tasty option.
battlefield3-gtx760
gtx760-battlefield-3
The GeForce GTX 760 shows great performance in its range and once the prices really come down to around $250, especially those from AIB partners then the GeForce GTX 760 is really going to be a top contender in the market.
The GeForce GTX 700 series are simply the best choice for enthusiasts and hard-core gamers seeking uncompromising performance, immersion and efficiency. Whether you’re looking for a powerful GPU that can handle anything maxed out for 1440p, something for 1080p or something to get you armed in the quest for gaming supremacy, you have the cards below as your choices.
GTX-700-series-lineup
NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 700 series cards have been awarded more than 1000 awards by different critics, have broken numerous performance records and have satisfied thousands of gamers. Now is your chance to choose your weapon for your quest in gaming excellence with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series graphics cards.

Gaming excellence with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series graphics cards

When it comes to pure blazing fast performance, there is only one line of graphics cards that set the standard: the GEFORCE GTX series. For years now, the GeForce GTX series of graphics cards for NVIDIA have kept on raising the bar when it comes to absolute performance and with the latest iteration of this series, we see NVIDIA’s most powerful GPUs yet.
gtx-700-series
The GeForce GTX 700 series introduces the GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770 and the new kid on the block: the GeForce GTX 760. With over a thousand reviews online and in print garnering numerous awards, the GeForce GTX 700 series adds another notch in NVIDIA’s dedication in leading the visual computing race. Get to know the new weapon of choice for gamers. Read on and find out about the GeForce GTX 700 graphics cards… blazing fast gaming certified.
NVIDIA graphics cards offer all the gaming technologies one needs in order to have a great gaming experience without burning through their budgets: full DirectX 11 support, Adaptive Vsync, and NVIDIA PhysX®, NVIDIA® FXAA, NVIDIA® TXAA all come together for a problem-free visual experience and with NVIDIA’s excellent and unrivalled driver development and support, consumers can rest assured the company is providing the best effort to maximize their products. Add to that unbridled performance brought to you by NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 and SLI enables the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series to drive stereoscopic 3D display with NVIDIA 3D Vision NVIDIA 3D Vision® and quad-monitor support for gaming in 5760×1080 resolutions for true visual immersion.
NVIDIA’s Adaptive Vsync technology reduces tearing and stuttering for a smooth gaming experience. This technology disables Vsync when the frame rate is low and enables it when the frame rates go higher reducing those distracting screen tears and stutters for problem-free graphics.
v-sync-1
V-sync-2
See V-Sync in action:
NVIDIA® FXAA is an NVIDIA technology to reduce those jagged edges in games. Traditional anti-aliasing takes up a lot of system resources which could slow down and affect your gaming experience. NVIDIA® FXAA is a post-processing technique that creates anti-aliased edges without taxing the GPU resources.
FXAA-1
NVIDIA® TXAA steps up this technology to produce crisper edges. In contrast to NVIDIA® FXAA which provides better performance, NVIDIA® TXAA produces better quality in exchange of performance but ultimately leads to a much better picture, highly suitable for highly demanding gamers that want utmost visual quality.
MSAA-TXAA
NVIDIA PhysX® is a prime technology from NVIDIA, delivering lifelike physics simulation in games that support it. This technology is an NVIDIA exclusive and as you can see the comparison above, you’re missing out when you have NVIDIA PhysX® disabled. Smoke effects, flames, water, etc. all of which are vibrantly delivered by NVIDIA graphics cards.
PhysX-1

GeForce Experience

All of NVIDIA’s latest graphics cards are compatible with GeForce ExperienceThis application allows you to fully optimized your games based on your hardware for zero-configuration gaming. No more worrying about which Anti-Aliasing level to set or how much Anisotropic filtering you need for that smooth experience, NVIDIA GeForce Experience will optimize your game with one click. Featuring support for all the hottest games past, present and future thanks to NVIDIA’s close relationship with game developers, GeForce Experience ensures the best gaming experience every time, all the time. Stream your games to NVIDIA Shield or record your games with ShadowPlay to fully maximize your gaming experience.
Immortalize Your Greatest Gaming Moments
Gameplay vids are taking the online world by storm and many Youtube channels are dedicated to gameplay videos featuring strategies, great kills, and just down right humorous videos. Normally you’d have to pay for recording software or buy a stream box but NVIDIA’s giving you all you need to record your games and capture those gaming moments with NVIDIA ShadowPlay.
Shadowplay
ShadowPlay leverages the H.264 encoder built in Kepler GPUs (GeForce GTX 600 and GeForce GTX 700 series or higher) to record high quality, 1080p gameplay footage on the fly and because it uses a dedicated hardware encoder, your frame rates won’t drop. Shadow Play also features Shadow Mode,which lets you set a defined amount of time to disk. Got an insane kill streak in-game? Just press the hotkey and your gaming moment is immortalized for sharing!

Introducing the GeForce GTX 700 Series

The GeForce GTX 700 series is another step in the continuous evolution of gaming. With the advent of the GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770, and GeForce GTX 760, NVIDIA aims to step-up the gaming revolution providing pure performance coupled tried-and-tested technologies for the most engaging gaming experience ever in today’s hottest games.
GTX-games
Aside from the existing NVIDIA technologies mentioned above, the NVIDIA GTX 700 series feature exclusive functions only available in this premier series of graphics cards. NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0, NVIDIA® TXAA, and NVIDIA SLI® all come together to complement the abovementioned technologies for a smooth visual experience with details cranked all the way up. This is the next step in the high-performance gaming revolution.
The NVIDIA GTX 700 Series line of graphics card includes the GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770 and GeForce GTX 760. All of which are based on the Kepler architecture which delivers high-performance with great efficiency.
The GeForce GTX 780: The Titan Jr.
Based on the GK110 GPU, the GeForce GTX 780 is the sole kin to the GeForce GTX Titan, packing an imposing 2304 CUDA cores complemented by 3GB of memory on a 384-bit wide bus. To give you an idea of how immense that is, the GeForce GTX 680 has only 1536 CUDA cores with 2GB of memory on 256-bit bus.
GTX-Titan-Jr
All those cores mean immense performance of up to 35% than the GeForce GTX 680 and up to 64% against the HD7970. Check out the graph that follows which shows the power of the GeForce GTX 780.
battlefield-3
The graph above shows the performance of the GeForce GTX 780 in varying resolutions, compared against the GeForce GTX Titan and the HD7970 Ghz Edition. Notice that the HD7970 trails in all of the resolutions tested in the game. In higher resolutions, the 3GB memory makes the GeForce GTX 780 the clear winner. Check out the chart below;
battlefield3
With more memory on a wider bus, the GeForce GTX 780 leads the pack in high-resolution games and with the 4K revolution; you need a powerful GPU for a blazing fast gaming experience.
Crysis-3
The GeForce GTX 770: A Legend Reborn
gtx770
The GeForce GTX 770 is based on the same GK104 GPU as the GeForce GTX 680, the same 1536 CUDA cores can be found on the GeForce GTX 770 and both 2GB and 4GB configurations are also available both on a 256-bit wide bus. Though technically the same specs-wise, the GeForce GTX 770 has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it gets a speed bump of 1046Mhz core clock, 40Mhz higher off the gates than the GeForce GTX 680. Another thing that gets bumped is the memory clock, which comes in at an incredible 7000Mhz.
gtx770-battlefield3
The GeForce GTX 770 sits nicely below the GeForce GTX 780 and still manages to show why it can hang with its GK110 big brothers. The HD7970 trails behind both GeForce GTX models.
battlefield3-gtx770
The GeForce GTX 680 used to be the Performance King, and the GeForce GTX 770 proudly takes over that mantle and still continues the legacy of the Kepler architecture in the GeForce GTX 700 series cards.
Introducing the GTX 760: Gamers’ Weapon of Choice
GTX-760
The GeForce GTX 760, like its bigger brother the GeForce GTX 770, is based on the GK104 GPU silicon with a slightly less CUDA core count coming in at 1152 shaders. Clocked in at 980 MHz, the GeForce GTX 760 can boost to 1033 MHz when needed and NVIDIA was kind enough to clock the memory at the same specs as the GeForce GTX 680. What’s more enticing is that the GeForce GTX 760 is priced at around $299, making it a more sound alternative to the competition. Setting it in SLI will easily rake you in performance close to a GeForce GTX Titan so it’s a very tasty option.
battlefield3-gtx760
gtx760-battlefield-3
The GeForce GTX 760 shows great performance in its range and once the prices really come down to around $250, especially those from AIB partners then the GeForce GTX 760 is really going to be a top contender in the market.
The GeForce GTX 700 series are simply the best choice for enthusiasts and hard-core gamers seeking uncompromising performance, immersion and efficiency. Whether you’re looking for a powerful GPU that can handle anything maxed out for 1440p, something for 1080p or something to get you armed in the quest for gaming supremacy, you have the cards below as your choices.
GTX-700-series-lineup
NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 700 series cards have been awarded more than 1000 awards by different critics, have broken numerous performance records and have satisfied thousands of gamers. Now is your chance to choose your weapon for your quest in gaming excellence with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series graphics cards.