Official Sony Vaio Fit multi-flip PC Owners' Thread

Thanks for your reply, it was the flip design with stylus that i was looking for but the performance does not seem much better than my current laptop.

Im not a fan of apple but that looks to be a huge difference - does that equate to double the performance? does apples os require more cpu power to run or is it similar to windows?

Price wise there is not much in it

 

No, the reason for that is only the difference of the concepts! The VAIO is a Ultrabook in 15" and the MacBook Pro is a normal Notebook. A Ultrabook has other CPU's than a normal Notebook.
Every Ultrabook has less power than a MacBook Pro. If you wan't to compare you have to compare with a MacBook Air, but still there isn't one in 15".

 

The performance depends on what program you're talking about. It should be noticeably faster on multi-threaded applications but not so much on single-threaded ones. I'm not sure about the CPU power required by Mac OS X vs Windows, but I suspect that it's either very similar or in favor of Mac OS.

True, but if you look at the dimensions, you'll see that the MB Pro is actually slightly smaller in overall volume than the Flip:

MB Pro 15' | Flip 15'
Depth: 247mm | 253mm
Height: 180mm | 184mm (at its thinnest point)
Width: 359mm | 377mm
Weight: 2,02kg | 2,29kg

The flip mechanism, touchscreen and digitizer adds considerable thickness to an otherwise thin laptop...

 

MacBook Pro vs Sony Flip ? Apples vs Oranges (pun intended).

Come on. The MB Pro is a "powerbook". Compare it with an HP Envy quad, or Dell XPS maybe. Not a Flip.

Last but no least : Macs aren't for everybody, or should I say/ask : are you ready to move away from Windows (or Linux) and go to MacOS ? If you are, then great, start comparing

 

On comparison the flip & macbook compare very equally until it comes to the cpu where the macbook has a i7 4960hq & the flip has an i7 4500u
same ssd same ram same graphics & screen res
not a lot of difference in price either

I would prefer the flip for the digitiser, not sure about macOS it seems it would cause me a lot of software problems and i believe it is a closed system compared to windows

 

Well, I disagree, but that's Ok. Different perspectives I guess. For me, the Flip and MB Pro are in two separate categories, regardless of physical dimenrsions. Powerbooks appeal to those who value power/speed, for better efficiency under heavy load (photo or video editing, gaming, CAD, heavy multi-tasking, etc...). The MB Pro packs a lot of power in its relatively small shell. On the Flip-side (heheh), you have an ultrabook with touch screen which can also be used as a tablet. I can't compare that to a powerbook, because they are built for totally different uses. If you want power and speed above all else, look at powerbooks (Envy/Elitebook, XPS, gaming laptops, etc..) or the MB Pro.

As far as MacOS goes, I would be in the same boat as you are. I'm more of a PC guy to be honest.

 

A question for the Flip owners, is it laggy for you i the store app? And do you have smooth double finger scrolling in explorer?

 

This thing has been continuing to get bashed in reviews. A few more have posted reviews on Bestbuy.com in the past couple days and they're mostly negative. A few mentions of the touch screen not responding, the noisy fan, one mentioned poor wifi performance, and one just talking about general glitches. About a quarter of the near 2000 reviewers on Amazon got dead on arrival PS4s. There are also other reports of DOA PS4s from other places. What is going on at Sony lately with quality? Between the quality of the Flips and reports about the PS4, I'm really getting pushed away from Sony. And who knows if it is design issues or manufacturing issues.

 

Don't forget that you are far more likely to see reviews from people that are unhappy with a product than from the ones that are pleased with it. People tend to not say anything when a product works according to their expectations...

 

True, but considering every Flip 13 owner here seems to have the fan problem, you have to wonder what's up with Sony's QC. Not that other companies are much better; just look at the problems the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro has had. Seems like no one actually USES these machines at all before shipping them out, or even before manufacturing final builds. Some pretty major, obvious flaws and defects. It's nearly impossible to find a trouble-free computer in certain categories right now, i.e. the convertible ultrabook.

 

In comparison with other star ratings on Best Buy's website, these products are doing terrible. I do believe that you'll see many more negative responses within message boards due to people troubleshooting, but reviews (in my opinion) won't be quite as biased.

 

I ordered.. 13 with 128gb, 8 GB ram, AC WiFi. Hope the fan sound is bearable...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks, worked like a charm! I'm still having issues with text and images displaying awfully in certain apps (settings messages for one), but I guess that's gonna get solved soon with a few updates.

 

Curious, but what problem/fix are you referring to?

 

Today I received my 13A i5 model. First impression - very light and high quality finish.
Second impression - fan is very quiet, almost unnoticeable... until it started to shutting down randomly and became very hot. I discovered that fan was not working After little taping at the back it started spinning. First it was very annoying, but installing McAfee helped a lot, and now its little better but not ideal . Quick look at msconfig and task manager showed me tooons of bloatware, update managers, services etc. I think that after heavy cleaning battery life and fan work should be improved a lot.
I'm not impressed with the screen, viewing angles are strange - it looks that backlight is changing with different angle, and I can see light leaks from bottom.

 

It seems that the thinkpad yoga is coming out - I have a pick up date of 21/11/13 i Denmark -so far reviews/comments are overall positive.
So I will cancel my Flip 13.

 

For anyone having WiFi issues, this is the advice I got from Sony;

"
1. Disable the wireless LAN adapter power management:
a. Press the on start button.
b. In the search field, type device manager.
c. Open device manager.
d. Expand the network adapters group.
e. Right click on the wireless LAN adapter, and then click properties.
f. Click on power management tab.
g. Disable the option “Allow windows to turn off this device to save power”
h. Click OK
i. Connect to the network and if it drops the connection, please move to the next step.

2. Reinstall Wireless LAN:
a. Press the on start button.
b. In the search field, type VAIO Care.
c. Click on restore and recovery.
d. Click on reinstall application or drivers.
e. Put check mark next to Wireless LAN driver and click next.
f. Restart the System.
g. If the issue remains, please run windows system restore.

3. System restore:
It is a feature which provides the opportunity to revert the operating system to a previous state. This step will not affect your data as it will only undo changes to the operating system. Please follow the link below for further guidance.
Tips and solutions

4. Full system recovery:
If the above steps did not resolve the issue, we recommend performing a system recovery. This will conclusively determine the source of the problem. Please follow the link below and read the instructions carefully for details of how to do this
VAIO Care 6:
Tips and solutions

VAIO Care 7:
Tips and solutions "

I'm trying step 1 for now. Will keep an eye on whether the connection issues go away & also how much this drains the battery.
I suspect it's not the complete answer, as I find the problem can be just not getting as good a signal as my phone (Samsung Note 2) - but from memory this may have been more of an issue when using the battery, so let's see what happens!

 

Anyone know how to control the fan or if sony is working on a software update????

 

There is no fix yet. A Sony rep on the official support forum said they are looking at the issue, but so far no admissions or promises to fix it. You might want to follow this thread on the official Sony support forum:

The Sony Vaio Flip and its noisy fan - Sony's Community Site

If it is not fixed within 30 days after I receive my Flip, I will return it for refund. I suggest everyone do the same thing.

 

they keep ignoring it
we have to put more pressure on them..

 

Please help to tell Sony about the urgency of the fan problem!!!

Either you can use the link above or if you have a Sony account in your country already you just have to:

1.) go to your local Sony site and login with your Sony Account or create one.
2.) click on "Community" and give yourself a username
3.) Now you are able to post to the (local) Sony community.
4.) Mostly there is already a thread discussing this topic - so use the search bar at the top of the page.
5.) Post your experience but do not forget to be friendly - the support employees are supposed to help consumers and hopefully communicate problems internally. It does not help to affront them.

We have to apply more pressure - so please take your time and collaborate!

 

To summerize problems i read about:
- Touchscreen has blackouts, shuts down until next restart
- Fan is too loud when not in silent mode and spins at full strength too early (temperature-wise)
- Fan spins on and off continuously in silent mode
- Performance-drops in demanding games
- Keyboard-flex
- Amount of preinstalled bloatware
- Display-quality (brightness, bleeding, viewing angles)

 

So, now i have to send my Notebook back. A replacment isn't possible because there is no way to order a new one at the moment. The customer support said because of to many orders?

So, i have to think about a alternative...

- Surface Pro would be nice, but the size of the Screen is not enough
- Lenevo Yoga - no, i hate that you have the Keyboard on the other side of the Display in tablet mode...
- Acer Aspire R7 - no way, the layout is horrible...

Has someone a idea? Else i have to order a VAIO Pro or so...

 

Like I told you earlier, call support and tell them that they need to contact you when new flips are available. In the meantime you can use your flip. Even if it exceeds the 30 day return period you will be able to exchange it for a new one. Because they screw up. That's the least they can do.

 

Well, I finally received my Flip 13A (silver, i7,8 GB, 256 GB SSD, Win 8 Pro). Ordered it on Oct. 11! I haven't fired it up yet since I'm at work. It looks fantastic, the build quality seems to be good. Tonight I'll do some basic installing (and deinstalling things like McAfee) and I'll let you know what my fan does.

 

Enjoy the moments before the beast awakes

 

I would be more careful about the generalization. You put forward across all models;
I find the 13A extremely well designed and functional compared to other models and manufacturers. I don't see the problems you describe except:
*the fan can spin too fast, but I haven't yet updated fully to win 8.1
*there is some small keyboard flex, but hey I have only found less flex on big corporate models such as HP elite books and Lenovo thinkpads. Though see videos of Thinkpad Yoga - it also have flex and it seems to be the same as the 13A

 

I agree, the only problems I have is the FAN and WIFI.

Bloatware is normal with vendor installations
The display is great compared to lenovos etc, as with most Sony devices

 

About the bloatware folks : I've ordered mine with W8 Pro + "Fresh Start", which should get me a lot less bloatware. I may even get to skip McCrappee (erm, McAfee). $50 is a lot to pay for less bloatware, but I hate the stuff sooo much... and I know I won't be trying to install W8 fresh on this Sony because I've read it can be very difficult. So I coughed up the extra $50 and am getting W8 Pro as a bonus (daughter won't need the Pro's extras, but hey, they'll be there...).

Anyone else got the "Fresh Start" option ? Worth it or not ? I'll try and remember to write down boot times before I switch the HDD, so others can compare. I'll also note how many processes are running, just for kicks

 

I too agree with KnielsenDk, and chbla. The issues that Houngan mentioned are issues that have been brought up throughout different topics, forums and reviews by members and reviewers but does not necessarily mean across the whole brand has them and certainly not that everyone who has a Flip has experience them all. They way it was written it seems that every device and every user is having these issues.

Its funny but we enthusiats are a ficky bunch. We want the best and the latest now, but devices now a days are not perfect, nothing is, not even the highly (marketed) Apple products. We take a chance getting stuff before honest reviews and hands on at a store. Then we get upset when we find issues. We expect devices to work right out of the box but not everything is perfect. In fact, it has gotten to the point that many believe these devices are not fully tested in a real world environment and only in a lab under control circumstances. And yet we, throw caution to the wind and pre-order stuff without even caring if a device will have quirks. lol I'm guilty of this as well. Which brings up the issue of some getting frustrated that their devices are being delayed. I personally would rather have a device delayed much longer than deploying it than getting it now and having the hassle of discovering quirks that might hamper my enjoyment of said product, but I do understand the fustration. I've been there many many times.

As for the issues posted, I have the 13a, others have started to post about their 14a too, (don't recall if anyone has posted about their 15a) regardless, not all of us have all these issues. So lets see,.. (these are my observations for my own device, a Flip 13a.)

- Touchscreen has blackouts,
By blackouts, do you mean unresponsive and thus needing to reboot to set it working again?
If so, nope. I've tried to do so many things on the Flip and it still is responsive, screen, speed etc.

- Fan is too loud when not in silent mode
The fan noise is almost non-existant on mine in silence. While others have noticed noise. Only when I put it on performance mode. Then again, that mode isn't really a mode I'll be in most of my time. Granted, there are a few that will keep it at that mode due to the apps they may use and this is something that does need to be checked and fixed by Sony.

- Fan spins on and off continuously in silent mode
I expeirence this when i was in File manager transferring files between drives. Which led me to believe it was the antivirus software. It may also be possible if one is using a program that will task the CPU, thus triggering the fan. Since removing the antivirus app and only using MS Defender, it doesn't do that anymore.

- Performance-drops in demanding games
That I know of the Flip series are not really gaming devices, maybe the 15a with its dedicated graphics card.

- Keyboard-flex
I've done a video myself of the keyboard flex and that was showing that if you press really hard yes it will flex, but in normal real world use, if anyone is actually pressing down that hard on the keyboard while typing, then keyboard flex will eventually be the least of their concerns since such pressing may damage the interal components. I do believe due to the thinness of the keyboard area, most other brands have the same issue of flex.

- Amount of preinstalled bloatware
I agree that most manufacturers have taken the route of putting too much bloatware apps on their devices thinking that their programs are way better than what the user feels should be installed.
I also do not like that Sony decided to charge the customer a fee to do a Fresh start.

- Display-quality (brightness, bleeding, viewing angles)
I personally do not understand the reasoning behind reviewers and actual users and their desire to have great viewing angles on personal devices. To me, I am looking at the device straight on, not at a 45 degree angle or from the sides. If anything, less of a viewing angle is better (for me) due to privacy concerns and work. As for bleeding, nope, not that I can tell except from the keyboard backlit areas which may or may not be a concern depending on the level the device is places in for typing.
Brightness, yeah I believe i have experience that. But if I recall, all my devices had a problem with brightness not staying at the level it should, from my Note 2 to Note 10.1, Thinkpad etc until a OTA update.

Wifi
No issues whatsoever, its not the same one that is in the Duo Pro. It actually grabs the signal from my hotspot much better than my Note 2 as well as outside on the patio from my home wifi.

@~Mark
If I were to order the Flip from Sony and customize it, I too would have gone that route, but I was impatient and got the one in the store. I have removed kaskersky and will be upgrading to Win 8.1 eventually.

TS

 

I expect a product to work straight out of the box. After all, that's what I've paid for. I don't expect to have to search the internet for a 'fix' before I can use my newly purchased item. The touch screen on my 14' worked only when it felt like it which usually didn't coincide with when I felt it should, so I've sent it back for a refund! Are you all mad putting up with these foibles in a brand new machine or have you more money than sense?

 

Fresh Start doesn't cost anything. I selected it when I ordered mine last week and it doesn't affect the price.

 

Which country do you live in ? Here on the Canadian Sony store (and I believe the US store as well), Fresh Start doesn't cost anything, technically, BUT : the option requires Windows 8 Pro. No Pro, no Fresh Start possible. So when you check Windows 8 Pro in options (+$50), Fresh Start becomes available (free, yeah...).

When this option first became availble a few years ago, customers were furious that Sony charged money for this. In response to that, they've spun it so that the $50 goes for W8 Pro, and then you can tick the option for Fresh Start. Clever. Pro costs much more when you buy it retail, so $50 seems like a good deal. Problem is, few people will ever need the Pro extras anyway, so the $50 does in fact go to reduce bloatware, exclusively. Ah those marketing folks know how to make us believe... anything

 

Well, what a palava trying to cancel my order!
Turns out the only way to cancel it once the order is in production is by refusing the delivery when it eventually turns up (ie. Christmas at this rate of delaying!) So no money back for god knows how many weeks. Have to inform all my colleagues not to accept the delivery too! Here's hoping I can find an alternative before the flip turns up. This is very underhand of sony, hopefully the manager Martin will actually call me back tomorrow.
Sony's lack of communication and helpfulness and all these delays has rather spoilt my originally good expectations and attitude towards them.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

Received my multiflip 13A yesterday. Not bad, but displays the same wifi issues that Vaio Pro 13. Also, the page up key has come off, & Ive hardly used it! I'm returning it, and have ordered Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga which is available to order in the UK from today.

 

Awesome. I went to the lenovo website during my lunch but didn't get as far as looking at the think pad yoga. Looks like I'd better be switching from the Sony forum.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

The Dell XPS 12 could be your answer...I'm looking for a covertible too and I have to decide between the Flip 13A, the Yoga 2 Pro and the XPS 12...everyone has his pros and cons....I thought i was going for the Flip mostly beacuse of the digitizer but I just cheched the sony online store (in Italy), and the Flip cannot be purchased anymore...don'y know why and don't know if it's an Italy thing only

 

Ah gotcha. I needed Windows 8 Pro, so I didn't notice Fresh Start requires that upgrade. Good point, sneaky sneaky.. US here.

 

I purchased a Flip 14" from Best Buy today. I was planning to order one from Sony, so I could customize it, but with all the fan noise controversy, I decided to try one out from Best Buy first. I have been using it for two hours now, mainly just setting it up and getting all the updates. I will tell you, the fan noise is not an issue. I have been in my private office which is very quiet and I can't hear the fan at all unless I put my ear right up to the fan vent, and then, it is barely audible. From reading all the forums it does appear that the flip 14 has less of a fan noise problem. I was leaning toward buying the 13, but the fan noise issue prompted me to buy the 14", and so far I am happy with it. The form factor is still quite thin, however it is noticeably heavier.

 

I'm worried they might pull the same trick with me, mine was in production for about 2 days before the green text disappeared and the order was delayed again. Does yours still say in production now?

 

12" is also to small for me, and i like the digiticer, i wrote all my notes with that...
At the Moment the VAIO Flip can't be ordered in whole europe, maybe also in the rest of the world...
I ordered a vaio pro 13, i hope that the flip can be ordered in the next 30 days so i can return the pro.

 

Guys do you know what is the weight of the 14A? Because if it really hasn't much of the fan problem this could be a solid alternative for the 13A...also beacuse in Italy you save around 130euros for the same specs

 

This evening I played around with the Flip 13. To start off: the fan is definitely noticeable, but for me it is no dealbrreaker. I would like Sony to fix it though, since I am sure it can be regulated better. One other negative point: I had not imagined this much bloatware. Until now I was mainly used to doing clean installs from Windows disks. I uninstalled most of it. In the end, I will probably leave three or four of these programs on my system.

I have upgraded to Windows 8.1, which I had gotten used to so much (I had installed the preview on my desktop since July) that using Wiindows 8 felt like a huge step backward. This went as smoothly as I could wish.

I will be busy installing ans setting up tomorrow evening as well. Then I should be ready to really start using it,. Until now, I'm quite satisfied. The keyboard I can get used to as well. I don't mind the flex. I am a very light typist, so it hardly moves when I do. I've gone through a battery charge tonight. That included a lot of updating and installing though.

I also have to get to grips with the pen. I haven't been able to get the ink-to-text in OneNote working yet. I like it though, but it would really be nice to get the pressure sensitivity working in Photoshop as well. I'll just have to wait for the driver support.

So far, so good!

 

Yes, I still have the in production text. It only disappeared for a few hours tbh. Only now more worryingly (mainly because I want to make sure that my order gets cancelled) I have this

I'd feel less silly for stressing out about this, if it didn't cost so much! Have already picked out a replacement, but it doesn't convert into a tablet even though it has a touchscreen (I do wonder why they bother), it at least has an optical drive (and blu-ray support!)

 

I have the same 'product description unavailable' I think it has to do with them no longer taking orders. May I ask what replacement you found? and what your usage is because all I've found close is the Lenovo U430 but that has several compromises compared with the Sony but is £250 cheaper and gets very good reviews. IdeaPad U430 Touch | 14" Multitouch Ultrabook | Lenovo (UK)
I'm an Engineering Student so just want something that is fairly future proof (i.e. SSD Haswell, Touchscreen) and capable of basic CAD (i.e. dedicated graphics, 8GB+ RAM).

 

I'm an engineering student too and i think the HD 4400 should be enough for some CAD? I'm wrong?

 

After long times waiting for an ultrabook, this came, and it seemed to fit all my criterias. A nice convertible design, an active digitizer and decent specs (coulda had a little better battery though), so i jumped on it right away.

I had my Flip for 9 days, i've only barely used though, pretty much only played a bit around with it so far, installed all the stuff which i use at university and such, but haven't had a chance to use it there yet (which i will later today).

The laptop seems very nice overall. The fan is annoying, and i hope there will come a fix. The reason i signed up for NBR though, is that it - apperently - ain't that strong a design. As i said, i had it for a little over a week, with VERY minimal use. Played a game of hearthstone and browsed a bit and thats it. I noticed that the laptop did a wierd.. sound.. when i flip'd it up to more than 90 degrees, and after closer inspection i found out why:

The reason can be seen here (I've chosen to link in this way as it's to large for NTR's usual attachment feature)
http://puu.sh/5nHzO.jpg

I don't know if it's clear, but it is not in place anymore. The laptop is now extremely.. quircky.. if i move it just a centimeter it will make a bunch of quircky noises as if the quality is just really bad. Until this happened (out of nowhere?) it seemed really good though.

I will call Sony later (when they open) and ask about this, i guess it needs to go to repair, i just don't want to wait a month for a fixed laptop, when i only just got it. And price increased heavily so i don't wanna send it return.
I'l propably come back and let ya all know what Sony says about this.

(Also had a bunch of driver issues like most others, like not being able to control brightness, settings resetting etc. also the mousepad seems to not like me to much, it happens very often it does stuff which i did not intend)

 

Sadly the DELL XPS 12 ist no alternative. There are also screen issues. I had one and there was a terrible ghosting and Dell know that since more than 1 year (Ivy Bridge and Haswall-version). Nothing happened. Has someone noticed ghost images (screen burn-in) on Dell XPS 12 Duo? - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community After sending back the Dell I thougt I found an alternetive in the Sony Vaio multi flip...

 

I've been looking at the Asus N550J Since by sacrificing a light weight ultrabook and the convertibility I get a more powerful processor and an optical drive. Would probably upgrade it to SSD myself. Lenovo did have some smaller Z series that I liked the look of but they're no longer on the website so maybe they're being updated. Without the convertible aspect, touch screen is no issue for me. I can do without it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

Hi everybody! I've been lurking on this forum following the three Vaio Flip threads in anticipation of a custom Sony Vaio Flip 15A I ordered on October 16 in the USA. I have just received my Flip today and wanted to submit my experience so far.

First, here are my specs pulled from the custom order:

16GB 8GB x2 DDR3L-1600MHz
Aluminum Silver
No additional antivirus software
No Adobe
Fresh Start
15.5" Full HD IPS TRILUMINOS Display for mobile 1920 x 1080
512GB 512GB x1 solid state drive
Windows 8 Pro 64-bit
Active Pen
NVIDIA

Let me start off by saying that overall my experience has been VERY POSITIVE. Here are points of interest:

1) For the most part, I am generally not experiencing fan issues. I'm unsure if this is because I used the Fresh Start option (no bloatware on my Flip), if this has to do with Windows 8 Pro, if it's how the 15" models are built, if it's the fact it's all SSD, has the dedicated GPU, or what. I haven't updated to Windows 8.1 or installed any drivers, either. I noticed the fan will startup quite loudly when the computer comes out of sleep mode, but it quickly gets quieter until eventually you can't hear it at all. I've mostly been web browsing and watching videos on Hulu and Youtube, and generally speaking the fan doesn't come on, and if it does it's whisper quiet. I downloaded Steam and tried playing Portal on it, and the fan became slightly more audible, though just a smidge above whisper. I did notice that if I really taxed the system by playing more games or starting up more applications the fan would start up pretty loudly, but in each case eventually it would calm down a bit to a relatively more acceptable level, though fairly audible. In any case, all things considered I'm generally quite relieved, it hasn't been a real issue whatsoever.
2) I am not experiencing any touch screen issues. So far I've played around on the live tiles and general moving and resizing windows. No problems to note on that front.
3) I am not experiencing any WIFI issues. I've been watching shows on Hulu, videos on youtube and doing lots of browsing on my home WIFI. I'm downloading lots of software too, I just finished downloading Oracle VirtualBox and the very large openSUSE Linux iso, and so far it's worked flawlessly without a hitch.
4) It's thinner and lighter than I thought. Maybe this is because I'm coming off a much older company laptop I'd been chained to, but I find it's surprisingly thin and comparatively light. I can hold it up with one hand without any problem, though it might get tiring after an hour or so. I generally aim to use it as a laptop more than a tablet anyways, so I'm frankly impressed.
5) The pen works fairly well, though there is a very, very slight lag. I downloaded the trial for Clip Studio Paint and toyed around with it for an hour and was totally in love, though I did notice that the strokes would sometimes play a little catch up. Palm rejection and gestures were spot on, though. I also noticed that the pen sometimes made a sort of squeaky noise on the glass surface... not sure if I need to get a screen protector or something, but thought I should note it.
6) The screen is beautiful. I almost opted for the higher end DPI, but for my purposes the 1920x1080 has proven more than sufficient. I'm really pleased. I'm also able to watch HD seamlessly, and I must say it looks absolutely fantastic. There is quite a bit of glare in the screens reflective surface, though.
7) Battery life is decent. When I fully charged it the battery life indicator showed about 6.5 hours. I used it for most of the day from 1pm to almost midnight, with a few hours breaks in between for random errands and meals. One thing to note, it seemed like the hours estimates fluctuated (at one point it said I had 2 hours left, but when I checked again it said I had 3.5). I've heard I would need to at least charge it a few times before I could get reliable numbers, so I'll come back and update this post in a few days with more concrete information.
8) Keyboard is very nice. I'm a programmer and touch typist, and I can vouch for the quality of the keyboard. There's a very slight flex, but it's totally ignorable and doesn't affect the use.
9) Programs run very smoothly. This is my first time working on a souped up computer, and I must say it's a real workhorse. I haven't noticed any lag anywhere yet.
10) Speakers are okay, seem out of synch volume-wise with the headset. The speakers are just okay in sound quality. I put them at a reasonable level, and noticed when I plugged in my headset that the volume suddenly jumped way up and I had to turn it down. Not sure why this is. Headphone quality was very good, though.
11) The build quality is very good. It feels very substantial and sturdy. The hinge mechanism works well, and the release-lock button feels solid and very reliable.

Altogether spoken I'm a pretty happy camper, at the moment this convertible is pretty much everything I was hoping it would be. If anyone has questions, feel free to send them my way.