Sony Vaio Duo 13 Owners Thread

received the i5 model yesterday.
build quality is nice, the slider works perfectly and screen is good looking.
The screen doesn't wobble but it could for people with heavier hand or touch but in general with moderate us of screen, you don't notice anything and actually touch screen use is very pleasant. Sony has done a good job with extra stuff and pen is pretty good as well.

We got screen protector, does anyone know hot to chance sensitivity of pen?

 

Thanks, i can understand this point, what is harder to believe is that they could have disabled the hibernate option, i don't like to leave the laptop in sleep mode when i'm carrying it in the sleeve (my Z2 did awake a couple of times while staying in the sleeve and gotten really hot, luckily without damaging any component)

Using the 'powercfg -H on' really enables the hibernation feature as is shown under 'powercfg -a' but the option is not shown in windows 8 menu, I've created a desktop shortcut with 'shutdown /h' command and it works.

Another question, have anyone been able to disable auto-rotate feature in table mode?

 

VAIO DUO 13 ： TRILUMINOS LCD viewing angle Test

VAIO DUO 13

 

1) Just ordered i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD in the UK. Expected delivery by 22.07.2013. Wireless mini router included. No mentioning of HDMI-VGA cable. Can answer some questions and post a few photos afterwards if there is still interest by that time.

2) For those of you who have used win 8, would you think 128GB SSD is enough? Heavy weight software would just be the OS, Office (outlook, word, excel, powerpoint) + one note, Acrobat Pro, MikTex + 20G of data.

3) Does anybody know a good guide for a clean win 8 installation on a new machine with pre-installed windows only? Thinking about freeing up the recovery partition on the SSD too.

Many thanks.

 

Does anybody know if the SD card slot accepts the card fully inside?

 

Simple, take out your charms menu. Then on the settings pane, press the screen button. Then the rotation button on top of the brightness level.

Yes! All Sony's do this thank God!

 

A 128GB SDXC card seems to be a solution for extra storage then..... thanks!

 

How useful would you think the screen protector is? If like those for cell phones, there seem only disadvantages......

 

there's a button to do that under the keyboard.

 

Looks great, thanks!

Now, last thign to know it if the SSD is user replaceable!

 

Actually there isn't anymore like my old Duo 11. Just a VOL+/- and Assist

BTW I would have to say that the Battery claims holds true! It's about 3 times better battery than my older Duo 11! All on max settings of course. About 8 hours!

 

^ Didn't realise that - strange they got rid of that one. How does the keyboard compare to the Duo 11?

 

The drastic improvement in battery life thanks to Haswell is a huge benefit to the computing community! It's the main reason why I would be keen to get this!

 

Thanks for a really informative review. I am anxiously waiting for mine to arrive.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

It's not really a biggie, but the hibernate functions needs a little getting use to. As for the keyboard, its so much better than the Duo 11 because it feels like a normal sized set. There is also more pitch and travel. It shallower than something like an HP keyboard, but hey its an ultrabook after all. But let me tell you how big a difference it is to have a real touchpad! Don't be fooled by its size, it makes the whole computing much more effiecient, especially in Photoshop! I didn't realize how little space I actually used on a touchpad. (Adjusting the speed settings helps)

True as I am aware of this, however this computer is special because of the fact that the capacity of this battery is actually much bigger than other laptops/convertibles so it is further enhanced. My Duo 11's sheet battery (which was cumbersome) actually has much less battery life together. I can actually see myself having over 10 hours with lowered settings.

The Duo 13 has better weight distribution as well, feels lighter. The thin bezel and tapered edges is so much better to hold than the Duo 11, you feel like picking it up now (although, not for long periods of time)

 

I'm noticing a quite weird and worrying issue with my DUO 13, when i put it on sleep i can hear a really low buzz coming from the center of the laptop, after some hours this part gets a bit warmer and i get a noticeable battery loss (5-6% per hour). Anybody has notice this problem?

While the laptop is working i can`t heard this sound, also If i hibernate the laptop this doesn't happen.

 

Long time lurker here. Thanks to all for the advice which lead to my Duo 13 order.

Ordered my i7-4650U on 06/09/2013 from the US online store and my original delivery date was changed from 6/28 to 7/26 last week on the 27th. The status also changed from "Processing" to "Your Vaio is being built" that same day.

Today my status changed to "PAYMENT PROCESSED" and the order shows as "Completed" on the summary page, but the delivery date is still listed as 7/26. Sony's web site process is so hard to follow. I hope it will ship before 7/26 since my card was charged today.

I have not seen any emails past the order confirmation.

 

It is very likely (although, I would wait for a teardown to confirm). The Duo 13 has an NGFF (otherwise known as M.2) SSD. Currently there are no M.2 drives available aftermarket, however, there should be soon as it is the next industry standard form factor for use in ultraportables.

 

Maybe it has something to do with the connected internet function while still in sleep mode that they advertised? I don't know where to access settings for it though.

 

Was a lurker as well and making this my first post to put your mind at ease

I ordered with the 4650U option on the 10th of June and the status of my order changed as well, but with no changes in the shipping date - still says 07/05/2013. I can't see mine shipping before yours so they all should be shipping soon

 

That's actually good news! They will probably ship tomorrow. Payment processed only means its done since they don't charge your card til it is ready for shipment. Same goes for mine. It was supposed to be 8/23 even though the order was completed already.

 

Same situation as me. My order status also changed to Payment Processed 2 days ago. I called Sony and asked them about it, and told me that meant it will be shipping soon, probably Friday (since tomorrow is a holiday) as they charge when they are ready to ship it. After that it will be 2-3 days, so I'm thinking I'm getting it around Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

I'm wondering if it's Duo not hibernating right - when I had my Duo 11, when I closed the laptop sometimes it would properly hibernate, but sometimes only the screen would go off and keep running, with the fan running and such (along with battery drain) . When that happened I had to manually press the power button to wake it up and press it again to manually make it hibernate.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

hi guys, just received my vaio duo 13 from japan. im not sure to select english in japanese startup version. please advise me.
Reference: Vaio duo 13 Japanese version startup - YouTube

 

I think you need to go through with all the initial setup in Japanese, then find language settings. Try searching for 言語 and you might see a familiar language settings icon.

Mine is going to ship from Japan tomorrow. and estimated arrival date is Tuesday. I am so over this waiting!!!! I ordered it on 6/10, so I will have waited exactly a month...

 

Actually if you see 英語 in the list, that's English.

 

downloading the pack now. should be fixed.

 

I'm not sure. If i activate plane mode before press the sleep button the
buzz it's still there.

This night it has loss 50% battery in 8 hours Maybe i'm dealing with a units with build defects. Please, could anyone confirm if your units are going into sleep without noise or big battery loss?

 

After closing the laptop, try waking it up by pressing a power button and put it back to sleep by pressing it again. See if that makes it sleep properly.

 

Hi Everybody. Now that many of us are getting hands on the new machine, it's time to truly "own" what we paid for. Any idea how easy/difficult to do a clean installation of win 8 so we can get rid of all those bloat-ware? Discuss.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried but it makes the same noise

 

spec and windows rating for i7-4650u
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ryu2-IEd8

 

Hi jed.koo, I asked the same question in the Vaio Pro 13 Owner's Thread and got the following reply:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony-owners-lounge-forum/720737-official-vaio-pro-13-owners-lounge-svp13-2013-a-45.html#post9266602

Can't vouch for how easy/difficult it will be as I've yet to try it - my machine has just been delivered, will be looking for a copy of Windows 8 from which I can build a USB stick tonight.

 

It's surprising but some index are lower that my i7-4500u

CPU 4500u 4650u
Global 5.9 5.7
CpS 7.2 7.1
MoS 7.6 7.5
Grap. 5.9 5.7
Gam.Grap. 6.6 6.6
Disk 8.1 8.1

 

yes, probably because of its base frequency 1.7ghz

 

i can hear the white noise or fan or whatever after putting it on sleep. its not a defect, probably its hardware design flaw.

theres a high chance of waking itself from sleep mode accidentally, if its on bag / sleeve. i'll keep you updated on this.

please all vaio duo 13 owners, please do note this problem with sleep mode.

another thing, it can wake up from sleep mode by pressing the start button on the center located at the bottom of the screen. everything looks instant , but i didnt like that white noise part when its on sleep mode. other than that its excellent.

im gonna compare my svz with this as soon as possible!

 

Thanks for sharing the answer. Will be looking for a copy of win 8 as well. In the win 7 age, those are readily available from digital river; not any more, it seems.

Here is a tutorial on how to reformat and do a clean install of Windows 8 on Samsung Series 9 laptops. Hope the process is similarly straightforward.

 

Absolutely agree, i've created a desktop icon that put the laptop in hibernation, i would really prefer that it went to hibernation after an specified amount of time in sleep mode but right now it would do the trick. I can provide the details if interested.

 

Vaio duo 13 screen wobble test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvx5QpaYSZU

vaio duo 13 sleep and wake up test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhqRVQ-A1Pk

 

Hey guys. I'm finally going to buy a sony again! I want this laptop because I can do away with my hp 8460w/Samsung series 7 tablet combo.

Can anyone tell me how handwriting, note taking in one note, etc is working out for you? My one concern is the laptop in portrait mode is sloped from right to left and therefore making it awkward to write on. My series 7 tablet lays flat. How about palm rejection? Is this duo a decent note taking machine?

I'm also going to use it to compile code. Now that USB 3 is out I can have 3 external lcds and not have to have a full featured docking station which has always been the reason I left Sony.

Also I'm gunning for the top end model but so far only in black on less I customize and order the white one, any feedback on this?

Thumbs up on the duo 13? I played with the 11 at a sony store a while ago and instantly knew it wasn't a keeper.

Thanks.

 

Does anyone was able to take a backup of the device when it arrived? Or is this not necessary?

 

The Duo13 is great for note taking. Palm rejection is good in onenote. Duo13 is ideal for me. However, if you think that Duo11 isn't a keeper, you may need to dig into why that is the case? Duo13 is a significant improvement as compared to Duo11, but they still have the same tablet conversion method.

 

hello duo owners

how is the gaming performance?

 

You were right, it shipped today(7/4) from Japan and is due to arrive in Charlotte, NC. Tuesday!

 

That can't be only this since the 4650u is suppose to turbo boost to higher frequency than the 4500u! Maybe it throttles more than the 4500u? Also, why does the 4650u windows index shows it as a 1.7-2.29 Ghz? That is weird!

And what's also weird is that he got 0.2 lower in graphics performance, although the 4650u has a HD5000 vs HD4400. This could be only a driver update though (have you updated yours).

Maybe he did the test in tablet mode and the cooling is not as efficient so it makes the computer throttled in this situation (like Thinkpad Helix in tablet mode). Could you do 2 windows experience index, one in tablet mode and one in laptop mode to see if there's any difference? Try to use CPU-z to see if the CPU frequency is the same in the 2 different mode.

 

Since the Vaio Duo 13 has a built in card reader, is anyone going to use an SDXC card for additional storage space or are they too slow? Is the built in card reader any good? I could not find any details on it.

 

Hello everyone, I'm sure what I'm going to ask has been asked repeatedly so please bare with me. I found this device, duo 13, on the net and have been reviewing it and the specs. I was planning on spending 1500 but this looks to run me 2300-2700 if I buy the extended insurance which the hinge worries me or I might not...I program like Java, oracle, C++ and use it in school, must be light but I know Sony is a powerhorse...still have a vaio I bought in 1998 and other than some bugs and the weight it is still nice. Funny paid the same price for it. Any advice on this device would be appreciated...do you think it's sound, not fragile, not going to break if I use 1 finger and close it too hard?

 

As I planned to buy the 128GB model and upgrade later to a 512GB SSD (if possible), I plan for the moment to use the SDXC slot, probably with a Sandisk 64GB Extreme 45MB/s. I cannot comment on the reader as I do not have the Duo 13 yet.

 

here's an interessting article about he i7-4650u (on the Macbook Air) :

AnandTech | The 2013 MacBook Air: Core i5-4250U vs. Core i7-4650U

 

Here is a video you need to see and trust. Sony does this all the time, heck they even spend R&D money drop testing TV's! Notice the wobble when it is dropped. It is actually effectively absorbing the impact and distributing the stress through out. Devices that only "Feel" solid, like a MacBook for example, would crack. Flex is a good thing in this case.

I have owned 7 vaio's in the past 13 years and I have to say, being a power user, this hinge design is actually the strongest I have used. That's because tension is being focused in the center as opposed to 2 separate hinges on traditional laptops. My vaio SZ would start to creek and crack at the hinge because of the fact that the distribution of stress occurs at the edges and it is not always that I would open the laptop in the middle. Since this is a fix position (however with wide sweet spots for viewing) I believe you will never have any worries. Its all psychological only. This hinge is even stronger than the Duo 11's IMHO.

It's worth the cost for the amount of workflow you are simply able to achieve in such a small and durable package (even more when the WinTab drivers are released). GET IT!