Sony Vaio Duo 13 Owners Thread

My first time posting here. About to order the 13, what actually is the performance difference between hd 4400 and hd 5000? The i7 4650U is a little steep really!

It saids AT&T LTE, does it mean that its locked to AT&T network?

F

 

I am not planning on paying $270 extra to upgrade to the HD5000. I currently have an IB core i5 HD 4000 Ultrabook with 6GB of RAM (4+2). If I were to get the base model with the HD 4400, will i get any graphics performance gains?

 

From my understanding, the new haswell doesn't really have much performance gain in CPU power. It is just more efficient. And it seems like the HD 4400 will perform similar to the HD 4000. Only the HD 5000 is faster. But if the single channel thing makes its 25% slower... I really don't know what to make of it...

 

hey guys
about the new 13" sony duo, why its a single 8gb ram and not 2x 4gb ram? and they will add such customize to choose x2 ram

 

I have a Vaio Duo 11 max specs (i7 3537u model) but just ordered a White Duo 13 i7-4650u (HD5000 graphics) with the 8GB RAM and got a student/teacher discount plus had $140 reward points. Order total came to $1450! Not bad.

BUT...now what some are saying here about the RAM slowing the iGPU by roughly 25%, if true I'm going to cancel my order.

I've heard nothing about single channel memory slowing integrated graphics for the HD5000 but notebook check has an article on the HD4000 and the difference between 1333Mhz single channel and 1600Mhz single was 24%, and dual-channel 1600 improved 34% (11% over the single channel 1600). Well that sucks and now I don't know if its even worth the performance increase over my Duo 11 (I don't mind the lack of Ethernet or VGA as it retains the HDMI and other features I love).

Also, I ordered it in Carbon White as I really like the Silver colored keyboard...but I'm going back and forth if I should go with Carbon Black as I've never really been a fan of white bezel, just the contrast with the Silver/White I like and having had the Duo 11 Gunmetal it is a little hard to see stuff in the dark vs a silver/black I switched to and prefer (but the 11 has black bezel instead). Ugh, hard to decide. Any suggestions?

Should I cancel and wait a couple months in hopes of another model with improvements and better color?

 

Does anybody know the form factor of the SSD for the Duo 13? Is it a standard like mSATA and user-replaceable or is it proprietary and non-upgradeable? I already searched around for this info and called Sony support (I only got a whole lot of transfers and tech support workers that didn't know what I was talking about). I'm aware that the Duo 11 has mSATA, but it is also possible that Sony went proprietary to save space. I'm hoping somebody else that has been following this device knows.

 

I read on engadget that the SSD in the pro 13 is a PCI Express drive. Wonder if the Duo 13 is too.

 

Isn't Vaio Pen included?
$44.99 ??

 

When I called Sony early today the customer representative confirmed that the pen is included with all models standard. The $44.99 one is exactly the same and available in case you want an extra/replacement.

 

It says for DUO 13 maybe they just sell extras just in case you work with both hands? I could't find any information on order to confirm that it comes with pen in the box, but logically it makes sense to have it included.

 

Almost $2,000 for the top CPU plus 256GB SSD? That is almost a $500 increase over the Duo 11.

Too rich for my blood. I'll stick with my 11 for a while. I would like the increased battery life as the sheet battery pushes the 11 over the easy to hold size and weight limit for me. A slightly larger screen would be nice too.

However, the loss of the Ethernet port and VGA w/o a dongle are definite steps in the wrong direction. Overall, I am disappointed.

 

Yes, it is.

VAIO Duo 11 Ultrabook Laptop | Windows 8 Touchscreen Ultrabook Computer | Sony Store USA
(Click See More)

 

It's officially announced in Japan as well.
In addition, there is red edition.
VAIO | red edition Concept Movie

 

It looks like HD 4600 is a big improvement over HD4000, I hope 4400 will be close to it.

Intel HD Graphics 4600 - NotebookCheck.net Tech

 

The UK site isn't allowing me to 'customise' one, damn! What's all this about the 25% decrease in CPU speed? Am I better getting the 4400/4600 instead of the HD5000?
I'd really like the perks of 8gb ram and definitely i7. The model I have in mind comes in at $2469USD /£1590 which is brilliant, I had £1500 in mind when looking at the 11 anyway. What are the chances of the uk and europe being raped by the pricing though? Thanks! (if it helps, I'll be using it for light CAD and simulation, but mostly taking lecture notes)

(Edit: I just checked pricing for the duo 11, and it seems they bump up the pricing by about £400-500 for the UK (from the US)... Is this a bad sign?)

 

Based on historical pricing, are Japan pricing cheaper than the US? I am going on a trip to Japan next month, if price is better over there, I may wait till I head over.

 

Unless these get shipped earlier than promised on the website, you won't see yours by July anyways. You can still do some research and see if that is the case. Are these made in Japan like last year Vaio Z?

 

Hi pal, I'm in the UK as well. The Duo13 is not available in the UK until the end of this week (source = UK sales team via phone). The website link is broken because it is not active yet. Even then Sony could not confirm if the customisable versions would be available or just the three models shown on the website presently (which would suck because it does not include the 4650 with HD5000 graphics or WWAN - both of which as a requirement for me).

Pricing in the UK says "starting at £946". If we compare that to the starting price at the US $1,399 and do a conversion on XE.com we see the $1,399 converts to £901. Add £50 for "blah" and the prices convert fairly well. On the other side of the scale the top US model at $2,699 would hopefully convert to £1,735. As we have doubled the price, double the "blah" and we come to roughly £1,850.

Disclaimer - I've just done some basic comparison math based on the information available. It is likely wrong

 

For everyone in Canada, I sent an email this morning to Sony Canada about the availability of the Duo 13 on their site and here's their response :

"Thank you for your inquiry and interest in Sony. We are sorry to inform you that we currently do not have any official information in regards of the model that you are looking for. May we suggest visiting ww.sony.ca and register for newsletters?

Kind Regards,
Sony of Canada Ltd."

Hope when they do announce it officially, it will be available at the same time!

 

Ah, thanks for that! I thought it was a worldwide 'release' of the 9th

So do you reckon the US version of: i7-4650U, 8Gb, 512Gb SSD, HD5000 priced for $2469.99 would be about £1590+£100? And also could you or anyone else shed some light on the CPU speed decrease with the HD5000 graphics + 8Gb ram? Thanks again.

Also, for anyone else in the UK, can we get the reward points and card that multiply the points? (Plus the $100 in credit?) I could get myself some tasty headphones if so!

 

I also called SONY UK and the reply was "online ordering may start tomorrow" (11 June).....but they refused to give any pricing information. £946 would be a fantastic price if it were true!

 

I spoke to an representive a while ago, they know jack, if nothing is announced before I leave Vancouver, I'll have to buy it in the US.

 

Just saw the new macbookair is much cheaper.In the top config.And others like dell,lenovo etc are showing nice options.Its going to be hard to me decide now.
edit:.its explained =its not fulldh nor retina

 

That air probably doesn't have touch screen and of course its a regular laptop. If you are looking at Duo, I haven't found anything like it even the Lenovo yoga is still not there.
But not sure if the slider and touch could justify the $300 difference.

 

It is actually much more than $300, take a macbook air 13 256, with i7, apple is selling them for 1540. A comparable Duo 13 with i7 HD 5000, 256GB HDD 8GB ram would cost $1999.

Thats almost $450 more.

 

UK price confirmed

VAIO® Duo 13 Hybrid Tablet-Laptop | Hybrid Tablet-Ultrabook | Sony

 

,
It comes in red and special offer?

Sony online special offer
Special launch offer! Order now and get 4 years free warranty.
Offer ends on 17.06.2013 while stock lasts.

 

For the rest of Europe is just three years of warranty. It's odd

The price in euros starts at 1119€, so it's a bit cheaper than the DUO 11, not bad. The configurator it's not working, though.

 

Is it just me or the "red edition" seems so counter-productive........

 

Sony always keep everyone in mind with options. In Sony stores, I always see lots of colorful options and that is how Sony has been especially with Sony mobile.
Instead of all options, I would rather to be able to just go down to store and buy one right now but instead we see eye candy stuff and 20 days wait.

I am more bothered by poor advert sony has put front. PS4 event is today, and sony just posted up a banner on the website today morning.

 

Since 1 USD is about 100 JPY, it is way more expensive to buy it from Japan.

 

Yes, they are like Vaio Duo 11 according to the image from FCC.

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/repo...=N&application_id=485307&fcc_id=AK8SVD132A14L

However, it's just assembled in Japan and I believe most components are made in other countries.

 

Interesting. Wonder why this would be the case...

 

When you hit the configure button they increase the price by a lot.
In the UK it goes to 1329 and in Europe 1539€.
I hope it's an error, I'm not buying it if it's so expensive.

I think it is, I tried adding the options to the config and the price doesn't change.

 

Well, I was wrong. They have updated the price to the ones I have put. Too bad. I'm not paying that much money, when in the US it costs just $1399, which is less than 1100€.

 

I saw that the duo 13 had an Ethernet adapter that connects with the usb/ charger. Is this true on all models or what?

 

It's curious, for about the same price of a basic Duo 13, I can get a full equipped Duo 11 with i7, 8GB of RAM and 512 GB of HDD.
I think Sony tries to fools us Europeans once more. Not this time. I've been waiting for this Duo 13 to arrive for half a year, but not at this price.

 

Game Over.

The base level specs are too expensive. For reference the cheapest I have been able to spec is about £1250, but to be fair the top level spec model isn't much more... excluding the 512 disk you can max it out at £1550.

BUT....

No i74650 chip with the HD5000 option??? Thats a deal breaker for me. I was ready and waiting to hit purchase, the US has the i74650/HD5000 option but again we get shafted.

@Sony - Unless you offer the right top level options the tech people won't buy it and unless you lower the artifically inflated base level price the casual users won't buy it. Well done, you have isolated both your target markets. That takes planning.

 

Wow! That is a lot more that the Vaio Duo 11. When it came out, the UK starting price for the Duo 11 (i3, 128GB, 2GB, Win8) was £850 incl. VAT:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/692116-who-does-think-duo-11-good-model-8.html#post8905211
I thought that was pretty reasonable (particularly for a Sony )

Admittedly the Duo 13 base has an i5 and 4GB, but £1329 is pretty outrageous for something which isn't that different from the Duo 11, and I'm not even sure it comes with the VGA adapter! As you say, a top of the range Duo 11 is so cheap in comparison.

 

/sigh. This is just laughable.

Their pricing is just broken. I'm not even sure if they have the correct pricing up anymore, I can only hope it is broken and then haven't realized yet. They have now removed all the offers including £160 off the 256GB disk option and £10 off the i7 processor amongst others.

Example 1: Red, i7 4500U, 8GB, 256GB, 3G = £2,038.98 (this was @ £1,890 ish about 2 hours ago because of offers)
Example 2: Exact same specification as Example 1, but in White/Black = £1,758.98 (this was @ £1,580 ish about 2 hours ago because of offers)
Example 3: Red, i7 4500U, 8GB, 256GB, No 3G = £1,458.98

SERIOUSLY?! £600 difference for the exact same spec red machine minus the 3G card? I'm really frustrated and on a personal level I'm not purchasing it until they offer the i7 4650U chip and sort out this ridiculous pricing.

@Sony. Sort it out.

 

How do you take out the 3G card?. I can't do it. I can take out the 4G/LTE option on the normal Duo 13, but not the whole 3G system or anything in the red one.

 

This is absolutely ridiculous.
i7 4500U, 8gb, 512Gb SSD in UK: £1898.99
i7 4650U + HD5000, 8gb 512Gb SSD in US: $2469.99 = £1588.62

Difference = -£310.37 for a much better model. Is this some kind of joke, Sony?

Edit: A few minutes later, it's been reduced by £529.99... Is the top model (i7, 8gb, 512gb) now showing as £1369 I want to order it right now!
Second edit: It would seem that's the Duo 11 pricing.. Why did it just change like that? back at £1898.99

 

the uk prices include 20% vat yes?
The Usa prices don't include their tax as they add it after depending where the buyer lives in America, if you add 20% to the 1588.62 pounds its 1906 pounds so your better off buying it where you live apart from the specs.

So Uk people complaining about the price difference its due to your VAT, not Sony

 

https://shop.sony.co.uk/shop/ipc/di...cCharGroupName=$BASE_GROUP&isHideActive=)/.do

there you are. If you don't need 3G (its a requirement for me) then this is by far the cheapest and best spec available right now.
£1,458 for the i7, 8GB and 256GB in red, also has the WiFi dongle... the only difference between this and the £2,158 model is the 3G card.

Seriously.

 

Chaps - you had better read the following conversation I just had with Sony:

-----------------

Please type a message, and one of our representatives will answer you shortly.

Me - 12:52 The Duo13 pricing is broken.

Sony - 12:52 Diego : Hello, welcome to Sony Store Online, my name is Diego.
Sony - 12:53 We have been having some pricing issues today and are working hard to fix them

Me - 12:53 why isn't the i7 4650 processor availalbe? It is in other markets. I can't buy the system without this chip.
Me - 12:53 also - the red model can be purchased with i7, 8GB, 256GB disk and 3G card for £2,180.... or the same spec without the 3G card for £1,458. What on earth is going on?

Sony - 12:56 Diego : Let me have a look
Sony - 12:57 That is indeed another pricing issue. I would recommend to wait a little bit before placing an order.

Me - 12:57 can you comment on the processor option - i7 4650?

Sony - 12:57 Diego : I would love be able to justify Sony's choices in terms of processors but do not have the authority
Sony - 12:58 It's possible that further on an update on the CPUs will be done but as of now I will have to work with the ones that are offered on the site

Me - 13:00 so I assume the prices are broken and too high? I know a number of people who have purchased, what will happen to them if they have been charged too much?

Sony - 13:01 Diego : I am pretty sure that something will be done in case there is a mistake on our side.

 

How on earth do you select the red version without 3G? It's just got the 4G/LTE checked, and no other option.
(that's also showing up as £2038 now)

 

I gave the link a couple of posts ago. But Sony have confirmed there are "pricing issues" all over the duo13 so not sure if the actual prices are meant to be higher or lower. Remember yesterday the starting price was £946? today the starting price is nearly £1,400....

EDIT - Sony have fixed the no 3G duo red. It is nolonger on the website

 

Let's hope they will be closer to £900 than £1500, haha. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if the specs/price change over the next few days, I need one of these machines.

 

Don't hold your breath. Knowing Sony's pricing, it's not going to that low.

As for the VAT, let's make some numbers:
The Vaio DUO 13 it's 1399 US$. I asked google and it says that's 1053€. Now we add the 20% VAT and we get... 1263€. The starting price of the DUO 13 in Europe is 1539€ (1499€ if you uncheck the 3G). So, even if we add the VAT, that's still between 236€ and 276€.

Another thing, the US version comes without 3G. It has a 4G/LTE option for $150. We don't get to pick that. I don't want mobile broadband. If I were to need it, I'd pick the option or, more easily, I'd just use my smartphone and share my internet connection.

Anyway, let's wait and see if the pricing is wrong. In the Pro 13 it's clearly wrong, with things like adding the VGA/Net adapter, that displays as 20€, and adds 80€. Or the starting price appears as 999€ and when you try to configure it goes up to 1149€, and there is no option for touch screen.

 

I'm hoping on snagging one with i7, 8gb ram and 256Gb for roughly £1500, do you think I'm in for a chance? Also would it be worth getting a student discount? (As I'll be using it for uni)