Sony Vaio Duo 13 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs Apple MacBook Air:Best performer is...........................

Sony Vaio Duo 13                                                                                                                              Sony Vaio Duo 13 is an innovatively designed ultrabook featuring Windows 8 as its operating system. The hybrid has hit the market, flaunting a slider-styled screen along with an extremely compact body. This 2.8 pounds machine is, therefore, portable and handy for comfortable use. The Vaio Duo 13 differs from many traditional hybrids in that it converts from tablet to notebook via a wide hinge mechanism under the display. It’s a slider. When activated with a light lift of the display, the screen slides up and docs at about 120 degrees, revealing a full-sized QWERTY as well as a small and oddly rectangular track pad occupying about two-thirds of the space. The notebook mode, the display is stuck in its angled position, and can only be adjusted into a flat tablet mode. This is purposeful, and should be at a comfortable angle for drawing and drafting. With a better design and bigger screen than the original Vaio Duo, the new Sony Vaio Duo 13 is a solid improvement on its predecessor. This model beats other Core i-Series laptops with regard to its outstanding battery life. It provides eight hours and fifty-three minutes of video playback time during a battery drain test. 

But,While the sliding design has improved, it still feels a tiny bit delicate around the hinges, which isn't great for such an expensive product.  It's still tough to figure out exactly who the target audience is. The lack of screen angles is especially frustrating.

THE BOTTOM LINE The Sony Vaio Duo 13 is an excellent product, and probably the best hybrid Ultrabook/tablet device we've seen, but with such a hefty price tag it's still not enough to convince us to ditch our separate laptops and tablets. The Sony Vaio Duo 13 is ambitious, but less universally useful than other Windows 8 laptop-tablet hybrids. There may not be a real need for a slider-style PC.                                                                                                         Key Features: 13.3-inch 1920x1080 touchscreen display; 1.3kg; Intel Dual Core i7-4500U 1.8GHZ processor; 4GB RAM; 128GB Solid State Drive; Hybrid tablet/ultrabook design; Pressure sensitive stylus

Manufacturer: Sony                                                                                                                              VS                                                                                                                                                       Microsoft Surface Pro 3                                                                                                                     Microsoft might not be the first company to break into 2-in-1 laptop, but it's one of the few to get it right. The first Surface was a suave new device that worked both as a laptop and tablet. Thanks to an ergonomic kickstand and excellent magnetic keyboard, it easy to use whether you're at a desk or even laying down. The Surface Pro 3 is thinner and lighter than the previous two versions, despite having a larger 12-inch display and higher screen resolution. A new kickstand makes it easier to set up and use, and the keyboard cover remains a best-in-class example. The Surface Pro 3 is now optimized for a digital pen, which is included.       Performance                                                                                                                                Despite its remarkably slim and light frame, the Surface Pro 3 is a powerful machine. In benchmarks it's a match for pricey ultrabooks like the Toshiba Kira. Its 1.9GHz Core i5 processor scores 5,532, more than Toshiba (5,424) and the 2014 MacBook Air (5,401).

The MacBook and Surface Pro make an interesting comparison here. Apple favours a slower processor, but a faster PCI-e SSD and Intel's faster HD 5000 graphics. It's a trade-off that makes the MacBook very snappy, but the Surface Pro 3 is no slouch either.

That faster processor gives it an edge in processor intensive tasks, too. This is no workstation class processor, of course, but anything you can throw at an ultrabook works fine on the Surface Pro 3. That means any task or application you use in everyday work and life. It's an efficient and effective replacement for a work laptop or ageing desktop.

It isn't noisy, either. If you're just watching video or doing some other simple task, it's rare to even hear the fan spin up. Even when it does it's an unobtrusive whir. You'll notice it in quiet surroundings, but it's barely discernible over the hubbub of an office. It's another reminder of the incredible industrial design in the Surface Pro 3.                                                                    But That excellent keyboard cover is not included in the base price, and its improved touchpad still doesn't measure up. The chassis lacks pen storage, and even with tweaked kickstand and keyboard hinges, the Surface Pro 3 still doesn't fit perfectly on the lap.               The Bottom Line While the new Surface Pro 3 is Microsoft's best PC to date, it's more successful as a tablet than a laptop replacement.                                                                             CPU: 1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4400 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 12-inch, 2160 x 1440 multi-touch display| Storage: 256GB SSD                                          $649.99                                                                                                                                                  VS

                                                                                                                                                            Apple MacBook Air                                                                                                                               The MacBook Air has been known for its good battery life.New Intel fourth-gen CPUs help the updated MacBook Air achieve amazing battery life. The multitouch trackpad is still the industry's best, and even better, the 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at $100 less than the previous model.                                                                                                                                                   

Performance:

The new Haswell processors use very little power, giving the 2013 13-inch MacBook Air and absolutely stunning battery life. In our test, in which we streamed the live BBC News channel feed on iPlayer over a wireless network, the laptop lasted for nine hours. That's significantly better than the 11-inch MacBook Air's 7 hours 15 minutes, and a substantial improvement over the 2012 MacBook Air's 5.5 hours.

Since switching to solid state storage off the shelf with the late 2010 update, the MacBook Air has been known for its good battery life. But with the Haswell processors in place, it's absolutely stunning. At last, you can use your notebook all day long on a single charge.

But, Newer features such as touch screens and higher-resolution displays are still missing. The ultrabook competition is catching up, in terms of design.

The bottom line: Apple keeps the latest MacBook Air updates on the inside, but greatly improved battery life and a lower starting price make up for a lack of flashy design changes.   Specifications

Release date06/10/13

ProcessorIntelCore i5 1.3 GHz ( 2.6 GHz ) ( Dual-Core )

RAM installed size4 GB

Hard Drive128 GB

Operating SystemApple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

Display Type13.3 in

Max Resolution1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ )

Graphics ProcessorIntel HD Graphics 5000 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0

Optical DriveNone                                                                                                                                   Price $1,099