Sony Duo 11 Ultrabook: A Tab Or A Laptop?

By Author: Brooke Perry
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At one glance, Sony Duo 11 may appear like a tablet, as you will not be able to make out any keyboard attached to it. But as soon as you handle it you will experience the bulkiness that will have you thinking twice about this product. It will have you confused, you will start wondering if it is a tablet or a laptop. Interestingly to add up to your confusion you will discover a slider keyboard that is located below the panel. So it is a tablet or a laptop, well how about something like a slider powered by Windows8. Let us find out more about this product.

Hardware

Weighing at 2 pounds and 13 ounces this is comparatively lighter than any other Ultrabook. The screen measures 11.6 inches and has an impressive 1920x1080 pixels touch-screen that is capable of displaying crisp and good images. To make things easier for you to access Sony has incorporated a stylus for accessing menu. Additionally the inclusion of digitizer is something that will allow artists to create images. The only drawback it seems to have is not including a slot for storing the stylus.

You may be amazed at the sliding keyboard incorporated ...
... in the physical design of this Ultrabook that at times may seem fragile but it is not. The keyboard is attached to the tab that makes it difficult at times to adjust the entire unit. Another disappointing feature seemed the inappropriate spacing between the keys, this amounted to errors in typing. You might slowly get used to the keyboard with practice, however the backlight provides some relief to the user when typing in uncomfortable light conditions.

Other things include a 128GB drive, it is powered by Core i5-3317U and an 8GB RAM. The standard version of Duo 11 has a 6GB RAM.

Features
The Duo 11 has an inbuilt pointer that may perplex you in the first glance, this is a small pointer that is extremely touch sensitive. Even the slightest of touch triggers the functionality of it and you can easily perform cursor actions.

The Windows 8 screen is impressive to look at with all the essential display icons. The important desktop applications, office programs and other such functions are displayed well. All these work well without any flaw in performance anywhere. The feature of Wacom digitizer is supportive of ArtRage Professional that comes handy for graphic designing and editing. All this is capable for performing functions of Photoshop or with Illustrator.

As far as utilizing the functionality of touch-screen is concerned, you may find it a bit problematic due to the given resolution and screen size. This clearly indicates that with a small display and good pixel you will find it difficult to perform touch gestures that require precision and sensitivity. Nonetheless, you need to be aware of the display mode that may get stuck in the portrait mode, you may come across this trouble on waking it up.

The software of Duo 11 has a Bravia video engine that allows in flawless video playback. Still, you will find it rather disappointing as it is not supportive of MPEG-2 file format.

Connectivity options

You will find 3.0 USB ports one of which is useful for powering up the battery while you have left the device in sleep mode. Additionally there are two more video ports that are useful for providing output for VGA connector (projector) and another for HDMI. The left hand side of the device contains an input option for SD card and memory stick by Sony. If you are wondering about audio output then you will have to do with headphone jack.

The network connectivity options include Ethernet connection option, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity and 4.0 Bluetooth. It also has the capability of connectivity through WiDi on HDTV but it is only useful if you have an adapter or an inbuilt WiDi capability in your TV set. Duo 11 also comes with a memory expansion option while you get a maximum memory option of 8GB. It contains primary and secondary cameras that are 2.4 MP, the audio is that by Dolby that is capable of giving out loud and clear audio.

Verdict

Sony Duo 11 is priced at $1100 that does seem expensive. But looking at the mobility options like that of a tablet and other functionalities it is a good choice. Screen display is impressive, audio is clear and the feature of video playback is added advantage.

Brooke M. Perry is an ardent technician associated with Qresolve remote pc support, with wide experience of fixing issues with PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. With a strong track record of devising effective ways of computer security and system security, she has so far helped thousands of users across the globe. Her writings on tech issues are the reflection of her in-depth interest and command she carries as a laptop support technician. Her blogs and articles have been rated high for their lucid style and easy to understand language.