A Sony VAIO T (T13) Series SVT13124CXS 13.3-Inch Touch Ultrabook (Silver) just arrived on my desk as part of our Windows 8 demo kit. It’s a nice ultrabook.
The model we got has a quad core i5-3317U CPU, 4GB RAM, 10-touch point display (not just the minimum of 5), and a 500 GB hybrid drive (32 GB of which is SSD).
What I love about this machine:
- USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
- Full size HDMI port
- Full size RJ45 networking port
- Full size VGA port
- 10 touch points which future proofs the touch
- It’s not cluttered with default apps/programs. There are some Sony add-ons, mainly the care stuff to maintain the machine, which is perfectly fine. And those Sony apps do update through the app store too.
Sony have sacrificed thinness to get those full size ports in there. It’s not as thin as a UX31 but it’s still ultrabook thin. Someone who presents a lot like me will be OK with that. That’s because there are no dongles required to connect to the typical hotel/office projector that only supports VGA … no dongles … no converters …. nothing to leave behind or lose.
Important apps like Skype and Skydrive are pre-installed.
The touchpad supports Windows 8 gestures. The keypad is pretty nice. My test is to type the most common string of text that I use when working: “Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V” surprisingly enough 
The keyboard is pretty nice, better than the one on my UX31 (I think most things are).
Negatives:
- McAfee is preinstalled, but that disappeared quickly to be replaced by the default Windows Defender.
- There isn’t TPM chip. This target market is not business, but I can see work people who travel a lot liking this machine. It’s attractive and has that dongle-less approach which is all-too rare in the ultrabook market.
- I’d like the screen hinge to be a tiny bit stiffer.
Overall, a nice machine IMO. It’s got a nice spec, and comes in at a competitive price as an ultrabook. Another machine arrive while I was setting up the Sony. More on that later when I can pry it out of the hands of my colleagues.