If you’re looking for a large tablet that turns into a laptop, or vice versa, Sony introduces one that has it all â€" for a price.
The Vaio Duo 13 is a tablet with a 13-inch screen. Â Set it on a flat surface and it transforms from a tablet into a laptop (or all-in-one PC) with a single sliding motion.
It’s an update to the company’s Duo 11 from last year, with a larger screen.  It comes in just two colors â€" what the company calls Carbon Black and Carbon White finishes.
As tablets go, Dan Ackerman of CNET pronounces it a “little bulky.† That is true.  But if you need a tablet to double as a laptop with a physical keyboard so that you get two types of devices in one package, this Vaio Duo 13 could offer a versatile solution.  At about three-quarters of an inch thick and weighing under 3 pounds, it still is portable.
The Vaio Duo 13 follows the hybrid tablet trend we’ve been watching avidly. Hybrids seem to resonate with business people.  Whether there’s enough interest for hybrids to catch on permanently as a device category remains to be seen, however.
With the Vaio Duo 13, there is no keyboard dock to attach. Instead the keyboard is concealed under the screen when in tablet configuration, waiting to be slid in place when needed. Remembering your keyboard is one less thing to think about for entrepreneurs or other mobile professionals when carrying your tablet with you.
Business users will also appreciate that it runs Windows 8. It boasts a 10+ hour battery life.
Here’s another feature business users may appreciate: like other tablets, the Vaio Duo 13 has a rear camera for taking vivid photos. But IDG News also reports that the device’s image capture software can also double as a scanner for documents.
Take a photo of a document and then use the Vaio Duo 13′s imaging software to “straighten it out†like a scanned document. Optical character recognition software can even recognize the text from the scanned item.
You can also write on the screen with a stylus, Â so you can take notes while using it as a tablet.
Another cool feature is a so-called “constant connection†which means that, like smartphones, the computer stays connected to the Internet downloading emails and updating applications even while in sleep mode.
In his review (video below), Ackerman also praises the easy-to-use keyboard and even the narrow but functional touchpad mouse (“it’s better than not having oneâ€). However, he points out that the slant of the screen when the device is in laptop configuration, cannot be adjusted and may not be for everyone.
The Vaio Duo 13 just went on sale in the U.S. and it is pricey at $1,399.  However, the device features the new Intel Haswell-based microprocessor, giving it considerable functionality, reports Venture Beat.
Image: Sony
