VAIO Pro 13

by Sony

4/5

$1,400.00

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XPS 12 Ultrabook Convertible

by Dell

3.5/5

$1,200.00

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Aspire V7 (Model 482PG-9884)

by Acer

4/5

$1,300.00

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Envy TouchSmart 15t

by HP

4/5

$1,059.00

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Pros
  • Supremely thin and light
  • Exquisite carbon-fiber design
  • 128GB SSD
  • Keyboard not exposed in tablet mode
  • Outstanding battery life
  • Includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter
  • Bright, vibrant display
  • 12GB of DDR3/1600 memory
  • 24GB SSD cache
  • Discrete Nvidia graphics processor
  • Intel Core i7 mobile processor
  • Discrete Nvidia graphics processor
  • 15.6-inch, 1920-by-1080-pixel display
Cons
  • Single-band 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter (2.4GHz)
  • Enough real estate for only two USB ports
  • Flat keys
  • Heavy, especially when held in one hand
  • Occasional delay in screen-orientation switch
  • Only two USB ports
  • Poorly located power button
  • Only one USB 3.0 port
  • Single-band Wi-Fi adapter (2.4GHz only)
  • Heavy
  • Lousy battery life
  • Single-band Wi-Fi adapter
At A Glance

The VAIO Pro 13 trades some performance for looks; but this Ultrabook is so beautiful, you won’t care.

Dell's XPS 12 is better as a notebook than as a tablet, but it remains one of the best convertibles on the market.

The Acer Aspire V7 has a few idiosyncrasies—primarily its poorly located ports and power button—but it delivers credible gaming performance in a superslim package.

This notebook boasts a Core i7 processor, a discrete Nvidia GPU, and a 1920-by-1080 display. It's a very good value.

Specs

Processor

Processor type Intel Core i5 - 4200U Intel Core i5 - 4200U Intel Core i7-4500U Intel Core i7 - 4700MQ
Processor speed 1600.0  MHz 1500.0  MHz 1800.0  MHz 2400.0  MHz
Number of Cores 2.0 2.0 2.0 4.0

Memory

Memory size 4.0  MB 4.0  MB 12.0  MB 8.0  MB
Memory type DDR3 DDR3 DDR3 DDR3
Memory speed 1600.0  MHz 1600.0  MHz 1600.0  MHz 1600.0  MHz

Display

Display size 13.3  inches 12.5  inches 15.0  inches 15.6  inches
Display type IPS      
Touchscreen Yes Yes Yes Yes
Aspect ratio 16:9 16:9   16:9
Resolution 1920 x 1080  pixels 1920 x 1080  pixels 1920 x 1080  pixels 1920 x 1080  pixels

Graphics

Graphics Type Integrated Integrated Integrated Switchable
Primary Graphics Chipset Intel HD 4400 Intel HD 4400 Nvidia GT 750M Nvidia Geforce GT 740m
Graphics Memory     2.0  GB 2.0  GB
Secondary Graphics Chipset       Intel HD 4600

Storage

Drive 1 size 128.0  GB 128.0  GB 22.0  GB 24.0  GB
Drive 1 type Solid-State Drive Solid-State Drive Solid-State Drive Solid-State Drive
Drive 2 size     1000.0  GB 1000.0  GB
Drive 2 type     Hard Disk Drive Hard Disk Drive
Drive 2 speed     5400.0  RPM 5400.0  RPM

Ports and Connections

Available Interfaces HDMI|Line In 1/8|Line Out 1/8|USB 3.0| Line In 1/8|Line Out 1/8|Mini DisplayPort|USB 3.0 HDMI|Line In 1/8|Line Out 1/8|Mini DisplayPort|USB 2.0|USB 3.0| HDMI|Line In 1/8|Line Out 1/8|USB 2.0|USB 3.0
Wireless connection 802.11a|802.11b|802.11g|802.11n|Bluetooth| 802.11ac|Bluetooth 802.11b|802.11g|802.11n|Bluetooth| 802.11b|802.11g|802.11n|Bluetooth
Ethernet Type     10/100/1000 Mbps 10/100/1000 Mbps

Dimensions

Width 12.68  inches 12.48  inches 15.0  inches 14.94  inches
Depth 8.5  inches 8.46  inches 10.0  inches 9.87  inches
Height 0.68  inches 0.8  inches 0.83  inches 1.18  inches
Weight 2.34  pounds 3.35  pounds 4.6  pounds 5.62  pounds
Weight with Accessories 2.9  pounds     6.9  pounds

Storage Media

SD card Yes     Yes

Included Software

Operating System Microsoft Windows 8 Pro Microsoft Windows 8 Home Microsoft Windows 8 Home Microsoft Windows 8 Home

Other Features

Devices Built-In Microphone|Built-In Webcam|Touchpad| Built-In Microphone|Built-In Webcam|Touchpad Backlit Keyboard|Built-In Microphone|Built-In Webcam|Touchpad| Built-In Microphone|Built-In Webcam|Fingerprint Reader|Touchpad

Pricing

UPC Code   884116100072    

Power

Battery Type   Lithium Ion Battery   Lithium Ion Battery

Performance

Overall Performance

Worldbench Score

274.0 296.0 246.0 295.0
Worldbench Version

8.1 8.1 8.1 8.1

Battery

Battery Life

(hh:mm)

6:14 6:49 5:02 3:19

Start Up

Start Up

seconds (lower is better)

11.9 9.2 13.8 16.2

Office Productivity

PCMark 7 Productivity Suite

score (higher is better)

2751.0 2664.0 2331.0 3021.0

Web Browsing

Peacekeeper

score (higher is better)

2458.0 2449.0 2642.0 3123.0

Storage Performance

PCMark 7 Storage Test

score (higher is better)

5480.0 5318.0 3614.0 4356.0
File Compression

seconds (lower is better)

149.8 139.7 159.3 131.0

Content Creation

Image Editing

seconds (lower is better)

5351.0 251.2 307.5 196.9
Video Encoding

seconds (lower is better)

208.0 154.0 136.5 132.5
Audio Encoding

seconds (lower is better)

279.8 281.2 251.3 222.2
Image Editing - GPU Accelerated

seconds (lower is better)

  150.3 108.5 111.1

Power Usage

Working power usage

Watt hours

2.0 1.8 3.6 4.8
Idle power usage

Watts

9.0 6.5 12.4 16.3

Gaming

3DMark, Ice Storm

score (higher is better)

15968.0 16597.0 162.0 15656.0
3DMark, Firestrike Extreme

score (higher is better)

250.0 303.0 684.0 507.0
3DMark, Cloud Gate

score (higher is better)

3934.0 4366.0 6429.0 7014.0
3DMark, Firestrike

score (higher is better)

542.0 646.0 1390.0 1037.0
Dirt Showdown, Low Quality, 1024x768

Frames per second (higher is better)

27.2 44.5 70.2 67.1
Crysis 3, Ultra Quality, 1920x1080

Frames per second (higher is better)

2.2 1.5 5.8  
Crysis 3, Ultra Quality, 1024x768

Frames per second (higher is better)

12.6 18.0 33.1 36.3
Bioshock Infinite, Low Quality, 1024x768

Frames per second (higher is better)

24.6 28.7 76.5 58.4
Bioshock Infinite, Ultra Quality, 1920x1080

Frames per second (higher is better)

  4.3 13.2 9.2

Product Type

Subcategory

  Ultra Portable