Sony VAIO T Series SVT13135CXS 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)

It was very hard to choose between this Sony, the Macbook Air, or the Asus UX-31A but overall I'm sort of content with my purchase. The first thing I noticed after opening the box was how small it is, which is a good thing. It also is very attractive, with very sleek aluminum case. As far as performance goes it seems to be adequately fast, but windows 8 has been hard to get used to, but that is expected. There are a couple things that have been bothering me, one is the fan. It's not extremely loud, but it is constantly running and you can hear it. I had a Samsung previously and I rarely heard the fan. I figure that after owning it for awhile you might not notice it. The other thing and probably the biggest problem like many other computers is the trackpad. The gestures are very annoying and you find yourself executing functions that were unattended. The touchscreen is also not very accurate and you will find yourself hitting things by accident as you are trying to scroll down the page. As I try to scroll to the bottom somehow I end up highlighting half the page in blue, and this happens all the time. You might be able to buy better for $850 if you wait for new Laptops to be introduced over the summer. This does not have a backlit keyboard and has the standard 1366x768 screen. Many laptops at this price range have a backlit keyboard and a higher definition display. If you want a slim, light weight, sleek laptop under $900 this is for you. I do however think you will get more for your money in the near future.

I'll start by saying that I did not purchase this at Amazon. Went to Fry's and price matched with Amazon. Close enough. hehe

The new T series are beautiful laptops. Made of aluminum and shinny metal, the SVT13136CXS really stands out. The 3rd generation i5 processor makes everything much faster. Apps on the Sony open just as fast as my Surface Pro. Legacy software is fast, too, but does lack a little speed, mainly because of the hybrid drive in the Sony. The Surface is 100% SSD. Still, was very surprised at the hybrid drive (500HDD + 24GB SSD) in Windows 8. Boot time is less than 10 seconds. Actually, it booted quicker than my Surface Pro.

There is one reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 and that's mainly because of the current webcam issue that I happen to encounter. Before I bought the laptop, I did read about the webcam issue and I thought to myself, most of the time it's driver issue and I'm pretty sure a fix will be released. I'm not sure if this is a Sony problem or a Windows problem, but it seems the camera, after one use, goes black or very dark and grainy. You can increase the brightest or mess with setting all you want and still have no results. Well, after trying different things I noticed that the problem is in the "Camera" app in Windows 8. If you open Skype or any other application that uses the webcam, the issue is nonexistent. Seems like the Camera App is not loading the drivers (maybe too fast of an app? lol). Anyhow, I only use the webcam for Skype and/or Facebook so once I noticed that the camera works fine with those two, I was happy and could care less for the "Camera" app in W8.

One other tip I'll throw in there. If you can find a deal at the Microsoft Store, like right now where it's on sell for $799, then I'd order the laptop from them and take advantage of "Microsoft Signature". It means a laptop sold by MS will not come with junkware and you'll have Windows Defender for free. If you don't mind doing the work, like I did, then the first step is remove all the junk software from the laptop. You'll feel better afterwards :)

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention, this model doesn't have a DVD/CD drive. If you are looking for something similar to this laptop, but need a drive, maybe give the SVT14127CXS a try. That model has a 14" screen, 128GB of SSD storage, and a DVD/CD Writeable drive.

I'm very happy with my purchase. I prefer the larger HD space, but do appreciate the SSD for booting quickly. The only issue, so far, is the webcam. In reality, the issue is the camera app in W8. Works great with Facebook and Skype.

I'll keep you posted if anything changes, but as of right now, very pleased.

Buy Sony VAIO T Series SVT13135CXS 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Silver) Now

The laptop is aesthetically amazing.

Only problem is mine hangs a WHOLE lot. I've tried reseting it using VAIO ASSIST many times doesnt work. I guess theres an issue with rapid wake too.

Oh, and it's mousepad isnt really good.

The touch is AMAZING though.

The camera doesnt work properly using the camera app. Realpoor quality.

Audio is WOWOW.

Doesnt boot up in 2 seconds, mine takes 12-15 even on sleep wake. I dont know why.

Battery backup is really nice.

Overall mediocre but i guess thats just something with my model only? Dont know really but it turned out to be unexpected and disappointing, though.

UPDATE: 18.5.13

It crashed again, this is getting too much. I took it to SONY and they said there was some problem with my laptop, they recommended me only to buy from Sony directly. Weird stuff.

Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO T Series SVT13135CXS 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Silver) Here

it super fast

super lght and portable, the windows 8 interface is amazing!

my advice is that this ultrabook worth each dollar it cost, and if u check the other brands they are more expensive for the same product!

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I have been a Sony laptop fan through three Z series laptops. With the Z series, I paid top price (over $2,500 for each computer) and would get three years of superlative performance. The screens were tack sharp and accurately represented true colors, which was important for me in the Photoshop work that I do. But Sony has withdrawn Z series laptops. Perhaps their high price depressed their sales. Who knows? From time to time, I have worked on lower end laptops and have been delighted by their performance. Also, my $500 iPad performed as well as my Z machine, so I thought that perhaps the time has come to look into a lower priced device.

When shopping for a new computer this past Spring, I reviewed more than a dozen products. I spent two weeks investigating them. Unfortunately, you don't really know if a laptop works for you until you've had a week or two experience using it to learn its quirks and to see if it fits with your style. After balancing the pros and cons of different features on a dozen laptops, I found that I didn't really know which laptop was best for me, because creating lists is just a paper exercise. So I went with the Sony T series because of my good previous experiences with Sony computers. Big mistake.

Here is what I discovered:

* The touchpad is terrible, truly horrific. There are no left and right buttons, only a single square. The bottom left hand corner serves roughly as a left button, and the bottom right as a right button. When trying to use either, sometimes you get it right, often you do not.

* When clicking on an object on the screen, you have to tap the EXACT CENTER of the touch pad and you have to come down at a perfect 90 degree angle to the surface. If you are slightly off center or if your finger touches the touch pad at a slight angle, nothing happens. I taped a small piece of scotch tape to the center of the touch pad surface so that I could feel the center when working, but it was no go.

* The screen is shiny so that you always see the reflection of something on it. Also, images aren't crispy clear. I would call it an "anti-retina display." Finally, its colors aren't true, so I can't use it for my Photoshop picture editing.

* The touch screen is hyper-sensitive. I'm afraid to sneeze when using my computer, because the slightest disturbance sends the cursor flying this way and that and paragraphs of text get covered with the blue highlighter, text expands or shrinks, or I jump to a different application. The cursor itself constantly plays hide-and-seek and it often isn't visible against the white background, so I make heavy use of the Ctrl button to find out where it is.

* The keyboard is terrible. You cannot press keys at even a slight angle. Also, some keys need to be "cleaned" two or three times a week (i.e., remove the cap), otherwise they cease to function. I normally type at 70 wpm, and find that the keyboard behaves reliably up to about 35 wpm, then starts jamming or skipping letters beyond that point. In writing this short review, I have already encountered about twenty keyboard glitches.

* The laptop is not particularly light. I suppose reviewers who say it is light have been working with really large clunkers. My wife purchased one of the last Z series machines about 15 months ago, and it is a much lighter.

One more problem -a Windows 8 problem, not a Series T problem. Windows 8 is tough to work with. Microsoft believed it was losing out to the interfaces employed on touch screen tablets, so it adopted a clunky touch screen operating system for serious business computers. But it is inadequate for the needs of serious business users who are concerned with typing documents, conducting spreadsheet analyses, etc., not flipping through hundreds of photos or resizing images. The tablets are designed for fun and spontaneous access to the Internet -they serve a different function from business computers. With Windows 8 wed to the Series T, we get the worst of both worlds.

What's good about the Series T? It's quick start up. It has a solid state "booster" drive that let's you get moving within 4-5 seconds. On my Z laptop, it would take more than a minute to get booted up. That's about the only advantage I've found.

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