Sony unveils touch enabled VAIOs, Tap 20 and Duo 11 available this month
Sony has introduced its first tabletop PC within the US market, the VAIO Tap 20, an enormous 20-inch tablet computer, in addition to the smaller VAIO Duo 11 “hybrid slider” PC, which we reviewed back in August. As well as the faucet 20 and the Duo 11, Sony has also released touch-enabled ultrabooks, including a refresh of the T13 and the E series 14P models. This line of touch-enabled PCs runs Windows 8.
We got our hands at the Tap 20 back in August, and yes, it’s as massive as you watched it’s. This 20-inch tablet is an entire PC, and provides a ten-multitouch touchscreen at 1600×900 resolution, a front webcam, USB ports, audio out and in ports, an adjustable metal stand, and a battery. Watch us playing Fruit Ninja on Tap 20 within the video below. The VAIO Tap 20 is priced at $879.99, and can be available in white and black.
Meanwhile, the smaller “hybrid slider” VAIO Duo 11 PC is a smaller, portable tablet/laptop hybrid, with a built-in keyboard that slides under the display if you wish to use it as a tablet, and slides out if you desire to use it as a marginally-enabled laptop. The Duo 11 has an entire HD display, a pressure-sensitive stylus with swappable pen tips, a backlit keyboard, Active Clip, Sony original app for photo cropping, and the Note Anytime note taking application. It weighs in at 2.84lbs. The VAIO Duo 11 is priced at $1099.99, and may only be available in black.
As an advantage – especially for artists and graphic designers – Sony partnered with ArtRage, and could provide a duplicate of ArtRage Studio on all five of those new touch-enabled devices. As well as ArtRage, the VAIO Tap 20 will include the FingerTapps Organizer, a calendar/organizer app designed to permit families to simply share notes and events with one another, perhaps an illustration of who Sony’s primary intended market is. Consistent with the family-oriented apps, the VAIO Tap 20 may also include My Daily Clip, an app developed in partnership with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that enables individuals to sit down round the tablet and play a film trivia game.
As for the alternative three models, the VAIO T13 ($669.99) is a refresh model, with an added touchscreen display running Windows 8. The E series 14P ($689.99) is additionally a refresh model, with an added touchscreen running Windows 8. The E Series is price as follows: models 11, 14, and 15 at $449.99, and model 17 at $729.99. Both T Series models are priced at $669.99. The S Series 13 has a starting price of $799.99, while the premium S series 13 starts at $1199.99. The S series 15 model starts at $849.99, and the L Series 15 starts at $1199.99.
All five of those devices can be available on the end of the month. Whether the faucet 20 and Duo 11 are the way forward for PCs as traditional PC sales slip and Microsoft pushes its touch-friendly Windows 8 is yet to be seen. For now, however, it appears like things have become interesting.