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Hands-on with Sony's touch-enabled VAIO T14 and T15 (video)
When Sony announced the touch-enabled VAIO T14 and the new VAIO T15 Ultrabooks yesterday, we lamented the lack of specs and, well, any concrete info apart from the fact that these machines exist and will make it to market. The silence on the processor front makes sense, but we were hungry for more details all the same. Lucky for us, we spotted both models on the show floor this morning at CES. The new 15-inch T15 is the largest VAIO Ultrabook to date, and it doesn't depart from the silver, brushed-metal aesthetic we've seen on Sony's ultraportables dating back to the T13. It's considerably heftier than the 13- and 14-inch models, but it does squeeze in an optical drive. Overall, its port selection is quite generous: USB 3.0, an Ethernet jack, VGA, HDMI and a headphone connection line the left side, while the right edge is home to that disc drive along with two USB 2.0 ports. The 10-point capacitive touchscreen seems quite responsive, and the 1080p resolution is a nice step up from the more standard 1,366 x 768 configuration on the T14. As mentioned previously, additional specs and pricing / availability info are TBA, but it's safe to bet that the VAIO T15 will be available with both SSD and standard hard drive options when it hits the market. As it happens, the 14-inch T14 was also on hand. The main difference here is the added touch display. Otherwise, it's the 3.77-pounder we've known about since October. As with the T15, we're waiting on more concrete info. For now, you can get a taste of the two machines in our hands-on video and galleries. %Gallery-175335% %Gallery-175340%
Sony announces 14-inch VAIO T14 Ultrabook, says it will offer the T13 with an optional touchscreen
In case you haven't noticed, Sony just announced pricing for all sorts of touch-friendly Windows 8 products -- namely, the VAIO Duo 11, Tap 20 and the E14P multimedia laptop. But not everything in the company's lineup needs to have a touchscreen. The outfit just announced the VAIO T14, a reasonably priced 14-inch Ultrabook that you'll have to use the old-fashioned way: with a keyboard and trackpad. So far as we can tell, it's the same metal-and-plastic industrial design as the existing T13, except now the speakers sit above the keyboard, instead of on the front edge. As you can imagine, the 14-inch version (pictured above) is a bit thicker and heavier than the 13-inch model (3.77 pounds, up from 3.54), which means the chassis is now wide enough to accommodate an optical drive. What's slightly disappointing, though, is that while the T14 has a larger footprint, it doesn't add any additional ports. As with the T13, you get two USB ports (one 3.0, one 2.0), HDMI output, an Ethernet jack, audio-out and a VGA socket. Another USB connection or two would've been nice, is all. In addition to announcing the T14, Sony also revealed that it will start offering the T13 with an optional touchscreen -- a $100 upgrade you can add during the configuration process. (Sony's Japanese and UK divisions already announced a touch-enabled version of the T13, but until now it was unclear whether it would ever go on sale in the US.) As you might have guessed, that touchscreen adds a few ounces to the weight. The upside, though (aside from having a touchscreen, if that's what you're into) is that it has a prettier, edge-to-edge glass display -- a definite improvement over that standard wide bezel. (Check out the shot after the break to see what we mean.) The T13 will continue to sell for $670 and up, with the touch option becoming available this month. The T14 will also go on sale in the coming weeks starting at at $670.
