review in Sony Vaio Tap 11

Windows 8 has inspired plenty of strange notebook designs, from the swiveling screen on the Dell XPS 12 to the flexible Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga. But Microsoft’s own Surface tablet is the beacon for Microsoft’s true vision of the future of Windows 8 devices, a complete reimagining of the notebook as part traditional laptop and part tablet. As Microsoft and others tried to build these devices, they were hamstrung by poor design, and parts that couldn't find ways to be both powerful and long-lasting — but the tide is shifting.

The Vaio Tap 11 is Sony's answer to the Surface Pro 2, and potentially proof that this form factor can really work. This 11.6-inch tablet has a kickstand and an included, detachable keyboard. It’s also extremely thin, promises plenty of battery life, and comes in at just $799 for a Pentium processor and $999 for a more powerful Intel Core chip.

Microsoft keeps pushing its vision, and other manufacturers are coming around. But could Sony be one of the first to build a true hybrid, the one device for everything in your life?

At first glance, the Sony Vaio Tap 11 is downright attractive. The body is made of a premium-feeling soft plastic while the entire front features edge-to-edge glass. It's just 0.39 inches thick, which makes it easy to believe Sony’s claim that this is the world’s thinnest Windows 8 tablet with an Intel Core processor. It's really thin — barely thicker than the iPhone 5S — and the difference between it and the 0.53-inch-thick Surface Pro 2 is striking.

The edges look sleek and clean, with every port hidden by plastic covers except for the power connector on the bottom-left side. The Tap 11 has plenty of ports, but mostly shrunken versions: besides the standard USB 3.0, the Tap 11 includes a mini HDMI and microSD port. It’s one of the compromises for getting so slim, though I would have much preferred the full-size versions — a bagful of adapters kind of kills the point.
The Tap 11 is sturdy and well-made, but it's held back by a few unfortunate design decisions. All those little plastic covers protecting the ports feel flimsy and cheap, and I had a hard time snapping (or rather mushing) them back into place. The charger connector is even worse: it’s short and stubby, and never feels totally connected. This loose connection is supposedly a feature, ensuring that tripping over the cord won’t knock the device off the table, but Sony should have really gone with magnets like the Surface Pro 2 or Macbook Air. The connector is so bad, I initially thought it was broken, and there were a few times I didn’t notice it had somehow disconnected until I got a low-battery warning.

On the other hand, the Tap 11's kickstand is fantastic — it’s easy to open and stays put at any angle from flat to about 45 degrees. The Surface Pro 2 can go a little deeper thanks to its second kickstand angle, but I liked having the freedom to make tiny adjustments to the screen. The single short leg doesn’t look as nice as the Surface’s full-width kickstand, though, and makes propping the tablet on your lap really hard. The physical glass Windows button feels nice, but is so hard to push that the entire tablet fell back every time I used it. A capacitive button, like the Surface, would have been much better.

The Tap 11’s cover attaches to the tablet using very strong magnets — they're powerful enough that the two never separated when in my bag, yet slipping them apart was a breeze. But that's just the problem: they slip apart.

When you pry off the cover, you’ll find a full-fledged keyboard, just like the Surface's Type Cover, only without a way to connect at the hinge. This is an unattached, wireless keyboard that only touches the tablet when it’s not in use. This is particularly mind-boggling because the keyboard cover also serves as an external battery for the tablet, like the new Power Cover for the Surface Pro. But unlike Microsoft’s tablets, there’s no way to access that extra power unless you completely stop using the device and put the cover back on. Likewise, there’s no way to recharge the keyboard except through the tablet, so both pieces need to be sandwiched together and plugged in for the keyboard to charge. If the keyboard battery dies, you're done using it until you can stop using the tablet altogether for a few hours.

But the most frustrating thing about the unattached keyboard is that it means you can’t use the complete unit on your lap. If I didn’t have a table to use, I had no choice but to use the device as a tablet and type on the on-screen keyboard. I also had to find a safe place for the cover, which usually ended up awkwardly stacked on the back of the tablet. I longed for the wide kickstand and magnetized cover of the Surface Pro that make lap use a little easier.

Read more by Theverge