Sony Vaio Tap 11

It's been nearly one year, but we still point to Microsoft's Surface Pro as the best example of a full Windows 8 tablet with a high-res screen and an Intel Core i-series CPU. That configuration makes for an experience much closer to a full-power PC, but we've seen only a handful of similar models, with many more low-power slates powered instead by Intel Atom CPUs.

The Surface Pro 2 is close to release, with an updated fourth-gen Intel Core i5 CPU but the same thick, chunky design as the original model. It certainly sounds like the field is wide-open for a serious competitor, and the new Sony Vaio Tap 11 fits the bill.

This is a slim, sharp-looking 11.6-inch slate, powered by (in our review configuration) a fourth-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 128GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM. It has a larger screen than the Surface Pro 2, but is thinner and lighter.

Both Windows 8 tablets base a lot of their promised functionality on using a proprietary keyboard cover. The Surface Pro version snaps on magnetically to create a laptop-like vibe, while the Tap 11 keyboard has a Bluetooth connection and can sit anywhere nearby, and only snaps on via a weak magnetic connection for travel.

Confusingly, the Vaio Tap 11 has a lower starting price, but our configuration costs more than a comparable Surface Pro 2. The Tap 11 starts at $799, but that's for an Intel Pentium-class chip (yes, they still make those). Our Core i5/128GB SSD config is $1,099, while a Surface Pro 2 with the same basic specs will cost $999. The final catch: Microsoft charges an additional $129 for its keyboard cover, while the Sony version is included, so let's call that a closely matched final cost.

If you're looking for a system that's 75 percent laptop and 25 percent tablet, go with a Lenovo Yoga, Dell XPS 12, or another hybrid. If you're in the opposite camp, looking mostly for a tablet with some laptop-like abilities, the Vaio Tap 11 now feels like the best of the bunch, with its slim design, reasonably varied configuration options, and included keyboard.

Price	$1,099	$999	$999
Display size/resolution	11.1-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 touch screen	11.6-inch, 1,766 x 768 screen	10.6-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 touch screen
PC CPU	1.5GHz Intel Core i5 4210Y	1.3GHz Intel Core i5 4250U	1.7GHz Intel Core i5 3317U
PC Memory	4GBDDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz	4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz	8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz
Graphics	1739MB Intel HD Graphics 4200	1024MB Intel HD Graphics 5000	32MB Intel HD 4000
Storage	128GB SSD hard drive	128GB SSD hard drive	128GB SSD hard drive
Optical drive	None	None	None
Networking	802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0	802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0	802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system	Windows 8 (64-bit)	OSX Mountain Lion 10.8.4	Windows 8 (64-bit)

Design and features
Compared with both generations of Microsoft Surface Pro tablets, which have identical physical designs, the Tap 11 is the hands-down design winner. It's thinner and lighter, despite having a larger screen (both have 1080p resolutions), and really feels very portable in tablet form.

The Surface Pro on top of the Vaio Tap 11.

As a handheld device, it works fine held in one hand, although the Windows button and webcam end up on the left and right bezel edges when you hold it in portrait mode, as one would an iPad. Some of the major missteps of the Windows tablet experience fall on Microsoft and are common to all Windows tablets, but they still impact usability here. The tile-based interface doesn't scale to portrait mode in anything close to an efficient way, and if you're trying to navigate anything in the traditional desktop mode with the touch screen, forget it.

The back of the system has a slender fold-out kickstand. It's highly adjustable, and stays where you set it, unlike the Surface Pro 2 kickstand, which runs the width of the system and has two set angles (the original Surface had a single-angle kickstand). The downside is that the small kickstand is completely unusable in the lap, while the full-width Surface Pro, while not optimal, can at least work in the lap in a pinch.

Sony wisely includes its Bluetooth keyboard cover with the system, while Microsoft attempts to play some pricing sleight of hand by knocking $100 off their price, but charging about that much for its practically required keyboard cover. The Sony version doesn't attach via a magnetic hinge, instead its wireless connection allows you to move it anywhere nearby. It's certainly more flexible, but also lacks the more laptop-like feel of the Surface Pro's kickstand-plus-keyboard setup.

Both the Surface and Vaio keyboard covers are excellent, with real keys and small-but-usable touch pads. The Surface version has tightly packed, flat-topped keys, while the Vaio version has keys that are slightly smaller, set up island-style, with empty space between each key. The latter much more closely resembles current laptop keyboards, and feels marginally better to type on. However, it's thin, and in the lap, flexes a good deal even under moderate typing.

Both also include a touch pad. Sony's version is larger and includes a rocker-style bar for the left and right mouse buttons, and really helped the Tap 11 feel more productive and laptop-like.