In one corner, we have a 13-inch MacBook Air from Apple and in the other corner, we have the VAIO Pro 13 from Sony Does the Sony VAIO Pro 13 have everything to take down the exciting champion Apple 13-inch MacBook Air?
Sony is set to bring its new refreshed design with an extraordinary touch-screen technology running on Windows 8. Apple continues with its smooth iconic look which feels more dated this time. It's strongest ability is it's 14-hour battery life.
Round 1: Design
VAIO 13 Pro: Sony brings a classy design, covered with a magnesium chassis running on Windows 8. It is as light as a feather as it weighs only 453 grams. The display has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution but its moving functions are causing small problems. The hinges gave us a difficult experience when we wanted to adjust the lid. Sony did a great job incorporating the display in thin bezel.
MacBook Air 13-inch: Apple continued with its classic design, a full aluminium body with zero flex and smooth hinges that allows adjusting the lid easily. It still feels premium but it is getting bit dated with its thicker bezel on the screen. The display features 1440 x 900 pixel resolution.
We declared the first round a tie.
Round 2: Features
VAIO Pro 13: What separates this device from its toughest competitor, the MacBook Air, is its' 1080p display with touch-screen feature, which feels more natural to interact with your ultrabook screen. It has full size HDMI port and NFC support, as well. The most interesting part is that Sony has decided to place another USB port on the power adapter.
MacBook Air 13-inch: Apple decided not to include a touch-screen feature. You need a dongle to get any videos from your MacBook Air. However, the faster Wi-Fi 802.11 has been included into this ultrabook. The benefit here is that you can install both Windows and Mac OS on this machine but still our judges give this round to Sony VAIO.
Round 3: Performance
The Sony ultrabook is equipped with 1.5GHz i7 Core processor along with 8GB of RAM and the MacBook Air had 1.3GHz i5 Core processor with 4GB of RAM.
In our multimedia multitasking performance test, the MacBook Air beat the Sony VAIO Pro and it also performed better in iTunes encoding tests. The VAIO Pro came on top in Adobe Photoshop image processing test, while in hand brake multitasking test they give equal result. Both ultrabooks gave nearly similar results and we are calling this round a tie.
Round 4: Battery Life
In the video drain test that is usually taken to see the battery life, the VAIO Pro 13 gave impressive results with almost 9 hours. Sony gives you the ability to upgrade the battery for $150 by buying an extra external battery. The MacBook Air, gave over 14 hours battery life and we conclude that Apple gave new standards in the ultrabook industry. Apple takes this round with a major difference.
Round 5: Price
Sony's VAIO Pro 13 base model with 1,6GHz Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM ships for $1,249 including the 1080p touch-screen The MacBook Air starts at $1,099 for its base model that has 1.3GHz Core i5 processor along with 4GB of RAM. However, Apple has the machine that has better value than its competitor and as you can see by its performance, this base ultrabook version can measure up with the i7 processor VAIO Pro 13 version. This round went to Apple MacBook Air.
We gave the throne to Apple's MacBook Air but we can assure you that the difference is slight and if you decide to buy the Sony VAIO Pro 13 you will not be disappointed.
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