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Sony Vaio

The Sony Vaio Flip and Vaio Tap 11
After some hands-on time with these laptops that become tablets and this tablet that becomes a Surface-style laptop, we came to the conclusion that Sony had really learned from the mistakes it made in its first convertible laptop. The Flip's touchscreen, um, flips to cover the keyboard in a way similar to but distinct from Dell's excellent XPS 12. The Tap 11 also uses ultra-low-voltage Y-series Haswell CPUs to bring Ultrabook-level performance to something not much bigger than the Retina iPad or Nexus 10.

The build quality on both systems is good, and while the key travel in both the Flip laptops and the Tap 11's keyboard cover could be better, it certainly isn't the worst we've encountered. The Flip lineup is also fairly diverse—you can choose from 13-, 14-, and 15-inch screen sizes, and the 14- and 15-inch models include dedicated GPUs. 1080p displays are standard in all three Flip laptops and the Tap 11 tablet, but the 15-inch Flip also comes with a 2560×1620 display option. SSDs are standard in the 13-inch Flip and Tap 11 and are optional in the 14- and 15-inch Flips.

Neither pricing nor availability has been announced for the Flip or the Tap systems just yet, though we expect that we'll hear more in the fall.

Sony Vaio

A lame duck CEO. A major operating system that nobody wants. Rapidly declining PC sales. A desperate Hail Mary acquisition of a trailing smartphone maker. Is this the swan song for Windows?
Failing to capitalize on either the smartphone or tablet markets—in spite of the fact the company had all the important technology in place for years—Microsoft has been called a digital dinosaur by some. With waning demand for PCs, especially among consumers, and the debacle of Windows 8—which actually incited people to avoid a new computer purchase—Steve Ballmer finally threw in the towel, announcing he'll step aside within 12 months.