Laptop - Sony Vaio Duo 13 - best place to purchase

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Isochronous

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I want a slim lightweight laptop to replace this HP beast I've carried around far too many airports, and the Sony Vaio Duo 13 looks like the best on the market for a non-Mac option, and includes a touch screen.

The Australian RRP is $1,800, although I've found some Australian websites offering it for A$1,693 (Buy Sony VAIO Duo 13 SVD13233CXB-Core i5-4200U-1.6GHz-128GB SSD-Win 8.1-13.3" Multi-Touch Convertible Ultrabook-Black | Electronic Bazaar AU) and $1,631 (Best Sony VAIO Duo 13 SVD13233CXB-Core i5-4200U-1.6GHz-128GB SSD-Win 8.1-13.3" Multi-Touch Convertible Ultrabook-Black | TipTopElectronics AU)

Since I'm travelling soon there is the option to get the GST back.

Although I have a 3hr KUL transit, and noticed that the Malaysian RRP is around the A$1,100 mark.

Has anyone had any experience buying electronics airside at KUL? Or know if DOH will be any cheaper (where I have 22hrs)?
 
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..... the Sony Vaio .......

NO!!!!!!!! Am on my second Sony Vaio, and it is appalling. They (Sony) have so much behind-the-scenes control over your computer. It sucks. It is slow. It is complicated. Dont do it.
 
NO!!!!!!!! Am on my second Sony Vaio, and it is appalling. They (Sony) have so much behind-the-scenes control over your computer. It sucks. It is slow. It is complicated. Dont do it.

Oh dear. Perhaps I need to look for something else then.
 
I bought a second hand Sony Vaio Pro 13 off Ebay late 2013 for about $800. It came with the original box, instructions, etc. The Windows 8.1 takes a bit of getting used to. Bought the accessory 2nd shell battery that fits on the back from Ebay new from a Japan vendor. They were about $100 cheaper than Sony Australia. And got a very smart black sleeve from VideoPro in Queensland for $35 after giving up on Sony and the Sony shop in Melbourne. $35 and very smart.

Battery life is about 12 to 15 hours with the second battery, still doesn't weigh much more than 1kg all up. With Windows 8.1 and the Windows store the trick is to remember that most of the program versions in the store are rubbish. So if you have the choice of full version of Dropbox or the windows store version, go for the full version.

I'm still coming up to speed with the 8.1 tiles and the suite of Office 365 programs. Most of my files are still Office 2003. But the ultrabook itself is light, durable and with the SSD HD it's up and running in an instant. I don't use my IPad much at all.

If you have a look on Gumtree and live in Melbourne there are a couple on there that appear to have had very little use between $900 and $1000.
 
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Lenovo x1 carbon..... I have the Sony vaio z2.... Power, light weight but terrible keyboard.
Bloody software stuffing up sheet battery recharge too.
What is the eBay seller for extra sheet battery?
 
FWIW another option is the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus. Very high resolution screen, very light and thin, 13", touch screen. The 128 GB SSD / 4GB Ram model is about $2000 here but if you are passing through the US it's $USD1399 over there. The 256GB/8GB model is $USD1799 in the US but not available here yet.
 
FWIW another option is the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus. Very high resolution screen, very light and thin, 13", touch screen. The 128 GB SSD / 4GB Ram model is about $2000 here but if you are passing through the US it's $USD1399 over there. The 256GB/8GB model is $USD1799 in the US but not available here yet.

Would go well with my Samsung smart TV actually. In the next month I'll be in KL Airport, Doha, Central Europe, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, and Japan. Wonder what pricing is like in those places.
 
Would go well with my Samsung smart TV actually. In the next month I'll be in KL Airport, Doha, Central Europe, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, and Japan. Wonder what pricing is like in those places.

Don't buy a laptop in Japan - I'm pretty sure the keyboards are all in Japanese. Others may be able to confirm this. Prices in UK / Europe / Sth. Africa are on par with here or even higher.
 
I bought the 13.3 duo from b&h last week. Arrived in 4 days. Really like it. A little bigger than I expected due to the bezel aroudn the screen, but it's still very portable. Lov the small charger and the fact it has a usb port built into it.


Got a free sonzy case and hdmi to vga connector with it too. The case is very spic.

Windows 8 took a bit to get used to, but after doing some changes to make it a bit moe like windows 7 I'm happy with it. The SSD inside it aint the fastest but still snappy enough. Amazing battery life at 9-10 hours.

I'm quite happy with it. Shame the price on the B&H website went from 929 back up to 1100ish. There prices seem to change within a day as the price went from 929 to 979 a couple of hours after I bought

Unfortunately they don't have anything in the ultrabook range that would fit under the 1K GST free limit.
 
I have a SVP13 i5 gen4 128ssd 13.3 inch FHD touchscreen..... great machine. very light at a bit over 1kg. loads up in about 3 seconds. I paid around 1100 for mine when rrp was closer to 1450. bought it from Dick Smith when they had a 20% sale and they had a Sony rep who was happy to apply the discount, ended up buying two (one for me, one for my sister).
 
Following this thread w' interest, but what is B and H, I can only think of Benson and Hedges? :oops:
I bought the 13.3 duo from b&h last week. Arrived in 4 days. Really like it. A little bigger than I expected due to the bezel aroudn the screen, but it's still very portable. Lov the small charger and the fact it has a usb port built into it.


Got a free sonzy case and hdmi to vga connector with it too. The case is very spic.

Windows 8 took a bit to get used to, but after doing some changes to make it a bit moe like windows 7 I'm happy with it. The SSD inside it aint the fastest but still snappy enough. Amazing battery life at 9-10 hours.

I'm quite happy with it. Shame the price on the B&H website went from 929 back up to 1100ish. There prices seem to change within a day as the price went from 929 to 979 a couple of hours after I bought

Unfortunately they don't have anything in the ultrabook range that would fit under the 1K GST free limit.
 
Most of the time the US is the place to buy computers.My Sonys apart from 1 are from the US.
 
Remember that Sony is out of computers now....so Support and parts are going to disappear sooner than later!
 
Remember that Sony is out of computers now....so Support and parts are going to disappear sooner than later!

Yes, until that happened I would have strongly recommended Vaios, but I suspect support will be around for a while yet (not that I've ever had to call on it). Bought mine in the US and its a fantastic machine (500GB SSD :) )

Sorry Juddles, can't explain your experience; none of those issues here - boots up in a few seconds thanks to SSD and no 'control' issues :)

Isochronos - if you like the machine and its a good price, I suggest you go with it. Make sure the give you the paperwork for world wide warranty, else you may be stuck with just Malaysian one. There's no difficulty getting the ww warranty, but you have to go to a particular web site & register.
 
I bought the 13.3 duo from b&h last week. Arrived in 4 days. Really like it. A little bigger than I expected due to the bezel aroudn the screen, but it's still very portable. Lov the small charger and the fact it has a usb port built into it.


Got a free sonzy case and hdmi to vga connector with it too. The case is very spic.

Windows 8 took a bit to get used to, but after doing some changes to make it a bit moe like windows 7 I'm happy with it. The SSD inside it aint the fastest but still snappy enough. Amazing battery life at 9-10 hours.

I'm quite happy with it. Shame the price on the B&H website went from 929 back up to 1100ish. There prices seem to change within a day as the price went from 929 to 979 a couple of hours after I bought

Unfortunately they don't have anything in the ultrabook range that would fit under the 1K GST free limit.

Currently USD$1,099 including free carry case and VGA adapter - not bad: Sony VAIO Duo 13 SVD13233CXB 13.3" Multi-Touch SVD13233CXB

I fly out on Saturday night - do you think they could ship it to Melbourne in time? And if Customs charge GST since it's over the $900 threshold when its shipped in - can I claim it back when I fly overseas on the Saturday night? :p

Also, I'm wondering - how do you feel about the Duo screen not being adjustable in terms of viewing angle?

Yes, until that happened I would have strongly recommended Vaios, but I suspect support will be around for a while yet (not that I've ever had to call on it). Bought mine in the US and its a fantastic machine (500GB SSD :) )

Sorry Juddles, can't explain your experience; none of those issues here - boots up in a few seconds thanks to SSD and no 'control' issues :)

Isochronos - if you like the machine and its a good price, I suggest you go with it. Make sure the give you the paperwork for world wide warranty, else you may be stuck with just Malaysian one. There's no difficulty getting the ww warranty, but you have to go to a particular web site & register.

Sony Malaysia website RRP is about A$10 cheaper than the BH website mentioned above. Wonder if the airport store has any special promotion. I'm going to try and call them and see.

I like the look of the Samsung, but even BH is quoting a price of USD$1,700 for it - a lot more expensive than the Vaio. Lenovo looks like USD$1.4k.
 
Could I plse hijack this thread and ask what people think of this spec for a Dell Latitude 7440 that is currently on special on the Dell website .... any comments at all as I really don't understand it much. I just need it for my daughter who doesn't do a lot more that write and search. The Latitudes are built for business and are very hardy and may even have a 'milspec'. Is there anything here that looks like too much of a compromise?Thanks for your indulgence. It's just under $1000. And yes she wants Win7.

Latitude E7440 4th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300U Processor (1.9 GHz, 3M Cache)
8GBDual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx2)
128GB Full Mini-Card Mobility Solid State Drive
Windows(R) 7 Professional 64-bit (English), No Media
No Optical Drive
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac/a/b/g/n 2x2 + Bluetooth 4.0 LE Half Mini Card
Intel Integrated HD 4400 Graphics
Light Sensitive Webcam and Noise Cancelling Digital Array Mic
Primary 4-cell 47W/HR Battery
 
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