Hybrid hero: Sony’s VAIO Duo 11 reviewed

Of course, there is also a keyboard underneath the display, which can offer some faster and better typing than relying on the touchscreen alone.

To find it, you merely pull up on the back of the screen, which will raise the screen into a standing position, held in place by a special hinge and stand that keeps the display angled against the keyboard.

Now you have a keyboard at your disposal with a mini trackpad inside.

We’ll give credit where it’s due: Sony’s choice in screen here is excellent. There’s a touch of colour washout when you shift the screen on its side, but not enough to concern, and the viewing angles seemed pretty solid from top, down, left, and right.

Most people will be looking at the screen face on, but from where ever you are, this display boasts a ton of clarity. The blacks look truly black, and text on the screen – which manages to pack 1920×1080 into such a small space – is superb and highly readable, providing one of the better reading experiences out there in a machine of this size.

System performance seems better than the Intel Atom systems we’ve been reviewing of late, which is hardly surprising, given that there is a Core i5 inside here, although you’re not likely to use this for gaming, given the Intel graphics on board.

One thing the Duo definitely has going for it is how easy to use it is in small places, and with an 11.6 inch base to match the screen, and a size that allows it to sit in the lap comfortable and sturdily.

In fact, that stable level base and specifically angled screen makes it perfect for typing in smaller spaces like on a bus or train.

Sony’s inclusion of a double-sided stylus is a nice one too, and if you like to draw things on your tablet, this will help immensely. We’re delighted to see that someone has actually worked out that a tablet stylus can be used with a thinner tip than what we see on the broad tips used with the iPad, and Sony’s aluminium-encased digital pen feels more like a real pen than others out there.

As much as we love parts of the 11 inch VAIO Duo, we’re not as big fans of others, such as the keyboard and mouse.

The first of these, the keyboard, has smaller keys than we see on other machines, with a wider margin separating the buttons you normally use to type.

Smaller keys mean you can be fumbling around for the right one, occasionally missing them and hitting the wrong letter. Some of these are much more compact than we’re used to, such as the “G,” “B,” and “H” keys which all have a small piece carved out to make room for the optical trackpad (more on that in a moment), as well as the right shift key which is tiny and sits next to the “up” key, forcing you to accidentally go up one line when you’re trying to capitalise a letter.

That last one – the up arrow issue – came up far too many times than we’d like to admit to, and with a lefty typing this review on the Duo, the reliance on the right shift key’s placement became a constant pain in the proverbial.

We’ve seen mice included on many a touch-enabled Ultrabook in the past year, but Sony’s has to be among the hardest use.

To deal with the fact that there isn’t a lot of space here, the company has gone with an optical trackpad that is the same size as Intellipoint nibs we used to see on ThinkPad machines (and some still have it). As a trackpad, you rub your finger over this tiny device and move your mouse around in small increments, which might be useful for some.