Sony VAIO Tap 20 – an example of an “adaptive all-in-one” computer

As I have covered in this Website before, there is a new class of computer that is bridging the gap between the clamshell laptop and the all-in-one desktop. These are known as the “Adaptive All-In-One” computers but are also called “desktop tablets” or “mobile all-in-one” computers.

What are these computers?

This class of computer is  an 18”-21” tablet computer that has “regular computer” credentials such as using computing horsepower typically used in a desktop or laptop computer rather than what would be used in a tablet like the Apple iPad. They are able to be set up as a tablet which is primarily touch operated or, through the use of a kickstand integrated in the tablet and a wireless keyboard and mouse, or a detachable pedestal which has a keyboard and mouse connected to it, they can he used as a conventional all-in-one desktop computer.

As for software, they can run on “regular-computer” operating systems like Windows 8 or a desktop Linux distribution. Users can then run the applications and games that they are able to run on a regular computer. This is being augmented through the Windows Store which is filling up with many applications and games that take advantage of the touchscreen.

The best example of this class of computer and one I have reviewed on HomeNetworking01.info is the Sony VAIO Tap 20. But other manufacturers are showing up with similar computers like the Dell XPS 18 and the HP Envy Rove 20 which is on the verge of being released as I write this article.

Where do these computers belong in the computing market?

Typically they are positioned between a 17” desktop-replacement laptop computer and a 21” all-in-one desktop or a low-profile desktop that works with a 21” screen. They also are pitched to stand between a convertible laptop or large tablet and a touchscreen-capable laptop, desktop or all-in-one when it comes to touch computing. So they end up being marketed as a hybrid class of computer which stands between a tablet, laptop or desktop form factor.

How will they benefit users in the home or small-business

I primarily see these computers fulfilling the demands of a transportable lifestyle computer. Here, it would be seen as a highly-capable large-screen alternative to a 10” tablet like an iPad or Android tablet.

One application would be large-area reading and viewing. This would range from surfing the Web through browsing email, Facebook or Twitter to reading electronic-newspaper apps or watching catch-up TV in your favourite armchair or couch. It would also underscore “second-screen” functionality while watching TV, such as use of scoreboard apps during sportscasts, engaging in online voting or using IMDB or Wikipedia to check a fact relating to what you are watching (to settle that argument).

The U-shaped kickstand on the Sony VAIO Tap 20 doubles as a carrying handle

Of course, two or more people could comfortably pore over the same information such as an email, Facebook News Feed or photo album. Some of these units like the upcoming HP Envy Rove 20 have a manual switch which spins the display 90 degrees to allow another person to see the screen without you having to swivel the computer.

Another highly-promoted activity is group gaming. This will come in to play with computer-based “takes” of the classic board, card and casino games where these games will allow two or more human players to play on the one machine. In some cases, the machine may be able to play as one or more of the players, and / or simply represent one or more online players while preserving the rules of the game and, where applicable, rolling dice or shuffling a deck of cards.

Of course, some games like “old-school” arcade games, pinball games and strategy games will gain a level of freshness when you play them on these computers. For example, a person who grew up in the 80s may find that playing a Windows 8 version of PacMan or Galaga may remind them of playing the game on one of those “table-style” arcade games that were popular then; or a game like Civilization V takes so well to you literally moving the characters or teams over the large playfield created on the large screen.

In the small business, the “Adaptive All-In-One” could become useful in the customer-service space. Here, you could have point-of-sale terminals or similar terminals that use the increased space to show more items or options for the sales assistant to use while completing the sale.

These computers could also come in to their own when showing information to colleagues, partners or clients, whether it be certain cells of interest in a spreadsheet or a PDF file or a presentation that you can easily flick through to get to the salient parts.

The main feature that I have noticed with this class of computer when I reviewed the Sony VAIO Tap 20 was that fact that they offer the balance between a desktop-replacement laptop that you can easily take around the house or put away when not needed and a desktop, especially an all-in-one desktop, that has the large screen area. This is made much easier with those “adaptive all-in-one” computers that use U-shaped metal kickstands like what the VAIO Tap 20 is equipped with. Here, these kickstand can easily double as a carrying handle for the computer in the same manner as the carrying handle integrated in to a boombox, portable TV set or small sewing machine.

Who would buy these computers?

These could be bought by most people as  an alternative to a laptop that is used primarily at the home and taken out and about on rare occasions. It is more so when the user values a large screen while valuing an easily-portable computer.

The memory and hard disk capacities would show up the Adaptive All-In-One computers as being credible for a sole computer or primary-use computer for most people rather than the secondary computer.that you may think of typically.with this device class.

My recommendations about buying these computers

If you do buy an “Adaptive All-In-One” computer, I would recommend that you purchase an accessory optical drive if you expect the computer to be your “sole” computer. This will be of importance if you still like to share data on the low-cost optical disks or buy music and video content on optical disks.

Some of the optical drives may be available as an “expansion module” / docking-station accessory with Ethernet connectivity, extra USB ports, a sound module and other functions. Here this can come in handy if you think of using extra peripherals with your Adaptive All-In-One computer.

Conclusion

The Adaptive All-In-One computer will definitely show up as a computer type that will please a lot of users who want something to fill the gap between a transportable regular computer and a large screen. It doesn’t matter whether you use these computers as your main or sole computer or as an additional computer and will earn their keep as a “lifestyle” computer.

Article

HP Reveals ENVY Rove20 Specs; Available Sunday

From the horse’s mouth

HP

Envy Rove 20 Product Page

“The Next Bench” blog post

My Comments

Just a short while ago, I had reviewed the Sony VAIO Tap 20 “adaptive all-in-one” computer which is a large 20” tablet that runs Windows 8. But it can be purposed as a desktop computer by folding out a kickstand and using a wireless keyboard and mouse for text entry and finer navigation.

As well, Dell had fielded an 18” tablet computer with a similar design. Now HP who have become the behemoth on the consumer and small-business computing space have answered Sony by releasing the Envy Rove 20 which is of a similar design.

Here, the Envy Rove 20 has some gaming credentials with the implementation of 10-point highly-responsive touchscreen behaviour. It also implements “Beats Audio” sound-reproduction tuning like a lot of their Envy portable-computer collection and some of the Pavilion portable-computer collection.

It is driven by the Intel “Haswell” i3 processor and has 4Gb RAM under the hood. As well, it has 1Tb capacity on its solid-state hard disk which is twice that if the Tap 20 and also implements 3 USB 3.0 connections with one able to charge a portable device when the computer is in sleep mode. As for the Wi-Fi network, the Envy Rove 20 has native support for wireless segments that work on the 802.11ac draft standard as well as the 802.11n standard for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

As expected for this class of computer, it would be able to run for 3 hours on its own battery and also implements a manual rotate button so you can show others who are poring over the computer from the other side of the bench the image that is on the display.

But what I see of this, along with Intel defining the “Adaptive All-In-One” name for this class of computers is that the playing filed will become very full. What we would have to see is the Windows Store becoming full of quality software that exploits what these computers are all about. This could include the ability to make best use of the large display and the touchscreen user interface such as through semantic zooming and making use of the “pinch-to-zoom” gesture.

For games, some of the online board games that have been written for the iOS and Android platforms and have performed well on the tablet devices based on these platforms could be ported to Windows 8 and made to exploit the abilities of these computers.

I would personally see these “Adaptive All-In-One” computers as something to look forward to as an easily-transportable “lifestyle” computer device.

Articles

Sony VAIO Duo 13 review: a much-improved take on the Windows 8 slider | Engadget

Sony gives the slider another shot with the VAIO Duo 13: coming June 9th for $1,400  | Engadget

From the horse’s mouth

Sony

European Press Release

My Comments

The Sony VAIO Duo 11 computer has been improved upon this month with a release of a model that uses a 13” screen. This model, known as the VAIO Duo 13 also exposes some useability improvements including an improved slide-out mechanism that is easier to manage. It also has the similar dimensions but uses narrower bezels around the screen and keyboard.

But they have also added a touchpad for those of you who are used to the old laptop trackpad and the keyboard isn’t as cramped as the original Duo 11. This makes for a slider convertible that can appeal to those of us who still like to type out content. There is also a stylus for writing down notes or “roughing-out” drawings.

Of course, there is new horsepower under the hood with the Duo 13 implementing the Intel Haswell chipset. This has an advantage for longer battery runtime with most activities. Sony have also made a GT-like performance edition of the Duo 13 available as part of the lineup, this time with an Intel i7 processor. Sony is also offering integrated wireless broadband as a specification option, most likely with units sold via mobile-phone carriers.

One may think that a 13” slider convertible like the VAIO Duo 13 is a bit too much as a tablet but is the “right size” for creating content. The use of a narrower bezel on the screen and achieving a similar size to the Duo 11 may make the large screen appeal for tablet use while also appealing for typing up those notes when you are on that flight.

It is another example of improved touchscreen convertible laptops appearing on the market as a capable product class for Windows 8/

Article

ASUS intros the Desktop PC G10, packing a built-in UPS and portable battery (hands-on video) | Engadget

Video

Click to view

My Comments

The classic “tower-style” desktop PC could be considered to be losing its market share amongst users other than small businesses and hardcore computer gamers as the laptops and all-in-one desktops gain hold amongst the mainstream PC buyers.

But ASUS have worked on a way to take things further for this class of computer. Typically, a computer like this that is involved in mission-critical work may be hooked up to an external uninterruptable power supply to allow users to properly shut these units down, or to provide continual service when the power goes out. Typically these devices are a loaf-size box that has to reside near the computer and can look very ugly.

Here, ASUS have provided a removable battery pack which doubles as a uninterruptable power supply for the computer or as an external battery pack for a smartphone or tablet. When it is installed in the computer, this pack will charge up and stay charged while the computer is on AC power but will provide half-an-hour’s worth of power to allow you to shut down the computer properly when the AC power is removed. But you can remove the battery pack and use that to run your battery-thirsty smartphone for longer by plugging its USB cable in to one of the USB sockets on the edge of that pack.

This is definitely one way ASUS have thought beyond the norm when it comes to power-supply design and I would like to see this design concept be taken further such as an aftermarket add-on for existing “tower” desktops or with higher-capacity batteries available for this setup.

Articles

Sony Intros VAIO Fit Windows 8 Laptop, Updates Others | Tom’s Hardware

Sony Vaio Fit Line Aims for Premium Quality at Entry-Point Prices | eWeek

From the horse’s mouth

Sony

Press Release

My Comments

When you are thinking of a new laptop after you have to give that school-supplied laptop back to the school, you mostly are thinking of the cheapest model you can get your hands on. Most likely, the Sony VAIO range would be out of your price range due to their premium positioning.

Now Sony is introducing the VAIO Fit Series of value-priced premium-grade laptops which would be at a price that most people can think of as an entry-level price. But these machines raise the value for the price range by implementing features like a high-resolution screen (1080p for the 15” models and 900 for the 14” variants). This display would be driven by NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics that has up to 2Gb display memory. As for sound, the promise is to use “big-box” speakers on all the models while the 15” variants would come with a subwoofer for the bass frequencies. This is a way Sony is bringing their AV knowhow to affordable laptops.

There would be models that have the Intel i3, i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge CPUS but the press releases don’t detail what or how much RAM and hard disk storage is available across the board. The machines are able to come with optical disk drives including some that have the ability to read Blu-Ray Discs. They will also have the NFC functionality so as to share data between the computers and Windows Phone 8 or Android phones or sync up with Sony’s Bluetooth peripherals. As well, Sony is offering a capacitive touchscreen as an option so you can get the best out of Windows 8.

The “Fit E” series is sold cheaper and comes in a plastic finish while the “Fit” series comes in a steel finish with all available in black, pink or white. What I see of this is that Sony is offering entry-level purchasers something that can be seen as premium, this “filling in” the “value” purchasing segment when it comes to mainstream laptops.

Articles

Desktop, Laptop und Tablet kombiniert – Acer Aspire R7: Acer Aspire R7: Science-Fiction-Notebook mit Touchscreen | Computer Bild (Germany – German language)

Acer intros Aspire R7, a laptop with an adjustable display like an all-in-one (update: video) | Engadget

Acer Reveals Aspire R7 Convertible, Aspire P3 Ultrabook | Tom’s Hardware

Acer launches 2 notebooks, tablet that emphasize touch | CNet

My Comments

After Dell released a 15” mainstream laptop that is enabled for touch at a reasonable price of AUD$600, Acer staged a global press event to launch a run of touch-enabled portable computers. These, again are to capitalise on the Windows 8 platform with its touch-driven Modern user interface along with a lot of the software being offered with touch-optimised operation.

Acer Aspire R7 convertible laptop

They launched the Aspire R7 convertible laptop which uses a 15” screen and can appear on the desktop like an easel, a regular laptop or a tablet computer. Typically the convertible tablet computer was at 11” and had less specification, typically showing up in the secondary storage area with 64Gb or 128Gb solid-state storage.

As well as having the 15” (1080p) screen, this convertible uses an Intel i5 processor as its CPU and has 500Gb hard disk capacity along with 24Gb solid-state caching and 6Gb RAM. This can make it capable for use as a main or sole computer and it comes under US$1000 at Best Buy.

Some of us may think that the 15” convertible form factor may be too large for personal tablet use but it could come in handy for group activities. In the business sense, this could also extend to a group of a few viewing a PowerPoint presentation or a video, or participating in a videoconference.

But what I see of this is that the Acer Aspire R7 has shown that the 15” mainstream size can be kitted out with the full touchscreen options and be equipped with the expectations for a regular mainstream laptop that is to serve as a main or sole computer.

Acer Aspire P3 tablet

The Aspire P3 is a detachable-keyboard hybrid with a Bluetooth keyboard as part of case. This uses the typical laptop resolution of 1366×768 which isn’t necessarily HD, but isn’t necessarily a problem for text-driven work. As for the screen, it is typically an 11.6” touchscreen.

What is pleasing about this model is that the baseline variant would come with an Intel i3 CPU, 4Gb of RAM, and 60Gb solid-state storage as its specifications and the keyboard case would be considered a standard accessory. This is all for a reasonable price of US$799.

Further comments

With these two machines and the previously-mentioned Dell laptop, could this legitimise the touchscreen as a valuable option for the Windows-driven “regular” computer? This is although I have been hearing a lot of talk panning this idea and the Windows 8 operating system.

As far as laptops, notebooks and similar computers are concerned, the touch user interface can provide a definite improvement over the trackpad as far as navigating the display as I had noticed with the recent crop of Windows 8 laptops that I had reviewed.  The trackpad still serves as a “fine” “relative” navigation tool at a pinch while the touchscreen works well for requirements like quick coarse absolute navigation.

Once we see more 15” and 17” touchscreen laptops with mainstream credentials like at least a mid-tier CPU, at least 500Gb on the hard disk and a decent graphics subsystem, these computers could legitimise the concept of touchscreen computing in the home and small business rather than just with the iPad or Android tablets.

Article

Belkin’s Mythical Thunderbolt Express Dock Is Finally Here | Gizmodo

Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express dock is finally shipping, offers its ports for $299  | Engadget

My Comments

I have made a bit of coverage of expansion modules aka docks for use in “expanding” the connection opportunities that are available for laptop computers. These were mainly connected to host computers via the USB 3.0 connector and provided video connections, audio connections along with Ethernet and / or extra USB connections for these host computers, with some of the boxes having removable storage of some form like an optical disk drive or an SD card reader.

Now, Belkin have set up another path between the host computer and the expansion module / dock by exploiting the relatively new Thunderbolt connection primarily used on Apple Macintosh computers. Here, the MacOS user could connect 3 USB 3.0 peripherals, a Firewire peripheral along with a DisplayPort display. There is even an integrated sound module which has an input and output that uses 3.5mm stereo jacks, while the user can connect to a Gigabit Ethernet network segment.

For the Mac user, this may be seen as another more reliable way to “skin a cat” especially when it comes to adding extra deskbound capabilities to that MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.