Sony Vaio Tap 11

[islanderhash]

@haukoholic

Was browsing the sony community site and came across this thread about mystery touches (albeit for the duo). One fix sounded like a possible software update, another possibly identifying a grounding issue (does it happen on AC as much as on DC)? By any chance is it only happening when plugged in, and are you plugged into a grounded outlet?

vaio duo 11 touch screen problems - Sony's Community Site

 

[islanderhash]

@drachen23
Did you get the vertical or horizontal suede sleeve?

I assumed you got the horizontal sleeve, but was a bit confused because I though the horizontal sleeve would be a tight fit (because the Tap is "taller" 12 v. 11.8"), but there would be *more* overhang of the fabric since the tap is also supposed to be narrower at the waist (7.4 v. 7.56"). Perhaps the square form factor is causing the shift.

Conversely, I presume using the vertical sleeve would be a bit short and loose.

Dimensions per respective manufacturer:
12.00" x 7.40" Vaio Tap 11
11.80" x 7.56" Macbook Air 11

 

[drachen23]

Sorry, should have specified. I have the vertical sleeve, which is why the overhang isn't as much. It's not loose at all. The Macbook Air is wedge-shaped when closed while the Tap 11 is rectangular, so it ends up taking a bit more volume.

 

[houkoholic]

@islanderhash I solved the mysterious ghost pressing issue and it's a bit embarrassing for me to admit but it was a user issue (ie me). Turns out that I accidentally left the keyboard switch to on and when I put the keyboard face down the keys were pressed and the Tap was registering the key presses, even though I was about 10 meters away.

Well at least I know the keyboard has good range lol.

 

[islanderhash]

@drachen23
Thanks for the heads up on Waterfield. Sounds like you might have some of their other products- any recommendations besides the sleeve? I've spent a while perusing the site and there is just too much that I like.

@houkoholic, cc drachen23
Thanks for sharing your keyboard discovery, made me laugh. Related: I've been following another thread of early adopters on the tabletpcreview forum. One guy says his keyboard "freezes" if he holds a key for a long time. (example: aaaaaaaaaaaa) I was wondering if you have the same experience. [not sure if a bug or battery-saving feature]

Similar forum of early adopters; If you know of any others, please let me know.
Sony Vaio Tap 11

And for a last laugh, I just measured my (2 laptops ago) laptop, a Clevo/Sager D9K which I spent oodles on in 2006. 2.1 inches thick (versus the Tap at .55 with keyboard). I believe it weighs 13 pounds. A thief broke into my house when it was rather new, discovered where I had hidden it under a pillow, and decided NOT to take it with him. How things change, eh?

 

[drachen23]

@drachen23
Thanks for the heads up on Waterfield. Sounds like you might have some of their other products- any recommendations besides the sleeve? I've spent a while perusing the site and there is just too much that I like.

I love Waterfield. Their products are very high quality and their customer service is great. I have the suede sleeves obviously. They don't give much shock protection other than a gel-lined bottom but prevent scuffing and keep the Tap 11 keyboard from sliding around. Their sleeve cases are a bit on the thick side IMO, but VERY protective and the ballistic nylon ones are practically indestructible. I carried a laptop around in just the sleevecase outfitted with a flap, strap and accessories pouch as my main gear bag for 4 years and it still looks brand new. Hell, it outlasted the laptop. My main gear bag for the past two years is a black Muzetto 13". It doesn't have a lot of padding, and being leather it's a bit on the heavy side, but I love it, it has plenty of pockets and it's tough as nails.

I'll be honest, I don't think I've used that keyboard more than two times just to test it out. I use my tablets as tablets most of the time.

 

[stanip]

I am a new user of Tap 11 in Singapore. Want to check to see if anyone in the forum has tried out connecting the HDMI port to a VGA projector (via a converter) for presentations at work. I tried but have not been successful. Any advice from anybody?

Thanks.

 

[melte]

Interesting comparison between Surface Pro 2 and Vaio Tap 11:
Sony vaio tap 11 i7 512GB SSD 4GB RAM vs surface pro 2 i5 256 GB SSD 8 GB RAM - YouTube

Just wondering if anyone who owns the Vaio Tap 11 agree with his comments?

 

[houkoholic]

I think he is pretty fair with his criticism of the Tap. Size is subjective so I won't go into it, but he is 100% on the mark with those pesky flaps and that impractical pen holder (really hate that pen holder). The kick stand I would agree with having to prey it out is not as nice as the Surface kick stand which just tends to flip out. Metal tends to give a nicer quality feel to it but plastic can be good too (such as Thinkpad plastic) but will just have to wait and see how it actually holds up for the Tap. I personally also prefer the concept of the Surface more so than the Tap overall - especially how the keyboard blades integrates so well with the tablet compared to the one with the Tap (although wireless is nice, which the Surface can also do but only with the help of an accessory), except I actually care about weight unlike the person in the video so I went with the Tap. My perfect device would be something as thin and lighter than the Tap, but has the large kickstand, battery, keyboard blade of the Surface Pro 2. Neither device has the best solution for a pen holder which I think they really need to work on but I think the Surface has a slightly better one.

 

[melte]

Yes he was really whining about the size alot but I think the Tap 11 size is just about right. The only issue that is preventing from ordering it straightaway is the processor which seems to be abit slower for the price. That said the Surface Pro 2 is not a solution either as it is way too chunky. Therefore I am waiting for more reviews of the Dell Venue Pro 11 before making a decision- sadly that seems to be least sexy of all though

 

[melte]

Another review of the Tap 11 which is quite positive:
Sony Vaio Tap 11 Review - YouTube

 

[islanderhash]

Question for Tap 11 owners: Wireless Throughput Limited?

I read a troubling post from an owner who found the wireless throughput of his Tap 11 to be severely limited. Specifically, he could not go over 6 Mbps, even though his other wireless devices were getting 20 Mbps through the same access point. He was using speedtest.net for diagnostics. He reportedly updated his WiFi driver prior to the test (and was only getting 3 Mbps prior).

Can anyone verify if this is an isolated issue.

 

[drachen23]

I can't replicate the throughput limit. I'm getting a solid 14-15 Mbps down testing with speedtest.net (using the desktop version of IE11 for about 4 tries). I get 16 on my desktop. I'm using the most recent Sony drivers that came through the Vaio Update program.

 

[houkoholic]

I get the full 300Mbps when transferring files from my NAS within 5 metre range of my AC router, can't say anything about internet speed because my cable connection is crap and is only 10Mbps downstream.

 

[islanderhash]

RE: Wifi
Thanks, confirmation appreciated!

 

[melte]

I have received my Tap 11 and have been playing it for a week now.

Man this is an absolutely gorgeous device! It just grows on me the more I use it. However I very nearly returned it on the first day as the bugginess of the software drivers and the upgrade to Windows 8.1 nearly gave me a brain tumour. I think I got the bugs sorted out now (more on that below).

What I like so far:

(i) the screen size is perfect. I had the Surface Pro and Tap 11 side by side at the store and it was a no brainer. I think the extra inch or so makes a dramatic difference to productivity, and is quite critical if you have aging eyes like me and want to increase the text font to 200% in desktop mode. I also think the extra screen space accomodates the onscreen keyboard better.

(ii) the form factor. I was using it on the train and it was light enough that my hands did not feel tired at all.

(iii) Speed: my Core i5 has not lagged yet, no problems with games and high quality videos so far. The Surface probably has better performance but I think the thickness-performance tradeoff is definitely worth it.

(iv) Kickstand: this is very well designed and built. Yes the Surface kickstand is better but the Vaio's is more sexy

(v) I got a free case from Sony during a local promotion. It fits nicely.

What I don't like:

(i) the speakers are rather average. I think it is not as good as my newish HP laptop with Beats Audio. I don't know how the ipad sounds so can't compare. I wonder if there is a software equaliser that we can download to beef up the bass?? The built in equaliser can only control volume.

(ii) keyboard: I encountered some of the known bugs, e.g. the keyboard locks out if you hold down a key. The only way to fix it is to reset the keyboard by turning it off and connecting it back to the screen, which is quite annoying. I ran into this issue while holding down the down arrow while working on a speadsheet. I think this is probably not critical unless one use it to play action games - that keyboard is really not heavy duty enough for hardcore pressing and pounding anyway... so hardcore games probably need to get another USB keyboard?

(iii) The trackpad is rather over-sensitive as well. Sometimes it goes abit haywire but I wonder if there is some way to adjust trackpad sensitivity in control panel.

(iv) ghost taps registered on screen on areas where I didn't press: this is more an issue when moving the tablet around while using it (or moving around while using the tablet!). I don't get this problem when using it sitting on the table.

(v) bugginess of software drivers: my tap 11 shipped with Windows 8. Windows 8.1 comes as a free upgrade and unfortunately some of Sony's drivers were not fully compatible. After upgrading my screen brightness control simply stopped working, and occasionally i had the start screen default to small tiles. I managed to fix these by turning off automatic screen brightness adjustment and downloading some new drivers.

To summarise: an excellent tablet experience once you get over the initial headaches and learn to work around the bugs!

 

[houkoholic]

(i) the speakers are rather average. I think it is not as good as my newish HP laptop with Beats Audio. I don't know how the ipad sounds so can't compare. I wonder if there is a software equaliser that we can download to beef up the bass?? The built in equaliser can only control volume.

If you open up the Vaio Control Center (I think that's what it's called, either way it's the laptop looking icon pinned to the taskbar in Desktop by default I think) there are some Sony-made music enhancement options in there which you can fiddle around. There's like three preset values (off, enhanced for music, enhanced for video) plus a custom one - I never tried the custom one but the preset for "enhanced for music" and "enhanced for video" makes a pretty significant differences to the SQ coming out of the speakers, from memory I think the video setting has a massive U-shaped equalizer setting just listening by ear as it seems to boost both the treble and bass side of the frequency spectrum if that's what you are looking for, though I found the music preset more pleasant overall and the most generally usable setting (I think that is the present out of box anyway, so if you find it thin now, you probably want to try the video preset). And FWIW if you turn the enhancement off the speakers can sound really thin and tinny, to my ears anyway.

 

[melte]

Thanks Houkoholic your suggestion works. I also hooked up the tablet to a portable bluetooth speaker today and the whole setup is now a stunning video player in my dining room

My only nitpick is that the screen is rather over-saturated and slightly on the warmer side to my eyes. Have any of you tried adjusting the colours and contrast? Do you use the Intel graphics properties software to do this or is there a Vaio control for this?

(The reason I am asking is that I am quite scared to mess with the Intel settings, given that my screen brightness control stopped working once which I presumed was an Intel driver issue.)

 

[houkoholic]

Go to the Vaio Center again and use the video (or screen) settings. Again Sony's build in some video enhancement option there and out of box the colour setting is set on "Vivid" hence you get the saturation feeling. I personally use "Natural", or you can turn it off completely.

 

[Gernot Kogler]

I have received my Tap 11 and have been playing it for a week now.

(v) bugginess of software drivers: my tap 11 shipped with Windows 8. Windows 8.1 comes as a free upgrade and unfortunately some of Sony's drivers were not fully compatible. After upgrading my screen brightness control simply stopped working, and occasionally i had the start screen default to small tiles. I managed to fix these by turning off automatic screen brightness adjustment and downloading some new drivers.

Hi Melte

Could you please post what drivers you have installed now? My Vaio Tap runs fine except for the very annoying DPI Issue (small tiles). I already installed the latest video driver from Intel, without success.

Thanks!