Sony Vaio Pro 11

Bottom line

The lightest Ultrabook on Earth, the Sony Vaio Pro 11 catches critics' eyes with its stylish carbon-fiber shell and beautiful full-HD touch screen. Performance is on par with other Ultrabooks equipped with Intel's latest Core processor. The responsive touch screen is well liked, but the keyboard isn't.

Performance

Standard Ultrabook stuff. Performance compared to the current crop of Haswell-powered Ultrabooks isn't earth-shattering, but experts say you'll get peppy performance for day-to-day tasks whether you pick the Core i5 or i7 version. You can configure either one with a 128 GB or 256 GB solid-state drive. Integrated graphics mean no intense gaming, but that's standard for an Ultrabook.

Battery life, however, isn't consistent in tests. In ComputerShopper.com's "grueling" video-playback test, the Sony lasts for just 4 hours, 20 minutes. PCMag.com gets the same numbers, but other testers get 6 to 7 hours, even while playing video. An optional sheet battery (Est. $150) doubles the juice, but it adds about 10 ounces.

Ergonomics

"Impossibly light." The Sony's featherweight feel is the first thing you'll notice. "Impossibly light," says Engadget.com. "You can imagine what a convenience that is on a day-to-day basis," especially if you're a business traveler. A fantastic touch screen and mostly smooth touchpad make it easy to navigate Windows 8.

The Vaio Pro 11's small keyboard feels somewhat flexy and cramped, however; some testers get used to it but others never do. Ports are standard Ultrabook fare: two USB 3.0 jacks, an HDMI port, headphones/microphone combo jack and memory card slot.

Design

Rich-looking, inside and out. Sony's carbon-fiber body looks "delicious," Engadget.com says. Plus, it just feels great: "Its construction exemplifies quality," reports ComputerShopper.com. Yet both the black and silver models scratch easily in tests.

The Vaio Pro 11's 11.6-inch, full 1,080p HD display looks sharp and brilliant, but there's no option to upgrade to an even sharper 2,560 by 1,440-pixel screen like you can with the Acer Aspire S7 (Est. $1,400 and up) . The speakers are OK, but nothing special, reviewers say.

Support & reliability

Rock solid. Sony outclasses all other laptop brands, even Apple, in Laptop Magazine's tech-support test. Staffers throw anonymous questions at Sony's live chat, Twitter, Facebook and phone techs, and all prove friendly, prompt and helpful. Searching Sony's website turns up useful answers, too. PCMag.com's reader survey, which also considers reliability, ranks Sony laptops near the top for overall satisfaction.

Value

Lightness costs extra. Small but mighty, the Sony Vaio Pro 11 is an excellent choice if a lightweight laptop is paramount. If you can deal with an extra pound, however, you'll find bigger screens and more comfortable keyboards on the Acer Aspire S7 and 13-inch MacBook Air (Est. $1,100 and up) .