You can imagine the Tap 20 or a competing product perhaps weighing less, or having a thinner display, but overall Sony appears to have achieved a reasonable balance between desktop size and power and tablet convenience. The Tap 20 measures 19.75 inches wide, 12.13 inches high, and, at the thickest point of its tapered back panel, 1.5 inches deep. If the screen is too small, you might as well just make a laptop. One key to straddling the line between desktop and tablet is finding the right display size. The Vaio Tap 20 won't be for everyone, but I won't be surprised if its in-home flexibility attracts an enthusiast niche. It also brings with it a larger screen than you'll find on most current mobile devices. Those mobile devices also don't require a power cable.īy shedding the cord, at least in 3-to-4-hour doses, Sony's new PC can offer true short-range portability. A tablet or a laptop can do all of those things, often at a lower price, and more conveniently due to their smaller size. Often pitched as a kitchen PC, a secondary home entertainment center, or some kind of family organizational kiosk, the all-in-one has always fallen short of its ambition to elevate the humble desktop PC. The appeal of this desktop-tablet hybrid is that it addresses a problem that has nagged all-in-one makers for years. But thanks to a built-in battery and a semiportable design, the Tap 20 might be the most unique Windows 8-launch PC. For a 20-inch all-in-one touch-screen desktop with no optical drive and a low-voltage Core i5 chip, $999 seems like a lot to ask. The company says that its work will center 'choices' and 'focus' - it's only making PCs now and it vows to maintain that VAIO DNA and attention to detail in whatever it's got planned next.You could reasonably feel skeptical about the Sony Vaio Tap 20. To the new CEO's credit, Takayuki Sekitori admitted that the two initial models were very well received - and that was part of the point. We're not going to complain too much about either machine (both were strong laptops from Sony, and the 11-inch VAIO Pro was downright good-looking) but we're still hoping VAIO will pull something else out of the bag soon.

A spokesperson said that it's focusing on success in Japan first. However, VAIO currently has no plans to sell laptops outside of its homeland. Minus that old Sony branding, both go on sale today in Japan. Unfortunately, its debut range is more than a little familiar, being identical to the Pro and Fit models its parent company launched almost exactly one year ago. The Japanese blurb says that's largely due to the fact that it's now a 'small' PC maker - and it's the same message the new company is trying to deliver at its launch event today in Tokyo. Teasing its relaunch online, the company says that it's free and that things are going to change. It's no longer Sony's PC business, but it's own independent beast.

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