Both the Sony and Celsys sites announced today that five Vaio models to be released in Japan this fall will offer Clip Studio Paint Pro as a pre-installed option.

The models are the Vaio Tap 11, Vaio Duo 13 and the Vaio Fit 13A/ 14A/ 15A.

Among the fixes touted in the last release of Clip Studio Paint was corrected pressure sensitivity on the Sony Vaio Duo 13 and this new joint marketing effort demonstrates the success of that effort.

We've shied away from reporting on Sony products up to now because the manufacturer has chosen to use N-Trig digitizers in its products instead of Wacom. But as the attached video demonstrates, 256 levels of pressure can still achieve great results in Clip Studio Paint (known internationally as Manga Studio). And the larger screen size options in these Sony products is certainly appealing.

The Vaio Duo 13 begins at 193,780 yen in Japan. U.S. price for a 4th generation Core i7, 8/256 GB model is currently $1800.

Sony's answer to the Surface Pro, the Vaio Tap 11 is expected in November and will start at 146,280 yen. The Vaio Fit 13A begins at 129,800 yen. Neither model is yet available in the U.S. store.

The only Tap product currently available in the U.S. is the Vaio Tap 20, which Sony bills as a "mobile desktop." Although that system ships with ArtRage Studio Pro preinstalled, it doesn't support pen input (as far as I can tell from the Sony website).

Let's hope that these new models do well enough to encourage Sony to add pen support to its entire line of touchscreen laptops, tablets and all-in-ones. The competition can only be good for consumers, especially Windows artists.

UPDATE: I just got back from the Sony Store, where I played with the Duo 13 pictured above. It truly is a beautiful machine and I love the 13-inch screen. Unfortunately, the N-Trig digitizer may be worse than I feared. I only played with ArtRage 3.5, which is bundled with the system and it was almost unusable. The canvas would rotate randomly when my palm touched the screen prior to the pen and random brush strokes would appear out of nowhere. What a shame.

If you're willing to spend $1799 for the Duo, my recommendation is to stretch for the $1999 Wacom Cintiq Companion. If you're willing to spend $1799 for the Duo, my recommendation is to stretch for the $1999 Wacom Cintiq Companion.

Sony Japan offers Clip Studio Paint pre-installed on five new Vaio models