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By necessity I am having to change/modernize/update my man cave come hobby room come bedroom and I have always used my desk top PC but to save room I am thinking of getting rid and buying a laptop instead, any recommendations ? I have a ipad air which I only use when travelling etc but I prefer windows as i'm used to it and to old to change :)
What about a Microsoft Surface ?
Surface pro? Mini? Laptop? Surface book?Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTigerUK
I honestly do not rate the 2in1 devices as main devices as the keyboards are crap. The laptops get reasonable reviews.
MSI gaming ones are strong all rounders and generally worth their money and easy to re-sell later on.
17" ones are nice to have, I prefer them to 15"
What are you going to use it for and how portable do you want it?
I don't play games so basically mess with photos a little, use word/excell, browse internet/forums, ebay and really thats about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by gerrudd
Being portable not important as I wouldent take it out the house.
I swear by surface pros. They're portable, powerful, adaptable, take up very little desk space as the keyboard folds up rather than the screen folding down, and I absolutely love the keyboards for typing. There are issues with them such as occasionally you'll connect the keyboard, and it won't remember if you want to be in tablet mode or not, or it might not instantly be recognized requiring bashing a few keys (granted I'm on an SP4 so old tech). But overall, I'll never buy a conventional laptop again. I'm on the entry level SP4 with 4gb of Ram, and while not fast at it, it is still perfectly capable of doing all my lightroom work.
If portability is not an issue, then tbh, a laptop will offer better bang for the buck, even if it takes up 4-5x the desk space when not in use.
Surface Pro 100%. Powerful machines and lightweight to transport / store.
Have a look at these guys:
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/
You can tweak the spec to suit what you want it to do and avoid paying for what you don't need. Plus with a laptop you can easily upgrade hard drives and memory than you can with Surfaces and the like. I've had mine for five or six years and it hasn't missed a beat. But then I don't run Windows [emoji57]
Tapatapatapatapatalk
If you are not leaving the house - do not buy a surface pro - terrible to use *on your lap*.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTigerUK
I disagree entirely. I've been using one on my lap for the past 6 years. Not a single problem. In fact I'd say the form factor makes it a positive attribute compared to a laptop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alansmithee
I can highly recommend a Lenovo X1 Carbon.
Excellent build quality, super light, super thin and relatively powerful
I have used pretty much every surface and the idea they are better on the lap - sorry I just do not buy it.Quote:
Originally Posted by hafle
I was not suggesting they're better on the lap, just stating that from experience they're perfectly capable on the lap. As per my earlier post, I'll not buy a laptop again. Bug picture, the surface wins every time so far as I'm concerned.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alansmithee
My wife has a Sony Vivo. Running Win 10, used for MS Office, photos, internet browsing, etc. Its 12 years old :eagerness: and still on its original battery.
Personally for your needs I would be looking to find a secondhand 5i laptop i.e. HP Elite series, Sony, Dell or Lenovo for less than £200. The HP Spectre XT is a nice bit of kit.
Thanks, I used to have a Sony Vaio 15 years ago, I liked it but the battery life was rubbish even when new, my budget is/was £1000 so at £200 I would have change for a nice Seiko, win win ? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Andyg
Food for thought :)
Given the clearly stated requirements, I’m struggling to see how a Surface Pro can possibly be better suited than a laptop (and I love them). Aside from anything else the screen is too small for anyone that does much photo-editing type stuff.
Next question is what's your budget and do you care what it looks like? As portability isn't a concern, battery life is less important as well and you don't need much grunt I'd go for a mid range model from a known vendor. You can safe money as it doesn't need to be very light and also get a bigger screen.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTigerUK
Lenovo make solid laptops, as do Dell and HP. Go for a mid range business model or a higher end consumer model. If you want a bit more cachet then a Microsoft Surface Laptop 3.
Using a Brydge keyboard case deals with this (although it then becomes like any other laptop).Quote:
Originally Posted by Alansmithee
One thing I'd say: lower priced laptops (sub £500) tend to have chassis that 'snap shut' and are never designed to be easily opened again. My Dad has a 17" HP like this. When I tried to upgrade him to SSD drive it was a curse.... The whole laptop had to be split open to even see where the HDD was.
In contrast, a HP Probook or Elitebook from HP comes with hatches underneath, with quick and easy access to they underneath. You can get at the HDD and RAM upgrade areas with ease.
It just means that you have the ability to easily upgrade later when things get slow. With the cheaper laptop, I DID manage to split it and get inside, but it was a tricky job to do without breaking locating tabs on the case.
If you're set on Windows, the Surface Pro is a great device.
Personally I'm a big fan of Macs, they're incredibly long-lasting (I have a retina-display macbook pro from 2013 as my main work laptop - it's still perfect).
Thanks for the suggestions, i'm leaning towards a Surface Pro 7 12.3"
From experience supporting them at work, some 200+ units:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave O'Sullivan
TYPE keyboard covers break with 6-8 months
ARC mice break with in 6 months
Battery dies within 2 years and is a sealed unit
Limited return to base support during warranty period, almost non existent once warranty runs out
Over priced for spec.
Lack of USB-C (until current gen models)
£-£ light portable, better size and res screen, I'd be looking at a Lenovo X1-Carbon, plus has a proper keyboard.
Swapping from a traditional PC to something to save space, the laptop seems a great idea, but if you don't need the portability I'd go for an AIO
Something like the Lenovo ThinkCentre M920Z AIO
My Dell XPS13 is coming on for 5 years old and performs almost like it did when it was new. It's been all over the world with me on every conceivable type of transport.
Not cheap, but I'll buy another when the time eventually comes.
If you're leaning towards a Surface Pro then take a look at a Lenovo Yoga range. A much better keyboard, and better all round IMO. I chose this after much research and have no regrets at allQuote:
Originally Posted by TheTigerUK
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops.../p/88YGC900983
I have a yoga c940 and love it - the lower yogas are pretty good as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Griswold
Thanks for the suggestions, I am now pretty confused and undecided which I suppose is about par for the course :).
Yep. They work as a laptop with a very good keyboard, a tablet with on screen keyboard, can be positioned in multiple ways and the pen input is excellent for graphic and photographic work. Touchpad and touchscreen operation - what's not to like?Quote:
Originally Posted by Alansmithee
Oh, and Lenovo were the makers of all the IBM PCs - not a lot of people know that.
Thanks for the replies, I went for this in the end, seemed plenty good enough for me, time will tell :)
Lenovo IdeaCentre 730S, Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 2TB HDD, AMD Radeon 530, 23.8 inch All In One
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTigerUK
Good choice:eagerness:,but not exactly a Laptop.
I agree but for my needs perfect as the screen is bigger but no tower so less room needed and less wires etc so after a weeks use I am really pleased and hopefully it will stand the test of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andyg
Following on from this tread my wife asked me to get her a new laptop.
Ended up buying a secondhand HP 840 G3 (12.5”) complete with Gen 5 I5 processor, 16G Ram and 256G SSD complete with Win 10 for £240. Happy wife:smug:.