Laptop Recommendations

[Mercutio]

The only ones I've bought this year are UX303s, which are fairly pedestrian i5 / 250GB / FHD systems, rather than the discrete graphics / QHD models. I can usually resell them for a couple hundred bucks over what I pay for them. But I certainly wouldn't expect the Pro models to be any worse.

 

[Clocker]

I received the Dell last night and am really excited. It seems like a really great machine. Very attractive with the red accents as well as light. Great having a backlit keyboard. I think this 15.6" model weighs less than my 2006 Lenovo R61 14" machine it's replacing. One screw to remove the backpanel and get access to the internals (have not tried it yet). It has an M.2 256GB SSD and I will add add an old SATA SSD later. I went full out with integrating my old Hotmail account and have added my son and wife as 'Family Members' . I may convert my Desktop over too. I won't use the Hotmail address for anything other that then Windows Profile and OneDrive access as I want to keep my Gmail out of the Windows ecosystem as much as I can (don't trust MS that much). The machine is very quiet and fast but I have not worked to hard at all yet.

 

[LunarMist]

What is the consensus on the Yogi X1? It's looking like that or some MS hardware are the options.

 

[Handruin]

What is the consensus on the Yogi X1? It's looking like that or some MS hardware are the options.

I was curious about this one also. I was at a Microsoft store last night and got to play with it a bit. Seems solid but I find the price to be very expensive for what I'm getting. The model on display was $2600 with the 14" OLED display, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.

 

[LunarMist]

I suspect it would be the cheapest display, but we would get the i7 and 16GB RAM. The current laptops have 256GB, so I assume this would be the same. The unit is quite large due to the 14" display, so it will be more difficult to carry around and fit in my bag. At least the weight is reasonable.

The origami MS tablet thing has only one USB port, so that would be a mess with the docking station. WTF is MS thinking? It would be just a pain to use at home.

Of course all of them have the dreaded Win10, which will be a horror for me relying on the explorer so much to find files.

 

[Handruin]

I think it's actually the opposite when it comes to the OLED display on the Yoga X1. Their 14" (2560x1440) OLED display is actually rated fairly well. The reviews suggest 100% sRGB and 98% measured AdobeRGB. The contrast ratio is ridiculous when compared to any other monitor due to the nature of OLEDs and black. The complaints about the screen that I've read is the price tag and a higher Delta e value than most along with not being a great choice for using outdoors or in sunlight. I also don't think a normal calibrator can be used but that might require more research to confirm. I know that your needs are not typical of most people and probably most of us here at SF so keep that in mind when if you decide to research this OLED panel and the reports that come back regarding its quality.

 

[LunarMist]

This is a possibility for the next rollout. I think that the section will buy the cheaper displays and not care about the technology. For all I know they will buy MS origami styles and something else, but I think the Lenova is better than Dells.

 

[Handruin]

It's a tough platform to design for when building these 2-in-1 designs given the constraints. I like the idea and I think it can be very useful for my own needs but I want more than what they're offering. This is what keeps pushing me more into a typical laptop but one that's built more on the thinner side.

 

[LunarMist]

It's a tough platform to design for when building these 2-in-1 designs given the constraints. I like the idea and I think it can be very useful for my own needs but I want more than what they're offering. This is what keeps pushing me more into a typical laptop but one that's built more on the thinner side.

I'd rather have the X1 Carbonic, that does not have the double-hinges.
Would you take the Yogi over the MS, or not?

 

[Stereodude]

So is the Lenovo Thinkpad 13 a decent relatively low cost Skylake system?

The base silver config looks to be under $500 with the current promotion. You get an i3-6100U, 256GB SSD, 4GB of RAM, and a 1920x1080 IPS screen. Add a 2nd 4GB DDR4 SODIMM from the Egg or eBay and it should be a workable low cost laptop. Reviews seem okay. I don't see much value in paying >$125 to upgrade to the i5-6200U CPU though.

 

[sedrosken]

I don't see much value in paying >$125 to upgrade to the i5-6200U CPU though.

Yeah, not when all the i5 would add is maybe a slightly better IGP and marginally better clockrates. That 256GB SSD is kind of small, but then I use my Thinkpad for everything, so I have much higher than average storage needs. My Cloudbook makes do with a 25ish GB / partition (a bit more than 16GB free), 4GB of swap (I'm rarely using more than 600MB of it but it's good to have), and 128GB of storage for /home and that's pretty roomy and comfortable with everything I'm comfortable with running on it installed.

 

[LunarMist]

The display upgrade would be worthwhile.

 

[Stereodude]

The display upgrade would be worthwhile.

What display upgrade? :scratch: The config I mentioned has the best display in that model.

 

[Stereodude]

Yeah, not when all the i5 would add is maybe a slightly better IGP and marginally better clockrates.

The IGP is the same between the two. The i5 has turbo boost up to 2.8gHz whereas the i3 is limited to 2.3gHz. The i5 can also bump its TDP to 25W from 15W whereas the i3 can't. No idea if the Thinkpad 13 can utilize that capability though.

 

[sedrosken]

So it's not worth it all around, then? IMO an extra 500MHz isn't worth the cash. No idea what bumping up the TDP does for it, other than consume more power.

 

[LunarMist]

What display upgrade? :scratch: The config I mentioned has the best display in that model.

Maybe that is it and I clicked on a different link.

 

[LunarMist]

That's a big, heavy clunker in comparison to the Lendovo.

FDH