Recommendations on convertible 2 in 1 touchscreen laptops

[Rulke]

Greetings,

My wife wants to get a tablet but likes the keyboard function of standard laptops. I've started to look into these 2 in 1 models but I don't know what ones are solid vs pieces of crap. We've had our current laptop for like 6 years and going and it hasn't broken down so I guess biggest desire is a reliable machine. We also can't really spent a grip of cash on this thing so I'm hoping to land something solid for about $600-$700 if possible.

[orinthia]

Depends what you're thinking of using such a machine for, but I might point to the surface pro 2 or 3. Since the sp4 was announced recently, they've been going down in price pretty sharply and were the among the highest-end previous gen tablet pcs (they have intel i3s/i5s) with good accessories (like a keyboard-cover, dock, etc) and touch+pen digitizers (sp2's is wacom-styled, sp3's is n-trig which uses a battery i think). My brother has a sp2 he takes with him everywhere. Only thing is that it has a fan, so it's not exactly super thin but still quite comfy. (add: not as sharply discounted as I thought, still carries a fairly high-end price but they're quite powerful)

Take a look at previous gen stuff for other brands as well since they'll be marked down a fair bit.

[BerenTebogo]

Big questions would be what you plan to use it for and how well you and your wife take care of electronics.

The 2 in 1 laptops obviously have a hinge-like mechanism, which as you might guess, is obviously a huge point of failure if you don't treat it properly.

[The Stig]

Big questions would be what you plan to use it for and how well you and your wife take care of electronics.

The 2 in 1 laptops obviously have a hinge-like mechanism, which as you might guess, is obviously a huge point of failure if you don't treat it properly.

Agree, especially if she wants to use the 2 modes very regularly. Even a home laptop I have got destroyed by family somehow (hinge got knocked off).

A Surface Pro 2/3 will negate the issue due to the magnetic keyboard, but I believe that device will be hard to use on a lap, so you kind of sacrifice that.

A Dell device may be a good way to go: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-13...?ref=PD_Family
Or one of these: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...laptop-series/

Other companies (Acer, Asus) have recently jumped onto it, but based on the marketing I've been exposed to, Lenovo comes to mind first, and then Dell, and everything else (ignoring Surface as it's not the type of flip/convertible in my mind)

One final option is the Dell Venue Pro 11 http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/de...pd#AnchorZone3
It's a tablet, but with an attachable keyboard which would give you the laptop experience/stability (orinthia might be able to argue against here in regards to the surface pro) but you negate the hinge risk going this way (same with surface too as it's magnetic)

[Rulke]

Big questions would be what you plan to use it for and how well you and your wife take care of electronics.

The 2 in 1 laptops obviously have a hinge-like mechanism, which as you might guess, is obviously a huge point of failure if you don't treat it properly.

I am concerned about the "convenience" of the flip style monitor/keyboard too. She mostly uses our laptop to watch shows in bed, browse the web and do facebook. She is really tired of using the touch pad mouse and likes everything a standard tablet would offer but just doesn't want to give up a legit keyboard (and I concur). I definitely agree with your hesitancy on this point.

@Stig: We actually have a Dell laptop, which I know Dell gets a lot of crap from time to time so I just didn't want to jump back in on the Dell wagon. Since orinthia and you both mention the Surface, I will check that out too. The separate keyboard seemed gimmicky but perhaps that's the way to go.

Thanks all.

[The Stig]

The surface is good, even I want one, but using it in bed like a laptop may prove tricky as I said. The stand it comes with is dependable on a flat surface.

Orothina may have suggestions, I don't own a Surface afterall. Lets see!

EDIT: Watch (don't listen maybe) to this:





edit2: i presume using it bed is a large factor. most women seem to haha

[Rulke]

edit2: i presume using it bed is a large factor. most women seem to haha

I know, right? I have this sweet setup for our PCs in our "office" but she only ever uses it when we play games -_-

[orinthia]

If in bed, either get a nice sized tv with hdmi inputs positioned so that you won't put a crick in your neck and mirror displays, or get a wide night-stand to put the machine on. Or both lol.

I've had an old two-drawer night-stand setup for over a decade with my laptop on it, using a keyboard and trackball mouse in bed next to it. Takes a bit of getting used to when typing on a full sized keyboard in your lap while reclined. If she wasn't very good at touch typing before, she will be after a while since you can't really look at the keyboard without straining your eyes or your neck. I use a logitech m570 for mouse (thumb trackball); I used to use their older wired trackman one, but wireless kb/m is definitely the way to go when in bed. Recently bought a 32" hd tv for my room and built a whole new computer; just hooked them both (laptop and comp) up to the tv.

I actually own a dell venue pro 11 (atom cpu with 1080p screen; that 32" tv was a samsung from dell I got during a promotion where they gave out a $125 dell promo card on purchase, used it on the tablet because consumerwhoregottahaveitwhynot...). It's alright if you don't think you'll have a lot going on it at once, if you do then you'll quickly be limited unless you splurg for the higher end ones, in which case you may as well get a surface pro 2/3. Atoms aren't terribly strong, probably not a whole lot stronger than your old laptop's cpu, and the hdd in the cheaper venues is not an ssd, it's a lot slower. Not a bad machine for what it is. I should have remarked on it first instead of firing away with the sp2/3.

The size is slightly odd though since it's not completely small enough for really using it with one hand, but not really large enough to have at arm's length. In lap it's slightly awkward, at least until you get a standup cover or the pen. Writing on it is pretty nice though, just wish it had a built in loop or something for the pen. Windows10 works well on it, dell has some drivers for it. I'll also be getting something like this soon: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA8ZR3821717 , so I can go total neet-style display for random shit while I game on comp and shitpost on my laptop. I have no idea where I'm going with all this crap and it's just tech overload, but it's fun. The gooseneck-tablet-holder might be something to consider anyway regardless of machine as long as you find one the right size.

[Hellfury]

I'm using the Surface Pro 3 as my primary work computer and loving it. We have several Pro 2/3 in the company with good experiences, as mentioned by others, they _might_ drop a bit in price when the 4 releases, so worth at least keeping an eye on.

I always worry about the hinge solutions in hybrids. We played around with the dell XPS flip solution, but we didn't really like them, and the last few times we had problems with any Dell systems, customer service was pure shit, despite us having paid for pro nbd etc. support, so we stopped buying Dell systems. We tinkered with a couple of Dell Venue 11 Pros, but had a lot of problems there too, in the end we just threw them all in the garbage (well, recycling) rather than wasting more time on them and customer "service".

I am drooling over the Surface Book myself, but that is likely to be pretty expensive, so probably doesn't apply here.

I didn't try any of my previous Surface units in bed, I doubt the standard stand would be very practical, but you can rest it on something as long as you're careful not to clog it or fall asleep with it on, maybe get a tiny tray, and there are several 3rd party stands/holders, something should be able to satisfy you there too!

[Rulke]

Hookay, so she defiantly likes the MS Surface. I've been comparing the Surface Pro 3 vs Surface 3. Other than a better chipset on the Pro, both look great and I could afford the larger HD on the Surface 3. Are there other(major) reasons the Pro 3 stands above the Surface 3?

[Deejay]

Besides the ability to utilize Windows with an actual desktop and desktop apps? No.

[The Stig]

Surface 3 - Fancy netbook (they retired the shitty Surface RT.. Surface 3 is an actual PC now, just on a budget)
Surface 3 Pro - full on full laptop

So we're talking about shitty Atom CPUs here on Surface 3. Surface Pro 3 has the big boys like i3, i5 and i7.

[Rulke]

@ Deejay, The Stig-

Thanks guys, that's what I was mainly thinking. I haven't used anything outside an i3/5/7 for so long I didn't know if that Atom was garbage or just like a step down. I know what I need to know now.