Any advice on what Laptop to buy???

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#1417148 30-Oct-2015 16:30

SparkyP: Thank you everyone I have been over everything backwards and concur with OPs views that for the price and my needs probably I'm looking at Microsoft surface and Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. But I cant make up my mind between them.

I love the looks and size of the Microsoft Surface but I am wondering whether you can actually perch it on your lap or whether it would need to be on a stable surface. I think it is about $1800 for the 8G SSD one + $199 for the keyboard (love the contrasting colours!) + debatable but you might need a dock and that's another $300+. If you cant use it on your knee then a trip to Freedom for a rollerised laptop table might be in order so that's probably another $200.

The Yoga Pro is the convertible which I was worried wouldn't be robust enough but a trip down to Lower Hutt showed a fairly sturdy machine with very stylish and incredibly robust looking industrial type hinges. Price is around $2200 and it is the professional version of the Yoga convertible range. It has an appropriate spec but has 1.2GHz Intel M-5Y710 dual core processor. Seeing as this is the upper end of the range and all the Yoga pro's have these I looked it up on the intel site where it says Processor Base Frequency 1.2ghz and max turbo 2.9 GHZ. So I was wondering what this actually meant? Presumably it can do 2.9 but I was wondering what functions engaged turbo so to speak and how it actually works and of course, if this kind of chip is any good.

So 2 questions - can the Surface sit on your lap or propped against a knee when the keyboard is attached and is the Yoga Pro's processor any good.

Also does anyone have either of these and how do they find them?

Thank you all. You have been a great help. Apologies I haven't got back sooner.

The Surface Pro works better on your lap than what you probably expect. Go try one for a bit and see how you get on.

Personally I would never ever buy a clamshell laptop every again. The flexibility of a 2n1 detachable give you so many more use cases and options for your PC.

You can probably find a Pro 3 on special now since they are end of life. Buy that with a Pro 4 keyboard, the Pro 4 typecover is significantly better than Pro 3 keyboard.

gzt

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#1417429 30-Oct-2015 23:45

On the other hand for your use battery life might be a priority,

Imho the lower spec processors tend to get frustrating for basic stuff after about 3 years as video compression and webtech gets more demanding. If that is your expected ownership then that is not a problem.

Surface has an optional M model also so it is not all one way.

Other factor Surface is a Microsoft 'flagship' so I'm betting (gambling) on good support for some time.

nathan

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#1417504 31-Oct-2015 05:03

gzt: On the other hand for your use battery life might be a priority,

Imho the lower spec processors tend to get frustrating for basic stuff after about 3 years as video compression and webtech gets more demanding. If that is your expected ownership then that is not a problem.

Surface has an optional M model also so it is not all one way.

Other factor Surface is a Microsoft 'flagship' so I'm betting (gambling) on good support for some time.

FWIW Surface Pro 4 uses a Skylake Core-M not a Broadwell one like in the Lenovo being discussed. Quite different performance.

And you have a choice of going for a full noise U series chip in the same Surface Pro 4 chassis with i5 and i7, unlike the Lenovo.

Either way both are beautiful, premium, high quality machines and the OP should get hands on with both and make their mind up

SparkyP

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#1417738 31-Oct-2015 15:47

One last question. Going to buy directly from Microsoft as warranty is better as OP suggested. But have the option of 126GB SSD or 256? The bigger one is very expensive (another $250?) so will probably go with 126GB SSD but I was just wondering what that is in HDD equivalent - eg: 256GB roughly equivalent to 1TB HDD ? thanks.

Also saw a good user review of the Surface Pro 3 and it shows a guy using the tablet/laptop (Should that be LapTab?) on his knee and yeah I can now see how it can work a lot easier than you think from looking at it table mounted in the shop. Off to NL to see if I can try it out on my knee.

gzt

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#1417741 31-Oct-2015 15:57

If 128gb is enough for your basic needs that is good move. The same $250 will buy you a 4TB external for media and things like that.

SparkyP

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#1417758 31-Oct-2015 17:18

Ok back now. Are you saying that capacity is equivalent? I don't really understand what it means and was assuming that all the new pcs being offered with 126 and 356GB were somehow not equivalent to HDD storage. EG: Smaller SSDs were routinely installed because they performed better than HDDs. But you seem to be saying that the size is the same so 1GB SSD storage is = 1GB HDD? Is this correct? So really the issue is cost? SSD is equivalent to HDD in capacity but much more expensive. However they are faster and more responsive?

So what to get 128 or 256? I have had my current PC for just over 2 years and I have only used 93GB. I store about 50 to 100 books and some reports and spreadsheets. Most of my work and all of my photos and videos are on the cloud. If I am on 93GB currently, then 128Gb gives me 25% + additional capacity. So the question is does that sound like enough for possibly 3 or 4 years of use??

What kind of things take up memory? Apps? because I don't have a lot of Apps on my PC currently and certainly need to get more.

Anyone have a view on which to buy - balancing cost with flexibility. Can additional SSD be added later? Thanks

Jase2985

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#1417759 31-Oct-2015 17:22

No, the price equivalent

128gb is 128gb weather it is a ssd or normal hard drive

Ssds are just a lot faster that normal hard drives

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gzt

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#1417785 31-Oct-2015 18:58

Yep thats correct. I'm assuming that 93 GB used includes your operating system? So anywhere from 10-30gb of that will not be your use.

Reports, books, spreadsheets are generally very small file types. If you are all good with cloud storage for images and video then its looking OK but could be getting close.

On pro3 there is 93gb free space out of the box.

Pro4 imho you may get a wee bit more due to some new w10 optimisations so check that in store also.

A little bit close maybe for the future but if you can find your needs exactly you can make a good decision on it or the next one up.

Jase2985

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#1417896 31-Oct-2015 21:26

how many of those 93gb of files do you routinely access? could you not use an external hard disc or usb stick to store those files you dont use often?

$250 is a lot for an extra 128gb of on-board storage, especially when you could get a 1tb usb powered drive for less than $100

SparkyP

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#1417913 31-Oct-2015 22:23

Its actually $376 difference in price between the 256 and the 128 (I was looking at the wrong thing). So I guess USB would be the way to go. Even 32G might do it.

I don't know how much is system memory out of that 93k. I just know that when you look under storage on settings it says something like 93K used out of 686GB or something like that so I guess it depends whether that shows all of it. I imagine it would include the out of the box GBs.

They do say at the bottom of the Surface Pro page that the operating system takes a hefty chunk of memory which from 128 to 93 is kind of large.
But I guess I'll just have to rationalise and I'm pretty sure I have more than a few things I can get onto cloud and various apps I can kill off.

Sadly the Surface Pro 4 that comes out on 12 Nov is almost $1000 more for the same machine given the current discounts on the old machines.

Thank you all very much, I am going to give them a call now - apparently its easier over the phone to buy than online they say and get a Surface Pro 3 and a Surface 4 cover which are already available at the store.

I have learnt a lot through this process and fingers crossed that this time I get more than my usual 1.5 - 2.5 years use out of it ...

gzt

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#1417933 1-Nov-2015 00:25

Nice machine. You really should try one first tho esp with the transition to the smaller screen sizecompared to your current machine.

gzt

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#1417934 1-Nov-2015 00:31

The surface pro 3 owner dumping has well and truly begun on trade me. You stand a good chance of getting a good buy now on a sp3/256/8gb with balance of new warranty. No compromise required if that is a 5 year. New machines as well from time to time.

SparkyP

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#1418087 1-Nov-2015 11:41

My 9 yr old has an ancient 12" Dell throw away so I am fine with it. The smaller screen is definitely less convenient visually and will take a bit of getting used to but the keyboard is fine and the trade off is greater portability and ease of use when using it on your lap. If I look at the damage all my PC's have sustained, its been due to heat (the kickstand on this will ensure greater air circulation around the device (and the SSD may mean it runs cooler??) and from the hinges/ screen flexing so hopefully again with a smaller size and different type hinges this will be less of an issue. But time will tell!

I have ordered one from the MS store but I have to say it never occurred to me that people buy PCs second hand. I guess that because I have never had any longevity out of my PCs that I imagined it would be the same for others. However I am sure you are right, those technophiles who have to be the early adopters each and every time must do something with last years tech. Well worth a thought next time I buy.

gzt

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#1418160 1-Nov-2015 15:00

Yeah surprisingly many laptops were not engineered for that and actual on lap/couch/bed use obstructed the cooling ports.

SparkyP

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#1422498 6-Nov-2015 16:01

Ok so I got the Surface 3 Pro yesterday and have spent about 24 hours loading it up with office, mail accounts, skype, unotelly etc etc. So I'm thinking to myself its great size wise and ease of use but its not all that. Takes its time downloading and gets hot at the top. So i'm off and doing my usual browsing today when it strikes me that actually its pretty slow. So I go and check the system specs and it turns out they have sent me a 4GB RAM. So now I have to send it back and they are sending me another and all the hassle of getting it set up again (and I have to say it has been a more arduous set up than ever before - don't know if its the windows 10 prof or what but it hasn't been easy). Not many of the set up wizards have worked without trouble shooting or manual adjustment.

So now I have to take it all off and I am wondering whether there is an easy way to do this - like system reset or what? I am particularly having trouble getting the mail accounts cleared.

Any advice?

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