qwertee:

 

Still undecided and waiting for prices to drop

 

This comment hasn't aged well. 😬

@sonyxperiageek Can I ask for an update on the Zbook ~6 months on please?

I'm also shopping for a business ultrabook (small business) and going through the usual suspects - Dell XPS/Inspiron, Lenovo Thinkpad/Thinkbook and Microsoft Surface Laptop. 

I had an HP Elitebook x360 while on contract a year or so ago and didn't love it - it felt just a bit heavier and thicker than other options I've used and I almost never 360-ed it/used the touchscreen anyway - so wasn't hugely keen on another HP. But I've now had my head turned by the Zbook Firefly and keen for your thoughts. I did quite like the HP keyboard.

I am possibly shopping in a slightly different use case to you though - I'm more focussed on portability with okay performance (cf. outright power user or top-of-the-range specs) and don't need RJ45 or dedicated numberpads. So far, I've managed to find options from all the major players around the 2K point for a 13.3/14 inch body, sub-1.5kg, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, with USB-C PD/thunderbolt so looking for any user feedback or other differentiators that might help point towards one option or another. Surface has a higher resolution screen (and less ports) but other than that, they all seem to be much of a muchness.

The Surface Laptop is a nice machine, just make sure you get one with an alloy top case, the alcantara one lets the keyboard bounce around too much. 

lxsw20:

 

The Surface Laptop is a nice machine, just make sure you get one with an alloy top case, the alcantara one lets the keyboard bounce around too much. 

 

Having been lumbered with half a dozen surfaces (mostly laptop/book series ) over the last few years, I'm really not a fan. They are fine for end users who just need email etc, but are so gutless as to be useless for anything else unless you spend mind-numbing amounts of money for the top tier ones which are still not exactly powerful. Give me a Z-Book any day.