Another please recommend me a laptop thread - and queries about Dell XPS 12 Conv.

[Megalon]

Hi all,

know there are a few of these threads but need a bit of help.

Haven't had a laptop for 2-3 years due to building a desktop a while back, but now need a laptop as I'm starting my PhD in a few weeks.

Basically I need a lightweight (ish) laptop (perhaps an ultrabook?), preferably with an SSD. As it will primarily be for research and writing, but using it as a tablet may also be a bonus for presentations and such. Ideally it also needs to run HD MKV's, and would be good if had a VGA and/or HDMI output.

I have a LiveScribe Echo 8gb Pen which I use all the time, and I'm unsure how compatible with Win 8 this is? So might even consider a Win 7 machine (or at the very least I'll run a dual-boot setup).

My budget was initially £400(ish), but can extend to £600 - although not sure if this is overkill.

I did look at the Dell XPS 12, an i5 SB model but unsure if it needed an HDMI adapter specifically? And how well it works as a tablet.

So to summarise, I need:

Lightweight
Decent Battery Life
Compatible with LiveScribe Pen
Possibly Touchscreen
SSD if poss - not sure if 128gb is enough?
Not fussed about gaming, but would be good to run HD MKV's etc. as I don't use any physical media anymore since ripping everything, so equally don't need an optical drive
Other than HD video play it will just be used for surfing and Office based stuff, so nothing too intensive.

Any recommendations?
Cheers

[scaryjim]

tbh, touchscreen is a bit of a gimmick on laptops, and you don't sound like you need a tablet, so I'd discount convertibles and the like from your considerations - particularly if you've got a livescribe. I can't see any reason the livescribe wouldn't be comaptible with Win 8, but I'm sure you can check that yourself. I've not found any particular compatibility problems with Win 8, certainly.

At which point, there's no reason why any laptop nowadays wouldn't cope with your general usage pattern. The only thing that's specific is lightweight, and there's no way to check that without atually picking up a physical machine really. Sadly 13" has gone right out of fashion as a screen size for mid-range laptops - it was always my preferred form factor

I don't think you'll get an SSD in your initial price range, but you could always buy the laptop now then upgrade to an SSD later, or just buy the SSD separately at the same time. Most SSDs will come with software for cloning your HDD to the SSD, so it's easy enough to just replace the HDD from the laptop, then you could keep hold of the spare HDD for storage/backup.

I wouldn't normally do this, but I'd suggest you nip to your local Currys/PC World and get a feel for the actual size and weight of different laptops. If you want to carry it everywhere you go then you might want to consider going right down to the 11.6" sub-notebooks - there's a few available with AMDs A4-1250 and A6-1450 APUs which are within budget (although again no SSD). Otherwise you'll probably be looking at a 15" and having to find one that's not too bulky.

[herulach]

Absolutely bob on advice. Particularly at that budget there's a huge range available and a vast difference in quality of keyboards etc. Just been buying one with swmbo and all the ones I thought were well built with good keyboards were dismissed as being too thick and clunky.

If you don't need optical then there are some good deals around on the Asus x401 series. That money should get you an i3, but again go look, only you can decide on the trade off between light/small and actually usable for work

[Megalon]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Regarding:

I don't think you'll get an SSD in your initial price range, but you could always buy the laptop now then upgrade to an SSD later, or just buy the SSD separately at the same time

May sound silly, but I have a spare 60gb SSD taken from my desktop. I don't suppose there is space to run this as a boot drive and then add another internal? I assume it would have to be external or nowt?

Surprisingly I did nip to my local Pc World the other day and liked the feel of the ultrabook machines in general - although of course they vary in weight.

Also regarding a 128gb SSD, if I was to plump for one of these - I would assume it too small? That's purely based on me previously running a 60gb SSD for two years on my desktop. With regular maintenance and purely as a bootdrive it lasted well for 2 years, but Windows updates eventually started to fill it until only 4gb remained, so don't want the same issue again, especially if the 128gb SSD would be for programs etc. as well - just wondered how well many updates for Win 8 etc. - although assume size would eventually be an issue in the future anyway

[ninja2000]

if you are buying an ultrabook, chances are it will be a m-sata ssd not a 2.5" like your current drive probably is.

check the dell outlet, you could possibly pick up an xps 12 on there for about 600 ish. Also agree touchscreen is a bit of a gimmick on a PC as they are usuallu to bulky to use like an ipad/phone

[Megalon]

Hmm, not thta portable but am able to get a HP Elitebook 8570p for under £400 from a buddy, barely used. Thinking I may go that route due to business like spec and cheap price Also includes an 180gb SSD and Win 7.

[george1979]

Lol I just posted a similar thread then saw this. OP check out the link in my thread:

http://forums.hexus.net/laptops/2954...ew-laptop.html

[scaryjim]

I run a 120GB SSD in my main laptop (well, I used to before I bought my new one) and I've not had a problem with the capacity: but (disclaimer) I didn't use that machine for gaming at all, so I wasn't really loading a lot of stuff on to it. When I got my wife an SSD for her laptop I plumped for a 256GB just in case.

But, a £350 laptop plus a £130 SSD is still < £500

Most laptops only have one HDD bay (and if you want lightweight they'll *definitely* only have one). Some laptops might have a spare mSATA connector that you could add your own SSD to, and most ultrabooks will have an mSATA SSD, and might have a spare drive bay. Worth doing some research into before you buy.

[seemebreakthis]

Hi all,

know there are a few of these threads but need a bit of help.

Haven't had a laptop for 2-3 years due to building a desktop a while back, but now need a laptop as I'm starting my PhD in a few weeks.

Basically I need a lightweight (ish) laptop (perhaps an ultrabook?), preferably with an SSD. As it will primarily be for research and writing, but using it as a tablet may also be a bonus for presentations and such. Ideally it also needs to run HD MKV's, and would be good if had a VGA and/or HDMI output.

I have a LiveScribe Echo 8gb Pen which I use all the time, and I'm unsure how compatible with Win 8 this is? So might even consider a Win 7 machine (or at the very least I'll run a dual-boot setup).

My budget was initially £400(ish), but can extend to £600 - although not sure if this is overkill.

I did look at the Dell XPS 12, an i5 SB model but unsure if it needed an HDMI adapter specifically? And how well it works as a tablet.

So to summarise, I need:

Lightweight
Decent Battery Life
Compatible with LiveScribe Pen
Possibly Touchscreen
SSD if poss - not sure if 128gb is enough?
Not fussed about gaming, but would be good to run HD MKV's etc. as I don't use any physical media anymore since ripping everything, so equally don't need an optical drive
Other than HD video play it will just be used for surfing and Office based stuff, so nothing too intensive.

Any recommendations?
Cheers

I have been using an XPS 12 for about 6 months now. Pretty good device with a few very annoying areas.

First of all if you are using the LiveScribe pen, why don't you consider something that will allow you to directly write on the screen? The brand new Sony VAIO Tap 11 seems to support stylus input on top of touchscreen (finger).

Here is what I like about my XPS 12:

1. The flip design - not only does it look cool, but also it is pretty functional. The tablet mode is quite usable and I have never had any issue with the touchscreen (at least since I tweaked my device settings a little).

2. OK battery life - 4 hours of normal use and it still has juice left

3. Powerful processor. I have an i7 model, but even with an i5 watching videos shouldn't be a problem at all

4. My 240GB SSD is more than enough for my use. 120GB doesn't sound like a generous amount of storage, although it heavily depends on your usage habit too.

5. No major problem so far (see 'bad stuff' section below)

OK, on to the bad stuff....

1. Touchscreen - it "stutters" for a split second everytime before it starts registering your finger movement. Let's say I want to draw a diagonal line with my finger, it always show up not as a pure diagonal line, but with a few jagged edges at the start of the line.\

2. the IPS screen 'burn in' - the screen, although visually sharp and colorful and easy on the eye, has a very bad tendency of leaving remnants of images on screen (similar to burn in). The shadow image does go away after a few minutes, but it is still very annoying. Very apparent especially when you hit ctrl-alt-delete to show the blue task screen.

3. One side of the speakers is already malfunctioning.

4. Weight - too heavy for a tablet. Not really too practical.

5. Touchscreen again - no pen support!

If I could make a recommendation, you might want to consider the brand new Sony VAIO Tap 11. Looks really sleek and it weights less. It claims to be the thinnest notebook ever made for WIndows 8.

[Megalon]

Thanks mate.
I actually ordered one from the Dell outlet store and came today faulty! With a bent frame. In short, this is the second Dell I've had that's been delivered in poor nick - lesson learnt, end of buying Dell