Laptop, notebook, think pad, tablet, oh my

[TravelGal]

What to buy? Under $1000 (which means under $900 when you consider our 9.5% sales tax). 8 or 10" screen. Help. I need something to use when traveling that doesn't weigh as much as my trusty laptops. At home it will sit in the drawer. Quick internet access and a few programs for client information processing. That's about all I need. And a decent keyboard, which I realize is impossible to know without my trying it. I have a $110 voucher from Best Buy that will expire on August 18 so time is somewhat of a factor. Microsoft not Apple. The latter still doesn't work with the major travel agent booking platforms.

Any suggestions? Anyone? Thanks.

[gjc2]

I don't think you have to spend as much as $1,000. I think one with a solid state hard drive is a good idea.

9.5% sales tax! I though 8.625% in Nassau & Suffolk counties & 8.875 in the five boroughs of New York City was as high as it gets.

[nissan gtp]

What to buy? Under $1000 (which means under $900 when you consider our 9.5% sales tax). 8 or 10" screen. Help. I need something to use when traveling that doesn't weigh as much as my trusty laptops. At home it will sit in the drawer. Quick internet access and a few programs for client information processing. That's about all I need. And a decent keyboard, which I realize is impossible to know without my trying it. I have a $110 voucher from Best Buy that will expire on August 18 so time is somewhat of a factor. Microsoft not Apple. The latter still doesn't work with the major travel agent booking platforms.

Any suggestions? Anyone? Thanks.

Get one direct from Microsoft so you get a nice clean OS. They have a bunch of nice choices.

[TravelGal]

Get one direct from Microsoft so you get a nice clean OS. They have a bunch of nice choices.

That's a good point. The Toshiba I have is a complete mess with extra programs that I don't know how to get rid of. But then what do I do with my $110 voucher? It's nice not to NEED anything but I hate to lose it.

[Insomniac]

If it's going to sit in a drawer when not in use, maybe consider a Lenovo Yoga 720 (Windows) or Chrome Book. Should have a lot of choices for < 3 pounds and smaller screens (not 8-10" small though). If you don't need Windows, there is a Samsung Chromebook for $200 at Best Buy or the Asus R 11 for $250.

[chop456]

We have 3 what I considered to be throwaway Chromebooks when I bought them. One Acer and 2 Toshibas. Extremely compact, battery life is outstanding and none of them have ever given me a problem. Browse and occasionally print and that's about it. Chromebooks have their limitations, but for less than $100 (if you can wait until after Thanksgiving), who cares?

[nrc]

A few of my friends have become fans of the MS Surface netbooks. It looks like BB has a couple of models under $900. The one thing I would be concerned about for an "occasional use" laptop is the tidal wave of updates that will arrive when you eventually start it up again. It's either that or turn them off. But if you do that and you're going to use it travelling you may as well have your credit card and social security numbers tattooed on your forehead.

I have an HP Chromebook that Google gave me for free for listening to their web services pitch. It works fine for pulling out of a drawer to do occasional web based stuff. If you use web based apps from Google or Office365 it could be fine for travel.

[nissan gtp]

A few of my friends have become fans of the MS Surface netbooks. It looks like BB has a couple of models under $900. The one thing I would be concerned about for an "occasional use" laptop is the tidal wave of updates that will arrive when you eventually start it up again. It's either that or turn them off. But if you do that and you're going to use it travelling you may as well have your credit card and social security numbers tattooed on your forehead.

I have an HP Chromebook that Google gave me for free for listening to their web services pitch. It works fine for pulling out of a drawer to do occasional web based stuff. If you use web based apps from Google or Office365 it could be fine for travel.

Just leave it online while at home.

[TravelGal]

Status update. Having read what you all wrote, I went to Best Buy this morning. Very nice Asus but, according to the grumpy Russian (or similar) employee helping me they are "noticeably slower" at 1T than the SSD computers. Thanks for gjc2 for mentioning that also. Narrowed it down to the following. All 2 in 1, touch screen, LED. Remember, I have to go with what they have, which is hardly all that is available. Also, I have yet to scour their online store, which has more brands I think.

1. Lenovo Think Pad L380. Good battery life, excellent screen resolution. I'd buy it in heartbeat but the depth of the key stroke is twice that of the other brands and models. Makes it quite difficult for me to type.
2. HP Envy x360. Love the keypad
3. HP Pavilion x360. Presumably more power as it's $250 more at the moment.

Any thoughts?

Next up is the BB monthly "subscription" to Microsoft Office bundled with their online "internet safety" program. What's up with that? I'm not a fan of monthly bills ad infinitum. Options?

Merci.

[gjc2]

I would be very skeptical of Best Buy’s own “internet safety” product; I bet it will track you online activity for marketing purposes. Also, I’ve not heard of MS Office as a monthly subscription, I’m skeptical of that also.

Do you think you can get used to the long keystroke of the Lenovo?

[Insomniac]

Also, I’ve not heard of MS Office as a monthly subscription, I’m skeptical of that also.

Office 365 has monthly pricing.

[Insomniac]

Status update. Having read what you all wrote, I went to Best Buy this morning. Very nice Asus but, according to the grumpy Russian (or similar) employee helping me they are "noticeably slower" at 1T than the SSD computers. Thanks for gjc2 for mentioning that also. Narrowed it down to the following. All 2 in 1, touch screen, LED. Remember, I have to go with what they have, which is hardly all that is available. Also, I have yet to scour their online store, which has more brands I think.

1. Lenovo Think Pad L380. Good battery life, excellent screen resolution. I'd buy it in heartbeat but the depth of the key stroke is twice that of the other brands and models. Makes it quite difficult for me to type.
2. HP Envy x360. Love the keypad
3. HP Pavilion x360. Presumably more power as it's $250 more at the moment.

Any thoughts?

Next up is the BB monthly "subscription" to Microsoft Office bundled with their online "internet safety" program. What's up with that? I'm not a fan of monthly bills ad infinitum. Options?

Merci.

If you know the model you want, there's probably more options online. There is ~10 of each of the x360 models for less than $1k.

I concur on not getting the BB software bundle. If you don't want a monthly service, you can buy Office and there are many free security suites out there or just use Windows Defender.

[TravelGal]

As with most purchases, the final decision is often made on one of the factors not originally mentioned as most important. Think vacations, buying a house, etc. In this case, after grazing online and physically through more than one Best Buy, Staples, and Office Max, I realized A) I really don't understand for sure how much of what capabilities I need in a notebook but B) it had to be light enough that I would actually take it with me. The distance of the key stroke was also a major issue. I'm told it's called the "travel." Isn't that cute?

Therefore, yesterday I purchased Microsoft - Surface Go - 10" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium Gold - 8GB Memory - 128GB Storage - Silver. 1T storage "in the cloud." I'm told I can schlep USB drives for memory and upgrade the physical storage to 256 with a card. (I saw the slot so I know that's true.) Comes with Windows 10 Home and I bought Office 365. Also the Geek squad and the separate technical services. I like that I can go into the store and they will give me 30-minute technical tutorials. They say they will help with all my electronics, not just the Surface Go. I plan to use that feature to see if it's worth renewing next year.

With the computer, the keyboard, and the pen, it came to $750. Well within my price range. Add all the profit centers (services) and tax and subtract the credit I had (expiring on Thursday) and it came to $900 out the door. Also within my price range. It's so new they had to order it so I'm having the program installation done next Tuesday. TravelGal, on the Cutting Edge of Technology. :laugh::laugh::laugh:

[cameraman]

I've got a Surface for the software that doesn't run on a Mac, it works very well. Mine's a bit higher spec than what you bought but they are all solid machines. I think you will be quite happy with it.

[G.]

As with most purchases, the final decision is often made on one of the factors not originally mentioned as most important.

True, but if you don't do your homework, you end up with something that does nothing right!

Nice purchase!

[TravelGal]

I'm BAAACK, with a somewhat higher budget. Basic question, is there any reason to buy a desktop model over a laptop or vice versa? I'm looking to get something I'll leave at the office so portability is not an issue. I'm so old-school, I automatically think of desktop. Better/separate monitor (have two excellent ones). Keyboard of choice (I like the one I have). Ability to adjust distance from keyboard to screen. Pretty much all I see are laptops, however.

And who are these guys???? (from Best Buy Black Friday @$729) iBUYPOWER Desktop: Get through hard days at work with this iBUYPOWER desktop. An Intel Core i7 processor provides six cores running at 3.2GHz to blast through heavy-duty tasks, while 16GB of RAM let you keep loads of tabs, applications and programs open at once. Store everything on the 240GB solid-state drive in this iBUYPOWER desktop for rapid retrieval.

[SteveH]

Get a laptop with a docking station. Connect a better monitor, keyboard and mouse to the docking station for use when in the office. Then when you leave, uncouple the laptop and you're good to go. Best of both worlds.

[cameraman]

Everyone here docks their Surface Pros. They make Microsoft Surface Docks that you just plug in to the side of the Surface. Extremely easy to connect/disconnect.

[SteveH]

Everyone here docks their Surface Pros. They make Microsoft Surface Docks that you just plug in to the side of the Surface. Extremely easy to connect/disconnect.

Bingo. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-dock/8qrh2npz0s0p/hpr1?ocid=AID695933_SEM_Cj0KCQiA28nfBRCDARIsANc5BF DHUi6YB4DMvulcsXj1Kn41KBS5rA86Xu3ML5uvZdXxD3lkGCYq 1AgaAvyXEALw_wcB%3aG%3as&activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab) I'm not familiar with Surface, but why not?

[nrc]

Folks have a point. It may not be necessary to buy a completely separate machine if docking your Surface makes sense. That gives you access to more ergonomic keyboards and displays.

It's worth noting that if you don't need portability, desktops are still usually cheaper to buy, upgrade, or repair at any given configuration. But not cheaper than just buying a docking station if there's nothing driving a separate box. So I agree, get a docking station and give that a try.

For the Surface Go it looks like you want the "Surface Dock" which just plugs in with a cable rather that "docking". Note that this dock has "Display Port" video so you may need an adapter or new cable depending on what your display requires.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-PD9-00003-Surface-Dock/dp/B0163HP38W/

[TravelGal]

Thanks, guys. The desktop towers I've seen (I've only looked at Best Buy) are running $1500 to $2000, which seems nutsy high to me but I haven't been following the pricing. I didn't think a Surface GO had enough "juice" to bother trying to dock to it. The PRO, on the other hand, seems like a possibility. I like the docking idea and will investigate. :D

[cameraman]

We use Surface Pros for the majority of our research work and have no problems. The caveat is they are high end i7 Surface Pros that are not inexpensive. But our uses are most likely more demanding, if your work is email & web-based then you would probably do fine with an i5 model.

[TravelGal]

We use Surface Pros for the majority of our research work and have no problems. The caveat is they are high end i7 Surface Pros that are not inexpensive. But our uses are most likely more demanding, if your work is email & web-based then you would probably do fine with an i5 model.

Thanks, cm. Yes, I've had to break out the smelling salts when I looked at some of the Surface Pro prices. I appreciate the i5 mention so I know exactly what I'm looking for.

I don't need instantaneous speed so I may just cave and stick with the old Lenovo and see about a minor upgrade. The local Spectrum tech checked my internet speeds through the router to my pc and through the router to his hand-held. He checked ping, upload, and download. His was FAST; mine, no so much. He said my old and slow video card was probably the main culprit. That's what I thought two months ago when Google changed to a graphics-heavy format. Time to lug this beast into the Geek Squad to see if I can cheap out for another year or two.

[nrc]

Thanks, guys. The desktop towers I've seen (I've only looked at Best Buy) are running $1500 to $2000, which seems nutsy high to me but I haven't been following the pricing. I didn't think a Surface GO had enough "juice" to bother trying to dock to it. The PRO, on the other hand, seems like a possibility. I like the docking idea and will investigate. :D

The specs of the $729 iBUYPOWER model that you cited were plenty. You don't need a $1500+ tower unless you're playing games or doing video or 3D work. The storage capacity was a little light, but unless you're storing a lot of stuff it would be fine.

[TravelGal]

The specs of the $729 iBUYPOWER model that you cited were plenty. You don't need a $1500+ tower unless you're playing games or doing video or 3D work. The storage capacity was a little light, but unless you're storing a lot of stuff it would be fine.

:thumbup: But what the heck is an iBUYPOWER thing? I see a website. Do you feel they make reliable stuff? I guess so or Best Buy wouldn't sell them and back them by the Geek Squad. How late to the game am I? I never heard of them!

[gjc2]

:thumbup: But what the heck is an iBUYPOWER thing? I see a website. Do you feel they make reliable stuff? I guess so or Best Buy wouldn't sell them and back them by the Geek Squad. How late to the game am I? I never heard of them!

I hadn't heard of them either.

[nrc]

I had heard of them as a maker of mid-priced gaming PC. I don't know anything about their quality or reliability. It looks like comparable Lenovo or HP models are about $150 more. I'd probably spend it even though I don't know if it would make any difference.

[G.]

:thumbup: But what the heck is an iBUYPOWER thing? I see a website. Do you feel they make reliable stuff? I guess so or Best Buy wouldn't sell them and back them by the Geek Squad. How late to the game am I? I never heard of them!

The g. is looking to buy a "gaming" computer with his money. This is an opportunity for dad to teach him a bit, and have him figure stuff out.
:thumbup:

He was all set on a CyberPowerPC entry gamer. I found the same build as an iBUYPOWER.

I assumed that IBP was a cheap knock-off of the cheap knock-off CPPC 'puter.
Maybe not.
https://www.quora.com/Which-is-the-better-place-to-buy-a-gaming-PC-iBuyPower-or-Cyber-Power


Regardless, they are both brands targeting gaming.

[Insomniac]

The local Spectrum tech checked my internet speeds through the router to my pc and through the router to his hand-held. He checked ping, upload, and download. His was FAST; mine, no so much. He said my old and slow video card was probably the main culprit.

I'm surprised no one mentioned it, but your network speed on your PC should have nothing to do with your graphics card. The caveat being if all your hardware is "software based" (i.e. uses your CPU to do all the work), then your CPU (not GPU) could be a bottleneck. However, this is pretty unlikely for any modern computer with the hardware built-in.

[TravelGal]

I'm surprised no one mentioned it, but your network speed on your PC should have nothing to do with your graphics card. The caveat being if all your hardware is "software based" (i.e. uses your CPU to do all the work), then your CPU (not GPU) could be a bottleneck. However, this is pretty unlikely for any modern computer with the hardware built-in.

One of "our guys" (OC) said that before. But, if the card will only accommodate a certain level of input, how can it not slow down the display of graphics? All this is a mystery to me but I'll haul it all into the Geek squad after I get back from my next trip.

The main issue, btw, is definitely not in the computer. Spectrum maintenance guy #7 came today. Still no clue as to why the internet and phone cut off at increasingly frequent but random times. :mad: I suppose it's a fool's errand to get something new until the connectivity issue is settled.

[Insomniac]

One of "our guys" (OC) said that before. But, if the card will only accommodate a certain level of input, how can it not slow down the display of graphics? All this is a mystery to me but I'll haul it all into the Geek squad after I get back from my next trip.

The networking and video rendering are just two separate operations. If your networking and graphics both rely on your CPU, in theory, one could slow the other if there aren't enough resources. The fix for that is pretty simple/cheap: get an add on card for either/both that would do all the processing itself.

How fast is your Internet (the tier you're paying for, not actual)? Are you using wired networking or Wi-Fi on your PC?