New Laptop what would you choose?

[Joshua Conner]

I am thinking of taking a jump on a new laptop. 

I currently have a macbook pro retina and I love it but lately MACOS just isnt playing nice with things I need to get my work done.  I have parallels installed and windows 7 but it still just doesnt cut it.  So I am going back to a full blown PC.

I have recently bought 2 lenovo yoga2 pro and I am very impressed with them.  I still hate windows 8 but I am hoping windows 10 will be a little better.   
I have had many bad experiences with dell portables in the past so I try to stay away from them.

Portability is important so is power and durability and screen.   

[Jim Jensen]

Last year I hunted around on this issue and ended up with another Lenovo Thinkpad. Yeah, it's a bit on the heavier side compared to the slim models, but they do offer some slim editions too. Depends on what you want with it. Optical drives are becoming less common (and less needed). Interesting little items to look for include back-lit keyboard or LED that lights the keyboard (I use mine in the evening and it's quite helpful) and a decent sized touchpad if there's no point-stick in the middle - or a touch-screen instead. Touch screens don't add a lot of cost now, but it can be a trick finding all the items together in one package.

I have a Surface 2, but I find the screen a little small for some tasks - remote access to my work PC is tough to use on it - everything's really tiny or I only see part of the screen. The Surface 3 is a little larger and may fit the bill. Biggest drawback for me with the Surface right now is the HD space - but that depends on how you use it.

[Billy Welsh]

Wow, that sounds like Nirvana to me.  If I had the funds that's what I would go out and get.  Maybe VmWare vs. Parallels but otherwise the same setup.

Is Apple sabotaging the Parallels software and gumming up the works?

I am thinking of taking a jump on a new laptop. 

I currently have a macbook pro retina and I love it but lately MACOS just isnt playing nice with things I need to get my work done.  I have parallels installed and windows 7 but it still just doesnt cut it.  So I am going back to a full blown PC.

I have recently bought 2 lenovo yoga2 pro and I am very impressed with them.  I still hate windows 8 but I am hoping windows 10 will be a little better.   
I have had many bad experiences with dell portables in the past so I try to stay away from them.

Portability is important so is power and durability and screen.   

[Joshua Conner]

some of my problems are I hate the mac keyboard in a windows world.  Using remote desktop kinds stinks in parallels.  I spend lots of time in remote desktop.  VPN connections are very hit and miss from the mac to parallels.  Forget about using VMWARE to attach a drive or image to a virtual machine it just doesnt work at all.  So I have to break out an old laptop to install a new VM in ESXI. 

[Joshua Conner]

Wow I guess that is why you buy a mac.  I just looked up how much my 2012 Macbook Pro retina is worth and it looks like its worth $1000 that is amazing I normally mothball my 3 year old laptops.

[Ric]

Joshua,

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is an excellent machine and a perhaps the best "2 in 1" product.

IMO

Ric

[Joshua Conner]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

[Ric]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

I like it for the portability with the power.  I guess you are using your "notebook" as a portable device and would imagine you are hooking it up to multiple monitors when you are at your regular desk.

If so then a docking station for the desk and 2 full sized monitors would solve most of it but if 12" screen is too small for you on the road then I can see where you'd go notebook.

The wife has a 17" screen on her Dell notebook, mine was 15.8.  here's always seemed like overkill for a notebook now I think a 15" is huge

That's why they say "your mileage may vary"

[Jim Jensen]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

I can understand that myself. Surface works well for casual use and typical portable tasks for me, but isn't quite the full laptop replacement yet. I hope it or something similar is by the time I'm ready to replace the Thinkpad I bought last year.

[Ric]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

I can understand that myself. Surface works well for casual use and typical portable tasks for me, but isn't quite the full laptop replacement yet. I hope it or something similar is by the time I'm ready to replace the Thinkpad I bought last year.

Jim,

I'm curious what the Surface Pro 3 lacks that a notebook has and you need?

I am a power user and Microsoft's tag line was proven true with me "The tablet that can replace your notebook"  and it did so in a week or less. 

[Jeff Golas]

Starting to think about this myself, although my trusty T520 is big and heavy it suits my needs well as I truck it all over the office. I've been buying x240s for the general population here, and I may actually get the exact same one myself, other than possibly getting a larger SSD. Not sure though.

[Jim Jensen]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

I can understand that myself. Surface works well for casual use and typical portable tasks for me, but isn't quite the full laptop replacement yet. I hope it or something similar is by the time I'm ready to replace the Thinkpad I bought last year.

Jim,

I'm curious what the Surface Pro 3 lacks that a notebook has and you need?

I am a power user and Microsoft's tag line was proven true with me "The tablet that can replace your notebook"  and it did so in a week or less.

HD Space and screen size - the 3 is a little larger than the 2 I have, but still a bit small. My laptop is my home PC, so it has music and photos on it. Yes, I could use an external drive for that, and plug into an external monitor for larger screen size, but I get both in the same package with my Thinkpad. Remote access on my Surface is tough without a separate monitor since the remote's screen isn't full-size, making it even harder to see. Perhaps one difference between us Ric is where I use mine, too. I don't sit at a desk at home to use it - I'm in my LazyBoy chair, or even the bed in the evening if working late.

[Joshua Conner]

Here is what I ordered.  Already sold the macbook for $950 to our marketing company.

Thinkpad X1 Carbon
• Intel Core i5-5300U Processor (3MB Cache, up to 2.90GHz)
• Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 8.1 Pro 64
• Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 8.1 English
• Recovery Media Coupon WorldWide
• 14.0" QHD (2560x1440) IPS Multi-touch with WWAN
• 8GB PC3-12800 on MB
• Intel HD Graphics 5500
• Keyboard Backlit - US English
• With Fingerprint Reader
• 720p HD Camera
• 256 GB Solid State Drive Opal 2.0 - Capable
• Rapid Charge, Integrated
• 65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
• Ethernet extension cable
• Intel 7265 AC/B/G/N Dual Band Wireless + Bluetooth Version 4.0
• Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
• Publication - US English
• Standard Economy Packaging
• 1 Year Depot or Carry-in
• ThinkPad OneLink Dock - Midnight Black (US/Canada/Mexico) - For the X1 Only

[Hans Manhave]

Yes, but does it make the coffee in the morning and keep the grass cut?   

[Jim Jensen]

If/when you do the Win8 upgrade, you will need to reinstall Office too - it runs it as a new install rather than an upgrade. So I'd suggest getting Office written to DVD now. I had a time trying to find the download link and had to contact support in the end to get it.

[Joshua Conner]

I am moving my copy of office 2010  I just dont like 2013.

[Jeff Zylstra]

I am moving my copy of office 2010  I just dont like 2013.

I don't like Office 2013 either.   Outlook 2013 is hard to read because there's no contrast on the screen, and I REALLY hate the licensing hassles.  Much prefer 2010.

[Ric]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

I can understand that myself. Surface works well for casual use and typical portable tasks for me, but isn't quite the full laptop replacement yet. I hope it or something similar is by the time I'm ready to replace the Thinkpad I bought last year.

Jim,

I'm curious what the Surface Pro 3 lacks that a notebook has and you need?

I am a power user and Microsoft's tag line was proven true with me "The tablet that can replace your notebook"  and it did so in a week or less.

HD Space and screen size - the 3 is a little larger than the 2 I have, but still a bit small. My laptop is my home PC, so it has music and photos on it. Yes, I could use an external drive for that, and plug into an external monitor for larger screen size, but I get both in the same package with my Thinkpad. Remote access on my Surface is tough without a separate monitor since the remote's screen isn't full-size, making it even harder to see. Perhaps one difference between us Ric is where I use mine, too. I don't sit at a desk at home to use it - I'm in my LazyBoy chair, or even the bed in the evening if working late.

I'm guessing you have a ton of video or an amazingly large music library because I have 256GB in my Surface Pro 3 and still have about 40% free and that's after transferring all the music, videos and pictures (I have thousands of photos) that I have accumulated over the last 20 years or more.  I too use my surface at home on my recliner etc.  and find it the screen is plenty big for close up work. it's only when I use it in a desk environment that I want / need bigger screens. so the 21" LCD on my desk suits the bill just fine.

dang I loved my Dell Latitude for years but dropping down from 15 to 12 was not a big deal.  if you are conditioned to a huge notebook screen then I could see that being culture shock.  plus connecting remotely with different sized screens would be a PITA too.

Thanx for letting me know!

[Ric]

Surface just doesnt work for me.  Screen is too small.  too few ports on it.  I am looking at the thinkpad x1 carbon right now.

I can understand that myself. Surface works well for casual use and typical portable tasks for me, but isn't quite the full laptop replacement yet. I hope it or something similar is by the time I'm ready to replace the Thinkpad I bought last year.

Jim,

I'm curious what the Surface Pro 3 lacks that a notebook has and you need?

I am a power user and Microsoft's tag line was proven true with me "The tablet that can replace your notebook"  and it did so in a week or less.

HD Space and screen size - the 3 is a little larger than the 2 I have, but still a bit small. My laptop is my home PC, so it has music and photos on it. Yes, I could use an external drive for that, and plug into an external monitor for larger screen size, but I get both in the same package with my Thinkpad. Remote access on my Surface is tough without a separate monitor since the remote's screen isn't full-size, making it even harder to see. Perhaps one difference between us Ric is where I use mine, too. I don't sit at a desk at home to use it - I'm in my LazyBoy chair, or even the bed in the evening if working late.

I'm guessing you have a ton of video or an amazingly large music library because I have 256GB in my Surface Pro 3 and still have about 40% free and that's after transferring all the music, videos and pictures (I have thousands of photos) that I have accumulated over the last 20 years or more.  I too use my surface at home on my recliner etc.  and find it the screen is plenty big for close up work. it's only when I use it in a desk environment that I want / need bigger screens. so the 21" LCD on my desk suits the bill just fine.

dang I loved my Dell Latitude for years but dropping down from 15 to 12 was not a big deal.  if you are conditioned to a huge notebook screen then I could see that being culture shock.  plus connecting remotely with different sized screens would be a PITA too.

Thanx for letting me know!

BTW: the Surface P3 has a micro SD slot and reads up to 256GB.  once I start getting HD cramp I'll pick up an SD card and use that as a semi permanently installed D: drive

[Jim Jensen]

The Surface 2 only has a 10" screen. Maybe the 3 would be large enough. Haven't used one yet. My old laptop had a 256GB HD, which was nearly full. Not so much on it now, I don't think (a lot usually gets cleaned out when migrating), but I wanted 1 TB to make sure I wouldn't have that problem for a few years, especially if I get my own GoPro. I have a new DDSLR, so I'm bound to be eating HD space with that.

[Ric]

The Surface 2 only has a 10" screen. Maybe the 3 would be large enough. Haven't used one yet. My old laptop had a 256GB HD, which was nearly full. Not so much on it now, I don't think (a lot usually gets cleaned out when migrating), but I wanted 1 TB to make sure I wouldn't have that problem for a few years, especially if I get my own GoPro. I have a new DDSLR, so I'm bound to be eating HD space with that.

The 12" screen is nice - and big enough for me for moderate and some heavy use. 

You can get the Surface Pro 3 with up to 1/2 TB although it gets a bit pricy and then as I mentioned before it can handle a 256 GB micro SD card giving it a max storage capacity of .75 TB.   swapping out the micro SD's could help in the future too