New laptop (2018 thread)
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 26,288
Surface laptops are not made by Microsoft. The OEM is Pegatron, essentially a part of Asus. While they are definitely among the thinnest and lightest and use some innovative solutions to achieve it, there are also trade-offs and drawbacks, and, unfortunately, widely reported quality issues, even confirmed by Microsoft themselves in a leaked memo: https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/micr...ty-reliability
Unlike most other laptops, including other thin-and-light ones, Surface devices have an iFixit repairability score of 0 out of 10, which is even worse than Apple products: essentially, everything inside is glued together and cannot be disassembled without causing permanent damage.
In short, these are devices with a premium price tag (exceeding $3,000 for some configurations) that are unfixable by design and suffer from a high failure rate. Feel free to make your own conclusions.
Unlike most other laptops, including other thin-and-light ones, Surface devices have an iFixit repairability score of 0 out of 10, which is even worse than Apple products: essentially, everything inside is glued together and cannot be disassembled without causing permanent damage.
In short, these are devices with a premium price tag (exceeding $3,000 for some configurations) that are unfixable by design and suffer from a high failure rate. Feel free to make your own conclusions.
#32
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: K+K
Programs: *G
Posts: 4,871
A 3$ unit cost in purchasing balloons to huge multiples of that in the production environment to a final product. My threshold is not functional vs non-functional. You see cars in the developing world with hundreds of thousands of miles, and they're still puttering around on the road. Functional, but not too enjoyable to operate
#34
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In the air
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy LT Plat, Hilton Gold, GHA Tit, BA Gold, Turkish Elite
Posts: 8,720
Given the price I'd have thought the best choice would be the Dell XPS 13, with the Lenovo X-series behind (either Carbon or the 2xx series).
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: in the vicinity of SFO
Programs: AA 2MM (LT-PLT, PPro for this year)
Posts: 19,781
Also, make sure you get 8GB of memory and some kind of SSD.
The Lenovo X1 is a great machine, but at 14" it may be a bit heavier, and it will certainly have a bigger footprint. The 12.5" Lenovo X2x0 or Dell Latitude E72x0 are both the best 12.5" business machines and they will be more durable than the ultrabook-style super thin machines, although they'll be a bit thicker and bulkier. (I would recommend staying away from the Dell E52x0 series; the 5000-series quality has never been good, and unfortunately the 6000-series has gone.)
If you want a convertible machine, the Surface Pro is one of the best, although a reasonably powerful configuration will be quite a bit pricier than your budget. The Surface Notebook is quite a bit less interesting.
The XPS 13 is one of the best ultrabook-style machines out there, and manages to get a 13" screen into a 12" chassis. It's got an almost-macbook like lack of ports, but otherwise it's a superb machine. An i5 configuration new may be a bit beyond your budget, but the i3 model that will be in budget is probably OK.
In general, I follow higher-power machines rather than the smallest ultrabooks, so current Samsung/Asus/etc ultra-thin models are a bit obscure to me, but both those brands have a good reputation.
Last edited by nkedel; Mar 29, 2018 at 12:57 am
#36
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: BOS
Posts: 3,534
Any thoughts on the Lenovo X1 carbon 6th generation laptops? I'm looking for a primary laptop that's going to see a lot of car and plane travel. When I configured it on the main Lenovo website it cost somewhere between $1700 (current discount) to $2400 (llist). That's getting into the upper range of what I was looking to spend. I also looked at a Surface Book 2 but when I configured it with the top specs it priced out at nearly $3000 with only a $300 discount.
#37
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: K+K
Programs: *G
Posts: 4,871
MS Surface pro convertible - so far, very very positive impression and satisfaction.
Huawei matebook x pro ultrabooo - i was tempted by the daring attempt by huawei. Lives up to hype in some ways. Falls on it's face in others (I stand by what I said in other posts).
Over this last week some very nice - on paper! - products were announced or previewed by dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc. Particularly the new Lenovos are intriguing
#38
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Any thoughts on the Lenovo X1 carbon 6th generation laptops? I'm looking for a primary laptop that's going to see a lot of car and plane travel. When I configured it on the main Lenovo website it cost somewhere between $1700 (current discount) to $2400 (llist). That's getting into the upper range of what I was looking to spend. I also looked at a Surface Book 2 but when I configured it with the top specs it priced out at nearly $3000 with only a $300 discount.