Laptop and Tablet opinions

[Screw-Rice]

I'm going to be on the hunt for a new laptop and tablet soon and wanted to see what you guys are running. The laptop will be mainly for home and tuning stuff for the car. Tablet will be when I'm out working. Don't really have a budget and no Apple products, I'm a windows/android guy and the Apple stuff drives me crazy when I mess with them.


Laptop preferences:
Touch screen
i7 processor or (better) equivalent
15" screen or larger
1TB hardrive or more
8GB memory or more

Was looking at possibly something like this, but open to options.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234532

Also have kicked around the idea of building one to spec and go full retard, but part of me thinks that's excessive, lol.

Tablet:
11" screen or larger
Prefer a keyboard attachment when I need to write more than a sentence.
Decently fast

 

[sutyak]

I'm a big fan of refurb Toshiba stuff. They sell through ebay, and I've had great luck with everything I've bought. Toshiba tends to have the faster processors but lower end video, which is fine by me since I don't game on a laptop. The video cards are what tends to really jack up the price on a laptop.
I also have a Toshiba 2-in-1, similar to what you posted but an 11" and much weaker processor. I use it for work trips and tuning/logging.

EDIT: I take back the ebay thing. It seems they don't sell through ebay anymore.

 

[Blown 89]

I've been super happy with my Surface Pro 4 i7.

I do heavy graphics work for a living and it's kept up flawlessly with that. At home and traveling I use it as a laptop, when I get to work I hook it up to a Surface Dock and use the free program Mouse Without Borders to control it with my desktop's keyboard and mouse and split screen on my main monitors. During meetings and on the sofa I use Microsoft's wireless display on whatever monitor/tv is closest to extend my desktop.

When I get off the track I wirelessly download lap data off my Mychron data logger for analysis. It's actually 33 seconds faster than the latest Macbooks at downloading that data and I can do so in tablet mode straight from the driver's seat (not enough room for the keyboard when I'm in the seat).

Because it's an actual desktop the tablet functionality is actually worth a darn. I've yet to use a tablet that's not infuriating to simply surf the internet with.

The only downside for you is that it's slightly smaller than 15". The upside is that it eliminates the need for two devices.

 

[281CJ]

I have a Surface Pro 4 and an Alienware 17 R3. Honestly, I love both, but they fill different needs. 17 is great at gaming and has a great gpu and cpu, the Surface is light, mobile and great for sketching. If you do car tuning you could buy a mount and use the touch screen of the surface in the car.

 

[nxhappy]

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Display-F...UTF8&qid=1494296213&sr=8-1&keywords=17-X173DX

 

[Screw-Rice]

I've been super happy with my Surface Pro 4 i7.

I do heavy graphics work for a living and it's kept up flawlessly with that. At home and traveling I use it as a laptop, when I get to work I hook it up to a Surface Dock and use the free program Mouse Without Borders to control it with my desktop's keyboard and mouse and split screen on my main monitors. During meetings and on the sofa I use Microsoft's wireless display on whatever monitor/tv is closest to extend my desktop.

When I get off the track I wirelessly download lap data off my Mychron data logger for analysis. It's actually 33 seconds faster than the latest Macbooks at downloading that data and I can do so in tablet mode straight from the driver's seat (not enough room for the keyboard when I'm in the seat).

Because it's an actual desktop the tablet functionality is actually worth a darn. I've yet to use a tablet that's not infuriating to simply surf the internet with.

The only downside for you is that it's slightly smaller than 15". The upside is that it eliminates the need for two devices.

Thanks man, I'll look into this setup later tonight.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Display-F...UTF8&qid=1494296213&sr=8-1&keywords=17-X173DX

No touch or convertible, for $200 extra can get a nice bump in specs though.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N49G1N7/ref=psdc_13896615011_t2_B01N30BVCG

 

[DHG1078]

I also need some recommendations. Looking for a more "budget" laptop. I need one thats going to be used for web browsing, watching movies, and microsoft office. Basically a laptop for students. No gaming will be done. I would like something with an SSD but thats not a hard requirement, and would like decent battery life and a good screen.

 

[Screw-Rice]

I also need some recommendations. Looking for a more "budget" laptop. I need one thats going to be used for web browsing, watching movies, and microsoft office. Basically a laptop for students. No gaming will be done. I would like something with an SSD but thats not a hard requirement, and would like decent battery life and a good screen.

Found this the other day. If you go into the report cards for each brand there is reference to battery life. I'm torn on going with a good setup, or full overkill to cover what if scenarios (for instance, if I every want to try VR,etc).

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings

 

[DHG1078]

Found a new surface book, I believe the base model, for $900... Don't want to spend anywhere near that much, but its a dam good deal...

 

[Machdup1]

Surface Pro 4

 

[DHG1078]

I forgot I had this saved in my cart on ebay. Good screen, latest i5 processor, 8 gigs of ram, but slower hard drive.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/381917826877

 

[Screw-Rice]

So looking at the Surface Pro 4, a new set of questions rise. The 1TB model is spendy ($2200 best I found), but I get that's because it's SSD.

So, what are you guys doing for cloud storage for your stuff? I currently have a few external hardrives to keep multiple copies of taxes, business stuff, etc. Downside is it's a pain in the ass and have to keep track of them. I am starting to look into home cloud services, since I don't like the idea of paying monthly, and I don't like trusting a third party with all my stuff. Starting to think it would be better in the long run to just setup an NAS.

This is the downside to so many options (for myself) is it's far too easy to justify going off the deep end.

 

[DHG1078]

I forgot I had this saved in my cart on ebay. Good screen, latest i5 processor, 8 gigs of ram, but slower hard drive.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/381917826877

I ended up buying this laptop. Just opened up the box a couple hours ago. Once I deleted the bloatware and let everything in the background update, its very snappy. This will be perfect for us since I won't game on it and we just needed it for microsoft office and internet. Sticker on the laptop claims 8 hours of battery life, but I kind of doubt it.

 

[BigPoppa]

Bought my kids Surface Pro 4s. Love them. Might just replace my Macbook Pro

 

[BigPoppa]

I ended up buying this laptop. Just opened up the box a couple hours ago. Once I deleted the bloatware and let everything in the background update, its very snappy. This will be perfect for us since I won't game on it and we just needed it for microsoft office and internet. Sticker on the laptop claims 8 hours of battery life, but I kind of doubt it.

Yeah, everyone lies about their battery life. Either way, you probably won't be on it for 8 hours straight.....i hope?

 

[DHG1078]

Yeah, everyone lies about their battery life. Either way, you probably won't be on it for 8 hours straight.....i hope?

I won't, most of the time lol. My wife's classes are 5 hours long, and sometimes she has 2 back to back. Not very often though, and there are plugs, but good battery life helps.

 

[Screw-Rice]

I'm still debating options, and since storage is an issue and I don't like cloud services, likely will setup an NAS no matter the choice.

 

[fulanititoo8198]

I'm going with Surface Pro when I get a chance, touch screen, full version of windows and it's plenty quick for logging. Just have to figure out a way to mount it.

 

[DHG1078]

touch screen, full version of windows and it's plenty quick for logging

If those are your requirements, there are many options that meet that for less money.