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Question

Choosing a new laptop

by MaYeL30 Feb 23, 2016 2:22AM PST

Hi everybody,

I'm currently looking for a new laptop and could use some help.
I have a Lenovo yoga 13 (1st gen) which served me very well for almost 3 years now, but it's starting to show signs of age.

I'm planning on doing a lot of traveling in the next few years so I need a laptop that can withstand the life on the road and tick a few must-haves:
Light weight and portable (but no smaller than a 12 inch display because I don't get along with smaller screens)
Strong and fast (I use Photoshop for video editing and drawing)
good battery life (a 7 hours+ running time)
because I use Photoshop for drawing and won't be able to take my graphic tablet with me, a touch screen and pen support are a big plus

After extensive research I find a few options:
Surface pro - pros: lightweight, versatile, touch and pen support, good battery life
cons: pricey (with the keyboard), and I just don''t think that it will be comfortable enough as a laptop since I will be using it mostly on my lap

HP spectre x2- pros: lightweight, versatile, touch and pen support, good battery life, much cheaper than the surface
cons: from what I understand core M doesn't have enough juice for my need, again- whole attach/detach mechanism seem a bit flimsy.

Acer Aspire Switch 12 S- from the little I've read seems a better option than suface and spectre x2 because of the magnetic keyboard that give it more feeling of a laptop.
cons: Core M processor.

Dell xps 13: pros: lightweight, good specs, good battery life, good price
Cons: even with a touch screen it's not ideal for drawing since it doesn't have tablet mode of some sort.

Lenovo yoga 260: This one ticks all the boxes- lightweight, good screen, rugged and relaible (as only thinkpads can be) and so very good as on the road laptop, more laptop than a tablet, comes with a pen that is good enough for drawing, good battery life and performance.
The only problem- and it's a big problem- is the price. With a core I5 8 gigs ram and 256 GB (which is the lowest configuration I would even consider) costing around 1400$ it is waaay out of my budget.

So now I am left with several *almost* options and one perfect laptop that is too expensive. If has another laptop in mind that is worth considering or can ease my worries about the surface performance as a laptop or the performance of the core M processor I would greatly appreciate it!

Discussion is locked

1 Posts
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Answer
At 850 why not another Yoga 3?
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 23, 2016 9:29AM PST
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/yoga-laptop-series/yoga-3-pro-laptop/?sb=:000001C9:0001576A:&cid=us:sem|se|google|shopping|80HE010EUS&ef_id=VMgqNAAAAf8GYWJU:20160223172613:s

It has 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD and http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-2500-vs-Intel-Core-M-5Y71 shows it's no i5 but no slouch either.

Maybe there's another model like it with an uptick in the CPU. Ask Lenovo?
Back to Laptops forum

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