laptop, ultrabook, tablet/2in1 advice please!

irishoak

Hi guys,
I am looking for a laptop, ultrabook, tablet/2in1 with a keyboard (wireless or connected to the cover).

My main use: Office work – report writing, excel, usual mundane stuff. I would like to have the ability to store a large number of PDFs, word, books on it, as my internet is sketchy enough to be relying on cloud tech.
However, I am getting more into producing higher quality reports and documents where I like to utilise SmartArt Graphics which really make a document stand out. I guess I am trying to edge into, dare I say it, graphic design? Would this be a big issue deciding on a device? Are there computers better suited to this?
Lesser extent: YouTube, some movies… No gaming for myself.

What I would find really beneficial is the ability to easily show the screen on a big monitor or TV. Nice size for travelling – going through airports, planes, etc so preferably a 13” would be best for portability and typing.
So, what confuses me? What do I need?

Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB…..1TB?
Memory: 8GB or 16GB?
Processor: i5 or i7? (The i7 is faster- would I notice the difference?)

Future-proofed: should it have Thunderbolt 3 ports? I had almost purchased the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 before I realised no Thunderbolt 3. I was really excited about that format of the tablet and attachable keyboard. Not sure if I actually need thunderbolt 3, but if investing money, I do hope it will last a significant amount of time technologically.
What have I been thinking about?.
Huawei matebook x pro, Microsoft Surface Pro 6 (ruled out?), Dell XPS 13, Asus Zenbook, HP??

All your help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you all in advance!

Xterminator

hi op

there is a trade off between portability and performance. To bridge that gap we have things like dell xps and surface pro , both of which i have deployed and supported in a corporate environment.

If i was supporting you and money was not really an issue id recommend 2 machines. a powerful one with good storage (possibly a desktop?) and a portable one. The portable one can be a tablet/touchscreen & it wouldn't need to be docked regularly etc. because when in the office you would use the desktop. And wouldn't have to be really high spec either. maybe something like Latitude 12 7000 series, which would retail at about half of a top end surface pro 6? Agood desktp pc with a decent graphic card would not cost too much either.

now to answer your question id find the dell xps range better than surface pro, because of all the issues i had with surface pros, particularly docking them with dual screens. Between graphic drivers, glitches and even the odd blue screen. and the last thing i want is a senior exec complaining that his surface pro has had 'that issue' again every month or two.

i also deploys some 13" xps laptops and i thought they were better, but still the USB dock is a nightmare, to get everything the way you want, between screen resolutions, problems when hot docking etc.

thats my 2 cents. you wont get 100% of what you want with a top of the range super portable.

irishoak

Hi Xterminator,

Thanks for your thoughts. Greatly appreciated.
So do you think that the 13" Dell XPS would be a solid choice?

If the USB dock is an issue, is it possible to wirelessly display the laptop on a monitor? even using a wireless keyboard if necessary.

Cheers!

Xterminator

The USB dock was an issue when trying to get it to work consistently, with matching screen resolution on dual screen, hot docking vs cold boot etc. It was just actually adding a layer of complexity. Not an insurmountable obstacle though.

And the benefits of docking a 13" laptop cannot be overlooked! I personally couldnt work on that screen for a whole day. So id imagine docking would perform better than chromecast or some other wireless solution.

And they are a beautiful machine.