Author Topic: Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!  (Read 4059 times)

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ejsmith3130

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Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!
« on: Nov 03, 2012, 07:13 pm »
So today I was looking at ultrabooks because my computer is probably on it's last legs after 6 or so years. I've been torn between the idea of a tablet or a laptop, and thought that an ultrabook would be a really great compromise... that was until I walked into the store and was introduced to the convertable laptop:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/10/26/ultrabook-convertible-5-tablet-notebook-windows-8-computers/

I think it looks so super promising- you get the best of both worlds, and it isn't that much more expensive than a good laptop.

Has anyone else heard anything about this?? I'm so excited and would love to hear if anyone has actually used one. I know that they all come with Windows 8, but I'm a PC person anyway, and I can't avoid the upgrades forever. The sales guy showed me how to use it, and even though it looks so different cosmetically, you can still switch over to a traditional desktop view if you want.


dallas10086

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Re: Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!
« Reply #1 on: Nov 03, 2012, 07:17 pm »
I was looking at Dell's version until I noticed they stopped making them; I read up on it further and short battery life was an issue. But I've been completely sold on the idea for a while, I'm just waiting for the right one to come along.

PSMKay

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Re: Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!
« Reply #2 on: Nov 03, 2012, 09:10 pm »
I've been working with Windows 8 since the very earliest versions as tech support is one of my main lines of income. I'll have to support it and train people how to use it, just as I currently do with Win XP, Vista and 7, Mac OSX, Android, iOS and 3 flavors of Linux.

I would not Win 8 for my own use, not even after the standard "wait until the first Service Pack" healing period. The "desktop version" seems so broken that it may be deliberate to forces users to adopt Metro. The Metro "tiles" for someone like me will mean scrolling forever to get to the ones I need - I currently have 30 shortcut directories and 80 individual shortcuts on my desktop, not to mention 20 pinned apps on the taskbar and another 25 pinned to the start menu. I have no room for gadgets or widgets on my desktop. The selection of available apps has been the Achilles Heel for Windows Phone OS and it hasn't improved despite devs having nearly two years to create apps for Metro.

The reviews I've seen of the convertible tablet/PC hardware and assorted hybrids is that they generally do neither task well. That they have major weak points at the hinges, as all of the info has to flow through one or two points of heavily-used failure. Not to mention that they're locked down so you can't install any other operating systems on them, shutting out the entire Linux community. As is the case with most emergent technology, I'm hedging my bets until it's been on the market and established as viable for at least 5 years before buying in.

jcarey

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Re: Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!
« Reply #3 on: Nov 05, 2012, 09:27 pm »
I was looking at Dell's version until I noticed they stopped making them; I read up on it further and short battery life was an issue. But I've been completely sold on the idea for a while, I'm just waiting for the right one to come along.

I have (and am currently typing on) the convertible notebook Dallas is speaking of. The Dell Inspiron DUO, as they are called. She is right, they don't make these anymore. While the idea is great and nifty, it is not executed as well as I would like. The handwriting is inconvenient and I must admit that I barely ever use the touch screen to write. It is good for reading and it is very compact and easy to carry, but the 2.5 hour battery life is the worst. I am currently in the process of looking for another laptop and I'm going to look into the new convertible ultrabooks.
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Mac Calder

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Re: Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!
« Reply #4 on: Nov 06, 2012, 04:10 am »
I am firmly in the camp of phones, tablets, laptops and desktops having completely separate and valid markets - and I don't think you can make a hybrid device that will fill the any two categories well.

They tried it with laptops - making really grunty laptops as "desktop replacements" - supposedly so that those people who actually required desktops (for processing power etc) could use a laptop instead of a desktop - however these "desktop replacements" suffered from being ridiculously heavy, large and cumbersome, had poor battery life and generally were still not as powerful as the desktop machines. Most were a monumental flop.

Same with the hybrid laptop and tablet - you have to compromise - maybe the compromise will work for you - but I tend to find that the above form factors evolved for a reason.

Instead I would rather see an improvement in application development - where if I search for a restaurant for example, I should get the option to send the address to my GPS app on my phone. When I use my NFC enabled phone to pay for dinner - and flag it as a business expense the transaction should be automatically filed inside my accounting software etc etc etc. I keep most of my stuff in google drive and my work email - because every device I have can open and search those two services - they don't care what OS I am running or anything like that - that is what the "cloud" is about - whilst the buzz word is new, it is how many of us nerds have been living our life for many a year.

In the end, I should pick up the device that works best for where I am going to be - ie I grab my tablet if I am going to a coffee meeting, my laptop if I am going to a long production meeting, my phone if I am just out on the street - and no matter what my data is there.

Deuteronomy75

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Re: Ladies and Gentleman.... the convertable laptop!
« Reply #5 on: Nov 14, 2012, 11:22 am »
I use a HP Touchsmart Convertible (WIN7) and I am quite happy with it. It is the consumer version of convertible notebooks, so it was affordable (half the price of a "professional" one).

Yes it is a compromise and I really like to use the USB-Docking, big screen, a good external keyboard and mouse in my office. But I even do protocols during meetings with the built-in keyboard - it is fast enough for my "homebrew, 6-finger-typing".
It works even as a replacement for light control, remote control software for wireless microphone rack or jingle-machine control for smaller applications.

In opposite to "each application a specialized device", I do not need to choose what device I have.
Smartphone and this convertible does it for my purposes.
For extensive use of Cloud services (to have all my data available on several devices), I have to rely on wireless Internet (be it Wireless LAN available or any cellular based system).
To explain: I am in Germany close to the swiss border. And here, we do NOT have a tight network of public WLan available and in some parts of black forest, I am happy to send a short text message - for extensive data transmission, the network is too slow. And when I pass over to Switzerland, I need a Swiss phone card to use wireless cellular based networking or I get a poor man quite easily.
So to have current project data on me and a big (protected) archive at home is my solution. And this convertible really increased my possibilities!