Need Slim laptop recommendation

**visuvius** · 07-08-16, 03:08 AM

I'm looking for a slim laptop or I guess they're called Ultrabooks now or something. Debating between a Surface Pro, a Asus Zenbook, Zenbook flip or a Dell XPS 13. It will mostly be used for web browsing and office shit. Need to be able to connect to a projector via HDMI.

Thoughts?

**kibner** · 07-08-16, 09:19 AM

The Surface may be overkill for something like that. It also only has a mini-displayport instead of hdmi. I love them, though.

I am not familiar with the Zenbooks. The XPS line is normally pretty reliable, but is probably more power than you may need.

When buying a laptop, always try to buy a model from the business or some other premium line from the manufacturer if you highly value reliability. Also, get as long of a warranty as you can afford because if something in those things break, it can be very difficult to fix yourself.

**rush2049** · 07-08-16, 10:21 AM

I'd say dell xps 13.

I just replaced 14 surface pro 4's for a customer, numerous hardware issues. And the surface books they replaced them with are not bullet proof either.

**visuvius** · 07-08-16, 05:49 PM

So I think I've narrowed it down to the Surface Pro 4 and the XPS 13.

If I go with the Surface Pro 4, should I go with the Core M Processor or the Core i5? I haven't looked deeply into it but a couple of the reviews I read mentioned how the Surface Pro 4 can't even take full advantage of the i5 or i7 because it overheats and that the Core M is the better choice?

I'm heading to the MS store to check out the Surface.

**salty99** · 07-08-16, 06:15 PM

My IT department just bought all of the professors Surface Pro 4s and my brother got one. He said it worked pretty well, but there were some weird quirks that made it not great. Sometimes they just won't wake up and you'll have to do some weird hard reset crap.

I've heard good things about the yoga-pad.

Personally I recommend the Thinkpad x1 carbon. I've had mine for close to 3 years now and it's still crushing it. They are a little bit pricey and most of that price is the form factor that you're paying for. It's thin, light as hell, and you can even get a matte screen if you want, in traditional thinkpad style.

This thing is so frickin light, it's lighter than the MacBook Air (at least the one I bought was lighter than the most recent MacBook Air at the time).

You can customize the internals to fit your needs. 1440p screen, SSD, upgraded CPU/RAM - there's a pretty big range. It's durable like you wouldn't believe (satellite grade carbon fiber) and passes all sorts of military grade tests (including waterproof keyboard I think). I've even taken this thing out into the field in 115+ degree Arizona summer weather and it did fine. I imagine the newer 4th-gen ones are even better.

I've always been a huge fan of ThinkPad, they lost their way for a little while but the X1 carbon is one hell of a laptop

**kibner** · 07-08-16, 08:18 PM

I really like Thinkpads, too. Their not-bottom-tier models are so good. Especially those keyboards.

**Kanati** · 07-08-16, 09:17 PM

I have an XPS 13 special edition (1080p screen I think was the only real addition). It's a 2-in-1 flip top. I like it quite a bit. With the dell active pen it's a pretty good wacom cintiq companion alternative too.

**HeavyG** · 07-08-16, 10:17 PM

I have the Yoga 900, and love it. It was a toss up between the Yoga and the Surface Pro, and the Yoga just had the Surface beat by a few hundred bucks. The only drawback (if it even matters to you) is that the Yoga is using MSATA for SSD, while the Surface Pro is on an M.2, if I recall correctly.

My Yoga is speedy enough, looks great, is light weight, and has a great battery life. I did love the Surface Pro keyboard though... it was so nice.