[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by Kimified

Looking for something light,powerful, portable and reliable. I really want to try out the Hybrid form factor without compromising on the priorities I mentioned. Basic research over the last week has led me to the Surface Pro 2 and the Lenovo Yoga 13 2 Pro.

I was also on the market for a hybrid. I looked at the Lenovo Yoga, the Samsung Ativ, a convertible from HP, Toshiba and finally settled on the Dell XPS 12.

I liked the Yoga, but it is a bit cumbersome to use in the tablet mode, especially if you are using it on your lap with the keys sticking out in the back ( the latest Yoga has a keyboard where the keys retract in the tablet mode, but i doubt it is out yet ).

I tried out the Surface in the shop, but found it to be too heavy to be used as a tablet for long ( the Dell XPS 12 is also heavy, but didn't feel as heavy as the Surface ). Besides, the screen is too small to be of much use in the laptop mode.

I loved the Samsung Ativ, but the screen was a bit too narrow for the laptop mode. Besides, they didn't have the Haswell processor option when I was hunting for mine ( not sure if they launched it yet ). The detachable screen is perfect. The only problem is that in the laptop mode, you will have to be careful that it doesn't flip over ( since all the components are inside the screen itself, making it top heavy ).

I finally settled on the Dell XPS 12 with it's innovative flip mode which solves my biggest complaint with the Yoga. The screen is a gorgeous full HD LED unit with Gorilla glass. The body is made of anodized aluminium and carbon fiber and it looks and feels really nice. It comes with the 4th Gen Intel Core i5/i7 processors which have great battery life. Mine easily lasts more than 6 hours on a single charge depending on what i use it for. It boots up 4 seconds flat and is overall very snappy ( admittedly I haven't used it to play any heavy duty games yet though ).
My only complaints with it are that, it doesn't have too many ports ( i bought a card reader and an external hard drive ). It has just 2 usb ports and 1 mini HDMI port, but I guess that is a compromise you have to make for portability.

[Kimified]

Originally Posted by procrj

Check out the XPS 12 from Dell. Its screen is supposed to be better than the Yoga 13. The 360 flip of Yoga can be a pain when used in tablet mode. Did you try twisting and turning a demo piece? Feels weird to hold a tablet and feel keys against your palm.

Yeah. I have heard that the Keyboard feels weird in tablet mode. But, I have also heard people telling that Its not such a big deal. I haven't got it hands-on till now. Will go check it out and see for myself how I feel about it.

The Yoga 2 Pro is not out in India yet and has the best screen of all the convertibles with a res of 3200 * 1800. That's better than the retina displays of Apple Macbook Pro as well. This is one of the major selling point for the Yoga 2 Pro.

Originally Posted by Newpunter

I was also on the market for a hybrid. I looked at the Lenovo Yoga, the Samsung Ativ, a convertible from HP, Toshiba and finally settled on the Dell XPS 12.

I liked the Yoga, but it is a bit cumbersome to use in the tablet mode, especially if you are using it on your lap with the keys sticking out in the back ( the latest Yoga has a keyboard where the keys retract in the tablet mode, but i doubt it is out yet ).

I tried out the Surface in the shop, but found it to be too heavy to be used as a tablet for long ( the Dell XPS 12 is also heavy, but didn't feel as heavy as the Surface ). Besides, the screen is too small to be of much use in the laptop mode.

....
My only complaints with it are that, it doesn't have too many ports ( i bought a card reader and an external hard drive ). It has just 2 usb ports and 1 mini HDMI port, but I guess that is a compromise you have to make for portability.

Thanks for a detailing all the options. I somehow am not inclined towards Samsung Ativ. It does not stand out anywhere and does everything just fine.

The keyboard retract is only on the Thinkpad Yoga - Which is a 12.5 inch convertable thinkpad with a Pen Digitizer feature but with a lower res screen (1920 * 1200). They did not put it on the Yoga 13 Pro since it would have made the device thicker :(

I gave the Dell XPS 12 a thought as well. But, like you said, the ports on this thing are less. The battery life is more or less similar to the Yoga 13 pro which has a bigger and better screen, more ports and lighter.

The only grouse with the Yoga is the keyboard in the tablet mode. Let me check that out. If its too much of an hindrance, I will decide between the the Dell XPS 12 and the Thinkpad Yoga. Thanks

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by Kimified

I gave the Dell XPS 12 a thought as well. But, like you said, the ports on this thing are less. The battery life is more or less similar to the Yoga 13 pro which has a bigger and better screen, more ports and lighter.

You should also consider the processor. the XPS12 comes with the 4th generation Core i5/i7 processors which improve the battery life a lot. The earlier XPS12 didn't have a good battery life, but the new processors improved it by a lot. Mine currently is at 69% and it says it will last another 8 hours and 19 min.
Not sure if the Yogapad has the 4th gen processors yet.
Another thing to be seen is the build quality. The XPS 12 has an amazing build quality with the anodized aluminum and carbon fiber body. I have seen the Yogapad and although nice, the Dell looks and feels way better.

[MaxTorque]

Guys I have been looking for an entry level laptop. I prefer 14" laptop. Came across this one, from Sony

Can someone explain the pros and cons..? Other alternatives also welcomed.

[hiren959]

Thanks Nitin for your suggestion. It was not covered under warranty period now. So it was not the case.
BTW I have purchased a new laptop Samsung 3 series, model no is NP355V5C S05IN. A powerhouse for gaming and graphics.

[sgiitk]

Saw an ad for a Dell with a 4G CPU at about 67k. But it is a 15".

[procrj]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Guys I have been looking for an entry level laptop. I prefer 14" laptop. Came across this one, from Sony

Can someone explain the pros and cons..? Other alternatives also welcomed.

2GB ram running Win 8. I wouldn't recommend it as Win 8 eats up a lot of memory. If you plan to use it daily surfing and movie viewing, then would suggest you look at a 3rd gen Dual core like this Dell and get Win 7 installed on it.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Saw an ad for a Dell with a 4G CPU at about 67k. But it is a 15".

I'm a bit curious - why do you have a preference for a 14-inch screen?
For me, the bigger the merrier, and the smaller the cuddlier. A 11-inch would be great for carrying around, whereas a 17-inch would be perfect on a desk and if it had a touch screen, the clicks would be more accurate. It's a pity the manufacturers provide us with the ability to place an order for customized computers in this part of the world without charging a heavy premium. I opted for a 15-inch yesterday because it was the only model that the store had that seemed to strike a balance between everything I wanted - a 4th generation Core i7, 8GB RAM, and a touch interface. They did not have any models with a touch interface and over 8GB RAM; most of their laptops had only 4GB RAM. Apparently, the third generation processors are still quite popular and have not been taken off the shelves.

Originally Posted by procrj

2GB ram running Win 8. I wouldn't recommend it as Win 8 eats up a lot of memory.

I noticed that the 32-bit variant of Windows 8 uses up to 2.2GB of RAM with typical usage scenarios - a web browser with a few tabs open, a messenger running, an antivirus in the background, and a Microsoft Word document opened. Microsoft states that the minimum requirement is 1GB RAM for the 32-bit version and 2GB RAM for the 64-bit version, but I have always been skeptical about the minimum system requirements that Microsoft reports because it is theoretically possible to run with those minimum requirements, but it certainly is not practical to use a computer that is constantly swapping data between the memory and the disk unless it is used only for email, calendar-scheduling, and other simple operations. The recommended memory that Microsoft states is 4GB.

The only reason for wanting more than 4GB is if there is a specific application that needs more memory or if you want to run virtual machines. A typical mainstream-performance laptop would have 8GB RAM whereas gaming machines can have 16GB or 32GB RAM, and the most exquisite of laptops (Eurocom and similar brands) would have up to 64GB RAM at which point it is no longer called a laptop!

[carboy]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

A 11-inch would be great for carrying around, whereas a 17-inch would be perfect on a desk and if it had a touch screen, the clicks would be more accurate.

Why not a desktop for the desk?

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by carboy

Why not a desktop for the desk?

Most Indian expats have to return to India at some point or at least travel to India for a holiday, and laptops are duty-exempt (one per person). You can just walk through the green channel and enjoy the monsoons every year without having to leave the computer behind.

[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by procrj

2GB ram running Win 8. I wouldn't recommend it as Win 8 eats up a lot of memory.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion. Unfortunately it is a 15" laptop and the vendor won't deliver in our area. Anyways I will keep this in mind while choosing next one.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

I'm a bit curious - why do you have a preference for a 14-inch screen?
For me, the bigger the merrier, and the smaller the cuddlier.

I find the 14" the best compromise between bulk and ease of viewing and carrying.

A few years earlier I went for a 13".

[Aroy]

Actually bigger screens with higher resolutions would be preferred, but bigger screens with same or lower resolution are not worth it. Then bigger screens consume more power and weigh more, hence the preference for smaller screens.

As our eyes get accustomed to high resolution mobile screens, the low resolution of larger screens just does not gell.

[sgiitk]

I did a 1:1 comparison between my Asus K53 (15") and my wife's Toshiba 14". Hers wais a lower end i3. Saw no real difference and the Toshiba was far lighter.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

Most Indian expats have to return to India at some point or at least travel to India for a holiday, and laptops are duty-exempt (one per person). You can just walk through the green channel and enjoy the monsoons every year without having to leave the computer behind.

My question was because it seemed like your post was recommending 2 laptops - one for carrying & one for the desktop. If you are going to have one laptop anyway for walking through the green channel, there is no reason for the compute on your desk not being a PC.

Anyway, I once got a desktop on TR from the US.