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Old 03-10-2021, 01:07 PM   #21
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^ All of the advice above makes sense except for one thing I'll take issue with: the 360 hinge is meaningless in some use cases and essential in others. If you're going to be getting a keyboard / mouse so that you can quickly convert to a desktop setup (especially if you go with the portable monitor as well, and I highly recommend doing all of this), then you definitely want the 360 hinge.

My "on the go" productivity setup right now is,
  • Work laptop (13.3" HP ultrabook from a couple years ago with the 360 hinge and a thunderbolt port);
  • Asus Zenscreen Go with a Thunderbolt cable,
  • Logitech K780 keyboard; and
  • Logitech Triathlon M720 mouse.

With just those things, I can effectively have an office-caliber setup anywhere where I have a power outlet and 3 feet of desk space (and even the power outlet isn't necessary if I'm there for less than 3 hours). And it takes less than 30 seconds to set up.

In your case you may want a different mouse / keyboard combo. I chose mine because in addition to my work setup I'm also always carrying my personal laptop (a Zephyrus G14) and those two peripherals allow me to switch between controlling my work laptop and my personal laptop by pushing a button (also the K780 has a slot where you can put the portable monitor and it acts as a stand). If you were going for a more portable setup, you might go for a K380 keyboard and an MX Anywhere 3 mouse. If you wanted to buy a keyboard and mouse you could just leave on the desk at home and only use when you're there, I'd say you should go for the Ergo K860 keyboard and the MX Master 3 mouse.
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Old 03-10-2021, 01:31 PM   #22
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I've bought both my kids Surface Pros for university. They are a bit more compact than a laptop, have touch screen which they surprisingly use a lot for notes etc, decent battery life. They run any and all Windows 10 software no problem, i5/i7 series processors.

I have been using them for my business since the first generation and they have been pretty durable, I get 3+ years out of them no problem.
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Old 03-10-2021, 03:29 PM   #23
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Yeah I am on year 3 with my Surface pro 4. I'm on my 2nd type cover and 2nd power adapter for it, but everything else is original. I have really abused it, so it's beat to absolute ####, the hinge is a bit messed up, the screen has lots of microscratches (though none are intrusive) and there are plenty of backlight issues due to it - again - being beat to ####. And the battery life is pretty poor now. But it still works just fine. Very impressive device.

I personally wouldn't recommend a surface as a laptop replacement... you're just giving up too much. But as a device with a particular use case it's insanely convenient to have one. They certainly beat the hell out of an iPad.
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Old 03-11-2021, 12:12 AM   #24
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Something I learned from a friend when I was in school was that excel was the superior program for note taking. I liked it more than word and one note. One note wasn't bad, but there was just something I didn't quite like about it.

You'd have to quickly learn a few tricks such as how to change cell formats on the fly or things like typing ' before things so it would display as is rather than convert to a different format. This so your notes can display as you want it. I loved being able to do calculations easily in excel, drop grid lines on a whim and basically type anywhere I wanted.

Add in snip and sketch and dropping pics into the notes is nice too.

Then there's tabs... I could do basically one tab per day. A word doc is basically a rolled up scroll in comparison.
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Old 03-11-2021, 12:10 PM   #25
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I really dislike the way One Note treats everything as an inserted block, I can never get used to it as a lot of my notes are text commands or code fragments.

I use Evernote for notes, can make a complete hierarchy of notebooks and notes, sync between devices, I can insert specific code blocks, etc.

The only downside is they limited the number of devices for the free one if using the app, but that doesn't hamper me.
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Old 02-22-2022, 03:50 PM   #26
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My dog decided to jump over the back of my couch, and landed paw first in the beer glass in my hand, spilling it all over my beloved Pixelbook Go. I've been a happy user of Chromebooks for my personal device for years, but was limited in my online poker options and kind of wanted a bigger screen, so hastily replaced with a Samsung Galaxy Book. I love most everything about it, but the damn fan! I've been on fanless Chromebooks for year, and can't stand laptops with fans.

Am I going to get used to it? (it's only been a day). Are there good Windows fanless options out there in the <USD$1k range?
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Old 02-22-2022, 03:58 PM   #27
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I'll never get used to a fan, but can't say whether you'll get used to it or not. The Galaxy Book S is fanless, but not sure if you can find that for that much.

MacBook Air?
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Old 02-22-2022, 04:17 PM   #28
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I'll never get used to a fan, but can't say whether you'll get used to it or not. The Galaxy Book S is fanless, but not sure if you can find that for that much.

MacBook Air?
Mac's are not much more useful for poker than Chromebooks unfortunately.

Galaxy Book pro is what I got. Galaxy book S looks like a fair step down in performance for a little cheaper. I am liking the bigger AMOLED screen and it's very snappy (i7/16GB config). Are those sacrifices worth it for no fan?! I'll probably try this a week and see if I can get used to it.

Are there good fanless Surface clamshell options?
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Old 02-22-2022, 05:17 PM   #29
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The Surface Pro 7 was fanless, but I don't think the 8 is. The Surface Pro X is fanless, but that's a whole different processer architecture so you might still have problems for poker with that.
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Old 02-22-2022, 06:56 PM   #30
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The Surface Pro 7 was fanless, but I don't think the 8 is. The Surface Pro X is fanless, but that's a whole different processer architecture so you might still have problems for poker with that.
It looks like the Pro X's are all tablets. I like to use my laptop, well, on my lap!

My Pixelbook Go and a Macbook air check a lot of boxes for me. Light, thin, great screen, great battery, snappy fast, fanless. Hoping for something similar to those in a Windows laptop, but nothing really looks perfect. This Samsung is pretty close except for the fan. I deleted McAfee and some other bloatware and have been using it in power efficiency mode for an hour and the fan hasn't come one once, so maybe it will work out ok.
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Old 03-04-2022, 09:33 AM   #31
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Gotta recommend the LG "Gram" - got one at Costco in December for $1,800 - 17" and is ~1.35 kg (3 lb). Have been using it as my "backup laptop" for that time and it's been spectacular on battery life, great screen and speed. My main laptop has been docked and hasn't moved since I got the Gram. Very surprised at the build quality and general setup of the machine. Only complaints are very minor.
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Old 03-08-2022, 12:42 AM   #32
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Best overall notebook out there IMO. What would take it over the top is an alloy body the plastic is kinda flexy.
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Old 03-08-2022, 07:15 AM   #33
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Uh, best overall notebook is over $2K for a usable spec and features an underwhelming last-gen i7 processor intel integrated graphics? I'm gonna go with no.

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...in-10/15264488

That costs $1900. It is objectively a better laptop than a gram right from the Ryzen mobile processor. In fact, it's objectively a better laptop than just about anything on the market. This year's version with the 6000 series chip is going to cost about $2500. I'd buy it right now if I needed a laptop.
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Old 03-08-2022, 01:20 PM   #34
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Uh, best overall notebook is over $2K for a usable spec and features an underwhelming last-gen i7 processor intel integrated graphics? I'm gonna go with no.

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...in-10/15264488

That costs $1900. It is objectively a better laptop than a gram right from the Ryzen mobile processor. In fact, it's objectively a better laptop than just about anything on the market. This year's version with the 6000 series chip is going to cost about $2500. I'd buy it right now if I needed a laptop.
I don't know if that fits into the best overall category. If you're not gaming, who wants a 4 pound 14 inch laptop?
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Old 03-17-2022, 12:25 PM   #35
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Best overall notebook out there IMO. What would take it over the top is an alloy body the plastic is kinda flexy.
Yep - though the plastic body is surprisingly strong. And it has the #1 thing for an accountant...a numeric keypad.

Brilliant screen and still...$1,900 at costco and only 3 lb. Not my main machine (no dock) but as my travelling machine, together with a portable 15.6" monitor....excellent!
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Old 03-17-2022, 01:32 PM   #36
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What the.... I spent like $900-$1200 on work laptops and those are typically work horse and over powered laptops for our needs. What are some of you guys doing that requires such expensive laptops for school and work?

It's metaphorically sounding like you guys are basically buying Porches for short daily commutes. Unless a significant portion of it is pleasure (ie: Gaming). But even then... there's plenty of good budget gaming laptops that should suffice for a lower budget.

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Yep - though the plastic body is surprisingly strong. And it has the #1 thing for an accountant...a numeric keypad.

Brilliant screen and still...$1,900 at costco and only 3 lb. Not my main machine (no dock) but as my travelling machine, together with a portable 15.6" monitor....excellent!
https://www.amazon.ca/HP-Pavilion-17-Inch-i5-9300H-17-cd0010nr/dp/B07SH3KS4K/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3KZJM6XTGURUT&keywords=HP+gaming+l aptop+17"&qid=1647544663&sprefix=hp+gaming+laptop+ 17+%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-5

I got this gaming laptop last year for work for like $1,100 and a few of the 15" ones to replace an aging fleet of laptops and desktops for $900 each last summer and I consider these laptops amazing, excellent and overpowered for almost all work processes. They're typically always docked at work and only occasionally do we need the laptop function for on site audits, conferences/school/exam taking and work from home. I also added a few ASUS TUF, Acer Nitro and MSI Modern laptops that I found great deals on to the work fleet and they've met and surpassed expectations.

What kind of things are you guys doing that need $1.5K+ laptops? At those price points, my dream work machines are the Lenovo X/T/P series rather than gaming laptops.

I guess a major caveat is that I and my colleagues do not game on work computers.
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Old 03-17-2022, 01:38 PM   #37
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Can't speak for anyone else. But for a personal laptop, I was looking for thin/light, good screen, long lasting battery, and snappy performance for day to day things.

It seemed you had to get around the $1k USD range to get those things.
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Old 03-17-2022, 01:50 PM   #38
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Can't speak for anyone else. But for a personal laptop, I was looking for thin/light, good screen, long lasting battery, and snappy performance for day to day things.

It seemed you had to get around the $1k USD range to get those things.
That sounds about right and that's the range I'm sitting in as well when I obtain laptops.

Depending on the definition of thin/light/size, I got all of that in laptops for $1K ish CAD (excluding accessories like mouse/dock etc.). All the laptops have like minimum 2-3 hours battery life on max performance on standard batteries and we can stretch that up into the 7+ hour range on a full charge with battery saver and airplane mode. I haven't bothered looking into high capacity batteries. Everything is snappy with the newer i5 processors and M2 SSD. The keyboards on the gaming laptops are pretty decent for long typing sessions too.

I feel like at work we are throwing a ton at these things but they never really have to work too hard... with the exception of certain updates. I'm just curious what usage I'm not aware of that others are nabbing machines for 50-100% more to self proclaim just work or do school.
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Old 03-17-2022, 05:53 PM   #39
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What the.... I spent like $900-$1200 on work laptops and those are typically work horse and over powered laptops for our needs. What are some of you guys doing that requires such expensive laptops for school and work?

It's metaphorically sounding like you guys are basically buying Porches for short daily commutes. Unless a significant portion of it is pleasure (ie: Gaming). But even then... there's plenty of good budget gaming laptops that should suffice for a lower budget.



https://www.amazon.ca/HP-Pavilion-17-Inch-i5-9300H-17-cd0010nr/dp/B07SH3KS4K/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3KZJM6XTGURUT&keywords=HP+gaming+l aptop+17"&qid=1647544663&sprefix=hp+gaming+laptop+ 17+%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-5

I got this gaming laptop last year for work for like $1,100 and a few of the 15" ones to replace an aging fleet of laptops and desktops for $900 each last summer and I consider these laptops amazing, excellent and overpowered for almost all work processes. They're typically always docked at work and only occasionally do we need the laptop function for on site audits, conferences/school/exam taking and work from home. I also added a few ASUS TUF, Acer Nitro and MSI Modern laptops that I found great deals on to the work fleet and they've met and surpassed expectations.

What kind of things are you guys doing that need $1.5K+ laptops? At those price points, my dream work machines are the Lenovo X/T/P series rather than gaming laptops.

I guess a major caveat is that I and my colleagues do not game on work computers.
That machine is over 6 lb - not counting the power brick. I have had several 17" (with numpads) like that, from Dell Precision laptops (great, huge beasts!) to HP Z-book G2 and G5 (also heavy!).

At 3 lb, I can have the Gram on my lap while camping and watching a movie, comfortably, and without issue. The screen is fantastic, and with the numpad it's a fast, portable workhorse. At half the weight of the Pavillion.

I'm partial to workstations - they're built like tanks and stand up to travel and abuse - I camped with one for over 8 months working all the time, from deserts to monsoons. But I also live in the middle of everywhere BC without a place to get service, so reliability is key. All of those - and so far the Gram - have fit that bill admirably.
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Old 03-17-2022, 10:20 PM   #40
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That machine is over 6 lb - not counting the power brick. I have had several 17" (with numpads) like that, from Dell Precision laptops (great, huge beasts!) to HP Z-book G2 and G5 (also heavy!).

At 3 lb, I can have the Gram on my lap while camping and watching a movie, comfortably, and without issue. The screen is fantastic, and with the numpad it's a fast, portable workhorse. At half the weight of the Pavillion.

I'm partial to workstations - they're built like tanks and stand up to travel and abuse - I camped with one for over 8 months working all the time, from deserts to monsoons. But I also live in the middle of everywhere BC without a place to get service, so reliability is key. All of those - and so far the Gram - have fit that bill admirably.
Hmm ok. That situation I can see it. That's fair. You paid the premium for portability and you use the hell out of that feature. Your requirements are kinda unique though.


I've never met a student who truly needed both. It was either ultra portable or gaming. Work is ultra portable or work horse, rarely need both.


I mean, I get it. I used to travel around with a 17" work horse, usb screen, printed income tax act, printed materials etc. It was heavy and sucked in security at the airport. I swapped the 17" for a 14" i5 lenovo X1 that I paid $1100 and was quite happy with the decrease in bulk. I am the power user type so can use an ultra portable work horse to most of its potential, but I honestly can get by without it.


With so many people seemingly owning them, I just find it hard to believe there's so many people whose minimum requirements require a $1500+ laptop.
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