Laptop vs 2 into 1 vs tablet

[MRSOUND]

So I've replaced 3 hard drives in my current laptop (5 yr old Dell Inspiron) that started its life as my daughters college laptop. Today it seems to have taken a crap again. After going out for dinner the wife and I stopped at Best Buy and had "Brandon" the local geek squad guy give us the lowdown on options. After telling him how and what I use a computer for ( surfing, Microsoft office, picture downloads, music, etc) I dont "game" or use CAD or any large data style programs. He's steering us toward a 2 into1 which is basically a smaller laptop with a touch screen or if ya like a tablet with a keyboard.....sorta. Learned that you can't realy download photos to a tablet, but you can take them!(wife already knew this) None of the 2-1's had a disc drive but you can buy and hook up an external one for $35. Typing this now on the wife's ipad...not sure if I would want this for all my computer activities. Leaning towards the 2-1. Looking at a Lenovo or an Asus brand. Both in the $600 range. (I don't need a $1000 machine) Gonna stew on the decision till the end of the week and just bring my work laptop home till I make a purchase. Looking for opinions on the "title" of the thread as well as brands. Sound off! I'm curious of your opinion and experiences.

[86T3]

I can't vouch for a 2 in 1 but if I had my choice between a laptop and a tablet I'd go laptop without thinking. I thought I had to have a tablet in the worst way, got one 2 years ago for xmas from my wife and I probably haven't used it for 20 hours total. I bought a new laptop 4 moths prior to the tablet and am more than happy with it. Its a Toshiba and has a huge screen. More storage than I'll ever use and has a super long battery life. Haven't had one problem with it. It was only around $350 when I bought it, which I think is cheaper than the Samsung tablet my wife bought me, but can do 100 times more with. Whatever you choose, look online before you buy it. The laptop I bought online from best buy and was something they didn't carry in store, and was a better deal for the options than what they had. Free shipping, just pick it up at the store. Hope this helps

Edit: another place to look before you buy is amazon.com. they always have food deals and you can sign up for prime for 30 days free and get free shipping. My wife's coworkers bought a huge tv off amazon, signed up for prime and saved $100+ in shipping, then canceled it right after. I did the same thing for a Kindle for my wife last december, it's a great deal

[MRSOUND]

Even though this iPad is basically a huge version of my iPhone and I know how to navigate it I'm on the path of either a laptop or 2-1 already. One thing I found out this evening is the windows 8 is based on an "app" style format. Setup specifically for touch screens such as on a tablet or smart phone but can be navigated utilizing the traditional mouse pad

[Flyingw]

I can offer some input here. I have all three. My garage computer is an HP laptop. Full features as a desktop. Mechanical hard drive with expanded memory. I can do what I need to on this and have plenty of storage.

I bought my wife an HP 2 in 1. It a laptop and the screen separates from the keyboard and becomes a touch screen tablet. This machine has a digital hard drive meaning it doesn't have any moving parts to break BUT, disk space on the digital hard drives is small compared to the mechanical hard drives. Memory expansion is very limited as well but for all practical purposes, it functions the same as a laptop. I have a wireless mouse for it so you aren't confined to the touch pad or touch screen. Neither the laptop or 2 in 1 are suitable for power programs unless configured for such. Really, the laptops are slowing being phased out with the evolution in portable technology and tablets are taking their place.

I also have an ASUS 10" tablet. Very limited on storage and memory. Its Android and a little different than the Windows based tablets but its not too difficult to flip flop between windows and Android machines. I have a keyboard docking station and its good for a small machine to take on an airplane or short business trip for email and internet but beyond that, very limited.

[Flyingw]

You are correct about Windows 8. It is geared toward the tablet market with what they call "Tiles" at startup. Tiles are apps to get you to different things but for us old guys who are use to the old Windows look, it can be a bit different. I found a small program called Classic Shell that gives me the power to shove the tiles to the rear and start Windows normally. One feature that was turned off in Windows 8 was the start button. People flipped out when Windows 8 was released and there was no start button. People didn't know what to do. Classic Shell puts a start button back. Great little program for Windows 8.

[MRSOUND]

The 2 in 1 s he showed us had the "lid" pivot completely around and under the screen. No disconnect. The Lenovo had 4 gb with a 500 gb hard drive and the Asus had 6 gb. With the 500gb hard drive. He said the same thing as far as the classic laptop being phased out

[Flyingw]

Ya some pivot, some disconnect. Were the hard drives in the Lenovo and the ASUS digital drives or mechanical? When I bought the 2 in 1, hard drive size on the models with digital drives was still pretty small but that was two Christmas's ago. The technology changes so fast anymore. Pretty soon, all we will need is a small hand held tablet much like we saw in the original Star Trek series. That show was way ahead of its time.

[86T3]

Just to satisfy my curiosity, how old are you Mrsound and FlyingW? I have a feeling you two are older than me but are more open to new things. I'm 30, I love my Samsung note 3 phone but I don't ever want to give up my "old" style laptop. On of the features that made me buy it was it was one of the last with the old style windows. I hate apps! Ever if they are just programs with a different name, I still hate them! I don't like change! And get off my damn lawn!

[Flyingw]

I'm 51. I bought my first computer when Windows 95 came out. That's what I know, that's what I'm use to. I've never been an Apple fan and the Android stuff is just different. I actually like Windows 8 since I turned the Tiles off. I can still get to them when I need to and It works the same as it always has. Windows 10 comes out later this year. Curious to see what they have changed. I know Internet Explorer is being shelved and replaced with their new browser yet to be named.

[MRSOUND]

47 here. iPhone has helped me accept some of the newer "changes" technology brings.. Being on a laptop 80% of my work day also plays apart. I was part of the resistance and one of the last to have a desktop till they made everyone go to laptops. I accept change, I just don't always embrace it.


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[MRSOUND]

I believe both were digital but the guy said the Lenovo acted like solid state during start up similar to a tablet.


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[86T3]

47 here. iPhone has helped me accept some of the newer "changes" technology brings.. Being on a laptop 80% of my work day also plays apart. I was part of the resistance and one of the last to have a desktop till they made everyone go to laptops. I accept change, I just don't always embrace it.


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You mean to tell me....people don't have...desk tops anymore? What kind of world are we living in? I'm done.

Thanks for giving up your ages, it confirms the fact that I was born 5 decades to early. Seriously though, get off my lawn

[atc007]

I sit here on a Toshiba laptop,I have found over the years, Staples is very hard to beat at brand new laptop pricing. I paid $269 for this one 2 or 3 years ago. I would liken it to a Tecate,, it has done everything it's supposed too. But a lot of screws have worked loose,,,yes,literally...one fell out,,actually,,after troubleshooting,,broke off,because of a stiff right hinge,,and it's a mess lol. We have Kindles from the newest HDX,,BLAZING speed,,down to HD9. And a new Ipad, for schooling.. My vote? Very simple,,I am in the market for a Macbook pro. I had a 2010 13 inches and absolutely loved it. And I had never used Safari before. I figured it out for what I need and absolutely loved it. I can't however say I've used a 2in 1,I haven't. We were getting them through school,but they backed out,which was alright by me. I think for us, The Ipad is better. They are certainly way more money,but I would check out a macbook. Machined from one solid chunk of aluminum,bulletproof machine.

[86125m]

This is my main laptop http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/HP-Stream-11-Signature-Edition-Laptop/productID.309174400. Its a good laptop and the best part is the price.

[MRSOUND]

So I did a little research on the 2 models that were suggested to me at best buy:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i3-6gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-aluminum-black/8731082.p?id=1219362858579&skuId=8731082
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-2-2-in-1-11-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-silver-black/8618406.p?id=1219354100002&skuId=8618406
By research I mean I read the lowest star reviews for each. Common complaint seems to be slowness if running multiple programs.
I'm more tempted to go with just a plain laptop and forgo the touch screen capability to get faster processor speeds and more memory like this one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-x-series-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/8992029.p?id=1219384861352&skuId=8992029
I don't know, 2 in1 owners convince me! Do I need/want it?

[sledcrazyinCT]

I have an ASUS laptop and will never own anything made by ASUS again! Toshiba makes a good product. Some may disagree but to me tablet is a glorified smart phone.

Unless you do sales presentations where a tablet loads a quick video or powerpoint they are easier to tote around and fire up faster then a laptop when you only have a couple minutes to pitch a client. Otherwise I think you will like another laptop better.

[MRSOUND]

Well i went back and forth in my head all week long as far as what I wanted to get. The wife also wanted to upgrade from her iPad 2 to the iPad air. So I figured I would just get a normal laptop and purchase her the new iPad and I would use her old one as my "portable' device. That was the plan right till the point I said Ill take the Asus 2 in 1. Wife had the new iPad, a portable key board, and screen protectors for it in the cart. Which added up to the same price as the 2 in 1 ($499! He said he was giving us last weeks sale price?). Soooo, we came home with (2) 2 in 1 Asus computers and no iPad. Ended up purchasing Best Buy's Geek Squad 2 year service plan as well. They currently getting their first charge. Hoping we made the right call. Guess I'll know soon enough. Thanks for all the input guys!

[yamaha225dr]

Between me and my wife, we each have a smartphone,2 Toshiba laptop's, a Asus 2 in 1 and 3 Cheap tablets. The 2 in 1 and our smartphones are what we always use, the kids play on the tablets, cause we can do everything we need on our phones or with the Asus. I don't use any of them for work though, so that is a factor that I don't have to deal with.

[atc007]

Can't wait to hear how they work out for you!

[MRSOUND]

Wife woke up saying can we take hers back and get the new iPad before she even opened the lid of the laptop. Talked her into trying it first. We have been messing with them all day on and off. They are performing fine, we are just having our issues learning Microsoft windows 8 navigation. Trying to get her photos and calendar imported from her old iPad was fiasco. Finally Googled it and ended up downloading icloud for pc. Frustration levels are high, but again its the navigation portion. I think we will get there.