Touchscreen laptop advice needed

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
Mods... I want a touchscreen laptop with a stylus and PCS offer no such thing as I'd be ordering it if they did. Therefore if I post on here asking for people's thoughts on a few models is that OK? It's not like I'm discussing something that competes with a PCS product because they don't sell them...and I want opinions of PCS forum users as I trust quite a few of them.

Acceptable?
 
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ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Ask them why the fudge they don't sell touchscreen 2in1s while you're at it?! :D

You can ask them that. :cool:

The head honcho says that in this limited case it's OK to discuss laptops that PCS do not offer. :)

We will monitor this thread however and any posts that stray into areas where PCS do have products will be deleted.
 
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SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Mods... I want a touchscreen laptop with a stylus and PCS offer no such thing as I'd be ordering it if they did. Therefore if I post on here asking for people's thoughts on a few models is that OK? It's not like I'm discussing something that competes with a PCS product because they don't sell them...and I want opinions of PCS forum users as I trust quite a few of them.

Acceptable?
What's your max budget for it?

What size are you looking for?

What's the use case for it?

There are a few that leap to mind, the manufacturers I would always be drawn to in order of excellence would be Microsoft, Dell, HP and Lenovo but they're almost all in different price brackets.



 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Microsoft Surface/Pro - type - range would be my personal preference. I got one of them and it's absolutely fantastic.

That being said.... they are eye-watering cost wise.

The order suggested by @SpyderTracks would seem to fit too. Lenovo is the bang for buck offering for non-professional use IMO, and I don't mean that with any disrespect, so if it's for in the house you will struggle to get better value.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Microsoft Surface/Pro - type - range would be my personal preference. I got one of them and it's absolutely fantastic.

That being said.... they are eye-watering cost wise.

The order suggested by @SpyderTracks would seem to fit too. Lenovo is the bang for buck offering for non-professional use IMO, and I don't mean that with any disrespect, so if it's for in the house you will struggle to get better value.
I would wholeheartedly agree, if budget allows, Microsoft surface is simply the best by miles.
 

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
@SpyderTracks
@Scott

Sorry, entire day remote teaching.

Right... So basically I want something I can write on as that's how I do all my marking nowadays in this modern world of teaching. But also something that has an i7 for some basic video editing. Not fussed about 4k panel. Was about to pull the trigger on the surface pro 7 and just suck up the slightly small screen size compared to a regular laptop, then realised for near enough almost the same money you could get something similar spec which had a basic but dedicated GPU in it like the 15" hp spectre. £1699 from the hp store gets you a 9750h, 1650 GTX, 16gb ram, 1080p screen. Doesn't appear to be sold anywhere else in the UK. Amazon models are the slightly older version with 8750h and 1060ti in.


I wasn't fussed about the 1650 gpu and thought it pointlessly underpowered until I found it actually has double the graphical power of my now deceased 680m. And that 680m still letting me play things like Witcher 3 and the latest Deus Ex and Tomb Raider on lowered settings. So actually the 1650 might be perfectly serviceable for a dabble of gaming at 1080p.

So basically yes. My enquiry is if anyone has any hands on experience with that particular 15" hp spectre model.

Most of the online reviews for it are for the slightly older version with a 8750h and 1060ti in. Even that tech radar link has the older version in it ranked at number 5 even though it has the refreshed 13" model in ranked higher up! The 9750h refreshed model only got released late 2019 by the sounds of it but nowhere seems to mention it.

I can't see anything else in the UK that competes with this model that has a gpu in. The xps is stupid priced and all seem to be 4k. The lenovos are all previous gen Intel CPUs without the gpu. Surface pros don't have a gpu so couldn't game on those at all.

Or........disappointing but patient option is to wait for the zen 2 4000 series AMD laptops. But they could be ages away now with the current corona situation.

Literally as I typed this message I then went back to the HP page to find the link for the laptop and its no longer advertised on their page. It's been chopped from their site and only the 4k 15" remains along with the two 13" models. Fortunately I had the website saved in my history and that still live (put that link above) and simply says 'low stock'. Bizarre they're still available to order from their website yet they're not available to actually find on their website unless you have the link pre-saved. As a safety net I've just ordered one anyway! Can always send it back within 14 days if I get feedback on here that they're overpriced trash.

But yes, the surface pro i7 with 256gb hard drive with my teacher discount, and adding on a pen and signature keyboard was about £1550. So for an extra £149 I get a true laptop i7 rather than the slim fit (albeit admittedly newer 10th gen) i7s in the surface pro 7. I get a discrete gpu. And I get a bigger ssd.

Just seems weird this seeming beast of an hp spectre 2in1 laptop isn't sold anywhere on the UK apart from the hp store. Also weird that all those sites claiming best 2in1s are describing the model with the 8750h in it. It's almost like hp never bothered to let anyone know there's a 9750h version or to even really market it or make many of them.
 
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SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
@SpyderTracks
@Scott

Sorry, entire day remote teaching.

Right... So basically I want something I can write on as that's how I do all my marking nowadays in this modern world of teaching. But also something that has an i7 for some basic video editing. Not fussed about 4k panel. Was about to pull the trigger on the surface pro 7 and just suck up the slightly small screen size compared to a regular laptop, then realised for near enough almost the same money you could get something similar spec which had a basic but dedicated GPU in it like the 15" hp spectre. £1699 from the hp store gets you a 9750h, 1650 GTX, 16gb ram, 1080p screen. Doesn't appear to be sold anywhere else in the UK. Amazon models are the slightly version with 8750h and 1060ti in.


I wasn't fussed about the 1650 gpu and thought it pointlessly underpowered until I found it actually has double the graphical power of my now deceased 680m. And that 680m still letting me play things like Witcher 3 and the latest Deus Ex and Tomb Raider on lowered settings. So actually the 1650 might be perfectly serviceable for a dabble of gaming at 1080p.

So basically yes. My enquiry is if anyone has any hands on experience with that particular 15" hp spectre model.

Most of the online reviews for it are for the slightly older version with a 8750h and 1060ti in. The 9750h refreshed model only got released late 2019 by the sounds of it.

I can't see anything else in the UK that competes with this model that has a gpu in. The xps is stupid priced and all seem to be 4k. The lenovos are all previous gen Intel CPUs without the gpu. Surface pros don't have a gpu so couldn't game on those at all.

Or........disappointing but patient option is to wait for the zen 2 4000 series AMD laptops. But they could be ages away now with the current corona situation.
No actual experience with it I'm afraid.

There's a review here:


Does seem like exceptional value though, I'm quite taken aback!
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Seems like a perfect bit of kit to me. Ideally suited to exactly what you need it for :)
HP have come an awful long way in the last 5 years, they're quite a premium brand nowadays, especially with the Envy lineup. Their design and quality is up there with the best.

It surprises me a lot that such high specs in such a small profile come out at such a small cost! It's quite amazing. I mean it's even got an OLED screen? That's just insane for that price. I could happily live with the larger bezels for that kind of quality.
 

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
HP have come an awful long way in the last 5 years, they're quite a premium brand nowadays, especially with the Envy lineup. Their design and quality is up there with the best.

It surprises me a lot that such high specs in such a small profile come out at such a small cost! It's quite amazing. I mean it's even got an OLED screen? That's just insane for that price. I could happily live with the larger bezels for that kind of quality.
I think it's the 15" 4k model that has the better AMOLED screen that's mentioned a lot and that's £1999. That's the one that's reviewed in that YouTube link for example and a lot of the comments on that video suggest the 1080p isn't as good. Well obviously it wouldn't be. I'm pretty sure the 1080p model is IPS WLED (is that the same as OLED?) which is clearly not going to be as good as the 4k AMOLED but then why would it be when it's £300 less. Should still be a slick bit of kit hopefully.

But seriously PCS, that money could have been yours.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I think it's the 15" 4k model that has the better AMOLED screen that's mentioned a lot and that's £1999. That's the one that's reviewed in that YouTube link for example and a lot of the comments on that video suggest the 1080p isn't as good. Well obviously it wouldn't be. I'm pretty sure the 1080p model is IPS WLED (is that the same as OLED?) which is clearly not going to be as good as the 4k AMOLED but then why would it be when it's £300 less. Should still be a slick bit of kit hopefully.

But seriously PCS, that money could have been yours.

Remember, PCS only do custom builds, I don't think it would be possible to do a custom 2 in 1 without it being an awful lot bulkier than would be handy for a 2 in 1. To get them as thin and manageable as they are they are rediculously thin, probably moreso than an ultrabook. Just not sure (at the moment) it would be possible to customise them.
 

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED

Remember, PCS only do custom builds, I don't think it would be possible to do a custom 2 in 1 without it being an awful lot bulkier than would be handy for a 2 in 1. To get them as thin and manageable as they are they are rediculously thin, probably moreso than an ultrabook. Just not sure (at the moment) it would be possible to customise them.
Yeah as predicted the WLED in the 1080p model is not going to be as slick as the OLED in the 4k. But whatevs. Budgets are there for a reason!

And yes, I suppose you're right about the customisability of 2in1s.

But not even a touchscreen laptop that isn't a 2in1? Maybe there's barely any demand for them. But then I'd also predict to be there barely any demand for all in ones but they sell those too.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
But not even a touchscreen laptop that isn't a 2in1?
Yeah, I'm surprised by that. Touchscreen laptops never seem to have caught on particularly, it's either tablet / 2in1 or old school laptop.

I'm still perplexed as to why 1440p isn't the go to on gaming laptops, just seems mental, it's such a perfect fit with today's GPU's!
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
I've changed the title of your thread, I hope you don't mind? I was concerned that not many users would realise what the thread was about by looking at the (old) title. :)
 

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
HP have come an awful long way in the last 5 years, they're quite a premium brand nowadays, especially with the Envy lineup. Their design and quality is up there with the best.

It surprises me a lot that such high specs in such a small profile come out at such a small cost! It's quite amazing. I mean it's even got an OLED screen? That's just insane for that price. I could happily live with the larger bezels for that kind of quality.
You filthy animal putting the term OLED in my head. Just changed my order to the 4k AMOLED version after reading up more on OLED and that panel starting with your link :eek:

However, silver lining is that after speaking to HP on the phone to change the order it appears HP also do teacher discounts and that 4k spectre was 10% off so it was only a £100 increase rather than £300.

So £1799 for a 4k 15" OLED touchscreen 2in1 with 9750h, 1tb m2 SSD and a 1650. Yes please. Delivery tomorrow. That's my isolation sorted for the next few days!
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
You filthy animal putting the term OLED in my head. Just changed my order to the 4k AMOLED version after reading up more on OLED and that panel starting with your link :eek:

However, silver lining is that after speaking to HP on the phone to change the order it appears HP also do teacher discounts and that 4k spectre was 10% off so it was only a £100 increase rather than £300.

So £1799 for a 4k 15" OLED touchscreen 2in1 with 9750h, 1tb m2 SSD and a 1650. Yes please. Delivery tomorrow. That's my isolation sorted for the next few days!
That’s incredible value!!! Wow!!! Congrats!
 
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