Need A Be-All-End-All laptop!

[SenKa]

So, I know I've made a good few posts here about laptops at varying needs and budgets, but this is it.

 

I am not that far away from moving out now, and got motivated to sell all my old crap. By my estimation, I have ~3200 to spend on this laptop that will be my sole computer, and it is something that I need to last me through my university career (6-ish years). I don't game much at all anymore, but do light 1080P video editing. 

 

I need:

At the minimum, 2 TB3 ports. More is better

Touch Screen W/ Native Pen Support (meaning the pen is actually meant for it like the iPad pro)

Windows (since Apple refuses to make a 2 in 1 macbook)

8GB RAM minimum

512GB storage minimum

Amazing keyboard (I do lots of writing as well. Preferred feel is as close to an MX Black as you can get on a laptop. Elitebook 8460P is a good reference)

Good overall build quality

Must be able to drive 2 displays. Both 1080P

 

I would like:

A quad core CPU (this is a borderline need)

16GB RAM

1TB storage

8 hours real-world battery life

A genuinely usable pen for note taking (XPS 2-1 is a no go)

Dock Support? (Do Thinkpad tablets still exist? Do I really need to even list dock support when requiring TB3? Are traditional docks outdated with TB3?)

 

I don't care about:

USB-A

Native Ethernet

LTE Support

 

I have looked at the following devices and have dismissed them for one reason or another:

 

iPad Pro: iOS is useless for actual productivity. Change my mind

XPS 2-1: Pen is bad, Thermals are bad

Specter Folio: I actually like the pen mount Linus hated so much, but the ULP dual core is just too little for me. I do need it to do *some* heavy work.

Surface Pro: Too tablet-y. Lack of lap-ability kills it. I have had a surface device before, and know how bad they are to use on your lap

Surface Book 2: No TB3, which is a shame, because it meets every other requirement. Maybe the Surface Book 3 is right around the corner with Ice Lake?

 

Sorry for the long post. Thank you all very much!

[DrMacintosh]

6 minutes ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

iPad Pro: iOS is useless for actual productivity. Change my mind

XPS 2-1: Pen is bad, Thermals are bad

Specter Folio: I actually like the pen mount Linus hated so much, but the ULP dual core is just too little for me. I do need it to do *some* heavy work.

Surface Pro: Too tablet-y. Lack of lap-ability kills it. I have had a surface device before, and know how bad they are to use on your lap

Surface Book 2: No TB3, which is a shame, because it meets every other requirement. Maybe the Surface Book 3 is right around the corner with Ice Lake?

I don't think what you're looking for exists. 

[Sorenson]

I’ve used the surface pro4 and the surface book 2 and have been underwhelmed by their usefulness as a tablet and a laptop. It’s kind of like you get the use of both but the best of neither. 

 

I think you you would be better off with an 11 inch iPad Pro and the new XPS 15 when it comes out. My iPad Pro has a much better pen writing experience than any windows laptop I’ve used, and has great apps for writing. Also a lot of college text books are digital now and I find it very useful having my textbook on my iPad and my notes on my laptop. 

[TheGlenlivet]

The surface pro was mad to meet this niche, but if you still don't like the feel, you may need to get 2 devices...

[Daniel Z.]

Just get an XPS 15 or MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro.

[Super Spartan]

17 minutes ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

So, I know I've made a good few posts here about laptops at varying needs and budgets, but this is it.

 

I am not that far away from moving out now, and got motivated to sell all my old crap. By my estimation, I have ~3200 to spend on this laptop that will be my sole computer, and it is something that I need to last me through my university career (6-ish years). I don't game much at all anymore, but do light 1080P video editing. 

 

I need:

At the minimum, 2 TB3 ports. More is better

Touch Screen W/ Native Pen Support (meaning the pen is actually meant for it like the iPad pro)

Windows (since Apple refuses to make a 2 in 1 macbook)

8GB RAM minimum

512GB storage minimum

Amazing keyboard (I do lots of writing as well. Preferred feel is as close to an MX Black as you can get on a laptop. Elitebook 8460P is a good reference)

Good overall build quality

Must be able to drive 2 displays. Both 1080P

 

I would like:

A quad core CPU (this is a borderline need)

16GB RAM

1TB storage

8 hours real-world battery life

A genuinely usable pen for note taking (XPS 2-1 is a no go)

Dock Support? (Do Thinkpad tablets still exist? Do I really need to even list dock support when requiring TB3? Are traditional docks outdated with TB3?)

 

I don't care about:

USB-A

Native Ethernet

LTE Support

 

I have looked at the following devices and have dismissed them for one reason or another:

 

iPad Pro: iOS is useless for actual productivity. Change my mind

XPS 2-1: Pen is bad, Thermals are bad

Specter Folio: I actually like the pen mount Linus hated so much, but the ULP dual core is just too little for me. I do need it to do *some* heavy work.

Surface Pro: Too tablet-y. Lack of lap-ability kills it. I have had a surface device before, and know how bad they are to use on your lap

Surface Book 2: No TB3, which is a shame, because it meets every other requirement. Maybe the Surface Book 3 is right around the corner with Ice Lake?

 

Sorry for the long post. Thank you all very much!

Here's the best laptop which ticks all the boxes you mentioned including support for a Stylus:

Custom Built Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme 20MF000MUS Workstation - 15.6" 4K (3840x2160) IPS - Touch w/ nVIDIA GTX1050 TI Max-Q

 

If you get it from HIDevolution which I highly recommend, choose "Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut + Fujipoly Extreme Thermal Pads" in the laptop configurator as that's one of their best cooling mods which lowers temps by up to 20C to ensure the longevity of your laptop and to prevent overheating/thermal throttling.

 

Their quality control from my experience dealing with them for the past 5 years is superb as they do synthetic benchmarks and actual simulated workloads/gaming sessions to ensure the laptop works perfectly.

[SenKa]

8 minutes ago, Ultra Male said:

Here's the best laptop which ticks all the boxes you mentioned including support for a Stylus:

Custom Built Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme 20MF000MUS Workstation - 15.6" 4K (3840x2160) IPS - Touch w/ nVIDIA GTX1050 TI Max-Q

 

If you get it from HIDevolution which I highly recommend, choose "Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut + Fujipoly Extreme Thermal Pads" in the laptop configurator as that's one of their best cooling mods which lowers temps by up to 20C to ensure the longevity of your laptop and to prevent overheating/thermal throttling.

 

Their quality control from my experience dealing with them for the past 5 years is superb as they do synthetic benchmarks and actual simulated workloads/gaming sessions to ensure the laptop works perfectly.

You certainly pointed me in the correct direction! The X1 Yoga looks perfect, as it checks every box of mine and folds in a way easier for writing!

 

Thank you very much

[Super Spartan]

1 hour ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

You certainly pointed me in the correct direction! The X1 Yoga looks perfect, as it checks every box of mine and folds in a way easier for writing!

 

Thank you very much

my pleasure!

[genexis_x]

7 hours ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

something that I need to last me through my university career (6-ish years)

Premium business laptop is the way to go, avoid consumer grade

 

Can consider these:

Thinkpad X1 Yoga 16GB, X390 Yoga 16GB, X380 Yoga 16GB

Latitude 7400 2 in 1, Latitude 7390 2 in 1, Latitude 7200 2 in 1

Elitebook x360 1030 G3 / 1040 G5

[SenKa]

15 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Premium business laptop is the way to go, avoid consumer grade

 

Can consider these:

Thinkpad X1 Yoga 16GB, X390 Yoga 16GB, X380 Yoga 16GB

Latitude 7400 2 in 1, Latitude 7390 2 in 1, Latitude 7200 2 in 1

Elitebook x360 1030 G3 / 1040 G5

I will look into the others, but the Latitude 7400 and Elitebook series both sound promising as well. I love HP's keyboards...