LFFB - Laptop/Tablet recommendations?

acolby · May 31, 2023

Greetings!

I'm an aged student going back to school for Computer Programming and Analyst, and looking for the best all around tablet/Laptop 2 in 1 option.

What I would like is something I can develop on, but also use like a note pad with a stylist, and big enough that I can read PDF text books (i.e. the screen size is big enough to mimic a developer text book page).

Storage isn't a huge issue as I'm mostly going to be accessing data through my network NAS, and through various cloud based services.

Currently I have my eye on the following options, but wanted to get the LTT community feed back.

1) Asus Flow Z13, 2023 $2,299.00 - i7 13th gen CPU, 4050 GPU, 16 gig ram, 1TB SSD

2) Microsoft Surface Pro 9 $2,199.00 - i7 12th gen CPU, iris xe GPU, 16 gig ram, 512 gigs SSD.

3) Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 $2,199.00 - i7 12th gen CPU, iris xe GPU, 16 gig ram, 1 TB SSD

With options 2 and 3, you have to buy the keyboard and stylist separately... which easily increases the prices by another 200 to 250.00.

With option 1, I could just get the 2022 version of the Z13 which is currently discounted at $1,699.00, with similar spec's to option 2 and 3 anyway. Asus also ships it's product with both the keyboard and stylist included in the base price, so no need to buy them separately.

I guess my concern is, what am I missing? Is the stylist any good on Asus in comparison to Dell and Microsoft? Not that it's the most important aspect of my selection... but something to consider I guess.

Now, with that said, I do realize that Dell and Microsoft are in the mid life of the current generation, with the next generation looking to be released in Sept / Oct... So, really it's hard to say if buying now is the best option unless buying the Asus which is latest gen in CPU/GPU hardware, and could still match what could come from Dell / Microsoft in the next 4 months. Or I can go last generation of the Asus and score a sweet deal which would save me money when comparing it to the Dell / Microsoft current gen options.

Anyway, I have watched some vods, but just wanted to open it up for discussion to pick the brain of established experts and developers. Also, gaming is not the number 1 reason for this, it's the secondary or third option, but a nice to have, and not required as this is mainly for school, development, reading, and on the go use.

Thank you in advance!

Oh, and maybe something for LTT to potentially look at for a video... could these 2-in-1 Laptops use an external Desktop GPU enclosure, and which would pair best? Oh, and compare the performance with the Asus designed mobile GPU enclosure. Just to see if it's really worth the cost that Asus is charging for a mobile GPU enclosure vs just using a external desktop GPU enclosure.