What is better for productivity? Surface Book or Razer Blade 2016?

[radioactive_zebra]

Which would you pick? On the razer blade side there is price to performance factor (having a quad core and a 1060), but the surface book is better made, has a nice aspect ratio for productivity, is better supported by a big company (aka microsoft will help me better than razer can if it breaks), and it has great battery life. But the razer blade is just as thin and light, is a typical clamshell with a better hinge (what was microsoft thinking?) and can probably render my premiere files faster. But for general on the go productivity (including programming/game development, premiere and photoshop work, etc) what is better?

[dragoon20005]

what is your budget?

 

i say pick something else instead of the Razer

 

yes there are a lot of better laptops with quad core and GTX1060

 

Razer laptops are always crazy with prices

[radioactive_zebra]

5 minutes ago, dragoon20005 said:

what is your budget?

 

i say pick something else instead of the Razer

 

yes there are a lot of better laptops with quad core and GTX1060

 

Razer laptops are always crazy with prices

Well I don't want something like the msi GS63VR which is too gamery and fat or a sager laptop or an acer predator or anything that you can't take into an office. I would just put a skin or something on the razer laptop to make it usable. The price premium is for a sleek design and a thin and light metal unibody. I hate plastic in my expensive laptops and it seems like all of the other gtx 1060 options are like that. And my budget is 2100 or so.

[NTDaws]

Predator 21x, jk IDK maybe a MSI laptop, though I have heard a lot of issues with MSI motherboards.

[dragoon20005]

5 minutes ago, radioactive_zebra said:

Well I don't want something like the msi GS63VR which is too gamery and fat or a sager laptop or an acer predator or anything that you can't take into an office. I would just put a skin or something on the razer laptop to make it usable. The price premium is for a sleek design and a thin and light metal unibody. I hate plastic in my expensive laptops and it seems like all of the other gtx 1060 options are like that. And my budget is 2100 or so.

Look at the Dell Inspiron Line or the Dell XPS line

 

the exterior looks professional while packing the same hardware

[Drak3]

16 minutes ago, radioactive_zebra said:

better hinge (what was microsoft thinking?)

The hinge extends the base when used as a laptop, and can be used as a grip when the screen is flipped in tablet mode. It's also very reliable and fairly hard to break the hinge itself. The only actual "problems" come from putting it in a backpack and wanting to lay the asempled tablet down flat, both both are fairly minor issues.

 

 

The book makes for a very nice artist sketch"book," but as far as productivity is concerned, its main draws other than the screen's aspect vary by use case, and mostly revolve around the pen.

 

For example, architects can use the Pen to markup PDFs of their blueprints in Drawboard PDF (preinstalled). For formal letters and emails, the Pen can be used in Word to add signatures quickly, and be used as a templey/form. For those that make alot of presentations with flowcharts, the pen can be used to create custom designed significantly quicker than the conventional method. Using the pen for notes for things like board meetings, Uni, and/or High School is another plus for the Surface lineup.

 

You also have the Surface Dock, which is a bit more elegant compared to the docking options of many laptops, in that it doesn't just carry over USB signals with a basic adapter for VGA/HDMI.

 

But those aren't strong, or even decent reasons to consider the Surface lineup for many kinds of productivity. When it comes to machine reliability, it hands with the best offerings from manufacturers that still have Productivity lineups in similar price ranges.

 

I would actually recommend looking at Lenovo's Thinkpad P70 and P50(s) lineups over the Surface Book and Razer Blade. The Thinkpad W laptops were some of the best mobile workstations before Lenovo discontinued them, and subsequently brought them back as the Thinkpad P laptops.

[radioactive_zebra]

4 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

The hinge extends the base when used as a laptop, and can be used as a grip when the screen is flipped in tablet mode. It's also very reliable and fairly hard to break the hinge itself. The only actual "problems" come from putting it in a backpack and wanting to lay the asempled tablet down flat, both both are fairly minor issues.

 

 

The book makes for a very nice artist sketch"book," but as far as productivity is concerned, its main draws other than the screen's aspect vary by use case, and mostly revolve around the pen.

 

For example, architects can use the Pen to markup PDFs of their blueprints in Drawboard PDF (preinstalled). For formal letters and emails, the Pen can be used in Word to add signatures quickly, and be used as a templey/form. For those that make alot of presentations with flowcharts, the pen can be used to create custom designed significantly quicker than the conventional method. Using the pen for notes for things like board meetings, Uni, and/or High School is another plus for the Surface lineup.

 

You also have the Surface Dock, which is a bit more elegant compared to the docking options of many laptops, in that it doesn't just carry over USB signals with a basic adapter for VGA/HDMI.

 

But those aren't strong, or even decent reasons to consider the Surface lineup for many kinds of productivity. When it comes to machine reliability, it hands with the best offerings from manufacturers that still have Productivity lineups in similar price ranges.

 

I would actually recommend looking at Lenovo's Thinkpad P70 and P50(s) lineups over the Surface Book and Razer Blade. The Thinkpad W laptops were some of the best mobile workstations before Lenovo discontinued them, and subsequently brought them back as the Thinkpad P laptops.

I will definitely look into those. I forgot all about the thinkpad line up. Thanks for the write up!

 

But just to clarify when I said what were they thinking with the hinge, I was thinking about the lenovo yoga series. IMO they did it better, but then again I haven't owned either of those laptops so I can't make an informed opinion on that. Still would not deter me from either laptop, just a little thought.

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, radioactive_zebra said:

I will definitely look into those. I forgot all about the thinkpad line up. Thanks for the write up!

 

But just to clarify when I said what were they thinking with the hinge, I was thinking about the lenovo yoga series. IMO they did it better, but then again I haven't owned either of those laptops so I can't make an informed opinion on that. Still would not deter me from either laptop, just a little thought.

No problem.

 

As with the Yoga lineup, and my understanding of how to break stuff rather quickly, I wouldn't trust their stylized hinge over Microsoft's tear drop or more conventional 2-in-1 hinges. It's rather thin, and has many points of potential failure (too complex for what it is) where it can easily be ripped apart. The Tear drop actually serves a purpose: keeping the laptop light while keeping leverage on the base, not the screen. As the hinge unfolds, it extends the surface are of the bottom, and furthers the folcrum to shift balance, and as I said, it does serve as a nice grip when one is using the entire assembled unit as a tablet.

 

[Pendragon]

Thinkpad P series

Dell Precision Series

Dell XPS Series

HP Zbook Series

 

12 hours ago, radioactive_zebra said:

Well I don't want something like the msi GS63VR

http://www.hidevolution.com/new-laptops/gaming-laptops/evoc-msi

^ HID offers a whitebook version. Essentially the same machine with 0 branding. You have to select remove "EVOC branding" in the selections as well. 

 

Also no to both surface book and razer blade. The hinge actually far more annoying that you think. You're scared to put heavy things on it like a fat stack of cash documents because it's asymmetrical.