Convertible Laptops

[todpod]

Our lease on our desktops is up soon and we are replacing them with convertible laptops Currently in our office we have 8 Fujitsu life books that seem to be working ok and 4 Lenovo Twists that are about 6 months old that have had various issues in the 6 months that we have had them, We are a little gun shy with the lenovos.

It wanted to stay with HP Or lenovo and there quote came back with MS Surface 2 pros. Our issue with those is the screen size. So with a budget of about $1200 per laptop any suggestions. Fujitsu has a couple of models in that range. Dell has a latitude xt3 for about $1500. That would probably be pushing it price wise.

We are Social workers using mainly MS office and a Web based program for case management. So I don't think processor speed is a huge deal. We want to be able to take the computers into the field and use the tablet functions for clients to sign forms and stuff.

Any suggestions are appreciated

 

[frozentundra123456]

I really like the surface pro, at least from the limited exposure I have had to it. Couldnt you output it to a desktop monitor in the office?

The problem with convertibles is that they try to be all things, and seem to not be optimal at anything. If you get one that is large enough to be a good laptop, it is unwieldy in tablet mode. And if you get something small enough to make a nice tablet it is too small to use easily as a laptop.

 

[todpod]

I could do that but my big fear is they will leave them on there desk. To make them worth the money ( the are about double the price of the desktop) they need to be mobile. with a docking station and monitor they will just let them set. Most of the people in the office are 40+ so the small the screen is its harder to see.

I do realize there are compromises, but most of the time the computer will be in laptop mode, so something basic is what we need as its just word, outlook and IE. Hopefully then I will be able to get the paper work together so that they can use the tablet feature effectively. The Fujitsus we have do work work as both pretty well.

 

[Away]

I really liked the XPS 12 in the limited time I was able to use it. It's made out of aluminum and carbon fiber and feels very sturdy. The 1080p screen was beautiful and I was able to see it outdoors. The one they sell through their home division comes with 8.1 and starts out at 999.99 for the Core i3 version.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-12-9q33/pd

 

[frozentundra123456]

I really liked the XPS 12 in the limited time I was able to use it. It's made out of aluminum and carbon fiber and feels very sturdy. The 1080p screen was beautiful and I was able to see it outdoors. The one they sell through their home division comes with 8.1 and starts out at 999.99 for the Core i3 version.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-12-9q33/pd

Yea, that's nice, but isn't it awfully heavy in tablet mode, since the base doesn't detach? Also seems strange (best buy is doing it too), that they are pushing a tablet sale along with a convertible. Almost like admitting that it doesn't function well as a tablet.

Another option for the op might be the hp split. I believe that detaches totally into a tablet. Not sure what kind of digitizer pen options it has though.

 

[todpod]

I was looking at the think pad yoga. We have a couple of thinkpad twists. I like them but they haven't been all that durable in the time we had them. We lost a motherboard, a hard drive and battery. I wonder if the Yogas are a little more durable. They are a couple of hundred dollars more expensive.