Potential Upgrade to a Surface Pro or Book

[DiabloDj1]

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Going to fill out the info as requested below, but here's my situation:

I normally use my laptop to run a two-screen (one monitor plus laptop screen) setup for work (office, cloud programs and Google Chrome, mainly). It's hooked up at home all day, but decent battery life would be nice. No gaming. Touchscreen would be ideal if I'm going to invest in an upgrade.

I have a Lenovo z50-75 59426421. It runs pretty good, but it has an awful battery life (90 minutes), lacks the sex appeal of a MacBook, and can get a little sluggish randomly.

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1. What is your budget?
Doesn't matter a ton. The least needed to get the job done. I can wait a little longer if it makes sense to spend more, but I don't want to drop $2,000 just to get something more powerful than I need. I want zippy, but again, no gaming and no real graphic work (basic Photoshop that any new laptop should handle).

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I like my 15" screen, but can go smaller. I'd prefer the larger of the two (Book and Pro 4).

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Higher is better, no?

5. How much battery life do you need?
Need - 3 hours at this point would be amazing. Used to 60-90 minutes.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
No games. Well, Age of Empires 1?

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Basic Photoshop. 3D Book Renders being most complex job. Sometimes, video creation with Camtasia Studio. This isn't a normal activity though.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I can move files into the cloud outside of the core programs I need on my system -- Office, Chrome, security programs, etc.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
~3 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I like to have a CD Burner but I don't *need* one.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Microsoft - I'd like to support their new move into hardware and believe they're on the right path with Windows 10. Tempted to get a Mac but don't quite want to make the transition as a lifelong Windows user.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

 

[t53186]

How about the surface book https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-book/overview

 

[velo3100]

So would it be right for me to say you are looking for a normal purpose laptop with an ok gpu?

 

[DiabloDj1]

Yes @velo3100, normal use, decent GPU. It needs to handle a second monitor well, which I believe there's an adapter for. I shared my current laptop (z50) as I wouldn't want to downgrade in performance.

@t53186, the Surface Book is the one I am considering most at this point -- good eye. My concern is in performance, like I mentioned above. It gets confusing comparing 4th gen i7 vs 6th gen i5, then the hard drive and other elements.

 

[velo3100]

I would say that any ultrabook will do the job that you want. I will only recommend the surface book if you need a touchscreen and the graphics power in a portable package. If you do need that much power then something like the razor blade series is good. You will get more performance for you money. You can also look at the auros series if you need more power.

On the low end the hp omen series for 2017 is good for the money.

 

[DiabloDj1]

I would say that any ultrabook will do the job that you want. I will only recommend the surface book if you need a touchscreen and the graphics power in a portable package. If you do need that much power then something like the razor blade series is good. You will get more performance for you money. You can also look at the auros series if you need more power.

On the low end the hp omen series for 2017 is good for the money.

I will check these out! Touchscreen is an ideal feature, I forgot to mention that. Will amend my original post to make note of this.

 

[DiabloDj1]

If I were to go with a Surface Book, which model would have equal power to my current laptop, the Lenovo z50 (4th gen i7-4510U, 2GB Nvidia GT820M gfx, 8GB DDR3 SDRAM). Remember, I don't want to worry about gaming, and Photoshop work is limited, so the graphics card need is low.

 

[velo3100]

If you just want a normal laptop for basic office work then the surface pro will be a better option. The surface book is not worth it if you don't need a dpgu.