WTB Convertible Tablet PC w/o 360

SegaPup

Prominent
Dec 14, 2019
10
0
510
I have an HP4400 swivel screen with monitor-stored stylus. The tldr is I want this with modern specs.

I have looked to replace this twice, and failed both times. The most recent was in 2016 when I ended up with the iPad Pro - which is an amazing device with a fantastic pen and completely unusable. The only thing I can do with it is drawn notes because it is a nightmare for file transfer and cannot have any full-OS programs. Plus sandboxing.

No to the 360 folding laptops - exposed keys are way too many kinds of stupid, and no “slightly list up lid for ctrl+z”. Detachable is okay but my preferred is swivel. I’d like light weight but function trumps all else.

I want to be able to do handwriting, drawing, and typing, as well has have usb ports, sd card reader highly preferred, stylus (original iPad pro lacks a holder or magnet so the pencil is not always handy), and trackpad. I want something with specs high enough that in 2-3 years I m not running into “it cannot do x, and y doesn’t work, and z looks neat but . . . “

From my previous attempts and looking recently it looks like excluding the 360 laptops, I am left with fujitsus? The specs on those seem outdated - like most are 4gb of RAM. Pretty sure 8gb is low end now?

Lifebook T939
Stylistic Q739

Am I missing some? Are these likely the best for me?

1. What is your budget?
Under 1k usd preferred
Can do up to 2k usd

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
12”+

3. What screen resolution do you want?
I want to not hate it compared with the original iPad Pro screen

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable, but can work with a heavier laptop/lower charge although not ideal

5. How much battery life do you need?
MIN 4+ hours, but all day is best

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)?
Yes? I lack the internet to download or online play but if the laptop can do it I will. At this point I would be okay with low settings as long as I can play.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Internet browsing
Handwriting, Drawing
image editing, photo management, video clipping
AutoCAD if possible, or open source versions
GIMP

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
MIN 128GB if I use external storages

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No preference, refurbished is okay

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Forever? I would prefer not replacing it in under 3 years - which is about as long as I have struggled with the iPad pro - and will likely keep it longer. I have had a lot of trouble finding the laptop I want to chances are this will be used more than 5 years and for high-spec needs get a tower build. Need reliable internet options first though.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Oh! forgot about this. Disk drive would be great! Although unlikely. SD Card reader preferred. 3+ USB ports. HDMI would be nice but not required.

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.
Swivel screen.
Barring that, detachable.
Not 360 flip.
Those three eliminate enough that I know better than to quibble on logos.

13. What country do you live in?
U.S.ofA.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I would like if the gpu could handle 2-3 external monitors.
! Stylus is key. Would like a good one. Would like a place to put it like sliding into the device body.
 

SegaPup

Prominent
Dec 14, 2019
10
0
510
Have you considered Surface Pro?

OTOH - GPU Handling two / three external monitors on a laptop more or less excludes mainstream laptops and moves you into monsters category, where touch / pencil is unheard of.

I tried it in-store around 2016 and found the writing experience off-putting. The stylus/screen connection felt squishy, like using a crayon on a gel pad toy.

I would definitely rank the handwriting and stylus option over having many monitors, but I have seen some pretty basic laptops able to plug into a hub and run the laptop screen and two externals.

I am considering just trying to get Linux on an iPad Pro but I don’t really have a back-up computer right now in case it goes wrong, and without internet building a tower is rather pointless despite being almost a decade overdue for a new one.