Best 2in1 or Tablet 10-13 inch with Wacom Support?

[FutureBSD]

Hey fellows,

I currently own the Surface Pro 2 for 1 week. Quite happy with it until I read about the CPU upgrade. Microsoft offered me to send the SP2 back and order the new SP2 with the vPro-CPU (the 1,9 GHz isn't main reason to send it back / replace it with the SP2.5).
Now that I have a few days left to send it back and as the SP2.5 is currently out of stock in Germany, I'm wondering if there might be an even better deal for a productivity tool.

The following parameters are a must:
- i5/i7 CPU
- 10-13-inch
- min 1920x1080. Preferably higher (The Samsung Ativ Q screen would have been perfect but the product has been discontinued and we don't know what's coming up next yet.)
- WACOM pen
- SSD
- price range: 1,000-1,100 Euro (USD 1,350-1,500)
- Windows 8 Pro (RT is not an option)

There are some pretty nice options for Windows 8 2in1 and tablets out there. But as soon as a WACOM comes into play options aren't that awesome anymore.
Do you think I should stick with the SP2 and just wait for the next round of SP2.5s? So far I'm not disappointed with the device at all. A higher resolution would be nice though.

Thanks a lot

 

[DBDev]

If you like the device, I should stick with it! :wink:

 

[12Danny123]

Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga

 

[FutureBSD]

The problem with the Yoga is, that the small ones with the pen only have an i3. The big ones are way too expensive in Germany (> US$ 2050).
One thing I noticed there as well, is that they don't use a SSD drive, well 16GB (I added this to my requirements). That's something I don't wanna miss anymore.
I was definitely checking this out. The Yoga 2 was looking great as well but it's not a Thinkpad and therefore has no pen support which is REALLY a pity.

 

[12Danny123]

I thought you can customize the PC on the Lenovo website

 

[FutureBSD]

Yes you can. But if you check the i3 touch & pen model (which would be the one in my price range) you are not able to replace it with an i5.
And the only ones with an i5 touch & pen start at 1,500 Euro (US$ 2050). Those however still have a hdd, not a ssd. If you want to enjoy a ssd they will charge you another few hundred bucks. So making this a proper device (i5 + ssd) will completely kill your wallet.

Based on that I think the Surface Pro 2 is the much better deal.

 

[exyaized]

Do you really need Win 8.1 Pro? Going with normal Win 8.1 will reduce the Price by 80 euros.

So you get for about 1500 euros the yoga with:
Wacom
i5
8GB RAM
256GB SSD

You can ask lenovo support for a discount code. Some users reported they got 10-15% off.

The Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga is the best convertible you can get right now if Wacom is needed.
Surface 2 Pro is 1280 euros without keyboard + you can not easy change the SSD if you need later 500GB or so.

 

[theefman]

CES is in a few days, could be a few surprises there. I've heard of a Wacom Asus transformer book so far, could be more.

 

[FutureBSD]

Always forget about the CES. Thanks for the reminder, Sir. I'll definitely wait what next week brings.
Qualcomm already announced something pretty nice which we will not see on a Surface anytime soon though (my opinion)
Ultra Sound NotePad

 

[hopmedic]

I've got the Yoga 11S with an i5 Haswell (not on Lenovo.com, last time I looked, but Best Buy has it). It doesn't have a pen, but it's a great little machine, IMO. I love it.

 

[FutureBSD]

No doubt, there are some pretty nice 2-in-1, convertibles etc. out there. But not too many with a pen.
And as it's currently just a note taking tool no pen support is a no-go for me.
But let's see what CES brings next week. Can still return the Surface till the end of January and decide if I just replace it with the Surface "2.5" (which is currently out of stock anyway) or switch to another one.

 

[theefman]

Another idea is you could try supplementing your SP with the upcoming Asus Vivotab Note 8 as a pure note taking device, uses Wacom like the SP and you could use Onenote and all your notes are automatically synced to the more powerful device.