Laptop Conundrum

[George Ponder]

Need some help from you guys.

I'm needing to replace my old laptop (15.6" touchscreen Dell) and have hit a brick wall.

First, I'm considering downsizing to a 14" screen. For those who have downsized, do you regret going with the smaller screen?
I don't do as much photo editing as I used to and the smaller screen would be easier to carry around when traveling.

Second, of the 14" models I have narrowed it down to two models. The Lenovo Yoga 700 and the Acer R14 2-in-1.
The Acer has the larger SSD drive but in general the two machines appear to be equal.
Any thoughts on which might be the better choice?

Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

 

[RumoredNow]

For a smaller display, I think resolution is going to be a key factor.

The Yoga 700 is FHD compared to Acers HD+ and also yields about 40 more ppi.

What about ports? I'm going to assume this is an On the Go machine:
Lenovo has 2x 3.0 + 1x 2.0 for USB
Acer is only 1x 3.0 w/ 2x 2.0 USD

The Lenovo also manages to shave off 1.3 pounds.

Just my initial impressions.

BTW, is the 13" totally drool worthy Lenovo Yoga 900 off the table? She's a head turner. Lenovo Yoga 900 | Our Best 13 Inch 2-in-1 Laptop?| Lenovo US

The 900s is due out this month and it ups the game a bit more. The S stands for Slim or Svelte or Schmexy or something nice like that. :winktongue:

 

[TechFreak1]

What about the Dell XPS 13?

Or is a 13.3" screen tad too small?

If so maybe the XPS 15 with the infinity display will fit the bill?

Speaking of the bill, what's the budget George?

Just so everyone doesn't get carried away :winktongue:.

If I had to choose between your shortlisted laptops, I'd get the R-14 if Type-C support (NX.G7WAA.001) is important as according to the data sheet it support's type-c otherwise the lenovo yoga 700.

 

[George Ponder]

Thanks for the input.

A 13.3" laptop is a bit too small for me. Just feels uncomfortable and probably too much of a downsize for me.

I'm not too picky about the ports as long as I have three USB ports and an SD card reader.

I looked at the Dell XPS but they are a bit outside my budget ($1000 give or take a few bucks) and the 15" doesn't come in a touchscreen variation. Even with the tiny bezel on the 13.3" to get the configuration I want would be far outside my budget. Now if Dell made a 14" Inspiron 7000 series, that would be appealing.

 

[TechFreak1]

Thanks for the input.

A 13.3" laptop is a bit too small for me. Just feels uncomfortable and probably too much of a downsize for me.

I'm not too picky about the ports as long as I have three USB ports and an SD card reader.

I looked at the Dell XPS but they are a bit outside my budget ($1000 give or take a few bucks) and the 15" doesn't come in a touchscreen variation. Even with the tiny bezel on the 13.3" to get the configuration I want would be far outside my budget. Now if Dell made a 14" Inspiron 7000 series, that would be appealing.

Makes sense, the lenovo yoga 700 (Part Number: 80QD00BUUS) at present has been reduced to $849 from $999 {the dGPU option} on their website .

 

[George Ponder]

Just to follow up.
I went with the Dell XPS 13.

Went to the local Best Buy to see both the Acer and Lenovo. The Acer looked nice but didn't have the build quality of the Lenovo.
The Lenovo Yoga 700 felt solid but the touchscreen and the trackpad didn't work properly. It could have been a faulty model or just worn out from customer abuse.
Whatever the reason, it didn't make me comfortable spending almost $1000 on the Lenovo.

So I went back to the drawing board and noticed the Microsoft Store had the Dell XPS 13 on sale so I decided to treat myself.
I will have to get used to the smaller screen and smaller hard drive, but the build quality and performance should make that easy.

Thanks for the advice and input.

 

[RumoredNow]

Score one for TechFreak1 then. LOL.

Thanks for the follow up, George.

 

[George Ponder]

Postscript.

Got the XPS 13 the other day.
Fantastic laptop. Great keyboard, nice compact size for a 13" screen and performance was solid.

It worked out fine for word processing, web surfing, videos and general work. However, I just could not get used to the smaller screen for photo processing. I don't take as many photos as I used to but I still process images daily and the 13" screen just didn't cut it.

My instinct was to swap the XPS 13 out with a XPS 15 but the larger XPS was well beyond my budget. So... I dialed it back a little and ordered the 15" Inspiron 7000. Went with the high-end version with the i7 processor, SSD drive and UHD resolution. I was a little concerned about the extra weight until I realized how much my 2-year old laptop weighed - 5.8 pounds. Dropping down to the 4.8 pounds of the new model will be almost as nice as the 3 pounds of the XPS.

Oh... kudos to the Microsoft Store for making the return of the XPS 13 as easy as possible.