Which Windows 10 ARM device should I buy?

[Andrew Brehm]

I really want to play with Windows 10 on ARM with Hyper-V.

Which Windows 10 on ARM device should I buy? The Surface Pro X is too large. And I'd prefer a HP device.

But I'm not sure if HP offers a current one and I really don't know how to buy one. The only ARM device I can see for sale in Switzerland and surrounding countries is the Surface Pro X.

 

[spicypadthai]

HP had one a couple of years ago, the Envy x2, but I don't think they have a newer version. Check out whether a couple other options WC reviewed are available: Samsung Galaxy Book 2 and Lenovo Flex 5G. Depending on your budget and what I'm assuming you want to do, the Galaxy Book 2 may be the best option.

 

[Andrew Brehm]

HP had one a couple of years ago, the Envy x2, but I don't think they have a newer version. Check out whether a couple other options WC reviewed are available: Samsung Galaxy Book 2 and Lenovo Flex 5G. Depending on your budget and what I'm assuming you want to do, the Galaxy Book 2 may be the best option.

Hi,

The Samsung Galaxy Book 2 looks good but I cannot figure out how to buy it. I think Samsung don't want to sell it in Europe. (This is the same strategy usually pursued by Microsoft.)

The Lenovo likewise I cannot figure out how to order from here. I am in Switzerland.

I can buy the Surface Pro X but Microsoft won't sell me one with a QWERTY keyboard. Microsoft don't know that there are foreigners in Switzerland. It's all very annoying.

I will look for the Samsung Galaxy Book 2, it seems to be the best option. The budget is not a problem, it's just that for some reason Europe appears to be Apple territory when it comes to premium devices. And I don't like Apple.

 

[Ryujingt3]

Did you try looking for the Samsung Galaxy Book on places like Amazon or eBay? They should deliver to you.

 

[Andrew Brehm]

Did you try looking for the Samsung Galaxy Book on places like Amazon or eBay? They should deliver to you.

That's difficult. Depending on which logistics company they ultimately use, the customs can be either a small payment or a nightmare with lots of fees.

(Fedex have a scheme in which they pretend you asked them to pay customs for you and then they charge you twice as much for that "service".)

 

[Andrew Brehm]

There is another issue which is that Microsoft don't sell US keyboards in Europe. I can only buy the Surface Pro X with a German keyboard and I hate non-US keyboards. There is a lot of demand for US keyboards in Switzerland (I know how many colleagues use a US keyboard in the office) but Microsoft tend to ignore that market.

 

[Ryujingt3]

Another silly question but does the MS online store ship to Europe?

 

[Andrew Brehm]

It probably does, but see my reply above:

That's difficult. Depending on which logistics company they ultimately use, the customs can be either a small payment or a nightmare with lots of fees.

 

[ochhanz]

There is another issue which is that Microsoft don't sell US keyboards in Europe. I can only buy the Surface Pro X with a German keyboard and I hate non-US keyboards. There is a lot of demand for US keyboards in Switzerland (I know how many colleagues use a US keyboard in the office) but Microsoft tend to ignore that market.

, buy a laptop in/from the Netherlands, qwerty layout is default there with US/international layout. Windows on Arm laptops are hard to find though, very few were made. Pro X is the exception, that one is easy to find. Is it because of LTE? I know Intel's LTE is not as good but you do find more bargains since their is more choice than WoA laptops.
If you want a quieter machine and/or better battery life than you could also consider undervolting and limiting turbo boosts in advanced settings under 'Edit power plan' in Windows.

If you are lucky you might still find a refurbished WoA laptop for a cheap price.

 

[Ryujingt3]

, buy a laptop in/from the Netherlands, qwerty layout is default there with US/international layout. Windows on Arm laptops are hard to find though, very few were made. Pro X is the exception, that one is easy to find. Is it because of LTE? I know Intel's LTE is not as good but you do find more bargains since their is more choice than WoA laptops.
If you want a quieter machine and/or better battery life than you could also consider undervolting and limiting turbo boosts in advanced settings under 'Edit power plan' in Windows.

If you are lucky you might still find a refurbished WoA laptop for a cheap price.

Did that help @Andrew Brehm?

 

[Andrew Brehm]

, buy a laptop in/from the Netherlands, qwerty layout is default there with US/international layout. Windows on Arm laptops are hard to find though, very few were made. Pro X is the exception, that one is easy to find. Is it because of LTE? I know Intel's LTE is not as good but you do find more bargains since their is more choice than WoA laptops.
If you want a quieter machine and/or better battery life than you could also consider undervolting and limiting turbo boosts in advanced settings under 'Edit power plan' in Windows.

If you are lucky you might still find a refurbished WoA laptop for a cheap price.

I know the Dutch layout is QWERTY but all the special characters "{} etc. are not the same as US.

That's exactly what I find so annoying about national keyboard layouts, those very slight differences that make touch-typing impossible. (I believe the inventor of the national typewriter layout was a very evil man and probably best friends with the guy who invented daylight savings time.)

 

[Andrew Brehm]

Did that help @Andrew Brehm?

The Microsoft Store told me the same but It's not so much the location of Y relative to QWERT that bothers me, it's all the special characters. I am most annoyed when I am using a British keyboard layout which is quite similar to US with only a few special characters different. (And Windows 10 doesn't help because it keeps adding British keyboard layouts to my language bar because I use British English as my screen language.)

 

[ochhanz]

The Microsoft Store told me the same but It's not so much the location of Y relative to QWERT that bothers me, it's all the special characters. I am most annoyed when I am using a British keyboard layout which is quite similar to US with only a few special characters different. (And Windows 10 doesn't help because it keeps adding British keyboard layouts to my language bar because I use British English as my screen language.)

, what if you just buy a qwerty laptop and set the keyboard layout to international in Windows and optionally add the correct key stickers for the special keys?

What is actually the reason you want a WOA/Arm laptop? (especially considering Ryzen 4xxxu series is top notch performance now)

 

[Andrew Brehm]

, what if you just buy a qwerty laptop and set the keyboard layout to international in Windows and optionally add the correct key stickers for the special keys?

First, it's a large number of special keys, more than 20.

Second, I already have stickers on my keys for various combinations of Hebrew, Arabic and Russian on most of my keyboards.

Third, I just dislike Microsoft's attitude towards their customers. Apple give me the option to choose, MSFT should too.

Fourth, if I order from the Netherlands to get a QWERTY to start with, I already have the same problems with customs as I have if I order it from the US.

What is actually the reason you want a WOA/Arm laptop? (especially considering Ryzen 4xxxu series is top notch performance now)

I am an ARM CPU enthusiast.

No, seriously, I often travel for hours on trains to Paris and northern Germany. I want a computer that is ideally small (as opposed to 14" screen), light, and with a long battery life. I have an iPad 4 mini that has those characteristics but I prefer Windows and would like a proper computer than I can use for applications other than media consumption and bad games.

 

[ochhanz]

I am an ARM CPU enthusiast.

No, seriously, I often travel for hours on trains to Paris and northern Germany. I want a computer that is ideally small (as opposed to 14" screen), light, and with a long battery life. I have an iPad 4 mini that has those characteristics but I prefer Windows and would like a proper computer than I can use for applications other than media consumption and bad games.

, I understand. If LTE is not important, I would suggest the 13 inch 2-1 Envy with latest Ryzen cpu considering the efficiency (so battery life and performance) of these are excellent. Igpu is ok too, so you can play casual games on it. Smaller than 13 inch (/thin bezels so actually size of ~12 inch) does not really exist for laptops (well it does but you sacrifice on lots of other good stuff).
I personally have a slightly older and bigger 2-1 Envy, they are good devices and somewhere between budget and premium laptops in (they also support active pens). I should mention they are not passively cooled devices, but you could undervolt (throttlestop) & limit (windows power plan) them to make them more silent and run cool.

What might also interest you is the just announced 14 inch Acer 2-1 with a new ARM chip, I forgot the name but should be easy to find. It also houses a pen in the body. It is not super thin and super light though, on the hand you will get latest LTE and likely long battery life.

 

[Ryujingt3]

I think that as more and more manufacturers embrace ARM you will get better options. Like the Acer mentioned above.