Light and Powerful Laptop for Uni with Long Battery Life, Thoughts on Touchscreen Notes

DrDan on 07/06/2017 - 21:42

Hey guys, I am on the hunt for a Light and powerful laptop/ultrabook thing which will last long and maybe run games(not a priority at all). Something around 1.5 KG and around 3-3.5 GHz. $1500 is my top level, also looking for good warranty.

I was and am thinking of going touch-screen as I can take notes on it for uni, but I have stuck with paper for 2.5 years so not sure. Have you guys seen the benefits of it?

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Razor blades are too much and stealth with 4k is not needed and still too much.

Surface looks tempting for note taking but not that powerful and bloody expensive as I will need the type cover and also they are not the greatest for programmers.

Xiaomi Air 13 is $660 http://www.gearbest.com/laptops/pp_421980.html?wid=4 but no touch screen is throwing me off.

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Eager to hear your thoughts and any laptops you guys might have in your minds as Currently with EOFY deals going and 15% off sitewide on e-bay I think we can get some good deals. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/311536

Cheers

Computing

Comments

  • Diji1 on 07/06/2017 - 22:20
    +3

    Taking notes on a computer is both inconvenient and less effective than hand writing notes. Physically writing it improves memory retention compared to typing.

    • donnot on 07/06/2017 - 23:31
      +1

      I think OP is referring to the use of a pen/stylus.

      • DrDan on 09/06/2017 - 00:56

        Yes I am, not typing sorry

  • Kerjifire on 08/06/2017 - 01:26

    I'm at unimelb in my third year. I love taking notes on my surface pro 3 with the pen. I would highly recommend trying the device first, in my first year I tried my friends surface pro with a stylus and loved it so I went out to get one. I use it with OneNote and I wouldn't go back to taking paper notes.

    The best part about it is if you make a mistake or need to move diagrams, notes around you can because you can erase/move things.

  • the-mal on 08/06/2017 - 03:36

    The Surface range are fine for developers. Nowadays it's rare for a dev laptop to need a stupid amount of grunt since you'll usually be deploying to test VMs or IaaS machines for the heavy lifting.

    Sure the keyboards aren't great but neither are most laptops.

    I've got my team on Surface Pro 4s for heavy analytics/DB development and they work a treat. Mobile, light, great battery, fast enough and when they get to work simple to dock with screen and a decent keyboard/mouse.

    I'd also check out the Spectre range which don't have the same hefty price tag (per specs) as the Surface but have nearly all the same benefits.

    Both can run all but the highest end AAA games on lower settings. Fine for a portable gaming fix.

  • shiznit on 08/06/2017 - 09:17

    Some decent i5 SP4 deals at Harvey Norman here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/311623

  • kale chips suck on 08/06/2017 - 10:49

    I use my i7 SP3 for note taking all the time, as well as my day to day 'pute. I'm using it now, in the dock, with a G15 for the keyboard. I'd echo the comments above about study notes being better written than typed too. In my case at least my retention is much better when I write.

    I use Onenote also. We have a love/hate relationship.

    I don't find I use touch much, but that might just be me - I've not upgraded to Win10 either. My ultimate preference is kb, then mouse or pen depending on what I'm doing. Leaving fingerprints all over the screen … just leads to lots of screen cleaning, in my experience.

    I'm on my second keyboard and third pen. The keyboard failed and I lost the pens, somehow. Don't do this, they're mad exxie.

    Battery life is OK - it's degraded a lot since I got it, which is expected, but it's (technically) not replaceable. Not by the end user, anyway. I could probably get 3 hours out of a full charge is I had it running on "tightarse" power mode.

    Gaming is crap if your game has recent / high end-ish graphics. "Just don't" would be my advice on the SP3. Can't comment on the SP4 or beyond though.

  • Hazzard on 08/06/2017 - 11:28

    I used my i5 sp4 alot for note taking at uni. We used to have blank spaces on the lecture slides that had to be filled in during the lecture. It was a pain printing all the lecture slides to fill them in. Using a tablet is way more convenient. Plus as Kerjifire mentioned, mistakes are easier to correct. Didn't use OneNote much as our slides were PDF files. I used the free application, drawboard, that comes with surface devices.

    I bought the keyboard but rarely used it because the screen is too small for my liking to do work that would require a keyboard. Its been about a year and a half since I bought mine and the pen still has 25% battery.

    Downside is the battery life of the tablet is low. I was getting anywhere from 5-7hrs which wasn't enough to last a day at uni.

    Mine had some pretty nasty bugs in the beginning where it would refuse to wake up from sleep. They have all been ironed out now. This would be the reason I would wait before getting the new surface pro to check for reports of bugs that usually come with new products.

  • scrimshaw on 08/06/2017 - 13:54
    +1

    There is a HP spectre for $1280 after 20% coupon on ebay
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/252788002397

    it has a 10 hour battery life and it supports the HP active pen.

    https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-spectre-x360-13…

    • DrDan on 09/06/2017 - 01:04

      DAMN that's a great looking laptop with a great deal, but doesn't say anything about warranty etc. Legit nothing stated on specs as well. The store has good rep but looks fishy asf

  • Banana on 08/06/2017 - 19:16

    I used to take notes on my ipad and this is the stylus I used.
    https://www.google.com.au/search?q=adoint+jot&rlz=1C1CHBF_en…

    • DrDan on 09/06/2017 - 01:04

      Looking to buy a laptop that can do it all, I mean why spend money for 2 you know

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