2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level
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I have a C-Level executive that wants a 2-in-1 laptop. I’m trying to decide to recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, or a Dell XPS 13 7390. I have no experience with any of the 3 listed. Has anyone deployed one of these products and your employee and/or customer is happy with? Is there another 2-in-1 product that I’m missing?
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I use a Dell Inspiron 13 5378 2-in-1, ok don't use it in "Tablet" mode very much, but it's a 7th Gen i5 and takes what i throw at it.
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With Dell I'd go for Latitude 5300 2in1 or whatever they're doing in the 7xxx series 2in1 now.
I would never, ever in a million years recommend anything from the Inspiron or XPS ranges for business use. We tested a 3000 series Latitude and it was basically just a re-branded Inspiron.
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@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
I have a C-Level executive that wants a 2-in-1 laptop. I’m trying to decide to recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, or a Dell XPS 13 7390. I have no experience with any of the 3 listed. Has anyone deployed one of these products and your employee and/or customer is happy with? Is there another 2-in-1 product that I’m missing?
If they need serious (battery) longevity then Surface Book 2 would the the direction to go in. The graphics horsepower available in the upper end of the line can be very helpful for working with 3D/CAD/CAM files.
I've been using my Surface Pro 3/4 (4 came via warranty replacement) for quite a few years and the previous SP3 for a few before that. My three year warranty on the original purchase just expired in October.
I like to write, so my main device needs pen input. I'd like a 15" Surface Book but refuse to buy a "premium" device when components within the device are far from it. MARVEL Bluetooth/WiFi component has been a pain in the arse across their device line. The new Surface Pro units finally have Intel so I may go in that direction when the time comes.
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Around these parts you'll get no love for anything Lenovo - After SuperFish, that company is blacklisted - if not for life, for a long while yet.
I have used a few Surface Pros - they seem fine for the most part. My wife has an SP5 - she seems to like it. I just rolled out an SP6 to my boss 6 months ago - no issues so far.
I agree with sticking with the Latitude series on Dell - this is a company laptop, so go with business gear.
I know JB has an XPS, and as far as I know, he likes it.
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@PhlipElder said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
I have a C-Level executive that wants a 2-in-1 laptop. I’m trying to decide to recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, or a Dell XPS 13 7390. I have no experience with any of the 3 listed. Has anyone deployed one of these products and your employee and/or customer is happy with? Is there another 2-in-1 product that I’m missing?
If they need serious (battery) longevity then Surface Book 2 would the the direction to go in. The graphics horsepower available in the upper end of the line can be very helpful for working with 3D/CAD/CAM files.
@PhlipElder Yes, my C-level travels frequently. He did stress he is interested in serious battery longevity. Thanks for your input.
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@Dashrender said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
Around these parts you'll get no love for anything Lenovo - After SuperFish, that company is blacklisted - if not for life, for a long while yet.
I have used a few Surface Pros - they seem fine for the most part. My wife has an SP5 - she seems to like it. I just rolled out an SP6 to my boss 6 months ago - no issues so far.
I agree with sticking with the Latitude series on Dell - this is a company laptop, so go with business gear.
I know JB has an XPS, and as far as I know, he likes it.
Good point @Dashrender. Honestly I was trying to decide between the SP6 and the XPS. I'm going to throw the SB2 into the mix as well since I'm seeing that the battery life is improved over the SP
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What about when the C-level is working from home. They are used to connecting their notebooks to docking stations that have dual monitor setups. Is there a particular model that is better suited for this?
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@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
@Dashrender said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
Around these parts you'll get no love for anything Lenovo - After SuperFish, that company is blacklisted - if not for life, for a long while yet.
I have used a few Surface Pros - they seem fine for the most part. My wife has an SP5 - she seems to like it. I just rolled out an SP6 to my boss 6 months ago - no issues so far.
I agree with sticking with the Latitude series on Dell - this is a company laptop, so go with business gear.
I know JB has an XPS, and as far as I know, he likes it.
Good point @Dashrender. Honestly I was trying to decide between the SP6 and the XPS. I'm going to throw the SB2 into the mix as well since I'm seeing that the battery life is improved over the SP
SB2 will likely be a lot heavier than the SP7, but I think it will be larger as well.
and if you buy the graphics version - the battery will still suck.
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@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
What about when the C-level is working from home. They are used to connecting their notebooks to docking stations that have dual monitor setups. Is there a particular model that is better suited for this?
I just did my first foray into docking stations. I picked up HP Elitebook 850 and HPs thunderbolt dock. We've only had one working for one day so far (deployed on Friday - but no real use yet)... That said - on my test bench, it setup super easy and worked without issue.
I've had other docks in the past that were a HUGE PITA, but that was 10+ years ago.
Also, 6 months ago for the boss - I setup a SP6 with MS docking station, other than some user error (because it went home and I didn't plug it all in for them) it's been working OK.
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My machine is a Latitude 7390. I get sufficient battery life that I don't typically have issues (unless it doesn't go to sleep properly when I put it in my backpack). I run dual 24" monitors off of the WD15 dock. It has a nice section on the left side where you can magnetize the Dell stylus to it and not have to deal with a cord. The screen is responsive enough to touch/stylus that I do a high percentage of my meeting note taking with the stylus. I don't really have any complaints. I wouldn't want to do any heavy lifting with it, but it meets my needs as a people manager (don't do much technical these days).
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@Kelly Thanks Kelly. The SB's are really expensive. This Dell Latitude may be more cost effective. The C-level isn't doing anything that would require heavy graphics lifting. I will have to see how the Latitude battery life compares to the SB2.
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I have 13 inch Dell XPS for work and a 13 inch HP Spectre for home use. I prefer the HP Spectre for its great battery life, although the XPS has more horsepower.
I find that battery life > horsepower when traveling alot. I would be surprised if the C level truly needs horsepower and graphics to do what he/she needs.
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@IRJ said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
I have 13 inch Dell XPS for work and a 13 inch HP Spectre for home use. I prefer the HP Spectre for its great battery life, although the XPS has more horsepower.
I find that battery life > horsepower when traveling alot. I would be surprised if the C level truly needs horsepower and graphics to do what he/she needs.
Good point - stick with an i5 or even an i3 if possible, avoid the i7.
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Good point - stick with an i5 or even an i3 if possible, avoid the i7.
Yes, this is very true. The core i7 is going to be overkill. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Right now I'm between a Surface Book 2 and a Dell Latitude 7390. I will be pricing these out with docking stations and researching these further.
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@Dashrender said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
What about when the C-level is working from home. They are used to connecting their notebooks to docking stations that have dual monitor setups. Is there a particular model that is better suited for this?
I just did my first foray into docking stations. I picked up HP Elitebook 850 and HPs thunderbolt dock. We've only had one working for one day so far (deployed on Friday - but no real use yet)... That said - on my test bench, it setup super easy and worked without issue.
I've had other docks in the past that were a HUGE PITA, but that was 10+ years ago.
Also, 6 months ago for the boss - I setup a SP6 with MS docking station, other than some user error (because it went home and I didn't plug it all in for them) it's been working OK.
We've had so much grief with the Dell Thunderbolt TB16 unit it's not funny. BSODs galore especially on the cr*ppy Realtek NIC driver built-in to the dock.
Firmware updates have been hit and miss.
All of them have been deployed with Precision 7530 series and later laptops with a fresh Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit.
We was disappointed when we were told that we'd be ordering them instead of a proper dock. Our disappointment was warranted.
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For the Dells, the newest dock (WD19 IIRC) is much better (than the WD15) based on preliminary testing and a couple that we've deployed so far. I'll strongly suggest getting the version with the 180W power so as to minimize the chances of your user having to connect the dock and the laptop's power if he's got some especially power hungry gadgets connected to the dock.
Although, knock on wood we haven't had many problems with the WD15 lately, so maybe the latest FW has fixed some of the bugs that we'd run into initially.
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@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
I have a C-Level executive that wants a 2-in-1 laptop. I’m trying to decide to recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, or a Dell XPS 13 7390. I have no experience with any of the 3 listed. Has anyone deployed one of these products and your employee and/or customer is happy with? Is there another 2-in-1 product that I’m missing?
I have had good luck with SP6 here. Deplyed 7-8 of them.
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@magicmarker said in 2-in-1 laptop for a C-Level:
What about when the C-level is working from home. They are used to connecting their notebooks to docking stations that have dual monitor setups. Is there a particular model that is better suited for this?
I use the Kensington docking stations I think it is.
