Scantlings

I have finally declared my laptop as "unusable."

It's 8-9 years old, 2nd generation core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a slow 320GB harddrive trying valiantly to run Windows 10.
Takes eons to boot up and the harddrive just grinds and grinds and grinds. Chrome is taking longer to open and longer to build the pages. Converting small video files takes hours.
My kids damaged the power supply jack years ago, so I must *never* move the laptop or bump the cord or it'll take me 15 minutes of fidgeting to get it seated properly again.

For me, buying a replacement computer, creates as much anxiety as buying or selling a house. I know more about the technology than many casual consumers but not as much as "hardcore" consumers. It's something I do very infrequently. I just hate it. I worry that I'll make wrong decisions and regret my purchase, miss an important spec and kick myself later. I also loathe the idea of pouring a lot of money into this stuff. I have better things to spend my money on. A computer is simply a necessary evil, like a car or health insurance. It's not something I "enjoy."

I'm sure I'll cop all kinds of ridicule from the tech nerds in the group for my choice, but I've settled on an HP Envy 360x 2-in-1 laptop.

- I simply wasn't willing to fork out for the SSD. The 2-in-1's that offer SSDs typically have smaller drives and offer less RAM unless you really plunk down the coin. This unit has a 1TB 7200RPM SATA drive which will still seem like a decent improvement to my user experience. I have an external harddrive in my office that I can shunt my raw video files and other inconsequential crap onto, to conserve storage space.
- 12GB of RAM is a significant step up from my current unit and should be adequate for a number of years.
- 7th Generation core i5 processor. Consumer reviews state that there is very little difference between the i5 and the i7 and I decided not to pay an additional $250+ just to get the i7 and 4 more GB of RAM.
- Touch screen, e-stylus support. I'm going to see if this device kills two birds with one stone and eliminates my desire for a separate tablet device.
- Bluetooth. This device might also be nice to have on the boat sometimes, for navigation support. I can use OpenCPN and it'll talk to my GPS puck. I'll have to be careful about the conditions that I take it out in though.
- My company offers a special deal to purchase a full MS Office suite for $10.00 so I'll do that as soon as the unit arrives.

Price- $700 on clearance. I considered waiting until Black Friday/Cyber Monday but I don't expect much of a further price reduction from the clearance sale price. My old laptop is really so bad that waiting another 3 weeks will really, really irritate me.

I compared various Apple computers and laptops, the Lenovo Yoga and other 2-in-1's and this is what I ended up settling on. If this thing satisfies the tablet uses, it'll be a considerable bargain. If not, it's still a "fair deal." If I get 7 years out of it, I'll be happy but I'm aiming for more.

Seems like a reasonable choice. A quick search of the web popped up a few for $599, but I didn't dig into specific details. A few comments:

Disk vs SSD: As an old disk drive builder, I can tell you that the machine will boot and warm start more slowly with the disk. It will write to the disk faster than the SSD, but most of us don't write all that much. SSD also has the wonderful advantage of surviving hard bumps while the computer is running. A disk, even a really good one, has serious trouble with a 1" drop while it's flying the head.

RAM: This is really just a function of the applications you run and how many of them you keep "live". You probably know this, but when you get more software running than will fit into physical memory, the system starts to swap stuff out to the disk. When something like a photo or video editor loads a big file, it can typically swap out nearly everything. You can mitigate this by only keeping the applications you really want to use open. The place it nails you is when you're cutting and pasting from one app to another.

CPU i5 vs i7: There is a small (<20%) performance difference generally. There is a small increase in power for the i7 because it runs faster, you're making more heat; duh! I think you're right, get the i5, it'll be fast enough. My opinion is that Intel is just rebranding a small processor change so they can get more money for it. (The extra 4 GB of ram makes the i7 version a bit more attractive, but see above.)

Touch Screen: IMHO, this depends on why you're using a touch screen. I think you'll find that most of us who use tablets often can't stand the idea of dragging the weight of a keyboard around with you wherever you go. (As far as I can tell the HP Envy 360x doesn't let you detach the keyboard) If you're using the stylus to select things etc... than the continuously attached keyboard is fine. This machine will also be fine for watching movies, which most folks don't du while holding the device. But don't expect to use it like a Kindle or a iPad for reading. It is WAY too heavy and you'll long for a tablet. At 4.75 lbs, the HP Envy 360x is 3 times heavier than the 12.9" iPad Pro (without the keyboard attached), and almost 5 times heavier than the 10.5" iPad Pro.

BTW, I've carried laptops for well over 20 years, and I now use a MacBook primarily because of the weight (4.5 lbs) and I use a iPad simply because I wan't to take 3 lbs out of my backpack when I don't need a computer.

Bluetooth: I don't think anyone will even manufacture wire connections to devices during the lifetime you're forecasting for this device. Now that the smartphone industry (Apple and Google) have tossed the headphone jack, and even my SLR delivers photos over bluetooth, I think the days of "plugging a device into a small computer" are basically about to end. I'd strongly suggest the best bluetooth you can find so that you're not having to suffer with slow low range networking. (I couldn't find a spec for the HP bluetooth).

I realize that OpenCPN and other applications are only available on Windozzzzzz machines. As a Unix guy I still drop into the shell to do things even on my MacBook. I can only say that my friends running Windows are complaining a lot less than they used to, so I think Microsoft is doing better than they used to at reliability and security. My real gripe with Windows has always been that it was the easiest system to hack into I ever found. But, my data is about 5 years out of date now.

I think your choice is a fine one with the caveats above and especially with your company tossing in tall the Microsoft applications for $10.

PS: You may want to check and see if you can replace the disk drive yourself, that could extend the life of the device by many years.

You're a better man than I am! I couldn't have milked nearly as much usage out of a computer as you have. I suspect that most anything will seem like heaven after what you've endured so I wouldn't worry about getting the 'wrong' thing in this instance.

Beau,

I agree with your statements on SSD vs. SATA drives. I carefully considered and weighed how often I thought I might move or travel with the laptop and the answer is that it will spend 90% of the time exactly where my old laptop is- On the office desk, never moving. I will very rarely ever take it to the boat. Maybe never, if I build that dedicated nav-puter. The other 10% of the time, it might be in my lap, pulling tablet duties in the living room or bedroom.

Service as a tablet- I know, it's rather large and heavy for such a thing. We'll see how it plays out.

OpenCPN is actually available for several platforms- Windoze, Unix, Android and Mac OS (but not iPad or iPhone.) I use iSailor on the iPad. It's ok, but I like OpenCPN better.

I agree that Windows still isn't secure enough. My mitigation for this is that I really don't use my home computer very often and I restrict my web browsing to a handful of trusted sites. I do patch as quickly as possible when security updates come out (for whatever that's worth). My network at home is as secure as is common (WPA2-PSK) but not hardened against PLA Unit 61398 or anything like that.

Lastly, I think you're correct that I can upgrade the harddrive and I may do exactly that at some point, especially if I catch myself going more mobile with it.

This whole thing is like saying "I haven't driven a car in 10 years, but I suddenly find myself with a need for one. Which one should I buy?"

Yuck.

LOL! Well, even if you crash the car you buy, it's not like it's a Ferrari! LOL!

I don't personally own a computer anymore, unless you count my iPad. Wife has an Apple desktop, which I use occasionally to manage our printer and deal with the occasional mobile-unfriendly web site. Good riddance.

Orestes Munn wrote:I don't personally own a computer anymore, unless you count my iPad. Wife has an Apple desktop, which I use occasionally to manage our printer and deal with the occasional mobile-unfriendly web site. Good riddance.

I thought you had a Mac laptop on the boat? Did you kill it?

I need a decent computer to run network simulators on for professional development.

Ajax wrote:

Orestes Munn wrote:I don't personally own a computer anymore, unless you count my iPad. Wife has an Apple desktop, which I use occasionally to manage our printer and deal with the occasional mobile-unfriendly web site. Good riddance.

I thought you had a Mac laptop on the boat? Did you kill it?

I need a decent computer to run network simulators on for professional development.

We did at one time, but it was a terrible power hog.

Well, the new laptop is here. I'm using it in tablet mode right now.
Facial recognition for login, same as the iPhone. Not sure how secure it is compared to Apple.

I'm glad I'm building the pi. I'd be nervous taking this thing on the boat.