Productivity 2-in-1 / convertible, buy now or wait for new products?

[rwhipple08]

I'm looking to upgrade from my iPad3 to a Windows 2-in-1 like the Acer Aspire Switch, or a convertible like the Lenovo Yoga. The main purpose is productivity:

1) day planner/calendar/to-do/note apps at home and at work every day,
2) the ability to easily access and work from OneDrive files when I'm on the road for short durations
3) the processing power to do moderate amounts of work for longer durations

In terms of tech specs, I'm looking for:

- 11.6" screen at 1920x1080
- At least a Core i3
- At least 128GB storage

Right now it seems all options are 1366x768, and I can either go for 128GB SSD or 500GB HDD. Most options are not running i-series processors.

However, I see the Acer Aspire Switch 11 is due to hit the market this month, which has all of the above at a price tag of $649 for an i3, or $799 for an i5.

My question is: will the Christmas season bring a new crop of hardware to the market that will match what I'm looking for? The Switch 11 would be satisfactory based on previews I've read, but I'd feel like a fool to buy the first thing that worked and then see November/December bring a bunch of competition, bringing lower prices and improved specs.

To those who are savvy on product cycles and upcoming releases: should I wait? I want to buy no later than January.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Titillating]

You're probably not going to find anything at a 1920x1080 resolution in the 11.6" range. There's just not enough screen space for that kind of resolution. Things in that size range also tend to focus more on battery life and portability than processing power, which is why they don't always come with an i3 or better (although that will likely change at some point). If the resolution and having an i3+ are deciding factors for you, I'd suggest moving up to the 13.3" range where that's more readily available.

 

[jaguarskx]

Some products using Intel's mobile Broadwell CPU are expected to ship at the end of this year, but most laptops / convertibles will probably not ship until early 2015 due to some fabrication issues Intel had to deal with. Some of the ultra low voltage (ULV) CPUs are supposed to be able to operate with no heatsink at all which allows for even slimmer designs; though I am sure some performance is given up for the sake of running cooler.

 

[rwhipple08]

Hmm, 13.3" is really larger than I want to haul from meeting to meeting, but I don't want to buy something that will immediately feel underpowered. I suppose 13.3" is a smaller diagonal than an 8.5x11 notebook, but I'm having trouble visualizing taking it around. I got used to the stares of unfolding my iPad at meetings, I guess I'll just have to be a trendsetter with the even larger device.

If I decide I'm willing to go up to 13.3"...got any recommendations?

 

[rwhipple08]

...or, are there any keyboard options that turn a Surface Pro 3 into a clamshell? I've looked, but haven't found anything that looks promising.