Ultrabook / 2-in-1 for office use only

Melcma

Commendable
Nov 25, 2016
3
0
1,510
Looking lightweight and portable device for office, no gaming, rarely videos, it will serve as portable workstation unit (2 monitors + mouse/keyboard at work and 2 monitors + mouse + keyboard + speakers at home) and eventually serve as 3rd monitor.
Basically I want mobile PC but with extra screen.

As I had an idea that it could serve as 3rd monitor I'd go for 2-in-1 models for limited desks space.

Must have:
SSD 128GB/256GB
8gb ram
14", 13" or 11"
As best CPU as I can get for price, well it's just for office only but I don't want to be bottlenecked any time by CPU.
GPU can be integrated as long as it doesn't bottleneck daily use performance.
Budget: up to £600 ($750) but can raise up a little
HDMI/DP/DVI x2 well at worst it could be VGA but must have two video ports

Laptop will be transfered every day home <> office. I'm using programming tools such as PHPStorm, Android Studio, SSH, FTP, E-mail clients, multiple browsers etc.

Have found two models so far:
http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-13-5368-2-in-1-laptop/pd?oc=cn53601&model_id=inspiron-13-5368-2-in-1-laptop
http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/yoga/500-series/yoga-510-14/

But they offer 1 video port (unless I can connect monitor by USB?)

Thanks for help.
 
The £580 Lenovo has a dual-core Skylake i5 CPU, 8GBs of RAM and a 128GB SSD, which just about covers your stated needs. The Dell is slightly smaller and lighter, but the pricing strategy makes it a bit difficult to compare the two.

£500 will buy you a dual-core Skylake i3, 4GBs of RAM and 500GB mechanical HDD, which is a bit short on your needs. The next option represents quite a jump, at £700, but you will get a dual-core Kaby Lake i5, 8GBs of RAM and 256GBs of SSD storage. The HD 620 IGP also represents a significant jump in graphics power over the HD 520 in the Lenovo.

Adding £70 to the Lenovo will only get you a discreet 2GB Radeon card that isn't as good as the HD 620. Of course, it's £50 less than the Kaby Lake Dell.

Both CPUs support up to 3 external monitors via the HDMI port, but you'll need an HDMI splitter like this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neoteck-Splitter-Splitters-Amplifier-Projector/dp/B01GHFJL10/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1480079337&sr=8-12&keywords=hdmi+hub

And here's an article about connecting multiple displays from October this year.
http://www.alphr.com/features/389164/how-to-connect-a-second-screen-to-your-laptop-1

If you are willing to spend £700, then the Dell is definitely the better of the two. If not, you should opt for the £580 Lenovo - the Radeon card isn't worth £70.

Cheers,
GreyCatz.
 

Melcma

Commendable
Nov 25, 2016
3
0
1,510


Hey,
Thanks for answer. Meanwhile I searched a bit for deals, found Asus Zenbook for 600GBP, 8gb of ram and 128SSD, same CPU.

Found also Dell Inspiron 13 5000 which costs 615GBP (after 12% discount) but it has 256GB SSD + better CPU. I think it's the one you described?

Could I get an opinion on these two models, how do they compare to what have you described?
 
The ASUS is certainly worth a second glance and, down £200, it seems a great bargain. But the touch-screen does seem to be the only outstanding feature. If that's something you think could come in handy, then by all means go for the ASUS.

The Dell link seems to point to the same Dell from your first post. And I can't find the £615 version.

GreyCatz.