Laptop with pen support under $2K

Lhjcoggan on 13/02/2022 - 01:25

Hi All
I currently have a Lenovo Yoga 7i 15" and its been plagued with issues regarding the pen interface (not the actual pen, I replaced it to no avail) and decided I'd use it as an opportunity to get a refund and get another laptop instead.

I don't want something too heavy. This thing is 1.9 kg, not ideal. Would like 1.3kg or under.

I would be fine with 13" to 14" display.

Budget under $2K, I have access to student discounts.

16GB ram ideal, 6 cores preferable for longevity.

I just wonder whether I should get the Yoga Slim 7 Carbon (AMD) and use pen/paper for my notetaking instead. The 1kg weight is really appealing, and ticks all the other boxes (plus student discount is within my budget).

I've tried the 7i 14" and I wasn't that impressed. Found it a bit more sturdy than the 15" but still a tad heavy for my liking. Yes I'm pretty fussy.

Cheers.

Computing

Comments

  • Hybroid on 13/02/2022 - 03:41
    +3

    Microsoft Surface.

    • hjcoggan on 13/02/2022 - 22:43

      16GB ram Surface models are at minimum $2.4k.
      I had a Pro 3 a few years ago with nothing but problems. Had it replaced under warranty twice. They are probably better now but not without a hefty discount unfortunately.

  • BobD on 13/02/2022 - 07:45
    +1

    Might be a bit heavy for you and it's Win 10 Pro with a free upgrade to Win 11
    https://www.centrecom.com.au/msi-summit-e16-flip-evo-a11mt-1…

    • hjcoggan on 13/02/2022 - 22:38

      Damn the specs on that thing are crazy! 16" is a bit big though, and it's heavier than my 7i 15. I will look into MSI laptops now though, thanks!

  • boomramada on 13/02/2022 - 09:25

    Xps 13 does, been using for while and still haven't used it yet lol

  • Freeza on 13/02/2022 - 11:46
    +1

    Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 Laptop and you can get Dell Active Pen with that.

    • hjcoggan on 13/02/2022 - 22:32

      I saw that, can get a decent discount with edu. But I'm worried about the battery, its only 41Wh!

  • crentist on 13/02/2022 - 13:39
    +1

    may I ask what the issues were? I've picked up a second hand yoga and the pen stuff seems a little odd at times, like the connection dropping out slight here and there etc
    just wondering how unusual it is

    if it helps any, I feel like it helped to do a clean install of windows and just do windows updates, without installing any lenovo drivers or software. bugs seems to appear the moment Vantage or whatever else was installed, and it would suddenly have trouble switching to tablet mode properly

    • hjcoggan on 13/02/2022 - 22:34

      Sorry for the late reply!
      I will be writing and it will disconnect randomly. I made a video for lenovo support here: https://youtu.be/Tk0w87pkKvE

      I read some comments online that it's a relatively common issue with the 7i 15, really disappointing really as otherwise its not a bad laptop.

  • iamnotafish on 13/02/2022 - 14:11
    +1

    I've been happy with my Acer Spin 3, which I have in the 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD configuration. I believe it's listed at 1.5kg. I bought it for about $1.9k about a bit over a year ago.

    Would be interested to know what the pen issues are, as since I've installed Windows 11, the previous update "broke" then pen support in that, even though I had deselected the setting, it would treat the pen as a mouse. To have it write like a pen, I'd have to hold the button while writing. The temporary "fix" I found was to go to Device Manager > Human Interface Devices > HID-compliant pen, and to uninstall the driver, then refresh Device Manager, which would trigger it to automatically re-install the driver again. After that it worked fine. Unfortunately, I have to do this every time I restart my computer. The update to build 22000.493 may have fixed the issue, but I haven't tried as I don't really use the pen that much.

  • leiiv on 13/02/2022 - 23:47

    Why not iPad pro 12.9" with its pencil and keyboard?

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