Experiences with detachable/2-in-1 laptop/tablet hybrids

In My Humble Opinion
1

So my old Acer Iconia w510 is getting a bit long in the tooth, and I’m looking to basically just get an update, with a similar form factor, while not spending thousands of euros. It’s never exactly been a performance wonder, but it’s served me fine for doing some reading, watching some movies, surfing the net and doing some text editing when away from home; so I’m looking for something along similar lines.

The only trouble is, it seems that the combination of an at least somewhat sturdy keyboard that you can clip a tablet into has gone out of fashion. The Surface Book seems to be the only thing sporting such a design at the moment, but it’s just a little too much on the pricey end for my needs.

So the only alternative seems to be either a flippable device, like this Dell (which would be near the upper end of my price range), or some variant on the ‘type cover’-theme, like the Lenovo MIIX or the Acer Switch 5 (these are my current favorites, with the Acer coming out slightly in favor due to having a silent cooling mechanism).

Does anybody have experiences with these or similar devices? Suggestions? Recommendations? Are there perhaps any models with a snap-on keyboard like the Iconia’s that I’ve missed?

Basically, as I said, I want something portable to mainly read, write, surf the net, and watch the occasional movie. Possibly do a presentation, and take some notes, so a good stylus is a plus. In a pinch, it might need a bit of computing power in order to do some calculations/simulations, but nothing too fancy, and nothing graphics-heavy.

Thanks in advance!

2

And since I now realize that it’s probably of little use to most of you to link to their descriptions in German :smack:, here’s the English Amazon page for my old, decrepit Iconia w510, the Lenovo MIIX 510, and the Acer Switch 5.

Also, I mentioned the yoga-like flipbooks above, but I’m not really a fan; something about then having the keyboard on the other side irks me. But if anybody has a glowing recommendation, I’m certainly open to having my opinion changed!

3

I have a Polaroid Android 6 tablet with a detachable keyboard/cover/stand. (This guy.) I’m glad it’s detachable, since it adds a lot of weight when using it as a tablet. I have some trouble getting it to recognize that the keyboard is attached, occasionally, but I think that’s because I don’t always fully open it, so it’s mostly on me, not the device. (When using it as a stand, I prefer to have the keyboard sitting flat, rather than ‘tent’ style, like shown, since the power button is on the side opposite the keyboard attachment. Although that makes it a bit harder to swipe up to get at the controls.)

My only real beef with it is the battery life isn’t the greatest - 3-4 hours with the backlight set low, dropping to ~2 when it’s at full. But I got it for about $120 Canadian, so that’s not a terrible trade off.

4

Does it have to run Windows? Chromebooks are capable of everything listed in the OP, and I think there are some that come in the 2-in-1 convertible format. There are Chromebooks, and there definitely 180-degree “flip” models. I know you said you weren’t a fan, but the Asus Chromebook Flip 302 is getting good reviews:

(Sorry, haven’t figured out URL tags in Tapatalk.)

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

5

I use a now-obsolete Microsoft Surface 2 with the “Type Cover” (emphatically not “Touch Cover”) keyboard. I’m typing this post on one right now.

This is the non-Pro version of the Surface 2. It comes with full-featured MS Office 2013 (not the Cloud 365 version, the real fully-on-device version). It can run many Windows store apps. It cannot run ordinary exe Windows apps that you might download from a shareware site.

As a movie, internet, and email terminal it’s ideal. You can even plug external monitors, keyboards, etc., into it and use it like a laptop docked to a desk. Of course it has built-in Bluetooth & Wi-Fi. It’s about the size and form factor of A4 paper. So it goes easily in briefcases, suitcase outside pockets, largeish women’s purses, etc. The device weights ~640g and the type cover weighs ~270g totaling ~910g.

Here’s the device: Amazon.com.

Yes, they’re all used. But I’ve had several used ones now with no problems. They’re 100% reliable until I drop them enough times and the screen finally cracks. They’re certainly very, very cheap. They’re well-integrated with Windows Live so getting a new one is as simple as booting it up the first time and logging in with your Windows Live ID. Leave it simmer for a few minutes and everything is cloned just like your old one was.

Here’s the keyboard / cover you *do *want: Amazon.com.

For comparison here’s the keyboard / cover you emphatically *don’t *want: Amazon.com.

The difference is the good keyboard / cover has actual mechanical keys like a laptop does and the bad one is just bumps on the plastic face that sorta mush down when you try to type. It’s truly awful how bad the bad one is. The good one is as good as any other name brand laptop.

Note that some folks sell the device with an included keyboard / cover, others sell it bare.

I figure there’s a few more years before these become so obsolete they can’t be practically used. I have no idea what I’ll do then. All the later models are larger / heavier enough to be unhandy for my use cases.
Last comment: And device with the “flip” feature where the keyboard rotates out of the way but is permanently attached is IMO a disaster in the making. Those connections are all far too flimsy. The Surface system is better. The keyboard attaches with a strong magnet and pops off with a gentle tug.

6

Thanks for everyone’s input. Looking at my current device, I’ve got quite a few programs that probably won’t be available for Android, so even though I’m not sure whether I’ll use most of them ever again, I’d like to keep my options open and stick with Windows (although I’ll have to take a look at the Chromebooks).

The Surface, from what I’ve heard, simply seems to be more expensive than the features justify—it seems that you can get something that’s only marginally worse for a couple of hundred bucks less.

Right now, I’m looking at the Acer Aspire Switch 12S (which I can’t find an English link for right now). The main difference to the Switch 5 is that it’s got a core m5-CPU rather than the core i5; but it’s got the hinge mechanism I’m looking for, rather than the fold-out stand. So, does anybody know how the CPUs compare, performance-wise? I’m somewhat afraid of repeating the experience I had with the Iconia’s atom-processor, which pretty much just limped along…