Convertible notebooks are the perfect traveling companions
This trip to San Francisco is going very well and it has reinforced something I’ve known for some time. A convertible notebook like the HP 2710p I am using is the perfect traveling companion for a number of reasons. The 2710p is as thin and light as any full-sized notebook you will find anywhere. This makes it very easy to carry around and manipulate through all of the various comings and goings that you have to do on a trip. It is a "no-hassle" form factor that can pop in and out of a gadget bag with ease.
The 2710p with the 12-inch screen is big enough to be free of compromises as a desktop replacement on a trip. I have a good screen that is nice to work with and a great keyboard for getting down to business. This is a no-compromise solution to getting work done yet keeping everything as mobile as it needs to be. Sure there are some of the newer notebooks that are also thin and light but they don’t do the one thing that sets the convertible notebook apart, and that is to swivel the screen around to work in slate mode.
You don’t have to be a Tablet PC fan to get a benefit out of the swivel screen. Even if you aren’t one to work in ink the ability to work in tight spaces in slate mode is a huge time-saver and offers an advantage to anyone . You can work in the strangest places (and I have), the back of cabs, walking through a hotel lobby, anywhere you can go with a slate in your hands can become a productive work place. The utility of this cannot be overstated, it is a big boon and something the sexy new notebooks like the MacBook Air and Sony TZ cannot do.
I am once again impressed with how much the HP 2710p brings to the table for mobile working. With just a few seconds I can open my bag and have a full working arrangement no matter where I might be. Pop it open and get down to the task at hand. I can do all of this with no worries and hassle-free, and that is worth pure gold to me.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
I appreciate the same thing about my (slightly smaller) P1510. Standing on the train? Flip the screen.
And, after spending years of owning and working with dozens of very small laptops (my wife calls my Dell X300 my “big laptop”, to give a sense of the phenomena) I’ve discovered that a nice, light 12″ machine with a better-than-Dell keyboard really fits the bill best for me, so your 2710 is looking really attractive.
Still leaves the problem of carrying around a notebook that costs $1500, though. Too expensive for my tastes. I prefer laptops in the sub-$500 category for actual travel. Too many accidents, lost bags, not wanting to sleep for fear of somebody stealing stuff. Too much hassle.
That’s why I carry a $180 used laptop with an encrypted drive.
How’s the Wind holding up for Kevin?
In my experience, 2710p’s 12″ screen is tad too big to be viewed without fading effect. I also found viewing angle in 2710p is worse in slate mode than in laptop mode. I wish it has either Fujitsu T2010 like bright quality screen or smaller screen to be really useful in slate mode.
Weylund, the Wind has made it from Philly to Minneapolis/St. Paul and offers the same small-space benefit of a larger convertible. ;) With a 10-inch display and overall size to match, it was just fine on my tray table to get here. Now it’s off for the second leg: San Fran, here I come!
Thanks! Enjoy. I work in SF and live in Berkeley — the weather here is looking like it’s going to stay good for a bit though the mornings have been cold.
Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures, guys. I guess there’s probably a bunch of readers in SF, but if you run into trouble out here I’d be happy to help.
I’d love Apple to do one of these.
I just ordered a refurbished 2710p to replace my p1610. I really like the p1610 and the p1510 before it, but I’ve decided I need a larger screen and more memory. I debated over the 2730p for a couple days, but decided to go with a good deal on a refurbished 2710 instead.
I’m a developer that mostly uses my laptops/tablet for note taking in meetings and email/web access when I am onsite with a client. The Fujitsus have served me well and have resisted advances by an OQO Model2, Sony SZ and MacBook. None of them lasted more than a few weeks before being ebayed or handed down to a family member.
For now, the kids are happy since they have inherited the 1610 (son) and 1510 (daughter). They are both under 8, so the smaller keyboard and screen seems to work pretty well for them.
Now I just need to wait for the delivery truck to roll up.