Recently
we decided that it was time to see if we could get a smaller laptop
for when you are on the road instead of always carrying around the
15.6 laptop all the time. The decision we needed to consider was
size and weight as well as would it do everything that we needed it
to do. We thought through some of the different things we wanted and
having a basic computer to do some of the daily things was what we
really needed. It also meant that size was something else that we
needed to consider.
The
result for size was something around the 11.6” screen as that would
be easy to carry but also large enough to see when sitting and
typing. The keyboard was then something that needed to be considered
as we wanted an actual keyboard and not just the touch screen
keyboard. After a lot of consideration it came down to three
different convertible laptop/tablets. The reason for the
laptop/tablet device was there are times that I would like to work on
a tablet and other times typing on the keyboard is what I want.
Another thing we considered was how much storage was available on the
system so that some of the items that are worked on can be carried
easily and not needing the usb key always being plugged into the
device.
The
three devices that were then in consideration were:
-
Dell Inspiron 11.6 Touchscreen Convertible Laptop, 500 GB Hard drive
-
Acer Aspire R 11.6” Convertible Laptop, 500 GB Hard drive
-
HP Pavilion x360 11.6” Touchscreen Convertible Laptop, 500 GB Hard drive
We
did a lot of reviewing of these three devices as we wanted to make
sure that the one that we decided on met the requirements that we had
for the device. Usability was the biggest thing and the keyboard
was a huge part of the decision factor as well as battery life.
After doing all the reviewing that we could it was time to go and
actually look at the three devices at a store and see which one
worked best. The reason for going to look at the devices at the
store was to make sure that typing was easy on the device so writing
is a key part of my life.
Canadian bilingual keyboard |
Each
computer was tested and I found out a major problem with two out of
the three keyboards and that was they had the Canadian bilingual
keyboard and not the standard keyboard that was available when you
could specify an English or French keyboard when you made your
selection here in Canada. Also all the pictures on the website of the
Canadian stores showed the standard keyboard and not the Canadian
bilingual keyboard. Now what some of the manufacturers have done is
make one keyboard that will maybe meet the needs of some customers in
Canada. The keyboard has an extra key before the enter key on the
right hand side and on the left hand side there is an extra key
between the z key and the shift key. As a touch typist I found that
the extra key made it very difficult to type because I couldn’t
easily select the shift key or the enter key. We left the store so
that a bit more investigation could be done of the available
keyboards before making our final decision on the device we were
going to buy.
A
chat with one of the companies let me know that yes here in Canada
the choice of keyboard available was the Canadian bilingual keyboard
and that was it. I didn’t have a choice between English and French
keyboards any longer. The person during the chat said that if I
wanted the standard keyboard I could always order the computer
through Amazon or some place like that. The challenge with Amazon is
so many things if ordered through Amazon.com will not be shipped to
Canada so I would still end up with the Canadian bilingual keyboard.
standard keyboard |
So
the decision was made as to which computer we were going to be
getting so off to the store we went to get the one that I could type
on. After buying the computer the first thing we did after leaving
the store was to open the box to ensure that we did have the standard
keyboard and I am happy to say that we did get the standard keyboard
and typing is pretty good on the new device.
The
device that we did end up getting was the HP Pavilion x360 11.6”
Touchscreen Convertible Laptop, 500 GB Hard drive. Typing on the
keyboard is pretty good and it is nice to not have to fight with the
extra keys that were on the other two devices.
What
this showed me was that just knowing what you want isn’t good
enough and you cannot rely on the pictures on websites to show that a
device will meet your needs. Actually typing on each of the devices
showed me some of the issues that I was going to have with the other
keyboard. Making sure that you can type on the computer that you are
going to be using is very important. I would suggest that if you are
going to buy a computer try typing something on the keyboard to
ensure you are comfortable using it. A picture of a keyboard is one
thing and the actual keyboard layout and feel is something else.
The
computer is nice and I have been able to get some writing done on it
already. This entire blog was written using the new device and I can
say that the device is meeting the needs for me. Thank you HP for
providing the standard keyboard as the keyboard that you offered here
in Canada. You got our dollars and the other two companies ended up
losing out just because they didn’t give me a choice on the
keyboard they offered.
Hi Darlene, I too have noticed the difference in keyboards - but it was between using the desktop at work, and my laptops at home.
ReplyDeleteThe other key difference I found when looking at laptops to buy was if there was a number pad or not. The funny thing was that I thought I really had to have the number pad at home, because of how much I use it at work. Guess what...that is totally wrong. What I do at work is very different from what I do at home. I did spend the extra to get the number pad, but it rarely gets used.
Loved to see how you did your research and what the results were !