https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vi0gOJ9eU0
today, we are not talking attraction or girls.
No, my friend! Today’s video is on something far, far more important.
And that is our computers.
Yes, I have always been rather a nerd, starting out my career as a computer programmer.
I’ve always had an interest in computers.
So today, right now, I’m going to show you a little behind-the-scenes of what computers I like to work with and would recommend to you, my friend.
The Dell XPS 15
So, because I do a lot of traveling and I am on the go a lot, my primary workhorse is a laptop.
And that laptop is the Dell XPS 15.
This is the first laptop that I’ve ever owned, that I can genuinely say, I am straight up in love with.
I think part of the reason is that this is my first laptop with an SSD drive, so it boots up superfast, and is just a snappy and quick. It’s all ultrathin and ultralight.
And one thing I love about this computer, is that it’s a 15-inch screen in the body of a 14-inch laptop.
It accomplishes that feat because the bezels around the screen are so thin.
Now that might not sound like a big deal.
But if you do a lot of traveling, having a 15-inch screen on a 14-inch body actually is a huge deal.
Firstly, because there’s so many more different protective cases and sleeves that fit a 14-inch laptop that don’t fit a 15-inch laptop. And once you put on a protective case, a 15-inch laptop will generally not fit into many shoulder bags or backpacks.
Whereas a 14-inch laptop is way more portable and fits into most bags and backpacks.
You wouldn’t think it would make much of a difference, but when you’re on the go a lot, like I am, it’s a big deal.
The Specs
And the Dell XPS 15, the screen is incredible!
The colors are bright and pop. You can watch 4K movies and videos on it. It just looks stunning.
And when you’re doing video editing or photo editing, that 4k screen just gives you more space and more detail to work with. And that’s primarily what I use this laptop for, mostly to do video editing and rendering.
And it’s pretty good at that.
It’s got 16 GB of RAM, a quad-core i7 Intel processor, a zippy Nvidia GPU.
For a laptop this small, and thin, and light, this thing is an absolute beast in terms of raw processing power.
The Surface Pro 2017
Now all that being said, the Dell XPS 15 is not my favorite computer.
That honor would go to the fifth generation 2017 Surface Pro.
I think that in a couple thousand years when future historians look back at the 21st century, and they’re going to delineate the era of pre-modern history from the era of modern history, they will mark that historical delineation with the release of the 2017 Surface Pro because this thing is an absolute wonder.
For the last six years, I’ve had a generation ONE Surface Pro.
And this fifth-generation model blows my old one out of the water.
I cannot almost believe how much the technology has progressed over the last six or seven years.
What the Surface Pro can do
Just right off the bat, it’s beautiful to look at. It’s light. It’s ergonomic.
It feels incredible to the touch and to hold.
In short, the build quality is amazing.
It’s almost like a work of art.
The large 12-inch screen is just bright and crisp, and the colors really pop.
The battery life for something so thin and small is staggering, considering that this is a Windows computer running Windows 10.
And what I love about this latest Surface Pro is that it seamlessly converts from a laptop into a tablet.
So, I’ll do a little bit of writing on the laptop keyboard, and then when I want to use it as a tablet, usually for watching videos, or using Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition, I just yank off the keyboard, and voilà! It’s instantaneously a tablet.
An incredibly lightweight tablet that’s easy to hold, with a massive screen.
I literally just throw this into my small shoulder bag and bring it anywhere, and it doesn’t even feel like I’m carrying anything.
Surface Pro: compared to tablets
And yes, sure, you can find an Android tablet or an iPad Pro with just as beautiful of a screen.
But the Surface Pro is packing an i5 core processor–an i5 core processor!
That’s a good four times the raw computing power of any android tablet or iPad Pro you can find.
And this i5 core processor is fanless.
Fanless! A processor that powerful on such a thin device being fanless, that is simply amazing.
And unlike an iPad Pro or an Android tablet, the Surface Pro will run any software that runs on Windows.
So yes, it can handle Photoshop.
It can handle any video editing software.
It can handle Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition, which I use a lot.
And you’re not going to find that kind of raw power on any android or on any Apple tablet.
So, my recommendation is, if you want the ultimate, portable, computer-duo powerhouse, I recommend pairing up a Dell XPS 15 with a latest generation Surface Pro and using them interchangeably, depending on the task at hand.
BookBook Laptop cases
By the way, another cool accessory that I would recommend are these leather BookBook cases from the company, Twelve South.
These are essentially laptop cases designed to look like a book.
And I have one for my Surface Pro, and I have one for my Dell.
And the reason you might want to spring for this option is simply for security.
If someone looks inside your bag, it just looks like there’s a book in there and it’s less likely to be stolen.
If you’re in a hotel and someone looks inside your luggage, they’re just going to see a book. They’re not going to see an expensive laptop.
When you go away from home for a while you can slip this into your bookshelf and your laptop is effectively hidden from view.
So, a pretty clever way to protect your investment.
Where to buy a laptop: Costco
All right, so before we wrap this up, let me answer the question, “Where is the best place to buy yourself a laptop.”
Well, if you want the best price, I would recommend one of two options.
First, in the United States, I think that Costco has some of the best prices with the best return policy.
You got 90 days to return your purchase no questions asked. You just walk in any Costco store and they will take care of you.
I’m not sponsored by Costco or anything. this is just my experience.
For example, I got the Surface Pro with pen and with keyboard for just US$800 at Costco, which anywhere else was costing $1,000 or more.
The downside with Costco is that they don’t carry all the different configurations like maybe they have the version with 4 GB of Ram, but not with 8 GB of Ram.
But in my case, they had the exact configuration I was looking for.
The other place you can save money is that a lot of these computer companies will have websites dedicated to selling refurbished laptops for around 20% to a 30% discount.
For example, Dell has a website called DellRefurbished.com, that they don’t really advertise but where you can find some good discounts.
Microsoft sells certified refurbished products.
I know that Acer has a dedicated website exclusively selling their certified refurbished computers.
So, you can save a couple hundred dollars that way too. That’s a little secret.
So, now my friend, you know what computers I do all my work on.