Notebooks through the years (2018 edition!)

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Continuing from my last post about the new Acer Swift 3, here’s my fourth and 2018 edition of a long running series on notebooks: with the previous editions in 2008, 2012 and 2016. Things move so quickly in the technological world that there’s a high chance that I’ll forget my impressions of each item I’ve used or owned over the years!

Manufacturer Model From To Screen CPU Type OS
1. Toshiba Satellite Pro 1997 2000 12″ Pentium Full-featured Win 95
2. Dell Inspiron 3000 1999 2000 14″ Pentium Full-featured Win 98 SE
3. IBM Thinkpad 240X 2001 2001 10.4″ Pentium III Ultraportable Win 98 SE
4. Toshiba Protege 3000 2001 2002 11.1″ Pentium III Ultraportable Win 98 SE
5. HP Omnibook 500 2002 2004 12.1″ Pentium III Ultraportable Win XP
6. Sager 5650 2003 2005 15″ Pentium IV Full-featured / Gaming Win XP
7. Acer Travelmate 3001 2005 2007 12″ Pentium M Ultraportable Win XP
8. Dell XPS M1210 2007 2008 12″ Core 2 Duo Ultraportable / Gaming Vista
9. IBM Thinkpad T60 2007 2011 14″ Core 2 Duo Full-featured Win XP
10. NEC Versa E6310 2008 2010 14″ Core 2 Duo Full-featured / Gaming Vista
11. MSI Wind U100 2008 2013 10″ Atom Netbook Win XP
12. Apple MacBook Pro 13 2009 2012 13.3″ Core 2 Duo Full-featured iOS
13. Dell Studio XPS 16 2010 2017 16″ i5 m460 Full-featured Win 7
14. Apple MacBook Pro 15 2011 2015 15″ Core 2 Duo Full-featured iOS
15. Samsung N305 2012 11.6″ AMD Dual Core Netbook Win 7
16. Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2012 2015 15″ Quadcore Full-featured iOS
17. Asus Zenbook UX31E 2013 2016 13.3″ i5-2557M Ultrabook Win 7
18. Microsoft Surface Pro 3 2015 2018 12″ i5-4300U Tablet hybrid Windows 8.1
19. Dell XPS 13 2015 2018 13.3″ i7-5500U Ultrabook Windows 8.1
20. HP Pavilion 15 p257TX 2015 15.6″ i7-5500U Full-featured Windows 8.1
21. Aftershock S17 2016 17.3″ i7-6700HQ Full-featured / Gaming NA
22. Lenovo Thinkpad X240 2016 2018 12.5″ i7 Ultrabook Windows 8.1
23. Lenovo X1 Carbon 5th 2017 15.6″ i5-7300U Ultrabook Windows 10
24. Microsoft Surface Pro (2017) 2018 12.3″ i5-7300U Tablet hybrid Windows 10
25. HP Elite X2 1012 G2 2018 12.3″ i7-7600U Tablet-hybrid Windows 10
26. Acer Swift 3 SF315 2018 15.6″ i5-8250U Full-featured Windows 10

A number of old items got sold away – including the Surface Pro 3, Zenbook UX31E, or tossed into the e-recycling bin because they failed catastrophically – specifically the Dell XPS 16, and Dell XPS 13.

Entries 21 to 26 are new since the 2016 post. Here’s the reckoning, notes, updates and whatnots for these and others:

  • #21 Aftershock S17: the largest and heaviest notebook I’ve used – and my nightly driver. The fans have got choked up a bit since the machine has been heavily used in the last 2.5 years now. Aftershock has offered to give the notebook a cleaning and to reapply thermal paste to the processor, so I’ll be sending it in for maintenance soon.
  • #22 Lenovo Thinkpad x240: my work notebook until it was replaced by an Elite X2 earlier this year. Fairly heavy for a tablet-hybrid and low resolution screen. But as with most other Lenovo/Thinkpads I’ve had, the keyboard is fantastic.
  • #23 Lenovo X1 Carbon: currently one of my two work notebooks, and something that I use in classes. Apart from the motherboard failure the laptop experienced one month after delivery, the machine has gone on to work flawlessly in the last two years now.
  • #24 Microsoft Surface Pro (2017): bought as a replacement to the Surface Pro 3 that was sold away. Hannah uses this tablet-hybrid for her school-work at home, and both kids use it to doodle occasionally too.
  • #25 HP Elite X2: the other work notebook. Aside from the fairly thick screen bezels, the Elite X2 has a better keyboard than the Surface Pro’s.
  • #26 Acer Swift 3 SF315: the most recent acquisition and as a replacement to the wife’s HP Pavilion 15.

And oh yes; turns out that the XPS 13’s M.2 SSD could be salvaged. Now to see if it can be transplanted to my Aftershock S17!

The XPS 13’s internals is dominated by a huge battery.