I also have basically abandoned the one or two device solution for now as well.
I have my MBP for work as well as personal use for my side projects for coding. I have my IPP 12.9 for art and some light writing. I have my Pixel 6 for basic messaging, a bit of interneting, and music and podcasts primarily.
And, while I’ve been drooling over getting an M2 IPP to replace my current IPP, I’ve been doing a bit more art work lately and have found the larger screen nicer to work on and the experience honestly hasn’t gotten worse in the last 3 years with the device, so it’s hard to justify that upgrade when all it gets me realistically is a smaller screen with slightly better portability. So instead, I’m going to hold out and see what the iPad Mini 7 is like and potentially add that as a 4th device for on the go sketchbook and even lighter writing. In the meantime, I’m going to resurrect my old Huawei Mate 20X and carry it as a 4th device without a sim in it and just use it as a sketchbook on the go, along with using it for quick notes/writing in Notion. I find writing on the Pixel 6 to be just too cramped, but the Mate 20X is fine. If the Mate 20X experiment as a 4th device goes well, I’ll very likely be going with the IPM7 whenever it is released, unless Samsung releases some 10" or smaller version of the S8 or S9 similar to what they did with the S6 lite. If they do, I’ll probably go with that instead of another Apple product.
Long term, if processors eventually catch up and are utilized in this way, I think I’d like to go with something like the Huion Kamvas 16 pro computer as a replacement for my MBP and IPP if it can get better battery life. I’d still want a small sketchbook like the IMP7 as that would be going the opposite direction for portability from my IPP. Now, if someone ever makes a non-folding phone that is around 7" like the Mate 20X and has a better aspect ratio, say, close to 16:10. I imagine that plus a Kamvas 16 type device that has long battery life could do the trick for my for a true 2 device solution.
Home Office -
Ryzen 9 7940HS Mini-PC with 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM - productivity and conference calls
Surface Pro 9 5G with 256GB SSD and 16GB RAM - notetaking, secondary computing as necessary. Also, used to work from other areas of the house
Galaxy Z Fold 5 for phone
Office or on the road -
Surface Pro 9 5G - Productivity and Conference Calls
Surface DUO 2 - Notetaking
Galaxy Z Fold 5 - Phone
All of these have 5G connections so I don’t need to worry about connectivity.
Galaxy Tab 9 - I use this around the house, and when I’m meeting with my Google customers in their office it replaces my Pro 9.
Microsoft ARM Devkit (Same specs as the Pro 9 except it has 32GB RAM) - I have this setup downstairs in my den for use in the evenings/weekends if I need to do something Android can’t or if I need to jump on an after-hours Teams Call with India.
M1 Mac Mini - Home Theater PC in the Living Room. (I only bought it because I had a $600 BestBuy gift card and this was the only HTPC formfactor in stock)
One interesting part is I don’t have a single Intel based machine in my fleet.
My Great Big Desktop. Nothing beats a big old sit down drawing board.
And a 2-in-1 portable, because my Great Big Desktop won’t fit in my backpack.
Though…, being a wannabe YouTuber, I also tend to carry a little Sony action camera with me wherever I go, but that’s not quite in the same category. (Smartphone users might disagree.)
If it’s a foldable android tablet, NVM. If, on the other hand, Samsung releases a folding Windows tablet (a la MS Neo) that supports SPen, now that would be something.
That blue when I clicked the link is offensively bad on my desktop.
But, as far as the actual idea of a folding tablet, I agree with @Bronsky in that, if it’s Windows with S Pen, it might be there, otherwise there is nothing that’s going to reduce my number of devices here, or really tempt me in any way. Also, I would want it to be more Neo, and less Zenbook fold. I’d rather have 2 dedicated screens, and a bit smaller, than one screen with a crease. But that’s because no matter how small the crease, I just can’t imagine using it for art.
I initially was excited by the idea of the Neo well but with the no show, I’ve had more time to think about it and I’m left with the same question. I’d say the same about a foldable iPad.
And not to be too snarky about it, but considering that MS IMHO has at best a 2nd/3rd place overall tablet experience, coupled with fairly extensive hands on with the Lenovo Fold, that doesn’t leave me optimistic either.
In other words, the form factor itself is what I’m questioning. I do think it’s possible that software could be produced that makes it compelling, but I think it would take a fairly significant paradigm shift to do it.
I’m not sure I was ever looking for a 1 device solution, particularly considering how many of you mentioned your phones. Even not including my phone though, I don’t see ditching my desktop any time in the foreseeable future. My desktop and linux servers sitting on campus are my main machines.
I was using a Galaxy Tab 7+ for my note taking tasks and a 15" HP Spectre x360 as my mobile workstation for the last few years, but those collected a lot of dust (particularly the laptop). I just switched to an SP9 to replace both of those.
For my phone I’m using a Galaxy Note 10+. I use my phone much more frequently than my tablet/laptop devices. Cannot beat the convenient cargo pant thigh holster placement of that device.
All of the devices in my 4-device solution are pictured here. Even the servers are here via the VS Code terminal and the plot window in the bottom right of my central screen.
I have a BeefPC (thank you Prime day), a galaxy tab s8u, a samsung laptop, and a galaxy s22u. The only thing linking these things together is SuperDisplay and a lone dropbox account, all on a collapsible table i got from Riteaid for about 30 dollars.
