You’re right! I thought that I had purchased the Pro X at the end of 2022 but it was the beginning of 2023. Thanks to your incredible recollection, I went back in the Pro X thread and confirmed that I purchased the Pro X in March of 2023. So, let me stand corrected and change my answer. Thank you.
Best tech purchased: My Pro X. Much to my surprise, it does most of everything I have needed. It is light on graphics power and will hang-up occasionally in emulation while running old legacy software, but it is a decent performer. One of the things I like most about the Pro X is the keyboard. The pen charging in the keyboard is brilliant. I am almost never without the keyboard for the Pro X, so the pen is always at hand and always fully charged.
I have been using my old Go2 as a platform to learn Open CPN, a marine navigation software package, and everytime I need a pen, I have to locate the case and dig out the pen. With the Pro X/Pro KB, the pen is always there. It is an acceptable solution to the problem of non-siloed pens (for the record, I would still prefer an EMR Wacom pen in a silo, but that is a minor quibble).
It will be interesting to see if we get a real redesign from Microsoft this year. Maybe one that takes advantage of the new X series ARM CPU’s advantages, like native 5G support. The graphics issue will likely be addressed by the new design too.
I am disturbed by reports about Microsoft’s service issues but until there is a comparable design from a company that offers better support, I’ll probably stay where I am. For now, the Pro X isn’t going anywhere, unless MS hits a home run on its Surface upgrade.
BTW, how do you like reverting from square keys to smaller round ones on the typewriter keyboard?
@Hifihedgehog: Thank you for the snow effect. Love it.
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Hifihedgehog
(Hifihedgehog - Waiting for Surface Pro 10!)
22
Glad you liked it! I should try adding Clippy next (jk)!
Worst: (But only as there’ literally small changes from the 11)
-GoPro 12
-Asus Rog Ally - Due to wondering if the SD card would explode. Where was the testing?
-OnexPlayer 2 - The SD card kept ejecting. No fix. Had to send it back and it was a royal pain. The 2 Pro (unknown amount) also has the same ‘feature’.
Want:
-Surface Pro 10
-Surface Duo 3
-Pigs that fly (in blankets)
GoPro - I keep on buying them and they keep on making them with super small changes. More fool me. (I’ve owned each new model since the 6).
Best:
ASUS Zenbook Pro 14
I’ve been able to do anything I need: Davinci Resolve, Unreal Engine, Unity, AI, VR… with it’s discrete 4070 GPU in a 3.5 lb laptop. The pen could be better, but good enough for some graphics editing and texture map creation for 3D work. I haven’t had to turn on my main PC (with Dell Canvas) in months, so being able to do everything on-the-road is life altering. I had considered the Rog Z13 because I love the Surface form factor. But the Zenbook has much higher wattage on the GPU and it easily rivals my desktop 30 series GPU in performance.
Meh:
I upgraded to a Fold 5 because my Fold 3 battery life was becoming unsustainable. I don’t perceive any change in performance in either app speed or camera quality. If anything, it’s annoying that the Fold 5 fingerprint sensor seems worse. It’s just emblematic of where we’re at with phone technology nowadays, where perceived innovation has stagnated.
What’s old is new:
I revived one of my two GB12s (my other one no longer seems to charge and won’t turn on, ugh). I brought it on a trip where luggage security was iffy at times. I was surprised that it could just passibly run Unreal Engine 4, so I spent my idle hours and plane ride, brushing up on Visual Studio and game engine programming. I love the form factor, how thin it is when packed, and that it could use the same charging adapter as my phone.
What I want next year:
C’mon Samsung, put a S-pen (with slot) on your Ultra laptop, it’s supposed to have everything, no?!
I only bought one piece of electronic technology last year, so by default…
Best:
ASUS Rog Flow Z13 (2023)
A silly name, but a bear of a 2-in-1 with so much computing power that it competes with laptops. Also, reviewers seldom mention it, but ASUS in general seems to offer products with better (more powerful) components at noticeably lower prices than its competition. Lighter than the HP ZBook X2 and way more powerful than the Surface Pro, the Z13 occupies a unique niche in the world of 2-in-1 tablets. The fact that it is not quite as polished as the Surface Pro can be readily forgiven given the price point and the power, but I agree with @nyb72 that the MPP 2 based pen is only adequate. That’s probably the one thing I miss the most. Still, it’s a compromise that I’m happy to make…!
In my haste, I forgot to mention battery life, which is probably mediocre at best. However, I don’t count that as a fault because with hardware like this, shorter battery life is inevitable. Again, it’s just one of the trades that you have to consciously make. ASUS offers a “silent” (referring to the fans) low power option that you can use if you need the battery to last but I have a couple of external batteries that can handle the load, so onboard battery life is much less of a concern for me…
Completely agree with this!
Despite mixed reviews on the Ally, I think ASUS has been kicking *** on their gaming laptops from both a performance/feature to value standpoint. I was this close to getting a Z13, just love that it’s out there and I can’t wait to see what next year’s version looks like in benchmarks.
Edit:
Also realized too that I loved the Vivotab Note 8 which is also an ASUS product. So whatever they design seems to resonate with my idea of computing needs. Just wished they continued their deal with the devil (lol, Wacom).
Looking at the first reviews for laptops with intel Meteor Lake cpu’s the next Z13 will undoubtedly offer decent battery life as well (/even if they don’t add a larger battery). But I agree that it does not really matter that much if you use a power bank.
But for the crappy ribbon cable problems, it was the BEST tablet device I’ve ever owned, and can’t imagine where it would be today with a modern processor and Win11…
Best:
I actually bought a gaming pc during prime day, spent about $850. It’s great, it feels nice to have a decent beefy PC for once. AMD card so the AI capability is suboptimal.
Worst:
Samsung- Tab S9U AND S23U - Was a cheap upgrade, nothing spectacular compared to my previous Samsung models (except extra storage space) but this was the year I discovered the dead pen zones in both, so that absolutely soured my experience a lot.
I got a SP8 (w/signature keyboard) for $400 from Costco, and an S8+ from Samsung in November 2022, so the tech purchases this year were a little light. I just don’t need anything right now.
The best tech purchase was the Robo and Kala tablet on Black Friday for like $650. Windows on ARM is way better than people say. Ridiculously long battery life, super light. Keyboard included.
Alas, the worst tech purchase was also the Robo and Kala. Despite reddit posts indicating compatibility, I never found a Surface pen that worked with it (I tried 4 different types). Some did not erase, some did not write, the buttons did not work. I was not interested in spending another $100 for the “official” pen. And, the touch was super finicky and not like my Tab S8+ or my Surface Pro. So, it went back.
Looking forward, my best tech purchases in 2024 are going to be a Surface Pro ARM and a Macbook Pro for my wife. My worst will be trading in the S8 for a Galaxy S10 - I will be disappointed that the Galaxy Tab series has hit a plateau.
I only purchased 2 tech items this year, and they very easily fit into best and worst.
Best: iPad Po 11" M2 : This seems a bit counterintuitive that this was such a good upgrade over my 2020 iPad Pro 12.9 considering I primarily use this for art, but the smaller size was more attractive to me for portability and comfort in drawing as I almost never draw at any sort of desk or table. But the main thing is the performance is much better. Even though I hear many artists still using the 2018 IPPs for art, I had a lot of lag issues with my art on my 2020. So far, all of those issues are gone on the new M2. Part of it may also be the increased RAM, though I don’t know how much more applications actually have access to, but whatever it is, the performance improvement is noticeable for my art programs. Adobe Illustrator and Clip Studio Paint were the main culprits for lag issues, with AI just being very jittery and CSP crashing often. AI is completely lag free and CSP has only crashed once on me, for likely unrelated reasons.
Worst: Pixel 7a: I “upgraded” from my Pixel 6 when we switched over to Google Fi service to save a little money because the 7a was a free add on. My 6 was having some issues charging, and especially having some issues when I was taking trips for work not charing in my car’s wireless charger and running out of juice way too early even under light use. I was debating between the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Pixel 7a, and went with the 7a because it was free and the S23U didn’t quite check all the boxes for something I wanted to spend money on. I wish I’d gone for it though. The 7a is really finicky with touch for some reason. I have a lot of typing issues and navigation issues. Also, it randomly has battery issues that are inconsistent. Some days I will have it sitting on my desk idle all morning and it drops from 100% to 60% by lunch time. I’m also not all that happy with Google’s camera software anymore. I sometimes sell items online that I need color accurate photos of. I will manually adjust the white balance, contrast, etc, before snapping a photo of the item, only to have the phone change the colors in post processing anyway. Why even have the option if it’s going to override it? About the only thing I like about the 7a is that it’s so awful to use sometimes that I find myself on my phone much less often now. So I guess that’s a bonus, except when I actually need to use it for something, of course.
I’m pretty tired of Google right now in general though. We have a Nest wifi mesh along with 4 google minis and the Nest mesh system was constantly needing to be rebooted to where I just unplugged it and am using my ATT built in router. Meanwhile, my wife’s Pixel 7 is having all kinds of issues connecting to our minis, and it has issues with the Google Photo software for storing and backing up photos. Even though I’ve heard the Pixel 8 and 8 pro are really great upgrades, I am considering getting off of Pixels altogether. Really debating between the S24U or seeing if the S23U price drops even further when the S24U releases next week.
I should try adding Clippy next (jk)!
About the only thing I like about the 7a is that it’s so awful to use sometimes that I find myself on my phone much less often now. So I guess that’s a bonus, except when I actually need to use it for something, of course.