- Hey guys, this is Austin.
We take a look at normal-looking laptops all day long,
but when Intel reached out and wanted to sponsor a video
on some slightly more unique designs,
well, it didn't take long for me to say yes.
First off, we have the HP Pavilion x360,
and this might look like a normal laptop,
but in fact it's going to be a full 2-in-1.
You can tell it's a 2-in-1 because, well,
we can do pretty much anything you want
including bending it all the way backward.
So what's cool about this is that you can really use it
as sort of the best of both worlds.
So if I wanna use it as a standard-looking laptop
I can set it here, I've got my touchpad,
I've got my keyboard, I've got the touchscreen,
but we also do have the additional modes the 2-in-1 allows.
So say you're on a plane and you don't wanna
have a giant 15-inch laptop in your little tray table.
Well, you can flip it around like this
and get tent mode to, say, watch some Netflix
or some super-cool YouTube videos.
And, of course, you're also going to have the flexibility
of just flipping them around like this if you want
to do like a presentation or, again, watch some video.
And, of course, there's going to be a wide range of 2-in-1s
available most of which are actually
going to be smaller than this Pavilion.
So especially you have some of them, they're in the 11
to 13-inch range, feel much better,
especially on the tablet side, but what you're
getting here is something that can do everything.
And one of the most important parts with this HP is
that it does it without compromising on performance.
Inside, you're going to be getting an
eighth-generation Core i7-8550U.
Now, with these new Intel chips what you're getting is an
upgraded from dual-core to quad-core processors,
and that is a big deal on something that's
going to be fairly thin and light.
Essentially what it means is that you're going
to be getting the most performance possible
out of such a thin, light form factor.
And specifically with this Pavilion, you're also going
to be getting the dedicated Radeon graphics,
you're going to be getting Intel Optane tech.
There's really a lot to like with a form factor like this,
especially considering that it is not even the weirdest
laptop that we're going to take a look at.
In fact, it's downright practical and normal,
not even slightly weird.
If portability is really what you're after though,
you might wanna take a look at this, the Lenovo Yoga Book,
very possibly the smallest legit laptop
that I've ever actually taken a look at.
Now, this isn't actually a brand new product.
It originally came out in 2016, and back then I did do
a video on the Android version of this,
however, I now have a Windows version and I've gotta
say this is, well, it's unusual.
At first glance, you're getting a tiny 10.1-inch laptop,
but because it's got that signature Lenovo hinge,
you also are going to be getting a full 2-in-1.
The advantage here really is in portability.
This is so thin and so light that it's easy
to just toss it in a bag and forget about it.
And because it is going to be so small,
it actually makes a pretty decent little tablet,
especially considering the keyboard,
well, it's a little bit different.
So this is what Lenovo calls their Halo keyboard,
and as you might have imagined, this actually
doesn't have any physical press.
So essentially you can imagine it as a giant touchpad.
So it feels like tapping on a tablet and it's maybe not the
greatest experience, but it does allow
some really cool functionality.
You can use the included stylus with the
touchscreen like most other laptops.
What's interesting about this is that if you go
to the keyboard and you press the little pin button,
that's going to disable all keyboard presses except
for what you're going to be getting from the stylus.
Essentially what this is going to turn into is something
very similar to a Wacom tablet.
You can use this to not only navigate Windows,
but more importantly it's going to be available
in stuff like OneNote to actually allow you to sketch
without sort of blocking the whole screen while you do it.
Look, this isn't going to be the most
practical 2-in-1 in the world.
Not only is it not going to be incredibly powerful,
it is using an Intel Atom chip as opposed to a Core,
and on top of that, the ports are
going to be pretty minimal.
It even uses Micro-USB for charging and you only
get a Micro-HDMI out as well as a headphone jack.
But, especially considering how much the price
has come down, if you're looking for something that's
going to be just a little bit different,
the Yoga Book definitely qualifies.
Next, we have something that is quite possibly one
of the most unique laptops that you'll ever find.
This is the brand new GPD Pocket 2.
As you can see, well, it doesn't get much smaller than this.
With a 7-inch display, yeah, this is going to be tiny.
Now, there are definitely going to be
sacrifices with something like this.
The keyboard in particular, even though it's actually going
to be a lot better than the original pocket,
is still going to be very small and the layout
is going to be a little bit unusual.
But, again, consider.
Look how tiny this thing is.
It's legitimately pocketable,
and this is going to be a full Windows PC.
Now, inside this guy you're going to
find a full Intel Core m3 processor.
Now, no, it's not going to be some crazy powerhouse,
but what you're getting here is actually a pretty
surprising level of performance in something
that's going to be so thin and small.
And, no, it's not going to be a full gaming PC,
but considering how tiny it is,
it's actually going to be more than powerful enough for
well, pretty much anything that I would ever do with it.
Except video editing, I guess, but I don't think.
Oh, whoa, dude, we actually could video edit on this!
Oh, we shoulda thought about that earlier.
This actually would totally be able to video edit.
So it does only have 4 gigs of RAM,
which is not going to be a ton, but with a full Core
processor inside, it actually might not be that bad.
And one of the cool things about it is,
in addition to the nice aluminum design,
you've got a solid amount of ports.
So you've got two full-size USB-A ports,
as well as a USB-C, and a microSD.
The GPD Pocket 2 is definitely not going to be for everyone.
So this is really going to be for someone who wants
something that's going to be super pocketable,
legitimately actually pocketable, but is still going
to give you the full Windows PC experience.
So maybe you wanna do a little bit of web-browsing,
you need some specific Windows apps,
or you just wanna do a little bit of tiny gaming on the go,
the Pocket's actually not bad at all.
Next, we've got the big guy,
the Microsoft Surface Book 2.
Now, this takes a lot of what makes some
of the other systems cool and just
adds the whole tablet aspect.
There are a ton of different ways
that you can use the Surface Book.
Now, the first and the most obvious of which
is going to be using it as a tablet.
So it's not every day that you get to try a 15-inch
Core i7-powered tablet, but once you detach it from the
keyboard dock it's pretty much what you're getting here.
This is going to house almost all the internals
of the laptop including it's own battery,
the Core i7 8650U, the memory, the SSD,
pretty much the only things you're going
to be losing here are going to be some of the ports.
However, as soon as you drop it onto the dock
you're going to be getting all of
that back and then some, if I can line it up correctly.
So once you drop it on, not only are you of course going
to be getting the keyboard, the track pad,
as well as a fair few USB ports, SD card, that kinda stuff,
this is also going to contain a much larger battery
and a dedicated Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU.
A lot of this is thanks to the hinge.
There's a little bit of unusual design.
So as I close it, it almost looks like a vertebrae,
and one of the only real issues here is
that it actually does leave the laptop slightly exposed
to stuff like dust and whatnot,
but it allows this whole form factor to actually work.
Now, when you use it as a laptop
the fundamentals are absolutely there.
You're getting a super high-resolution 15-inch display
with Windows Hello support, the keyboard is backlit,
it feels great, the touchpad's there.
Really, you're not going to be giving up anything
besides a fair bit of money when you
pick up the Surface Book. (laughing)
There's also going to be a 13-inch variety if you want
something that is going to be a little bit smaller.
But it's really cool just how much engineering has gone
into making something like this work.
Now, no, it's not going to be completely perfect.
Again, I wish it would actually close
just a little bit more, but if you've got a pricetag,
if you've got a budget, if you wanna get something
that's going to give you a ton of power and a ton of
flexibility, it's hard to go wrong with the Surface Book 2.
What gets me excited is just how many
different designs there are out there.
Now, don't get me wrong, you might wanna
use a standard laptop and that might be best for you,
but as far as I'm concerned, the weirder, the cooler,
the more interesting, the better.