Detachable laptops, worth it?

Laptops have come a long way from the giant ‘The Osborne 1’ to the laptops of today. The progression of technology is very peculiar, especially the technology that is produced for the mass consumers i.e. ‘you’. You see the logical thing to assume is things that are bigger are better and if you are of that notion, I wouldn’t blame you and that same logic applies to technology somewhat. Bigger packages often tend towards better performance or raw power in technology. For example, let us compare a gaming laptop and desktop, until very recently GPUs and CPUs outfitted in laptops were very underpowered versions of their desktop counterparts; take the Intel Kabylake and the mobile equivalent the 7700HK while both are of the Intel corei7 line the 7700K is comparably very powerful; this is because the 7700K is a desktop CPU and has a higher power draw when compared to the 7700HK, by drawing more power it is able to perform better. This doesn’t mean that the graph of wattage supplied and the performance gained is a linear one, but it is definitely increasing for the first section of the graph and then the graph peaks out at a point we call the ‘Peak efficiency’. But I digress, performance is not the only factor in the progression of technology, making technology better while simultaneously making them smaller and more portable is what consumers want and is the primary aim behind any tech mogul these days.

This gets me back to the topic of my review for today: Detachable laptops. Detachable laptops aka Hybrids aka laplets aka 2in1s aka convertibles, jeez they have a lot names for these devices don’t they, I will call them hybrids for the remainder of this review. Hybrids are essentially devices that can be used as both tablets and laptops, hence the unofficial name laplets which is a clever blend of the names ‘Laptop’ and ‘Tablet’. A tablet is a touch sensitive and a touch enabled device as many of you might already know and with the ever growing love for touch enabled devices like most smartphones nowadays Tablets are also very sought after by people. They are slim devices that you can fit into your schoolbag for a quick read of your favorite book in your lunch break, for checking your social media in between appointments or even to consume media like movies and shows while in bed; these are all activities that you can do with your smartphone, but you must admit most of these activities are better done or enjoyed with a larger device. So a tablet is essentially a device that is slightly smaller and lighter than a laptop, but larger than your average smart phone. There are caveats to tablets however they are mostly less powerful than laptops and if you want more punch out of your device a laptop is your safest bet. What if you want the best of both worlds? Well, the closest answer to that question is hybrids. Hybrids are usually fully stocked ultra-books that have a touch enabled screen and that can detach from the body of the laptop to serve as a more portable tablet. The way hybrids are engineered varies with different devices for example there are tablets that have certain parts in the keyboard (detachable area) which may include a discrete GPU or data storage like a hard drive, there also might be devices that have every single part packed in what is the predominantly the screen area and a detachable keyboard is given for work that involves a physical keyboard. So are these devices worth it? Well, that depends on who you ask in my opinion you are better served with having a laptop for your intensive tasks, but I would be remise if I didn’t say that I understand their value. If you are a person who is constantly mobile and you wish to have a small device that is close to being the best of both worlds then go ahead and get a 2in1, but be careful while choosing your device and choose the one that is the best suits your needs. I will be explaining the differences between the various 2in1s out there and which to choose for certain situations in a post very soon so stay tuned.

This is Kerod with ICT