Need help deciding asap (Fit Flip 14a vs Taichi31)

Hardware Hub Phones, Tablets, & Wearables
1

Asus taichi: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231980

Sony flip: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-vaio-flip-14a-2-in-1-14-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/2006033.p?id=1219068209364&skuId=2006033&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=2006033&extensionType=pla:g&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!!!80819914399!g!!52598768479&kpid=2006033&k_clickid=2ff30f5d-bc3b-c469-92dd-0000359123e6&kpid=2006033

both have same digitizer and are very similar

My needs are:
graphics: photoshop, artrage, gimp, inkscape, etc
light to mid gaming: csgo, killing floor, civ, etc
office: excel, word, etc
entertainment: youtube, netflix, flashdrive content, music, etc
dual os (eventually): windows 8 and android (when supports x86 dual boot)
note taking: class and other
book reading: ebook
community: ts, tinychat, livestream, etc
wow factor: for under 800 wow people with apple-esque quality machines

I would like to mention I rarely have had issues with Asus and have had some with sony. I need to know which I should go with. I am thinking the 14a as I can get it for 150 less being refurbished. Which would let me add a larger ssd bringing it to 700. The drive in it is a hdd. I could spend about 720 to get a 14a and a 500gb ssd.

sony vs asus

550 (refurb) vs 400 (new)
larger screen 14 vs 13in
1 display (glossy; always touch) vs 2 displays (matte and glossy; glossy with touch screen and matte with non touch)
more ram 8gb vs 4gb
no stylus vs has stylus
500gb hdd vs 128gb ssd
no key light control vs control
1 camera vs 2 cameras
flips multiple ways vs folds open and closed
full size hdmi vs mini hdmi
none vs mini vga out
4lb vs 2.2lb

sony pros
1. always able to touch the screen
2. better keyboard lighting handling (saves battery life) only lights up when key pressed, not even when trackpad is touched.
3. better battery life
4. larger display (same res)
5. fairly simple form factor
6. more ram
7. newer cpu
8. includes a large software suite (art rage, photoshop elements, etc)

sony cons
1. kind of annoying form factor for switching between tablet and notebook form fairly offen (in class)
2. 1 camera
3. 1 display
4. refurbished
5. no ssd
6. no stylus
7. much heavier


asus pros
1. dual displays
2. matte for notebook mode. good for word processing and reading. better for watching video and gaming
3. lighter
4. cleaner/thinnner
5. lock switch (actualy lock like on old ipod for tablet mode)
6. better speakers
7. new + 1 year accidental
8. runs coolers
9. two cameras, one for notebook and one for tablet (one on each side of lid)
10. includes stylus

asus cons
1. shorter battery life
2. half amount of ram
3. 1in smaller
4. pricier, but brand new

2

I personally would go for the Sony in this situation as it has more under the hood. A newer CPU and more RAM can make a huge difference in performance. Games, graphical editing programs, CAD programs, rendering, and 3d modeling programs will all benefit from the newer technologies. Adding a SSD later would be more ideal as you would have a better estimate of life expectancy to justify the cost.

3

Shitttt. I was stoned when i wrote this. Never noticed how fucked up the formatting was.

4

Anyways I went with http://www.ebay.com/itm/171445103799?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

http://store.sony.com/gsi/webstore/WFS/SNYNA-SNYUS-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProduct-Start?SKU=27-SVF15N17CX%2F&vva_ColorCode=1E1E1E&_t=pfm%3Dsearchz

Best of all of them for supporting 8gb (up to16gb) of ram, 1tb hybrid drive, 15in screen, 3rd usb port vs 2 on all others, most importantly.....Dedicated graphics housing 2gb of ram. Not even my 2000 dollar macbook is this good. New it was 1249, i got it as a refurb from best buy off ebay for 900. I can pop a 500gb ssd for 200 or so (90k both read and write) plus a 128gb sd card (for music, docs, gimp work + other). The ssd would be formatted to c drive of 128 gb, Game Drive 240 gb, 132 gb (Free/Empty Space) +- whatever ssd brand offers. I am going to purchase the stylus off amazon for 7 or 12 (7 without the battery 12 with).

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=htc%20stylus&sprefix=htc+s%2Caps

 

My final question to this is this worth the price jump between the two top 15a notebooks?

http://store.sony.com/gsi/webstore/WFS/SNYNA-SNYUS-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProduct-Start?SKU=27-SVF15N17CX%2F&vva_ColorCode=1E1E1E&_t=pfm%3Dsearch

http://store.sony.com/vaio-fit-15a-flip-pc-zid27-SVF15N18PXB/cat-27-catid-ESP-Laptops

 

The difference I noticed was the screen res jumps up to a little over 2k and adds an additional8gb of ram making 16gb. Also the stylus is included.

5

Honestly in this case, I can't justify the price jump. I highly recommend using the money you would save to build a decent desktop or just save the cash.