Which solution instead of Surface?

Maybe someone would like to deal with my concerns.

My claimed surface will be reimbursed by Amazon. However, since I was unlucky twice, another solution has to be found. Today I was in the Apple Store and of course fell in love when I saw the Ipad pro so beautiful with the keyboard plugged in. After various misunderstandings, the consultant has repeatedly pointed out that "it is not possible to manage devices". This information drips slowly into my brain somehow, since I have never had a pure tablet. What can the iPad not do? The seller advises a Mac Book Pro.

I'm currently working with a rental laptop (a cucumber that was supposed to cover the repair period - also goes back) and I painfully miss the 2-finger zoom function of the Surface. Likewise this brilliant flat and illuminated keyboard.

I've been a die-hard Windows user from the start. Microsoft One Drive synchronizes with my Samsung mobile phone (which I will soon buy a new battery, because otherwise it works great), I have the Office package 365 as a subscription. Since my Wi-Fi is not exactly stable at home, I mostly hang on the LAN cable. My camera and other accessories all have normal USB ports.

What I missed on the Surface was a DVD drive. The docking station recognized the external drive at the beginning, but then no longer. Unfortunately, DVD's haven't died out yet. Many devices have to be installed on a computer (e.g. A hygrometer with recording function).

However, it is very important that Photoshop must be used soon. And the sound system would also be important to me. This cucumber here does not allow Prime to be viewed normally. Despite the volume control up to the stop, you need headphones!

It would also be nice if I could get my old HP Photosmart printer up and running again.

I'm reluctant to part with things that work well and I'm a bit jittery about switching to Apple. My brain made me tap straight down.

Does anyone have any idea how I can best (and cheaply) meet these needs?

A laptop or ultrabook with touch might be an acceptable solution. There are many with Windows or many with which you can install Windows.

You should choose Apple. There are also ways to install windows as a second operating system, but ios is not wrong for inexperienced users. Even if I'm not a die-hard Apple fan. Could, however, cause problems with your Samsung smartphone. I don't really know me there because I don't have an Apple and it's been a while since I last had an Apple product in my hand.

The way it sounds to me, would you be well served with a full-fledged notebook - or does it have to be particularly compact?
Then of course you can also spend a lot of money on a good Ultrabook, depending on the requirement. How big would your budget be?
You might also want to invest in a decent router…

An alternative might be a DELL XPS

https://www.dell.com/...7-0&dgc=st

Amazon reimburses 1200 euro and because they are really very helpful, I would like to buy there again and that Amazon is the seller. If I have to, because it convinces me, I'll put a little more on it.

Compact has really become popular with me.

Router: Lt. Vodafone simply has too many users on the lines. I'm the absolute DAU regarding router. If I already read Fritz Box… * run *

If it is only about the possibility of the touch and the typical network capability of Windows and you do not need active pen support, my neighbor would recommend the Matebook X Pro from Huawei. It has very compact dimensions, 10-finger touch support, very thin display edges and is fast.

He was unable to use his Samsung Note 8 sensibly on his IMac. That was only ever recognized as a modem. Transferring images was practically tedious, lengthy and confusing via the cloud. That's why he switched to Windows. I would at least question the combination more intensively. Working directly from the Samsung smartphone to the PC via the (Edge) browser also does not work in the combination. Why do you want to switch when you know Windows well? Many have a problem with Windows because they are only used to tablets and do not master Windows. I might not do the stress to myself. Unless the enthusiasm for the new system is huge. Then I would also switch to Apple using my smartphone. Apple apparently does everything to ensure that only the company's internal combination really works well.

If you were otherwise satisfied with your (old) Surface, I would otherwise change the supplier, because that is a lot of bad luck at once and does not match my Surface experience. I set up 10 devices in our seminar. All run perfectly (also centrally on the Surface Dock). In my family, my circle of friends and my college there are about 20 other surfaces. One of them had a temporary problem with pen recognition and one had display damage (horizontal pixel errors, streaking already on delivery). Otherwise there were no complaints. I sometimes have the impression that the devices on Amazon are simply passed on to the next customer if they have small quirks. At Saturn, Mediamarkt and Notebooksbilliger there's currently the Surface Pro 7 at the best price (850 euro for the one with I5, 128 GB, 8GB. I would give the device a chance at another provider. The dock problem may be solved via a software update on its own, otherwise blow off the contacts.

With the budget, you already have a pretty good selection. Expensive convertibles (foldable with touchscreen) could be the right option for you.
Tests are available at notebookcheck.com, and while the HP Elitebook or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 may be outside your price range, an HP Specter could almost fit, the ThinkPad X390 Yoga would also be an option, perhaps a Dell XPS 13.
You shouldn't expect great upgradeability or repairability with this device class, albeit better than with tablets.
You can see if you can try out a few devices of different categories in a branch of Mediamarkt, Saturn, Notebooksbilliger etc., because then you can better estimate what makes sense. A few more USB ports, maybe an RJ-45 socket, etc. It would make sense to forget a DVD drive.

A used FirtzBox 6490 or similar You get it from 60 euro, and they are actually quite easy to use and run well. If you can use it as a NAS with VPN on the go, it could be very useful.

Thanks, I have to google everything first.

https://geizhals.de/...izhals.de/" class="text-primary">https://geizhals.de/...izhals.de/
Best price comparison for technology.
Just type in the search field and press Enter, it will show you all the results for the name (different configurations for the laptops).
Otherwise here: https://geizhals.de/? Cat = nb
90 filters, a good 6000 models… A handful of them make sense for you.

Thank you, these are good food for thought!