The official tablet (and other useless electronics) thread!

[Ken]

Starting to think about buying a new laptop. The one I have is ancient, the trackpad sucks, the battery is wearing out, it's huge and clunky, the screen is dim and oh yeah the trackpad sucks.

I've been a Mac guy for ever and ever but gave 'em up when my last job gave me a MacBook Pro to use. When I changed companies, the MBP went back and I have a work-issued Dell that is so locked down I can't use it for much personal stuff (unlike the Mac). So, I'm rocking an ancient Windows machine that was given to me and has been a good stopgap for the past couple of years...

I love a good user experience and Apple has traditionally provided that for me. But, I'm not wedded to my iPhone anymore (have a 6, when contract runs up I may go Android if they continue to suck less). I do like my iPad and AppleTV but they are both pretty standalone.

So IF I were to get a Windows laptop... ugh, so many options. Hoping some of you can help narrow it down. I have not had great experiences with Dell in the professional world (my current Latitude is a great size, with awful battery life and poor build quality) and that's kind of all I know.

Wants:

• Large, high quality, precision, no bullshit trackpad. This is my #1, seriously. Apple has been the king of trackpads for years. Every Windows machine I've used has had some too-small, too-insensitive, bullshit trackpad and it drives me nuts. If the rest of the machine is amazing and the trackpad sucks, I don't want it.
  
• Thin and light
  
• Large SSD (256 GB would be ideal)
  
• Tons of RAM (8 GB)
  
• 13" screen is ideal, given how many pixels are packed onto 'em now
  
• Good battery life
  
• Backlit keyboard

A touchscreen could be cool, but isn't a requirement. The above stuff matters more.

Any ideas? Not looking to spend a ton of money if I do this, so... I'd say between $500-900 is ideal.

Pick up a Surface Pro 3 on a deal - maybe during the return season deals binge? If so, I would go with the Surface 4 type cover since the trackpad is improved.