Given that it can transform into multiple forms and comes with powerful performance, the Porsche Design Book One is the closest competitors to Microsoft’s Surface Book. Like its rival, the Book One’s premium build quality, along with the Porsche Design branding, commanded a hefty price tag. The laptop initially launched for $2,500, but retailer Newegg is now listing the notebook for just $1,499, a savings of just under $1,000, which is good until Monday, April 23.
“The Porsche Design Book One is an uncompromising reinterpretation of the 2-in-1 concept,” the company wrote. If you want a thin tablet experience, like the Surface Book, the Book One’s screen can be detached from the body. In addition to touchscreen support, it also comes with a digital pen for inking. What makes the Book One unique is that the screen is mounted on a hinge that can rotate 360 degrees, similar to HP’s design for the Spectre x360. In tablet mode with the screen rotated, but still attached to the keyboard, you will benefit from the battery that is in the screen and the battery in the keyboard base.
Even though the Book One debuted with premium hardware when it launched — Intel’s seventh-generation Core i7 CPU, 16 GB RAM, and 512GB SSD — one potential reason for the significant price drop is that the processor isn’t quite as new anymore. Computers from HP, Dell, and Lenovo, for example, are now shipping with Intel’s eighth-generation processor, which delivers a jump in performance. “The performance delta between the latest, 8th Gen Kaby Lake Refresh chips and their 7th Gen Kaby Lake predecessors feels like a two- or three-year leap,” Laptop Mag said of the latest processor.
The drop in price could allow Newegg to clear out inventory ahead of a potential refresh of the Book One. Porsche Design currently lists the laptop for $1,595, which is still a significant saving compared to the launch price. For comparison, Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is priced at $2,499 when configured with a similar seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB memory, and 512GB of storage. The advantage of the Surface Book 2 is that you gain discrete GPU support.
At this time, it’s unclear if Porsche Design plans to refresh the Book One laptop or when such an update may be launched.
