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There I was thinking it time to finally abandon my decade-old tech.

Frustrated by a skippy trackpad, I began pondering options.

First, brand-new high-end devices, justifying it on the basis I buy the best for everyone else.

But, no, I can’t really justify that. So I started pondering a mid-range laptop instead.

But that only led me to ponder refurbished high-end stock, just a few years old.

A seven year-old Dell XPS 13 convertible took my attention. Now available for £1000 off the original asking price.

Tempting. And yet… still hard to justify given the proliferation of devices in this household, some mine, some inherited.

And then it hit me. No need to abandon that ten year-old Surface Pro 3 yet. Just get a £10 display port cable.

That’s to plug it into my desktop monitor, to give my writing another chance.

The jittery touch display is long disabled, but a fresh install of unsupported Windows 11 has given it a new lease of life as a laptopish device.

Pair with my multi-device keyboard and mouse, plug it into my monitor, and I have a mini desktop capable of running Word, which is all I need.

So let me put that desirable XPS 13 out of my mind for now, and content myself with the sensible option. A mini display port cable.