I'm picking up a bevy of Windows 8.1 tablets today for testing. I'll let you know what I like the best.
I'm picking up a bevy of Windows 8.1 tablets today for testing. I'll let you know what I like the best.
How about a chromebook?
The "Only Hilarious Gifs..." Thread sucks on my iPad. Takes 4 ever to load.
If you're looking for cheap, then I would suggest a Chromebook, as asoduk above recommended. You get a real keyboard, and a decently sized screen. They are ALL under $300 the last time I checked.
I've been without a desktop for a while. Now, I'm putting one together so I have access to more firepower without having to replace the whole system. To me, that's where desktops excel, upgradeability. Laptops are just under desktops, usually without the option to upgrade anything other than MAYBE the CPU and the RAM. With a tablet, you're throwing the whole device away to upgrade anything.
Rusnak_322 wrote: The "Only Hilarious Gifs..." Thread sucks on my iPad. Takes 4 ever to load.
One pet peeve of our iPad- it reportedly has Wireless N, but if you use it, the reciever on the iPad isn't very good, so the signal is both weak and slow. This, for a wireless system that's supposed to be more robust and faster.
I switched it back to b/g and it sped up quite a bit.
The point being- check out how good the wireless reciever is on the tablet.
so... "maybe"
To re-iterate, I would be OK with any open sort of software that had the same functionality as MSoffice. Can someone confirm that Android and Apple App stores have something similar?
I would prefer an SD card for camera downloads and also for long term backup stuff.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:Tom_Spangler wrote: With an accessory keyboard, I'd say it's 95% there. Since it sounds like you still need Office, I'd go with a Surface.Microsoft Office Mobile 365 is available for Android and Apple. I have no experience with it - I use alternative software for that sort of stuff but it is in the google play store.
Oh yeah, here's the answer to that. I wonder if it's any good. I shall investigate.
In reply to tuna55:
I'm trying to get a link on the web based iTunes app store, but I can confirm that there is an MS office app available. It's not cheap, and I would not make that as the reason to get an iPad. (there are free document and spreadsheet apps, perfect for light weight work)
But it is available.
The Chromebook option sounds like a good one as well
m4ff3w wrote: I'm picking up a bevy of Windows 8.1 tablets today for testing. I'll let you know what I like the best.
Yes please.
tuna55 wrote: so... "maybe" To re-iterate, I would be OK with any open sort of software that had the same functionality as MSoffice. Can someone confirm that Android and Apple App stores have something similar? I would prefer an SD card for camera downloads and also for long term backup stuff.
Apple has the iWork suite for the iPads that has similar (but not identical) functionality. I should also note that I have very little actual experience with the programs either on the Mac or on the iPad- on the rare times I need to do word processing or spreadsheets, I'm using either OpenOffice on the Mac or Google Docs on either one.
As for the SD cards on the iPad: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531ZM/A/apple-ipad-camera-connection-kit?fnode=3a
For newer iPads/Minis with a Lightning connector, Apple appears to now sell the cables individually, but you can find combined adapters with a bit of searching: http://www.cellphoneshop.net/lightningkit.html?CAWELAID=1787809385&catargetid=530001600000004115&cadevice=c&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CJ20ucXn0LoCFQ-a4Aodc0cAsw
I only really know and can speak to the Apple offerings since I'm quite happy with their ecosystem of devices/apps. If you're not already tied into that though, there may well be other devices that would work better for you.
tuna55 wrote: The Chromebook option sounds like a good one as well
Honestly, I'm considering going "back" to something like that as my tablet gets older. A bigger screen and a real keyboard for $250? Sounds pretty good to me for a couch-surfing machine, which is 95% of what my current tablet (Galaxy Tab 10.1) does.
$170 for a Nexus7 through a cyber Monday deal. We'll see how it goes when it gets here.
The plan is to swap the harddrive from lappy into an older fanless PC I have from a project and use it as an upstairs base for heavier things like word processing, printing, etc, with a real wireless keyboard and mouse that I already have.
The fanless PC is tiny and slick, but I'll need to use a USB-wireless adapter. If anyone has a small form factor case and stuff sitting around, let me know as it might be a better solution than this.
So far I've had: Surface RT Dell Venue 8 Pro Asus T100
I think the Asus T100 ($350) works best for every day use. It is the size of an iPad, but comes with a keyboard as well.
It runs Windows 8.1 (not WinRT 8.1) so anything you can run on your PC you can run it on the tablet.
I'm getting about 9 hours of battery life in typical usage. The Intel BayView platform is so much better than previous Atom chipsets.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/01/asus-transformer-book-t100-review/
What's your take on Win8.1? We've only deployed it to a few beta testers in our engineering group so far, so all I've seen of it is a minute or two hands-on at Costco.
I like it.
The search from the Start screen work better. I don't use the Start screen much, I tend to use alot of keyboard shortcuts.
I like that our SonicWall doesn't need a client to be installed, I can just tell a user the address and domain and they are good.
You can purchase a battery and charger off eBay on the cheap and still use it as a backup laptop. Simply remove the battery and type in the part number on ebay, ditto for the charger.
I just picked up this to replace an aging Sony Viao and a dead netbook. It is in addition to a Asus Transformer. The tablets just aren't quite there. At least not enough for me to do away with a computer.
http://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-X200CA-DB01T-11-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Laptop/dp/B00CPIF4G0
Best Buy had them on sale. $250 goes a long way in the computer world. So far I like it. Even Windows 8 doesn't suck, though it does take some getting used to. I do thing using 8 without a touch screen would be kind of clunky.
Mmadness wrote: You can purchase a battery and charger off eBay on the cheap and still use it as a backup laptop. Simply remove the battery and type in the part number on ebay, ditto for the charger.
Did it. It was not cheap and it did not work well. The battery had a super short lifespan (as did the first replacement from Dell that was under warranty) and the Dell charging software gets all pissy and realizes the charger isn't a Dell and won't charge.
Well I did some stuff. The nexus turned out to be last year's model so it wasn't a good deal at all. We returned it. Shortly afterwards, tunawife was drinking tea, and, well, the laptop doesn't work anymore. At all.
So I decided to rescue the day and swap laptops hard drive into the mini pc that I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately I have been away from this stuff for too long and didn't realize the lappie hd didn't fit the same connector as the ssd in the mini pc. I only knew of sata and ide.
So now I really need something other than the old kindle, so to get to the point, the 10" range seems more useful now that we won't have another computer in the house.
Tunawife was very much looking forward to this app called ibotta which does coupon stuff. If not for that I would be ready to get a surface or competitor but that app seems to only be available for android and Apple. The tablet will be better at that stuff but Windows would be a better all around replacement.
Ugh
Thoughts now that the story has changed?
iPads don't really like PDF documents. There's a work around, but in my line of work I need that to be easier so I use a PC laptop when I'm away from my desktop. I bought my boys Chrome books for xmas this year....all the school work for them, both HS and College is "turned in" and saved using Google Docs. Where's my pee chee?
Androids have a few apps that handle PDFs quite well, for whatever that's worth. I use Polaris on my phone to handle manuals and such for all the electronic doo dads i have.
m4ff3w wrote: I think the Asus T100 ($350) works best for every day use. It is the size of an iPad, but comes with a keyboard as well.
Thanks dude, I think we're buying this one.
tuna55 wrote:m4ff3w wrote: I think the Asus T100 ($350) works best for every day use. It is the size of an iPad, but comes with a keyboard as well.Thanks dude, I think we're buying this one.
I hope you enjoy it.
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