what tablet would you buy?
 

I'm officially in NC. I'll be living in a hotel for the next month. I don't really want a laptop since I dontneed to do any real work on one. My phone is a bit small. I was thinking the ipadmini 2 or the Microsoft surface 2

The latter cab open window docs, flash, etc

It will only be used for email, surfing the net, books, netflix. More of an entertainment device

kindle fire hdx. pocket the extra $150-200 dollars or buy two.

Nexus 7 FHD

Nexus 7

They just came out with an updated version. Prior to this it was still THE 7" tablet to buy, now it's just a landslide.

Ok, so kindle fire hdx, or new nexus 7? I've heard the hdx is quite powerful.

Same screen specs, Fire HDX has slightly faster proc, Nexus 7 has way, way, way better OS situation (and much better future-proofing) unless you really want to bother rooting and roming the Fire.

Review suggests that hdx sounds better when playing music. That will be another large user Iheartradio app

...do you often play music on a small device without connecting speakers?

I'm buying a new Dell Venue 8 Pro but only because I DO need to get work done.

Otherwise, the new Nexus 7 is awesome, and the Kindles are great. The iPad is pretty and shiny and slick, but way too $$$ IMO.

Do you plan to play games or use other apps? If so, get the Nexus.

I would never buy a Kindle Fire. All the disadvantages of android (over iOS) combined with the disadvantages of an iOS-like walled garden.

No games, now I'm liking at the hdx 8.9"

I listen to music through my phone speaker quite often. It's not ideal, but gets the job done.

Nexus 7 of the Thrive I'm selling :giggle:

I have a previous gen Nexus 7, I plan to buy the new one when I eventually kill this one.

Do not, under any circumstances, buy a Lenovo Helix. We bought one to play with here at the office and it arrived with a screwed up HDD. Lenovo took 2 weeks to fix it and return it. It worked for another 3 weeks and the battery in the tablet portion died for no apparent reason. Its been 4 weeks and they still haven't returned it. Worst $1,800 tablet EVER.

I don't really "get" the Surface series. The WinRT versions are priced right, but application support just isn't there and probably never will be. The Pro versions would be great for "serious" tablet computing, though "tablet" apps are going to be scare for it and the price is hard to justify as compared to comparably-sized offerings in the iThing or Android families.

If you like the Surface, look into the Asus EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepad Transformers.

I have seriously watched my VP walk into an OPS meeting and slap his E-Penis device on the table to make everyone Ooo & Ahh, but even he admits they are not optimized for a legit workspace. We bought tablets for our Marketing and Sales departments and they sit in desks and never use them for anything anymore, because a purely tablet format has no utility in the workplace over a laptop.

I think these "Surface" type machines are trying to bridge that gap between tablet and laptop and move into that market segment. Its content development vs content consumption.

A friend of mine has one of these, and it is quite nice.

AHhh yes.

The one that sits in the drawer while the wife uses her iPad.

surface pro 2 is intended to be a one-thing-for-all-purposes device that will replace your tablet, laptop, and desktop. It is spec'd as if it were a mid-high range ultrabook.

Docking Station for Surface Pro

for most consumers, there's no need to buy a faster desktop machine.

Loved my Transformer, but now that I've gotten what I really wanted (a touch screen laptop) it will probably be reserved to my poopin-mt.net-reader.

Sell it to me for cheaps!

Get a nexus 7 LTE. T-MOBILE will give you free 200mb/month. If you don't want to pay out of pocket, T-Mobile will sell you the tablet for $16/month, with the free data. Can't go wrong.

I personally have a kindle fire HD, rooted with play store, only because I snagged a sale on amazon for $100

what y8s said.

If you're looking for affordable full-windows machines, the new Dell Venue series tablets are the winners IMO. An 8" full windows tablet for $299. Can't beat that.

BUT OP... if you want something high quality, versatile, and slick without spending too much money, get the new Nexus 7. It is a GREAT piece of kit.

Hmm.

My intuitive reaction here would be to quote Mathew 6:24 (No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.) Typically, a machine designed to perform many functions does none well. This one might just tempt me, however.

As a desktop replacement, it would probably work for some folks. That little Haswell i5-4200U processor is near the bottom of the current-gen performance scale (it's a commendable design, but you can only do so much with 15 watts of power), and the 8GB RAM limit will become a problem in a year or two- 8G is already my bare minimum requirement for a 64 bit machine. I wouldn't replace my own desktop with it, but I might well consider it as my next laptop when it comes time to retire the Latitude E4200, presupposing that they come out with a better keyboard for it.



EDIT: just saw the Dell Venture info.

$299 as opposed to $899 for the Surface Pro 2, and it still runs "real" windows on an x64-architecture CPU. THAT is the Tablet I'd buy if I were shopping for a tablet.

The Venue is certainly interesting, but I am still skeptical whether the MS mobile ecosystem will ever be 'up to snuff' with Android and iOS.

And IMO the ability to run (32bit only) windows desktop apps doesn't make up for that in an 8" tablet.

Definitely the one to get though if someone wants both a tablet and a facebook machine (in desktop form).

Well, I've always said that as soon as I am able to run TunerStudio on any tablet, I will immediately buy a tablet.

Since I don't have a car at the moment, that motivation is gone. But that type of thing is essentially the logic behind why I would buy that specific tablet. The ability run run Win32 apps massively outweighs the advantage that iOS and Android have in actual tablet-style apps (Angry Birds, etc).

Not only would I use it for Megasquirt tuning, but it would be convenient for configuring Cisco switches, doing firmware updates on Evertz / Ross / Harris / Wheatstone / etc., products, performing local diagnostics and configuration on BlackMagic and Sony routers, that sort of thing. The kind of environment where I specifically require an RS-232 serial connection and the ability to run x86-specific applications for which no equivalent exists on any other platform including Linux.

Eg: These are the first tablets that I can actually take seriously as business-class tools in a technical environment.

To re-clarify:

The Venue Pro Dell tablets (8" and 10", 8"=$299) include FULL windows 8.1. It is NOT a mobile OS, though it does have a mobile-friendly side to it.

Right, it's just that for "tablet" use, a desktop app on an 8" touch screen is not going to cut it if there is no 'Metro' version of it.

Oh, absolutely. If I wanted to run apps designed for a smartphone on an 8-10" screen, I'd have bought an Android tablet or an iPad long ago.

But I don't want to do that. My Galaxy S4 does a perfectly adequate job of playing Angry Birds and listening to podcasts, and it rather conveniently clips onto my belt.

For me, the beauty of something like this Dell is that it lets me to actual work, running "real" (x86) software, in places where even a small laptop is inconveniently large and cumbersome (eg: standing on a ladder, squeezed into a rack, lying on my back under a console, driving a car, etc.

Have you used one personally? I wonder how well a device with 2GB of RAM handles the OS and newer programs. If it runs modern programs and Tuner Studio well, this would be something I'd consider.

...or in my case, out on a car lot when customers want to ask the most specific questions in the world about a particular obscure feature. Full access to my customer management software wherever I am (while tethered to my smartphone for data out of wifi range). Full ability to let me customers interact with Flash media content anytime, anywhere.

What I really want, though, and the one thing that frustrates me about this particular tablet... I WANT HDMI OUT!! JERKS!! I want to be able to hook it up to a monitor and use it that way.

Keep in mind that the Bay Trail Atom (the chip that's making these ultra-cheap "real Windows" tablets possible) has only been on the market for about a month. Six months from now, every company that makes a laptop today is going to be offering x86-capable Win8 tablets. I'm taking about the Acers and Asuses of the world.

By this time next year, WinRT is going to be a hazy memory, and you're going to be able to run friggin' DOS apps (via either VMWare or DOSBOX under Win8) on a tablet if you want to.

Don't buy anything just yet. Give it six months, and your dream tablet will exist. Hell, I myself might actually buy one at that point. Being able to walk up to a big Evertz router and plug in an RS232 connection from a friggin' tablet appeals to me greatly.


This is a seriously big deal. I never imagined that the x86 platform would ever pose any threat to iThings and Androidos. And no, I don't think the hipsters are going to give up their iThings no matter how much faster and cheaper the Atombooks are. Rather, I think we're going to start see people buying tablets who previously would not have otherwise.

YES. that would be me.

I bought an Android tablet and just found that I had to find reasons to use it. I had no need for it. But one that can help me get work done? YES.

Problem is... I kinda have a need for it NOW. I will see if there are any black friday deals on it. If I can get it cheap, I will. If I can't, I'll wait I guess.

Ha... NONE of this applies to the OP. Sorry sir :/

I've been using TunerstudioMS on my Samsung ATIV 500 tablet now for a while. Same screen size as my old netbook and the detachable keyboard like the Asus Android tablets.

To be honest, I prefer the netbook for the TunerstudioMS stuff probably for the reason it isn't really set for a touch interface and trying to work the software while riding as a passenger and watching a tune returns a lot of "a shit".

Speedwise both are about the same.

Battery wise, the ATIV docked with the keyboard is unbeatable. 10 hours +

And it has hdmi out and Bluetooth.

I'm all for the x86 tablet that runs a FAST and CAPABLE android VM.

Yeah, and now that TSMS has VEAL, It would be adequate for my MS-tuning needs.

But the fact that x86-compliant tablets are becoming a reality means that I can also use them to interface with a bunch of other hardware ("serious" broadcast and infrastructure stuff) for which the admin software is only available on the standard Win32 (x86) platform, because it's all written in the .NET environment.

In other words, a tablet capable of running Win XP / 7 applications is one that I can use for serious work. Will it ever replace my desktop? Of course not. For AutoCAD and Access, I require serious computational horsepower and memory. But for plugging into the back of an SDI de-embeder/multiplexer frame to do a firmware update? I don't need much computer at all for that, and if I can use a 6 ounce tablet instead of undocking my huge, heavy, workstation-class "laptop" and lugging it into the back of a rack, I'm down with that.

It just needs to be able to have either a USB to RS-232 adapter, a USB to 10/100 Ethernet adapter, or a USB to JTAG adapter plugged into it as the application demands. And if it's running "real" windows, then that won't be a problem.

And if it happens to cost half as much as the Samsung ATIV 500, all the better.

I carry a USB to ethernet when I'm traveling because typically hotel wifi sucks. Not sure what USB to JTAG or what horsepower it takes to run whatever needs it.

My AutoCAD needs typically can wait till I get back to my office but if I know I'll need it I'll take my HP laptop with me and leave something else behind.

I try and set things up to be identical excepting certain software like AutoCAD which is painful on a machine without the power to do a redraw on a 3d model. But I can always send the model ahead or load it off Dropbox to a customer machine.

In the end I've spent way too much on techie shit and now am at the point I have crap all over the place that I don't need. I tell you it's a weakness....

I bought the Samsung tablet when it first came out and got the keyboard free so total if I remember was $500+/-. Now that I've stripped out the Samsung crap and keep the drivers up to date it's a fairly speedy machine for what it is.

JTAG is an industry-standard test header used for connecting a PC directly to the guts of something like an FPGA or a DSP chip. It's not something you'd use in the "real world" very much, but it's absolutely vital for doing things like re-flashing firmware into a bricked device, validating new DSP code in a test environment, etc.

In any 80s action movie where the tech guy in the group whips out a ribbon cable and plugs it directly into the main board of the (bomb / electronic lock / missile guidance system / other MacGuffin) in order to over-ride it, that's the old-school version of JTAG. JTAG itself was invented to standardize the interface across all platforms, so that the hero only needed to carry one cable and one adapter to interface with all electronic devices owned by (the villian / the evil corporation / the corrupt government / etc).

On this adapter, the JTAG port is on the right:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1383395700

You don't need much horsepower to drive one, but you do need the ability to run a specific application which is generally only available for the Win32 platform.

Kewl...

I'm guessing the wire ends that look shrink wrapped connect directly to the leg of the chip or is there chip specific sockets which plug into the output end of the 'box'?

You wouldn't ever connect this directly to a chip. The JTAG programmer always gets plugged into a circuit board.

The ribbon cable is the "standard" JTAG implementation, which is compatible with the majority of circuit boards that support JTAG operation. Basically, as the designer of the circuit board, you're supposed to put a mating connector on it to receive that cable.

The loose wire ends are there to deal with boards designed by people who didn't put the mating connector there. They allow you to hack the thing into place any way you can manage.

This thread DELIVERS. :brain:

Now I understand... the "hero mode".

Side note... I know you don't have a car right now, did you ever look at running Linux on a 'formerly' android tablet to get Tunerstudio that way? Because I can't leave well enough alone, and always looking to repurpose orphaned equipment, I'm thinking of doing this with an older Acer 10" tablet.

There is a Ubuntu derivative out there for that tablet. And it's so far from what came as stock anyway.....

Edit: I guess I should offer my $0.02 on Windows 8 - 8.1 on a tablet considering I have been using for a year now and just upgraded the ATIV to 8.1

I'm spoiled with the desktop and for the life of me just can't seem to get into the Metro thing. The start screen just gets in the way if what you primarily use are 32bit programs. Using real Office in a touch mode is painful, at best, and I find going to the start screen just to get back to the desktop is a major nuisance. And yes, I have my machines setup to boot directly to the desktop and use Start8 since the early beta. Changing the Start screen is far from intuitive and I find tiles moving everywhere but where I want them. And frankly, I could care less if my desktop screen = my tablet screen = my phone screen.

If I were a large MS shareholder I'd be asking for Balmer's resignation (but, then apparently some have). In a nutshell, 8.1 runs a little faster than 8.0 which is, IMHO, a decent step up from W7 performance wise, that it makes sense to do the upgrades.

My business partner, who uses a Windows phone, seems to like it but TBH he doesn't get much outside of Excel or Outlook.

I use an Android phone and really like it (as is my 'goto' tablet, Nexus 7) but TBH the Apple products are looking nice.

Not necessary.

Links 23 Aug. Steve Ballmer Announces Resignation, Microsoft Stock Soars And No It Won't Be Bill Gates - Forbes

I will not buy another windows anything until they fix the OS. Win7 was amazing. Win8 is extreme garbage. I went so far as to buy an older macbook pro for my travel laptop as I think it is hands down the best out there. Price and specs may not be great, but I don't need a mouse with how fluid the track pad is, which is huge. I hate having to use a mouse on the plane, or in the car. And I hate every trackpad I've used except the ones on the mac. I dont' even know all the features to the trackpad, but somehow every action I think should do something, actually does what I wanted. It's very intuitive. And the OS is simple but offers some powerful features.

Not a mac fanboy in any sense, but they are doing some things very right.

TBH, I like the speed of the 8.1 system just hate the interface and how someone, after basically 18 years of having something akin to a 'start' menu decided to trash it when it was obvious the majority of users preferred the old way.

Re Apple, I agree but I've got too much invested in windowz world.

I picked up an hp touchpad when they had a fire sale but Ive never used a tablet that i've loved.

I think they are great for people like my mom that just browse the web and check e-mail. I use my hp touchpad @ my work desk as a clock/jukebox. I could never imaigne using it for anything productive.

I like Joe find the x86 stuff very appealing and will be dropping some bucks eventually once the market has some more options. It is very difficult to hold a laptop and program networking equipment on a ladder. Even if you're standing on the floor there is rarely enough room to sit the laptop on anything.

HP 2740p or similar.

Relevant:

32GB Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet $252.50 + Free Shipping - Amazon Deals, Coupons and Promos

Anybody trying to run software on a different platform than it was designed for (different input methods, different display) is bound to be disappointed.

About the only real advantage that a tablet has over a laptop is that you can hold it in one hand while "inputing" with the other. If you really need that ability then you'll need software that is meant to be used that way in the first place.

DAMMIT I MISSED IT!!!!! :vash: :vash:

The Venue 11 Pro has HDMI out and a USB3.0 port as well as a faster CPU and more storage. I think I might replace my ancient laptop with this.

Problem is, I want something portable. I don't feel like 10" plus tablets (yes, that includes the 9.7" iPad) are actually all that portable. I want an 8"tablet that I can use easily when away from my desk. Then I want to get to my desk, plug in a cable or slap it on a dock, and have a workstation.

Bah. It will come, someday.

Well, yeah.

I mean, this entire class of machine has existed for, what, a month?

Give it until the spring.

like 6 months (full windows in an 8" tablet) or just over a year (full windows in a 10" tablet).

So OP... what did you buy after this massive thread drift?

Nah, that dream is dead since a long time.

Your existence will move to clouds and you will interface with it through a myriad of UI's

Combination units will always cost a lot and be outdated faster than more dedicated units (which you replace more often, but not all at once).

All it would take is that little Dell tablet with an HDMI out (mini HDMI would be fine) and a full-size USB port besides the microusb port for charging. Those two ports and this tablet would be perfect for me. It has enough power to be my main computer, easily.

Shoot... I'm typing this on an Acer netbook connected to a mouse and larger display. It has enough power for what I need, and it's 2 generations behind (i think) the processor that's in that little Dell.

Arise from the grave, o' thread!



So, I'm looking for some first-hand feedback from those who have actually owned their tablii for a while, rather than just the usual quoting-of-specs which I've done in the past.

I've decided that I wish to possess a mid-sized tablet (8-10", perhaps?) which I can use for the following purposes:

1: To hold a bunch of PDFs on, as my portable "I have all of the documentation for every machine in the entire plant on this, here with me on the top of this ladder" device.

2: To use as an e-reader, in lieu of a Kindle (eg: if I already have the tablet with me in my bag, I may not want to also be carrying my old Kindle, even though I acknowledge the inherent superiority of the e-ink display for this function.)

3: To have some basic capability for viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents, in the .xls, .xlsx, and .doc and .docx formats (ideally without having to spend a lot of money for a full-blown copy of Office.)

4: To use for general web-surfing, spammer-banning, video-watching, cat-picture-captioning, etc while on a train. This, I assume, goes without saying, though of course having a battery that will literally go all day and into the night without a recharge would be nice.


I have a slight inherent bias in favor of the Android platform, but only because I have already owned several Android phones and am therefore familiar with the interface. I have no absolute specific prejudices inasmuch as OS or manufacturer. I'm perfectly willing to buy an iPad or a Win8 device if it turns out that this is best-suited to the task. I'd prefer to avoid extremely cheap off-brand devices.



Thoughts?

I'd say that Dell Venue 8 Pro. It gives you full Office included, full web browsing, plenty of e-reader capability, plus you can run any other x86-based programs if you choose to do so.

I think the 8" size is ideal because IMO 7" is a little too small and 10" is too big to be truly portable (like at the top of a ladder).

You didn't mention playing games or whatever, so that'd be my recommendation. If you want to play mobile games, Android or iPad are better... but keep in mind, that little windows tablet could play all sorts of flash games that the other platforms cannot.

*disclaimer: No I have not owned one. But I have played with one, and I have owned android tablets, and I think that tablet would work best for your needs/potential future needs.

Is this actually true?

I am somewhat confused by the present state of "Windows 8," as the name seems to be applied to more than one actual OS. Specifically, I know of Windows 8 RT, and I am not at all clear on whether tablets such as the Venue, which claim to have Win 8 will, in fact, run any app that I can run on my desktop.

To some extent, this is a disadvantage, as applications meant to run on a desktop aren't well-optimized for touchscreen use with no keyboard.



Oh, one other thing: Dropbox. I'd very much like to have this device auto-sync to my Dropbox account. At the Dropbox Mobile website, they list compatibility with iOS, Android, and a few other platforms that nobody cares about, but they don't list anything about Windows. Can I assume that the regular desktop version of Dropbox for Windows will run on this platform?

Yes, that is true. I don't blame you one bit for being confused about the current state of Windows 8.

Typically, if the tablet has "pro" in its name, it's running full windows 8. That venue 8 Pro is essentially a small netbook with a much better screen and no keyboard. It's running an x86 processor (Intel's clover trail Atom series) with 2GB ram (I believe). So any program that is designed to run on an x86 device which doesn't require more resources than this tablet has available will run just fine.

So yes, the desktop version of Dropbox should run just fine.

the DOWNSIDE is that then you would have to use Dropbox in the desktop environment, which is not completely touch-friendly. That being said, you can easily hook up a bluetooth mouse anbd keyboard for use in the desktop environment, or, in my experience, just be precise with your taps and you'll get around just fine.

There are definitely limitations, but they're limitations that you find only after you've gone well above and beyond the limitations of an Android or iOS device.