Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Tablet/laptop/3 in 1 thingies.....

When tablets came out, I didn't really get why people liked them. Never even entered my mind to get one... Then I started seeing some benefits. They appear to be pretty damn handy for travel, a quick internet search that does not involve squinting at the smart phone or using the office computer. Still not enough to push me over the edge and buy one though.

Then these new things started appearing. You can use them like a tablet, but if you prefer to use them like a lap top with a key board, you can do that too. They even have USB ports... OK, now I'm getting interested.

My trusty lap top is about five years old. It's time to retire it. Poor thing has been dropped a few times, smells like motor oil, and it always has been cumbersome for vehicle tuning.

I started looking at these combo laptop/tablet things, and don't know where to start.

I really don't want to give up screen size. My laptop has a 15" screen. It's too hard to see the tables and charts when tuning as is. A key board and a mouse is also mandatory, but touch screen capabilities would be super cool. Being thin and light would be way cool. Good battery life is very important. When I flash a new calibration to a vehicle, I then take it for a drive to log data. Sometimes that can take an hour.

The scanning software I use is a memory hog.

I also use my laptop for video calibration. That's another memory hog...

Are there any manufactures that are better than others? Some to avoid?

I'm just looking for some general buying advise at this point.

I wish I had some advice, but my experience has been pretty limited so far. I'm just hoping to hear from someone who has some hands-on with the Surface Pro 3. It looks pretty slick, but it would be hard for me to justify the price, since I still do most of my real work (okay, calling it "real work" is a bit of a stretch) on my desktop, which I'm usually not far away from when I'm not at work.

You should probably look at an MS surface pro.

Advantages:
1. serious processor (i5, i7)
2. 12" screen, that's about as big as you get on a tablet thingy
3. dual use with removable keyboard.

In general, I don't think tablets have enough horsepower to do much beyond browsing and watching youtube. My experience to date is with an older HP atom based tablet and it was an absolute dog.

I recently went to a 14" laptop for work and it really is not enough screen real estate for every day use, but its great when I need to take it out to the floor or up into the ceiling for trouble shooting.

Fortunately, despite my boss' grumbling, I put a second display on my desk. I would do the same for a Surface pro.

I think in two processor generations, tablets are really going to kick ass.

Mike, I suggest you look at some reviews for the Asus Transformer lineup. I don't have hands on experience, but the Transformer pads consistently get very positive reviews (from what I've seen).

Hummmm.... I did not realize there was such a size restriction. The Surface Pro 3's are pretty expensive when you start looking at the I5 processors and above. Like a grand and up apparently. And I only see one USB port, which is a deal breaker. I need two, at least three.

Well it looks as if I've wasted your time, again. These hybrid tablets just can't do what I need from a mobile computer. Looks like I need to just get a new laptop.

Those Asus tablets look pretty cool, for a tablet.. Maybe Santa will bring me one of them.

I did an exhaustive study of tablets for a university I worked for. This was to determine the best device and if they are ready to replace laptops for daily use.

What I found after months of requirements gathering, testing in a lab and real world field testing was:
- tablets are great for information consumption but poor/limited for information creation
- all platforms (iPad, Android, Surface, Blackberry) had strengths and weaknesses
- the cost of fully outfitted tablet equals a solid ultrabook for Total Cost of Ownership

At this point all platforms have a good compliment of software, mobile device management (key for business use) and peripheral devices (attachable keyboards, etc.)

One false promise is the cost being lower. In a business setting, outfitting with dongles for connecting to projectors, monitors, etc., software to provide functionality with enterprise apps, and licensing costs outside of enterprise agreements tips the scale to ultrabooks.

The one advantage was the size/weight of a tablet.

All said an done, I have a great i7 ultrabook and no tablet.

YMMV

$1,000 is a reasonable price given the processing power and form factor. That's why I wrote that we are about 2 processor generations away from really powerful, useful tablets.

The current shiznitz of processors are built using a 22 nm process. 14 nm has been commercialized and will hit the streets soon. I remember reading somewhere that 12 nm manufacturing is being commercialized now.

When these processes trickle down to broader ic manufacturing, I think we will hit the power use/performance sweet spot for mobile devices

I don't know why nobody has put multiple micro usb ports on a device. Maybe because USB draws power from the primary device and that would reduce battery time below some perceived critical threshold?

Actually, the Nexus tablets have usable USB ports. The MS Surface have them as well.

I agree with Mike on most everything except maybe " the cost of fully outfitted tablet equals a solid ultrabook for Total Cost of Ownership". I'd be curious to see the math there. Probably because my personal idea of a "solid ultrabook" starts at over 2.5 grand.

In any case, I think it's not an Apples to Apples comparison in any case. Tablets were not created to compete with any type of powerful laptop. The Surface Pro mmmmaybe, but to me it's still inarguably a hybrid with it's own pros and cons.

There is a place for all device types depending on your needs. My personal breakdown would be this.

Social media, web browsing, media consumption, free apps & games....
= Tablets.

Social Media, Web browsing, media consumption, free apps and games but also the occasional light office work on the road.
= a hybrid (Asus Transformer models up to the Surface Pro 3 depending on your needs and budget)

Primary workhorse or you travel regularly for work purposes
= laptop or ultrabook

Other considerations.
I have nozero tolerance for laggy netbooks and I think thier day is done anyways, so I didn't include them.

It doesn't take much horsepower at all these days for typical office work. So even a reasonably priced laptop can jump in there in just about any category (except for the free apps.)

Gaming... Tons of free games are developed every day for Android and iPads and that can be a big draw to tablets for some. If you want to 3-d game in the MS world, prepare to triple or quadruple your laptop budget.

I put most tablets into this category, but have no recent experience with them. Has this changed?

My view on a $1,000 surface pro 4 is that you should compare it to purchasing a laptop for serious use plus a tablet for its portability.

I have low tolerance for device proliferation. I don't need dozens of devices all to do slightly different things.

I may be forced into a decision soon as well. My only surviving computer at home is a 6 year old celeron e1200 running xp.

Sigh, this is turning out to be an expensive year for electronics.

Michael, what about a usb hub to get you more usb ports? I've never used one, so I don't know what the downsides are though.

Edit: Hmm, still gotta add the keyboard and a docking station for an additional $350 to turn the surface pro into a hybrid, so $1,350 all in. Still a little steep.