Tablet and smart phone discussion thread

[SeriousStudent]

I can't wait to get my hands on a Microsoft Surface Pro 128Gb.
It should be able to replace both my Lenovo T430 laptop and my Samsung 10" tablet work machines.
"Ultra-tablet" in the field, snap on the keyboard and it's a full power x86 laptop back at the office.

There are a lot of people thinking along similar lines. Look for some third-party vendors to come up with a docking station that will allow you to do a lot of that. There are folks that are working right on a powered USB 3.0 solution that would give you the Ethernet port, dual monitors, plus USB 2.0/3.0 compatibility. Plug in your external SATA drive into that for local encrypted storage, or use something like Dropbox or Skydrive. Because of some security breaches involving Dropbox, I'd be leery of storing unencrypted data there.

But then again, I don't think you should store unencrypted data anywhere.

[Belmont]

Or your battery life may be longer than that. There are a lot of variables on power consumption on mobile devices. I've handled and tested both Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets. Our numbers ran from a hair over 2 hours up to almost 7.

I'm not sure what iOS hate is.

I don't hate W8. Just based on the battery numbers this is no Ipad replacement.


And yeah I can kill everything useful on my Samsung 9 and get 10hrs out of it, and its not even technically an ultrabook.

[Belmont]

Going to be giving my wife my Series 9 Samsung and getting an Apple Mac Pro Retina with 2.6, 16gb, and 256 ssd. If I get an LG screen its going back until I get a sammy screen.

[SeriousStudent]

I never said you hated Windows 8, if that is what you meant by W8.

And a Surface Pro tablet is not a iPad replacement, it's really a different device for different needs. It just happens to be packaged in a similar-sized container.

I don't have any ownership pride or confirmation bias on any of these things. I can literally have any computer-type doodad made, for my work or home. So I chose the things that work best for that job. My lab is bigger than most people's production environments. And it's got just about anything you might think of in it.

I don't despise my carbine, when I'm carrying my pistol. I don't hate my Mac's when I'm using my Droid, and I don't glare at my Windows machine when I'm on my FreeBSD box. They are just tools to me. This is what I do to feed the kids and the dog.

This is not meant to be a rant or talking down to you, just an explanation. Please accept it as such. I hope your stuff works good, and you like your new Mac Pro.

[Belmont]

Lol no its all good. Just different uses for different stuff. Just would not personally buy a tablet which only has a 4hr battery life.


I think there will be or already are other w8 tablets besides Surfare Pro. I saw one review and the battery life was supposed to be a lot better even running 8 not the gimped surface.


Ill prob check out the pro this week at the Windows Store. Saw the Surface, and didn't care for the design.


Had a Ipad 4 and sold it. Not enough use, and think the UI is not good enough yet.

[Ga Shooter]

[*]Flashing a custom kernel requires unlocking your device. This is a very simple process, and on the Nexus devices is neither discouraged nor disallowed. Still, I mention it because some people don't feel like going through the effort.
[

Would this void the warranty?

I have seen them on Ebay for about $50.00 less than the big box retailers and they are "new" but unlocked. Any problem with one of those as long as it comes from here in the US?

Thanks for all of the help.

[JodyH]

Lol no its all good. Just different uses for different stuff. Just would not personally buy a tablet which only has a 4hr battery life.


I think there will be or already are other w8 tablets besides Surfare Pro. I saw one review and the battery life was supposed to be a lot better even running 8 not the gimped surface.

The Surface Pro is not a "tablet".
It's a ultrabook in a tablet form factor.
The Core i5 processor is what differentiates it from standard (mobile OS) tablets and other current W8 tablets (Atom processors).
The Surface Pro is currently in a class all it's own, intel Core i5, HD 4000 powered "tablet" with the full version of Windows 8 and able to run any legacy Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 program.
If you've ever tried running a large Excel spreadsheet or graphics editing program on an ARM tablet or Atom powered netbook, you'd immediately see the advantage the Surface Pro i5 will bring to the table.

Microsoft needs to market the Surface Pro head to head against the 11" MacBook Air.
I'd do it by including the keyboard cover (the "good" one) and pricing it at $1099 which is exactly what the 11" MBA 128Gb sells for.

My commercial would be two guys doing "tablet" things like watching a movie on the plane. Then show them waiting in a layover lounge. The iPad guy sticks his tablet in his carryon bag and starts digging through luggage looking for his laptop. The Surface Pro guy flips out the kickstand, snaps the keyboard cover on and starts up Office.

[SeriousStudent]

And that's how we are planning to use them. We have tens of thousands of iPads and iTouches and iPhones in our organization. I have one locked up in my desk, and I use it for Keynote presentations to certain members of my food chain. But right now, that's really all it does.

We've got a case of Surface Pros with the Type covers (that's the good one you referred to) sitting in our receiving bay as I type this. I'm going some more time with them, when I get back into the office on Tuesday.

I really wish they had battery that a user could just pop on and off, so you could buy a swappable one for a hundred bucks. Some else is working on that, however, and I was told you'll probably see one by July-ish.

They are also working on a i7 processor, but that's really dependent on Intel, and I don't have as many sources inside their org.

[SeriousStudent]

Lol no its all good. Just different uses for different stuff. Just would not personally buy a tablet which only has a 4hr battery life.


I think there will be or already are other w8 tablets besides Surfare Pro. I saw one review and the battery life was supposed to be a lot better even running 8 not the gimped surface.


Ill prob check out the pro this week at the Windows Store. Saw the Surface, and didn't care for the design.


Had a Ipad 4 and sold it. Not enough use, and think the UI is not good enough yet.

Yup, all good here too.

I like the iPad, but my biggest challenge with it is email and calendaring. I have 5 different email accounts and three calendars to keep track of. It's the main reason I have a Droid phone now, to be honest. It can rig it so I can see if I have a new work email, or personal email from Hotmail, or Gmail, or encrypted personal email, etc. Just by hitting the power button on the side of the phone, and looking at the notification bar. Pretty handy for me.

I think you are really going to like that Mac with the Retina. One of my fave toys is the new Macbook Air with Retina and VMware running Windows 7 Enterprise. I get some really, really nice hardware with a OS I like. I love the keyboard on it, since I grew up on a command line, not a mouse. It's like a Laz-Boy chair for my fingers.

But the Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook is sweet as you say. The first time I saw one, I almost mistook it for a mousepad. The Mac has a better keyboard for me, anyway.

If you don't like the Surface Pro, let the concept bake for a while. There will be some tasty goodness out this summer, it's just still cooking in the oven.

[Bigguy]

http://www.indystar.com/article/2013...g-would-robber

Another reason to NOT have a no gun policy.