Android tablet questions - Useful for contractors? Excel spreadsheets? PPt shows?

DarkSideA8

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Apr 13, 2005
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New Question below...


Need some advice on tablets before making a purchasing decision.

Software questions: Are there any Android OS tablets that will:

  • Let me transfer an excel file to the tablet and update it in the field (i.e. with pricing info, worker's hours, etc.?) and then save it back to my PC?
  • Can I use my MS Outlook e-mail natively or do I need to port Outlook to G-mail & back again - or, since I have Bellsouth (AT&T) as my basic ISP & e-mail provider, can I send my AT&T e-mail directly to the device or do I have to websurf to check e-mail? ***
  • Can I play a PowerPoint presentation on the device - or do I have to save it as a show & play it from an internet or e-mail browser?

Form Factor Questions:

  • Does the 10.1 formfactor turn out to be useful away from a couch or table (i.e. can I use it in my truck) - or is it a pain to use whenever you can't set it down?
  • Is there a better form factor (i.e. 8.9 or 7") that work well in the field - without losing so much screen-space that trying to show a customer a picture of a finished room or addition is pointless?
  • Are these things sturdy enough for use by the boots & bluejeans crowd - or are they better suited for reading a novel in a coffee shop?

***I'm not in love with AT&T by any means - just what I'm currently using - so if a tablet is tethered to a different cell provider I can handle a change...

FYI

I'm a small business owner looking to improve my customer relations/sales via either a laptop or a tablet. I've been a PC user (build my own for home & business use / gaming) for a long time and never liked laptops - mostly because the price / performance ratio favored PC's so heavily. I also don't like "smartphones" because trying to read e-mails on a telephone annoys me. Furthermore, trying to show a customer a picture of work I've done or propose (home remodeling & construction) is a waste of time on a tiny screen.

Earlier this year I toyed with the idea of getting a laptop to replace my PC - but again, price & performance aren't on par with what I want & need (I do 3D modeling of houses / additions before I begin working & as part of the sales / design process) - so now I'm toying with the idea of keeping my PC for the heavy lifting and going with a tablet for in-the-field productivity and sales. I'm also a heavy MS Office user - especially MS Excel.

I'm pretty sure all the tablets will show photographs well and let me recieve e-mails - so what I really want to know - is how useful are these things to the working man?
 
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With what uses you're describing I think a Windows 7 device would suit you better, in particular the upcoming Fujitsu Q550: http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=Q550

It is a bit more expensive than most Android states but it will do everything you described perfectly, has a replaceable battery and supports a digital pen which would probably be useful to you with what you're describing as your needs.

The Q550 looks to have better battery life than the HP Slate 500 which I have and an IPS screen and a bit more powerful than the HP and the HP Slate runs Office very nicely. The HP Slate which is available now is also a possible choice but the screen isn't the best and doesn't work well outdoors.

If you want an Android device then that's what you want and it's possible to do what you're describing with Android but it won't be as seamless and run Office natively.
 
Let me transfer an excel file to the tablet and update it in the field (i.e. with pricing info, worker's hours, etc.?) and then save it back to my PC?

ES File Explorer App allows you to
A)Browse via bluetooth (I can access the pictures off my phone with this)
B)Allows you to browse your network and access your files
C)Allows you to login via FTP so you can access your files over the net



Can I use my MS Outlook e-mail natively or do I need to port Outlook to G-mail & back again - or, since I have Bellsouth (AT&T) as my basic ISP & e-mail provider, can I send my AT&T e-mail directly to the device or do I have to websurf to check e-mail? ***

I'm not sure exactly what this means, but the email app can be configured to access mail servers directly via POP3 and IMAP. That one app is linked to my gmail and two yahoo accounts.

Can I play a PowerPoint presentation on the device - or do I have to save it as a show & play it from an internet or e-mail browser?

Documents to Go


XLS example i downloaded off the net


Unfortunately, it's the free version so editing is disabled.


PPT example i got off the net


There are likely better apps out there so others might offer better suggestions.


Does the 10.1 formfactor turn out to be useful away from a couch or table (i.e. can I use it in my truck) - or is it a pain to use whenever you can't set it down?

It's rather light actually. Closest thing i can relate to is holding an 11" clipboard. You don't hold it upright constantly like a glass of water (You'll get tired after a while), you can hold against your side like a clipboard when you're not using it.

This is where the textured backs will tend to get important so you don't accidentally let it slip when you're not paying attention. I'd recommend either getting a tablet with a 'grippy' texture, or getting a case for it.

Is there a better form factor (i.e. 8.9 or 7") that work well in the field - without losing so much screen-space that trying to show a customer a picture of a finished room or addition is pointless?

If you know people with laptops or netbooks, you can try comparing them. There are people that exclaim how easy it is to carry a 7" in your back pocket. However, do you actually travel around without a document bag? If you have the room to carry a 10" tablet, get a 10" tablet.

Are these things sturdy enough for use by the boots & bluejeans crowd - or are they better suited for reading a novel in a coffee shop?

Would depend on the model. Last thing you want is someone to spill salt on it while flipping through pictures.

so what I really want to know - is how useful are these things to the working man?

One good thing about Android that i really liked is that it actually does have a working file system. If you carry your data in a thumbdrive/harddrive, memory card, a cellphone, or a network, you can browse the directories and access it. This means it will work without being tied to a PC and let you work in the field longer.

The thing it will not do is provide a comfortable environment for heavy work. It does not have the parallel multitasking and task switching capability windows has. Which means it's bad for reasearching and writing reports where you need to collate data from multiple sources.

If you don't mind sacrificing battery life, you can go for a Windows tablet. It's fully compatible with all your existing productivity tools (i.e. Photoeditor, bulk rename utilities, specialized text editors), and will also be more likely to be compatible with whatever you run into in your clients office. If you need to modify something, you can either use the pen (Win7 does have a decent touch interface), or borrow someone's KB/M and have all your tools, shortcuts, and other nuances available to you.

NOTE: NTFS is a proprietary windows file system and not standard on Android, so you might want to keep that in mind if you expect to be dealing with External drives.
 
If you don't mind sacrificing battery life, you can go for a Windows tablet.

With the Q550 this may not be the case. It's based on Oak Trail which is supposed to give a good boost to x86 tablet battery life and the Q550 has a user swappable battery.

Of course I can't fully recommend the Q550 as it doesn't ship until next month but if the price is in the OP's range it would be a device he might want to see some reviews on before he buys anything as its a device targeted exactly for his needs.
 
Thanks guys.

Another question: if I get a 4G phone, can I use a USB cable to transfer data from the phone to the tablet whenever I'm away from a Wi-Fi source - or do I need a separate data agreement & 3G / 4G capapble device to get content whenever I'm away from a hotspot?
 
That's called tethering. All phones have been capable of that for as long as i can remember. In the old movies, tethering involves using a cable to connect one to your laptop, these days you use bluetooth. I've even used my old GSM phone to get on the internet (GSM = Dial-up speeds, 3G/4G = DSL speeds).

There are two kinds of wireless tethering. Bluetooth and Wifi. Bluetooth is a standard feature on both phones and tablets, very reliable and works everywhere, but slow. Wifi tethering is the phone emulating a wifi router, much faster but rather hit and miss, not all phones support this and even those that do, are not guaranteed to be compatible with your tablet (lookup 'ad-hoc' and 'infrastructure').

It's up to the tablet manufacturer to add support for USB tethering. Archos and some china tablets do support them, but only to certain phones. I did get mine to work, but apparently, i just got lucky. Overall, don't count on it working for you. Wifi and USB tethering are just bonuses, bluetooth tethering are what you'll be expecting to use.




Of course, just because a phone can do it doesn't mean your phone carrier will let you. I live outside the US and locking down phones is not normal practice over here so i have no problems with mine. In the US tho, it seems you need to pay another $30 monthly to enable tethering. That's really screwed up man.
 
FYI, we wanted to do something similar and equip people who inspect buildings with the last-gen 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. The idea was they could use a web-application over 3G and/or VPN to do everything the were previously doing with sheets of paper: note down their inspection results and working hours and such...

However, we didn't proceed to implement that idea for numerous reasons. Mainly because the software to do such things wasn't ready to be used productively - meaning that I and some other people at work would have to write our own software, which would take time and cost the company an arm and a leg.

Long story short, we haven't done anything and are desperately waiting for Windows 8 ARM to come with a full blown Office 2012 (or whatever the heck it will be) and a portable touch-only form factor. Then we can talk again :p
 
Just to add I think you could get away with the Asus Transformer with the dock which would give you usb ability and full keyboard if needed while still being light weight. You could also do everything you were asking about as far as document work goes, email etc as sly pointed out.

It could also double it's use at home on the couch or in a big comfy recliner as you mentioned as well when you're tired but wanting to surf the web, simple game, edit a doc for work after hours etc.

You could get both the dock + transformer once availability is a little better (another discussion) for about $550 16gb or $650 if you opted for the 32gb model. The tablet would be great for showing photos of editions done to housing or what not in your field and the screen on the Asus is nice with good viewing angles and the gorilla glass would handle some abuse.

I would recommend a case and a screen protector though just b/c you're using it for work. File compatibility shouldn't be an issue as long as it's just MS office files. Android tablets are nice and will only get nicer the longer you can wait of course.

The Fujitsu that Heatless linked looks to fit your needs well since it's targeted at working people and was a good recommendation imo. As long as it fits your budget and the reviews & availability are on par, then it very well could be the best overall solution for you.

After playing with the transformer for a few weeks now I like it a lot and considering a 2nd one as the one I have now is for the little lady. I may ditch my 6+ pound beast of a laptop for the transformer with a dock to take to class for notes etc. I have a feeling I'm going to see less and less of the transformer in my hands. lol
 
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