Can a Cheap Windows Tablet Replace Your Desktop?

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No.

I worked my way through these issues and forgave the setup for the sake of the novelty: people used to talk about "working from their iPad," but I really did work from a tablet. I loved it. The Dell Venue 8 Pro was a $250 toy I bought to draw cartoons and read digital comics—now it's a versatile, portable workstation.
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But will it play Crysis?

We all know that answer. I can just imagine how long the Android emulator would take to start on that thing, but I would be able to go for coffee while waiting for it to build so I guess that's a plus.
 
No. Even the simple people that know very little about computers, a tablet cannot replace a PC. My in-laws have tablets, but they still go to the laptop every so often for other things. One has an Android the other has a Windows tablet. They are great for some things, but they aren't an all in one type of solution.
 
My stepmother does:
email
web surfing
stupid facebook games
looking at digital pictures

I convinced her to replace her laptop with an ipad. Best thing I've ever done for both her and my sanity.

For people here at [H]? Hell no ;)
 
A tablet will work as long as the app/software you need to use requires extreme minimal amounts of typing. The best tablet is the Surface Pro 3 which will work either way. In other words, a tablet needs to be able to act as a desktop PC.

I love my iPad but the inability to use a mouse relegates it to an entertainment device.
 
$300? LOL, he paid way too much for it. I've had 2 and I never paid more than $160 for either.

I wouldn't buy a 3rd.
 
If an Atom n270 netbook can replace a desktop (which it can...I've used my Asus 1005HAB and a few other netbooks for weeks without turning on a bigger laptop and I'd really not miss much if my big laptop vanished today) then aside from connecting it to a keyboard and mouse being kinda painful (screen is totally optional and really not that important) it shouldn't be a big deal. The new Atoms are a lot faster anyhow and the graphics are tons better then junky old netbook-underclocked GMA950s.
 
I bought a Surface Pro just for playing music in the car, but I find myself using it for work more than anything. My desktop? No.. There's not a tablet on earth that could replace this beast.
 
snowcrash said:
A tablet will work as long as the app/software you need to use requires extreme minimal amounts of typing. The best tablet is the Surface Pro 3 which will work either way. In other words, a tablet needs to be able to act as a desktop PC.

I love my iPad but the inability to use a mouse relegates it to an entertainment device.
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You can use a BT keyboard with pretty much any tablet.

They even make iPad cases with BT keyboards.

Typing is not the problem.

Highlighting stuff for editing is a huge pain though.
 
Multiple monitors Sorry i can't live without at least 2 higher resolution the better need screen estate for things.
 
Xinmosni said:
For most people, yes.

For most people on [H]ardForum, no.
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+1. Windows tablets really got a lot better with the arrival of Bay Trail. It's amazing just how much the higher end ones can do. I just got a Toshiba Encore 2 Write three weeks ago. It has micro HDMI out and drives a 1080P screen along with the built in screen. Certainly not for modern desktop gaming but it's got enough power to drive things like Office, light Photoshop, etc. It's all the computer many would have need for and with Cherry Trail on the way the situation is only going to get better.
 
I've got the 10" Microcenter Winbook tablet. It's quite nice. The windows 8 interface is very nice on a tablet touch screen form factor.
 
I use a Macbook Pro for everything. I have a gaming tablet and Kindle Fire for emulators and reading.
 
I've for quite a few people to upgrade using a tablet (Windows and iPad) and some using a dock as well. Oh how grand it has been.
 
A Windows tablet that has an optional available docking station to attach external display, keyboard, mouse, and LAN/WAN connection if the need arrises = yes, for most home users.
 
I get tired of the thinking of each new device "will device Y replace and obsolete device X?"

How about this thinking; "yes there is a market for cheap windows tablets." and just move on from there.

My ipad replaced my need for a laptop which I only used for media or web browsing anyways. For gaming and work related things my desktop is perfect for that. For me a windows tablet could replace the ipad but all it would do to my desktop is keep the top of the tower warm.
 
Not to mention, what is with tech journalists being so bent on trying to spell doom for PC? Or is it just the controversial nature of it that they wield just to get us to click it?
 
Darunion said:
I get tired of the thinking of each new device "will device Y replace and obsolete device X?"
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Zero sum thinking does seem to be the great IT blogger past time. I think a better way to phrase it is "Can a cheap Windows tablet be used as a desktop?" For many tasks it certainly can and if that's all the tasks one needs to accomplish on a desktop then of course the tablet could be a replacement.
 
If you have a docking solution, yes you can. It will never (well never say never) be a gaming rig, but a lot of people where I work use MS Surfaces or Dell Venue Pro 11s with their respective docks, and I don't think they miss their desktops at all.
 
Depends. The Surface Pro's have full docking solutions, it'll even use the tablet display as another monitor.
 
Spidey329 said:
Depends. The Surface Pro's have full docking solutions, it'll even use the tablet display as another monitor.
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The Surface Pro 3 supports up to 3 displays, not sure what the max resolution is in that case. One can be the tablet screen or it can be disabled in lieu of an external screen. The funny is that a top end SP3 is probably more powerful most of desktops out there yet only a fraction of the weight. Of course the SP3 is a lot more expensive but it is impressive that such thin and light devices with reasonable battery exist. Thin and light and moderately powerful x86 designs have long been elusive. Now they are reality.
 
The ASUS T100 with the keyboard makes a good shot at it. It's everything the netbooks used to be and more.

But is it ENOUGH computer for every situation? Not by a longshot.

Basic word processing, email, and some streaming video? Sure.
Light photo editing, basic video prep for youtube? Sure.
Photoshop, autocad, 3d gaming, or chewing through gigabytes of anything? NO.
 
Sometimes I use a desktop PC and a tablet simultaneously. What now.
 
Megalith said:
Sometimes I use a desktop PC and a tablet simultaneously. What now.
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I do this everyday. I'm particularly paranoid about doing any kind of web search on my work computer, working for mega bank with very tight controls and monitoring. Even when I'm researching something work related I almost always use my tablet and email myself the info that I need just to make sure that I don't click on the wrong thing.
 
I have an iPad Air in my backpack. I used it on a plane to watch a few movies. It's the only action it has seen since December. It's just not something I can easily use for what I do.
A Surface Pro 3 would be much nicer - but at that point, I would rather have a laptop for that type of work (although it really blurs the lines - the SP3's are pretty nice.)
 
I have a Venue 8 Pro that gets used as a cheap dockable desktop quite often -- USB dongle charger cable to USB hub, Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse fob, Displaylink USB adapter tied to 24" monitor.

It works quite well actually. It's not blazing fast, but it is actually quite usable for basic functionality -- and all I have to do is yank one USB cable to take it with me as a nice light tablet.
 
mdburkey said:
I have a Venue 8 Pro that gets used as a cheap dockable desktop quite often -- USB dongle charger cable to USB hub, Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse fob, Displaylink USB adapter tied to 24" monitor.

It works quite well actually. It's not blazing fast, but it is actually quite usable for basic functionality -- and all I have to do is yank one USB cable to take it with me as a nice light tablet.
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I do the same with a Surface Pro 3 with it's dock and a USB dock with multiple monitors. It's 'just a good tablet' without the keyboard and/or dock, but it's a damn awesome PC when you add a larger monitor, keyboard and mouse. It's a full functioning desktop PC with a tiny form factor. That makes Windows tablets very versatile. A huge plus in my mind. Undock and it's a great tablet. Snap on the keyboard, and it's a laptop.

Cheap tablet? It'll do. But, just as a tablet, I'd still say no. Add the keyboard & mouse and monitor? Yes. Easily for most people.
 
Yup, that's totally playable on a cheap-o tablet. I checked the Winbook's price and found it for sale on Microcenter's site for $99.

I think what a lot of people who build high end hardware forget is that lots of things were possible rather recently on much older, less powerful hardware. Like for claims that it can't serve as a rendering platform. People were bragging about 3D rendering on single core Pentium 4's a while ago and tablet like this would be pretty competitive with one doing the same chores now. Also, like extreme amounts of gaming time can be spent on really low end hardware; after all, the difference between "hardcore" gaming and just gaming really boils down to how much time you spend doing it so that someone can be a hardcore gamer playing Terraria for 8 hours a day on a netbook and the hardcore claim is no less valid.

So yeah, not spending a ton of money building a non-portable metal box filled with pointlessly expensive hardware and replacing it with an ultra cheap tablet or laptop is completely valid plus the cheap tablet can fill in all of the same checkboxes (communications, media consumption, entertainment, complex computation, and whatever else) in its own way. *shrug* Dinosaur desktop gaming die-hards are just way behind the times and living in the past where they felt the need to spend two months income on upgrades so they could run Quake at one resolution step higher. Whatevs old people.
 
Hell no.

The screen is too small for games and wouldnt play them with all the eye candy on.
We are still very far from that happening. It would be funny to walk around with a 24" tablet that can play all the crysis games at full power! :p
 
Advil said:
The ASUS T100 with the keyboard makes a good shot at it. It's everything the netbooks used to be and more.

But is it ENOUGH computer for every situation? Not by a longshot.

Basic word processing, email, and some streaming video? Sure.
Light photo editing, basic video prep for youtube? Sure.
Photoshop, autocad, 3d gaming, or chewing through gigabytes of anything? NO.
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I would modify this slightly for any tablet but this is the general gist.

Could simply state it as follows.
For content consumption excluding games. Sure.
For basic photo editing and video uploading not video editing. Sure.

Anything else, absolutely not. So basically if you are an absolute basic user then yes it can replace a desktop. My parents for example are absolute basic users and I replaced their desktop with tablets. However for pretty much anyone else the answer is an emphatic NO.
 
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