• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

W8 Tablet Suggestions

R

Resilient

n00b
Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
33
I am a little lost when it comes to all of the new Windows 8 tablets.

I am a CS instructor and would rather use a tablet for my general grading and class presentations. I have checked out the Surface at the mall and liked it but RT just wont cut it for me. I need to run other legacy programs like Putty and need my Notepad++ which as I understand it, wont run on RT. So I don't need that much more power, but would really like to run legacy apps.

I was waiting for the Lenovo Tablet 2 with its $650 price tag (+keyboard) but that keeps getting delayed. I want to get something before the end of the month so I can test it out before class starts again in January. Are there other good options in that range? I tried the Samsung 500t, but couldn't find a keyboard in stock and the tablet build quality seemed only OK.

Are there any other better options out there? Or do I need to wait?

Also is there any good list of what current tablets are actually released? Googling just gets me tons of ad websites and blog posts about tablets that are coming soon.
 
If you are looking for a Windows 8 tablet with a dock there is a Samsung, Acer, and ASUS available.

That Lenovo looks nice, especially given the price. Shame it isn't out. I've heard a lot of good stuff about the Samsung 500T. Nothing much on others.
 
whats your budget? the acer w700 is $760, i3, 4gb, 64gb ssd. dell has some releasing now or in a couple weeks I forget.
 
I would like to stay within $750 for the tablet and keyboard but that is flexible if I can get a lot more by spending a little over that.
 
Sounds like an Clover Trail device is what you're looking for, you might want to checkout the HP Envy x2, that should be out soon, a little pricy at $850 with the keyboard dock but the dock has a battery that gives this 3.2 lbs package somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 hours of runtime which is impressive for such a light device.

I have the 500T and overall I really like it but it is very much built like Samsung's Android tablets with a lot of plastic, it definitely doesn't feel like a premium device though it's not cheap either. Samsung has been successful with this design on Android tablets but I think the higher price on Windows tablets raises expectations.
 
Resilient said:
I am a little lost when it comes to all of the new Windows 8 tablets.

I am a CS instructor and would rather use a tablet for my general grading and class presentations. I have checked out the Surface at the mall and liked it but RT just wont cut it for me. I need to run other legacy programs like Putty and need my Notepad++ which as I understand it, wont run on RT. So I don't need that much more power, but would really like to run legacy apps.

I was waiting for the Lenovo Tablet 2 with its $650 price tag (+keyboard) but that keeps getting delayed. I want to get something before the end of the month so I can test it out before class starts again in January. Are there other good options in that range? I tried the Samsung 500t, but couldn't find a keyboard in stock and the tablet build quality seemed only OK.

Are there any other better options out there? Or do I need to wait?

Also is there any good list of what current tablets are actually released? Googling just gets me tons of ad websites and blog posts about tablets that are coming soon.
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat. I need a small tablet to carry when I don't want a laptop with me. I need it to run legacy apps like coding and compiling programs and also engineering design and simulation software. Good battery life, build quality and accurate pen input are all a must. I don't care if it runs my software slowly, since I will be using it rarely but when I do need it, I want the option to be able to do it. Application speed is not a big deal as long as the HD is flash memory or ssd. So yeah, my and your only choice is the Thinkpad tablet 2. I tried the samsung and did not like the digitizer, pen, form, and the plastic around it.
Lenovo is driving me crazy with constantly pushing the release of this thing back. By the time they release it the atom cpu that is coming is going to be even more obsolete.
 
The only thing that pisses me off about the 500t is I cannot find the keyboard in stock any place.

I hope the delay is that they are redesigning it, maybe the with batteries if the dock connectors supports power.
 
heatlesssun said:
Sounds like an Clover Trail device is what you're looking for, you might want to checkout the HP Envy x2, that should be out soon, a little pricy at $850 with the keyboard dock but the dock has a battery that gives this 3.2 lbs package somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 hours of runtime which is impressive for such a light device.

I have the 500T and overall I really like it but it is very much built like Samsung's Android tablets with a lot of plastic, it definitely doesn't feel like a premium device though it's not cheap either. Samsung has been successful with this design on Android tablets but I think the higher price on Windows tablets raises expectations.
Click to expand...

I want the battery life of clovertrail but these tablets never have the other 2 features I want. A sd card slot on the tab itself (not just the dock) and a 1080p screen.

I'm wondering if the atoms can't run 1080p well enough? Or the manufacturers are determined to make that a feature only for the pricier ivy bridge tabs.
 
Some of these devices do have ports on the tablet itself like the 500T. 1080P resolution is pretty hard on Clover Trail but overall I've found 1080P to actually work pretty well in Windows Media Player even at 1080P resolution on an external monitor.
 
heatlesssun said:
Some of these devices do have ports on the tablet itself like the 500T. 1080P resolution is pretty hard on Clover Trail but overall I've found 1080P to actually work pretty well in Windows Media Player even at 1080P resolution on an external monitor.
Click to expand...

That depends on the bitrate. If you've got videos that are high quality and 1080p then you're not going to have a fun time with the Clover Trail tablets.

We've been through this before :D
 
1080P playback at 1080P resolution is definitely possible with Clover Trail depending on the source but it's not going to handle anything you throw at it, not an uncommon issue with low power devices.
 
OldPueblo said:
Shoot I'd be all over that but they don't have the $499 W510 as an option. :( It's killing me that I missed the black friday sale on it.
Click to expand...

The Microsoft Store was selling the W510 for $400 a couple of weeks back, hopefully they'll bring that back but that device seems to be selling well and is getting some very good user reviews.
 
AntiSocialMunky said:
Does anyone have a W700 review? I've been looking at that pretty hard.
Click to expand...

Engadget just did one. Not that Engadget does good reviews (apparently they don't even use the same battery tests between their devices) but I do agree with their main complaint.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/acer-iconia-w700-review/

It comes with a kind of odd dock and an external OEM BT keyboard. It's good as a tablet and it can be good as a desktop (if you're leaving the dock and the keyboard) but it's not good as a laptop. There's no touch pad/mouse, so you're basically just bringing your own BT or USB mouse, and you can imagine trying to use the thing on a plane would be a pain in the ass.

On top of that, Acer has already announced the W700P which will be basically the same, but will also come with an active digitizer (which at least someone ameliorates the mouse issue.)
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Acer-Iconia-W700P-W510P-Windows,18560.html
 
I bit on the w700 for my sister for Christmas, testing it out to make sure it works before then lol. With GC and 10% coupon was 675 here in CA. Seems really nice, i3+1080p screen beats out the Samsung imop but who knows will keep on playing with it hopefully w/o breaking it til xmas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top