What to look for in tablet computers?

[Zack]

I swear I was seeing that the Pro was only getting 4 hours of battery life.

What does a digitizer do that a capacitive stylus doesn't?

This has already been said a bunch of times, hasn't it? Capacitive stylus is like writing with your finger, a digitizer is like writing with a pen.

 

[Zelig]

Well it really depends what you're doing with it - 15" retina MBP gets between 2.3 to 7.3 hours on Anandtech depending on usage.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I swear I was seeing that the Pro was only getting 4 hours of battery life.

All the reviews I've read or seen say 4.5- 5.5 hours without exception.

This has already been said a bunch of times, hasn't it? Capacitive stylus is like writing with your finger, a digitizer is like writing with a pen.

I was hoping for details on how it works and what makes it different other than 'one's like your finger' but nbd.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Any word on when more Surface Pro's will be available?

I have not settled on it, I still have to thoroughly research the options you all posted here. But it's a lead contender and it alone shifted me from a focus on Android tablets to Win 8 ones.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I looked into the Lenovo and Asus tablets and they both came up short on performance.

I liked that the Lenovo comes with a keyboard/battery dock. They both have outstanding life with respect to the Surface Pro. However, they are both underpowered for my uses.

They both have Windows 8, but they both can be sluggish from the reviews I read and in particular, the Asus cannot run quite a few standard Windows programs and games - it is simply too slow.. As this is a laptoo replacement that I will be running AutoCAD and other programs on, I can't accept sluggish performance and limitations in the software I can run.

 

[Zack]

If you need to run AutoCAD on the go, I'm not so sure you should be looking at tablets rather than laptops.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The surface is much faster than my current laptop that runs it just fine. I do take your point that I went into this with skewed expectations - I wanted a tablet that was also a laptop replacement as well. I didn't realize how rare that is - especially when coupled with my other needs/wants. I am glad that the Surface even exists.

I do need to put some time into finding other alternatives to evaluate but I don't think there is many more. Luckily for me, I have plenty of time as they are sold out.

 

[Zack]

Maybe wait for the Thinkpad Helix, if you have the money.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You turd!
I was perfectly satisfied with the Surface Pro and now I am not. The problem isn't that I can't afford it, it's that I don't know if I can justify that price to my wife.

Initially, she balked at the grand for the Surface pro and I don't know if I can talk her into 1500+. I have not done a good job of explaining all the things I need the tablet to do and why that is so expensive.

Plus I am running into the whole 'too many options' problem. I see the available options and I want to have the best but then the price climbs dramatically from an already high point. The surface is good enough, the helix is great but the fully-equiped helix is awesome, therefore anything less than that will leave me less than perfectly happy. :/

I wish I wasn't like that but oh well. I have to think on it. Thank you for showing it to me.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Whats killing me is that we have the money and our two laptops are on life support. This shouldn't be a hard choice.

 

[LamaGT]

BTW, you might want to check out the Vaio Duos 11

Core i7, stylus, fully fledged keyboard, huge memory and other things the Surface doesn't have. It's not much of a tablet anymore though, and the price isn't exactly low, but it's a pretty cool thing.

The helix isn't really the only one, you probably missed this post of mine.
Regarding the indecision, I'd try to shrink your budget by buying something else you need or want first. Not being able to actually buy the super high-end tablet should alleviate the guilt

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The helix isn't really the only one, you probably missed this post of mine.
Regarding the indecision, I'd try to shrink your budget by buying something else you need or want first. Not being able to actually buy the super high-end tablet should alleviate the guilt

Yeah, I did miss that post, thanks. As far as other things we need or want, the only other thing is a car which we are saving for. Using this money to put towards a car will help, but it will still be months until we can get one.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Thanks again LamaGT! I actually researched the Thinkpad Helix and the Vaio Duo 11, and the Sony came out on top. For $1500-1600, you get exactly the same performance as the top of the line Helix (the base unit of which starts at 1500 and I heard the top-shelf one with the same specs as the top shelf Duo goes for 2000+).

The Duo doesn't have a detachable keyboard/battery combo (it's a slider) and IIRC the biggest SSD is 128GB vs the Helix's 256GB (top shelf). But again, I'm not worried about battery life very much, I have wireless keyboards for serious use (the attached keyboard is good enough for on-the-go typing) and the Duo actually has more ports of different types than the Helix. In the end I couldn't justify the ~$500 premium for the Helix for basically marginal advantages.

Also, I've never liked Think Pad aesthetics; they're ugly and though I know better, when I see one, I can't help but think they're much older computers than they often are - they harken back to the early 2000's and haven't changed their looks much. The Duo is kind of stylish, on the other hand and it also has good reviews.

I went online to buy it today but they are sold out.

 

[Zack]

Also, I've never liked Think Pad aesthetics; they're ugly and though I know better, when I see one, I can't help but think they're much older computers than they often are - they harken back to the early 2000's and haven't changed their looks much.

ThinkPads are designed to have superb build quality and keyboards, which they are widely praised for. Sony is not praised in such a manner for any product they sell.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

So the model I was looking at for the Vaio Duo 11 is $1600, not $1500. It has a 256GB ssd and not 128 as I thought. They sell a 512GB model that is identical in every way except for the ssd capacity. It costs $2200.

Is it just me or is that an insane premium to charge for .25TB - even for an ssd? (And they really are identical except for ssd size - same processor, same RAM)

Anywho, I decided to wait until I landed an internship to buy one. We have to move to a new apartment this summer, my wife will be laid off and I won't have a job either. So all we will be living off of is unemployment checks and savings.

We actually have more than enough savings to get by even without unemployment checks for half a year or so. However, I just can't bring myself to drop close to 2k (with all the accessories I want, etc) with all this uncertaintu coming up.

If I land a summer internship though, I will probably buy the 512GB model immediately because why the hell not?

BTW - Sony sells a $300/2 yr extended warranty. Is that too much to charge for a warranty? There is no deductible and no shipping charge (and they advertise 5 day turnaround). It also covers all damage, including user accidents and spillage as well as a no-lemon guarantee.

I mean, it is a comprehensive plan but thats still a lot of money. I am not sure if it's worth it.

 

[Zelig]

Yes, prices for upgraded SSDs are insane. Check if it's user upgradeable.

Extended warranties are basically always a bad deal.

 

[LamaGT]

Everybody charges a lot more for additional memory than it costs to them. I wouldn't take the 500Gb version, it's not worth its cost and there are many other solutions for mass storage.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Everybody charges a lot more for additional memory than it costs to them. I wouldn't take the 500Gb version, it's not worth its cost and there are many other solutions for mass storage.

I will only get the 500Gb model if I land an internship and probably not even then. I actually plan on using Microsoft SkyDrive to save most of my documents on and an SD card for all of my music - I can't see filling up 256Gb in the time frame that I'd be using this tablet - I still havent filled the 80Gb hardrive on my laptop with work/school files and programs (though I have had to uninstall some games to free up space).

But with my fat tax check + a nice salary from an internship, I think I could be persuaded to splurge. Eh, I don't know, that's just so damn much money for marginal benefit. Can't decide.....

Yes, prices for upgraded SSDs are insane. Check if it's user upgradeable.

Extended warranties are basically always a bad deal.

I know SSD prices are high but damn! I had no idea they could command $600 for just a doubling of the memory. I mean, that's over a full third of the base price of the $1600 model just for memory. Crazy.

As for the warranty, I guess I should have asked if it was higher than other comparable warranties and if it is possible to get a 3rd party warranty or device insurance?

 

[Zack]

Why buy the $2200 model, when your whole reason for preferring the Sony over the Helix was price?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

That wasn't the only reason Zack. I actually prefer the slider layout since it I could have a keyboard without having to carry the dock. I also said that before I decided to put off the purchase until I land a summer job (last minute second-thoughts before the wad of cash in my pocket burned all the way through).

I also won't likely buy the .5Tb version, it was just a thought brought on by changing monetary concerns. I probably still won't spring for the Helix either. However, I don't know that for sure because they haven't (AFAIK) released final pricing for the Helix nor have they even been upfront with customization options.

Nevertheless, I wil reevaluate if I get an intership offer and will keep scanning for new products to consider. If you guys see any new entries in this category, please post them. This was actually a pretty interesting thread, I learned a lot.