Best tablet buy at the moment?

[CJ]

I think I might go with a Windows 8 tablet. It seems like it is best replacement for my laptop. As much as I try to avoid first generation machines, it offers more for less. My only problem is which Win8 tablet should I look into around $500? Finding decent comparative reviews for Windows 8 tablets is really hard from what I've found.

[Ratt]

I think I might go with a Windows 8 tablet. It seems like it is best replacement for my laptop. As much as I try to avoid first generation machines, it offers more for less. My only problem is which Win8 tablet should I look into around $500? Finding decent comparative reviews for Windows 8 tablets is really hard from what I've found.

Lenovo Thinkpad 2 tablet. A little more than $500, but full Win8 Pro 32 bit is awesome. Only thing it has that you mentioned you wanted was 1080p support.

[CJ]

Lenovo Thinkpad 2 tablet. A little more than $500, but full Win8 Pro 32 bit is awesome. Only thing it has that you mentioned you wanted was 1080p support.

Yeah it seems all the windows systems are low res, microsoft must be struggling with high res win8 machines it seems. Are there any high res systems out there? And I just cringe at 32bit OS's.

[Ratt]

Yeah it seems all the windows systems are low res, microsoft must be struggling with high res win8 machines it seems. Are there any high res systems out there? And I just cringe at 32bit OS's.

You're not going to get a 64 bit tablet, or really a high res Win8 tablet unless you get one of those 14 inch tablets like Dell sells.

[CJ]

You're not going to get a 64 bit tablet, or really a high res Win8 tablet unless you get one of those 14 inch tablets like Dell sells.

damnit I don't want a 14 inch tablet, I bet they are expensive as shit. Are you referring to the Latitude 18" tablet? So why can't I get a high res win8 tablet in 10"?

[Ratt]

damnit I don't want a 14 inch tablet, I bet they are expensive as shit. So why can't I get a high res win8 tablet in 10"?

Start at $747, and they don't have an x64 platform yet, apparently.

I take it back, they have a 64 bit 18" "tablet":

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-18-1810/pd

Razer also has a gaming tablet that supports 64 bit, but it starts at $1300 and is marketed as a serious gaming tablet.

In all honesty, it looks you may have to go with a convertible notebook instead of a tablet to get all the tings you want. They aren't a bad choice, but it's the same weight and dimensions as a laptop.

[CJ]

That 18" gives me wood. I will have the largest tablet peen there is for a period of time.

[Big A]

I bought a Tab 2, 10.1 and liked it a lot at first, but about 6 months in and the damn thing stopped doing anything automatic like download email. I had to do a hard reset, then a factory reset.

Tablets are great for surfing on the toilet or sitting in front of the TV but you can't print from most of them and honestly, I'd sell mine for $200. Battery life is great. I use it maybe 1 to 2 hours per day and charge it once a week.

Typing on them sucks even if you get a BT keyboard. You can fly without taking it out of the bag.

I travel 80% of the time and got tired of carrying a big laptop. Switched to a netbook which was fine but was slow and had Win 7 starter edition which was too stripped down. Screen sucked too as everything was small and could not be seen or see a lot on a large spreadsheet. Went to tablet which was all around better than the netbook....except it's a PITA connecting at hotels and even worse if they only have wired access. So after going smaller, I have gone back to a 17" dell laptop I inherited and upgraded. It weighs a ton but I can actually use the damn thing and wish I could sell my netbook and tablet.

Sorry for the randomness of the ideas above but just started rambling.

I've also done the same thing with phones...went small and then went back to a Galaxy note so I can see/use the damn thing.

Same story here. I started with my work-issued 15" laptop, which is too big for a plane. Then they gave me a netbook for travelling, which was too small in general, and still not all that easy to manage on a plane. Then they gave me an iPad, which is great on a plane, but doesn't do what I need it to for work, being that I primarily use Excel. It's fine for viewing docs, but not for manipulating them.

Since then I said fuck it, and bought myself a 17" laptop and 15" extended travel monitor. I don't expect to do anything but email on the iPad while flying, but atleast when I am away from my home office for extended periods, I can work as efficiently as when I am home.

I would still like to try full OS Windows tablet for on the plane, but work isn't buying me one, and I can't justify spending my money on yet another device to only be used when flying.

[Ratt]

The Surface Pro is really cool, it just doesn't offer the power that a "power user" would need. It does have Windoes 8 Pro on it (unlike the regular Surface which only has Windows 8 RT - the tablet version), and it will run a few applications simultaneously, and you can hook a second monitor up to it or get two monitors and the dock and it will work that way, too, but I need 8 gigs of ram and a larger hard drive because I run a Windows 7 VM on my laptop along-side Windows 8, therefore a tablet really isn't an option for me, yet, especially while traveling.

[CJ]

The Surface Pro is really cool, it just doesn't offer the power that a "power user" would need. It does have Windoes 8 Pro on it (unlike the regular Surface which only has Windows 8 RT - the tablet version), and it will run a few applications simultaneously, and you can hook a second monitor up to it or get two monitors and the dock and it will work that way, too, but I need 8 gigs of ram and a larger hard drive because I run a Windows 7 VM on my laptop along-side Windows 8, therefore a tablet really isn't an option for me, yet, especially while traveling.

I wish android offered 2nd monitor support, one of the big benefits of going to win8.

[Big A]

The Surface Pro is really cool, it just doesn't offer the power that a "power user" would need. It does have Windoes 8 Pro on it (unlike the regular Surface which only has Windows 8 RT - the tablet version), and it will run a few applications simultaneously, and you can hook a second monitor up to it or get two monitors and the dock and it will work that way, too, but I need 8 gigs of ram and a larger hard drive because I run a Windows 7 VM on my laptop along-side Windows 8, therefore a tablet really isn't an option for me, yet, especially while traveling.

Hmm, this sounds like something that could work for me, as I don't run any VM's. I do still have an aversion though, to spending MY money, to be able to work on a plane, I'd rather just use the work provided iPad to surf. Work will always still be waiting when I touch down.

[bcoop]

Then they gave me an iPad, which is great on a plane, but doesn't do what I need it to for work, being that I primarily use Excel. It's fine for viewing docs, but not for manipulating them.

Have you tried any of the Excel apps for the ipad? Like Docs to Go, for instance?

[Tx Redneck]

Aaron, if you have an android device, you can print from them all day long. Look up Cloud Print and Printer Share in the Play Store.

Saved and Texan by the Grace of God, Redneck by choice.

[CJ]

Third party excel apps usually allow basic manipulation but none of them is going to be real excel, or even close to real excel. I've used most all of them.

[Ratt]

Third party excel apps usually allow basic manipulation but none of them is going to be real excel, or even close to real excel. I've used most all of them.

Open Office is the closest I've come to it, and even that doesn't come close to Excel.