iPad The grass is not greener on the other side

[AdonisSMU]

The point is I can do tablet type things - consumption of media, games, reading, etc AND all those things you would need your laptop for.

Or anybody would need their laptop for.

Why carry or buy two devices if you could have one that did both use cases (tablet and PC) equally well? And cost is a big point here. An iPad and a laptop will cost at least $1200 for both, my tablet PC hybrid cost $379. That's a lot of math right there.

If Apple came out with an iPad that you could (if you so desired) dock into a Macbook Air like lower half, open an icon and have a full OSX environment maybe even with Wacom pen compatibility built in you don't think there'd be a mad rush for Apple's "new" amazing device? What if the whole thing cost less than an iPad Air? Genius!

Point is choices are good, competition is good, and the choices and competition are starting to get VERY interesting.

I think this question has been answered. People are either willing to carry two devices around or leave one device at home and bring the other for mobility. It goes back to my point of surface being a ****** tablet and a ****** pc. It doesnt serve either purpose well because the tablet was built to try and direct people back to the pc form factor for a device that really should be a completely different device for a different use case.

 

[s2mikey]

I think this question has been answered. People are either willing to carry two devices around or leave one device at home and bring the other for mobility. It goes back to my point of surface being a ****** tablet and a ****** pc. It doesnt serve either purpose well because the tablet was built to try and direct people back to the pc form factor for a device that really should be a completely different device for a different use case.

Yeah, I agree. I prefer devices are either one or the other. The iPad is a fantastic tablet but doesn't make a very good computer per say. I don't want it to anyways, that's not what it's supposed to be. Tim Cook is correct....the compeiiton is confused.

 

[a042349]

What win8 pro tablet do you have for ~$400? Curious since I like tech. Thanks.

I have the Asus T100 which I got for $379. It includes the keyboard dock and has been rock solid for me. I've replaced my Lenovo Thinkpad x230 (passed on to my wife) and left my iPad Mini sitting unloved on the charger.

Of course I'm a PC geek, and Windows and I get along just fine so your mileage may vary.

 

[a042349]

I think this question has been answered. People are either willing to carry two devices around or leave one device at home and bring the other for mobility. It goes back to my point of surface being a ****** tablet and a ****** pc. It doesnt serve either purpose well because the tablet was built to try and direct people back to the pc form factor for a device that really should be a completely different device for a different use case.

"It goes back to my point of surface being a ****** tablet FOR ME and a ****** pc FOR ME.

There, FTFY.

I could say that a tablet that can't reliably open the home page of its manufacturer is also a ***** tablet too.

So in your scenario I bring my current mobile device, you know the one with the PC class web browser that doesn't crash, with me when I'm mobile. I have all my consumption apps I had on my last tablet - Flipboard, Netflix, Kindle, Music, Facebook email, a working web browser, etc.

But I also have with me a real PC, that can do things no iOS or Android tablet can do. I may not need it when I'm out and about. I may not need it while I'm surfing the web from my back porch, but I HAVE it if and when I do want it.

Why would I limit myself on the PC side, if I'm happier on the tablet side with my new device? Answer is I'm not goig to now that Windows 8 devices have matured to where they currently are.

I'm not trying to convince/convert anybody, just pointing out that while there may never be an iPad killer, there are some increasingly attractive alternatives coming along. YMMV

 

[DeathTheKid]

"It goes back to my point of surface being a ****** tablet FOR ME and a ****** pc FOR ME.

There, FTFY.

I could say that a tablet that can't reliably open the home page of its manufacturer is also a ***** tablet too.

So in your scenario I bring my current mobile device, you know the one with the PC class web browser that doesn't crash, with me when I'm mobile.

Or instead of ditch my iPad, because Safari sucks, I could download Puffin Web Browser for free. I tested it by opened 20 tabs pointing to theverge.com. No crashing. Will take anything I throw at it.

Also, when I ran it through Sunspider, I got 283ms! That is in the desktop browser range! Safari only gets about 750ms.

 

[samiznaetekto]

I tested it by opened 20 tabs pointing to theverge.com. No crashing. Will take anything I throw at it.

Try nin.com bro. In 14 tabs. That'll do it.

 

[scottw324]

I have the Asus T100 which I got for $379. It includes the keyboard dock and has been rock solid for me. I've replaced my Lenovo Thinkpad x230 (passed on to my wife) and left my iPad Mini sitting unloved on the charger.

Of course I'm a PC geek, and Windows and I get along just fine so your mileage may vary.

Thanks for the info. I figured that is what you had based on your inputs but wanted to confirm. I am a long time windows user. Win 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP, Vista, and Win7. Just bought my first Mac Mini early last year. Been an iPod touch, iPhone and/or iPad owner since 2008. Love my iPads but always said I would probably switch to a windows tablet once i could get one thin/light enough for a few hundred dollars. Not sure if I am ready yet but I am interested. I love my iPad though and how well I am able to use it with my Mac.

 

[DeathTheKid]

Try nin.com bro. In 14 tabs. That'll do it.

Just did my iPhone caught on fire, lol.

 

[Hello...]

I did the same thing as you, I ended up buying a very good Lenovo Windows 8 Pro tablet for $250 played with it for about two days and I was so fed up with it I ended up selling it to a friend who thought it was a great deal I now have learned my lesson I'm sticking with Apple.

 

[a042349]

Thanks for the info. I figured that is what you had based on your inputs but wanted to confirm. I am a long time windows user. Win 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP, Vista, and Win7. Just bought my first Mac Mini early last year. Been an iPod touch, iPhone and/or iPad owner since 2008. Love my iPads but always said I would probably switch to a windows tablet once i could get one thin/light enough for a few hundred dollars. Not sure if I am ready yet but I am interested. I love my iPad though and how well I am able to use it with my Mac.

The new Win8 Baytrail tablets are night and day better than last years models. I tried a couple last year and performance was horrible, but these newer tablets are really fast and perform great.

The cool thing with Win8 that people don't see is that when using it in tablet mode you have really responsive Win8 Metro/Modern apps that are fast, fluid and very iPad like. Most of the most popular apps are available (Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter, Netflix, Kindle, etc) along with Mail, Calendar and a PC class browser plus the usual music, photos, video apps most people use on an iPad.

But then when you want to you can dock it and have all your real PC apps, Office is included for instance, real games (anybody playing Civ V on their iPads?) that simply aren't possible/available on Android or iPads. I can connect to ANY Windows printer, hard drives, USB devices, etc.

And it does all this for $379 with full MS Office and the kybd dock. How is that not a great deal? It's not for everybody, but for me just having a PC class browser, with all my extensions, that can open 20 tabs, with no refreshes and no crashes, is worth any "inconvenience" in my book.

 

[scottw324]

The new Win8 Baytrail tablets are night and day better than last years models. I tried a couple last year and performance was horrible, but these newer tablets are really fast and perform great.

The cool thing with Win8 that people don't see is that when using it in tablet mode you have really responsive Win8 Metro/Modern apps that are fast, fluid and very iPad like. Most of the most popular apps are available (Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter, Netflix, Kindle, etc) along with Mail, Calendar and a PC class browser plus the usual music, photos, video apps most people use on an iPad.

But then when you want to you can dock it and have all your real PC apps, Office is included for instance, real games (anybody playing Civ V on their iPads?) that simply aren't possible/available on Android or iPads. I can connect to ANY Windows printer, hard drives, USB devices, etc.

And it does all this for $379 with full MS Office and the kybd dock. How is that not a great deal? It's not for everybody, but for me just having a PC class browser, with all my extensions, that can open 20 tabs, with no refreshes and no crashes, is worth any "inconvenience" in my book.

I mostly stream video from my desktop (mac) upstairs to my iPad. Are there any programs/apps I would be able to use to do the same on the Asus tablet? Or would I just use file sharing?

 

[wickerman1893]

Not a windows tablet, but the Nexus 7 is the only comparable tablet to the iPad right now. I have both, and I use them about the same, for different things though. Nexus 7 excels in many areas of use, but so does the iPad. For the regular consumer i think it comes down to what ecosystem they have more money invested in.

I also have a Surface 2 for work. I really do love it and believe in the Windows RT platform. Not for consumption, though. Great for doing work.

 

[a042349]

I mostly stream video from my desktop (mac) upstairs to my iPad. Are there any programs/apps I would be able to use to do the same on the Asus tablet? Or would I just use file sharing?

I think Plex is far and away the best in-home streaming solution. They have Mac/Windows/Linux server software, it's supported by Roku, and there are clients for iOS, Android, Windows 8 (metro mode), Linux and Mac.

If you don't want to pay for their clients (they're typically $5 each - the servers are free) you can just use any web browser as your viewing client.

It's a great platform, with an incredibly active community and very active development.

Good luck!

 

[scottw324]

I think Plex is far and away the best in-home streaming solution. They have Mac/Windows/Linux server software, it's supported by Roku, and there are clients for iOS, Android, Windows 8 (metro mode), Linux and Mac.

If you don't want to pay for their clients (they're typically $5 each - the servers are free) you can just use any web browser as your viewing client.

It's a great platform, with an incredibly active community and very active development.

Good luck!

I just picked up the T100-C1-GR Model today (64 GB model) for $404 out the door, $379 before taxes from Walmart. Setting it up to mess around with. If I don't like it I can bring it back within 15 days. So far impressed. Pretty much everything I do on my iPad I can do on the T100. Only issue I am trying to figure out is how to access shared folders on my Mac upstairs. The external drive I download content to is formatted for Mac but I have a program on the Mac to read the NTFS file system. I think I might have to change the file system on the external to NTFS to read those files.

Any ideas are welcome. I wish it was smaller though, more the iPad mini size which I think is the perfect size. That is something else I might have to consider about keeping it. That is why I gave my iPad 3 to my wife and bought the mini for me.

I am not used to win8 (experienced win7 user) so some of the changes are frustrating but liveable until I figure out the work arounds. I know I can get my Start menu back which I would like since it provides me options and helps ground me in the windows environment.

 

[Steve-Jobs]

My son recently started to show interest to my iPad Air. And I'm also sharing it with my wife too. The other day I was thinking of getting them a Windows tablet (cheap versions) but couldn't make myself to do it, I knew something was not right with Windows and I stopped using PC many many years ago... I think I'll get myself the new iPad Pro and give them the Air next year

 

[brent1977]

I finally got fed up enough with the screens and Safari issues on the current Apple offerings that I started looking at alternatives. I ordered a Dell Venue 8 Pro 64Gb for $319 to replace/supplement my Mini, and am pretty impressed with it. Had to do some updates and stuff, but nothing too dramatic. Biggest issue was learning the modern interface of Windows 8.1 since I'm used to Windows 7. Also had to find a tweak to fix some odd behavior with Windows auto brightness. IPS screen on the thing is amazing.

Not sure I like the Modern UI all that much with the large color blocks, but am very impressed with the touch version of IE. It's just like using a full browser - but with a touch interface.

Screen resolution is only 1280x800, but it actually looks pretty good (Cleartype, maybe?).

Biggest surprise was being able to play games like Titan Quest and Company of Heroes ToV on it!

 

[scottw324]

So been playing with the Asus transformer window 8.1 tablet/laptop for the weekend and while it isn't bad, there is just something about it saying to me not to keep it. The feel of it is kind of mixed. As a whole it feels ok but not great. The tablet part feels cheap. I definitely don't want to drop it. As for the keyboard dock.... It makes it feel a lot better but kind of makes the tablet part feel like it is pointless. For the money and what you get with it I would definitely say you get your money's worth with this device though. I miss having LTE on it unless I tether my iPhone to it where as I have a verizon LTE model of the iPad rMini for my normal web browsing.

I have Quick Office and Google drive for most of my office needs and cloud storage of documents. I already have a few years old Lenovo laptop that I use when I need to use windows or full office, plus office on my Mac mini. I don't like the large size though which was the reason I went from an iPad 3 to a iPad rMini. I am thinking I might return it and maybe try a dell venue 8 pro. Not sure though. For the most part my iPad does what I need it to do when I am away from home pretty well. For the few times I need more I remote into my Mac or use my laptop.

In sleep mode it goes through about 10% of battery over the course of 8 hrs or so which isn't so bad. Not as good as my iPad which goes through about 1-2% over the course of half a day while in standby.

Overall not a bad device for the money if you are looking to replace your laptop.

EDIT: I decided to keep it in the end. The battery life on it is pretty good. It is newer than my Lenovo laptop this about 5 yrs old and is very heavy. I figure I can use both the Transformer and iPad when I travel to meet all my needs without having to lug around anything super heavy anymore. Both will have great battery life so in the end it will work out well on long travel flights.