Help me chose a tablet

[dark_star]

So, make a long story short, I just found out that I have some equipment money to spend on a fellowship that will expire when I graduate (i.e., in a few months, September or October). Thus, I need to spend it down, and as part of that I'm going to buy myself a tablet. I'm in the rare and enviable place of price not really being an object, as it's not my $$$. So I'm pretty indecisive. I'm trying to avoid just buying the most expensive one, however, as what I really want is the tablet that I'm going to use the most. Intended use will be reading, portable e-mail, and really whatever I can do on it- calendaring, notetaking, movies, etc. Thinking wireless (not 4G LTE, etc). I have a schweet Macbook Pro and a Galaxy Note 3.

Basically, I've been looking at the iPad Air vs. Galaxy Tab S vs. Surface Pro 3. I'm tempted to play the "wait for the Air 2 to come out" game, but I'm not sure I can still swing making a purchase like this when it happens.

Briefly, here's the pros and cons as I see them:

iPad: Slick, established platform. Compatible with Macbook. Cons: Worst specs and memory of the bunch, iOS is pretty locked up, can't access back end/file storage system easily. Don't want to be like everybody else.

Galaxy Tab: Awesome OLED screen, great specs, super expandable, operating system a little more flexible. I already have a bunch of android apps. Cons: Android can be a little buggy. Not quite as slick as the Apple. App selection not quite as good, but I really don't care that much.

Surface Pro 3: Apparently, this is a sick tablet. Has a nice integrated pen that people say is the best pen interface yet. Fully featured and large! Cons: I don't run windows and don't have any windows stuff, and it's heavier than the rest. But I can actually work on it using word, etc. Battery life worst than the rest.

Help me TGR, bestow your collective wisdom upon me. I am at present leaning towards the surface pro 3, believe it or not...

(Apologies for yet another what-tablet-should-I-buy thread, but the technology keeps changing!)

[criscam]

Not much info to give other than my boss just returned his surface pro 3 because it was too big to really use as a tablet.

[MontuckyFried]

If money is of no concern for your purchase, the SP3 is really my favorite pick of those options. It is what I have my sights set on personally.

The iPad is great. I'm not going to knock it, as it's a great consumption device and it does many things well, BUT I personally want something more for productivity. I've loved my Android tablet a lot, and it's also been a solid little device for the same reasons I like the iPad, but it's getting really old having websites constantly default to mobile versions, having limited functionality, and having to find work-arounds to pretty much do anything serious.

If you want to get actual work done, the SP3 is a solid way to go. A real keyboard that is not connected via bluetooth, unlike the alternatives. Up to a Core i7 cpu! Real usb ports! The pen is the must-have feature for me, especially with OneNote. The docking station coming out soon should be nice to have. The list goes on. I know you're not a WIndows fan, BUT with this form factor you might actually like a bit more than before.

[systemoverblow'd]

I know zero about all the current tablets mentioned. I can say from my experience with the original ipad (that I sold), I would not buy a tablet that big again. Or anything even remotely close to it. I'm no trying to replace my laptop. The thing was more cumbersome than a laptop because you had to hold it. With a lappy you literally can put it on your lap and multitask. With a tablet you need to hold the fucking thing or get a ridiculous POS case that pretends to make it a laptop that doesn't work like a laptop.

When I get a new one eventually, no matter the brand, it will be max 8" and preferably smaller.

[dark_star]

Thanks for the feedback all. I'm leaning towards the Surface Pro 3 as well, although systermoverblow'd's comment about the weight is somewhat concerning.

That being said, I have big hands, and I'm also used to carrying around 12", if you know what I mean.

[jon gaper]

" I'm in the rare and enviable place of price not really being an object, as it's not my $$$."


Its sadly not rare, all the way from illegals to the pentagon

[retirwntm]

If money really isn't an option the highest end SP3 would be the best choice because you are basically getting an equivalent of an apple MB air. The only downside then is whether you really prefer a tablet device. If so, choose whichever tablet and OS you prefer.

[Hugh Conway]

Buy an iPad with the free money and resell it without ever opening the box.

[wooley12]

" I'm in the rare and enviable place of price not really being an object, as it's not my $$$."


Its sadly not rare, all the way from illegals to the pentagon

Also freebies if you're in sales, science, the executive suite or any number of jobs. Do you get out much?

Looking for a pad myself as an in the car attachment to the web.

[sethschmautz]

I replaced my iPad 3 with an SP original. It has about 4 hours of battery life, and doesn't have nearly the app infrastructure that the iPad has. For me, however, it has been a great move. I can actually get things done on this device - working on full versions of all my normal business software instead of trying to figure out workarounds like I did with my iPad.

For the casual consumer, I'm not sure it is as good of a deal as it is for somebody looking to work. The pen is awesome - I really like the ability to take handwritten notes while on the production floor and markup word, excel, and other Microsoft docs. YMMV, but for me, the decision would be SP3 hands down.

Seth

[schuss]

Yeah, if it was for personal stuff, I'd say iPad/Tab (whatever infrastructure you prefer), but Surface Pro's are rad for business related stuff, and actually have the power of a real laptop if you have some nasty stuff to deal with, plus they have some cool options around digitizers/art (guy from Penny Arcade webcomic often draws the comics on one while on the road). My wife has a windows phone and absolutely loves it for work.

[huckbucket]

Why is a SP3 better than a laptop with touchscreen and dedicated keyboard that converts to a tablet running 8.1?

[assman]

I bought the lady in my life the new Surface. She kept it three days and we returned it for a high end laptop. The surface is just unwieldy. Too large to be a tablet and too unrefined to be a laptop. It sits directly in the middle of nowhere.

[dark_star]

I decided to go with the surface pro 3, order just went out for 8gb i5 with 256gb plus case. Once it arrives I'll play around with it and post an update. Thanks all did the advice.

Still have some $$$ left... Now the difficult decision of whether I should spend it on a conference or blow it on power tools

Sent from my SM-N900V using TGR Forums

[sethschmautz]

Power tools.

[dark_star]

Power tools.

Funny you should mention that... I still have some $$$ left and power tools are next on my list!!! Should I buy a bunch of carpentry tools or a single CNC mill?

[Flounder]

I decided to go with the surface pro 3, order just went out for 8gb i5 with 256gb plus case. Once it arrives I'll play around with it and post an update. Thanks all did the advice.

Still have some $$$ left... Now the difficult decision of whether I should spend it on a conference or blow it on power tools

Sent from my SM-N900V using TGR Forums

Good move. I just replaced my OG iPad with one and they are similar weights. Really appreciated it on vacation recently. Battery lasted on a several hour plane ride for reading and a couple of games. It was also nice to be able to download photos from the camera and edit in lightroom. As for the leftover money, I vote Festool.

[sethschmautz]

Should I buy a bunch of carpentry tools or a single CNC mill?

I suppose it depends on what you're into! I have an employee who converted a BMW 2002 to be fully electric for fun, and he just bought a small CNC to build a few parts he hasn't been able to source online. He brought in a test that he ran on a piece of wood of a gear he is going to be machining, and it was pretty cool.

For me, I'd probably use the carpentry tools more, so I'd probably go that route. Maybe a nice air compressor and a bunch of pneumatic tools... I hate to admit it, but I originally got my air compressor for the sole purpose of making tubeless tires easier, but have subsequently added tools that make a host of projects easier. Man, it would depend on how much you had to spend. . . I have an old rusty mitre saw, but I would love a good radial arm. . . Lots of options here.

When you get the SP3, post back. I'd love to hear what you think. I have the original, and am looking for a good reason to upgrade. :-)

Seth

[adrenalated]

Funny you should mention that... I still have some $$$ left and power tools are next on my list!!! Should I buy a bunch of carpentry tools or a single CNC mill?

Split the difference. Buy a bunch of carpentry tools and a manual mill. You can buy both for the price of a CNC and make 90% of the same shit if you have some machining skill.

[dark_star]

OK, I've had the Surface Pro 3 for a week now, and here is my one-sentence summary:

A very compelling product that suffers from lack of ecosystem and poor attention to detail in many areas,

Let me start out by saying that I'm going to keep this product, and I'm evaluating it from perhaps a slightly different lens because it was free to me and thus price was not a consideration in my decision. Since you can all read about specs, general reviews, etc online let me just cut right to my specific experiences of the pros, neutrals, cons:

PROS:

-Magic stylus. This is by far the best feature of the tablet, and I can't emphasize enough how great it is. It's hands-down the best tablet writing interface out there, microsoft nailed it. I can write as well with this as I can on paper, but erasing is easier, and it's much easier to keep things organized with OneNote. The reviews online complain that they don't make a nice way to attach the pen to the tablet, but that's really not true. You can just clip it onto the groove on the case and it stays neatly in place. (The glue-on holder they provide is indeed garbage, however, and will almost ensure that you lose the pen very quickly).

-One-click access to OneNote. If you press the "eraser" on top of the stylus, it instantly (<1.5s) loads a blank page for you to write on, even if the tablet is asleep. This makes the barrier to using it for everday/immediate notetaking lower, as you don't have to turn it on, open up Evernote/OneNote, click your notebook, then click new note. It's just ready. I have found this week that I'm actually taking notes like I would on a notebook, as you can hold the tablet in one hand like a clipboard and write with the other hand. You don't need a surface to type.

-Double-click feature of stylus. If you double-click the top button, you can select any area of the screen and save it to OneNote. This is very handy for capturing figures, images, etc from the web or anywhere else, then incorporating them into a note or other document.

-Handwriting recognition: My writing is chicken scratch horrible, and OneNote converts it to text very well. NOTE: You can't currently convert a page of written notes to text, but you can convert to text AS you write. This is handy in certain circumstances when you don't have two hands to type, such as when you're on the phone. It's slower though, and a bit cumbersome.

-Hardware. Screen is beautiful, speakers are good. It has a miniDisplay port so you can plug it into a larger monitor and a USB port so you can use an external keyboard, USB hub, etc. This means you can use whatever external peripherals you'd like with it, adding to its utility as a "laptop replacement" if desired. It runs a real OS with an easily accessible file system, which to me is important. I hate that iOS hides backend access.

-Keyboard case: Yes, it's not a real desktop/laptop keyboard. If it were the machine would be a laptop! But it's super lightweight, easy to remove, and types well enough. Keys click and I've written long e-mails on it. Plus, you can always plug in a real keyboard if you need to/want to. THis package makes it nicely portable as BOTH a tablet and a laptop.

NEUTRAL:

-Size. Like or hate it, I like it. It feels like a legal pad and it's lighter than a macbook air, albeit of course heavier than an iPad. But it can do much more!

-Windows 8.1. I'm a mac guy since 1989, so I'm a little biased. That being said, I'm approaching it with an open mind. The metro/toucscreen interface is very tablet like, and provides you access to common system functions, settings, etc., whereas the real desktop is just a click away. For a non-Windows user (and indeed a non-8.1 Windows user), there'll still be a learning curve.

CONS:
-Lack of software ecosystem. There just aren't that many apps for windows 8.1 yet. For example, no google software suite, and IE is the only browser option currently that I've found (although Google does have a GREAT voice search app that I use all the time). That being said, IE is nice here, but you can't change the default search engine. I've found apps for just about everything that I'd like. It is not nearly as bad as the Blackberry Playbook, if anyone tried that. (Playbook: phenomenal OS, great hardware, but HORRIBLE ecosystem and even baseline functionality. I returned mine.)

-Lack of attention to detail. I can't list everything here, but here are a few examples:
1) There's no clock on the "start page" or battery indicator, you have to swipe to access those. (Although, in many ways this is nice as you're less worried by/distracted by these things)
2) The metro/app version of OneNote can't email files, as least not that I've found. There are workarounds, as you can copy links to pages or use OneNote 2013, which is less optimized for the "metro" environment but that is otherwise full-featured.
3) Native calendar can't integrate with google (!). There are free third party apps that are just as good that can do this, but still, how did they do that?
4) No unified inbox in the e-mail client, also you can't change the order of mailboxes.

These are just a few examples of how some of the apps are less-than-full featured. This right now is the most annoying aspect of this platform.

-Not all Windows 8.1 software features touch support, so if you're running software (not metro apps) in Windows 8.1 it may or may not work with the touch screen (i.e., you may have to use it as a traditional laptop). But the trade-off is you can use all Windows/Windows 8.1 software. For example: As mentioned above, you can run OneNote 2013, but not all touch features are enabled, and they don't work at all with Word.

I gotta run, but my somewhat abbreviated conclusion is that this is a exciting product that has the potential to introduce lots of innovative and new features into mainstream use, but at present it still suffers from notable drawbacks. It's a mixed bag- but the note-taking features are really compelling, IMO, and I will use it all the time to replace pen and paper and to organize my notes. Try it out in a store if you're not convinced. If you're a windows user, for this alone I'd say it's worth it.

Overall though, for mainstream use I'd say it's still in a bit of an "early adopter" phase. Let's hope Microsoft polishes it up and app makers pick up Windows 8.1. Even if they don't, I'll still use it and I still think it's a quality product.

Feel free to ask questions, etc., if you're interested.

[MontuckyFried]

Great, refreshingly open-minded review! Thanks for writing all that up. I definitely want one as soon as I can afford it.

[Andeh]

Late to the thread, but my suggestion based on what you were looking to do would have been a smaller tablet (Nexus 7 or iPad Mini), which would do everything you wanted except for note taking very well. But for that, in my experience 10 years ago, you're better off typing on your laptop. (I found I could type notes way faster than I could handwrite them... the only exception is math-y stuff.) The advantage to a smaller size is that you can hold it longer in your hand while reading on the couch, in bed, at a coffee shop, plus you can just cram it in the back pocket in your jeans (unless you're a hipster in skinny jeans).

I have a 2012 Nexus 7 that I haven't regretted at all. Most of what I do with it is read, but also check email, browse web pages, check topo maps, and occasionally games. I have an Android phone too, so having common apps/charging cables is nice too. Definitely $200 well spent. One of my good friends just sold his original iPad because he realized he was never using it compared to his Kindle Paperwhite / iPhone combo.

[sethschmautz]

Awesome, thanks DS. I have the orig Surface Pro, and while if would agree that there are a lack of "apps", it runs every Windows program naturally. I barely even use the Metro interface, to be honest. For me, it's more like a Win8 computer that is small, light, portable, and has awesome stylus input. While it doesn't have any other Metro browsers, I run chrome as my default browser from the desktop. I don't use the metro OneNote either.

I like the magic stylus features that you mentioned.

Thanks again for the review!

Seth

[dark_star]

Just a quick update that I've been using the SP3 for a few weeks now, and the more I use it the more I like it. I think it really ovuld be a great laptop replacement with a whole lot of other functionality. The "app" ecosystem is less important, as it's a real computer and doesn't need to run apps, and the Surface Pen really kicks ass.