Do you find a tablet useful for work?
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@Dashrender Like I said... unless I'm desperate. But I managed to cram my laptop at the time in my backpack for the plane.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@coliver said:
I'm a big fan of the Surface Pro series... but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually use them as a tablet. Everyone that I know that has one uses it almost exclusively as a laptop.
If you just use it as a laptop rather than a tablet, what has it got going for it versus an ultrabook, apart from maybe cost?
This is where MS is currently failing. The developers haven't seen a need to develop 'tablet' apps for Windows yet. We might get lucky and start to see them now that Windows 10 is out.
But then we have the problem that Minion Queen mentions - to large and heavy for the everyday person to use it as a tablet.
It's something I wonder if can ever really work. The forced separation of the iPad from the MacOS devices force users into buying two devices each geared more toward a specific use.The blended nature of Windows 10 and more current technologies (Surface devices) will lead consumers (and business folks) into thinking they can get away with a single device and probably wind up frustrated in both scenerios - i.e. to large and heavy for real normal tablet use, and to small and not powerful enough for laptop/desktop use.
It might require someone to take the brave step of making a $400-500 device that is the same size as the iPad running Windows 10, and pair it along side a full laptop or desktop. That ad campaign practically writes it self.
It reminds me of the HP 4 device bundle Best Buy was doing around 5 years ago. A desktop, cheapish laptop, netbook and wireless router. Of course today we'd replace the netbook with a smaller surface like device. -
@Dashrender said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@coliver said:
I'm a big fan of the Surface Pro series... but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually use them as a tablet. Everyone that I know that has one uses it almost exclusively as a laptop.
If you just use it as a laptop rather than a tablet, what has it got going for it versus an ultrabook, apart from maybe cost?
It doesn't often win on cost either.
They never seem very cheap to me. Aren't they quite a bit more than a nice iPad and way more than a decent Android tablet?
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@dafyre said:
@Dashrender Like I said... unless I'm desperate. But I managed to cram my laptop at the time in my backpack for the plane.
I normally do as well, but at that time I didn't have a way to get the movie I downloaded on my phone to the laptop, that is not currently an issue.
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@dafyre said:
@Dashrender Like I said... unless I'm desperate. But I managed to cram my laptop at the time in my backpack for the plane.
That's what I do... and many laptops (not mine) flip or whatever to make that even easier.
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@Dashrender said:
It's something I wonder if can ever really work. The forced separation of the iPad from the MacOS devices force users into buying two devices each geared more toward a specific use.
I think that this might be more valuable than people realize. Forcing people, from the end users to the hardware people to the developers, to think of one thing as a power content creation device and the other as a mobile content consuming device might actually be a big part of the magic. I like the iPad as a mobile device precively because it is nothing else and pretends to be nothing else - allowing it to be an amazing mobile (only) experience.
I want different things from mobile and non-mobile usage. I don't want those devices combined, I want them to work differently.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@coliver said:
I'm a big fan of the Surface Pro series... but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually use them as a tablet. Everyone that I know that has one uses it almost exclusively as a laptop.
If you just use it as a laptop rather than a tablet, what has it got going for it versus an ultrabook, apart from maybe cost?
It doesn't often win on cost either.
They never seem very cheap to me. Aren't they quite a bit more than a nice iPad and way more than a decent Android tablet?
Yes the surface pro series is a BIT More than an Ipad which is already more than an Android tablet. We have a customer with lots of surfaces in place however, and they love them.
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How are they making use of them?
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Most of them are sales people so that is their main machine. In the main office they have the docks for them and big monitors etc. to connect them to. They really like them for their portability.
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@Minion-Queen said:
Most of them are sales people so that is their main machine. In the main office they have the docks for them and big monitors etc. to connect them to. They really like them for their portability.
I wonder how much they like them only because they have not experimented with a well implemented alternative. I'm not implying that that would be better, but it is difficult to gauge the actual level of success when looking at end user happiness because "it works" doesn't mean that "it's better than the common alternatives." Often end users never see a successful alternative but have had failed alternatives in the past which results in them seeing "functional" as meaning more than it should.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@coliver said:
I'm a big fan of the Surface Pro series... but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually use them as a tablet. Everyone that I know that has one uses it almost exclusively as a laptop.
If you just use it as a laptop rather than a tablet, what has it got going for it versus an ultrabook, apart from maybe cost?
It doesn't often win on cost either.
They never seem very cheap to me. Aren't they quite a bit more than a nice iPad and way more than a decent Android tablet?
You were never meant to compare a Surface (Pro) to an iPad. But the marketing surely doesn't educate you to this fact either.
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I meant they are a bit cheaper than similarly spec'd Windows Pro ultrabooks, which is a fairer comparison than iPads.
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@Dashrender said:
You were never meant to compare a Surface (Pro) to an iPad. But the marketing surely doesn't educate you to this fact either.
Never meant to because they didn't want you to realize how much better the iPad is?
What is the Surface Pro meant to be compared to if not tablets or laptops?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Minion-Queen said:
Most of them are sales people so that is their main machine. In the main office they have the docks for them and big monitors etc. to connect them to. They really like them for their portability.
I wonder how much they like them only because they have not experimented with a well implemented alternative. I'm not implying that that would be better, but it is difficult to gauge the actual level of success when looking at end user happiness because "it works" doesn't mean that "it's better than the common alternatives." Often end users never see a successful alternative but have had failed alternatives in the past which results in them seeing "functional" as meaning more than it should.
What would you consider an alternative? A laptop? A laptop would would be the best alternative, assuming you wanted a single device to work from regardless of where you are. No syncing or copying of files to worry about.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
I meant they are a bit cheaper than similarly spec'd Windows Pro ultrabooks, which is a fairer comparison than iPads.
I'm not sure that I agree. A Surface Pro form factor to me makes it useless as a laptop (doesn't sit in your lap) leaving it primarily targeted at the tablets market. If I was shopping for one, it is only my iPad that it would compete with.
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@Dashrender said:
What would you consider an alternative? A laptop? A laptop would would be the best alternative, assuming you wanted a single device to work from regardless of where you are. No syncing or copying of files to worry about.
Isn't that even worse? I think it compares more favourably to an iPad than to a normal laptop.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Minion-Queen said:
Most of them are sales people so that is their main machine. In the main office they have the docks for them and big monitors etc. to connect them to. They really like them for their portability.
I wonder how much they like them only because they have not experimented with a well implemented alternative. I'm not implying that that would be better, but it is difficult to gauge the actual level of success when looking at end user happiness because "it works" doesn't mean that "it's better than the common alternatives." Often end users never see a successful alternative but have had failed alternatives in the past which results in them seeing "functional" as meaning more than it should.
Because of their needs they have to be on windows. Laptops were used previously and they decide to go with an easier to travel with tablet. But compared to their old laptops they are very happy with them.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
You were never meant to compare a Surface (Pro) to an iPad. But the marketing surely doesn't educate you to this fact either.
Never meant to because they didn't want you to realize how much better the iPad is?
What is the Surface Pro meant to be compared to if not tablets or laptops?
It should be compared to a laptop, and probably only a laptop because there are few if any real tablet apps for it (sadly).
Of course your later mentioned post that you (Scott) can't compare it to anything other than an iPad because of it's lack of lapability - while I completely understand what you are saying, I think you've overstating that case.
Really, the Surface Book is what MS needed to come out with since the Surface 3 Pro. Something with a real keyboard and lapability. Sadly that have still failed on the lapability of the Surface Book. Due to the guts and battery being in the lid, it's highly unstable on a lap making is nearly useless there.
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As someone who has tried out all kinds of tablets and laptops. The Surface is a crossover. It is more laptop than tablet.
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@Minion-Queen said:
Laptops were used previously and they decide to go with an easier to travel with tablet. But compared to their old laptops they are very happy with them.
That was my previous question - what do they have that an ultrabook doesn't have? My ultrabook weighs the same, so I find it just as easy to travel with. In fact, I find it easier, because the clamshell design means I don't have to have a clunky cover for it. It's also quicker to open it up and start using it, and I can adjust the screen angle really easily.
The only thing I can imagine a Surface being better for is if you're trying to show someone else your screen - it's easy to hand them your Surface, or hold it one handed to show them. And the screen is brighter than most ultrabooks. So I can see why a salesman might like them if he has to show clients stuff.
Some people compare a $1000 Surface to a $500 laptop, but that's not fair. For a $1000 you can get some pretty good, lightweight ultrabooks.
