Ot: Laptop Or Tablet

[B1GEast]

I need to buy one or the other very soon. I'm not buying high end, just need something portable to stay productive. Tablets seem sort of a novelty to me, if anyone has one, let me know just how productive you can be with one. I can't imagine sending an email or loading a speadsheet on an 8 inch screen. Walmart sells a Vizeo tablet for 200 bucks, it's either going to be that or the Kindle Fire or a cheapo laptop.

 

[Fishy]

I have an iPad and a Toshiba Thrive - I send plenty of email with both. I do work on spreadsheets on the iPad, but not often. You won't accomplish a blessed thing more complex than email on the Fire or Vizio.

It sounds to me like you need a laptop.

 

[bmayuc]

Good god man, don't get a cheapo tablet. The good Tabs are worth the money, I LOVE my Moto Xoom. A nice tablet with a bluetooth keyboard/case kicks ass compared to most cheap laptops, and for similar money. Biggest difference is battery life. A tablet will go 8-10 hours of use, where a laptop gets you 2-3 usually.

 

[willie99]

should be banned for one week for mentioning laptop around here

 

[kobebeanbryant]

if productivity is your main goal, i would definitely recommend a laptop.

 

[gibhunter]

Tablets like ipad, touchpad, xoom etc. are good for web browsing (ipad may be the worst due to no flash support, see if gamecenter box score shows up or any CNN videos show up). They are good for email, Kindle book reading, facebook, viewing photos and youtube and maybe some games etc. They aren't really great at being productive unless they have a specific app for a specific task. Excel is a pain on any of them.

Get yourself a laptop like HP DM1Z with 11.6" screen, a 10 hour battery life (with extended battery, 6 hours with standard) and a $399 price tag. It cheaper than an ipad or the xoom and way more powerful than either.

 

[AJC88]

Ask AJ Price which he'd prefer...

 

[Scot-e]

Ipads are great for travel. Laptops are much better if you need to work on them every day.

 

[ctchamps]

Ask AJ Price which he'd prefer...

This came into my mind, but given all the recent bad news, I refrained.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Tablets like ipad, touchpad, xoom etc. are good for web browsing (ipad may be the worst due to no flash support, see if gamecenter box score shows up or any CNN videos show up). They are good for email, Kindle book reading, facebook, viewing photos and youtube and maybe some games etc. They aren't really great at being productive unless they have a specific app for a specific task. Excel is a pain on any of them.

Get yourself a laptop like HP DM1Z with 11.6" screen, a 10 hour battery life (with extended battery, 6 hours with standard) and a $399 price tag. It cheaper than an ipad or the xoom and way more powerful than either.

+1 on this. I need to edit documents and tablets are lousy for that. The Netbooks are just as portable and more functional.

 

[iam76]

if you go android wait on the new quadcore chipset. Xoom might be one in december not sure though.. but the jump with quadcores should be huge!

 

[mets1090]

To echo the general sentiment here, if you need to actually get work done on a daily basis you probably want to get a laptop over a tablet. Can't really argue with the tablet's portability but you can't really argue with a laptops functionality either. So if you need to be productive, go with the laptop.

 

[Fishy]

Two must-avoids - netbooks and Android tablets.

Netbooks are a problem if you use your hands to type. If you use your nose, the keyboard is fine. Android tablets are just a mess and a half. Quad-core processors will make no difference - the spec game is for the easily impressed.

 

[iam76]

love my samsung galaxy 10.1 fishy as do many users. Also have an ipad 2. Quad core processors will help. To deny that is pretty funny. Thats like saying modern computers are not much better then xbox360's. Whenever you double the processing you will see performance increases. Specially when the operating system doesn't change in leaps and bounds....

If you want check out the asus transformer. Its android and can be a tablet or notebook. And i believe its new version will be the first quadcore processor tablet out.. Although ice cream sandwich will not be loaded at launch.

 

[iam76]

To echo the general sentiment here, if you need to actually get work done on a daily basis you probably want to get a laptop over a tablet. Can't really argue with the tablet's portability but you can't really argue with a laptops functionality either. So if you need to be productive, go with the laptop.

agreed i enjoy my tablets in front of the tv, traveling, and in bed. I had owned a netbook but grew tired of it chugging on video... Either spend on the nice laptop or get a nice tablet.. i would avoid netbooks myself.

 

[RS9999X]

I bought an HP tablet off Ebay. Works as expected as an Ebook'or Kindle reader and for Media and Web Browsing or Amazon Prime Streaming over WiFi. Bought a little Bluetooth Key Board and it's good in a pinch for simple input tasks. Great for mulitasking on the couch during ball games and hang overs. Read, watch videos, listen to music...with the game on. Doubles the couch potatoe experience! Bought it because it has 32GB memory, decent specs, larger screen than the Fire and was a better alternative for me than the Kindles or Nooks.

If you are a power user of anything forget it. Next year at this time the Windows 8 tsunami hits. Then things change again.

There are some great laptop buys for under $300 with Xmas coming.

Or get a used Netbook and plan on making a change next year on Black Friday when the Tsunami hits.

 

[Fishy]

love my samsung galaxy 10.1 fishy as do many users. Also have an ipad 2. Quad core processors will help. To deny that is pretty funny. Thats like saying modern computers are not much better then xbox360's. Whenever you double the processing you will see performance increases. Specially when the operating system doesn't change in leaps and bounds....

If you want check out the asus transformer. Its android and can be a tablet or notebook. And i believe its new version will be the first quadcore processor tablet out.. Although ice cream sandwich will not be loaded at launch.

We got a free Galaxy 10.1 from Best Buy when we bought our Samsung 3D flatscreen in August. It's a plasticky box of s*** - I ebay'ed it and replaced it with a Thrive which is an even more plasticky box of s***, but a box of s*** with a useful series of ports. Or at least they would be useful if the operating system weren't such a kludge - adding a quadcore processor is lipstick on a pig.

There is so much more that contributes to performance than the number of cores of a processor. Very simplistic.

 

[Peacefrog]

We got a free Galaxy 10.1 from Best Buy when we bought our Samsung 3D flatscreen in August. It's a plasticky box of s*** - I ebay'ed it and replaced it with a Thrive which is an even more plasticky box of s***, but a box of s*** with a useful series of ports. Or at least they would be useful if the operating system weren't such a kludge - adding a quadcore processor is lipstick on a pig.

There is so much more that contributes to performance than the number of cores of a processor. Very simplistic.[/quote

I'm curious, why buy at Best Buy? Anything I have ever compared I can get cheaper from Amazon with free shipping and no sales tax. I have checked things out at BB and then drove right home and ordered on line. You wait 2 days to get it but save $100's consistently.

 

[Fishy]

That's great for Amazon.

But if at all possible, I spend money locally.

 

[rman726]

I love my iPad. But if I had to do actual work on it, I would definitely use my laptop. I view my iPad as an entertainment device while waiting to be seated at a restaurant, sitting on my couch playing a game or surfing, or traveling. It will never replace my need for a laptop, but I do use my iPad a lot more than my laptop that's for sure.

 

[Peacefrog]

That's great for Amazon.

But if at all possible, I spend money locally.

Fair enough. I just wish they were somewhat competitive.

 

[rman726]

agreed i enjoy my tablets in front of the tv, traveling, and in bed. I had owned a netbook but grew tired of it chugging on video... Either spend on the nice laptop or get a nice tablet.. i would avoid netbooks myself.

I agree. My eeePC was the worst purchase ever. It was slow as hell compared to my standards. And I bought a pretty decent one, the eeePC 1000 something with an SSD hard drive. I never use it and don't even know where it is. My Dell laptop that I bought on Cowboom (store models from Best Buy) for $280 with an i3 last holiday season is doing great, and 10000x better than my netbook was. Now I have a desktop, laptop, iPad, and my iPhone, all four of which I use regularly depending on the circumstance.

 

[iam76]

We got a free Galaxy 10.1 from Best Buy when we bought our Samsung 3D flatscreen in August. It's a plasticky box of s*** - I ebay'ed it and replaced it with a Thrive which is an even more plasticky box of s***, but a box of s*** with a useful series of ports. Or at least they would be useful if the operating system weren't such a kludge - adding a quadcore processor is lipstick on a pig.

There is so much more that contributes to performance than the number of cores of a processor. Very simplistic.

I recommend the transformer if you want ports on your tablet.. But then again it would be android and fishy doesn't like him some android.

i prefer the feel of the samsung products over the ipad. better grip.

To each their own.

 

[gibhunter]

DM1Z is much more than a netbook. It's slightly larger than a typical netbook, has a 720p screen, can play HD videos without breaking a sweat (OK without using cpu at 100%) and can last on battery longer than 80% of other laptops. If I'd be looking at a portable laptop today, it would be near the top of my list.