A Few Tablet Questions

[BBMINI]

Hi All,

I'm considering buying a Windows tablet and have been wondering about questions listed below. For reference, the last tablet I owned was a BlackBerry PlayBook (which I haven't used much in at least a year), I currently use a Lumia 928 + a laptop running Windows 8.1. For software, I use Office365, Outlook/Exchange for work email and I sync it with Outlook.com for managing contacts, calendar and personal emails, + I use OneDrive, OneNote and Skype a lot. I also have an Xbox music pass but I definitely don't make the most of that yet.

- How important is having a stylus for a tablet? I've read that it can be very helpful to have one for programs like OneNote, but I use OneNote fine on my 928 and my laptop without a stylus. I never draw anything and don't anticipate needing to handwrite much on a tablet, so am just wondering what the benefits of a stylus are and if it should be a priority in deciding which tablet to buy.

- If the tablet comes with Office RT like a Surface 2 does, will I need (or even be able) to install Office365 on the tablet? I don't know if Office RT is a watered-down version of Office which would then make sense to use one of my Office365 installations on the tablet, or if Office RT is full featured enough that I would use it as-is.

- Anyone happen to know if I'll be able to install Microsoft Works 8.0 on any new Windows tablet? Believe it or not, I've used Works very thoroughly for years and have a lot of Works documents, spreadsheets and databases that I'd like to have access to from a tablet. Works 8.0 is currently installed on my laptop, so I'm assuming it's compatible with the various new Windows OSes but just wanted to check. Related to that, how would I install any CD-based software programs (Works or anything else) onto a tablet (if such a maneuver can even be done)? Can you run the CD from your laptop but install it onto a tablet via USB cable?

I think that's it for now but I might add some more Qs as things come to mind. Thanks ahead for any help and feedback.

 

[o0Nighthawk0o]

I recently bought a tablet and like you, I don't draw much and type any notes into OneNote. The tablet I got is a Dell Venue 8 Pro. It does have a stylus available but I don't have it and really haven't seen a need yet for it. This tablet runs Windows 8.1 not RT so I can run anything on it that I can run on my Windows 8.1 laptop. It also came with Office 2013 home and student. I decided on the smaller 8 inch tablet because I wanted something a bit easier to carry. I find myself using my tablet more than my laptop now.

The other reason I decided on the Dell tablet was the fact that it was running the full version of Windows 8.1 and not RT. That way I didn't have to worry about compatibility issues with applications I already own. If the run on my laptop they should run on my tablet.

 

[ajst222]

Hi All,

I'm considering buying a Windows tablet and have been wondering about questions listed below. For reference, the last tablet I owned was a BlackBerry PlayBook (which I haven't used much in at least a year), I currently use a Lumia 928 + a laptop running Windows 8.1. For software, I use Office365, Outlook/Exchange for work email and I sync it with Outlook.com for managing contacts, calendar and personal emails, + I use OneDrive, OneNote and Skype a lot. I also have an Xbox music pass but I definitely don't make the most of that yet.

- How important is having a stylus for a tablet? I've read that it can be very helpful to have one for programs like OneNote, but I use OneNote fine on my 928 and my laptop without a stylus. I never draw anything and don't anticipate needing to handwrite much on a tablet, so am just wondering what the benefits of a stylus are and if it should be a priority in deciding which tablet to buy.

- If the tablet comes with Office RT like a Surface 2 does, will I need (or even be able) to install Office365 on the tablet? I don't know if Office RT is a watered-down version of Office which would then make sense to use one of my Office365 installations on the tablet, or if Office RT is full featured enough that I would use it as-is.

- Anyone happen to know if I'll be able to install Microsoft Works 8.0 on any new Windows tablet? Believe it or not, I've used Works very thoroughly for years and have a lot of Works documents, spreadsheets and databases that I'd like to have access to from a tablet. Works 8.0 is currently installed on my laptop, so I'm assuming it's compatible with the various new Windows OSes but just wanted to check. Related to that, how would I install any CD-based software programs (Works or anything else) onto a tablet (if such a maneuver can even be done)? Can you run the CD from your laptop but install it onto a tablet via USB cable?

I think that's it for now but I might add some more Qs as things come to mind. Thanks ahead for any help and feedback.

I don't own a tablet with a stylus, but I tested out the Surface 2 Pro with OneNote and I was in heaven. If you would rather take notes by hand than by keyboard, then I would look for a tablet with a stylus. It's really personal preference.

Office on RT is quite good. As far as I know, it's full featured except you can't install any Office add ons (someone correct me if I'm wrong). You can still connect/save to OneDrive as long as you're signed in so it should work fine with Office 365.

As long as the tablet runs full Windows 8.1 and not 8.1 RT, then you can install Works. You would need to buy yourself an external CD drive in order to do it.