Im looking for a Windows 8 Tablet

[Aykazu]

Hello everyone! As the title states im looking for a Windows 8 Tablet to co-operate with my Windows 7 laptop and hopefully to replace it in the future.

I currently have a Lumia 900 as my phone (Lumia 920 is allready ordered though, just waiting for it... Impatiently!), I dont own an Xbox 360 but rest assured within months I will be a proud owner of one .
I have been searching for the right device for my needs and I just cant find what Im looking for. If Microsoft Surface (Pro) would be an option, there would be no need for me to write this thread but Microsoft is not selling the Surface in Finland so I need something else.

So what would you choose if you were me? Acer Iconia W510? Or perhaps something else, or something that has not yet been announced? Feel free to give your opinion

 

[ryan.kruger]

The w700 is the only Acer that I've found remotely attractive. The ASUS VivoTab series looks good too.

I just google "best windows 8 tablet" for articles and research based on that.

 

[Aykazu]

I prefer the W510 over the W700 because here in Finland the retailers are selling the W510 with the keyboard and the W700 without it :/ but I will take a closer look to see the price difference.

 

[ryan.kruger]

For specs, the 700 is worth it.

 

[Chesticles]

I originaly purchased the Asus Vivo Tab tf810c which is a really nice tablet but underpowered and too expensive for what you get. I had freezing issues and some games/programs ran sluggish on it. After doing a lot of research I got the Acer w700 with the i5 processor and it is an amazing tablet, very well built and it has handled any program I have ran on it, it never freezes and the screen looks amazing. It also comes with the keyboard, docking station and a leather case which can be used several different ways to prop up at a table or on your lap in bed. For the money this tablet cant be beat, highly recommended.

 

[Aykazu]

Ill better start searching for the W700 with the keyboard doc, hearing you guys has changed my mind

 

[nottechsmart]

I originaly purchased the Asus Vivo Tab tf810c which is a really nice tablet but underpowered and too expensive for what you get. I had freezing issues and some games/programs ran sluggish on it. After doing a lot of research I got the Acer w700 with the i5 processor and it is an amazing tablet, very well built and it has handled any program I have ran on it, it never freezes and the screen looks amazing. It also comes with the keyboard, docking station and a leather case which can be used several different ways to prop up at a table or on your lap in bed. For the money this tablet cant be beat, highly recommended.

Can you use one note with W700?

 

[ryan.kruger]

Yup.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

The Acer iconia w700 is a great tablet (I sell computers so I get to play with the new models all the time). My only gripe with it, which is not unique to the w700 is I don't like ivy bridge tablets in general. They are quite a bit heftier and get much worse battery life compared to the atom or arm based tablets. However it is a nice tablet and a fully featured computer with a fantastic screen and a great aluminum body/build quality. Personally I just bought an hp envy x2 which I really like, aside from my unit having dead pixels (which I will be swapping out tomorrow for another one). Another poster said that the w700 doesn't come with a keyboard, I don't know if they really have a habit of changing models in different countries, other than the keyboard and the system language, but the w700 in the US comes with quite a lot in the box. You get a Bluetooth keyboard, a tablet dock, a case, and I think an adaptor to go from micro hdmi to hdmi. It doesn't have a dock like the hp envy x2 or Acer iconia w510 that extends the battery life.

I bought the hp envy x2 because I'm an engineering student and there are some x86 programs that i still need like office professional, matlab (light use, not for heavy calculations), putty, notepad++, visual studio, torrent, stuff like that. I have a gaming rig that i built which is for all my powerful stuff, and i want this for lighter use, portability, and battery life. I've gotta day though, the new clover trail atoms are rather impressive, they get good battery life, around 7 on mine w/o dock and 12 with dock, or the Acer w510 gets like 9 w/o dock and 16 w/ dock. Windows 8 is very smooth and runs really fast on it unlike the crappy netbooks running with win 7. Some scrolling on the desktop is a little choppy but performance seems to be okay. i haven't really tested out much x86 programs but when i replace mine tomorrow, I'll test them out so i van answer any questions you might have regarding my ho envy x2. So far...very pleased with it dead pixels aside lol

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

I didn't say what i would recommend lol...here's a list with pros and cons:

acer iconia w510: pros: best battery life and can extend it with keyboard dock for 9/16 hours. Great price: 599$ for 64 gb model and 150$ for dock
smallest and lightest tablet, about same weight and size as ipad

cons: a little plasticky, not necessarily cheap feeling but not built as well ad others. I haven't used the keyboard but on a 10.1" it will
be cramped, and I've heard it a little cheap feeling, also I've heard of touchpad issues although they say a driver update is
in the works

hp envy x2: pros: fantastic build quality, very thin and lightweight, little bigger screen 11.6" (could be a con for some), its pretty(only dockable
tablet that actually looks like a laptop and not a tablet docked into a keyboard dock), great touchpad, pretty responsive (like w510), optional active digitizer stylus

cons: I own it so there are no cons, jk , keyboard is a little shallow, but its full-sized so its still pretty good, not as many ports, only 2 usb on dock and 1 full hdmi, tablet/dock sold only together for 850$ so a little pricey for an atom, same complaint with w510 although its 100$ less (may be a pro to some, like me unless you only want the tablet). Battery life is decent at 7 hours, it will last a full day, not as good as some others though like the w510 or arm tablets

acer iconia w700: pros: once again, fantastic build quality and screens, good amount of ports for a tablet, 1 usb 3 and i think micro hdmi, snappy performance (i3 model), great price, 700$ for i3 touchscreen tablet, don't know if there is an active digitizer for it

cons: as I said earlier, a little heavy for a tablet, battery about 6 hours, not bad for ivy bridge, but still a little low for a tablet. Crappy dock, it feels really cheap, is quite ugly, and a little complicated with 2 parts to assemble to make it work, Bluetooth keyboard feels a little cheap, so do most others to be fair, but you can by another if you want.


All in all, there aren't many true x86 windows tablets out yet. The thinkpad helix looks nice if you want to shell out 1500$ for it, although no one's used it yet so wait for the reviews.

No reviews out yet for the surface pro, but I think the battery isn't going to be very much, probably around 4-5 hours, and while I like the keyboard covers, I can't imagine the kickstand would sit on your lap very well, it looks like a table only tablet in its "laptop" mode

I guess it depends how much power you need, I went with the atom for the battery life and I would recommend the same unless you need to do a lot more than what that will offer you.

Also look at convertibles too, the Lenovo thinkpad twist and yoga 13" are nice. I haven't played with it yet but the Dell XPS 12 look like it could be a real winner. But beware with the convertibles that its still a laptop so even though they look and function like a tablet, they are still the same weight as a notebook, so they're not as portable as a tablet.

 

[Aykazu]

Thanks for your great answer Ridemyscooter86, I really appreciate it. Im looking for a tablet not a convertible, this weight issue which you mentioned is the main reason for that. However, I must admit that I have not paid much attention to Tablet weights and it definetly is one issue ill be looking from the spec charts. My cash limit is around 1000€ so some models are definetly out of my league, but W510, W700 and the Envy X2 are definetly been considered .

There is also one more that just makes me want to drool to be honest, at first it was "just another" tablet in the list but seeing it in real life make me quessing. That would be the Lenovo Thinkpad 2/32GB model. Im starting to lean towards it, the design is striking, fast and fluid like all W8 tablets (Well at least most of them) and the battery life is quite nice, a friend of mine says that with normal use lasts easily 8hours. And the price is also nice only 650€ http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/prod...Pad-Tablet-2-10-1-HD-Intel-Atom-Z2760-2-GB-32

 

[Aykazu]

So yesterday it was D-Day and I ordered the Lenovo ThinkPad 2/32gb version.

 

[Coolknight1968]

Another option would be the Samsung Ativ-S Smart PC T700. Has i5, 4Gb of Ram, 64 to 256Gb SSD, Win 8 Pro, SD Slot. If you get it with the Keyboard you have a Notebook and Tablet in one. I would stay away from 32Gb i5 devices, you need 64 Gb SSD if you install MS Office and a few other things.

 

[electricbopeep]

I'm not sure about the availability of these tablets in Finland, but what about the Lenovo Helix http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/6/3844010/lenovo-thinkpad-helix-convertible and the Asus TransformerBook http://transformerbook.asus.com/ ?

I personally was planning on getting the Transformer Book 11 inch but it seems that Asus won't be offering that option and 13 in is too unwieldy for a tablet. The Helix is very pricey but has many of the features that are key for a tablet/laptop combo.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express

 

[Coolknight1968]

Just make sure you get 64Gb SSD at least and a micro SD slot.

 

[Aykazu]

Ill be sure to give my review here once I get the ThinkPad in my hands

 

[anon(5344685)]

Hmmm..but you could wait for Surface Pro

 

[Coreldan]

Hey, a fellow finn here. I ordered my Surface RT from Germany near launch. The only "problem" is that you have to use the OS in english and the keyboard has a few symbols/letters in "wrong" places, but you can use software wise finnish layout, so the keyboard is still the one you are used to except for what some of the buttons say. The biggest difference that the location of Z and Y is switched, thats about it.

Surface is probably coming at some point, but might be just RT and Pro might take even longer.


But if you can type without looking at the keyboard for letters and can operate the OS in english, I would just buy one from germany. I was planning on getting the Acer W510 from finland, but thank God I didn't and went for the german Surface after all.

EDIT: oh, you already purchased something, good luck

 

[Aykazu]

Frugo, we Finns have a little different keyboard than you, or well pretty much the rest of the world "lol" because we have letters "?" and "?" in use, thus ordering from UK or Germany brings few extra challenges. The other thing is that there are no retailers here for Surface, so if I would have chosen the surface, I would have needed to order it abroad.

 

[GreenScrew]

What about...
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ad/elitepad/features.html

$699/64gb z2760
https://www.insight.com/insightweb/search#ProdInfoMtrId=D3H85UT%23ABA~fromSearch?