Surface Pro is not the only choice

[lafester]

T100 could be ok but the hp pavillion x2 will at least have a 4gb ram/128gb emmc option and a lot more ports + keyboard battery. Of course it will be a few hundred more and come out a month later.

I'm not too keen on the Trio myself. I like the concept, but not the limitations. I'd rather see them put in a Bay Trail chip for the tablet itself (not sure what's in it), then give the option to boot into Windows 8 from the tablet, rather than making it all-Android, all the time. The Surface Pro's just too costly for my taste as well. $900 as the base isn't bad, but the storage the OS eats away means you HAVE to opt for the 128-GB option, at the very least, and you have to spend another $130 to get the Type Cover--it's not even a hybrid if you don't. I still think my preferred option would be that T100 tablet. I don't need to do mobile computing much, so getting something cheap ($350 WITH the dock and Office) would be my choice.

 

[Keith Wallace]

T100 could be ok but the hp pavillion x2 will at least have a 4gb ram/128gb emmc option and a lot more ports + keyboard battery. Of course it will be a few hundred more and come out a month later.

There are 3 main things that make me say "no" to the Pavilion:

1. $600 vs. $350
2. No Office (at least, didn't see that it's included)
3. HP has the worst support I've ever encountered, and after my first laptop, it was so bad that I decided I'd never buy another product from them again (they basically lied and said my computer had water damage and refused to fix it while it was under warranty).

 

[lafester]

Well the price difference is easily made up for with specs.
No office... you might be right on that one. you can pick up older versions pretty cheap however.
support? well maybe you haven't dealt with asus yet but they are pretty bad as well.

really I am disappointed with both but if performance blows me away I might pick one up.

 

[Keith Wallace]

Well the price difference is easily made up for with specs.
No office... you might be right on that one. you can pick up older versions pretty cheap however.
support? well maybe you haven't dealt with asus yet but they are pretty bad as well.

really I am disappointed with both but if performance blows me away I might pick one up.

1. That assumes that one NEEDS the improved specs. Also, which specs on the Pavilion are confirmed to beat the T100's? The resolution is the same, I think, and they likely carry the same Bay Trail chip. The Pavilion might have more storage, but does it have microSD support (which I think the T100 does)?
2. Yeah, but when you're starting at $250 more, adding software costs to equal the T100 makes the deal even worse.
3. No, I haven't. I have a desktop now, but I can also say that I know of enough people with ASUS products that haven't failed (my motherboard, dad's board, sister's board, sister's Transformer tablet, dad's video cars, brother-in-law's laptop) that I trust them more than I do HP, where I've had person experiences of frustration to go with the stories my friend (who used to work at the computer repair division of Staples) has told me, like refusing to talk to him about replacing a broken part because the customer didn't say something to them first.

I really can't say I'm disappointed in the T100 myself, simply because of the cost. For $350, you can't really EXPECT more. Office 2013 alone is $100/year, no?

 

[chfhyh]

That 1 inch does matter for me. 11.6 inch would match many ultrabook screen size. I think they are that size for a reason... I understand it is not a perfect world...

If the screen size is such a deal breaker, I wouldn't consider the pro 2. Yes its smaller, unfortunately its not that 1" bigger you hoped for (just sounds wrong lol)...not sure its what you want on a device.

 

[chfhyh]

Thanks for pointing that out. Sony does not throttle Duo 13. I think I mixed it up with pro 13.

Who says the Duo 13 throttles? If you're talking about the 1.3ghz processor, that's actually the GT2 processor with HD5000 graphics which is superior to the i5-4200U.

 

[rseydler]

Asus Taichi?

 

[chfhyh]

Agree. I think the price of surface pro is OK relatively.

Loads of bay trails are coming according to Paul.
http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/fall-2013-windows-tablet-preview

I would jump on them if I do not need the house power of i5

I'm not too keen on the Trio myself. I like the concept, but not the limitations. I'd rather see them put in a Bay Trail chip for the tablet itself (not sure what's in it), then give the option to boot into Windows 8 from the tablet, rather than making it all-Android, all the time. The Surface Pro's just too costly for my taste as well. $900 as the base isn't bad, but the storage the OS eats away means you HAVE to opt for the 128-GB option, at the very least, and you have to spend another $130 to get the Type Cover--it's not even a hybrid if you don't. I still think my preferred option would be that T100 tablet. I don't need to do mobile computing much, so getting something cheap ($350 WITH the dock and Office) would be my choice.

 

[chfhyh]

Thanks. it is a good try by Asus, yet the battery life is the major pain point and it uses 3rd gen core

Asus Taichi?

 

[lafester]

Tab has micro sd and I believe the dock has full sd, full hdmi, two full usb plus battery. also has the 128 gb storage option. The big thing is 4gb ram vs 2gb.
we don't know exactly which chip it uses I would guess they are using the 3770 over the 3740 that asus is running.

of course if you don't need those specs it doesn't matter. I don't expect more for $350 i think its a good deal for what you get I just don't think 2gb ram is going to be enough and would like to have more options.

1. That assumes that one NEEDS the improved specs. Also, which specs on the Pavilion are confirmed to beat the T100's? The resolution is the same, I think, and they likely carry the same Bay Trail chip. The Pavilion might have more storage, but does it have microSD support (which I think the T100 does)?
2. Yeah, but when you're starting at $250 more, adding software costs to equal the T100 makes the deal even worse.
3. No, I haven't. I have a desktop now, but I can also say that I know of enough people with ASUS products that haven't failed (my motherboard, dad's board, sister's board, sister's Transformer tablet, dad's video cars, brother-in-law's laptop) that I trust them more than I do HP, where I've had person experiences of frustration to go with the stories my friend (who used to work at the computer repair division of Staples) has told me, like refusing to talk to him about replacing a broken part because the customer didn't say something to them first.

I really can't say I'm disappointed in the T100 myself, simply because of the cost. For $350, you can't really EXPECT more. Office 2013 alone is $100/year, no?

 

[lafester]

Most are 8" tabs but the dell midland looks interesting. hopefully they release more info soon.

Agree. I think the price of surface pro is OK relatively.

Loads of bay trails are coming according to Paul.
http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/fall-2013-windows-tablet-preview

I would jump on them if I do not need the house power of i5

 

[Huime]

thanks, see what you mean... getting 8 gig is easy, but you do not always have a screen everywhere you go. imaging coding/gaming on 10.6 inch screen... a little larger helps, don't you think?

I assumed coding is your main purpose other than content consuming. From my experience, most of the time you are focusing on building an object which is pretty much a page of code on a 10". Either way, an inch or two is not getting you more code at glance, at least not in a way that makes a difference.

 

[Lendo]

I have to replace my Giant 17.8" Toshiba clunker. Kinda diggin' that Yoga

 

[chezm]

That 1 inch does matter for me. 11.6 inch would match many ultrabook screen size. I think they are that size for a reason... I understand it is not a perfect world...

fair enough, I get it. What im using the Pro 2 for is slightly different than your needs, I guess the device is targeted more at a niche than broad consumerism.

Unfortunately I don't have much laptop experience, my wife has a Toshiba which isn't too bad...but its ancient. I have an ancient hp for work...so I can't recommend anything.

I just know I want a Pro 2 so badly

 

[chfhyh]

It is not the main purpose, yet I always dreaming of to have a do it all device. The surface pro 2 seems to be the closest.

I assumed coding is your main purpose other than content consuming. From my experience, most of the time you are focusing on building an object which is pretty much a page of code on a 10". Either way, an inch or two is not getting you more code at glance, at least not in a way that makes a difference.

 

[chfhyh]

I am waiting for the reviews to come out. Patience is virtual...

fair enough, I get it. What im using the Pro 2 for is slightly different than your needs, I guess the device is targeted more at a niche than broad consumerism.

Unfortunately I don't have much laptop experience, my wife has a Toshiba which isn't too bad...but its ancient. I have an ancient hp for work...so I can't recommend anything.

I just know I want a Pro 2 so badly

 

[chezm]

I am waiting for the reviews to come out. Patience is virtual...

its virtual eh....ok. Hehe.

Same here in waiting for reviews, wanna make sure that battery is ace before dropping the cash down on it.

 

[Ed Boland]

I have to replace my Giant 17.8" Toshiba clunker. Kinda diggin' that Yoga

I've got an even Giant-er Toshiba clunker... The Satellite P505D 18.4"
Turion dual core, 4gb ram... But hey, it runs the 8.1 preview flawlessly.
I want to replace it with a surface pro 2!

 

[milesmcever]

Guys been creeping the site lately. Currently I mainly have Android devices but since I work with windows mainly in the IT field it only makes sense to add it to the list of what I am looking for in a new tablet. I currently have an ASUS Transformer Prime which makes me never want to buy another ASUS device because of the lack of updates and the slow internal memory they put in this tablet. Having this past experience with Asus meant this had to be a really nice tablet but they skimped bad on the screen for the Asus Trio so not even going to care what else they went cheap on just took it off the list. As it looks now ill pick up one of the Surface Pro 2's in the 256gb version on release day or when ever the local BestBuy or Microsoft Store get them, but I'm still keeping my ears to the ground to see what other nice tablets are coming out.

 

[sakai135]

Still trying to decide between the Surface Pro 2, the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, and the Lenovo Yoga 11s refresh... I wish I had more details on the 11s refresh other than availability sometime in November.