I still don't get the purpose of tablets?

[MSFTisMIA]

Well, I bought a Touchpad during the fire sale a few years back because I wanted a solid mobile option that I could take to work with me to do presentations in small groups with youth and at home, something to browse and manage PIM without having to always boot up my PC. I dual booted it and with Android onboard I did some more light gaming and it was a great fit.

This year, because I went back to graduate school, I needed something that gave me the ability to replace my Touchpad for those reasons above and the ability to type paper outlines and do notes in class. The Asus T100 is what I now use and in sync with my 8X and 920, I've got tighter integration with the MSFT services I use - Outlook, Office and Skydrive.

So OP, as you've seen with all the tablet owners here, it is about identifying your needs (the common ones among us are versatility and portability) and seeing if a tablet can fit the bill. Not everyone needs a full laptop in hand, but as the hardware gets better, there is value in using a tablet to compliment a smartphone. I like the T100 and the Venue 8 Pro as good examples of this for the budget conscious, and the Surface offerings and others are for those who demand more of the portability and versatility at a premium price point. Some get the same value from using an Android tab or an iPad. It's all about what your needs are.

 

[link68759]

I'm a university student and I see a lot of tablets around me these days.

As for me, I have always had a full sized laptop (currently Dell Precision M4700). And it has always been portable and light enough for me.

One thing I do not get is that.

1) Tablets cost the same or sometimes even more than a ultrabook or a full sized laptop.
2) Since many laptops have become so thin and light these days, portability benefit between laptop and tablet is marginal
3) Processing power and longevity will always be better on a full sized laptop.

So what was your reasoning for picking up a tablet?

Mainly, I am partially open to trying a tablet, but I honestly do not get why I would need one when I have a capable laptop.
But I see so many people who bring both a laptop AND a tablet to school.

Of course, what other people me use do not really effect me, but I just notice the phones and computers around me since that's just what I am into.

Currently using a surface pro (no keyboard) full time (for 4 months) and only going to my laptop when I want to play games or write code. Fun fact: My laptop is more powerful, smaller and lighter than the surface pro, and has multiple USB ports and a full HDMI port and two GPUs (I think it has a GT650m and an HD4000 paired with some higher end i7 CPU) and lotsa fun things crammed in 10" body/screen.

I won't go into much depth, but using the tablet is just like using the laptop, but I have to work *around* the touchscreen fairly often, not with it. So let's say I'm at 70% efficiency with a touchscreen alone in a scenario where I _don't have to type_, with the baseline comparison being a regular laptop (100% efficiency). Moreover, having to constantly hold the tablet, prop it up against something, etc is very annoying... There's only one USB port, and this would be fine if not for the terrible, terrible wireless capabilities of the surface pro. The wireless reception is awful- I'll get 300KB/s in the same area my laptop can get 2MB/s. So too is Bluetooth affected- making Bluetooth mouse/keyboard usage laggy if you aren't *right next to the surface*.... why am I just not using a laptop? So with crippled Bluetooth and only one USB port, I get by with using the port for a mouse and a BT keyboard (I didn't want to shell out the cash for the typecover).

I should mention that there were other touch input options on 7 that aren't there on 8- a virtual mouse you could drag around and touch the left/right click buttons is sorely missed for example. Also, the touch RDP app has a relative touch input (mouse mode- basically turns the entire touchscreen into a laptop touchpad).... Why can't I do that all the time!? I'm tempted to see if I can RDP localhost just to get that function.

There are a few use cases where a tablet is nice. But a good convertible laptop/tablet is just the more sensible choice (pricing aside). I do think that touch support adds a lot of usability in specific contexts (touch input for example is a much better way to navigate something like an excel spreadsheet), and I definitely will have touchscreens *with pen support* on all my future laptops. But tablets... tablets are bad laptops for people who primarily consume media (or create art in the case of pen input).

Touch input is an enhancement to the PC experience *in conjunction with mouse and keyboard inputs*. It can not stand alone, unless you severely limit what you plan to use the device for.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro

 

[jmshub]

I was always in the same camp...people went crazy over tablets, but I never saw the utility and always found the laptop to be a good enough solution for me. But I gotta admit, if I have a chance to pick up the Venue 8 Pro for $230 on Amazon this weekend, I'll jump all over that!

 

[CopaCC]

I had a Galaxy Tab 2 for awhile. It didn't really do everything I needed though. Felt like I had a second, larger phone. Finally picked up a new Samsung Chromebook. It was cheaper than large tablet, has just as good battery life, and has the full-size keyboard I need. Light and easy to carry around.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 520 using Tapatalk

 

[Doctor Pork]

A big benefit is the different form factor which is more suited for some portable tasks. The most popular is causal web browsing and watching videos for example. If you are a student, one huge benefit is that it is a lot easier to read documents and PDFs on a tablet as you do not have to deal with the keyboard and easily can flip the screen and read in portrait mode and if necessary use the touch screen for zooming in and out of illustrations and tables in the text. If we are talking tablet pcs and not toy tablets like the nexus 7 or the iPad, a potential huge benefit is the ability to use an active digitizer and use handwriting for notes and drawing. This adds the ability to do note taking on some kinds of lectures where it would more or less be impossible to manage the same kind of complex formatting and layouts in your notes with just a keyboard.

If we are talking regular tablets, well I fail to see the point to bring them to school unless you get a Surface RT or another kind of windows hybrid tablet which actually for a good a good form factor for typing and productivity.

 

[balama]

as a front end to a cloud based eco system like apple's, amazon's, google's or harvard's it make sense because its pretty much a display at that point.
most universities and primary ed schools have recognized its display-only purpose for a awhile.

I find it strange that people would shell out the cash required for a surface pro or any laptop/electronic device without thinking about size and battery life.
The need to carry around a power cable and require a power outlet over the course of a day is almost ludicrous when you think of it. Yet I see the zombie hoard of power cord/outlet junkies growing exponentially each year and at every coffee shop, hotel lobby and airport i travel thru.

The new haswell devices are hopeful as are the new baytrail devices. but anything less than 10-12 hours off grid is truly not a portable solution. I think that's where tablets can play an important role if the school or business configures it right. with musk-like plug-in docking stations aren't that hard nor expensive to provide and as the note and surface pro have shown pen-inout has some merit.

but what's more portable than pen, paper and a shirt pocket digital recorder(phone), the new cloud based pen graphics/audio recording devices have a future in education too.

I've been an early adopter of all this tech since the days of carrying a macplus home from work to use macwrite or 123 was considered portability.
in the end pen, paper, a system and a good memory was all you really needed moving about day to day

 

[anon(8032808)]

I don't think they're popular due to mobility ...people tend to just use them around the house. I think why people like tablets are:

1) Simpler. Laptops, in people's minds, means a PC / Desktop and most consumers are non-tech savvy and don't want to deal with that
2) New. Tablets are a new idea and product for us to consume. And humans love to consume.
3) Fun. Tablets force apps to be touchscreen and for us to use touchscreen. This is a fun thing as it's different than the normal way we compute.
4) Cheaper. Though not always. But typically a tablet is going to be cheaper than a similar laptop.

I think 7-9 inch tablets are great media consumption devices. You use them for playing games, checking email, easily watching movies or reading books, and just trying out different apps. You can do that with a laptop but it's simpler around the house when it's just in a small tablet form. But when it comes to getting things done I'm still jumping on a nice ultrabook or desktop.

 

[AccentAE86]

I have to say, I never "got it" either. I was like, why the hell is everyone running around with iPads? They're just huge iPhones, without the phone. They run the same type of apps.

Then the surface Pro came out. Now I "get it". But to me, the Surface pro (and other similar beasts) is actually useful. iPads and Android tablets are still mainly play toys. My wife just got a Surface Pro 2 and I'm insanely jealous now and want to trade in my beautiful and powerful i7 Lenovo X220 Tablet for one. Even though I have a touchscreen and wacom digitizer built-in, the form factor is just so much smaller! And they really nailed the screen size. If it were any smaller, running productivity apps would be a chore, any bigger and carrying it would be a chore.

My X220 laptop needs it's own bag. The charger MUST always come with me. The Surface Pro 2 is like the size of a mid sized university textbook, and therefore, will fit in a backpack like one too. The Pro 2 battery does in fact last through an entire day of computing. It's a great improvement over the first Pro, so the power cord stays at home.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

See, what I love about my T100 is that most times I take it with me, the cord is left at home. That's the best part about a device that is in the 10-12 hour usage bracket. I do get about 11 hours, or with very light usage, i charge mine twice a week. It is portable and still highly productive. I know others use theirs differently, but I take mine with the dock. To me, that is a no brainer because even though there is no extra battery in the dock, I get access to a full USB port, the keyboard while cramped is serviceable (the track pad is quite useless and is the biggest weakness of this device), and the WOW factor of docking and undocking this thing is tremendous.

I cannot wait for MSFT to really tweak the platform and start to really leverage the integration between its devices...

 

[houkoholic]

You see more and more people running around with iPads because their entire day of work pretty much just involves email and a web browser, with some sales people needing a PDF or a ppt viewer for presentation, these things are still more on "consumption" side than productivity, that's why people flocked to tablets because they don't have to carry a laptop and it lets them travel light most of the time without worrying about battery and weight (plus sneak in some funs and games too). However they still can't get rid of laptops and PCs, eventually they still have to go back to using a full OS (talking about both Windows and OSX here) and a real keyboard. This is why I think MS' vision of hybrid tablets will eventually win out, at least in business and enterprise, as they iron out the final kinks (both the software and hardware is getting really close, whether it is full x86 tablets with Haswell/Baytrail for battery life and weight, or RT system with the app situation and Office, so both route is getting there), and I actually expect Apple will do a 180 (like with the iPad Mini where Jobs belittled small tablets initially but released one eventually anyway) and release a new iPad and accessories that is going to make it more of a laptop as well.

 

[Elitis]

Portability doesn't actually play a factor in the reasoning for buying a tablet for most people. Most people buy one just because everyone else is. So, what are tablets meant for? Why should anyone buy one when their laptop does it all and more? The reason behind the tablet is simple: to replace netbooks. That's their one and only purpose. Tablets (Sub 10" Androids that is) are cheaper than both laptops and netbooks, and accomplish the same things you would use a netbook for. They can browse the web, play some games, and get a small amount of work done - writing a small paper or two.

The majority of people don't do more than this. So, laptops are overkill for the majority of people.

 

[Kebero]

My HP ProBook is in the lower-middle range when it comes to size and weight (14", 4lbs), but has been maxed out with 16GB of RAM and dual hard drives (SSD for OS and HDD for data) to serve more or less as a mobile workstation of sorts. I use it for virtualization and for extended after-hours work (I work for an MSP, so I frequently do after-hours server maintenance). It serves a completely different purpose than my Surface RT (which I'm using to post this reply). My Surface RT serves as a companion device to my desktop at work and my laptop at home. If I don't have to do much other than RDP into a server for something such as a reboot or to make a quick change in vSphere, it's great. If I have to run from the office to a client site, and all I need is access to WiFi for something or brief access to my company's TS, it's great. My Surface is also my primary consumption device (my Lumia is 75% communication and 25% anything else).

I think that for a lot of people, tablets fill a similar consumption role. There is no pressing need to replace computer hardware these days, so when you want something new for fun, you aren't going to look into getting a new computer when you can spend less on a tablet that is going to let you browse the internet, play some simple games, and listen to music/watch movies.

 

[blue1k]

I'm an educator and I use my tablet completely for teaching. All my notes are done on the tablet with a capacitive pen. The material is mirrored to my laptop and projector or I connect directly to a projector. All the files can easily be exported, shared and sent to my website and social media. I can't do that on a laptop. It's awesome to be able to open any file on drop box, edit, and save or share. That and having the ability to get up and teach in different parts of room is awesome.

 

[txkimmers]

I didn't get the point of them, and would still feel the same way, except I really love my Surface 2. The two things that make it a great device for me are that I can finally take advantage of using the touch optimization of Windows 8.1. I have gotten so used to using touch with mouse support on my S2, I miss it very much now on my non-touch machines (laptop at home and work machine), and I love using search by typing my search terms right from the Win 8 screen, it's SO HANDY.

I don't use my S2 for work much at all, but it lets me do exactly what I need to do for that. I can remote into my desktop. I can get at my email via Outlook, the mail app, or the browser. I can share my S2 screen easily on monitors/tv at work. I can edit documents as long as they aren't macro-laden spreadsheets.

And I can do all that with a device that fits in my purse, and like others have said, I don't need to take a power cord with me.

Last: I really love the Bing Food and Drink app, I use it all the time for planning menus and cooking. Just wonderful.

 

[Citizen X]

skstrials,

I here ya'. For the vast majority of people there is no point getting a tablet. I had an HP Touchpad before I got a Lumia 900 and I used it for some casual web surfing particularly over at other people's houses so I wouldn't need to touch their computers. The problem is once I got a Lumia 900 phone with unlimited LTE I pretty much stopped using my tablet. Yes the screen is bigger on the tablet but who wants to lug that thing around when you are already carrying a smartphone in your pocket. And when I get a 1520 tablets are going to be totally useless for me.

One thing I will say though is the Nokia 2520 looks like a good tablet here in the US. You can get it for $199 at at&t with a two year contract. My parents only have to pay $10 a month to add it to the type of plan they have. The good thing about the Nokia 2520 is the reasonable price in the US, the free keyboard cover with extra battery, HDMI, and the two full size USB ports. Basically you can take it in to the office and hook it up to a full size monitor, keyboard, and mouse and still have a port left over for a USB printer. It has MS Office so you can get your work done. Plus its super light and you can read stuff in bed with it. So if you need internet on the go the $199 Nokia 2520 with $10/month LTE data is a strong recommend. All these other Andriod and Apple tablets are a strong avoid in my opinion.

 

[anony_mouse]

I think you need to own a tablet for a while to understand their appeal. Of course, there isn't much you can do with a tablet that you can't do with a laptop (*), but a tablet is very nice to use for web browsing, basic e-mail, games, etc. It turns on instantly, which is very different to my work laptop. It's light and easily portable around the house, so is a TV I can watch in bed, a portable radio, a portable jukebox, etc. It's smaller, lighter, more convenient and more likely to have some charge left in its battery than a laptop.
I have no interest in running office apps on my tablet as I don't like typing much on the touchscreen, and a 10 inch screen is too small for work, in my opinion.

(*) I do some things on the iPad because it's just easier than Windows. For example, I have developed a bad habit of playing games on the iPad, because they are easily accessible in the App Store. Of course, I could play games on the PC too, but finding, buying and installing them is more hassle.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Tablets are like power windows / doorlocks in a car. You don't know that you "need" it until you have it. Back in the day those were optional equipment and few saw the "need" for them. The funny thing is once people bought a car with those power options, they never bought a future vehicle without them.

 

[anony_mouse]

Tablets are like power windows / doorlocks in a car. You don't know that you "need" it until you have it. Back in the day those were optional equipment and few saw the "need" for them. The funny thing is once people bought a car with those power options, they never bought a future vehicle without them.

Yes I agree. Now I have the iPad, I rarely switch on my laptop at home. It's really only for when I need to type a significant amount of text, or store some photos. I use it for 80%+ of my home 'computing time'.
If I had to get rid of one of my devices (laptop, iPad, smart phone), I would dump the iPad as I can do almost everything with the laptop and smart phone. But I would miss it!

 

[link68759]

Tablets are like power windows / doorlocks in a car. You don't know that you "need" it until you have it. Back in the day those were optional equipment and few saw the "need" for them. The funny thing is once people bought a car with those power options, they never bought a future vehicle without them.

Tell me where I can buy a new car without power windows and I'll do so just to spite you

 

[anony_mouse]

Tell me where I can buy a new car without power windows and I'll do so just to spite you

OT - I would prefer a car without power windows. They are fine when they work, but extremely bad when they don't. If the motor breaks when the window is open, you are screwed.