Looking for the right tablet for me...

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Arthan

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I don't know if this is the right section for posting about tablets but whatever :p I'm a student who has been coping with a rather severe health problem for the last few years, and this thing isn't getting any better. It got to a point where I have to do most of my work and studies laying in bed, which is very bad with all the notes, books, calculator, pencils, etc... I guess you get the picture. I used to work from my desk with my desktop pc and everything I needed but it isn't possible anymore.

Yesterday I decided that I was tired of burying myself under a ton of reference books and having to walk back and forth to the computer every time I needed to check something on the internet, so tablet it's gonna be.

The problem is that I do not know anything about these things. First would be the size. I'm going to use this tablet for every thing, probably many hours a day. I listen to music, I'm a netflix addict, I play video games (a lot), I use Skype, I type homeworks, read eBooks and of course I also need to be able to open various text files and charts to be able to work with them. Is a 7'' tablet like the Nexus 7 too small for this kind of use ?

Second would be the OS. Android, iOS... it doesn't mean anything to me, I have no idea what they offer over the other.

In the end, what matters most here is that price is absolutely not a factor. Of course if a 200$ Nexus 7 is enough for me I won't throw money out the window for no reason, but if I really need that rather expensive iPad 3 I have no problem with that. What are your opinions about this guys ?
 
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Rockdpm

Rockdpm

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Well i have the ASUS Transformer here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230394

I can stream Netflix right onto my 32 inch tv and play it full resolution via mini hdmi cable.
Tegra from NVIDIA allows for ultra performance to plays small games like "Angry Birds"
Has awesome sound chip (I prefer headphones)
I have Skyped on it as well and video calls are pretty plain
It comes with a App similar to Microsoft word and does the job.
Has a books library and the Android marketplace can get you the books u need!

Also ASUS has a thing now where u can upgrade to Android 4.1 with that tablet. Get that tablet and the keyboard dock and u feel complete!
 
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abbadon_34

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First: My condolences.

I would second the recommondation if you can still use your computer. But it seems the main design priority of a tablet, mobility, is of little use to you. Since you use your desktop quite a bit, I think "desktop replacement" is natural. Especially if "alot of video games" means modern PC games. Sounds like a high end laptop maybe better or in addition to a tablet.
 
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Arthan

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Yeah I thought about getting a good laptop in the first place but was faced with a rather ridiculous problem when I burrowed a friend's for a week : weight. While laptops are relatively lightweight for most people, I found out the hard way they were a bit too heavy for me to carry around.

I move around with a walking cane and carry my books in my bag, and even them are a bit too heavy to my liking. Carrying too bags is not possible for me, and putting the laptop in my bag isn t possible either so I thought tablets might be a better option. I also have to move around alot, my doctor and my specialist are both outside town so there's a lot of bus time every month. In that regard, mobility becomes more of a factor.

I guess a light notebook might be a suitable option tho.
 
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Arthan

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No problem, I didn't really mention that I had to move around a lot in the first post. Plus, I really appreciate all the input I can get, it's always good to have different opinions :)
 
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Rockdpm

Rockdpm

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Yea it is good to have multiple options. And as a client builder I always keep the clients options in mind also what I call the "or" option. So the nexus 7 is a great tablet as well, has a bit newer hardware from the transformer but the difference between nexus and tf300t is the screen size (tf300t is a little bigger)
 
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T-Frost

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I own a motorola xoom 32gb..Love it..Haven't found anything i can't do with it yet..Good size 1200x800 screen..battery lasts 10 hrs..has microsdcard slot for added storage or transfering files from pc..hdmi out mini usb..can plug a controller in for gaming,or usb mass storage,mouse and keyboard..Also will use bluetooth controllers..After getting it i wonder what took so long..
 
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Max Collodi

Max Collodi

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You may want to wait until the end of this month when the Windows 8 tablets are available. This will give you a lot more options. Then you can decide whether an Apple, Android, or Windows OS makes the most sense for your situation and for the software that you intend to use.
 
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Arthan

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Yeah these Win 8 tablets are coming soon I think yes ? Anyway, I did some reading today and as far as I understand the options are rather limited.

For Android there's : Asus Transformer (which was already recommended here), Nexus 7 and Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

iOS : The obvious 3rd gen iPad

Then there is Windows which is supposed to launch in a mind boggling variety. I'll definitely wait for this and see what it brings to the market. I mean the Galaxy Tab seems like a decent enough tablet but the price is rather high, I'm guessing it's gonna get hard for them to compete against Windows and Apple without a price drop.
 
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Arthan

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A little update on my tablet dilemma.

It seems I was kind of mistaken on what tablets were actually able of doing properly. See, a few years ago I had a friend who purchased this awesome tablet PC. He used it to take notes in class and do some sketching, and it wrote really really well. I don't remember the model but I mean, you could almost replace pen and paper with this thing. He was able to accurately write notes and write over the teacher's power point of pdf files, which was very nice.

Now, I went to the store today to test some tablets and I was very disappointed with how bad they were for writing notes. There's also no way I can use the virtual keyboard for typing my files...

I guess this leaves me with the previously mentioned Transformer with the keyboard dock, or maybe an iPad with that logitech keyboard thing. Then at this point I might as well buy a damned notebook. Why did they stop making these awesome inking tablets ? With all the progress we've been since then in terms of quality I was certain the feature was implemented perfectly in every tablets today.
 
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abbadon_34

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I had a few of these as well, Palm Pilot and series of iPAQs (as in COMPAQ) in 2000-2003 and wondered the same thing. Blame A$$ple for settings us back 10 years.

Lets see, color touch screen, wifi, bluetooth, SIM card, CF/SD slot, $199-$499, and year is 2003
 
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Rockdpm

Rockdpm

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Because the "Awesome Inking" tablets you refer to can be the modern tablet today with "An app for that"
 
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Rockdpm

Rockdpm

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Just 1... Slight Problem... There is no Guarantee Crysis will be an available app for the Tablet... Though its Windows 8, its not the "Desktop" version.
 
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Arthan

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Well, while playing desktop games and applications on it would be a nice addition it's not such an important feature for me. The main concern remains the ability to efficiently work with it as my main device.
 
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nbelote

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I beg to differ. The Windows 8 Pro that I speak of is the x86 version, so it can run Crysis. There will be plenty of those available, and they'll cost a lot more. You are referring to Windows RT, which is not x86 compatible and cannot run Crysis.
 
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Rockdpm

Rockdpm

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Right, but do you know how much they will cost? He said it doesn't need to play high end games, just simple browse and such when hes laying around or going to class..
 
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Arthan

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Yes that's a point. While I really don't mind about spending a premium to have what I need, I also don't want to spend for no reason. If more money only brings me the potential to play desktop games well, I have a really powerful desktop PC here at home that I built myself. It's always nice to have portability but in my case, the focus really is on writing, editing and typing. This is what I truly need from my tablet.

Obviously I'll also use it to watch movies, listen to music and play the occasional game but pretty much every tablets do this with ease nowadays. I just wanna be able to handwrite on it and type efficiently. These are the 2 only focus.
 
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Arthan

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Yeah since I started shopping for these the Transformer models really stood out. I guess my last question would be how the 300 and 700 models compare to each others.

Is going with a 700 only giving me more graphics horsepower or is there some obscure feature I might end up using that the 300 won't have ?
 
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