What's the best Windows 8 tablet for business at the moment?

Forums › Microsoft Windows › What's the best Windows 8 tablet for business at the moment?

dafman

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#150003 8-Jul-2014 10:09

Looking to purchase some windows 8 tablets to replace windows 7 laptops for our business. What I am looking for:

1. great portability - lightweight and thin for use as a tablet
2. docking station for use at the office
3. good detachable keyboard for use when out of the office
4. Hi-def screen

So any recommendations? BTW - our supplier suggested the Surface products are more consumer than business, not robust enough, so happy for any comments on this?

cheers

nathan

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#1083957 8-Jul-2014 10:29

Surface Pro 3

Not robust enough I suggest you try one and see the quality yourself

Pro 3 wont be out here in NZ to August. Your supplier may not be able to buy them wholesale, hence their consumer product comment

Light
Thin
Dock
HD+ 12" screen

CYaBro

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#1083963 8-Jul-2014 10:44

nathan when will other resellers be able to sell the Surface?

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

wasabi2k

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#1083991 8-Jul-2014 11:29

I was told August (Gen-i/Microsoft).

Surface Pro 3 was super slick - awesome build and very slim.

Accessories are CRAZY expensive though.

toyonut

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#1084005 8-Jul-2014 11:42

Definitely the pro3 or even the pro2 is still good and not too heavy to impact mobility. Found them to be good overall. Really don't understand your suppliers comment that they are not robust, they are the most solid tablet I have ever used.
We use them with a targus usb3 dock and they work really well. The official docks look good too, but cost a fair bit more.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

nathan

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#1084580 9-Jul-2014 10:17

CYaBro: nathan when will other resellers be able to sell the Surface?

Nothing to announce today sorry. How I've been helping others do it, is to buy from the commercial divisions of JB/Harvey/Noels who can leave margin in it for you to onsell.

nathan

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#1084581 9-Jul-2014 10:19

wasabi2k: I was told August (Gen-i/Microsoft).

Surface Pro 3 was super slick - awesome build and very slim.

Accessories are CRAZY expensive though.

Late August for release. We have a few demo models in the country now to show customers/partners

Accessories are where the money is made. Checkout the price of Apple power supplies or cases/mice etc sometime :)

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wasabi2k

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#1084582 9-Jul-2014 10:22

nathan:
wasabi2k: I was told August (Gen-i/Microsoft).

Surface Pro 3 was super slick - awesome build and very slim.

Accessories are CRAZY expensive though.

Late August for release. We have a few demo models in the country now to show customers/partners

Accessories are where the money is made. Checkout the price of Apple power supplies or cases/mice etc sometime :)

Yeah - understand the business model - just makes for a fun discussion (prices below are a guess and not indicative of what they really are, which I don't know).

How much is it?
Roughly same as a laptop - $1400
plus the keyboard - $100-200
plus the dock - $300

so actually closer to 2 grand.

Having said that HP docks are crazy expensive too.

lchiu7

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#1086654 10-Jul-2014 19:30

Well I have a Surface Pro (first gen) I bought for my own use, and while it's okay it doesn't compare with my work machine which is the Toshiba Portege Z10t.

http://www.mytoshiba.co.nz/products/computers/ultrabook/z10t/pt131a-015002

Not entirely which model I have but it's 4GB, 128GB SSD, Core i5-vPro with the Haswell chipset.

When at my desk I use it with 24" monitor and mouse. I don't use the keyboard but an external keyboard but the fact that the keyboard dock has USB, VGA and LAN is very useful.

But when I am in meetings I undock it and use it as a tablet with Onenote as my main note taking tool. It's so light it can easily used. In contrast the Surface is quite heavy and not really amenable to carrying around, not to mention it has no docking facilities at all so it's hard to connect to a corporate network.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

nathan

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#1086671 10-Jul-2014 19:40

lchiu7: Well I have a Surface Pro (first gen) I bought for my own use, and while it's okay it doesn't compare with my work machine which is the Toshiba Portege Z10t.

http://www.mytoshiba.co.nz/products/computers/ultrabook/z10t/pt131a-015002

Not entirely which model I have but it's 4GB, 128GB SSD, Core i5-vPro with the Haswell chipset.

When at my desk I use it with 24" monitor and mouse. I don't use the keyboard but an external keyboard but the fact that the keyboard dock has USB, VGA and LAN is very useful.

But when I am in meetings I undock it and use it as a tablet with Onenote as my main note taking tool. It's so light it can easily used. In contrast the Surface is quite heavy and not really amenable to carrying around, not to mention it has no docking facilities at all so it's hard to connect to a corporate network.

I have a z10t too as well. We sell them lots of them, especially because of the 4G WWAN. They keyboard is great as it can act as a port replicator with full size ports and no dongles (VGA/HDMI/Ethernet)

Surface Dock is available for the Surface Pro 1, you'll just need to parallel import or buy from someone like a PB Tech etc.

It is heavier, only by about 50gm, its probably the metal body

Surface Pro 3 beats both of them IMHO, same price as Surface Pro 1 & 2, 12" screen, 3:2 aspect ratio, thinner and lighter than a MacBook Air, you will love the OneNote experience on it, its really quite amazing combination of OneNote/Surface Pro 3 pen

lchiu7

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#1086706 10-Jul-2014 20:19

nathan:

Surface Pro 3 beats both of them IMHO, same price as Surface Pro 1 & 2, 12" screen, 3:2 aspect ratio, thinner and lighter than a MacBook Air, you will love the OneNote experience on it, its really quite amazing combination of OneNote/Surface Pro 3 pen

Well I love Wacom pen technology with the floating cursor and I have a nice Cross pen I bought years ago that I much prefer to the supplied pens.

And the Surface Pro 3 still needs an optional adapter for ethernet which is annoying.

Not sure why folks think 3G on a tablet is necessary. I just tether my phone which avoids having to have multiple accounts with the cellular provider.

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oxnsox

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#1086727 10-Jul-2014 21:00

Panasonic FZ-G1 is rugged and great outdoors. Can also get a docking cradle. Cf-Ax2 is notebook/flipover-Tablet. Less rugged but depends what your priority is.
We use both devices in our office

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coffeebaron

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#1086774 10-Jul-2014 22:03

Definitely prefer built in 3G/4G on a tablet. Tethering is such a pain when you make frequent sub 60sec rounds on the tablet to check an email, quick reply, maps, look up a customer phone number etc.
Would love to see a Surface Pro 3 with built in 3G/4G for sure. Until then it's iPad for me

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#1086781 10-Jul-2014 22:14

coffeebaron: Definitely prefer built in 3G/4G on a tablet. Tethering is such a pain when you make frequent sub 60sec rounds on the tablet to check an email, quick reply, maps, look up a customer phone number etc.
Would love to see a Surface Pro 3 with built in 3G/4G for sure. Until then it's iPad for me

We could have put LTE into the Surface Pro but have chosen not to, at least not currently

With the Intel core processor, getting LTE in is possible but it is a tradeoff against power, battery life and LTE.

We optimised to be the best at replacing a laptop. In order to do that we agreed to be the fastest most powerful device available with an amazing form factor.

We also knew that we needed to maintain or better battery life performance. There are some PC OEMs that have LTE in these devices and they have made the tradeoff. We felt that Mobile WIFI and USB LTE devices offer a strong offering without sacrificing on what our customers need for a laptop replacement We are continuing to look at this for the future, and Intel have some interesting things coming up later in their processor and chipset roadmap

When I come across customers wanting Surface Pro with LTE and don’t want to use a MiFi, tether, or USB LTE modem, I show them the other options available

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Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 10 4G (quad core 64bit Baytrail ATOM)
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#1086784 10-Jul-2014 22:18

As above... Surface Pro 3, or at least some of the Lenovo tablets. Whatever you do don't go ASUS as it's not good enough for business use.

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