What Are Tablets Good For?

[jyl]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Really depends on the software she is currently or will be using.

For drawing hard to beat a digitizer so surface or iPad pro if she likes the software offerings.

Vector, writing = laptop

Photo editing and organizing, for me that's still laptop territory.

Generally as a creation tool the nod goes to the laptop.

Depending on how involved her art / photo editing is you'll still want a laptop with lots of ram, a better GPU, and drive space.

I've been hoping Apple would make a convertible digitized laptop.

They keep disappointing me.

Possibly the budget will extend to a MBP 15" but I rather doubt it. If she ever needs a chine with beaucoup horsepower, I'll build her a PC box.

I used a convertible laptop w/ touch screen for a few years. I really didn't like it at all. The OS UI is the problem. To be touch-suitable, the controls and actions need to be different from what they need to be KB/mouse-suitable. I don't think iOS or macOS have solved that. I don't know if Windows has solved that.

[stevej37]

Traveling....I use mine instead of a laptop frequently because of it's small size and weight. The Kindle Fire tablet has worked great for me. Does everything a laptop will do, and is lightweight.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by jyl

Possibly the budget will extend to a MBP 15" but I rather doubt it. If she ever needs a chine with beaucoup horsepower, I'll build her a PC box.

I used a convertible laptop w/ touch screen for a few years. I really didn't like it at all. The OS UI is the problem. To be touch-suitable, the controls and actions need to be different from what they need to be KB/mouse-suitable. I don't think iOS or macOS have solved that. I don't know if Windows has solved that.

Not simple touch screen.

Wacom digitizer for drawing.

For that specific purpose you want it to be convertible so you can orient any way you want.

Love my 21" Cintiq but kinda hard to put in my lap or take outside and sit under a tree with it.

The Cintiq Companion is a nice self contained unit but at only 13" it's spendy for what you get even with the price drop to $1,700.00 plus it's Win8.

Curious to see what the 16" Mobile Studio Pro is like but $3k for the i7 chipped unit is ridiculous.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

I have seen some professor's use them...

Probably not English Professors or you wouldn't have improperly put an apostrophe in a plural word like professors.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by tcar

Probably not English Professors or you wouldn't have improperly put an apostrophe in a plural word like professors.

Ha guilty. I like just pressing buttons, and that auto correct on Swype.

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by id10t

Tablets are great for consuming content - reading, watching video, etc. To actually create content - write letters (or code or whatever), edit/create images, etc. then you need the full input capabilities of a laptop or desktop.

Agree. I've found something of a happy medium with my Thinkpad 10 and Windows. It's got lots of apps that let me use it like a tablet with the keyboard detached - Netflix, Kindle, Words with friends and Amazon Music. When I want to get work done, attach the keyboard and away you go. Where it falls short is portability - my Kindle Fire fits in a pocket of my motorcycle jacket, but I wouldn't want a smaller screen on my laptop anyway.

[jcommin]

I have a nexus 7 tablet and I use it all of the time. As many have said, I use it for social media, reading books, read online newspapers, email etc. Anything beyond that, I use my desktop. It is small enough when I travel. I chose this model over an Apple equivalent because it was at the right price point for me

[aschen]

I see much fewer tablets out in the wild in the last several years. Around 2012 you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a dozen ipads in a typical airport, meeting, or starbucks.

I think alot of that is how big and fast phones have gotten. Id much rather type on a phone than a tablet.

[Deschodt]

Mostly reading... the convenience of getting my 10+ monthly magazines on a tablet, in minutes, for 1/3 the $ of Barnes and noble... same with books ! Also they are 'instant on" - for surfing, email, the occasional game... No waiting...

[aigel]

Tablets are completely useless. I bought one a couple years ago for visitors and it collects dust. I used it for surfing a couple nights and got tired of it fast.

What kills me is the inability to type. Even surfing, I need to put in search terms. I also prefer navigating with arrows over sweeping motions and pointing with my fingers. Maybe it doesn't matter if you can't type, but if you do 80 wpm, you'll not have the patience to type on a screen keyboard.

I have the surface for a work machine and practically never use it in tablet mode. It does work well as a laptop if you have a mouse.

G

[jyl]

Going back to the MBP, having only USB-C ports is going to be a real pain for users who need to connect to lots of stuff but aren't organized enough to always have the necessary dongles. Seems you need to carry dongles for standard USB, for HDMI, for SDXC, or the all in one dongle.

I'm organized enough to do this, but my daughter may not be. Maybe I'll find her a used 2015/early 2016 MBP and swap in a bigger SSD.

So with the MBP this thin, and the MBA apparently on its way out, what's the role of the MacBook (MB)? Seems like the next MB needs to be razor-thin and weightless, or what's the point of it?

It is also weird to me that there isn't a MBP model with 32GB RAM and all the different ports. Like a "Real Pro" version.

[maxnine11]

The MacBook with only one port (USB-C) has been a pain to use.
And the fact that they charge $120 ($CDN) - almost 10% of the whole laptop cost- for an adaptor so you can charge and use one USB port is an insult.
I also have trouble often where I have a device plugged into the adaptor's USB port, but it is not being recognized by the computer.
If the computer is shut off and I then plug in the charger to the charger port on the adaptor I quite often find out a few hours later or the next morning that the computer did not take a charge. Convenient. Battery life seems abnormally poor.
I really miss the MacBook Air at times. (killed it with a quarter glass of pinot noir)
The retina display and processor speed of new MacBook is stellar though.
Still haven't found enough of a reason to get an iPad- the lack of a real keyboard for input and using iOS is part of what's ho;ding me back.

[red-beard]

A month back, I was on a one day business trip. I took only my 8" tablet. I also took a small keyboard and a bluetooth mouse.

The tablet has VPN so I can log into my business network. With that, I can remote connect to my desktop PC and do any serious work. I have updated CAD drawings and updated quotes this way.

On my trip to Mexico City last week, I brought my laptop, but never started it. I was able to do everything on my tablet. If this is my "plan", I should probably get a larger tablet.

[jyl]

But doesn't a tablet, a keyboard, and a mouse add up to as much weight and bulk as a slim laptop, plus its hard to juggle all three things on one lap?

[aschen]

My current work computer is an HP ultraportable, it is hardly bigger than a larger Tablet. I really hate it, I need a dongel for every conceivable connection and it only has 2 usb ports

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by jyl

But doesn't a tablet, a keyboard, and a mouse add up to as much weight and bulk as a slim laptop, plus its hard to juggle all three things on one lap?

Not really.

The tablet should be in a protective case / folio and those typically incorporate / accommodate a keyboard so the net effect is laptop like.

[mattdavis11]

My tablet is used for entertainment. We find what we want to watch or listen to on the web and broadcast it to our Vizio 65.

I've never had a television with a browser, but I imagine it is somewhat the same.

[stealthn]

I've got almost one of everything due to work, I love the tablet for surfing, reading emails and doing meetings. For laptops I prefer the Macbook Air, fast, light, long battery, great OS. If I had to only have one, that's tough, but I would pick the Air, but I would prefer Visio natively rather than via an emulator.
New surface or surface book would also be interesting, but a little two expensive.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by jyl

But doesn't a tablet, a keyboard, and a mouse add up to as much weight and bulk as a slim laptop, plus its hard to juggle all three things on one lap?

No. Weight is under a pound. And you use the tablet by itself on a lap. The tablet and keyboard fit in my portfolio.

[red-beard]

This is a Samsung TAB A, next to my Thinkpad Carbon X1