DavePa Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 We need to buy a small number of tablet computers and are wondering if anybody has enough experience to be able to make recommendations. We've looked at various options and know some of what *won't * work but not yet what will work: iPad - one of the applications that we use is not supported on iPad. That's not to say that it might not work but in the event of any issues we won't be able to get assistance from the developers Windows RT - We need connectivity through 3g/4g and I don't believe that RT supports the use of these Windows Surface Pro - perhaps a good choice (providing we can get something with 3g/4g) but somewhat expensive Android - Where to start with all of the options available? Ideally there will be something that meets our requirements which are... 3g/4g support 10" screen or thereabouts Handwriting with 'palm rejection' Stylus support The ability to capture signatures electronically Reasonable battery life Able to open/edit/save/print Office 3013 documents I'm thinking along the lines of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition but Samsung no longer sell them direct as they have moved to the Pro version...which appears to be only available as wi-fi only (no 3g/4g version available yet) and in the larger 12.2" size. No doubt the other versions will follow in due course but I'm looking for something now. I can still get the 2014 version through retail / online stores but it seems silly to buy something that appears to have already been superseded by a later version. Any suggestions? 1
ZeroHour Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Just to say the Nokia Lumia 2520 supports 3g/4g and its Windows RT.
Arthur Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) We need connectivity through 3g/4g Does the 3G/4G connectivity have to be provided by the tablet? i.e. could you get a WiFi hotspot? Edited February 18, 2014 by Arthur
DavePa Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 Does the 3G/4G connectivity have to be provided by the tablet? i.e. could you get a WiFi hotspot? Thanks for the reply but unfortunately it does, we tried a cheap Android tablet just as 'proof of concept' and one of the key objections was the requirement to have either a USB 3g card or access to a phone-provided wi-fi hotspot. Inbuilt 3g/4g support is key which is a shame as otherwise we would have more options!
DavePa Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 Just to say the Nokia Lumia 2520 supports 3g/4g and its Windows RT. Hmmmm, interesting. I'll have to take a 2nd look at these, I was given to understand that 3g/4g support was not feasible on a RT tablet. Do you know if it is via a SIM (like an iPad/Nexus7) or is it via an external device (like some cheaper tablets)? There is a certain appeal to Windows RT although not sure it has much future as most companies seem to have abandoned it
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Hi @DavePa, how about a VeryPC Windows Tablet with dockable keyboard? It's configure to order so you can get as much spec as you need for your budget, 13 hour battery life and we sell and provide support for a 3G module and you can specify your own choice of Windows O/S so just load on a copy of Office and away you go.
DavePa Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) Hi @DavePa, how about a VeryPC Windows Tablet with dockable keyboard? It's configure to order so you can get as much spec as you need for your budget, 13 hour battery life and we sell and provide support for a 3G module and you can specify your own choice of Windows O/S so just load on a copy of Office and away you go. Would it support all of the requirements I listed in my 1st post? One of the key things for us is inbuilt 3g support (or 4g if that's all that's available). I suspect having to load a copy of Office is going to push the price up compared to using one of the free apps available on other platforms but if you think price would be comparable to the Samsung (Around £500 for the hardware, most apps are free/low cost) then I'd certainly be interested, particularly if it offers the stylus/handwriting/signature capture functionality that the Samsung does Edited February 18, 2014 by DavePa Typo :(
Arthur Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) Any suggestions? Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 (Model: N3S25UK or N3S6JUK)? It meets almost all of the criteria in your first post (3G, 10.1" LCD with Digitizer & Pen, Office 2013 inc. OneNote, ~10 hour battery life). Specs: www.lenovo.com/shop/emea/content/pdf/Tablet/ThinkPad/en/thinkpad-tablet2-datasheet.pdf Edited February 19, 2014 by Arthur
burgemaster Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 No keyboard Were in the same boat. In trials staff like the surface rt. But need 3g for some
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 Would it support all of the requirements I listed in my 1st post? One of the key things for us is inbuilt 3g support (or 4g if that's all that's available). I suspect having to load a copy of Office is going to push the price up compared to using one of the free apps available on other platforms but if you think price would be comparable to the Samsung (Around £500 for the hardware, most apps are free/low cost) then I'd certainly be interested, particularly if it offers the stylus/handwriting/signature capture functionality that the Samsung does Yeah I guess if you're a school access to Office 2013 can be cheap but it doesn't come preloaded on Windows. There's no digitizer pen bundled with it until July time when the Haswell version is released but it works with any off the shelf stylus and there is a built in slot to accommodate one. I'm at £390 for an 11.1" 10 point multitouch tablet with Dual core Celeron 2 x 1.5GHz, 4GB, 64GB mSATA SSD, Windows 8 64 BIT OEM, keyboard dock & cover (70 hour battery life). Add £40 for a 3G Module for Mobile Internet.
Binz Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) You might want to think about setting up a remote desktop server, that way you can work in the same environment as the rest of your network, utilising the full range of windows programs, we have just started to roll this out for teachers and the response couldn’t have been more positive, the other advantage of this is that this can be used on ios, android as well as windows. Hardware, I am a big fan of the Samsung note series which obviously runs on the latest version of android and meets all of your requirements. Resources, As we know apple like to tie up the market to prevent competition, however google seem to be challenging this at least in the US with the launch of google play for education which I can’t wait to see in the UK as I believe this will level the playing field somewhat which can only be a good thing. 3G/4G, Couldn’t you tether to a phone or some other device like a myfi, it seems a shame to narrow your search just to meet this criteria Edited February 19, 2014 by Binz 1
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Morning @DavePa. I can now confirm we can supply a version of our tablet with the digitizer pen included and palm rejection for signing digital documents, and integrated 3G, so can now meet all of your original requirements. Cheers, Col
DavePa Posted February 24, 2014 Author Posted February 24, 2014 Morning @DavePa. I can now confirm we can supply a version of our tablet with the digitizer pen included and palm rejection for signing digital documents, and integrated 3G, so can now meet all of your original requirements. Cheers, Col Sounds interesting but can't see it on your website? Also, what sort of price are we looking at?
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Yes, unfortunately not on there yet. :-( Will PM you pricing and availability as currently working through it all this week.
abillybob Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Could you post a picture of the device? Sounds good for us, something to pass onto the head!!Hi @DavePa, how about a VeryPC Windows Tablet with dockable keyboard? It's configure to order so you can get as much spec as you need for your budget, 13 hour battery life and we sell and provide support for a 3G module and you can specify your own choice of Windows O/S so just load on a copy of Office and away you go.
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Not a problem. Feast your eyes on my new family member
abillybob Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Cheers and this can run Windows 8.1 Pro if you'd like it to??? If that is the case how much would it cost to have 8.1 pro installed? Haha sorry for hijacking the thread!Not a problem. Feast your eyes on my new family member [ATTACH=CONFIG]22979[/ATTACH]
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 No probs chap. Typically £60 for a 7 HP or 8 or 8.1 OEM 32/64 bit. I love it, it's my favourite product at the moment, even above the Glide AIO.
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