Jump to content

Which tablet?

DavePa

By DavePa
in Mobile Devices & Tablets

 Share

Recommended Posts

DavePa

DavePa

Posted
Posted

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the 2014 version through retail / online stores but it seems silly to buy something that appears to have already been superseded by a later version.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?

  • Thanks 1
DavePa

DavePa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
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

DavePa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
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

VeryPC_Colin_M

Posted
Posted
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

DavePa

Posted
  • Author
Posted (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 by DavePa
Typo :(
VeryPC_Colin_M

VeryPC_Colin_M

Posted
Posted
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

Binz

Posted
Posted (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 by Binz
  • Thanks 1
DavePa

DavePa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
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?

abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted
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.
abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted
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]

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


×
×
  • Create New...