RobFrain Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Hi We have a PE staff member who has said she has the money to purchase a Surface Pro 3 for school and I just wanted to see if there was an alternative. We are an RM CC4 school and she wishes to join it to the network. She wants to be able to take photos and share straight into her user area and staff shared area. Ideally we'd build it to Windows7 , but if we must Windows 8. Any suggestions - as my knowledge on tablets isn't great! Thanks in advance
Snuffkins Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) I must admit I sceptically had a surface pro 3 to replace my laptop and desktop at work. I can't really fault it personally. We've got a few in now and they are received very well. I wonder though if perhaps the member of staff in question needs that spec tablet? If they didn't, depending on what it's being used for, an Atom based tablet might be fine for them. It would certainly save a fair amount if that were the case. I would say if it's just for normal day to day tasks etc. on top of the photographic use, then it would be ok. Certainly worth checking. We've just had some TerraPads from VeryPC, which seem pretty good and very reasonable as well. Might be worth a look. Other than that you've got a lot of tablet options you could go for, from Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo. Based on experience so far though the Surface is very good and so is the VeryPC TerraPad. Edited March 18, 2015 by Snuffkins 1
Oaktech Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Does it have to a straight tablet? would a Lenovo Yoga be appropriate?
Sagima Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 We have half a dozen surface pro 3s. DT and SMT. The biggest complaint is how rubbish the camera is (never even checked it - who takes pictures with a tablet?), followed by drive space (probably my fault as I didn't check how large their offline files were - setting up work folders during easter on a sd card to compensate) and finally that the image resizes to match the projector rather than just projecting the screen like the old laptops used to. They do like the flip around keyboard. We have a lot of lenovo miix 2 i3's as well. They've been received slightly better but almost everyone complains about the screen size being too small and having to abandon the keyboard somewhere when using it as a tablet. Strangely the surface pro 1's we got are universally loved but we don't have many and I would have thought they would have the same flaws.
clareq Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 I've just set up a couple of Dell Venue Pros - deployed the first one today, so should get some feedback next week.
Oaktech Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 I've just set up a couple of Dell Venue Pros - deployed the first one today, so should get some feedback next week. We've got one Dell Venue Pro 11, and if the head is to be believed it's a crock of . However, in the hands of someone else who remembers the instruction to reboot between leaving school and connecting at home to clear the proxy it's a pretty nifty little machine.
suec Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I spoke to our RM Sales Rep (he is an ex technician) the other day and the same question. He said a few schools had asked lately and he was going to feed back to see if they build a package. Might be worth logging an interest as the more schools that ask, the more we are likely to get it a package.
wedemire Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Does she want to take pictures with the computer? The Thinkpad Yoga is a great machine, nicer to use than the surface pro in my opinion but doesn't have the rear camera. The Dell Venues aren't as good, especially the pen compared to the Wacom/n-trig if she is interested in that. The charging port on the Venues is awful. We have a Venue 11 with keyboard and a Venue 8 that we bought when they launched. The venue 8 won't charge anymore and our Venue 11 randomly reboots when connecting or disconnecting to the keyboard. Surface Pro would be the best bet for a rear camera computer on the domain. I used a surface pro first gen for a year and have demoed a surface pro 3.
arwen Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) I've just set up a couple of Dell Venue Pros - deployed the first one today, so should get some feedback next week. I trialled the venue Pro's at the end of last year. Over the course of 4 months I had 3 of them. Not one of them were up to standard in my mind. They all overheated, fans on full blast every other minute, they would frequently crash when you undocked them or added/removed the keyboard part. The screen would occasionally not respond to touches (yet the keyboard/touchpad would work) Personally, if you have need of a windows tablet and have the money then always go the Surface Pro route. I have yet to see anything come close to it's robustness and general non-annoyingness. Edited March 23, 2015 by arwen spelling
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Hi We have a PE staff member who has said she has the money to purchase a Surface Pro 3 for school and I just wanted to see if there was an alternative. We are an RM CC4 school and she wishes to join it to the network. She wants to be able to take photos and share straight into her user area and staff shared area. Ideally we'd build it to Windows7 , but if we must Windows 8. Any suggestions - as my knowledge on tablets isn't great! Thanks in advance Hi @RobFrain we do indeed have a brilliant surface pro 3 alternative for a lot less money! Feel free to get in touch (my email should be in my sig) and I'll be delighted to help. We have some instructions on how to deploy our windows 8.1 devices onto RM CC4 too without the general kerfuffle. Ta, Col
hyb80 Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Two days off sick working from home on my current laptop has highlighted something I already knew, i need a new one. Really fancied a surface pro but I think given my role I need to still have a Ethernet port. Anyone know of anything similar but still got a ethernet port?
Snuffkins Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 (edited) Really fancied a surface pro but I think given my role I need to still have a Ethernet port. Anyone know of anything similar but still got a Ethernet port? Could you use a dock with an Ethernet port? I use one at work with my Surface Pro and it's replaced my desktop nicely. I don't have any issues with it, run a couple of displays, admittedly one is connected to the tablet display port and the other is connected to the docks display port, but it works pretty well. I believe that some keyboard docks also had an Ethernet port on them like the Fujitsu Stylistics did, if a dock wasn't suitable. Alternatively i suppose you could use a USB to Ethernet adaptor... Edited March 24, 2015 by Snuffkins
gshaw Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 (edited) We have a Venue 11 with keyboard and a Venue 8 that we bought when they launched. The venue 8 won't charge anymore and our Venue 11 randomly reboots when connecting or disconnecting to the keyboard. Venue 11 Pro's had keyboard issues on the first batch, also any non-Atom versions of them seem to be more problematic. Our Atom 11 Pros have been OK, bar the usual Windows 8 sign in issues (stupid design with Microsoft accounts). They're now available in the Dell refurb store under £200 which is a good deal. For cheap and cheerful the Linx 10 with keyboard cover is worth considering too. I have a Surface Pro 3 at home, costly but easily the best hybrid device out there. Edited March 24, 2015 by gshaw
flyinghaggis Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 If all they want it for it taking photos you'd probably be better just buying a camera and an memory card reader for a regular PC/laptop. It's not really worth spending close to a grand just to save the couple of minutes it take to copy files from a camera onto the network. You'd get better quality images/videos aswell! Speaking of MS Surface I'm quite interested to see how things turn out with Windows 10 and the next gen Surface tablets. Hopefully they'll ditch the Windows RT/ARM version and replace it with one of the fancy new ultra low voltage fanless CPU's from Intel (as used in the new MacBook).
robjduk Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 You have the money sitting there for a surface Pro 3 then GET ONE! Well built, lightning quick and the teacher asked for it their self. People here are talking about linx tablets and atom processors and am willing to bet they are the same people who shop at lidl. Also they are dropping in price at the moment (even think if you order from MS store you get the keyboard thrown in).
flyinghaggis Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Hopefully they'll ditch the Windows RT/ARM version and replace it with one of the fancy new ultra low voltage fanless CPU's from Intel (as used in the new MacBook). Oooh, looks like somebody at MS is listening...... Microsoft is reportedly building a new lower-end Surface tablet
Arthur Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) Oooh, looks like somebody at MS is listening...... Perhaps it will be the Surface Mini which Microsoft didn't end up releasing last time (although obviously with updated specs)? Edited March 26, 2015 by Arthur
flyinghaggis Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I hope it isn't a mini-tablet. I personally don't see the appeal of running full Windows on a tablet smaller than 10-11". To me anything that size just feels like using a big phone. I'd be looking for something like at the current Surface with a fanless x86 CPU, 10-11" 1080p display and a £400-500 price tag depending on spec. MS could really use something like that to tempt people away from their iPads.
Arthur Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I hope it isn't a mini-tablet. I personally don't see the appeal of running full Windows on a tablet smaller than 10-11". It probably won't be larger than 10.1" because otherwise Microsoft won't be able to include a free copy of Office with the tablet. http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/24/mobile-versus-professional-thoughts-on-the-office-business 1
gshaw Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 10.1" is fine, make it Surface Pro 3 thickness with a lower-mid range CPU, 64GB storage with SD card slot for expansion and sell for £500 with keyboard... job done That said many of us have said this from the start going back to when the original Surface came out, whether they've learnt by now is another question entirely
BlueSkies Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Has anyone seen/used/bought any of these: Windows Pro 2-in-1 tablet - Prowise Are they any good? Any idea of pricing? This is the spec I copied and pasted from their website - not sure how it compares to the Surface Pro: [TR="class: even"] OS Windows Pro 8.1 32bit (free upgrade to Windows 10) [TR="class: odd"] Processor Intel® Atom™ Processor Z3735F (2M Cache, up to 1.83 GHz) [TR="class: even"] Screen 10.1" AHVA Panel 16:10 / 1280x800 [TR="class: odd"] Touch 10-point Capacitive Touch [TR="class: even"] RAM 2 GiB DDR3L RAM onboard [TR="class: odd"] Memory 32 GB eMMC SSD [TR="class: even"] Camera Front (2.0 MP) Rear (5.0 MP) [TR="class: odd"] Connectivity WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0 [TR="class: even"] I/O Mini USB 3.0, headphones, microSD card [TR="class: odd"] Battery 7500 mAh, Li-polymer (up to 9 hours) [TR="class: even"] Power supply 5V, 2A AC power adapter [TR="class: odd"] Light sensor No [TR="class: even"] G sensor Yes [TR="class: odd"] Accessories AC adapter [TR="class: even"] Warranty 3 Year
LeMarchand Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Has anyone seen/used/bought any of these: Windows Pro 2-in-1 tablet - Prowise Are they any good? Any idea of pricing? Looks similar to http://www.ergo.co.uk/Products/Tablets/Pages/TheErgoHybrid105.aspx . We had a demo, and it looked pretty good. Pricing was "on special" at the time, and was a bit north of £200. Maybe £250 normally? (Unless you're buying huge quantities).
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 10.1" is fine, make it Surface Pro 3 thickness with a lower-mid range CPU, 64GB storage with SD card slot for expansion and sell for £500 with keyboard... job done That said many of us have said this from the start going back to when the original Surface came out, whether they've learnt by now is another question entirely Hi @gshaw we do one that has all of this for under half that price.
gshaw Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 @VeryPC_Colin_M email me brochure please as there's no Windows tablets on your site 1
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 @VeryPC_Colin_M email me brochure please as there's no Windows tablets on your site Consider it done my man. Best, Col
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