Tablets, pads, transformers and so on

Defiant306 · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:34

So the mobile computing format thats bigger than a phone is starting to shine through.

But I wonder is there anyone else like me who's holding out for a Windows based version so they dont have to deal with another OS and the application costs also their way of navigation and control over what you can and cant do with the device?

I just wonder cause thats whats holding me back from buy something like this.

PhillyDee · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:42

I really still have not found a use for a tablet computer. Apart from media and presentations etc, they are not much use. I could not replace my laptop with one, as they are not great for typing fast on, and is completely useless for doing CAD / Design work on.

Defiant306 · 16 Jun 2011 at 23:08

I cant stand laptops, I only ever use them when I need to access data from a off site location or somewhere like a server room or comms node.

A tablet with a breakout set of connections would do the same job and maybe better since the form format is better for carrying about.

theheyes · 16 Jun 2011 at 23:55

The longer you wait for a tablet the better your experience is likely to be. It's taken Microsoft a long time to get serious about the form factor and history tells us the first wave of products that are going to ship out with Windows 8 will probably be nothing to write home about. Then you've got the latencies involved in creating an app store and porting applications to ARM if you choose to use their processors. I also don't think Windows tablets are going to be able to even come close to the battery life of their equivalents, and there are still lots of unanswered questions.

I think it will be a start, but I don't think any Windows 8 tablets will acheive parity with the competition. I think we're looking at Windows 9 before they really get rolling.

Defiant306 · 17 Jun 2011 at 13:06

theheyes said:
The longer you wait for a tablet the better your experience is likely to be. It's taken Microsoft a long time to get serious about the form factor and history tells us the first wave of products that are going to ship out with Windows 8 will probably be nothing to write home about. Then you've got the latencies involved in creating an app store and porting applications to ARM if you choose to use their processors. I also don't think Windows tablets are going to be able to even come close to the battery life of their equivalents, and there are still lots of unanswered questions.

I think it will be a start, but I don't think any Windows 8 tablets will acheive parity with the competition. I think we're looking at Windows 9 before they really get rolling.

I was thinking like you but the version of windows I was thinking about was 7 since we know there is tablets out there running it but arent either for sale or are very expensive.

All in all I think Microsoft have been sly about this form factor and I wonder if its because they are quietly putting in the background structure or already have when they went public with WP7.

I would recon that we will see Application store for Windows 8 PC platform as a whole as each side (apple, google and co) each try to lock in punters into there little islands.

Time will tell but I wont discount MS, they have done very well with the Xbox 360, WP7 and coming back from the brink that was Vista with 7.

While I'm not their greatest of fans, I still respect there resurgance of late.

dekez · 17 Jun 2011 at 17:12

I like the idea of them, but they seem to me to be mainly a "must have gadget".

I'm not getting one yet as there is nothing they offer that I can't get on a netbook or my phone at the moment. By the time they get useful enough for me to be interested, ie decent full windows operating system, phones will probably getting near to the same level anyway.

Destination · 17 Jun 2011 at 18:36

Was hoping to buy a windows tablet for exactly the reasons the OP mentioned, but 2010 was meant to be year of the tablet, and now halfway through 2011 there isn't enough competition, there are some windows 7 tablets but they have issues.

Last week she got an ipad2, and it is great for purpose.
As soon as I read on the apple hardware forums that I could wirelessly link in stuff from my main PC in /mkv file format and play it seemlessly using ADplayerHD an app costing £1.79 I went ahead.

Now it means we can sit in bed with the child, i can flip browse net or watch movie etc without needing to be at my main PC, same thing in livingroom, around teh house, even out in the garden, and with a nice letaher protector brought separately I am happy it won't be easily damaged and remain useful.

I would have went windows, but thye are just too slow to launch.