Thinking of buying a Windows 8 Tablet for my next mobile PC - suggestions?

[CurseTheSky]

Things I'm looking for:

• Small / relatively light (10-12" screen)
• GOOD battery life (at least 7 hours)
• Decently fast (is Atom sufficient, or should I go Core i5? This will primary be an email / PHP coding machine, but I also don't want to have slow-downs when switching between programs)
• Good screen / resolution (IPS or similar, prefer better than 1366x768)
• Full Windows 8, not RT / Android / etc.

I'd also prefer something that charges via micro USB, if such a device exists. Finally, the cheaper the better, but I'd spend up to $1000 for the right device. I'd prefer to keep it in the $500-600 range.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[poofyhairguy]

Biggest suggestion: Get something with Haswell. Atom is a joke in 2013. Any of the current pre-Haswell tech is a poor fit in a tablet- you won't get the battery life you want. Basically you want what hasn't hit the market just yet.

I would wait for something like this:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/06/hp-fanless-intel-haswell-tablet/

 

[Whiskey16]

Biggest suggestion: Get something with Haswell. Atom is a joke in 2013.

A poor recommendation. Most are satisfied with what is sufficient. From his expressed needs you are recommending more than his requirements and therefore offering little more than a shorter battery life for a much higher cost.

Clovertrail is proving fine for me in most of my portable computing (Acer W510). A higher resolution would be nice, but one will have to wait until the end of summer/fall to see what the next generation systems will offer.

...hell, for consumption use, I'm also quite happy with an even slower Asus Vivotab RT -- I love its bright super IPS display for relaxing use in the backyard this summer.

...I won't consider a tablet that lacks a keyboard dock. Hybrids are the way.

 

[Crono]

Lenovo Miix:
http://www.gizmag.com/lenovo-miix/28037/

Not out yet, but it seems to be the perfect device. Otherwise for right now I would get a Latitude 10. Both are at 1366 x 768, but most Windows 8 tablets are because of Microsoft designing the Start screen to that spec. Windows 8.1 tablets (not out yet) have better scaling with higher resolutions, but for the most part a 1366 x 768 IPS tablet looks great, better than you would expect, in part because of the tile (modern/"Metro") interface. You wouldn't want 1080p when in the desktop interface, not until 8.1 at least.

A poor recommendation. Most are satisfied with what is sufficient. From his expressed needs you are recommending more than his requirements and therefore offering little more than a shorter battery life for a much higher cost.

Clovertrail is proving fine for me in most of my portable computing (Acer W510). A higher resolution would be nice, but one will have to wait until the end of summer/fall to see what the next generation systems will offer.

...hell, for consumption use, I'm also quite happy with an even slower Asus Vivotab RT -- I love its bright super IPS display for relaxing use in the backyard this summer.

...I won't consider a tablet that lacks a keyboard dock. Hybrids are the way.

I agree. If someone needs a lot of power for stuff like simple video editing on the go or for heavy multitasking, then I would definitely wait for Haswell tablets. But for browsing and coding Atom and ARM based tablets (Win 8 and RT) are sufficient. No use in buying a sledgehammer when a regular hammer will do the job.

 

[poofyhairguy]

A poor recommendation. Most are satisfied with what is sufficient. From his expressed needs you are recommending more than his requirements and therefore offering little more than a shorter battery life for a much higher cost.

Atoms simply don't provide a good enough full windows experience IMHO. The GPU is worse than most flagship ARM SoCs, and the technology hasn't changed in five years.

I have a bunch of Atoms, I know them well. They are good for certain tasks (HTPCs) but even my overclocked ION netbook (so more GPU and CPU power than any current Atom tablet) is a chore to use when doing many Windosy tasks.

Haswell is the CPU Intel built for tablets. Until we have a newer Atom to match, it is the best option for x86 on a tablet again IMHO.

 

[zerogear]

Only thing I can recommend is Yoga 13, or Helix, and Surface Pro. though if you can wait, I would wait until these devices get updates, such as Haswell or Temash.

 

[Joe1986]

With all due respect to Windows 8 fans, wait at least for the 2nd gen, with Haswell CPU's at the minimum.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Sadly I don't think any ideal Windows 8 tablet or convertible exists yet.

The Atom tablets are pretty weak. They are fine with Modern UI apps, but desktop apps are kinda pokey. Office 2013 works nice, but Chrome is slow. Also 1366x768 is disappointing. I'd rather have a 1080p resolution display (and Atoms can't support that now).

I've had a few Atom tablets, the Samsung 500T, ASUS ME400, and Lenovo Lynx. I think the Samsung 500T might be one of the better tablet/convertibles. It wasn't so great as just a tablet because it's a bit on the heavy side (for Atom) and the glossy plastic back is slippery. But it's really nice that it has a full sized USB port on the tablet and the keyboard is nice to type on.

The ASUS ME400 is okay if you just want a tablet, but sadly has no keyboard dock.

The Lenovo Lynx is ugly, style looks dated, but it's super cheap. Unfortunately the keyboard dock is the worst keyboard ever, I couldn't type on this for a damn.

Real shame Samsung's 500T didn't have a soft touch back something to make it less slippery or might be nearly the perfect Atom tablet.


Sadly there are no Haswell tablets or even convertibles out yet. I like the 11 inch size, so kinda looking forward to the Yoga 11S when it comes out with a Haswell chip. The Lenovo Twist is even more affordable (no Haswell here either yet), unfortunately the hinge is a bit ugly.

 

[arod]

I really think a haswell based surface pro 2 is going to be the device that finally wins people over. I would wait for that.

 

[zerogear]

Surface Pro 2 is rumored to use Temash, not Haswell.

 

[dagamer34]

Things I'm looking for:

• Small / relatively light (10-12" screen)
• GOOD battery life (at least 7 hours)
• Decently fast (is Atom sufficient, or should I go Core i5? This will primary be an email / PHP coding machine, but I also don't want to have slow-downs when switching between programs)
• Good screen / resolution (IPS or similar, prefer better than 1366x768)
• Full Windows 8, not RT / Android / etc.

I'd also prefer something that charges via micro USB, if such a device exists. Finally, the cheaper the better, but I'd spend up to $1000 for the right device. I'd prefer to keep it in the $500-600 range.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

You need to decide if you want a "good" tablet or a "great" one. Microsoft is the only company making tablets with quality hardware design. I don't think there's anyone else who would say Microsoft is the only company to match the quality of the iPad.

If you're doing any coding, I assume at some point you may want to eventually use a second screen, which eliminates any Atom tablets. Even with next-generation Atom, I wouldn't run multi-monitor on them.

If you had to buy today, I'd say Surface Pro. If you can wait (and you REALLY should), I'd go with Surface Pro 2. It's gonna cost $999, but it'll be worth it and will meet all of the needs on your list.

 

[dagamer34]

Surface Pro 2 is rumored to use Temash, not Haswell.

There's only one source for that rumor: @MSNerd on Twitter. And with the results we are seeing from Haswell, I think they'd be dumb not to use it in the Surface Pro.

Also, Temash and Haswell don't compete with each other. Temash is an Atom (Bay Trail) competitor (both are focused on low power). Kabini and Kaveri compete with Haswell. Besides the 8" Qualcomm RT tablet, I expect 2 10" x86 tablets, one low-power (likely Temash), the other performance oriented (likely Haswell). Bay Trail won't be ready until end of Q4, which is way too late to launch a holiday product in volume, which is why Temash will be used (ready now).

 

[podspi]

Unless you NEED it right now, I'd wait for the next-gen Atoms. Haswell is pretty nice, but for a tablet it isn't going to have the best batterylife and most won't passively cooled.

Next-gen Atom should be more comparable to Bobcat/Jaguar performance, which isn't impressive but is into good-enough territory, while delivering pretty awesome battery life (which the current Atom already does).

 

[IamDavid]

Lenovo Helix. Amazing device. I'll never look back. I can even do some pretty good gaming on it.