Laptop vs. Tablet education please...

[Wayne Evans]

Well.....

The wife has a 17" Dell laptop but for portability/weight reasons she desiring a tablet for Christmas.
I know absolutely nothing of tablets vs. laptops but want her to get what makes her happy but don't want to blow half a grand and find out I've not considered all pros/cons.

From my brief reading this morning I'm seeing that they usually offer less RAM (2 gig - she likes ******** games) and less storage (IE: 64 gig).
Although their displays seem highly touted.

I checked the Dell site first because I have purchased from them three times previously.
I'd like to stay below 500$ if possible which is about the price of the Dell 10.8" screen.
(http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-...l-venue-11-pro)

If I need to go above 500$ based on responses here so be it....but, that's getting close to the price of another laptop!

So....I'll inquire with this think tank for some education:

Pros/cons to be aware of prior to purchase?
Brand recommendations or ones to stay away from?
Connectivity, availability of ports (IE: USB, etc.)
Anything I've missed?

We're probably off to Fry's to check out some alternatives this weekend.
Oh...I'm not an Apple guy.

Many thanks to any that chime in with some G2 on my query.

"I'll be bock"....

[Fishman15]

Well.....

The wife has a 17" Dell laptop but for portability/weight reasons she desiring a tablet for Christmas.
I know absolutely nothing of tablets vs. laptops but want her to get what makes her happy but don't want to blow half a grand and find out I've not considered all pros/cons.

From my brief reading this morning I'm seeing that they usually offer less RAM (2 gig - she likes ******** games) and less storage (IE: 64 gig).
Although their displays seem highly touted.

I checked the Dell site first because I have purchased from them three times previously.
I'd like to stay below 500$ if possible which is about the price of the Dell 10.8" screen.
(http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-...l-venue-11-pro)

If I need to go above 500$ based on responses here so be it....but, that's getting close to the price of another laptop!

So....I'll inquire with this think tank for some education:

Pros/cons to be aware of prior to purchase?
Brand recommendations or ones to stay away from?
Connectivity, availability of ports (IE: USB, etc.)
Anything I've missed?

We're probably off to Fry's to check out some alternatives this weekend.
Oh...I'm not an Apple guy.

Many thanks to any that chime in with some G2 on my query.

"I'll be bock"....

I also have a 17" dell laptop. Part of the reason I needed shoulder surgery this year...not srs...well kinda srs. Dang that thing is heavy when you have it in one hand far away from your body. Am going with a 15" next time for sure. Those little tablets are too small for me but maybe fine for your wife. Good luck on your search...

[Wayne Evans]

I also have a 17" dell laptop. Part of the reason I needed shoulder surgery this year...not srs...well kinda srs. Good luck on your search...

Ha....no shvt...big screen but is a bit weighty for my wife to carry with her when visiting family a couple hours away.

Thanks for the bump....

[Phattso]

I have a 15" DELL XPS laptop. Very nice. I bought it because it is easier to lug around airports and any traveling.

I wouldn't mind a tablet with accessories like a keyboard and mouse for even better traveling. I can live with minimal RAM and storage.

RAM and storage are useful only if you need it. For business, no. For home use and if you need for games, then maybe yes.

[Wayne Evans]

I wouldn't mind a tablet with accessories like a keyboard and mouse for even better traveling. I can live with minimal RAM and storage.
RAM and storage are useful only if you need it. For business, no. For home use and if you need for games, then maybe yes.

Hey Phattso....

That's my real concern....she likes to play ******** games and my fear is the 2gig RAM max on these tablets could be problematic for playing online ******** games.
A great waste of bucks if she can't play her games without RAM connectivity issues.

Thanks for commenting.....

[Corbi]

I have a Samsung 10.1 tablet and love it, the only negative is there are no ports for USB connections. Co-worker picked up a Dell and it's nice but for over twice the price of mine it isn't that nice.

[Wayne Evans]

I have a Samsung 10.1 tablet and love it, the only negative is there are no ports for USB connections. Co-worker picked up a Dell and it's nice but for over twice the price of mine it isn't that nice.

Hey Corbi.....

The current 8" Dell I'm looking at has a '1 x Micro-AB USB2.0' at $339 buckaroos.
Apparently a different USB connecter type than the laptop type connecter, maybe similar to cameras and the like but I'm guessing.
Good to know that I can check the Samung line too.

Thanks for chiming in....need all the help I can muster. (on spread for contributing)

EDIT: correction....the USB I referred to on the Dell is the AC charger...not an actual USB port. I'm an idiot.

[frozensparky]

Games have been no problem on any of my tablets. I have 1 ipad gen 2, 2 iPad minis, and my boy has an ACER tablet as well. All play any games we've ever tried no problems.

I haven't seen any tablets with USB ports before , most you have to hook to your home computer to transfer things on and off of it unless you download straight off the internet over wifi.

Edit: Logan's acer actually has a slot for an SD card so I'm thinking there could be units out there with usb capabilities.

A pro of the apple products I like is being able to stream content to my tv with the use of my Apple TV

[Wayne Evans]

Games have been no problem on any of my tablets. I have 1 ipad gen 2, 2 iPad minis, and my boy has an ACER tablet as well. All play any games we've ever tried no problems.

Howdy frozensparky....

Thanks for addressing my gaming question which was the important one prior to purchase.

Been researching and just saw the Dell Venue 10.8" has a standard USB 3.0 port.
Yes.....that sombitch is 499 clams but I figure generally speaking a happy wife is a happy life.
(You know how it goes sometimes....I still want to chase her around the pad with her maintaining the attitude of wanting to get caught )
Interest only: http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-...ro#AnchorZone4

Thanks for the specifics.....(shvt...on spread for your comments)

[StressMonkey]

Oh...I'm not an Apple guy.

I thought that this was for your wife. :P

Once I got my tablet my laptop (Chromebook) started collecting dust. There's just so much fun, free, interesting content out there. It's so much more convenient for me to use voice dictation also instead of typing.

[angrypenguin54]

Tablets and Laptops really occupy two different spaces.

Tablets are great for surfing, social media (including any ******** games), digital media, basically anything really non-productive you like to do with technology.

The benefits for laptops/PCs are mainly for productivity such as Office applications, etc. Or true PC gaming.

If your wife is using a smart phone, I would look to get a similar tablet as there will be familiarity and carry over on apps used. Samsung Tab, Google Nexus and Sony are all good tablets.

[Wayne Evans]

I thought that this was for your wife. :P Once I got my tablet my laptop (Chromebook) started collecting dust. There's just so much fun, free, interesting content out there. It's so much more convenient for me to use voice dictation also instead of typing.

Ha...good catch.
Tis for the wife but I'm the one that deals with any computer issues and not at all interested in delving into the Apple fold.
She visits her family somewhat frequently (couple hour drive) and the 17" Dell was getting a bit cumbersome and heavy for her to lug around being a petite Filipino.

Yeah...that dictation stuff on the market is pretty interesting.
Probably overkill for a songwriter like myself.

angrypenquin54....
She does have a smartphone and is on Verizon.
We're heading to Fry's Electronics on Saturday and will check out your suggestions.
IMO....these sorts of commodities are not impulse buys for me....one must educate ones self and actually hold it in one's anxious hands.

Thanks for commenting gents....

[StressMonkey]

Ha...good catch.
Tis for the wife but I'm the one that deals with any computer issues and not at all interested in delving into the Apple fold.
She visits her family somewhat frequently (couple hour drive) and the 17" Dell was getting a bit cumbersome and heavy for her to lug around being a petite Filipino.

Yeah...that dictation stuff on the market is pretty interesting.
Probably overkill for a songwriter like myself.

Voice dictation is built in these days.

http://www.howtogeek.com/177387/use-...hone-and-ipad/

Speaking of cumbersome, another nice thing about tablets is that the TSA doesn't require you to take them out of your carry-on bags like you have to do with laptops.

[Wayne Evans]

Voice dictation is built in these days. Speaking of cumbersome, another nice thing about tablets is that the TSA doesn't require you to take them out of your carry-on bags like you have to do with laptops.

Incredible....technology continues to amaze this old bird.

Back in 1996 or music recording technology made a leap I would have never anticipated.
I read an article called 'The Tapeless Studio' and one could record vocal/instruments in real time on one's hard drive.
My music program at the time (Cakewalk 5.0) provided the ability to record (4) digital recording tracks...I couldn't believe it, not that my DAW was capable of doing it reliably.
Of course, there were RAM/hard disk limitations at that time but still quite a leap.

In 2000 I never thought that web surfing, taking pics, having on board GPS and making movies from a Smartphone would occur in my lifetime.

Thanks....carry on....

[Frnkd]

Incredible....technology continues to amaze this old bird.

Back in 1996 or music recording technology made a leap I would have never anticipated.
I read an article called 'The Tapeless Studio' and one could record vocal/instruments in real time on one's hard drive.
My music program at the time (Cakewalk 5.0) provided the ability to record (4) digital recording tracks...I couldn't believe it, not that my DAW was capable of doing it reliably.
Of course, there were RAM/hard disk limitations at that time but still quite a leap.

In 2000 I never thought that web surfing, taking pics, having on board GPS and making movies from a Smartphone would occur in my lifetime.

Thanks....carry on....

Garage Band is an Apple product look into it. I used it on my iPad to create "karaoke" type accompaniments. I find when talking to non-apple people they arent aware of how much easier it is to create music and movies (iMovie) to make music and video, IMO have not found comparable on strictly window products. Programs like Finale (for music) can be found in both formats, Final Cut ProX (movie making upgrade from iMovie).

[myProgress]

Tablets are good to take in a purse and check your email, weather, browse, and play games. Nothing else. No work will really be done on it. Not saying business work can't be done, but a laptop is much better.
Get a Mac laptop its light and powerful.
Very easy to use

[frozensparky]

Tablets are good to take in a purse and check your email, weather, browse, and play games. Nothing else. No work will really be done on it.

Really depends on how much a person wants to focus on their work. Our operators carry iPads with them in their fields. They can log onto wells to gather their daily numbers, log their compressors and even remotely control their wells. The only reason I even carry a laptop anymore is to program PLCs.

But by the sounds of it OPs wife will be using it more for games and ********.

[Wayne Evans]

Garage Band is an Apple product look into it. I used it on my iPad to create "karaoke" type accompaniments. I find when talking to non-apple people they arent aware of how much easier it is to create music and movies (iMovie) to make music and video, IMO have not found comparable on strictly window products. Programs like Finale (for music) can be found in both formats, Final Cut ProX (movie making upgrade from iMovie).

Thanks Frnkd....(on spread)
But, Apple is not a direction I've ever gravitated to.
I've been a PC guy for far too long and even built many of my own (DAW/home use) systems until 2005.
All that work is just unnecessary these days from my perspective.
I'm on Sonar X3PE now and it's depth, recording abilities and lack of any real limitations far exceeds my knowledge at this juncture.
I also have Finale when the free version came out many years ago but I really don't have a need for it as I don't write in that fashion.

Myprogress....
That's exactly what my better half needs it for.
To me, having a USB & HDMI port is a necessary flexibility I'm willing to pay for so I'll have to go the the 10" screen size.
I know many love their Apple products but IMO they are far too pricey regardless of how the price points are justified.
What ever gets our job done as they all have their place.

Thanks all....

[Geoff Richards]

Hey Wayne

in my opinion I sum it up as a laptop is a computer and a tablet is a computing type device,neither is better than the other outright
it basically depends on your needs.

that being said I use an Imac at home but love Android and have a Asus transformer tablet which has a physical keyboard that the screen
can detach from (the unit folds shut just like a laptop),the beauty of this is both the screen and keyboard have their own built in batteries
so if you are using the tablet with the keyboard attached the power to tun it comes from the keyboard first and then from the screen lastly

By doing this if needed and the keyboard needs charging you just flick a little lock button,detach the screen,plug the keyboard in to charge
and go right ahead using the screen on it's own.

The tablet also has a usb port so it's easy to transfer files etc if you don't want to send to Dropbox or similar and then download them.

We don't use the tablet a lot unless we are away but when we do we are always very happy with it

[rkt84]

I just burned an American flag.

[mikieson]

laptops generally have more power,upgrade options,and have more hookups "hdmi,multiple USB,etc",larger screens..they can be more of a desktop replacement..A tablet is nice for most things you want to do on your smartphone but a larger screen..Normally dont have any inputs,and not upgradeable..BOTH serve different purposes really.

[vakrka]

I have a Samsung galaxy 10.1
But as others have said it is just for entertainment not real work

[Wayne Evans]

Geoff...mikieson....vakrka.....

Along with the guidance here I've done a lot of reading the last couple of days and think I've got a better understanding now.
I think we're going with the Venue 11 Pro 10" for 499$ 64 gig with USB/mini HDMI port.
We both prefer the Windows type tablet choice.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-...l-venue-11-pro

Thanks to all for commenting.....(greenz on the way for the help if I'm not on spread)

[KyleMQuinn]

Samsung 10.1 or even a Microsoft Surface are about as powerful if not more than many laptops and much more convenient. The Microsoft Surface comes with Microsoft Word and Excel and all that good stuff and operates off windows 8+. I prefer my surface for school work and no personal training over a laptop anyday. There is also a laptop which folds into a tablet if you're looking for something she can carry but also has USB ports in them

Edit: didn't see that you already chose. My apologies

[StressMonkey]

Incredible....technology continues to amaze this old bird.

Back in 1996 or music recording technology made a leap I would have never anticipated.
I read an article called 'The Tapeless Studio' and one could record vocal/instruments in real time on one's hard drive.
My music program at the time (Cakewalk 5.0) provided the ability to record (4) digital recording tracks...I couldn't believe it, not that my DAW was capable of doing it reliably.
Of course, there were RAM/hard disk limitations at that time but still quite a leap.

In 2000 I never thought that web surfing, taking pics, having on board GPS and making movies from a Smartphone would occur in my lifetime.

Thanks....carry on....

I remember in the early 90's the first time I heard a full length, CD-quality song that was stored on a computer and it blew me away. I think at that time my dad's cell phone was the kind you carry around in a bag. Sometimes the things I can do with my 1 pound tablet seem like science fiction to me, especially the group video chatting.

[Wayne Evans]

Edit: didn't see that you already chose. My apologies

No apology necessary.....thanks for commenting.
I'll throw you some greenz later as I'm maxed out for today.

[Wayne Evans]

Sometimes the things I can do with my 1 pound tablet seem like science fiction to me

Ha...I hear you.
Definitely 'science fiction' to me too.

I remember watching the movie 'Lost In Space' went it came out (late 90's IIRC) and that young daughter had a wrist watch with a camera and talking to it.
I thought to self...'wouldn't that be a cool device'.
Well...they're here now and it happened in my lifetime.
Astonishing technology.

Carry on....

[Dave76]

Well...they're here now and it happened in my lifetime.
Astonishing technology.

Dick Tracy had the same watch years earlier. And Maxwell Smart had a shoe phone. I always wanted that technology and now I have it.

Just remember, whichever tablet you buy will have more computing power than was available to NASA on the moon landings.

[Wayne Evans]

Dick Tracy had the same watch years earlier. And Maxwell Smart had a shoe phone. I always wanted that technology and now I have it.
Just remember, whichever tablet you buy will have more computing power than was available to NASA on the moon landings.

Yeah....even those old shows had the 'science fiction' technology.
Incredible stuff re: your NASA comparison.

Thanks for chiming in....

[Phattso]

Geoff...mikieson....vakrka.....

Along with the guidance here I've done a lot of reading the last couple of days and think I've got a better understanding now.
I think we're going with the Venue 11 Pro 10" for 499$ 64 gig with USB/mini HDMI port.
We both prefer the Windows type tablet choice.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-...l-venue-11-pro

Thanks to all for commenting.....(greenz on the way for the help if I'm not on spread)

Nice choice, Wayne.

On spread