Tablets 'n stuff

T

techathy

Active member
This is a techy/geeky question about tablets... you have been warned!

My current setup is a NAS box which holds all my files, a monster spec workstation PC, a small HTPC & a laptop. The laptop was the machine I used for heavy processing but that's now redundant due to the workstation & so could be replaced with something which is might lighter & lower powered, such as an 11-13" tablet with a >2.5k resolution. On the tablet I want to be able to playback any video format found on-line, be able to manage files via CIFS/SMB, use remote desktop to connect to the big workstation & SSH into unix machines (I will get a wireless keyboard). I know on paper an Android tablet (Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 13.3" for instance) can do all of this but it is it something that would be useable on a daily basis or is this asking too much? I have no experience of Android tablets or smartphones so I'm really unsure how useable a setup like this would be.
 
Something Windows RT Based?

Or dare I say something Apple based would suffice for the media consumption element. There are apps out there that allow you to ssh in to your machines as well.

Any sort of budget?

And is a tablet necessary or would a cheap-ish ultrabook be considered? (even greater flexibility for what OS you opt to run)
 
Yes they are pretty simple to use, IMO millions use them daily for this purpose, I dont myself as if I want to view on my tablet, I just transfer to my local storage and take it offline (on the tube etc).

Agree with the comment above re ultrabook but it all depends on budget and use.
 
Budget for me is what ever it costs, nothing needs replacing so if it takes a few months to get the money together it takes a few months. I've got my 2-in-1 ultrabook choice down to 2 laptops but I'm looking at sideways options to see if something non-obvious is the right way forward. Android tablets with a bluetooth keyboard on paper tick all the right boxes but are about half the price of 2-in-1 ultrabooks which do the same. My problem is I've not used an android device so I'm un-sure of the usability on a day-to-day basis.

NeilP, please don't use the A word near me... I've had enough of the iOS/OSX ecosystem and have spent the last 3 months getting into a position to abandon it!

Worth mentioning I've got a wide OS experience - Windows, *BSD, iOS, OSX, various Linux flavours, etc. just no Android experience.
 
To transition from Windows / Linux to Android is very simple, the thing that puts me off using my tablet a lot of the time is the inflexibility of many of my legacy apps.

For example:
- I cant play certain games like championship manager / international cricket captain / red alert,
- I cant use powerpoint, excel, outlook in the same ease as my desktop allows me,
- I cant download using *other* services that I can via windows,
- the RDP tools are not as user friendly as the native windows one,
- my work vpn's are not compatible,
- certain web apps do not display in the same nice large format due to mobile viewing / screen size restrictions,
- long typing on touch screens can be cumbersome

Dont get me wrong I could do all alot of these things on the tablet I have (Nexus 7 2013 model) but its just not quite as easy / proficcient as on a larger windows based unit. I've had the same issue with my old UMPC / Netbooks too:

- OQO Model 01
- Asus EEE PC 701 (7 inch version)
- Advent 4211 (10" version of the MSI Wind re-shelled by PC World)

I bought all of these over the past 10 years, realised I used them very little and sold them all. I've inherited the Nexus from my father who doesnt use it anymore as I wanted a tablet to watch tv shows / movies on the tube to work (rather than my Sony Z2 which at 5.2" isnt small but is compared to a 7").

Best advice I can give you is to head to somewhere like PC world, check out the ultrabook offerings such as the ASUS Transformer Book (http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_Transformer_Book_TX300/) sorry if this is a little out of date, I havnt looked into this market recently or the surface as above and their rivals and see what suits you.

Try both windows based and Android based devices and you will make a decision easily. I think you will find that like me, screen size and touch facilities may become the biggest hindrance like me rather than the native OS itself... but its all personal preference at the end of the day.

Happy to help further if I can :)
 
My problem with usage is that I can't really test this stuff out at the store :(. The interface is fine but it's the how you can get on with them in the real world which I'm missing.

In terms of screen size & resolution my current laptop is a 13.3" 2560x1600 & I've got a 12" 2.5k touchscreen UP for work & can use that fine. So a Yoga Tablet 2 Pro or Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 are in the screen resolutions & size ranges I'm used to.
 
Yes im very much like you hence why I've had to "buy and try" if that makes sense..

I think the surface / high end ultra books may suit but all I can suggest in that case is try as much as you can and take a punt..
 
I'm using a (cheap) asus t100 which uses win8.1 (not RT), so in theory you can do everything you can on a normal win8.1 machine.
It even runs TIS&inpa on the touchscreen, very nice 8) .
But as a 'tablet experience' windows8/RT is pretty poor, nowhere near android/apple.
There are some metro interface media players (mediamonkey, vlc), but the metro variants are really buggy with poor possibilities.
See a tablet running windows more like a mini laptop. I can run things like vmware so that's cool. And smb file management is obviously like no other.
But the metro interface and it's apps is a joke compared to android/ipad. Surfing, email and office is no problem, but a decent media player (support for srt, not buggy/unstable etc) is not yet available. It's not a popular platform for developers app wise.
With windows rt, application support/compatibility is even poorer. imho you buy a windows tablet because you want to run windows applications (so the purpose for win 8 RT is a mistery to me.... only the win8 downsides in a package)
 
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