Waylander Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 (edited) I'm in the hankering for a nice tablet for general home browsing use when I head across the pond in the near future. I have a Win8 phone and missus has an android. Ideally I would like a Windows 8 tablet (not sure why really - just cos!) but wouldn't mind Android if it is much better. In terms of apps to be fair I have found most I need for my uses for the phone on the Windows Marketplace already. Looking on Amazon.com I have seen: Sony Xperia S (android) $400 (16gb) / $500 (32gb) Nexus 10 $470 (16gb)/ $555 (32gb) Galaxy Note 10.1 $450 (16gb) / $500 (32gb) Asus Vivo WinRT (32gb) $425 / $600 (64gb) Asus Vivo Win8 (64gb) $480 That price for the 64gb full fat Win8 Asus really catches the eye. I guess the Nexus 10 is the best Android one to consider? Then there is WinRt vs Win8 thingy (Office is the real diff I know of between them as well as ARM vs x86) So - do any of you have a windows tablet (RT or Pro) and what are your experiences please? From my reading I am very keen on the Asus Vivo fullfat Win8 tab. Edited March 10, 2013 by Waylander Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveP Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Nexus 10 must be best Android out there. There are rumours that a newer/better/faster one is getting released any time now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Thanks. Didn't know about the imminent upgrade! I think irrespective of which fullsize tablet I get I might also get a 7" Nexus for the kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stooH Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I (well the wife) has got a Microsoft Surface RT. I want to say I really like it but at the moment it's frustrating the sh!t out of me, I think it's fair to say it's the RT bit that's doing it though. It's a lovely piece of hardware and the Modern interface in Windows 8 works really nicely. However.... in RT you can only install apps from the app store (like iOS) so if you go to a website and it uses a particular piece of software that's not installed, you're screwed. It seems to have Flash (or a version of it) installed so it was running a number of sites that you wouldn't be able to access on an iPad for instance. however, recently any flash sites i've been to haven't worked and it's told me to download the latest version (which you can't do) so i'm apparently hamstrung. What is even more ridiculous is that Explorer 10 that's installed on it DOESN'T support Silverlight, Microsoft's own fancy web site design thingy which means that loads of sites (Lovefilm streaming for instance) also don't work. The app store sporadically freezes and won't let you install app or update them (i think this might be if you've switched user rather than the other user having signed out). The issues seem (to me) to be relatively minor and you would think could be resolved reasonably easily but they just make the whole experience really, really frustrating. I'm praying they fix some of these things soon. A full fat windows tablet would probably be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Thanks. I do find some sporadic oddness with Windows Mobile 8 - for example I can't post on this site from my phone. Seems I will be going down the Asus route no matter what I buy - be it Asus Nexus 7/10 or Asus Vivotab ME400 Win8 Tablet. Frustrating as hell getting any clarification about warranty though! I am assuming any electronic gizmo nowadays comes with an international warranty but can I explicitly see this in in black and white onlight?!?! I don't also know the score with returns buying from Amazon.com..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shao_khan Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 The other main difference between the full win8 tablet vs the RT version is that its a fully functioning WIn8 device so it will play/run/work anything your laptop / desktop will - we've had a couple of the Microsoft Surface Pros at work and theyre noticeably heavier than the RT versions, but they are fully functioning devices, usb, expandable memory (I think it was via mini or micro sd cant remember which now). They run flash apps with no issues, so from a work perspective they were great as they did everything our laptops do. Battery life seemed about 50% shorter than the RT device, giving them a hammering in the office we were getting about 3hrs from them vs just under 7 from the RT device. I think in normal use though that would be easily nearer to 5hrs. I liked them, when doing the same tasks with the win 8 tablet and my ipad, the win8 worked at everything, no messing around, when configured right it worked, no stupid iTunes and locked down content. I must admit i'd be tempted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I genuinely wish I had the spare pocket change for the Surface Pro. The Surface RT is very well engineered. All reports of the other makes do seem to suggest they are good but with some compromises in build quality etc. Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like Amazon and Best Buy will be having some of my hard earned in a couple of weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I have one of these, as well as a Surface RT. Don't use the RT, it's ... too early adoption even for me. Hardly any apps, just enough missing to be utterly frustrating. The ElitePad I can run anything I like on. There's a danger on the proper Win8 tablets that you try and start using them like a laptop - full DropBox sync'ing and all that. Personally I've avoided doing that and kept them as a 'consumer' device - and on that front, they work brilliantly ElitePad or iPad Mini? Tough call - I tend to use them interchangeably. The Elitepad gets used more in front of customers...and it's more flexible than the 'mini...but it's a fair bit more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Nice! About $690 though - for which I could potentially get the Vivo and Nexus 7... Primarily I want a tablet but I KNOW I would not be able to resist installing office on it and having the option doing more laptopesque work with it - assuming I could prise it off the wife! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Good point - not sure I would spawn that much of my own money on one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stooH Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Don't use the RT, it's ... too early adoption even for me. Hardly any apps, just enough missing to be utterly frustrating. That's it exactly. Sonos - I can't control any of them from the RT as there's no app, not even a 3rd party one. Twitter - No official app Facebook - There's an app (not sure if it's official or not but it's crap) I'm praying that they start coming out soon as well as things like an update to Explorer with Silverlight etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuits Posted March 18, 2013 Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 Customer was in today with a new Asus Aspire M laptop running Win8. We used it for work and with a touchscreen I found Win 8 a MUCH easier environment. In fact it just showed how good a touchscreen is with everyday Windows based apps. Think it was cheap too, c£580? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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