Modoc Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 The wife and I are looking at getting a couple of smaller units to supplement our laptop computers. We both teach Hunter Safety and are active with the Boy Scouts of America and our local shooting clubs (CAS, USPSA, and NRA Silhouette). We are thinking about a smaller/more compact tool for travel and work that allows us to keep up on correspondence, write lesson plans, possibly score matches, modify and create presentations, etcetera. I am also looking at being able to download pictures from my cameras to the device. What have/do you use? How do you like it? Are there Disadvantages? Advantages? We are contemplating one of each tablet and netbook. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Packer Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I use a motion computing tablet at work ($3500) and would much rather have the netbook I bought for $400 at CostCo. Having a keyboard is great for typing. But, I'm guess by tablet you might mean an iPad or Android tablet. Can't help you there other than I really like my Droid X2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Anythign that you normally use a mouse for.. will suck on the tablet. Think about the apps you use, and how that'll affect them They work great for simple web email and browsing.. otherwise.. it's some sort of laptop for me (netbook's just beeing small laptops), with a travel size mouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 There are some cool Tablets out there; but I need a real key board for what I do. It seems to me when Netbooks were new Lenovo had the best set ups and still may. The Dell Latitude Netbooks have some cool models but they come and go so you have to check their web site about every two weeks. Seems like almost everyone has a refurbished/blem computers for sale. Maybe you could get a 12'"-13" screen computer for the same or less money than a new tablet? FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Not a fan of HP but my 13" HP netbook works really well for me and runs full on MS programs. Bought it to carry in my truck as a GPS running DeLorme Maps and find it to be a lot more than I expected. For ME... A lot more useful than my iPad II. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 People tend to look at this question bass-akwards. Don't start by looking at hardware, start with the software you currently use and want to use. Then find out what hardware they will work on. Tablets and Netbooks both have limitations on what they will run and how well they will run it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWFAN Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 My wife bought a Dell net book. Its been really good so far. Small, portable, light.. decent speed for surfing and such. She's using it for school, writing papers, online tests etc. Been better than I thought it would have been. I dont care for the keyboard, but thats just something to get used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer377 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 it would be great if uspsa scoring could be done on a tablet/netbook somehow. Results could be up within minutes with no tedious data entry for the staff. Just import from excel and you're done. Tablets are primarily content consumption devices. Great for reading email and browsing the web. You can do some content production, but the small form factor that makes them so great for on-the-go consumption is a real drawback for most applications. Simple data entry while standing or walking is one of the few exceptions I can think of where a tablet would be better than a netbook for production. The 7" tablets e.g. Blackberry Playbook or the glut of Android tabs are easy to carry around, a bit less so for the bigger iPads which are as big as a netbook. Netbooks are better content production devices. If you're going to be cranking out numerous or lengthy emails, creating/modifying presentations, etc, it's probably a better way to go. But, they're not as convenient if your planned use is mostly consumption (reading/browsing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 it would be great if uspsa scoring could be done on a tablet/netbook somehow. Results could be up within minutes with no tedious data entry for the staff. Just import from excel and you're done. ... It can. I've scored matches before with ezwinscore on a 10.1" screen netbook. Toshiba, specifically. No one makes a better windows netbook than Toshiba and you can pick one up right now for $229 at Best Buy. You DO want to get an external 10-key pad, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hostetter Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I bought my daughter a Toshiba Netbook 2 years ago when she head for Europe to study. It has worked perfectly and has an exceptional battery life. I on the other hand am looking at getting a Tablet for travel instead of carrying around my 17" laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Yeah, here it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Have aGateway netbook here that I have used for a couple years. Mine the 8.9 inch screen which you can't find anymore. I use mine for work since I am in the car a ton and it just works great for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Thanks for the input. I should have added some more, Both of us have laptops already. My wife has a 14" HP with Windows Office Student and Home on it, while I have an HP HDX16 that I replaced an antiquated e-machine with. We use Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Access a lot, and I am looking at getting Adobe Photoshop or one of it's children. I also Utilize Bently's Micro Station (CAD) and Autodesk's Civil 3D on my machine. My laptop is rather large with a built in 10 key and quite heavy (to be able to run some of those programs well). I am looking more for something that I can keep electronic copies of specifications, standard plans,rule books, etc. on and do some light data input if needed. The laptop rides around in my vehicle, but is not very handy to pull out and do a quick look-up of something. Doing a spread sheet for asphalt application rates is altogether another story. My wife is now considering either getting her iPhone authorized to tether or we get an air-card to allow her to connect to the net when she doesn't have WiFi access (schools, church,and others). They do not give out the passwords to substitute teachers, so she has been doing research for lesson plans and power points on her phone and noting down the addresses for what she wants. As a side note, when we replace the back-up laptop, we will be going with some form of Desktop machine. Just debating about a Mac or PC, it will depend on which one will run my work programs (CAD and Design). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krdshrk Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 There's several things to consider. If you want to use Microsoft Office apps, you have to use Windows, unless you want to purchase "Documents to Go" on a tablet. Tablet PCs are a dead media - they combine the touchscreen of a tablet with the size and clunkiness of a full laptop... along with generally poor battery life, weak hardware specs, and a high price tag. It looks like you do some construction or design - that will generally be tough to do on a netbook - the touchpad and keyboards are generally tiny and hard to type on for most people. A 10.1" screen is rather hard to see as well - you don't get the resolution that you would on a larger laptop. I would look towards getting a 13" or even a 14" laptop. However, look at a lot of models and compare the weights and specs. Some will have more features and weigh a lot more. Also make sure you check the screen size and resolution. Many manufacturers will give you a cheap screen on an otherwise awesome laptop. If you need any suggestions/etc, please let me know. it would be great if uspsa scoring could be done on a tablet/netbook somehow. Results could be up within minutes with no tedious data entry for the staff. Just import from excel and you're done. Old Bridge Rifle & Pistol Club in NJ (Where JJ Racaza sometimes shoots...... name drop!) uses Palmpilots. They import the scores using that. It helps with results - gets done very quickly and the scores are usually turned around the next day. There is an app for the iPad/iPhone/etc. called IPSCore Pro. http://www.doublealpha.biz/daa-iphone-applications/ipscore-ipsc-scoring-application Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Thanks for the input. I should have added some more, Both of us have laptops already. My wife has a 14" HP with Windows Office Student and Home on it, while I have an HP HDX16 that I replaced an antiquated e-machine with. We use Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Access a lot, and I am looking at getting Adobe Photoshop or one of it's children. I also Utilize Bently's Micro Station (CAD) and Autodesk's Civil 3D on my machine. My laptop is rather large with a built in 10 key and quite heavy (to be able to run some of those programs well). I am looking more for something that I can keep electronic copies of specifications, standard plans,rule books, etc. on and do some light data input if needed. The laptop rides around in my vehicle, but is not very handy to pull out and do a quick look-up of something. Doing a spread sheet for asphalt application rates is altogether another story. My wife is now considering either getting her iPhone authorized to tether or we get an air-card to allow her to connect to the net when she doesn't have WiFi access (schools, church,and others). They do not give out the passwords to substitute teachers, so she has been doing research for lesson plans and power points on her phone and noting down the addresses for what she wants. As a side note, when we replace the back-up laptop, we will be going with some form of Desktop machine. Just debating about a Mac or PC, it will depend on which one will run my work programs (CAD and Design). It doesn't look like they have a version that runs on Mac, so you're probably stuck with a PC. Too bad, because otherwise I would have suggested a 27" iMac. The huge screen would be great for CAD work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankfan79 Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Hp's have already been on sale for $99 since they are getting out of the business. (16G version) I am waiting for HP to get more to get one. HP said they sold 500,000 in less than 4 hours. 32G versions are $149.99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I am looking more for something that I can keep electronic copies of specifications, standard plans,rule books, etc. on and do some light data input if needed. Well, most NetBooks use an Atom processor and have 1GB of memory and you can run MS Office on them. You can also push your car down the road rather than drive it if you must but it's not something I'd care to do on a regular basis. The chances of you being able to run something like a CAD program on a netbook are pretty slim and it would be a dog if it did run. Really, a netbook is more like a big PDA than it is a real computer. Particularly when you consider that there is not a version of Windows optimized for such a lightweight machine - that's the real problem right there. And let's not forget that you going to have to pay for those additional copies of the software so factor that into the cost of any "extra" computer you buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 True. CAD is (I'm guessing) very seriously demanding on video capabilities of a machine, and the built-in paltry little intel video typical on most netbooks just isn't going to make it. The CAD software may even refuse to install because of insufficient hardware capabilities. You're really talking full-size laptop or desktop for that. I notice AutoCAD LT has returned to the mac platform. Nothing they sell is cheap, and this one goes for $899. But since it sells and downloads through the apple app store, you can install it on up to 5 macs attached to your apple id. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 I am going to keep the 16" quad core laptop for the CAD stuff, just looking for something to supplement it for the various manuals and such. Especially when I can have them both running in tandem when needed. Mainly, it is a real pain to pull the lap top out and set it up to open a PDF for a minutes spec check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 just looking for something to supplement it for the various manuals and such. They are great for that. If it's only pre-written documents you are interested in, then most hand held pads and as well as the Kindle, Nook, and other book readers can store documents just fine. And a lot of software help files can be converted to PDFs as well which lets them be read on just about anything. This is why I say it's important to fully define what the purpose is before deciding on the hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Absolutely! I've already got the USPSA rulebook on my iPhone and can't wait to get something bigger. I've got 3 different big honking Windows Server Administrator Guides now that weigh a few pounds each, but also have pdf versions. The pdf's are on my iPhone now. I was an IBM MVS systems programmer; I can only imagine having something like that back then to hold the entire IBM Publications library for the operating system. That would have been the end of the room full of hanging binders, checking out and returning manuals, index listings, and all the battling we used to have to do to get a frequently-used subset at our desks. Any current mainframe shop that doesn't give their people manuals on readers now is managed by fools; it's got to be cheaper and more cost effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Bill, We have something similar with Highway Design and such. Right now in my truck are 3 - 3" 3-ring binders with Design, Traffic Controls and Construction requirements along with the "Standard Plans" and a 1000 page book called Standard Specifications. This doesn't include the modifications implemented since the 2006 edition came out I would like to condense it all down to the CURRENT documents in an easy to search and carry form. Too bad that the HP pad is now on a waiting list to have the opportunity to purchase. I'll probably get an iPad when the OT cheque comes in next month. Thanks to all who responded, sometimes a conversation like this helps to actually flesh out the needs and options better than spending hours wandering through the net and getting frusturated Edited September 1, 2011 by Modoc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin G. Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I think for what you are wanting you would enjoy an Android based tablet. I recommend them over an ipad because they allow you to use usb connections instead of being wireless exclusively. As someone else mentioned, if you can find an HP they are a steal. Otherwise I think you are looking at $350-$650 for newer models running Honeycomb, Good luck making a decision before technology changes enough that you have new products to consider in each format. I hate deciding what to buy when it comes that time with this type of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgnoyes Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Well, but you sync up an iPad to iTunes the same way as an iPhone or iPod touch, with the supplied 30pin to usb cable. You import your pdf's into iTunes where they would be listed as books, and then when you sync, the books go over to the iPad where you access them with the built-in iBooks app. If the budget range is $350 upwards to $650, there's no question in my mind; iPad wins hands down. There are SO MANY MORE apps available for iPad than there are for android. That being said, $99 for a HP touchpad... well, so-so reviews aside, how horrible can it be for $99? That's worth getting one just to see what the operating system is like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin G. Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Well, but you sync up an iPad to iTunes the same way as an iPhone or iPod touch, with the supplied 30pin to usb cable. You import your pdf's into iTunes where they would be listed as books, and then when you sync, the books go over to the iPad where you access them with the built-in iBooks app. If the budget range is $350 upwards to $650, there's no question in my mind; iPad wins hands down. There are SO MANY MORE apps available for iPad than there are for android. That being said, $99 for a HP touchpad... well, so-so reviews aside, how horrible can it be for $99? That's worth getting one just to see what the operating system is like. Suppose he's on-site and needs to save a document that is provided on a usb stick. I'm sure it would be possible to get it on itunes through the clients computer IF they had internet access. If not, out comes the laptop. Edited September 1, 2011 by Kevin G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now