Business Technology Laptops vs Tablets

Discussion in 'Starting & Running a Business' started by Simon Hampel, 30th Aug, 2016.

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  1. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    A few years ago there was a lot of excitement about tablets and moving away from traditional laptops and using external Bluetooth keyboards and such with a tablet.

    More recently I've seen reports that growth in tablet computing has pretty much stagnated and people tend to find them not as useful as they had hoped, from a productivity point of view. Not sure if that's a limitation of the platform, or a limitation of the software currently available for the Android and iPad environments?

    Instead I'm reading that people are finding more success with the new generation of ultra-portable and 2-in-1 devices - basically, touch-enabled laptops with swivel or removable keyboards that can operated as either a laptop or a tablet.

    The Microsoft Surface Pro and Lenovo Yoga type devices are two examples which come to mind.

    What types of devices are people using for their business computing needs? Anyone actually use a tablet for serious business use?
     
    Simon Hampel, 30th Aug, 2016
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  2. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    I use a desktop as the main computer, a touch screen small laptop for when on the road and a tablet for recipes, podcasts and youtube.
     
    Terry_w, 31st Aug, 2016
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  3. RPI

    RPI SDA Provider, Town Planner, Former Property Lawyer

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    11.6 inch 2 in 1 with a USB3 doc at the offices and another one at home office. 2 screens, keyboard, mouse, ethernet plugged in to each doc.

    I found it hard to work for any length of time without 3 screens now, although 2 is doable.
     
    RPI, 31st Aug, 2016
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  4. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Yeah, I have three attached to my desktop in my office. When I'm working remotely on my 15.6" laptop, I feel claustrophobic. I hesitate to go ultra-portable, may as well just use my phone with a BT keyboard :eek:
     
    Simon Hampel, 31st Aug, 2016
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  5. RPI

    RPI SDA Provider, Town Planner, Former Property Lawyer

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    Cheers Sim

    I have run tablets previously and just found it to restrictive for typing. 11.6 inch works great for me as a medium and the screen is an awesome email window when attached to the dock. Looking to upgrade again to one with the 6th gen intel chips but my problem is I am a tight arse and can't bear to spend more than $1k of a new one.
     
    RPI, 31st Aug, 2016
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  6. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Fortunately I don't tend to spend much time away from the office - only spend about 2 hours a week working from a cafe at the Ashfield Mall while my son attends Spanish lessons nearby after school. My trusty old ThinkPad T510 (upgraded to 8GB RAM and an SSD) is still good enough for email, CRM and browsing - I certainly wouldn't try and do any serious software development work on it though.

    I could probably get away with a 11.6" screen, but I can't really justify upgrading that machine given how little I use it.

    I will need something for the kids to use for school work though - trying to decide between building a little NUC box attached to an external screen / keyboard, or perhaps a Chromebook, or I just fork out for a low end laptop. Wife wants a tablet to use while on the couch - but I think a Windows based 2-in-1 might give us more flexibility than an iOS or Android tablet.
     
    Simon Hampel, 31st Aug, 2016
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  7. RPI

    RPI SDA Provider, Town Planner, Former Property Lawyer

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    A heap of my guys run on $500 15.6 inch laptops and run at great speed through USB 3 doc.

    Two new ones I bought recently at officeworks - 6th gen i5 12gb ram and 1 tb at $980 each.
     
    RPI, 1st Sep, 2016
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  8. Lil Skater

    Lil Skater Well-Known Member

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    I use a laptop with an extra screen in the office, but use my iPad a lot too as I need it for inspections.

    I probably could work off just a surface tablet as they have all the capabilities that I need given most of what I do is cloud based, but they're just too small and I don't think they'd be practical for everyday use.
     
    Lil Skater, 2nd Sep, 2016
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  9. abbyfresh

    abbyfresh Well-Known Member

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    Something like a small business grade Dell Latitude laptop docked into two large screens and all your USB connectors when in the office, and take the full laptop when you're not provides quite a good balance without needing other devices too much.
     
    abbyfresh, 6th Sep, 2016
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  10. Jess Peletier

    Jess Peletier Mortgage Broker & Finance Strategy, Aus Wide! Business Member

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    I've got my surface connected to 2 external monitors and it's great for the most part - my main gripe is the scaling - haven't quite worked that out yet.
     
    Jess Peletier, 7th Sep, 2016
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  11. RPI

    RPI SDA Provider, Town Planner, Former Property Lawyer

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    This. My 11.6 inch Dell is my entire office. Big enough to use as a standalone when needed but small enough to be able to carry without a bag or case.
     
    RPI, 7th Sep, 2016
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  12. Srini Ranganathan

    Srini Ranganathan Active Member

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    I have a full size desktop and a laptop if I'm away from the office. I've also got all my files and documents on Google Drive so I can access it on phone and tablet as well.

    I'm doing some labels at the moment and just ordered a display colourimeter for colour calibration.
     
    Srini Ranganathan, 8th Sep, 2016
    #12