Tablet to replace Macbook Air suggestions

[Bateluer]

How does someone suggest a Nexus 7 when the OP was looking for something comparable in capability to an ultrabook?

Budget permitting, that going to rule out most of the smaller tablets entirely.

 

[zerogear]

Well, another possibility is Yoga 2 Pro -- or Lenovo Thinkpad Helix (however, I don't think this one is worth looking into until they put either Haswell or Broadwell into it)

 

[darkswordsman17]

By the way, if you do not need the performance of a electromagnetic resonance pen (Surface Pro and Pro 2) the Yoga 2 Pro fits being able to be just as laptop like in usage like the Macbook Air, but allowing condensed tablet usage for your gate to gate with the performance as the Macbook Air.

Pen wants or needs? The Dell Venue 11 Pro or Surface Pro 2 fits the bill. The Dell uses different pen technology however. Instead of Wacom, Synaptics is used and the pen uses a battery.

Did Samsung update their tablet/laptop line yet? I believe they had an Atom based Win 8 and also one that was like the Surface Pro (including Wacom pen). I thought they both seemed interesting, although they needed the Intel processors from this year to be attractive.

Do any of these devices other than pure tablets have LTE modems?

 

[s44]

Well, another possibility is Yoga 2 Pro -- or Lenovo Thinkpad Helix (however, I don't think this one is worth looking into until they put either Haswell or Broadwell into it)

Would these be allowed under the "you can't use laptops even though you can use tablets" rule?

 

[desura]

Best option is an atom-based win8 tablet. The ones I"ve seen are actually thinner than the RT, should get similar battery life and performance...and they're x86 so you can install VLC on them.

I think they're just coming out with bay trail tablets.

 

[bearxor]

I just walked out of walmart with a Venue 8. It's pretty nice. Won't get to play with it until after the Mick Foley show tonight.

 

[gus6464]

If Surface 2 came with Baytrail, I could see MS selling a ton of these for the price.

 

[zerogear]

Would these be allowed under the "you can't use laptops even though you can use tablets" rule?

Honestly, I have no idea -- airline rules are so arbitrary nowadays.

 

[gar655]

Honestly, I have no idea -- airline rules are so arbitrary nowadays.

It has to do with the weight or perceived weight of the average laptop. They (FFA/airlines) don't want 3, 4, 5lb and greater hard plastic or metal boxes flying around in the event of a crash etc.......

 

[jav3]

It has to do with the weight or perceived weight of the average laptop. They (FFA/airlines) don't want 3, 4, 5lb and greater hard plastic or metal boxes flying around in the event of a crash etc.......

All-

Thanks for the good suggestions. Letcme clarify a few points.

Laptop vs tablet - the flight attendent gets to make that call. Laptops have to be stored under the seat or in an overhead. Tablets and e readers can be heldvin you lap or the seat pocket.

I only want to bring 1 device. So nexus + MBA isn't ideal.

LTE - I am really intruiged with t-mobile and the free LTE. I know some winRT devices have LTE. Do any of the win8.1 devices have an LTE modem?

I am going to gen some hands on with winRT to see how it multitasks this weekend and look at the dell and yoga.

Jeff

 

[Imaginer]

Did Samsung update their tablet/laptop line yet? I believe they had an Atom based Win 8 and also one that was like the Surface Pro (including Wacom pen). I thought they both seemed interesting, although they needed the Intel processors from this year to be attractive.

Do any of these devices other than pure tablets have LTE modems?

The ATIV Smart PC 500T (Atom) and the ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T came before the first Surface Pro. I was intrigued and interested, but after Amazon comments and reviews about the 700T trying to hard to stick with in maintaining laptop use and be a tablet option as well (combined screen and internals made it top heavy for traditional laptop/notebook use) and the mechanical keyboard dock was not as reliable, I held off. Plus, the rip keyboard off as a separate component and back on again (not as elegant as folding it back ala Yoga or Surface) made my decision even clearer.


The 500T was a bit better with the weight of the tablet only, but at the cost of containing the older Atoms.

Their ATIV Tab lines do not appear to be updated though.

 

[Imaginer]

It has to do with the weight or perceived weight of the average laptop. They (FFA/airlines) don't want 3, 4, 5lb and greater hard plastic or metal boxes flying around in the event of a crash etc.......

It isn't just the weight. It is more of folding out a laptop and back again, being more of a bulkier item between the seat in front of you and to you. It can't easily be dropped to your lap, compressed and hugging your legs in case of a hard impact, potentially wedging the more lengthy lever of a deployed laptop to your body.

This is also why tray tables are called to be up upon take off and landing as well. More potential things to jab you upon unexpected conditions.

 

[tdawg]

I'm really enjoying my surface 2. Connects easily to work email and calendar, full office installed for productivity (one note is excellent for note taking in meetings), offers a microSD slot for expansion and a full USB 3.0 port, and the web from the desktop version of IE is just like using the web on a full laptop or desktop--no "this video isn't available on your device" any more. It's a nice slice of freedom in that regard. Kickstand is a much appreciated built in, too.

All I'm currently missing right now is a being able to install my company's VPN client to remote into my work pc.

I love Android for my phone, but for a tablet, the surface 2 is much better for all-around use, for me, than my android tablets have ever been.

I haven't tested very many downloaded videos on this yet, but the one or two I have tried played without a hitch.

Only negative I've found so far is the lack of a GPS chip, so no location-based features, but I have my phone for all of that.

The type cover 2 is a great pairing with the surface 2 and the ability to "rip" it off and tuck it in the seat pocket on the plane if you really need to use it in it's tablet form gate-to-gate.

If I had wanted to spend the money, I probably would have bought a surface 2 pro, especially after the battery life gains shown by Anandtech after the latest update, but I didn't need or want a full-fledged windows laptop; I already have my desktop to keep me satisfied in that regard.