What it will to take to make a holdout like me buy a tablet.

[RobertPters77]

Microsoft, google, apple, I hope you're reading this.

Yesterday at the behest of a friend I payed a visit to the apple store on 5th avenue to help her buy an ipad2. Normally I wouldn't go because I personally disliked the ipad and by extension I dislike all current enlarged touchscreen devices that call themselves 'tablets' because, simply put, they do not feel like an actual computer to me but like an over inflated smartphone. The reason I accompanied her was two-fold, when she lost her first gen Ipad on the train, I stayed her hand in repurchasing another first gen ipad for 2 weeks because I informed her that in march the second generation of the Ipad will be released. And since then she thinks I'm 'magic.' And two I really wanted to try it out and see if apple improved on the ipad to make me want to buy one. Needless to say no they did not. The device as cool as it was... Lacked what I wanted it to most be. A fully functioning computer. My friend shared my concerns aswell but purchased the ipad2 anyway because she already has a macbook and loves her apple products.

What I want in a tablet pc, is not a proprietary OS like ios or droid, or whatever else. I'd like a full desktop OS. My primary OS of choice is Win 7. If I could have a tablet with Win 7 64 pro I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. And my friends would all too.

If for 1000$ any OEM could give me a tablet with Win 7 Pro 64, an SSD, 4gbs of Ram, Decent Cpu + Gpu combo so I could atleast game on it, And an assortment of USB ports so i could plug in kb/mouse and other accessories. They would have not only an Ipad killer. But a freaking god of a tablet to sway holdouts like me to abandon our trusty notebooks. That's what's keeping the tablet down; proprietary operating systems. I have a droid x. I like it but I don't love it. I won't buy a droid tablet because I don't see or use or need for it. What a droid tablet can do my droid x and notebook can do better.

Are you listening OEMs? Give me Windows 7 Pro and take my Money!

 

[sjwaste]

HP Slate 500?

 

[RobertPters77]

Too weak.

Atom + Intel GMA for 800$ Hell no.

 

[Patranus]

Um......

Windows 7 is just as "proprietary" as iOS or Android.........

 

[tfinch2]

You say not a proprietary OS, then you mention Windows 7. Troll thread in disguise?

 

[Bateluer]

Um......

Windows 7 is just as "proprietary" as iOS or Android.........

Shoot, of the OSs the OP mentioned, Android is the least proprietary.

And with the specs given, that thing would would 2-3lbs and have a battery life of a couple hours.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I'd like a full desktop OS.

http://xoomnewsblog.com/ubuntu-on-the-motorola-xoom-577/

 

[LostPassword]

i just want more usb ports, and have a battery than can power an external hdd, this way i can ditch my laptop.
i'm guessing they are gimping tablets on purpose to make you buy both a tablet and laptop.

 

[RobertPters77]

Um......

Windows 7 is just as "proprietary" as iOS or Android.........

Nope.

Can ios or droid run as many applications and games as win 7?

Shoot, of the OSs the OP mentioned, Android is the least proprietary.

And with the specs given, that thing would would 2-3lbs and have a battery life of a couple hours.

Is their a desktop droid equivalent?

http://xoomnewsblog.com/ubuntu-on-the-motorola-xoom-577/

God not linux. Anything but linux.

 

[Bateluer]

Nope.

Can ios or droid run as many applications and games as win 7?

The number of applications available for a platform has no bearing on whether not the OS is proprietary or not. The source code for Android is freely available to all to use. The source code for Windows and iOS is not freely available, its proprietary to Microsoft and Apple respectively.

 

[tfinch2]

Nope.

Can ios or droid run as many applications and games as win 7?



Is their a desktop droid equivalent?



God not linux. Anything but linux.

I do not think you understand what a proprietary OS is.

 

[Bateluer]

Is their a desktop droid equivalent?

God not linux. Anything but linux.

There are no desktop Droid phones. Droid is a brand/franchise name owned by LucasArts and licensed by Verizon. Android is the operating system that runs on Droid phones.

There is http://www.android-x86.org/
They aim to port Android to x86, and they have a Gingerbread branch. However, I don't think its what you're looking for.

And pretty much anything thats going to be non-proprietary is going to be Linux based, BSD based, or even less well known/supported.

 

[RobertPters77]

I do not think you understand what a proprietary OS is.

Yes. An os that works only on one system or limited hardware environment.

 

[sjwaste]

Proprietary is not the word you're looking for. Proprietary means software that is licensed exclusively by the copyright holder. Windows is proprietary, Linux is not. Android is not. iOS is.

The word closer to what you actually mean is "embedded" but that's not entirely the case either. iOS/Android are closer to embedded OSes than they are to their desktop counterparts, though, and that's the spectrum you're operating on.

What you want isn't feasibly possible right now. They could shoehorn Win7 Pro into a tablet form with full laptop guts. Then the problem is that Win7 is primarily designed to use keyboard and mouse input. The other is that it's not light on battery use. iOS and Android are successful because they are designed from the ground up to run on lighter hardware and with a finger and 1-4 buttons as the primary input methods.

I'm going to guess your age and it's going to be low teens, because you obviously don't remember the first spin on "tablet" computing. Toshiba, et al were putting out laptops with screens that could reverse themselves and fold backwards, basically giving you the exact form factor you're describing. XP, even XP tablet edition, was horrid with stylus input. And the battery life sucked balls for a tablet, unless you think a tablet should have laptop-ish battery life.

But I don't want to be an asshole and sit here dictating what you should be using. Here is a device that meets most of what you described. Beyond this and you might as well put your PC case in your backpack and lug it around.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Slate-EP1.../dp/B004HKIIF8

But I do want to point out that I'm right about one thing. Look at the battery specs. 3 hours. On a 34 Wh battery. Win7 is not made for this sort of application. Not yet.

 

[RobertPters77]

The asus slate is too weak for my tastes. And yes the battery is way too low.

 

[theeedude]

-Performance (enough to run Win7 smoothly)
-Low Weight
-Long Battery Life

PICK TWO, cus you aint getting all 3 in this generation of devices.

 

[Patranus]

-Performance (enough to run Win7 smoothly)
-Low Weight
-Long Battery Life

PICK TWO, cus you aint getting all 3 in this generation of devices.

I disagree.

I believe that you get plenty of performance with an iPad2 to do 100% of the work that 95% of the population needs to do on a tablet.

Sure you can't run Maya on it but then again, tablets are now consumer electronics devices.

Frankly, with the internet (or "the cloud") services are moving onto servers. With companies like OnLive which can run full quality desktop games on a low powered device there is no need for all of the "power" the OP wants.
(Unless they equate computer power to their penis size - or lack there of)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpFzpF0msrU

 

[akugami]

What I want in a tablet pc, is not a proprietary OS like ios or droid, or whatever else. I'd like a full desktop OS. My primary OS of choice is Win 7. If I could have a tablet with Win 7 64 pro I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. And my friends would all too.

If for 1000$ any OEM could give me a tablet with Win 7 Pro 64, an SSD, 4gbs of Ram, Decent Cpu + Gpu combo so I could atleast game on it, And an assortment of USB ports so i could plug in kb/mouse and other accessories. They would have not only an Ipad killer. But a freaking god of a tablet to sway holdouts like me to abandon our trusty notebooks. That's what's keeping the tablet down; proprietary operating systems. I have a droid x. I like it but I don't love it. I won't buy a droid tablet because I don't see or use or need for it. What a droid tablet can do my droid x and notebook can do better.

Are you listening OEMs? Give me Windows 7 Pro and take my Money!

MS tried that. Many times. While Win7 is much more refined than XP or Vista, MS has attempted tablets for a very long while now. No one bought them. Do you know why? Because a desktop OS's UI isn't built for touchscreen use where the pointing/gesturing tool is your fat fingers. Why do you think MS is holding off on any further tablet attempts until Win8? I'll answer it for you. Because they want to design actually design an interface around a touchscreen that is controlled by your fingers and not a stylus which is inconvenient on the go.

Nope.

Can ios or droid run as many applications and games as win 7?

That's not proprietary...that's widespread support.

Is their a desktop droid equivalent?

No but look up the Motorola Atrix which is an interesting product.

God not linux. Anything but linux.

What's wrong with Linux? It is used in many mission critical tasks. It's a very good OS kernel from which to build an OS out of.

The number of applications available for a platform has no bearing on whether not the OS is proprietary or not. The source code for Android is freely available to all to use. The source code for Windows and iOS is not freely available, its proprietary to Microsoft and Apple respectively.

Well, technically, iOS is built on the Mach kernel (same as MacOS) which is free for all to use. However, the actual UI is all proprietary so in effect it is locked down to hell and back. It's almost like how webOS is a closed platform even though it is built around Linux.

But we can all agree widespread support ≠ open.

 

[theeedude]

I disagree.

I believe that you get plenty of performance with an iPad2 to do 100% of the work that 95% of the population needs to do on a tablet.

Sure you can't run Maya on it but then again, tablets are now consumer electronics devices.

Frankly, with the internet (or "the cloud") services are moving onto servers. With companies like OnLive which can run full quality desktop games on a low powered device there is no need for all of the "power" the OP wants.
(Unless they equate computer power to their penis size - or lack there of)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpFzpF0msrU

iPad2 can't run Win7 smoothly, which is what the OP is looking for.
I think it's pretty clear he does not see tablet as a consumer electronics device, but as a computer.

 

[Patranus]

iPad2 can't run Win7 smoothly, which is what the OP is looking for.
I think it's pretty clear he does not see tablet as a consumer electronics device, but as a computer.

I am simply making the observation that the OP is stuck in the past.

 

[DivideBYZero]

There is nothing I want less than Windows 7 on a tablet. *shudder*

And the word the OP is looking for is ubiquitous. He wants a ubiquitous OS, not a 'niche' OS. Windows is as open as a Prison.

 

[gsaldivar]

give me a tablet with Win 7 Pro 64, an SSD, 4gbs of Ram, Decent Cpu + Gpu combo so I could atleast game on it, And an assortment of USB ports so i could plug in kb/mouse and other accessories. They would have not only an Ipad killer. But a freaking god of a tablet to sway holdouts like me to abandon our trusty notebooks.

The Lenovo Thinkpad X201 Tablet hybrid is probably as close as you will come to what you want. With a little luck you can pick one up from the Lenovo Outlet for under a grand. I've seen these used often by pharmaceutical sales reps. They pound through emails in the lobby, then fold the device into a touch screen tablet and get doctors to sign for their orders right on the screen. This form factor is super useful for the right person, these sales reps are typically in & out of the doctor's office in a just a few minutes flat.

 

[sjwaste]

OP, what you want isn't possible. I pretty much laid out your options. If you don't like those, I suggest becoming an engineer and designing your own. You want 10 hours of battery life and a midrange laptop with dedicated GPU in the form factor of an iPad. Good fucking luck.

 

[Tom]

I can understand the point of view of wanting the power of a Windows notebook in a tablet.

But, I've decided it doesn't make sense. Notebook form factor is the best form factor for many functions because of the real keyboard, and you don't have to hold it in your hands to use it.

But looking at the tablet as designed by Apple, it's a very useful form factor for what it does, web browsing, viewing media, playing some types of games. It isn't a replacement for a notebook, it's a different device. It's kind of redundant for someone with a notebook and a smartphone, but the ipad is almost cheap enough to be an affordable luxury.

And I would expect if one had one, the handiness would lead to using the notebook less, and the bigger size would lead to less use of the smartphone.

 

[theeedude]

I am simply making the observation that the OP is stuck in the past.

It couldn't possibly be that people have other uses for tablets than Apple envisioned with the iPad.