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[Q] Advice Wanted: What Tablet Should I Purchase To Run Win8?

I do not and have not ever owned a computer. I do love Windows Phone. So tempted am I after looking at god knows how many YT videos of the CP of 8. So. Tempted. What tablet do you guys recommend? What laptop? This is my first computer and I, quite frankly, expect it to last for a good while.
I know it's buggy. I know it's a beta. But damn does it look sexy.

If you want to get a tablet that can run Windows 8, is well-built, and modern-looking, and you want it before the proper Windows 8 tablets come out in the second half of the year... then the Samsung Series 7 Slate would be my recommendation.

Lumenii said:
If you want to get a tablet that can run Windows 8, is well-built, and modern-looking, and you want it before the proper Windows 8 tablets come out in the second half of the year... then the Samsung Series 7 Slate would be my recommendation.
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Quite a hefty price tag on that. Every YT review mentions that the viewing angles are subpar. Your assessment as well? Otherwise, sexy specs, indeed. Added to the list, thanks.

Wait for windows 8 to launch and get a quality laptop with a touch screen. They will be flooding the market then and $750 will probably be enough for decent model. You may also want to avoid a tablet for windows 8 since software support for the ARM architecture is going to take a little time. A laptop with touch screen will allow you to fully enjoy the touch features metro brings while also being able to run everyday software and not just the simple metro apps.

I am running Windows 8 CP on a JooJoo (Intel Atom N270 and Nvidia ION), and it's running well. But I am jealous when I watch other people with Samsung Series 7 Slate running same tasks 3-4 times faster. So I would say that Samsung Slate deserves its money if you want power. But if you are looking for something affordable take a look at Winpad P100 with dual-core N570 and Hi-Definition 1366*768 screen. It will cost you around 450$. From what I read it is quite good compared to other Tablet PCs.
Cheers!

I owned a Samsung Slate for a week and I wouldn't recommend it.

cristidotro said:
I am running Windows 8 CP on a JooJoo (Intel Atom N270 and Nvidia ION), and it's running well. But I am jealous when I watch other people with Samsung Series 7 Slate running same tasks 3-4 times faster. So I would say that Samsung Slate deserves its money if you want power. But if you are looking for something affordable take a look at Winpad P100 with dual-core N570 and Hi-Definition 1366*768 screen. It will cost you around 450$. From what I read it is quite good compared to other Tablet PCs.
Cheers!
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This thing looks pretty good and when I googled it I found a website that it selling it for $349 (single core) and add $50 for the Dual Core so its only $400 bucks...

Acer Iconia Tab W500
I think one of the challenges you are going to run into right now is that no hardware manufacturer is really making a true Win8-optimized Laptop. Buying anything at the moment is kind of a crap-shoot as a result.
If you are truly looking owning something that needs to last a few years you may be better waiting until the product goes gold and Dell, HP, Lenovo (and even Nokia if rumors are to be believed) begin coming out with product that will take advantage of the touch-enabled interface. I know I'm not making any expensive personal decisions until then as I expect to see a lot of interesting stuff at that point.
For testing purposes I've been using an Acer Iconia Tab W500 since the DP release that was boosted with an 80GB SSD. Total cost was about $600.00 (Tablet plus SSD bought off eBay) and as a Tablet PC for testing it is a great deal for the money.

Wait until fully win8 compliant hardware available
To be able to use a Win8 tablet like any of the other modern tablets, it needs to be able to allow Metro apps (like mail, feeds, weather) to update themselves while the device is asleep.
To do this, the hardware has to support the Connected Standby (CS) state.
The CS presenter at the BUILD conference stated that the tablet handed out there (same as Samsung Slate XE700T) did NOT support CS.
That is why I stopped being interested in the Slate.
I would suggest waiting until devices running the full finished Win8 come out as they would most likely support all the designed-in Win8 functionality.
To those who think that a laptop with touch will do, I say that the Samsung Slate has shown that a dual core i5 64bit tablet is easily capable of replacing almost all current laptops, but in a more flexible and convenient format. I predict that tablets with keyboards will replace laptops almost completely (come the next replacement opportunity).

my recomendation...
If you absolutely can't wait, I have an Acer Iconia Tab W500.
10.1 Inches, AMD Fusion C-60 (yes, not C-50) dual core @1.0Ghz with Radeon HD6290 graphics, 2Gb of memory and a 32 Gb SSD for storage.
I got it with the Keyboard dock which ads a Lan and makes it an awesome choice.
Better by far than any atom out there.

MasterTB said:
If you absolutely can't wait, I have an Acer Iconia Tab W500.
10.1 Inches, AMD Fusion C-60 (yes, not C-50) dual core @1.0Ghz with Radeon HD6290 graphics, 2Gb of memory and a 32 Gb SSD for storage.
I got it with the Keyboard dock which ads a Lan and makes it an awesome choice.
Better by far than any atom out there.
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I second this. The W500 is so awesome. I have the version with C-50 and even this one does most games and programmes amazingly fast!

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I got the Samsung Slate. My reasoning is on my blog at gadgets dot itwriting dot com - I have too few posts here to give the link unfortunately. Search for Samsung.
Frankly, the device is not that well designed. The keyboard (optional extra) is particularly annoying, because it has no real on/off button. Very hard to pack a keyboard in such a way that keys do not get pressed accidentally. Consequently, if you pack keyboard + slate in your bag, with the slate on sleep, the keyboard wakes it up and bad things happen. Ended up removing batteries from keyboard when not in use, and they rattle around at the bottom of the bag.
Of course you don't need to get the keyboard; and with Windows 8 it works better than with 7 although I have not got the rotation sensor working yet. The Windows button doesn't work quite right, especially after it has been on for a while, but no great loss. Performance is great, and I don't regret the purchase given that I really need to use Windows 8 NOW.
If you can hold off though, I would definitely wait for devices that are designed for Windows 8.
Tim

^^ the Series 7 Slate keyboard has an off switch. Its the same button you click to put it in pairing mode.

dtboos said:
^^ the Series 7 Slate keyboard has an off switch. Its the same button you click to put it in pairing mode.
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I have found it works OK as an "on" switch but not as an "off" switch!
Tim

Hardware wise what's coming in the next few months?

bmstrong said:
Hardware wise what's coming in the next few months?
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Probably nothing. You won't see new devices until Win8 is ready to be released.

dtboos said:
Probably nothing. You won't see new devices until Win8 is ready to be released.
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Well, nuts. I convinced my brother to drop it onto his laptop. Absolutely fantastic for me, as a long time Windows user he was horrified. A lot, I think comes down to a fear of change and the misconception that you can't really do anything with the MetroTop. As a WP lover I couldn't be happier and wished they didn't even include the desktop side.
I'll look around at a couple suggestions, perhaps with the fever surrounding the iPad 3 I can snatch something cheap.

what tablet should i get?

i wanted to get a surface rt, but it wasn't able to play minecraft
What other Windows 8 Tablet do you think i could get for about <$600
Thank You :good:

The only tablets that will run minecraft playably would be those powered by an i5 processor and cost closer to $1000 not 600.
600 will get an Intel atom based tablet and that's it. Slightly better than the version in netbooks but still essentially netbook hardware. I do know 3 people who happily play minecraft on netbooks but they have to use optifine light, tiny render and one of them insists on using a reduced colour depth texture pack (which makes little difference). Even so they only achieve about 20fps, the nether lags unplayably, rain causes lay and TNT is dangerous to their frame rates. They are using 1.3 and 1.6ghz dual cores, these windows 8 tablets get an updated (read faster) version of the atom at 1.8ghz instead so will cope better but don't expect to be installing mods (other than optifine) or hd textures or render distances further than tiny or short.
If your intention is to spend $600 on something to play minecraft on, don't get a tablet. $600 will get a far more powerful laptop or an even more powerful desktop. For the same price as my desktop here in the UK (capable of 140fps minecraft, far render, fancy graphics etc) you can only get atom based tablets. For the same price as my desktop you can get a 15" laptop capable of 50fps on far render.
if you do want an atom based tablet, the standard option is the Asus vivotab smart (me400c I think is the designation, not sure), its a 10" unit, capacitative touch only (no fancy stylus basically) and no keyboard dock although they do offer a wallet style case which features a stand and an area to clip an optional Bluetooth keyboard to. It is probably the cheapest tablet you will find for windows 8, a YouTube user called robaxx has uploaded several reviews for the tablet. All atom based tablets have identical specs apart from whether they offer an active stylus or a keyboard dock.

I have acer w500 with Windows 8 pro - works perfectly - I have played Settlers 7, Minecraft and a few of the xbox store games no problem
Not sure what fps I get on it - I have a ps3 and xbox360 which I prefer over pc gaming so Im not too concerned about playing anything heavy duty
The only gripe I have, is the lack of memory - My W500 only has a 32GB ssd, this is nearly all used up with the install size of Windows 8 alone
I have 32gb SD card which I have moved a lot of stuff too and 3 external usb hard drives I carry about with me filled with data but I would appreciate the tablet more if it even had 128GB ssd instead

You can check the fps by pressing f3, gives alot of info on the debug screen. If it is playing nicely then that is good news.
I am personally going for the atom based tablets myself but I already have a powerful desktop for gaming. Playing minecraft or anything else would only be a bonus.

thanks guys for the help!
i was looking at the asus vivo tab smart (me400c) it looks ok
still lookin as to what to settle on

I have two win8 tablets. The first I got was the Samsung Ativ which I really like but it wasn't perfect for work because the size made it difficult to carry around and portrait mode was awkward for note taking. I just got the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 which is a 10.1 inch device with is the perfect size and weight for note taking. So I guess it depends on your needs but for me I like both options. I use the larger device at home and the smaller at work and for travel.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

There is also the Dell Latitude ST, a 10 in. Atom tablet and the only one in the market that have a REMOVABLE battery. Sorry I don't play games so I can't comment on games, but if other Atom tablet can play games then the Dell Latitude ST should be fine.

I dot Vivo Tab TF810c and I am perfectly happy with it. If you got any questions - shoot.

thanks so much! it's so hard to choose
i just wish the microsft surface wasn't "RT" it looks so nice!
and i like the Asus tivo smart (me400c) but it doesn't have a full USB port

With Vivo Tab you can get 2 full USB ports in dock.
And batt. life is amazing - I charge it once a week (just in case, not that it needs it - but I just feel guilty...) and use it every evening.

galtom said:
I dot Vivo Tab TF810c and I am perfectly happy with it. If you got any questions - shoot.
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looks like but about $300 over my price, i can afford that but i don't know if i wanna spend that much on a tablet

Well, I had the same problem as Vivo Tab is.... pricey...
Right now I do not regret a single penny spend on this device (Is still have iPad 3G and had Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a while).
It is amazing how it is built, and how Atom nice works inside. Always cool, with nice keyboard dock (battery life already mentioned). Thin, light and does everything I need.
It will stay with me for next few years,,,

galtom said:
Well, I had the same problem as Vivo Tab is.... pricey...
Right now I do not regret a single penny spend on this device (Is still have iPad 3G and had Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a while).
It is amazing how it is built, and how Atom nice works inside. Always cool, with nice keyboard dock (battery life already mentioned). Thin, light and does everything I need.
It will stay with me for next few years,,,
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i gotta find a store that sells it cheap here, only one store i can think of is Harvey Norman but they want $1086 That's diffently abit much, for a tablet as my macbook air suits me fine

I paid in Poland 3799 zl this is a bit over $1100 (with 2 yr warranty included).

galtom said:
I paid in Poland 3799 zl this is a bit over $1100 (with 2 yr warranty included).
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wow, i suppose i could buy one from USA Asus Vivo Tab TF810C $809 I'd assume it'd work in Australia i'd just need a different charger but if its just a normal USB charger thing i got hundreads of them anyway

JakeyPie said:
wow, i suppose i could buy one from USA Asus Vivo Tab TF810C $809 I'd assume it'd work in Australia i'd just need a different charger but if its just a normal USB charger thing i got hundreads of them anyway
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You get seperate charger + USB cable with "special" plaug for device. This means it can be used with any USB charger.

galtom said:
You get seperate charger + USB cable with "special" plaug for device. This means it can be used with any USB charger.
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so perfect
how is the app development like is there alot of games etc avalible everyone on youtube complains there isn't anything availble not that i care just curious never used windows 8

I am not sure what you mean - it has normal Windows 8 on board so everything that is working on Win7 & 8 and probably 99% of software from Vista and XP will work on it.
If you are asking about Modern UI apps.. than check MS Store. In general apps for Modern UI are leisure apps - not for work but for relax - Netflix, Hulu Plus, some games, drawing apps, etc... work you do on normal apps in desktop mode.

galtom said:
I am not sure what you mean - it has normal Windows 8 on board so everything that is working on Win7 & 8 and probably 99% of software from Vista and XP will work on it.
If you are asking about Modern UI apps.. than check MS Store. In general apps for Modern UI are leisure apps - not for work but for relax - Netflix, Hulu Plus, some games, drawing apps, etc... work you do on normal apps in desktop mode.
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yeah i meant the MS store sorry haha and cool

Oh... well. It is not perfect but it is growing daily.
Point is that because you can use normal apps on it even if MS Store lacks something it is not really an issue.
As there is ZERO such apps for XP, Vista and 7 and no one ever complained about it saying - look Windows suck because for iOS you got thousands of apps.
You will definitely find something cool for evening time!

[Q] should i buy acer w700 tablet ?

hello all,
my university gives a 400 pounds credit to buy from studentstore.uk i was planning to get a windows 8 tab but they dont stock sony,asus or dell products .i was planning to get a baytrail tablet like dell venue pro 11.with a maximum budget of 600 pounds(400+200).
so my only option is to get an acer w700 with i3,4gb ram 64 gb memory available for 570 pounds.or wait till samsung,lenovo and acer brings in 10-11 inch baytrail tablet.
so do you think its a good idea to get w700 or just wait till others comes with baytrail tablets(any idea when on earth they will launch it ).?

At this late date, what you see (in the MS store) are what'll be available for this Q4.
My suggestion is to ignore the one-device-fits-all PR hype and get two devices: a 12"-13" laptop for productivity, and a separate tablet for portable use. The meat-and-potato work box comes first, obviously. For my college days, I used a 12" IBM Thinkpad X series, which I lugged everywhere. It wasn't light, but it was built like a tank. The bottom line for me wasn't about best speed or battery life, but good old reliability.

rkoforever90 said:
hello all,
my university gives a 400 pounds credit to buy from studentstore.uk i was planning to get a windows 8 tab but they dont stock sony,asus or dell products .i was planning to get a baytrail tablet like dell venue pro 11.with a maximum budget of 600 pounds(400+200).
so my only option is to get an acer w700 with i3,4gb ram 64 gb memory available for 570 pounds.or wait till samsung,lenovo and acer brings in 10-11 inch baytrail tablet.
so do you think its a good idea to get w700 or just wait till others comes with baytrail tablets(any idea when on earth they will launch it ).?
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Your choice definitely depends on what you plan to do with it. Do you want something that will serve as a PC as well as a tablet, or just a portable typing device, or just for entertainment? I've also heard that those who do computer science/programming degrees, you'll want something a lot more powerful. However, for humanities subjects, i'm sure an i3 will be just fine.

If you ask me, you should never get anything Acer made.

SammiSaysHello said:
Your choice definitely depends on what you plan to do with it. Do you want something that will serve as a PC as well as a tablet, or just a portable typing device, or just for entertainment? I've also heard that those who do computer science/programming degrees, you'll want something a lot more powerful. However, for humanities subjects, i'm sure an i3 will be just fine.
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i dont want an ultra book or laptop since i already have a laptop.i want a windows 8 tablet which is thin light and with good battery backup.

Deusdies said:
If you ask me, you should never get anything Acer made.
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i had acer desktop (in 2005) then an acer laptop (bought in 2009) and then another one in 2011(which iam still using) my brother has an acer s3 ultrabook.
i never had any problem with acer till now, also one of my relative works at acer service centre.

rkoforever90 said:
i had acer desktop (in 2005) then an acer laptop (bought in 2009) and then another one in 2011(which iam still using) my brother has an acer s3 ultrabook.
i never had any problem with acer till now, also one of my relative works at acer service centre.
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My experience with the acer repair service isn't great, just got my w700 back and it has gained a load of scratches (came back quite dirty as well) and the rubber section on the back which they clearly removed to open it up hasn't been stuck down properly and now comes away from the case.
Also OP you should be aware that Acer support in general is awful, they delete posts on the forums they don't like (mainly people complaining about the terrible support) and there is a throttling issue with the i5 version which they refuse to fix, you should check out the 52 page thread on their forums which has been going on for over a year.

twisted89 said:
My experience with the acer repair service isn't great, just got my w700 back and it has gained a load of scratches (came back quite dirty as well) and the rubber section on the back which they clearly removed to open it up hasn't been stuck down properly and now comes away from the case.
Also OP you should be aware that Acer support in general is awful, they delete posts on the forums they don't like (mainly people complaining about the terrible support) and there is a throttling issue with the i5 version which they refuse to fix, you should check out the 52 page thread on their forums which has been going on for over a year.
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the problem is i dont have an option to purchase other than student store u.k and they dont have much options either.
you can have a look and suggest if anything better is there for the price.
http://www.studentstore.co.uk/getech/all-manufacturers/Tablets/for-students.aspx

What subject are you studying at university/what is the tablet required for?

SixSixSevenSeven said:
What subject are you studying at university/what is the tablet required for?
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iam doing mechanical engineering.mostly i need it for entertainment purpose, taking notes , power point presentations etc. but i have a laptop also .

rkoforever90 said:
iam doing mechanical engineering.mostly i need it for entertainment purpose, taking notes , power point presentations etc. but i have a laptop also .
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That should be fine. You don't need something very powerful for that. Actually, I only had an Android tablet (Xperia Tablet S) to do that and it handled those kind of tasks fine for me.

PowerPoint you can install on the device anyway so your fine on that front (uni may offer it for free too). Entertainment is up to you. Note taking should be fine, depends on if you are OK with touch keyboards/small keyboards or not, or using a touchscreen to write with (to my knowledge there is no wacom or synaptics stylus, only the bog standard touch screen).

SixSixSevenSeven said:
PowerPoint you can install on the device anyway so your fine on that front (uni may offer it for free too). Entertainment is up to you. Note taking should be fine, depends on if you are OK with touch keyboards/small keyboards or not, or using a touchscreen to write with (to my knowledge there is no wacom or synaptics stylus, only the bog standard touch screen).
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so which model of acer w700 you own?.how is the overall experience and battery backup?

rkoforever90 said:
so which model of acer w700 you own?.how is the overall experience and battery backup?
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I dont

Since I have an Acer W700 tablet, I would let you know something about the W700. I will compare it mostly with the Surface Pro because its a gold standard for Intel Core tablets
First thing first, W700 lacks the active digitizer. Don't expect writing and drawing to feel like the Surface Pro or Galaxy Note. Its far from it. I use Adonit Jot stylus, it helps a lot compared to other styli or finger input, but still nowhere as good as the Surface Pro.
Second, the battery last like Haswell tablets. This tablet is insane in term of battery life. I mostly get 6-7 hours for my usage. I use this tablets mostly for browsing, downloading, playing casual games, taking notes (OneNote FTW!), watching videos/movies and listening to music. If you look for an Ivy Bridge tablet that last like Haswell tablets, this is the only one.
Third, since I mentioned videos, movies, and music, I would say this tablet has great screen and speaker. The speaker is great for a tablet. If you enable the Dolby enhancement, the speaker will get louder (with some distortion), on par with cheaper multimedia laptops. Definitely better than the Surface Pro. The screen is also better than any tablet screen Ive ever used.
Fourth, it has no great keyboard solution. Unlike the Surface Pro which has options like the Type and Touch cover, the W700 relies on a Bluetooth keyboard or a case with integrated Bluetooth keyboard. Consult the seller first on which version you get. I would recommend the former since the latter is not comfortable (very, very thin), it is nice though. If you are a bit unlucky like me, youll get neither of them. I got a Perixx 804 Bluetooth keyboard for €25, and it works reliably over Bluetooth. This keyboard feels like a keyboard from Acer V5 or most Sony VAIOs (a bit harder than MacBooks)
Fifth, it has WiFi issue. This issue plagues mostly early generation of this tablet, but you might get this as well. On my W700, I have no problem with the disconnection. However, the signal is not as good as other devices. Usually, when the other devices still get 1 bar of signal, the W700 has lost connection.
Sixth, its graphic performance is not as great as how a HD4000 should be. The GPU suffers from bad throttling, making the performance only comparable to HD3000 GPU on most laptops (I tried with i5-2410M)
Overall, this tablet is geared towards entertainment (great screen and speaker) than business/work (no active digitizer and no keyboard solution). This device is great if you want to use one device rather than two (tablet+laptop), but don't expect too much. Since Haswell tablets are just behind the corner, I would suggest you to wait for some affordable Haswell tablets. However, if you cant wait, I would recommend this device over any Atom tablets unless you need an active digitizer.
My W700 is the i5-3317U model with 64 GB of storage. I wish I had the 128 GB model.

patrick_spd4u said:
My W700 is the i5-3317U model with 64 GB of storage. I wish I had the 128 GB model.
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Thermal throttling on the i5 model seems very common, yet rare on the i3 model

patrick_spd4u said:
Since I have an Acer W700 tablet, I would let you know something about the W700. I will compare it mostly with the Surface Pro because its a gold standard for Intel Core tablets
First thing first, W700 lacks the active digitizer. Don't expect writing and drawing to feel like the Surface Pro or Galaxy Note. Its far from it. I use Adonit Jot stylus, it helps a lot compared to other styli or finger input, but still nowhere as good as the Surface Pro.
Second, the battery last like Haswell tablets. This tablet is insane in term of battery life. I mostly get 6-7 hours for my usage. I use this tablets mostly for browsing, downloading, playing casual games, taking notes (OneNote FTW!), watching videos/movies and listening to music. If you look for an Ivy Bridge tablet that last like Haswell tablets, this is the only one.
Third, since I mentioned videos, movies, and music, I would say this tablet has great screen and speaker. The speaker is great for a tablet. If you enable the Dolby enhancement, the speaker will get louder (with some distortion), on par with cheaper multimedia laptops. Definitely better than the Surface Pro. The screen is also better than any tablet screen Ive ever used.
Fourth, it has no great keyboard solution. Unlike the Surface Pro which has options like the Type and Touch cover, the W700 relies on a Bluetooth keyboard or a case with integrated Bluetooth keyboard. Consult the seller first on which version you get. I would recommend the former since the latter is not comfortable (very, very thin), it is nice though. If you are a bit unlucky like me, youll get neither of them. I got a Perixx 804 Bluetooth keyboard for €25, and it works reliably over Bluetooth. This keyboard feels like a keyboard from Acer V5 or most Sony VAIOs (a bit harder than MacBooks)
Fifth, it has WiFi issue. This issue plagues mostly early generation of this tablet, but you might get this as well. On my W700, I have no problem with the disconnection. However, the signal is not as good as other devices. Usually, when the other devices still get 1 bar of signal, the W700 has lost connection.
Sixth, its graphic performance is not as great as how a HD4000 should be. The GPU suffers from bad throttling, making the performance only comparable to HD3000 GPU on most laptops (I tried with i5-2410M)
Overall, this tablet is geared towards entertainment (great screen and speaker) than business/work (no active digitizer and no keyboard solution). This device is great if you want to use one device rather than two (tablet+laptop), but don't expect too much. Since Haswell tablets are just behind the corner, I would suggest you to wait for some affordable Haswell tablets. However, if you cant wait, I would recommend this device over any Atom tablets unless you need an active digitizer.
My W700 is the i5-3317U model with 64 GB of storage. I wish I had the 128 GB model.
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Thanks a lot , and sorry for the late reply. iam getting a 450 pounds voucher of student store u.k from my uni and i asked them about the keyboard they told that it comes with the dock & keyboard + the case cover with keyboard out of box so i dont need to buy it seperately . also student store u.k dont have much options to choose from so either i need to wait till lenovo and acer comes out with baytrail or haswell 10+ inch tablets as the studentstore dont stock Asus, HP or Dell .
Also another thing i need to know is that whether the weight and thickness of w700 is an issue to use it as a tablet .

I'd wait to purchase a dell. Acer was terrible when I had it. Dell seems more reliable.

I have the i5 version that came with the dock and the keyboard case. Despite being labelled as having an i5-3317 processor on the box, mine says it has a i5-3337 inside. A patch has fixed the throttling issue for me. The tablet is relatively heavy, it gets uncomfortable to hold and use rather quickly. The thickness isn't a problem; it's actually pretty thin. It's fine to use with the keyboard case on the lap though.
I don't mind the keyboard case. It has full width keys, seems sturdy and keeps the whole setup light. The keys don't press down far due to the thinness of it though. I have to say I like keyboard docks more after using the Asus Transformer TF101, but that would mean adding weight to balance the tablet.
Changing the SSD inside is a bit challenging, but it's possible. It uses a standard mSATA interface according to those who've replaced it. The omission of a SD/microSD slot is a bit strange, but I'd say it has enough storage for most people.
I haven't had any issues with the Wi-Fi, although it seems many others are having trouble with it.
The recovery is on a couple of DVDs. If anything goes awry, you may need to get an external DVD drive. Windows 8 does have the refresh option, which makes things easier if Windows is the problem.
The cameras on the device work alright. Pictures taken look rather poor quality, but I find these things tend to be that way. I really don't know why they put a back facing camera on this thing; I think people using their iPads to take pictures is bad enough. I haven't used it for video chatting yet. Some have reported that the microphone isn't great. The mic is on the bottom edge, which might have something to do with it, but I haven't used it yet.
I enjoy having this tablet. It's as powerful as a laptop and it's fast.

Farewell Note Pro 12.2

After soul searching for a few weeks I decided to sell my 12.2. I really wanted a one device replacement for my tablets and laptop. As much as I tried, this just did not fit the bill. I was also surprised at the lack of any development on this tablet.
It is a solid device but needs a dock in my opinion and can't quite service all my needs in one device.
Bye bye 12.2. It was fun for a while.

Yeah I don't know if you're like me but as much as I wish for it there will never be a true "laptop replacement" other than a laptop itself lol. I always cringe a little when new users come to the note pro forums here or on Android Central and ask if these devices would serve them well as a laptop replacement. Truth is they do for some use cases but not all.
Sorry things didn't work out for you. It's too bad about lack of development too. Taking matters into ones own hands by using things like xposed gives some relief but it's not the same as true custom roms.
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

So, what you end up getting?

Moderate Replacment ?
Mike02z said:
After soul searching for a few weeks I decided to sell my 12.2. I really wanted a one device replacement for my tablets and laptop. As much as I tried, this just did not fit the bill. I was also surprised at the lack of any development on this tablet.
It is a solid device but needs a dock in my opinion and can't quite service all my needs in one device.
Bye bye 12.2. It was fun for a while.
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muzzy996 said:
Yeah I don't know if you're like me but as much as I wish for it there will never be a true "laptop replacement" other than a laptop itself lol. I always cringe a little when new users come to the note pro forums here or on Android Central and ask if these devices would serve them well as a laptop replacement. Truth is they do for some use cases but not all.
Sorry things didn't work out for you. It's too bad about lack of development too. Taking matters into ones own hands by using things like xposed gives some relief but it's not the same as true custom roms.
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk
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petercohen said:
So, what you end up getting?
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Im looking to use this as a light laptop replacement for school. I have a large 17.3 inch laptop that I lug around and i commute so its starting to be a pain. I want to use this for notes, writing in class , going over power points and light work. I will leave the serious stuff for my laptop at home. I will probably buy a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Do you think the device can cover these areas well ?

I went with a big i7 Surface 3. I had a lot of Amazon gift cards. With the dock, I'm thinking it *may* be my one device solution. Time will tell....

naruto.ninjakid said:
Im looking to use this as a light laptop replacement for school. I have a large 17.3 inch laptop that I lug around and i commute so its starting to be a pain. I want to use this for notes, writing in class , going over power points and light work. I will leave the serious stuff for my laptop at home. I will probably buy a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Do you think the device can cover these areas well ?
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"Well" is subjective, particularly when it comes to generalized requirements. Take an existing powerpoint done on a computer that has complicated transitions and embedded objects and all bets are off as to whether or not the tablet will handle it "well" if at all.
I'm an engineer so I always err on the side of conservatism so I can't go on record telling you it will fit your needs perfectly. That said I think in general yeah you should be okay provided your specific requirements with regards to office file compatibility are not too high.

naruto.ninjakid said:
Im looking to use this as a light laptop replacement for school. I have a large 17.3 inch laptop that I lug around and i commute so its starting to be a pain. I want to use this for notes, writing in class , going over power points and light work. I will leave the serious stuff for my laptop at home. I will probably buy a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Do you think the device can cover these areas well ?
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It varies from person to person. I've used it for that in my last year and it served it's purpose well. (With a Logitech K810). As for if it will work for you, I can not say.
Mike02z said:
I went with a big i7 Surface 3. I had a lot of Amazon gift cards. With the dock, I'm thinking it *may* be my one device solution. Time will tell....
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I really like the idea of the Surface. It's just such a shame they had to use a 1990's level GPU. You get an i7, 16GB RAM.... and an Intel HD 4000. If there was ever the definition of a bottleneck, it's an Intel HD. That piece of junk is not worth 2000 quid. Not worth 800, either. 150, maybe.
I require a dedicated GPU for my day to day usage of a laptop (Design/Gaming).
If the Surface 4 gets an Nvidia, now that will be worth considering.

I do no gaming and no graphic design work so it seems to be just want I needed. So far, so good.
I don't think the Surface 3 Pro is advertised anywhere as a gamer machine.

Mike02z said:
I do no gaming and no graphic design work so it seems to be just want I needed. So far, so good.
I don't think the Surface 3 Pro is advertised anywhere as a gamer machine.
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I know. And if you're happy with it, don't let me stop you. (no really, I mean it. This is just my opinion, you don't need my opinion to enjoy your device )
I just don't think it's worth the price it sells for. Not in terms of hardware.
My laptop has an IntelHD 4000 and an Nvidia 740M. (That requires some managing as a gamer.) Inside is the same range of an i7 and 16GB RAM. When I select the IntelHD as the device to play a 2k film, it freezes every few minutes, botches up the render of several shot switches and if it's 4K, simply doesn't even get past the very first frame. The sound plays, but the video simply can't be rendered.
That's how weak an Intel HD is. Now tell me, is that worth 800 quid? Let alone 2000?
I like the idea, I really, really do. And if they add an Nvidia, I will absolutely buy the top-tier one.
But I can't understand why people would pay so much for such outdated and lousy tech.(But then, I feel the same about Apple users.) Or why companies are so utterly stupid in adding them. It's bloody difficult to even find a decent laptop below 8000 quid that doesn't have one of those useless Intel HD's. Intel HD should've been banned from the market year ago since the Family 4.

I recently had the Surface Pro 3 and it really was a solid device. I actually returned my Wi-Fi GNP12.2 to get it. But for what it cost, I really expected more. That device needs broadwell. Thermal issues and such really prevent you from taking advantage of it's higher potential performance capability. It ended up being a basic media and light productivity device, for which I found the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 to be fully capable of doing, for considerably less money.
I decided to go back to the GNP12.2, except this time I went with the SM-P907A as my "small notebook replacement" device. Add in the solid Samsung keyboard case, S Mouse, and I'm ready to roll. The Snapdragon still does it's thing better than the Exynos, I've got LTE everywhere (love that feature), and with the right apps, it really has been able to do everything I need out a portable computing device. I mean, it's light, excellent battery life, crisp screen... the list goes on.
Keeping in mind, I do have a more powerful 15" Ultrabook and high-end fixed workstation for more demanding tasks. But for the day-to-day mobile stuff, it's been working great for me. Well, at least until something more interesting comes along. With that said, I do agree it's not for everybody. Nothing ever is. But probably at least worth giving a shot for many. Either way, good luck! :good:

Mike02z said:
I went with a big i7 Surface 3. I had a lot of Amazon gift cards. With the dock, I'm thinking it *may* be my one device solution. Time will tell....
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Hey man I am in the same boat. I just went through Dell Venue 8 pro-->11 pro--> Note 10.1 2014--> note pro 12.2. All in the matter of like a month.....
I have this to say about them all.
Dell venue series I bought out of a desire to try and stay cheap but still have an active digitizer. I am trying to digitize all of my notes for my masters program so that when I write my thesis it will all be accessible in one place. Venue 8 was too small, 10 was underpowered and the active digitizer on both was crap, I mean really bad. The note 10.1 was great but I wanted some more real estate so I went with the 12.2 for a week or so. Since it is the thread I am writing in I will make a few observations
1. Great tab overall, well powered but overwhelmed by Samsung TW UI, easy to take care of with root/greenify and what not.
2. For importing the pdfs and ppts from lecture it just took forever, I played with some different note taking apps and I always ended up with the S-pen app which is awesome, but it would not handle my 1000+ page books at all. I don't know how long I waited for snote to import it and then it crashed. What a shame because it was a champ otherwise.
3. One thing both the notes had for me was the multiwindow function, watch a lecture and take notes at the same time, but I noticed when I was streaming lectures that were in HD I would get some lags from the Snore and Spen. Again shame because I know the tab has the power to run it but I am guessing that its the TW issues again.
4. Why I ended up going elsewhere.(surface 3 i3)
- I want to get rid of carrying around my old 09 MBP and become a little more streamlined. I am relinquishing my MBP to be a home desktop/server since I dropped an extra 4gigs of ram and a 1TB HD in it through the years. This tab just didn't do it for me. It was soooooooo soooooo close but it just didn't quite get there from a productivity standpoint FOR ME.
5. I am a flashaholic with my phone sooooooo having something to run Odin/LGflashtool on when I am on the go would be nice so that I don't have to worry about ending up in bootloops and not have a phone the rest of the day.
Note to Samsung if you are reading this.
First, bravo on a great tab, seriously it is an awesome machine but
Second, get out of the way of the android experience a little(read a lot) more and let the hardware shine. I would love to see the android L update on this tab with a minimized TW UI so that you can really see the beast that is in the tablet.
I have gone from cheap to some of the best hybrid tablets you can go and I have this to say. The Note pro may be for you because its awesome but know what you need and what you don't. If you are trying to replace a laptop then the Note pro may not be for you unless you are talking about partial replacement to just carry around during the day and then use the big laptop back home, it may work then. BUT, if you want a true laptop replacement, like leave your old one to collect dust it may not be right for you.
Just trying to prevent so many open box items at my local best buy........
-Ice3186

I too use this tablet for school and for the price ($416 on ebay) it's a miracle device. I tried the surface pro 3 and the handwriting was not as good which was a deal breaker for at its price ($999 for the i5). I chose to just acept that ill have to carry around my toshiba a little while longer. snote is a underpowered app with frustrating lag when navigating through different ui but still the best there is. As a side note, I'm not sure why to would want to import pdfs into it when you can multi window them in a reader.

Tsk_Tsk_Tsk said:
I too use this tablet for school and for the price ($416 on ebay) it's a miracle device. I tried the surface pro 3 and the handwriting was not as good which was a deal breaker for at its price ($999 for the i5). I chose to just acept that ill have to carry around my toshiba a little while longer. snote is a underpowered app with frustrating lag when navigating through different ui but still the best there is. As a side note, I'm not sure why to would want to import pdfs into it when you can multi window them in a reader.
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GOOGLE LECTURE NOTES it's what snote should be
Sent from my One A0001 using Tapatalk 2

delete

Even as a power user, I have had no problem using the NP12.2 as a primary enterprise device. I travel a lot for business, do presentations and lecturing and so forth. My demands are quite high and I have loved the 12.2. On the occasion that I have needed something more powerful, the use of one of the remote apps (I like PhoneMyPC and have used it for years) works just fine as long as I keep my laptop at home, powered on, and connected to the internet. Then, when I need a file or something from the PC, well... that is what Dropbox is for. Couple the NP12.2 with a bluetooth keyboard case (and mouse if you need it) and it has been the best tablet that I have ever used, and I owned the first 10.1 android tablet two days after it came out.

Is the Shield Tablet still worth buying?

I've been considering new tablets, and honestly the Shield Tablet has the features I want and I'm able to get one for $250, which seems reasonable. But I'm just wondering if it's still worth it as the it is a year old. How does it compare to newer devices?

If you're primarily going to be using it for gaming, there isn't a better tablet out there. The tablet is a steal for $250. The latest official update really makes the tablet shine and the custom rom called "Blisspop" even makes the device that much better in terms of performance. You won't regret getting one.

Well at the moment there are not many tablets that are faster (maybe even no faster) than this tablet.
Antutu scores are one of the highest even compared with the latest phones.
So speedwise it is still top notch and tablets that maybe come close you have to pay double the price for compared to a shield.
The 32Gb with Lte is unbeaten for that price.

I bought the 32GB LTE version in July, because an LTE tablet anywhere close to the Shield in terms of specs/screen etc. would have been ~$150 more.
Despite the battery recall issue, I'm satisfied with it. My (original) unit has been working perfectly and is very smooth with Lillipop 5.1 (the 3.1 OTA).
I should be receiving my replacement tomorrow, according to UPS. Presuming it doesn't have a defect, I'm looking forward to settling in. I never bothered to settle in on the old tablet (automatic actions, power saving stuff, that kind of thing) since I found out about the recall shortly after buying it, and didn't bother to fine tune it.
I recommend the tablet as an LTE device in the US, though if I didn't need the LTE connectivity probably there might be better values in wifi only (I'm not a gamer, so other tablets could meet my needs... but there are relatively few 8" LTE tablets without permanently locked bootloaders here).
Marc

The problem of the tablet is really the processor that is getting old pretty quick (don't know exactly it's true performance), but nowadays everything coming out is already being 8 cores at 2 ghz or more.
Keep Cool

But they are often not faster. Gpu of the shield is very fast maybe the fastest around at the moment. The SOC is still one of the fastest around and it is just on the market for 1 year so not that old.
Sent from my HTC One M9

Where can you even buy one of these? In Canada every single place is sold out and saying they won't stock them again. The used market can't find for under $500 either.

M3drvr said:
Where can you even buy one of these? In Canada every single place is sold out and saying they won't stock them again. The used market can't find for under $500 either.
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Checkout swappa.com

nbollinger said:
Checkout swappa.com
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There is nothing there for it.

M3drvr said:
There is nothing there for it.
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https://swappa.com/buy/nvidia-shield-tablet-wifi
its the non-lte, 16 gb version

nbollinger said:
https://swappa.com/buy/nvidia-shield-tablet-wifi
its the non-lte, 16 gb version
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And there are no listings.... Useless.

M3drvr said:
And there are no listings.... Useless.
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Its something on your end then

nbollinger said:
Its something on your end then
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No. It's just that there are none...

There seem to be two of them for sale at that link when I go to it. One for $290, one for $320, both advertised as new (resale). Probably you're just filtering by Canadian sellers, based on your picture. Lots of folks in US won't ship outside the US, so no big deal that they aren't showing up for you.
Best of luck finding one!

Frankenscript said:
There seem to be two of them for sale at that link when I go to it. One for $290, one for $320, both advertised as new (resale). Probably you're just filtering by Canadian sellers, based on your picture. Lots of folks in US won't ship outside the US, so no big deal that they aren't showing up for you.
Best of luck finding one!
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Yeah my question was basically how to get one to Canada that's under $500. Impossible! Cheapest I've found is on eBay shipped for $530 for 16gb model no accessories.

Snah001 said:
But they are often not faster. Gpu of the shield is very fast maybe the fastest around at the moment. The SOC is still one of the fastest around and it is just on the market for 1 year so not that old.
Sent from my HTC One M9
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The thing is that there aren't much AAA games to play in the shield, it's a good device more for the extra nvidia stuff.
I'm waiting for Borderlands 2 for a damn long time, but it never comes, and I don't even know if it runs on the device with good performance or if it's just for the Shield TV.
More impressive are some cheap windows tablets that for around 350€ can even run Battlefield 3 on low to mid.
Now with DX12 and tons of compatibility tablets might go more for windows again.
In fact I'm not liking much android, not a single game like the good old C&C Red alert 2, boot takes almost 2 times longer than my wind 10 PC, some websites stop working, multitasking is a joke since we can't even play a youtube music while doing anything else...
ps: Also in most performance tests we see other tablets ahead of Shield, so I don't think anything is actually that much optimized for it, not even most tegra games.
Keep Cool

My Shield Tablet LTE topped my Nexus 9's scores on Antutu plus the Shield gaming is great to have. Let's not forget about the SD slot and the mini HDMI port on top either. This tablet still destroys everything else (even most phones) a year later. I really mine because it has a stylus and no dumb Samsung home button like their Tablet S/S2 does. Its hard to find a good tablet these days yet the Shield holds its ground and doesn't seem to lose any performance over time. I like playing Half Life 2 on it or DOOM 3 especially when I travel. Its nice to have a tablet which can play nice games too even though that's not its primary purpose for me.
---------- Post added at 23:39 ---------- Previous post was at 23:32 ----------
guily6669 said:
The thing is that there aren't much AAA games to play in the shield, it's a good device more for the extra nvidia stuff.
I'm waiting for Borderlands 2 for a damn long time, but it never comes, and I don't even know if it runs on the device with good performance or if it's just for the Shield TV.
More impressive are some cheap windows tablets that for around 350â?¬ can even run Battlefield 3 on low to mid.
Now with DX12 and tons of compatibility tablets might go more for windows again.
In fact I'm not liking much android, not a single game like the good old C&C Red alert 2, boot takes almost 2 times longer than my wind 10 PC, some websites stop working, multitasking is a joke since we can't even play a youtube music while doing anything else...
ps: Also in most performance tests we see other tablets ahead of Shield, so I don't think anything is actually that much optimized for it, not even most tegra games.
Keep Cool
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Those cheap windows tablets also use Intel chips in most cases plus Windows an as OS handles things differently than Android does. I agree that there aren't many great games but the ones they do have are fun in my opinion. I have the Shield TV as well and I play all kinds of games including emulators without any issues. My i7 Samsung Ultra book probably can't handle some of the games the Shield can then again I haven't tried. I'm not a big PC gamer but I do know the GPU isn't that great in most Windows tablets/ultrabooks. Android M fixes a lot of the productivity issues and adds multi window and I'm sure Nvidia is working on it now anyway. They tend to lush updates out promptly in most cases unless there's a big issue.
I haven't seen another tablet have better gaming performance than he Shield or Nexus 9 since hwy share a GPU yet use different CPU's. My Nexus 6's SD805 doesn't come close to he 3D score that the tablet does but on Marshmallow it does get a nice ~1500 pt boost likely from the optimization in it. I can imagine the same will occur in the Shield Tablet but we won't know until Nvidia releases it.
I'm not saying the Shield is the best fit everyone but it is a great tablet if you are in the market for a LTE enabled 8in tablet thats fast, runs near stock Android and has nice games for it.

Most of those BEST Nvidia Shield games coming soon are old and I finished them already. (RES5, Half Life, Borderlands, Doom...).
The thing is, you get a good device, but you will probably end playing most games that your phone already can play maxed out.
Other thing is Nvidia blahblahblah says it's more powerful than a X360 GPU, but then most games have a little lag and nothing, but really nothing made to the android yet comes close to most X360\PS3 gameplay\physics (they just look good, but plays like crap).
Then it's my 4th Nvidia shield all are defective and the last one needs to go to RMA again.
I never had an android device, so I wanted to try it, with my experience is just a god damn bugged SO worst than windows.
Also I got sad with the strategy games and how nothing on the android thousand of games even come close to Command and Conquer Red Alert II from like 2000
My opinion:
GOOD:
- hardware Performance;
- Sound;
- has it's own wireless gamepad;
- Nvidia software + remote pc play (button mapping already in the tablet, no need to root 4 that);
- More games than other android devices;
BAD:
- Android is not really optimized;
- Not much AAA games:
- Nothing like C&C, age of empires, Skyrim........ (most games are very cheap copies of good games, but look like a 2003 game);
- In the real world, performance is not as big as nvidia make you think (best phones now probably have better performance, like Samsung S6 which is a lot more little and doesn't come close to having more than a hundred cores like this nvidia);
- Screen quality is not that awesome, it is a High resolution LCD, but nothing special besides that. It doesn't get any close to samsung phone's\tablet amoled screens;
- Battery doesn't last much either;
I actually think that something like that made for DX12 and wind 10 would probably get almost twice the performance than on the actual android OS. At least I saw some people playing BF3 on dell cheap 1 year old tablets that cost basically the same as this nvidia shield. Nowadays with DX12 and Wind 10 soon may be a new era for tablets (it seems windows based hardware have more performance per price than android devices). At least I never seen any 300€ android tablet playing anything close to a BF3 which is years ahead in gameplay + physics than any android game I ever seen\played until now.
ps: If it was today I would buy a ~350€ DELL wind tablet that can even play BF3 (guess what? No need to Root for anything as you own everything already and can update\mod everything).
Keep Cool