Tablet recommendation?

[chessknt]

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So I have been on various tech forums to get their respective views, but I want to know--what kind of tablets are you guys using?

A lot of my textbooks will be in pdf format so being able to read these comfortably is crucial for me. I have always used Android OS but from my monkeying around with the models at BestBuy I have found they just plain suck for reading large PDFs compared to an ipad. Anyone have good exposure to both?

 

[dsoz]

My tech person is currently recommending Windows tablets. He went through an iPad phase, then through an android phase, now he is in the Windows phase. He says that it is because he is looking at the best performer at the time.

He currently is carrying the Surface Pro. It has a stylus to write with, you can rest your wrist on the screen while writing. I played around a little with oneNote. It seemed to be a nice little machine. I still like the look and feel of the iPad better.

His current favorite pick is the Lenovo Helix. It is a laptop/tablet hybrid. When docked, it has a battery in both halves, and can be used for about 10 hours.

I am going to look at it in May when he has one as a demo. I may just pick one up for when I start class this summer. The $1499 price tag is a little steep. 🙁

Granted, I am typing this from an iPad 4. The resolution is amazing, and it is fine reading while inside. If I go outside, it is more difficult to read the screen in bright daylight. It is a lot easier to read a book on my Kindle.

dsoz

 

[Ronin786]

I still think the iPad is the way to go. Its app selection dwarfs any other tablet on the market, and its much more reliable than the others. You know what you're getting when you buy it.

 

[rsgillmd]

I bought an iPad 4 this past December. My phone is Android based. I hadn't used a tablet before. It took me a few days to get used to it, but the iPad is fairly easy to figure out, especially if you use an iPhone. What I couldn't figure out on my own, I was able to learn from a friend at work. He doesn't have an iPad but he has an iPhone.

What speaks volumes for the iPad's ease of use is that my mom, who was visiting at the time, got comfortable using it for basic functions. She has never used a smart phone or tablet before -- only a Windows desktop.

As far as PDFs go, I've read several PDFs on it without difficulty. Battery can drain fairly quickly (by 1% every few minutes) if you are reading for long stretches at a time, but if you dim the screen brightness a little it'll last longer.

Screen resolution/size is great. Weight is very reasonable. Battery life is excellent! Depending on how much you use it, you can probably go days before having to recharge the battery. The caveat is I'm not sure how it will be on the iPad with a cellular radio because mine is wi-fi only. If the tablet is constantly searching for a cellular signal, it's battery may drain faster. My android phone's battery, even when I put it on airplane mode with only wifi on still drains much faster than my iPad's battery. These days I use my phone only to check/send emails and texts and as a basic phone. The rest of the stuff I do on my laptop or iPad.

One major factor for me was reliability. I was finally sold when a friend told me he had the original iPad for several years now and it is still working without a problem.

Those are my 2 cents. I hope it helped. Good luck with your decision.

 

[aalupatti]

Ipad is a great device but when it comes to taking notes and annotating pdfs it falls behind. If for reading alone then it's really good.
I currently have galaxy note 10.1 and love it. The big highlights are
1. Spen - similar to any other windows tablet pen but much much better. Remember this is not a capacitive pen and works very well like a normal pen
2. Multi window - you can have mutiple windows open at the same time on the same screen and hence better multitasking. I take down notes when view lecture videos . see here at around 1 min https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9dUjUyFgiY
3. Good batty battery life - With normal usage i get around 10 hours of screen on time.

Something else worth mentioning for students ( like me) is the lasso screen tool. With this i can capture parts of the pdf by just circling that area and get a screen shot, which can be saved to a note or pdf or word or dropbox....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC7z5PCdGLE

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[aneftp]

My tech person is currently recommending Windows tablets. He went through an iPad phase, then through an android phase, now he is in the Windows phase. He says that it is because he is looking at the best performer at the time.

He currently is carrying the Surface Pro. It has a stylus to write with, you can rest your wrist on the screen while writing. I played around a little with oneNote. It seemed to be a nice little machine. I still like the look and feel of the iPad better.

His current favorite pick is the Lenovo Helix. It is a laptop/tablet hybrid. When docked, it has a battery in both halves, and can be used for about 10 hours.

I am going to look at it in May when he has one as a demo. I may just pick one up for when I start class this summer. The $1499 price tag is a little steep. 🙁

Granted, I am typing this from an iPad 4. The resolution is amazing, and it is fine reading while inside. If I go outside, it is more difficult to read the screen in bright daylight. It is a lot easier to read a book on my Kindle.

dsoz

Surface pro is essentially a full blown computer with core i5 processor that runs full windows programs.

It's going to cost u $1000-1200 after options. Not cheap. I generally skip microsoft first gen products as a rule of thumb. U might as well get an ultrabook at that price.

 

[John Lannister]

Ipad or Nexus. Either is fine. New nexus will come out soon.

 

[K31]

iPad or bust. iPad Mini if you plan to use it in the hospital regularly.

Posted from my iPad.

 

[guitarguy09]

I'd wait for the next refresh this summer of the thinner iPad 5 or an iPad mini with retina display...

 

[HiddenGentleman]

I used an IPad for the first half of this year extensively in the hospital. I ended up giving it to my fiance and getting a nexus 10. Runs the EMR just as well if not better than the IPad. Its also a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Its lighter and has a similar resolution display and better internals. The back is made of a rubber type material that's nice to grip but perhaps not as sturdy as the IPad. I prefer android OS, if you prefer IOS go for the IPad.

 

[HiddenGentleman]

IPad or Android both read PDFs well with the appropriate apps.

 

[chessknt]

I used an IPad for the first half of this year extensively in the hospital. I ended up giving it to my fiance and getting a nexus 10. Runs the EMR just as well if not better than the IPad. Its also a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Its lighter and has a similar resolution display and better internals. The back is made of a rubber type material that's nice to grip but perhaps not as sturdy as the IPad. I prefer android OS, if you prefer IOS go for the IPad.

What was your experience with portability?

 

[HiddenGentleman]

Both are light, although nexus is lighter. Battery life is virtually equal. When I used to wear a white coat either one could fit in the pockets.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using SDN Mobile