A little different blog post than you find normally on my blog. I write this blog so other people can you the information I have found. The other reason is that I’m looking for some advice and hopefully you can help me with the choice. First there are 3 major tablet operating systems available on the market. IOS, Android and Windows RT/PRO. Based on my current devices and my person I am not going for IOS. The way the OS works is not intuitive for me! So first I have to choose between Android and Windows RT and Windows 8 PRO. I made the following comparison:
|
Android 4.2 |
Windows RT |
Windows PRO |
|
| Multi-User |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| SkyDrive Support |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Facebook App (Good Quality) |
YES |
NO |
YES (Desktop) |
| Twitter App (Good Quality) |
YES |
NO |
YES (Desktop) |
| Office Apps |
NO (Web Only) |
YES |
YES |
| Mail App |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Collaboration with PC/Laptop |
NO |
YES |
YES |
| Devices in max € 500 Range |
YES |
YES |
NO |
Based on the above table I have to choose between Android and Windows RT. The downside of Windows RT is the number of available devices and the number and quality of apps. The selling points for Windows RT are the collaboration with my owned systems like phone and laptop. And the support of Office and Outlook in Windows RT 8.1. For now I choose Windows RT as OS but I will also look to one or two android devices.
What about the device and the use of the tablet device. My family and I will use the device for:
- Internet browsing
- Reading and sending emails
- Work related: Taking notes at customer sites
- Checking Social media
So important things for the device choice are:
- Budget max € 500 euros
- Good and solid keyboard
- At least a resolution of 1366 x 768
- USB support
- Remote Display possibility
|
Microsoft Surface RT 64GB |
Dell XPS 10 |
ASUS Vivo Tab RT |
ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 |
|
| Processor |
Tegra 3 |
Qualcomm S4 |
Tegra 3 |
Tegra 3 |
| Available Space |
64 GB |
64 GB |
64 GB |
16GB |
| Solid Keyboard |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Resolution |
IPS |
IPS |
Super IPS |
IPS |
| USB Support |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Remote Display Port |
YES |
?? |
YES |
YES |
| L x W x D in mm |
275 x 172 x 9,3 |
275 x 177 x 9,2 |
263 x 171 x 8,3 |
|
| Weight |
676 gram |
635 gram |
538 gram |
|
| Price |
€ 686 |
€ 499 |
€ 550 |
€ 375 |
My first choice was the Microsoft Surface RT but this is changed. Microsoft offers the 64GB RT on several Microsoft events for a price around the € 90 euro (without type cover). This is a discount of 500 euros. But I have to look to another device and I am looking at the Dell XPS 10 right now..
I will update this post based on my further investigations, if you have some advice. Please let me know!