SOLVED Tablet PC Solution

Coreyoliseffect · Jan 20, 2011

My company is looking for a "mobile" (for lack of vocab) solution for our employees. On our Detox unit we are looking at getting COWs. I suggested the idea of using tablet PCs instead. Here are some of the things that are need and some that are wanted.

Need:
Wireless
WindowsOS (due to program compatibility, prefer XP or better)
Decent battery life
Cost effective (bang for the buck)

Want:
Durable
Intuative controls (think user friendly for the non-computer minded)

Any and all suggestions are of course welcome. I am not very well read on tablet PCs. This was just a little thought that popped into my head when I saw a CES review of some tablets. Thanks!

Adragontattoo · Jan 20, 2011

You are going to have to look at the big boys and end up with full on tablets (laptop w/ rotating screen) unfortunately.

MS has not gotten into the tablet market much due to Apple/Android tablets costing so "little". A MS tablet would automatically cost an extra ~100 if not more.

Dell XT2 are ones that some of the bigger wig folks here in my company use. Due to this being for a company, you might want to talk to HP/Dell to see about discounts. You might be surprised.

psionic98 · Jan 21, 2011

+1 to using laptop tablets and not ipad-like versions.

I work in healthcare, we have COW's, we have tablets, we have a whole range of junk that is bulky and tough to use for some of the "older" staff, but we've also gotten some new tablets (laptop swivel type) and so far they seem to be working out quite well.

We have a partnership with Lenovo and the last tablet pc I had my hands on had an i5 processor, 2GB ram, SSD drive for OS and had an extended life battery (5-6hours running) and I could say it was only about 5-6lbs total (due to the battery honestly) It uses our health systems standard ghost image of windows xp along with citrix and vpn access. I don't know what the costs were, but I know we get approximately 15-20% off because of the partnership. As tattoo said.. check Dell/HP/Lenovo for discounts for sure.

The average person isn't going to hold this tablet for 5+hours without feeling it obviously, but its portable, its semi-durable (its not a toughbook) and works as a laptop or tablet w/ pen.

seadave77 · Jan 21, 2011

I've been looking at the HP Slate 500 for myself.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-321957-64295-3841267-3955550-4332585.html

I like Tablet PC Review for getting info.

http://www.tabletpcreview.com/

Coreyoliseffect · Jan 21, 2011

Thanks for the links peeps! Gives me something to do a little later. To busy watching IE8 install right now.

I will check those out. Psi, from what you said it makes me want to lean towards the laptops. I took a look at the link that Tatto linked and I hope that they give a pretty decent discount. We were looking at COWs with laptops anyway so the swivel might end up being the way to go. We are a non-profit so I would hope that we could get a pretty good deal. Not to mention that all of our workstations are lenovos and some of our laptops. Thanks for the links again!

EDIT: Darn you Dave... I just took a look at the HP Slate and it looks impressive. Given that it is a demo done by HP. That is what I was looking at really wanting. Though I do worry about some of our users. I don't know if the idea of a touch screen will be above their heads. While that is sad to say, it is true. Hmm... there is more reading to be done.

psionic98 · Jan 21, 2011

One thing to worry about touch screens is if there is ever the need to work with forms that have drop-down menus or dates on forms that allow you to use the calendar lookup functions. Sometimes it's way too easy to touch the wrong areas. We tried using ipads for a survey module we did and it works great, but the date picker still didn't work right.

That slate is interesting, but the price tag irks me. Wait another few months when blackberry and everyone else gets their tablets out and let the price wars drag em all down. You can still get a laptop tablet with more power (cpu etc) for less than 800!

Adragontattoo · Jan 21, 2011

The slate has been cancelled once already IIRC.

Or a VERSION of the slate that EVERYONE (including Steve Jobs fanboys) wanted.

Coreyoliseffect · Jan 21, 2011

psionic98 said:
One thing to worry about touch screens is if there is ever the need to work with forms that have drop-down menus or dates on forms that allow you to use the calendar lookup functions. Sometimes it's way too easy to touch the wrong areas. We tried using ipads for a survey module we did and it works great, but the date picker still didn't work right.

That slate is interesting, but the price tag irks me. Wait another few months when blackberry and everyone else gets their tablets out and let the price wars drag em all down. You can still get a laptop tablet with more power (cpu etc) for less than 800!

Yea, one of the semi-uppers just stopped by and I showed him the price on the HP Slate and he was a little taken aback, in a good way. If you can get a tablet for around the same price as a laptop then huzzah!

Since you have mentioned the date picker deal. How did not having a keyboard fair? I know that some(all?) have handwriting recognition. We do use a database for our clients that requires typing. I was curious about how that database program would fair. This will most likely answer my question about a learning curve too.

Adragontattoo said:
The slate has been cancelled once already IIRC.

Or a VERSION of the slate that EVERYONE (including Steve Jobs fanboys) wanted.

Well that might cancel that idea...

psionic98 · Jan 21, 2011

On the tablet pc's you can just flip the screen and use it as a standard laptop. We did not try to use the handwriting recognition software though.

On the tablets the not having a non-touch screen keyboard worked out ok, but if anyone has heavy or big hands the likelihood of mistyping increases. Also, not all the tablets will be windows based and may not have good software to run databases and the like.

SteveLord · Jan 23, 2011

HP Elitebook 2740p. It's my primary laptop for work and I love it. You can buy them equipped with SSDs or buy a 1.8'' to throw in it afterward. Kinda pricey though.

Coreyoliseffect · Jan 24, 2011

SteveLord said:
HP Elitebook 2740p. It's my primary laptop for work and I love it. You can buy them equipped with SSDs or buy a 1.8'' to throw in it afterward. Kinda pricey though.

eeekgad sp* man! That is a pretty penny, although he pretty penny does return something shiny in return. I am sure that it is a great tablet but I don't think that our users are going to be able to appreciate that. I might have to see if I could get on for myself to try out. :santa:

I am not sure if that would defeat the "cost effective" argument or not. Still open to suggestions as no one has pulled the trigger on anything yet. Thanks for the suggestions!

SteveLord · Jan 24, 2011

Lenovo has their X201 tablet starting at $1279. Combined with Microsoft OneNote, they are great.

psionic98 · Jan 24, 2011

The x201 is what we tested here, with the extended battery pack. We had the i5 version and it flowed nicely. We didn't have OneNote (though I do have it on my old toshiba m200!) and that is a stellar product!

SteveLord · Jan 25, 2011

psionic98 said:
The x201 is what we tested here, with the extended battery pack. We had the i5 version and it flowed nicely. We didn't have OneNote (though I do have it on my old toshiba m200!) and that is a stellar product!

You'll like OneNote 2010 then.

habbajabba · Feb 8, 2011

Onkyo TW series are true ts tablets at around $800 ea.
Viewsonic Viewpad 10 are also true tablets starting around $600+. And the Viliv S7 is a mini laptop with swivel ts starts at around$800+. All run windows.
http://www.dynamism.com/c/top-notebooks/top-tablets
I like the viliv x70 myself but it includes native sirfiii gps which is not a mormal business requirement unless you're also mobile. Around $600+.

Coreyoliseffect · Feb 8, 2011

habbajabba said:
Onkyo TW series are true ts tablets at around $800 ea.
Viewsonic Viewpad 10 are also true tablets starting around $600+. And the Viliv S7 is a mini laptop with swivel ts starts at around$800+. All run windows.
http://www.dynamism.com/c/top-notebooks/top-tablets
I like the viliv x70 myself but it includes native sirfiii gps which is not a mormal business requirement unless you're also mobile. Around $600+.

Thanks for the link! I had kinda forgot about this thread. If anyone else has a suggestion let me know.

Coreyoliseffect · Mar 30, 2011

Just wanted to open this back up for some more ideas. We got approval to purchase one. :sn:

I am really wanting to get something like the Viewsonic Viewpad 10 that habbajabba suggested. Not really to interested in the tablet PC because we could just get a Laptop or PC if that be the case. Once again any and all suggestions are welcome.

SteveLord · Mar 31, 2011

I personally don't care for Viewsonic and haven't since CRT monitors were in their prime and LCDs were the new kid on the block.

They're a dead brand to me.

Coreyoliseffect · Apr 1, 2011

SteveLord said:
I personally don't care for Viewsonic and haven't since CRT monitors were in their prime and LCDs were the new kid on the block.

They're a dead brand to me.

I haven't really heard good things about them. I see that they are a proud company though. Always seems like their product is on the more expensive end. So I agree with you mostly.

LoneWolf121188 · Apr 3, 2011

I've been looking at the Asus Eee Slate for a while now...I'm interested in seeing if it's a big hit once it enters the market (in a week or two), or if it just fizzles out.

There's also the Lenovo X201, soon to be updated by the X220.

SOLVED Tablet PC Solution

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