Windows Tablets For Fieldwork

[Chris Wagoner]

I wonder if anyone has seen played around with this thing. It is heavy and probably a little bulky, however, I am intrigued... The specs are incredible.

http://business.panasonic.com/toughpad/us/4k-tablet.htmlor

 

[Randall Garrett]

Hi Chris,

My apologies again for not getting back with you on stuff more suited to your particular interests. With regard to the big Panny, I have only briefly fondled it after a presentation and I have not put myself in a position to get one for testing. My immediate thoughts upon seeing and holding it was that it was simply too big and heavy for doing real estate inspection type activities. IF you are really interested in a device this large, you might want to look at the Samsung large format tablet – just know that the Samsung is thinner and lighter (and, as a consumer vs. professional device, it is less robust/durable.) There are perhaps a few more similar size devices of lesser quality that you could hold if you want to compare/contrast – let me know if you are really interested or were just doing a “wow!” sort of post… ;-)


Since you are a long-time Lenovo ThinkPad user, a device that I looked at that may be of interest to you is the new Lenovo ThinkPad P40 Mobile Workstation. As a proper workstation-class device, this model is more robust than most readers here would fully (or even mostly) use, but this might be something that would tickle your interests. Compared to your current ThinkPad, it is considerably more powerful all around and even though it has a larger screen, it is similar in weight to yours. I’d think you might not want the 2560 x 1440 ultra-high resolution screen option, but I’d want to verify that the Wacom option is available with the regular screen. The GPU is more tailored to professional applications and not gaming or even regular consumer graphics but it’ll more than hold its own with regular devices with anything that most people would throw at it. (It just excels at higher end, more demanding professional software where consumer graphics systems stutter or outright fail.) You can option it up with LTE if desired. This model is (essentially) the “pro” version of the Yoga 460, so if the P40 is too much gun for your hunt, you might consider the ThinkPad 460 (or 260 if you want a 12.5” screen.)


Let me know if this sort of thing interests you. If you start poking around the Lenovo site, you might see the previous ThinkPad Yoga 12, 14 and 15, but I would hesitate to recommend those models. (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/) They were sort of “gap fillers” and were not very popular for a variety of reasons. Knowing your expectations, I would skip these models unless they were offered at a super low price. FWIW, the 14” & 15” models were a disappointment to folks who waited quite a while for them to ship fully configured (the pen, etc.) It appears that Lenovo moved to the newer models pretty quickly when they found the rapid adoption of W10 in the Enterprise section and wanted to concentrate on their newer upcoming models with the 6th Gen Core CPUs (“Skyake”), etc. and thus left the previous models lacking in the “polish” department.


Regards,



-Randall Garrett-

+Apex Software+


/end/

 

[Chris Wagoner]

Definitely just wow factor. I cant see trying to use something real world with 2 hr battery life. Not exactly portable. And the Samsungs are All Android, I think. Not really an option for appraisal software, yet, although nice units. I have been able to read about the Lenovo units you mentioned, however, looks like the p40 wont be out until next year and for some reason I cannot find the 460 on Lenovos site at all either. Are they releasing later. The reviews I read on that one were hands on in September. My X220t is limping and am looking to even get a tide me over device until the P40 is released. I looked at some spectres over the weekend, but just did not think the units in existence fit what what I needed at this time. Thanks for all of your help. Is there something out there in the $1000 range that may be a good interim fit prior to going after a unit like the P40. Or am I ever going to be able to find a larger screen like X220t, ie. waterproof outdoor screen, not size, without going into ruggedized territory with significant investment. Even now, the screen sizes are small on those units.

Hi Chris,

My apologies again for not getting back with you on stuff more suited to your particular interests. With regard to the big Panny, I have only briefly fondled it after a presentation and I have not put myself in a position to get one for testing. My immediate thoughts upon seeing and holding it was that it was simply too big and heavy for doing real estate inspection type activities. IF you are really interested in a device this large, you might want to look at the Samsung large format tablet – just know that the Samsung is thinner and lighter (and, as a consumer vs. professional device, it is less robust/durable.) There are perhaps a few more similar size devices of lesser quality that you could hold if you want to compare/contrast – let me know if you are really interested or were just doing a “wow!” sort of post… ;-)


Since you are a long-time Lenovo ThinkPad user, a device that I looked at that may be of interest to you is the new Lenovo ThinkPad P40 Mobile Workstation. As a proper workstation-class device, this model is more robust than most readers here would fully (or even mostly) use, but this might be something that would tickle your interests. Compared to your current ThinkPad, it is considerably more powerful all around and even though it has a larger screen, it is similar in weight to yours. I’d think you might not want the 2560 x 1440 ultra-high resolution screen option, but I’d want to verify that the Wacom option is available with the regular screen. The GPU is more tailored to professional applications and not gaming or even regular consumer graphics but it’ll more than hold its own with regular devices with anything that most people would throw at it. (It just excels at higher end, more demanding professional software where consumer graphics systems stutter or outright fail.) You can option it up with LTE if desired. This model is (essentially) the “pro” version of the Yoga 460, so if the P40 is too much gun for your hunt, you might consider the ThinkPad 460 (or 260 if you want a 12.5” screen.)


Let me know if this sort of thing interests you. If you start poking around the Lenovo site, you might see the previous ThinkPad Yoga 12, 14 and 15, but I would hesitate to recommend those models. (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/) They were sort of “gap fillers” and were not very popular for a variety of reasons. Knowing your expectations, I would skip these models unless they were offered at a super low price. FWIW, the 14” & 15” models were a disappointment to folks who waited quite a while for them to ship fully configured (the pen, etc.) It appears that Lenovo moved to the newer models pretty quickly when they found the rapid adoption of W10 in the Enterprise section and wanted to concentrate on their newer upcoming models with the 6th Gen Core CPUs (“Skyake”), etc. and thus left the previous models lacking in the “polish” department.


Regards,



-Randall Garrett-

+Apex Software+


/end/

 

[Mike Ault]

In case anybody was waiting to take the plunge to install Windows 10 on their ThinkPad 10 I am happy to report that I did that last week and everything has been working perfectly. I also updated to Office 2016 and the latest version of Apex and everything is playing quite nicely together, actually made the whole rig feel quite a bit "snappier". Many thanks to Randall for the heads up on the proper timing for the upgrade, waiting for the latest W10 build made the whole experience painless.

 

[Randall Garrett]

FWIW, I got an ad this morning and I ended up taking advantage of the savings. Amazon has some attractive discounts on SanDisk Ultra microSD (microSDHC. microSDXC, etc., depending on size) cards, ranging from 8GB to 200GB. The prices range from $8.12 to $99 with is up to a 71% discount (on the 32GB.) Each model comes with the full size SD card adapter We equip all of our mobile devices with microSD cards, generally for "auto-save" type data backup and our "go to" cards are generally 16GB for this purpose, but I ended up getting several 32 GB cards for travelling staff and even a few 128 GB cards for staff who deal with much larger database files while on the road. I suspect some of them pad their needs so they can take a movie or music with them, LOL. The $100 reduction (from $149.99 to $49.99) for the 128 GB card amounts to a 67% discount. The link below will show the entire range. My experience is that this stuff goes quickly so if something fits your needs, act fast. Sometimes things come back, but given the time of the year, I'd not hesitate if you or someone you know could use something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010Q57S62/?tag=realestatappraat

-Randall Garrett-
+Apex Software+

/end/

 

[JTip]

Good find Randall. 32gb for $10. That's just crazy future prices. 3-4-5 years ago that was a $100 bill.

 

[ucbruin]

Hello Randall Garrett,

Surface Book vs. Lenovo Yoga 900 (basic models)

Would you feel comfortable expressing your opinion on the pros/cons and which 1 you would favor.

I wouldn't be taking/carry the computer with me during an inspection and I'm not a gamer. Just want to have a light laptop type of computer for work and play.

I believe you did say that you liked the SB but what about the 900? I think there is about a $400 difference in price.

 

[Randall Garrett]

UCB,

While the Surface Book is great for ME, I'm not so sure that it would be the best fit for many appraisers, especially in its current form/configurations.

Based on your summary description of your needs, the Lenovo Yoga 900 is probably a better fit. If you want/need active pen capability, perhaps something like the HP Spectre X360 could be in the running (?) If you give me a little more info on what your hot buttons are, I can comment further and get more specific on my own recommendations for models and configurations that represent the best bang for the buck Of those three, the Surface Book has the best screen aspect ratio (3:2, or 15:10) while the others have a 16:9 aspect ratio. 16:9 is fine for video but most regular professionals prefer a 16:10 for office type work, and 15:10 (aka 3:2) is even better, especially on something like a laptop or tablet. IF you can, I recommend finding a retailer that has both on display and trying out the keyboard to see which one you prefer. Also note the color choices - one is black while the other is silvery, which may make a difference. FWIW, X360 also has a really nice "ash silver" model (darker grey/brown and copper) which looks awesome (to me) but that model costs a little more. The regular machined aluminum of the regular X360 models is clean and looks/feels "precise."

For my own personal use, I prefer devices with active pen options since sketching and note taking is part of my daily life, but I think you are looking for more laptop vs. tablet, right? Even so, this particular type of 2-in-1 type device which offers the capability of folding over is a sort of "tablet mode" is an attractive form factor for many people. Both the Yoga 900 and the Spectre X360 sit between the regular consumer lines and their respective "pro" lines (ThinkPad and Elite) and thus have a better build quality which seems to resonate with many people.

FWIW, Lisa Gade has one of her excellent "smack down" videos here which compares the Spectre X360 and the Yoga 900:

Hope this helps!


-Randall Garrett-
+Apex Software+

/end/

 

[ucbruin]

Hello Randall,

1st, than

UCB,

While the Surface Book is great for ME, I'm not so sure that it would be the best fit for many appraisers, especially in its current form/configurations.

Based on your summary description of your needs, the Lenovo Yoga 900 is probably a better fit. If you want/need active pen capability, perhaps something like the HP Spectre X360 could be in the running (?) If you give me a little more info on what your hot buttons are, I can comment further and get more specific on my own recommendations for models and configurations that represent the best bang for the buck Of those three, the Surface Book has the best screen aspect ratio (3:2, or 15:10) while the others have a 16:9 aspect ratio. 16:9 is fine for video but most regular professionals prefer a 16:10 for office type work, and 15:10 (aka 3:2) is even better, especially on something like a laptop or tablet. IF you can, I recommend finding a retailer that has both on display and trying out the keyboard to see which one you prefer. Also note the color choices - one is black while the other is silvery, which may make a difference. FWIW, X360 also has a really nice "ash silver" model (darker grey/brown and copper) which looks awesome (to me) but that model costs a little more. The regular machined aluminum of the regular X360 models is clean and looks/feels "precise."

For my own personal use, I prefer devices with active pen options since sketching and note taking is part of my daily life, but I think you are looking for more laptop vs. tablet, right? Even so, this particular type of 2-in-1 type device which offers the capability of folding over is a sort of "tablet mode" is an attractive form factor for many people. Both the Yoga 900 and the Spectre X360 sit between the regular consumer lines and their respective "pro" lines (ThinkPad and Elite) and thus have a better build quality which seems to resonate with many people.

FWIW, Lisa Gade has one of her excellent "smack down" videos here which compares the Spectre X360 and the Yoga 900:

Hope this helps!


-Randall Garrett-
+Apex Software+

/end/

Hello Randall,

1st off, thank you for taking the time to respond to my question.

Funny story, a few hours after I posted my message to you, I checked out Lisa's reviews on Youtube and noticed her recent review of the fall version of the HP Spectre X360 and her review of the HP Spectre X360 vs Yoga 900. After watching the videos I decided the HP Spectre X360 seemed to be a better choice for me. I was too embarrassed to ask you about the HP Sprectre X360 so I am extremely happy to see you recommend the HP Spectre X360 in your response to my question.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my/our question!!!!!

 

[Chris Wagoner]

Another great review!. Thank you for the link Mr Garrett.... Chris Wagoner